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tihvavy of t:he dw^ological ^tmimxy 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 Gift of 
 Sainael Agnew, Esq. 
 1860 
 
 BX 9061 .U4 G5 1860 
 Gibson, William, 
 The year of grace 
 
THE YEAR OE GEACE : 
 
 A HISTOEY OF 
 
 THE ULSTEE EEVIVAL OF 1859. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. WILLIAM^ GIBSON, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS, AND 
 MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND. 
 
 i^econti €bition. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 ANDREW ELLIOT, 15 PRINCES STREET. 
 
 LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 BELFAST: C. AITCHISON. 
 
 1860. 
 
EDINBtTRGH: 
 
 pkinted by ballantyne and company, 
 Paul's work. 
 
TO 
 
 THOMAS SINCLAIR, ESQ., J.P., 
 
 AS A TRIBUTE TO 
 
 HIS PERSONAL CHARACTER ; 
 
 HIS DEVOTEDNESS AS AN ELDER OP THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ; 
 
 AND HIS MUNIFICENT LIBERALITY ON BEHALF 
 
 OF EVERY PHILANTHROPIC AND CHRISTIAN ENTERPRISE, 
 
 AT HOME AND ABROAD, 
 
 ®I]{s Mmt, 
 
 THE RECORD OF A "WORK IN WHICH HE HAS 
 
 TAKEN AN ACTIVE INTEREST, 
 
 IB 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 In tlie montli of N'ovember last, I was solicited, on the part 
 of an eminent publishing firm in Boston, to draw up a nar- 
 rative of the Ulster revival for the American Christian pubhc. 
 The application was sustained by such representations, that I 
 did not feel justified in declining it. Although conversant, 
 from personal observation, with that great spiritual movement 
 which about twelve months ago began to attract toward the 
 North of Ireland the earnest sympathies of Christendom, I 
 resolved to furnish myself with every available information 
 from other quarters in the execution of the responsible and 
 arduous trust. My official connexion with one leading section 
 of the Protestant community, gave me peculiar facilities of 
 access to its ministers and people j and I soon found, as the 
 result of the extensive correspondence I maintained upon the 
 subject, that materials were at my disposal sufficient to 
 warrant the conviction that a record might be produced, 
 which, under the Divine blessing, might prove of abiding 
 interest and value on both sides of the Atlantic. Hence this 
 contemporaneous issue in the Old World and the New, 
 
 Although the preparation of such a narrative may seem to 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 others, as it did in the first instance to myself, to have been 
 somewhat premature, I cannot but express my satisfaction 
 that I was led to undertake the task. The sources on which 
 I have drawn are of the most authentic kind ; and had not 
 the esteemed friends who have supplied so many contribu- 
 tions been urged to it b}^ personal solicitation, and when the 
 details, in all their vividness, were full in view, a vast amount 
 of the most valuable information might otherwise have been 
 altogether lost. It will be observed that, to a large extent, I 
 have allowed my correspondents to narrate the movement as 
 they witnessed it. This I have deemed as due alike to them 
 and to the interest of the narrative itself, which thus gains in 
 freshness what it may occasionally lose in continuity. With 
 the exception of an occasional incident or illustration, gathered 
 elsewhere, the sum total of which would not occupy two 
 sheets of letterpress, the matter of the entire volume is 
 original. 
 
 For the reason already indicated, by much the larger 
 portion is occupied with the rise and progress of the revival 
 in the Presbyterian Church. Under any circumstances, how- 
 ever, this had been unavoidable. The impartial historian, of 
 whatever name, will acknowledge that, while all the evangeli- 
 cal communities of Ulster were watered by the gracious 
 rain that fell upon " the pastures of the wilderness," the 
 Scoto-Irish soil received in amplest measure the shower of 
 blessing. At the same time, I trust, the work has been 
 viewed from no sectarian stand-point, but from the broad 
 platform of a catholic Christianity. 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 To the statistical department, given in the Appendix, I 
 may take leave to refer as one of the most distinctive features 
 of the present publication. The results of the movement 
 in that respect, as in every other, cannot but enhance our 
 admiration of the marvellous grace displayed in this great 
 work of God. 
 
 Belfast, May 10, 1860. 
 
4^ iU 
 
 ■''J*".;-^-.^-. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SCENE OF THE REVIVAL. 
 
 The Ulster Plantation — The Early Ministers and Settlers — The First 
 Revival — Ulster in the Nineteenth Century — Character of the 
 Population — Low State of Religion — Testimony of Living Wit- 
 nesses, . . . . . . .Pp. 1-11 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE PEEPARATION. 
 
 Increasing Purity in the Church — A Quickened Ministry — Sabbath- 
 School Instruction — Prayer-meetings — Bible-classes — Tract Dis- 
 tribution — Presbyterial and Synodical Action — Measures of the 
 General Assembly — Intelligence of the American Revival, 
 
 Pp. 12-16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE REVIVAL. 
 
 Difficult to trace the Movement, in its Origin and Outgoings — 
 The Connor District — Its long-continued Spiritual Privileges — 
 Its present Pastor and his Labours — The Tauny brake Sabbath- 
 School and its Prayer-Meeting — The Yoimg Men's Fellowship- 
 Meeting — Silent Conversions — A Visit to Connor — A Sabbath's 
 Experience there, in the Manse, the Congregation, and the Prayer- 
 Meeting, ...... Pp. 17-29 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL PROCLAIMED AS HAVING COME. 
 
 "Visits of the Awakened to Ahogliill — A Scene amid the Clouds of Night 
 — " I am Saved"— Spread of the Work— The Eager Multitudes— 
 The Physical Afifections on their first appearance — A similar in- 
 stance in County Down — Effects on the Community — Meeting in a 
 Cockpit, ...... Pp. 30-37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN ITS DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 The Man in the Market — Varieties in the process of Conviction — Pro- 
 cedure at the Meetings — "What's the News?" — The Young Man 
 and his Brother — " I have heard of these things long before " — 
 Three Type Cases — Letter to a Teacher — Abiding Beneficial 
 Eesults — Statement of Kev. S. M. Dill — Description of the 
 Physical Phenomena — Stages of the Bodily Affection, Pp. 38-53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN ITS PROGRESS NORTHWARDS. 
 
 Broughshane — The Spinning Factory — The Profligcrte Nailer — The 
 First Case — The Full Outpouring — The Praying Matrons — General 
 Eesults — Illustrative Cases^ — Loughguile — The Woman by the 
 Eoad-side — The "Gently Drawn" — The Fiery Baptism — The 
 Struggle with the Evil One — The Joy Unutterable — Proofs of a 
 Glorious Work — The Hidden Jewels — Private Exercises and Ex- 
 periences of Ministers — Ballymoney — The Work among the Young 
 — The Young Man who "would judge for himself" — The Deaf and 
 Dumb, ...... Pp. 54-73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN NORTHERN ANTRIM. 
 Coleraine — Strange Excitement in a School-room — The Evening of 7th 
 June — Meeting on the Fair-Hill — The Town Hall, and its Extra- 
 ordinary Opening — Daily Morning Meeting there — Interesting Me- 
 morial — General Eesults — Testimony of Assistant-Barrister — Per- 
 sonal Narrative of Mr Haltridge — Portrush — Prayerful co-operation 
 of the Episcopal and Presbyterian Ministers — Visit of Brownlow 
 North, Esq. — The Dunmull Open-air Meetings — Illustrative Cases 
 — An Operation of the Spirit — The Eailway Labourer — The Plough- 
 boy and his Muse— The old Waterloo Man — The Twin Sisters — 
 The Little Orphan Maid, . . . . Pp. 74-94 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE EEVIVAL IN THE CAPITAL OF ULSTER. 
 
 Visit of the Young Men from Connor — Its Effects — The Movement 
 Begun — Measures taken to Guide it and Advance its Progress — 
 United Prayer-Meetings — Great Gathering in the Botanic Gardens 
 — Description of a remarkable instance of Conviction — The Meet- 
 ings in Berry Street — Cases witnessed there — A^isits to some next 
 day — The Ardour of a Young Disciple — Sandy Row Experiences 
 — Ewart's Row and the Educational Operations there — A Total 
 Change — Visit of Mr ISTorth — His Seasonable Addresses — The Work 
 in Townsend Street Congregation — The "Unfortunates" — The Care- 
 less — The Formalists — The Backsliders — God's Children — Estimate 
 of the Qualifications of " Converts " for Revival Work — The " Sleep- 
 ing" Cases and the Wonder-Seekers, . . Pp. 95-124 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE EEVIVAL AROUND BELFAST. 
 
 The Valley of the Six-Mile Water — The Revival in Cammoney — Prayer 
 for its Coming — Visit of a Belfast Merchant — A Hundred at Once 
 — " I have Prayed him out " — The Old Pensioner — The Drunken 
 Tradesman — Ballycarry — Heavy Blow to Unitarianism — Pastor's 
 Work at Last — Bally easton— The Pastor's Last Communion — 
 Gathered Fruit — Dundrod, Exciting Narrative of the Work — The 
 Pastor's Hopes and Fears — His Visit to the First Awakened — The 
 Struggle and the Victory — The Meetings in Open Air and Church 
 — Saturday Evening and Sabbath in the Church and Graveyard 
 — The Men *' Coming Over" — A Young Deborah — Another, and 
 her Fellow-Labourer — The Farm-Servant in the Field — Dagon 
 Falling before the Ark — The Subsiding Flood — Ripple on the 
 Waters— The Phenomena of "the Marks," . . Pp. 125-147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE GENERAL ASSEIMBLY. 
 
 Anntial Meeting in the Irish Metropolis — Conference on the Revival 
 — A Minister's Statement there — Conversion of Four Brothers of 
 the Manse — The Prostrations, and Statement of a Medical Member 
 of Assembly — Subsequent Testimony of the Scottish Brethren 
 present — Report on the State of Religion — Resolutions adopted 
 
*" CONTENTS. 
 
 — Mr North in the Assembly — Adjournment occasioned by the 
 Revival — The Meeting in Belfast in September — The Conference 
 Resumed — Hallowed Character of the entire Proceeduigs, 
 
 Pp. 148-156 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE ORANGEMEN. 
 
 P^ormer Celebrations of the Orange Anniversary — Their Tumultuous 
 Character — "The Twelfth" in Sandy Row, Belfast — Narrative of 
 Eye-witnesses — Other Districts of the Town — The Twelfth in Lur- 
 gan — In Dundrod — The Orange Hall — The Open-Air Celebra- 
 tion—Testimony of Ministers in Various Districts — A Returned 
 African Missionary on '•' the Twelfth " in his Native County — Chief 
 Baron Pigott on the Extinction of Party Spiiit — Strange thing 
 at a Lodge Meeting, and its Lesson, . . Pp. 157-166 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY DOAVN. 
 
 The Bishop of the Diocese — His Interest in the Work — Original Commu- 
 nication from him — The Revival in Castlereagh — The Converted 
 Cripple — "Remember Lot's Wife" — Comber — Great Increase — 
 Few Sudden Conversions— Bodily Health Improved — The Phy- 
 sical Manifestations — Answers to Special Prayer — Revival among 
 Quarrymen — Killinchy — Statement of the Hon. and Rev. H. Ward 
 — Newtownards — Previous State — The Work Begun — United 
 Prayer-meeting — The Schoolmaster turned Preacher — The Drun- 
 ken Bellman — The Town Missionary — The Militia Serjeant — The 
 Converted School-girl' — Other Cases . . Pp. 167-187 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY DOWN — Continued. 
 
 Visit to Boardmills, and Preaching on a Sabbath Evening — Groups 
 on the Green — Few Stricken — Every One Moved — No Extrava- 
 gances — The Children at the Prayer-meetings — Happ}'' Change in 
 Society — Open-air Communion — Preciousness of Calvinistic Doc- 
 trine — Ballinahinch — Revival Incident, as told by a Scottish 
 Minister — The Washerwoman's Prayer — A Christian Female Re- 
 vived — Conlig — Answer to Prayer — Bally copeland — Illustrative 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 Cases — Eathfriland — A Student's Statement — Banbridge — State- 
 ment of Mr Greene, Civil Engineer — Dromara, . Pp. 188-214 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DERBY. 
 
 The Commencement — Statement by the Rev. R. Wallace — Accidents 
 of Prostration — Agencies Employed — Extent of the "Work — 
 Cases — ''It's my Brother George" — Results — Maghera — The 
 First Prostration — "God has been with us this Morning" — 
 Good Sense of the People — The Prayer-Meetings — Results — The 
 Work goes on — Line of Action that Ministers should Pursue — 
 Lecumpher — Arrest on a Jaunting-Car — Newtonlimavady — Mr 
 North and his Doctrine of " Realisation " — Eight Candidates for 
 the Ministry — The Work in Other Parts of the Neighbour- 
 hood — Ballykelly — Addresses and Prayers of the Converts — 
 Children's Meetings — Different Hearing of the Word — The Elders 
 Moved — The Tempter's Wiles — Results — The First Case in 
 Moneymore — Letter from a Young Woman — The Youths' Meeting, 
 
 Pp. 215-239 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY TYRONE. 
 
 The Revival in the Fair of Orritor, and its Results — The Work in 
 Cookstown and Vicinity — A Case of " Prophesying," and its Ex- 
 posure — The Moveable Tent — Things Brought to Remembrance — 
 Movement at Castlederg — Its Origin through Commercial Travel- 
 lers — Wesleyan and Presbyterian Co-operation — Results — Cheering 
 Fact as to the Progress of the Work — Strabane — Narrative of the 
 Work in a Community where there was no Remarkable Excite- 
 ment, . .... .Pp. 240-251 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY ARMAGH. 
 The Work in Lurgan — The First Convert — "Neither Mad, nor Wicked, 
 nor Ignorant " — First United Meeting — The Work in the Pastor's 
 Absence — He is Summoned Home — The New Scenes he Wit- 
 nesses — Classes and Meetings — The Country Districts — Awful End 
 of a Mocker — Treatment of the Visions — Life from the Dead — 
 The True Instrument — The Rector's Statement — Magheralin — 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 The Archiepiscopal City — Scenes in a Daily and in a Sabbath 
 School — First Moved in the Congregation — The Work becomes 
 Public — " Crying for his Sins " — The Convert Girl and the Sailor 
 — Scene in the Retiring-Room — The Youth who had his Plans 
 Laid — The Dying One Revived — Memories of the Year — Tully- 
 allen— Tartaraghan, . . . .Pp. 252-271 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN DONEGAL, MONAGHAN, AND CAVAN. 
 
 County Donegal : Monreagh — Scenes in the Church — In the Open Air 
 — Three Memorable Services, and their Effects — Saul among 
 the Prophets — Two Notable Instances — The Domestic Altar — 
 Abiding Fruits — Donoughmore. County Monaghan : State- 
 ment of the Rev. Hope M. Waddell — Impressions of a Visit in 
 the Country — On the Sabbath — Newbliss — The First Case — 
 Those Principally Reached. County Cavan : Baiheborovigh 
 — Drumkeeran — Wonderful Awakening and Excitement — State- 
 ment of the Rev. F. F. Trench, of Kells (County Meath)— A 
 Meeting over the Borders — How the Revival has been Propa- 
 gated — Another Visit over the Border — " Shooting the Goose " — 
 A whole Family Surrendering to Christ- — The Moral Results — The 
 Movement Southwards — Leinster and Munster, . Pp. 272-302 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 % THE REVIVAL AND THE EOjNIAN CATHOLICS. 
 
 The Experiences of the Last Quarter of a Century — Labour and Suc- 
 cess — The Revival the most Potent Agency — Cases — The Crimean 
 Soldier — Two Females and a Male Convert — An Aged Female — 
 The Boy who Battled for his Liberty— The Lost Token— The 
 Drunken Beggar — The Woman who had Married a Presbyterian — 
 The Stammerer Cured — The Woman who was a Sinner — The 
 Maid-servant at the Fair— The " Wild Arab" Tamed— The Girl of 
 Thirteen— Taught by a Tombstone, . , Pp. 303-324 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE PATHOLOGICAL AFFECTIONS. 
 
 Experiences of the Late American Awakening — Its Freedom from 
 Physical Excitement— Curious Affection of the Scotch-Irish in a 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Former Revival — Common View of the Pathological Features 
 of the Ulster Movement — Their Acknowledged Effect — Such 
 Affections not the Necessary Accompaniment of Religious Feeling 
 — Province of Imagination — Danger from its Abuse — Bodily Agita- 
 tions often Associated with Spurious Excitements — Increased by 
 being Encouraged — Instances — Views of Archdeacon Stopford, 
 and their Effect — Medical Aspects of the Question — Our Emotive 
 Nature, and its Modes of Action on the Body — Our Duty to 
 Hearken to the Voice of Science — No merely Physical Theory 
 Sufl&cient — The Bodily Affections Accounted for by Excited Mental 
 Action — By Sympathy — Statement from Dr A. Alexander — By 
 Nervous Disease — Prostration not Conversion — Improper Mode of 
 Treating "Cases" — The Phenomena of Dumbness, &c. — Sleeping 
 Cases Dealt with — A Prophesier and a Sleeper Rebuked — Two 
 Striking Cases Detailed, . . . .Pp. 325-357 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND ITS LESSONS. 
 
 The review fitted to strengthen Faith in the Omnipotent energy of the 
 Holy Spirit — To illustrate the rapidity with which God can bring 
 about His purposes of Mercy — To shew the marked Coincidence 
 between the Working of the Spirit in the early Church and now — 
 To teach the Church that the forces she now possesses are suffi- 
 cient for the Conversion of the World — To enforce the true theory 
 of Christian Union — And to cast a new light on individual respon* 
 sibility and duty — Conclusion, . . . Pp. 358-371 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A— The Revival and Public Morality, . . .Pp. 373-379 
 
 B — Down and Connor Diocese Returns, . • 379-381 
 
 C — Congregational Returns, .... 381-406 
 
CHAPTER t 
 
 THE SCENE OF THE REVIVAL. 
 
 The Ulster Plantation — The Early Ministers and Settlers — The First 
 Revival — Ulster in the Nineteenth Century — Character of the 
 Population — Low State of Religion — Testimony of Living Wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 It is now two liundred and fifty years since a new era, civil 
 and religious, dawned on Ulster. The intestine tumults by which 
 our northern province had unhappily been distinguished had 
 sunk to rest, and the estates of the rebel chiefs, which had been 
 forfeited to the British Crown, had begim to be occupied by that 
 enterprising and hardy race in whose hands they were destined 
 ere long to become one of the fairest portions of the kingdom. 
 Although the early colonists were, for the most part, actuated 
 by a spirit of wild adventure, and had nothing less at heart 
 than the interests of vital godliness, they speedily assumed the 
 aspect of an industrious and orderly community; while the 
 course of providential events, which had brought them to their 
 new abode, was soon after followed by others of more than 
 ordinary significance in their bearing on the spiritual destinies 
 of their adopted country. 
 
 The British monarch who was the leading instrument in the 
 Ulster plantation, by which the foundations of the social edi- 
 fice were so securely laid in this part of his dominions, Avas, at 
 the same time, the abettor of a pohcy which was attended by 
 the most disastrous results, alike to liberty and religion, in 
 other portions of the kingdom. At the very period when the 
 lands of the revolted earls were passing into the occupancy of 
 their future cultivators, the hand of persecution was lifted up, 
 
2 THE EARLY MINISTERS AND SETTLERS. 
 
 under royal sanction, on our Scottisli forefathers ; wliile, of the 
 Puritans in England, a faithful band had left their native 
 shores, soon after, to plant in the virgin soil of a new continent 
 those sacred principles which, wherever they are germinant, are 
 the truest seeds of empire. Ireland, then little known or re- 
 garded at the seat of power, and not yet recovered from the 
 effects of its late contentions, might, with impunity, afford a 
 shelter to the expatriated for conscience' sake, and thither a 
 few of them repaired, and enjoyed, for a season, a safe asylum 
 ^' under the shadow of the Almighty." 
 
 Of the first seven ministers who settled in the countrj^, five 
 were from Scotland, and two from England. The earliest arri- 
 val was in 1613 ; and scarcely had they set foot in Ulster, when 
 they began to labour with apostolic earnestness ; and though 
 beset with many difficulties, they were favoured with an extra- 
 ordinary, if not unprecedented, measure of success. Of one of 
 them (Blair) it is recorded by a contemporary, " He was a man 
 of notable constitution, both of body and mind ; of a majestic, 
 awful, yet affable and amiable countenance and carriage, tho- 
 roughly learned, of strong parts, deep invention, solid judg- 
 ment, and a most public spirit for God. His gift of preaching 
 was such, that seldom could any observe withdrawing of assist- 
 ance in public, which in others is frequent. He seldom ever 
 wanted assurance of his salvation. He spent many days and 
 nights in prayer, alone and with others, and was vouchsafed 
 great intimacy with God." The others were of like precious 
 faith, and imbued with a kindred ardour for the evangelisation 
 of the land to which their steps had been directed in its time of i 
 need. Nor was it long until a signal blessing rested visibly 
 upon their labours. Not only did a marked improvement mani- 
 fest itself in the entire habits and demeanour of the people, 
 but a spirit of intense religious earnestness began to be evinced, 
 which issued in one of the most remarkable awakenings re- 
 corded in the annals of the Christian Church, It was jn this 
 wise that it originated. Mr James Glendinning, one of the least 
 gifted of the newly arrived ministers, and who had been advised 
 by Blair to remove from Carrickfergus, where he had been 
 
TIIE FIEST REVIVAL, 3 
 
 settled, to some less conspicuous sphere, had acted upon the 
 fraternal counsel, and was appointed to the charge of a rural 
 congregation at Oldstone, near the town of Antrim. "He was 
 a man," says the narrator of the period, " who never w^ould have 
 been chosen by a Avise assembly of ministers, nor sent to begin 
 a reformation in this land. Yet this was the Lord's choice to 
 begin with him the admirable work of God, which I mention 
 on purpose that all may see how the glory is only the Lord's in 
 making a holy nation in this profane land, and that it w^as not 
 by might, nor by power, nor by man's wdsdom, but bj'- my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord. At Oldstone, God made use of him 
 to awaken the consciences of a lewd and secure people there- 
 abouts ; for, seeing the great lewdness and ungodly sinful- 
 ness of the people, he preached nothing to them but law, wrath, 
 and the terrors of God for sin; and in very deed for this 
 only W'as he fitted, for hardly could he preach any other thing. 
 But behold the success ! for the hearers, finding themselves con- 
 demned by the mouth of God speaking in His word, fell into 
 such anxiety and terror of conscience, that they looked on them- 
 selves as altogether lost and damned ; and this work appeared 
 not in a single person or two, but multitudes were brought to 
 understand their way and cry out, ' Men and brethren, what 
 shall we do to be saved?' I have seen them myself stricken 
 into a sw^oon with the word; yea, a dozen in one day carried 
 out of doors as dead, so marvellous was the powder of God, 
 smiting their hearts for sin, condemning and killing. And of 
 these were none of the w^eaker sex or spirit, but indeed some of 
 :he boldest spirits, who formerly feared not with their swords 
 to put a whole market to-^ai into a fray ; yet, in defence of their 
 stubbornness, cared not to lie in prison and the stocks, and 
 being incorrigible, were as ready to do the like the next day. I 
 have heard one of them, then a mighty strong man, now a 
 mighty Christian, say, that his end in coming into church was 
 to consult with his companions how to work some mischief ; 
 and at one of those sermons w^as he so catched, that he was fully 
 subdued. But why do I speak of him 1 We knew, and yet 
 know, multitudes of such men, who sinned, and still gloried in 
 
4 THE FIEST Revival, 
 
 it, because they feared no man, yet are now patterns of sobriety, 
 fearing sin because tliey fear God. And this spread through 
 the country to admiration, especially about that river commonly 
 called the Six-mile Water, for there this work began at first." 
 
 Aroused by the movement that was going on around them, 
 and which had already extended to their own parishes, the 
 neighbouring ministers came to the help of their weak brother, 
 and concerted measures for the superintendence and extension 
 of the work which had been so auspiciously begun. About the 
 year 1626, accordmgly, a monthly concert for prayer was insti- 
 tuted in Antrim, to which the brethren both lay and clerical 
 repaired for mutual conference, consulting, in the words of 
 Livingstone, (the John Livingstone of the Kirk of Shotts,) 
 " about such things as concerned the carrying on of the work 
 of God ; and those meetings among ourselves," he adds, " are 
 sometimes as profitable as either Presbyteries or Synods. Such 
 as laid religion to heart used to come in to those meetings, 
 especially out of the Six-mile Water Valley, which was nearest 
 hand, and where was the greatest number of religious people ; 
 and frequently the Sabbath after the Friday's meeting, the com- 
 munion was celebrated in one or other of our parishes. Among 
 all the ministers, there was never any jar or jealousy : yea, nor 
 amongst the professors, the greatest number of them being 
 Scots, and some good number of very gracious English, all 
 whose contention was to prefer others to themselves. Many of 
 those religious professors had been both ignorant and profane, 
 and for debt and want, and worse causes, had left Scotland. 
 Yet the Lord was pleased by His word to work such a change, 
 that I do not think there were more lively and experienced 
 Christians anywhere than were at this time in Ireland. I have 
 known them come several miles from their own houses to com- 
 munions, to the Saturday's sermon, and spending the whole 
 Saturday's night in several companies, sometimes a minister 
 being with them, and sometimes themselves alone in conference 
 and praj^er. They have then waited on the public ordinances the 
 whole Sabbath, and spent the Sabbath night in the same way, 
 and yet at the Monday's sermon were not troubled with sleepi- 
 
THE FTRST REVlVALi 5 
 
 ness ; and so they have not slept till they went home." To the 
 same purpose is the statement of Blair, who also testifies to the 
 wide-spread character of the awakening. " The blessed work of 
 conversion, which was of several years' continuance, spread be- 
 yond the bounds of Down and Antrim to the skirts of neigh- 
 bouring counties ; and the resort of people to the monthly meet- 
 ing and communion occasions, and the appetite of the people, 
 were become so great, that we were sometimes constrained, in 
 sympathy with them, to venture beyond any preparation we 
 had made for the occasion. And, indeed, preaching and praying 
 were so pleasant in those days, and hearers so eager and greedy, 
 that no day was long enough, nor any room large enough, to 
 answer their strong desires and large expectations." 
 
 The wonderful success by which the labours of the Ulster 
 ministers were attended, is also thus attested by another wit- 
 ness. "I shall here instance," says Fleming, in his "Fulfilling 
 of Scripture," " that great and solemn work of God, which was 
 in the Church of Ireland some years before the fall of Prelacy ; 
 about the year 1628, and some years thereafter ; which, as 
 many grave and solid Christians yet alive can witness who were 
 then present, was a bright and hot sun-blink of the gospel ; 
 yea, may with sobriety be said to have been one of the largest 
 manifestations of the Spirit, and of the most solemn times of 
 the downpouring thereof, that almost since the days of the 
 apostles hath been seen. Then it was sweet and easy for Chris- 
 tians to come thirty or forty miles to the solemn communions 
 which they had, and there continue from the time they came 
 until they returned, without wearying or making use of sleep ; 
 yea, but little either meat or drink ; and, as some of them pro- 
 fessed, did not feel the need thereof, but went away most fresh 
 and vigorous, their souls so filled with the sense of God." 
 
 Such was the character of the revival which, at that crisis of 
 its history, so extensively wrought in Ulster, taming the law- 
 lessness of the early settlers, and transforming them into a race 
 of sober and God-fearing men. The gracious rain descended 
 on the pastures of the wilderness, and the thirsty land became 
 springs of water. 
 
6 ULSTER IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The fruits of tliat sowing have ever since been gathered in 
 the soil into which the precious seed w^as cast in tears. Un- 
 genial in climate as compared with the other provinces in 
 Ireland, Ulster has maintained its pre-eminence in all the 
 elements of industrial and moral superiority ; and though in 
 the retrospect of its religious condition, there is much deadness 
 and formality, and even false doctrine, over which to mourn, 
 it is impossible to avoid associating with the prayerful labours 
 of the fathers, the blessings that have since descended on the 
 children. It is peculiarly interesting to mark, that in the 
 neighbourhood of the very scenes once hallowed by the pious 
 communings of the saints, a work has had its rise in the past 
 year, not inferior in interest and importance to any, even the 
 most striking manifestations of the Spirit of God, that have 
 been witnessed since the pentecostal period itself. 
 
 But fifty years ago the cause of evangelical religion stood 
 very low in Ulster. A general indifference and deadness reigned 
 throughout the Protestant Churches; and though the goodly 
 vine which had been planted in the seventeenth centurj^, had 
 struck its roots into the place prepared for it of God, and 
 spread its branches over the land, it suffered under a withering 
 blight, and was to a lamentable extent shorn of its foliage and 
 fruitfulness. Yet was it not forgotten by the heavenly Hus- 
 bandman; and now, after having stood the shock of many a 
 tempest, it has been graciously revisited by the genial influences 
 of the Sun of righteousness, and multitudes are rejoicing in its 
 pleasant fruits. 
 
 It is well known that the natives of the north of Ireland bear 
 upon them in their intellectual features the stamp of their 
 Scottish ancestry. Unlike the Milesian Irish of the south and 
 w^est, they are a shrewd, calculating, and eminently practical 
 people. The only period in their history when some were carried 
 away by violent excitement was at the rising of 1798 ; but even 
 then the impulses to which they yielded were those of genuine, 
 though mistaken patriotism. Superior in education to the 
 generality of their fellow-countrymen, and abjuring the super- 
 stitions by which the majority are enslaved, they have ever had 
 
CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION. 7 
 
 a keen appreciation of the strong points of tlie argument for 
 Protestantism ; and as often as a controversial disputation lias 
 arisen between the champions of the respective systems, they 
 have looked on mth eager interest, and have not failed to 
 honour and reward the victors. The delusions, under the guise 
 of religion, by which the popular mind in England has some- 
 times been taken captive, had no charm for them — their strong 
 sense and logical discrimination being proof against the impos- 
 tures of pretenders, and the fervours of enthusiasts. The last 
 half -century especially has made them more than usually familiar 
 with theological discussion. Questions have from time to time 
 been agitated which have been invested with an intense polemic 
 interest. Of these, by far the most exciting was that which 
 constituted the occasion of stormy controversy, between thirty 
 and forty years ago, in one of the great sections of Ulster Pres- 
 byterianism, issuing in its deliverance from the incubus of 
 Unitarianism, and its consolidation on the broad basis of ortho- 
 dox Christianity. Others, of lesser interest, still remained to 
 exercise the practised dialectics of the people. The respective 
 claims of the Calvinistic and Arminian systems, and the old 
 unsettled account between Presbytery and Prelacy, ever and 
 again presented themselves as topics of debate, not seldom of 
 alienation and personal antagonism, between the leading dis- 
 putants. 
 
 It will thus be perceived that the rehgious feeling of the 
 north partook rather of that excitement which is generated in 
 the heats of controversy, than of that vital warmth and glow 
 which are the product of spiritual life. The reality being sadly 
 wanting, it was not to be wondered at that indifference and 
 formality extensively prevailed. True, indeed, there were none 
 of those criminal outbreaks of lawless violence, so often wit- 
 nessed in other parts of Ireland ; but many forms of evil had 
 existence in the community, not unfrequently in connexion with 
 a religious profession, and under the very shadow of the sanc- 
 tuary. Foremost among all these, and parent of most of them, 
 was intemperance. At fairs and markets, sometimes even at 
 funerals, the "whisky demon" held his horrid carnival; while 
 
8 LOW STATE OF EELIGION. 
 
 party brawls and battles, mingled with fearful yells and impre- 
 cations, often closed the scene. 
 
 Of the prevalent deadness in many, even the most favoured 
 parts of the country, where no flagrant immorality existed, the 
 follo\Ndng statement, -with respect to his own congregation pre- 
 vious to the revival, by the Rev. G. H. Shanks, may be taken 
 as a faithful representation : — 
 
 " This congregation, before the revival, was in a most unsatis- 
 factory state as to religion. The people were not immoral, nor 
 without a religious profession ; but Laodiceanism characterised 
 them. From my first entrance on the work of the ministry, I 
 believed that the faithful use of the means of grace should be 
 followed by their appropriate effects, as certainly as the tillage 
 of a field is followed by a crop, or as diligence in any jjrofession 
 is rewarded with success ; and bitter, therefore, was my disap- 
 pointment as year after year passed and still no fruit appeared. 
 In grief I wondered at what I considered the mystei^ious with- 
 holding of the Spirit, and set myself to account for it. What 
 alarmed me most was the disinclination, almost hostility, of the 
 people to hold prayer-meetings. They appeared, for the most 
 part, as if they thought they were well enough, and that I was 
 unnecessarily disturbing them and drawing them off from their 
 necessary industrial pursuits ; so that I was led at times to 
 think and to say, that they had a greater desire to win half-a- 
 crown than for all that God could do for their souls. Some 
 whom I had never seen at a prayer-meeting, and who would 
 have said they had not time to attend for a couple of hours 
 once a month, have, since the revival commenced, attended 
 often tmce daily, in some instances with three or four sons, 
 during the best working hours of the summer day. I knew 
 there were a few (very few I feared) praying persons in the 
 several congregations in the neighbourhood, and there were 
 always attempts made to keep up prayer-meetings in my own ; 
 but, up to the very week of the bursting forth of the revival, 
 there appeared no general desire nor felt need for such a thing, 
 nor symptoms of its approach, except that the Sabbath-school 
 
TESTIMONY OF LIVING WITNESSES. 9 
 
 had been gradually increasing, and attendance on public wor- 
 sliip improving a little^ and perhaps one or two individuals 
 mourning over the general deadness. I had never been more 
 dispirited and distressed than during some weeks immediately 
 preceding the rushing mighty wind which so suddenly and 
 gloriously came in upon us, vitalising the dead mass. The 
 intelligence of revival in America, and even in the parishes of 
 Antrim and in Belfast, seemed to produce little impression, or 
 excite desire. They appeared incredulous and unmoved. I had 
 nearly begun to cease hoping. I felt as if I were almost quite 
 alone — no one mourning or praying with me. I told them that 
 I was appalled at their apparent determination to have no 
 prayer-meetings, and to seek no revival — that the showers were 
 going round and round us, and not a drop falling our way, — 
 and that we would be left utterly reprobate, a visible monu- 
 ment of the consequences of despising gospel privileges. I re- 
 minded them that any little good which had ever come to my 
 knowledge as having been done to souls through my ministry, 
 was nearly all in connexion with persons not belonging to my 
 congregation. And I asked, ' What could this mean, except 
 that God had given over my people to a hardened and repro- 
 bate mind V " 
 
 The following statement by the Rev. J. A. Canning of 
 Coleraine, in regard to the religious aspects of that iovni and 
 neighbourhood prior to the awakening, may be regarded as not 
 less applicable to many other districts of Ulster : — 
 
 " The great mass of the inhabitants of the city and of the 
 surrounding country are of Scotch extraction, and are members 
 of the Presbyterian Church. For centuries the gospel has been 
 faithfully preached among a thoughtful, industrious, intelligent, 
 and well-educated people. Church-going habits have ever 
 characterised the inhabitants of town and country. The ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath, and attendance upon Sabbath ordi- 
 nances, have long been a marked characteristic of the people. 
 The doctrines of the Westminster Confession of Faith have, 
 from olden time, been preached by ministers, and held by 
 
10 TESTIJIONY OF LIVING WITNESSES. 
 
 their flocks. There is no Unitarian congregation in the wide 
 district of which Coleraine is the business-centre and- capital. 
 The Puseyism of the Episcopal Church has never found favour 
 among the ministers and members of the Establishment. 
 There are wide districts in which there are almost no Roman 
 Catholics. Sabbath-schools are everywhere established, and 
 the religious training of the young is the rule and not the ex- 
 ception. Coleraine is the seat of a large Presbytery ; and in 
 the churches of which it has the oversight, the ordinance of the 
 Lord's Supper is observed twice in the year. The population 
 of the city may amount to between eight and nine thousand. 
 The staple manufacture of the locality is that of linen, for which 
 it has been long celebrated, and the whole district is compara- 
 tively a rich one. 
 
 " In disposition and temperament the people are calm, 
 thoughtful, and far from impulsive, and their habits, amuse- 
 ments, and usages, strongly indicate their Scotch descent. 
 Among such a people, thus circumstanced, the organisation of 
 Christ's Church has for many years been very complete. 
 Church- courts have been vigilant, ordinances have been regu- 
 larly and faithfully dispensed, and nothing seemed wanting but 
 a poiver to bring home an offered gospel to the hearts and souls 
 of the people. Some of God's children have therefore been 
 saying of late years, that one of two things was likely soon to 
 occur, namely, either that gospel doctrine, preached by ministers 
 and professed by the people, but apparently without much life, 
 would, like everything which becomes stagnant, sink into putre- 
 faction, and that heresy would supplant the truth ; or, that a 
 gracious God would honour His own truth by supplying the 
 power of the Spirit to impart to it a vivifying energy. That 
 God has been pleased to shed abroad this power, the wondrous 
 awakening which has characterised the history of the summer 
 and autumn of 1859, abundantly proves." 
 
 Such, then, was the state of things immediately preceding the 
 wonderful manifestation of Divine grace which is to be recorded 
 
TESTIMONY OF LIVING WITNESSES. 11 
 
 in. the following pages. Such were the leading aspects in the 
 population of Ulster, — a population, as it has been well said, 
 " trained to reason, warm in jjarty and cold in religion — among 
 whom capital crime was rare, true piety equally so, religious 
 fervour dreaded, and fanaticism unknown ; whose wanderings 
 had been tovv^ards Unitarianism, not enthusiasm, and whose 
 wills are remarkably unyielding." 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE PREPARATION. 
 
 Increasing Purity in the Church — A Quickened Ministry — Sabbath- 
 School Instruction — Prayer-meetings — Bible-classes — Tract Dis- 
 tribution — Presbyterial and Synodical Action — Measures of the 
 General Assembly— Intelligence of the American Revival. 
 
 The great awakening of last year, tliougli it has culminated in 
 a form which has attracted the attention of the Churches, is 
 not in its remoter origin a thing of yesterday. For many years 
 a purifying and preparatory process has been going forward, 
 especially in that communion which has so largely shared the 
 gracious influence, A return to the " old paths " of orthodoxy 
 was speedily followed by auspicious indications of returning 
 life ; and the Presbyterian Church of Ulster, immediately on 
 the consummation of an ecclesiastical union between its two 
 great sections, about twenty years ago, at length arose to its 
 true position as a missionary institute to Jew and Gentile — a 
 witness for the truth to all nations. By the good hand of God 
 a generation of energetic and devoted ministers was raised up, 
 with many of whom the burthen of their prayers has ever been, 
 " O Lord, revive Thy work." At the same time, while there 
 was an unusual amount of ministerial effort, there was a growing 
 con\dction of the insufficiency of all merely human agency, and 
 an intenser longing than had ever been evinced before for the 
 descent of a Divine influence. Often had the watchmen put 
 the trumpet to their mouth and sounded the alarm, and as often 
 had they mourned in secret that sinners remained at ease in 
 sin, and refused to take timely warning. ]\Iany a polished 
 shaft from the quiver of the sanctuary was aimed at heart and 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOLS — ^BIBLE-CLASSES. 13 
 
 -9 
 
 conscience, and many a lamentation was raised that it fell 
 pointless as against an impenetrable shield. Amid various in- 
 dications of revival, there were the ever-increasing proofs of 
 human impotency — the accumulating evidences of the necessity 
 of a superior intervention — even of the power and presence of 
 Him who quickeneth when He will, breathing upon the slain 
 that they may live. 
 
 " It is right it should be known," says the Eev. S. M. Dill of 
 Bally mena, " that this movement has not come upon us quite 
 so suddenly as people at a distance might be led to suppose. I 
 am able to testify that there has been a gradual but perceptible 
 improvement in the state of religion throughout this district 
 for some years. Ministers were led to speak to the people with 
 greater earnestness about 'the things which belong to their 
 peace.' Attendance on the public ordinances of religion had 
 considerably increased. Open-air preaching was extensively 
 practised. Sabbath-schools were greatly multiplied. Prayer- 
 meetings were growing up in many districts. Sacred music, 
 which had been much neglected, was cultivated with ardour 
 and success. And altogether the people were in a state of pre- 
 paration — a state which passed into one of earnest expectancy, 
 when the glad news of the American re\ivals reached our 
 shores." 
 
 " I was installed/' says a young minister, " as pastor of my 
 present congregation, (consisting of three hundred and twenty 
 families,) in March 1857 ; and, during the ensuing summer, took 
 occasion to preach on the necessity of a revival, the agency by 
 which it is produced, and the means by which it might be pro- 
 moted. I also established a Bible-class, whose numbers in- 
 creased till the names of about two hundred young persons, 
 from thirteen to thirty years of age, were upon its roll, and 
 which I met every Sabbath after public worship, and examined 
 on the sermon just preached, the Shorter Catechism, and a por- 
 tion of Scripture. We also formed a Ladies' Tract Association, 
 whose members distributed fortnightly, among the families of 
 all denominations in the district who were willing to receive 
 them, the publications of the London Eeligious Tract Society 
 
14 PRESBYTEEIAL ACTION. 
 
 and of Mr Drummond of Stirling. In the spring and summer 
 of 1858, the news of the American revival reached us, and for 
 some time excited an interest among the people ; and when 
 our Assembly met in July of that year in Derry, and engaged 
 in conference on the subject, and it was reported that God had 
 also begun a gi\acious work in Connor, the intelligence was 
 communicated to our people, and helped to rekindle in the 
 hearts of God's children a desire for a similar awakening. 
 During the following winter, however, there seemed to be a 
 growing coldness, until the news reached us last spring that the 
 revival had begun to spread rapidly through County Antrim, 
 and was accompanied by remarkable bodily manifestations." 
 
 " A visible propriety, as well as sphitual life," says an aged 
 minister, "was obviously penetrating the great mass of our 
 people for a year and a half or two years previous to the 
 revival, from the proper organisation and training we had got 
 into by the establishment of regular prayer-meetings and pther 
 kindred agencies. A Young Men's Christian Association had 
 been also established, whose monthly meetings for mutual 
 improvement contributed not a little to inspire our youth with 
 confidence and zeal. The Presbytery of Omagh also had the 
 subject of revivals before them at their regular meetings for 
 twelve or fourteen years back, and had not only drawn up and 
 circulated statements upon the subject among their congrega- 
 tions, but had from time to time appointed presbyterial deputa- 
 tions to address each congregation throughout their bounds on 
 the necessity of a revival of religion. Immediately on hearing 
 of the great American awakening of 1858, we resumed our 
 former practice, and revisited in the autumn the sixteen congre- 
 gations of which the presbytery is composed. But what is all 
 that man can do till the appointed, the set time is come, when 
 the heavens open, and the dews descend to water and refresh 
 the thirsty ground 1 " 
 
 In connexion with these statemenis, it deserves to be men- 
 tioned that for a considerable period the state of religion 
 within its bounds had engaged the earnest attention of the 
 Presbyterian Church in Ireland, through its Presbyteries, 
 
MEASURES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 15 
 
 Synods, and General Assembly. For several years some of the 
 Synods never separated without directing ministers to bring the 
 important subject before their people. Through the report of 
 a standing committee appointed for the purpose, it had been 
 regularly brought under the notice of the General Assembly 
 at its annual meetings, and many consultations were held 
 among the members for the advancement of the interests of 
 vital godliness. At the meeting in 1858 it devolved on the 
 convener (the Rev. Dr Kirkpatrick of Dublin) to advert to the 
 extraordinary display of Divine grace with which the American 
 churches had been visited during the preceding winter, and the 
 accounts of which had been already widely circulated through- 
 out the community. On the reception of his report, the As- 
 sembly resolved to devote a portion of its sittings to special 
 conference and prayer with reference to this great spiritual 
 movement. The season thus set apart was one of peculiar 
 solemnity and sacredness ; and when one after another of the 
 fathers rose up in his place to tender his paternal counsels, and 
 when the voice of praise and supplication ascended afterwards 
 to heaven, all hearts w^ere touched as by a common sympathy, 
 while from the reigning harmony and fervour many fondly 
 cherished the expectation of a time of more abundant blessing. 
 The exercises which had before been in private were resumed 
 by arrangement on the following evening in the presence of an 
 assembled multitude, as well as of representatives from the 
 Free Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of England, 
 and the Waldensian, Belgian, and other continental Churches. 
 Addresses were delivered, intermingled with devotional exer- 
 cises, on such topics as the following : — Special outpourings of 
 the Spirit — Scripture examples; the present religious aw^aken- 
 ings in America ; the duty of seeking such awakenings among 
 ourselves ; the encouragement to seek this great blessing from 
 God. Another arrangement was made by this Assembly before 
 its close, which eventually contributed to increase the interest 
 already existing in the American awakening. A deputation, 
 consisting of two ministers, was appointed to visit the afiS.Hated 
 Churches in British North America ; and as the delegates, after 
 
16 INTELLIGENCE OF THE AMERICAN REVIVAL. 
 
 discharging their proper mission, had opportunities of witness- 
 ing to some extent the work then going forward in the United 
 States, their statements in regard to it, on their return, were 
 anxiously sought for, and their experiences were rehearsed in 
 various districts of the north of Ireland. The writer of these 
 pages having had the happiness and honour of being appointed 
 on that deputation, he is enabled to speak with confidence upon 
 the subject ; and he can testify that, for many months, indeed 
 during the entire of the winter, he was occupied, on every 
 available occasion, in satisfying the demands of brethien, to 
 narrate to their congregations what he had seen and heard of 
 the great work of God during his transatlantic visit, and that 
 wherever he went, his statements were received with the deepest 
 interest. Never, indeed, has he had a happier time than in 
 declaring to friends at home the gracious doings of the Most 
 High among their kindred on the great western continent; 
 while in the wakeful attention, earnest gaze, and stifled emotion 
 of the listening thousands, he often fancied that he could trace 
 the harbingers of a no less glorious renovation. 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE REVIVAL. 
 
 Difficult to trace the Movement, in its Origin and Outgoings — The 
 Connor District — Its long- continued Spiritual Privileges — Its pre- 
 sent Pastor and his Labours — The Tannybrake Sabbath-School and 
 its Prayer-Meeting — The Young Men's Fellowship-Meeting — Silent 
 Conversions — A Visit to Connor — A Sabbath's Experience there, 
 in the Manse, the Congregation, and the Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 In attempting to narrate the character of such a movement as 
 that to which our attention is now turned, there are one or two 
 weighty truths that stand out vividly before us as we begin. 
 It is well to advert to them in a sentence or two, that we may 
 understand how much and how little we can do here. 
 
 We cannot fix the beginning of this revival. — The end of our 
 vision is not the starting-point of God's working. That which 
 is a germ in relation to one thing is a ripened fruit in reference 
 to another. It is wisest for us to keep human agency in its 
 own place, and to aim at reflecting all the glory on the Sovereign 
 Lord. We cannot justly tell its progress. — This is a spiritual work, 
 and we are earthly. To tell the current story of conversion is 
 easy, but to trace the outgoings of this new life in the Church 
 and the world is another thing. The under-current is hidden 
 from our view. That which lies on the surface is the greatest 
 which men see, but it is the least which the Spirit has shewn. 
 We cannot fully describe its fruits. — After all, this is greatly 
 premature. The outward change of a community is much, but 
 the eternal day shall reveal more than this. Such a great 
 
 B 
 
18 THE CONNOR DISTRICT. 
 
 awakening may be the fruit of the past, but it is the bud of the 
 future. 
 
 Yet it is a grateful task, however inadequately we may 
 execute it, to mark the springing up of the sparkling fountain 
 after all the darkness of its hidden streams, and to trace its 
 flow still upward as our poor knowledge leads us, till the light 
 of heaven breaks upon the bended seekers, and we find ourselves 
 beside the river of life, which flows from the throne of God and 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 In more than one locality in Ulster, notwithstanding the 
 general deadness, symptoms of awakening began to indicate 
 the approach of a better era. Public attention, however, was 
 soon concentrated on a rural district in County Antrim, which 
 more than any other has been identified with the early history 
 of the movement, and from which, as a common centre, it spread 
 with unprecedented rapidity over the entire north of Ireland. 
 
 The place was one which had long enjoyed the benefit of an 
 evangelical ministry. Even in days of darkness and defection 
 Connor had been a favoured district ; and under the oversight 
 of a faithful pastorate and vigilant eldership, ever zealous for 
 the purity of communion and the maintenance of a wholesome 
 discipline, the flock were taught alike by precept and example 
 the necessity of separation from the world. Some thirty years 
 ago the venerable Henry Henry rested from his labours, extend- 
 ing over half a century, and was succeeded by one who, in the 
 wider sphere to which he was subsequently called, acquired an 
 influential position in the Presbyterian Church, and whose re- 
 mains have just been followed to the grave amid the regrets 
 and tears of thousands. For about nine years the Rev. David 
 Hamilton, late of Belfast, plied his congenial task among a plain 
 people in that rural region, and sowed much of that precious seed 
 which has subsequently borne abundant fruit. His successor, 
 one of the ablest and most devoted ministers in Ulster, laboured 
 for a length of time with little visible result, expounding and 
 enforcing the old theology, training the rising generation in 
 Scripture knowledge, using no flattering words with any, and 
 fearing not to testify of the dread realities of the world to come. 
 
LABOURS OF ITS PRESENT PASTOR. 19 
 
 His public ministrations, accordingly, were characterised by 
 great plainness of speech, insomuch that many for a time com- 
 plained of his honest boldness, even when they could not resist 
 the power with which he addressed them in his Master's name. 
 In the prosecution Of his pastoral work he regularly visited the 
 families of his charge once a year, and was thus intimately 
 conversant with the spiritual condition of all his people. To 
 the young especially he sought to commend the great salvation, 
 sparing neither time nor toil to indoctrinate them in the truth 
 as it is in Jesus. Into the numerous Sabbath-schools under 
 his care he introduced important and instructive Scriptural exer- 
 cises ; while Bible-classes were established, which were attended 
 by many, who, by reason of their age, would have shrunk from 
 placing themselves on a level with those of tender years, who 
 were receivmg a merely elementary instruction in the Word of 
 God. The young and old were thus alike well taught in the 
 Bible, and consequently were, to a more than ordinary extent, 
 acquainted with the gospel scheme. Yet, notwithstanding these 
 advantages and opportunities, many had little more than the 
 form, of godliness ; others, openly careless and indifferent, were 
 unhappily addicted to strong drink and other debasing vices. 
 The merely moral and the sincerely pious mingled together, so 
 far as man could judge, with little to distinguish them from 
 one another ; while the victim of intemperance, now and then, 
 and as if to annoy both, appeared among them, to be flouted 
 by the one, and pitied by the other. For years this state of 
 things continued, until, after many disheartening delays, the 
 long-desired blessing came, and hundreds rose up as from the 
 dead to newness of life. 
 
 For a considerable period the winter Sabbath-evening service, 
 which was more especially designed for the outlying population, 
 who had no regular church connexion, and who could not find 
 accommodation in the crowded pews in the previous part of the 
 day, had become unusually large, amounting to many hundreds, 
 even in the darkest nights and the coldest weather ; " and Vv^hat 
 they heard," says Mr Moore, " was very plain, and barren of all 
 attempt at ordinary pulpit refinements. The terrors of the 
 
20 THE TANNYBRAKE SABBATH-SCHOOL. 
 
 Lord, and the free offers of mercy — heaven or hell — these con- 
 stituted the almost exclusive theme." "It is worthy of notice 
 also," he adds, " that the revival of religion, and the reasonable- 
 ness of expecting such a dispensation, were not unfrequently 
 dv/elt on in the stated ministrations of the sanctuary. Extracts 
 were read from the existing memorials of the work of God in 
 Wales, under Daniel Rowlands ; in America, under Jonathan 
 Edwards and the Tennents ; and in Scotland, under the many 
 eminent ministers who were similarly honoured in other days. 
 The idea of a great revival accordingly took hold of many in 
 the congregation, and many prayers were offered in public and 
 in private that it might be realised in its vitality and power." 
 " Depend upon it," said one of the most intelligent and prayer- 
 ful men in all the district to his minister some years ago, " you 
 will yet see good days in Connor." 
 
 It was in the spring of 1855 that a movement was com- 
 menced in faith and prayer, which was destined, ere long, to 
 spread over the neighbourhood a hallowed influence. At the 
 close of a Sabbath evening at that period, and at one of his 
 Bible-class examinations, Mr Moore was heard addressing a 
 young man present, and affectionately urging upon him the 
 duty of doing " something more " for God. " Could you not," 
 he said, " gather at least six of your careless neighbours, either 
 parents or children, to your own house, or some other conve- 
 nient place, on the Sabbath, and spend an hour with them, 
 reading and searching the Word of God?" The young man 
 hesitated for a moment, but promised to try. From that trial, 
 made in faith, originated the Tannybrake Sabbath-school, and 
 in connexion with it, two years subsequently, a prayer-meeting, 
 which yielded some of the first-fruits of the great awakening. 
 In the course of the winter following, a devoted Christian lay- 
 man came to reside in the vicinity, with whose co-operation, in 
 the spring, the school, which had been closed during the months 
 preceding, was reopened under more favourable auspices. 
 During the summer it greatly flourished — a marked seriousness 
 and earnestness being discernible, both among the teachers and 
 the taught. Seeing the good effects produced upon the children, 
 
ITS PRAYER-MEETING. 21 
 
 the teachers anxiously considered whether an effort might not 
 be undertaken on behalf of the parents also. Accordingly, they 
 resolved to commence a special exercise for prayer and reading 
 the Scriptures each evening, after the closing of the school, to 
 which the parents and others were to be specially invited. " A 
 Sabbath evening, early in August," to use the language of my 
 informant, a student for the ministry residing in the district, 
 " found the expectant teachers engaged in their new work, vMh 
 only one solitary visitor preseftit. Nothing discouraged, they 
 resolved to persevere, and a second meeting shewed a more 
 decided measure of success, for about thirty persons, besides 
 themselves and a few scholars, attended. From week to week 
 the numbers continued to increase, till at last the house was 
 filled. Prayer, praise, and reading in the Bible, with plain 
 observations on the portion read, were the exercises engaged in. 
 Everything sectarian was strictly prohibited, and promptly 
 checked as soon as it appeared. Questions that might have 
 given rise to controversy Avere not discussed, while the one 
 great and absorbing topic, ' Christ and the cross,' seemed to 
 occupy the attention and steal the affections of all present. 
 The Sabbath-school teachers' prayer-meeting, for so it was 
 called, became more and more interesting, till the knowledge 
 of its existence spread throughout the neighbourhood. Many 
 came to see whether the things they had heard concerning it 
 were true ; and such was the earnestness and solemnity in that 
 little assembly, that strangers who came once, returned again 
 and again, until they also caught the hallowed flame. Nor was 
 it with the labour of the slothful that they entered on the work 
 — it was with constancy, persistency, and power, and with an 
 intense desire for the salvation of their friends and neighbours 
 who were perishing around them. 
 
 "Among others who were associated in the Sabbath-school 
 prayer-meeting, were the four young men whose names have 
 been much before the public in connexion with the subsequent 
 revival. These four rejoiced together in the glorious work, and 
 took great delight also in each other's society, enjoying sweet 
 communion with each other, and with their common Lord. 
 
22 THE YOUNG MEN's FELLOWSHIP -MEETING. 
 
 But as they were some miles apart, in their respective homes, 
 and could not come together so often as they desired, they re- 
 solved to meet at a central place for Christian fellowship, and 
 for this purpose they chose an old school-house in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Kells, where, in the month of October, about two 
 months subsequent to the commencement of the Sabbath-school 
 prayer-meeting in Tannybrake, those exercises were conducted 
 which have been generally regarded as the origin of the revival. 
 It will be seen, however, from what has now been stated, that 
 the first stirrings of life were exhibited in connexion with the 
 Sabbath-school prayer-meeting. Three, at least, of the converts 
 were born there ; two of them were scholars, and the third a 
 teacher, while the gracious answers to the prayers offered on their 
 behalf, when labouring under deep conviction, gave a powerful 
 stimulus to prayer itself. From that time the gracious drops 
 began to fall thicker and faster, until the rushing shower 
 descended which has refreshed so many, and left behind ver- 
 dure and beauty in the heritage of God." 
 
 " For a considerable period," says Mr Moore himself, " and 
 before any general interest in religion was manifested by the 
 people, there had been a growing anxiety about salvation. And 
 some cases had here and there occurred of an unwonted char- 
 acter : a sinner, anxious about the state and prospects of his soul, 
 experiencing a sudden, startling visitation of dread, followed 
 by a peace and joy unspeakable — a protracted season of per- 
 plexity approaching to despair, succeeded by a view of Christ 
 as a Saviour, full, sweet, restoring. Such instances had been 
 occasionally witnessed, but they were isolated and unnoticed 
 by the generality. About the spring of 1858 a very interesting 
 work began to manifest itself, and to move onwards over a 
 certain district of the congregation. For more than a quarter 
 of a century the ' prayer-meeting ' had existed in that locality, 
 while similar meetings had in other districts, after many 
 ineffectual efforts to maintain them, languished and revived, 
 languished again, and died. Once the meeting in question was 
 so far reduced in numbers that only two came together to call 
 upon the name of the Lord. Still they continued to pray on, 
 
THE FIRST-FRUITS. 23 
 
 and by degrees the little company increased, nntil it became 
 ' two bands.' In the same district also, it deserves to be men- 
 tioned, the Bible training of the yomig in connexion with the 
 organisation of Sabbath-schools, had been most successful; 
 the class which had been established there being more pro- 
 mising than any of the others in the parish." 
 
 The "fellowship-meeting" above referred to, was established 
 almost simultaneously with those concerts for prayer, begun by 
 a similar agency, in America, whose influence was so extensively 
 felt throughout the great Western continent. " The society," to 
 adopt the words of the Kev. S. J. Moore of Ballymena, "soon 
 ceased to be a secret one ; and slowly one kindred si3irit after 
 another was introduced, on the recommendation of some of the 
 original members. For a few months they had to w*alk by faith. 
 The seed, however, was not long cast upon the waters till the. 
 tide ebbed, and the tender blade sprung up. They wrestled on. 
 They prevailed. Surely when God's set time is come — when. Ha 
 intends signally to answer prayer, He disposes the supplicant 
 to plead, and, with growing anxiety, to plead on till the bless- 
 ing is secured. The first observable instance of conversion 
 occurred in December following. A young man became greatly 
 alarmed. After some time, in answer to earnest prayer by him- 
 self and others, he found peace and confidence. Early in Janu- 
 ary a youth in the Sabbath-school class taught by one. of those 
 young men, was brought to the saving knowledge of Christ 
 as his Saviour. Special prayer, about the same period, was 
 frequently ofiered in the fellowship-meeting in behalf of two 
 persons, who, some three months afterwards, joyfully professed 
 their faith in the Lord Jesus. Faith grew. Hope brightened. 
 *The power of prayer' began to be known, and felt, and seen. 
 The spring communion came on. Throughout the extensive 
 parish, consisting of some thousand families, it was generally 
 known that, lately, persons had been turned to the Lord among 
 them — some moral, and some wildly immoral. A few had heard 
 of a similar triumph of Divine grace beyond the Atlantic. The 
 services were peculiarly solemn. The Master's presence seemed 
 to be recognised, and His call heard. A great impulse was given 
 
24 SPREAD OP THE AWAKENING. 
 
 to consideration and seriousness, intensifying and extending 
 these general precursors of conviction and revival. The old 
 prayer-meetings began to be thronged, and many new ones esta- 
 blished. No difficulty now to find persons to take part in them. 
 The winter was past ; the time of the singing of birds had come. 
 Humble, grateful, loving, joyous converts multiplied. The 
 awakening to a sight of sin, the conviction of its sinfulness, the 
 illumination of the soul in the knowledge of a glorious Saviour, 
 and conversion to Him — all this operation, carried on by the 
 life-giving Spirit, was in the Connor district, for more than 
 eighteen months, a calm, quiet, gradual, in some cases a length- 
 ened process, not commencing in, or accompanied by, a ' smiting 
 down' of the body, or any extraordinary physical prostration 
 more than what might be expected to result from great anxiety 
 and deep sorrow." 
 
 The awakening thus commenced and spread over a district in 
 •\vhich there was a good degree of preparation for its advent. 
 It is a striking fact, that it was not till more than twelve months 
 subsequently, and in the summer of 1859, when the work was 
 spreading generally over Ulster, that some of the other districts 
 of the congregation were blessed with the gracious visitation. 
 Once begun, however, the movement rapidly extended. The 
 great concerns of eternity were realised as they had never been 
 before. People, when they met, talked a new language. Many 
 walked about in deep anxiety about the one thing needfid; while 
 others rejoiced in the realised experience of a present peace and 
 a complete salvation. Meetings for Christian converse and 
 prayer began to spread — in a short time the community was 
 altogether changed in its outward aspects, and a pervading 
 seriousness prevailed ; and at the meeting of the General As- 
 sembly in July 1858, Mr Moore was publicly requested by the 
 Moderator to furnish some account of the awakening, the tidings 
 of which elicited an expression of the deepest interest on the 
 part of the supreme judicatory of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 During the succeeding months, and throughout the mnter, 
 a silent w^ork of grace was gradually extending over the 
 whole congregation of Connor, insomuch that when spring 
 
A VISIT TO CONNOE. 25 
 
 arrived it was believed that some hundreds had been savingly 
 brought under its benign influence. As yet no physical excite- 
 ment had appeared; the process was a purely spiritual one, 
 carried on in the sanctuary of the mind — the Spirit of God acting 
 through the medium of His own truth upon the spirit of man. 
 Conversion-work, Tiowever, of the purest type had been going 
 on ; a total transformation had been effected in the hearts and 
 lives of those who were the subjects of the change ; and through- 
 out all the neighbourhood was heard "thanksgiving and the 
 voice of melody." 
 
 It was early in the month of May 1859, that, having heard of 
 the great events that were being transacted there, I resolved to 
 make a personal visit to the scene. Arriving on a Saturday 
 afternoon at the manse, I found my excellent friend the pastor 
 in the bosom of his family; his mind, which had for such a 
 lengthened period previously been strained to the utmost, now 
 somewhat relaxed into repose, as he was relieved for the time 
 from preparation for the public ser\ices of the morrow. I had 
 not long arrived till an intimation was sent from the neighbour- 
 ing village, from a little company of praying ones, whose custom 
 it was to meet on the evening before the Sabbath to invoke a 
 blessing on the ministrations of the sanctuary. They desked, 
 on that occasion, the presence of their minister, knowing that 
 he was in a good measure disengaged, and that another was to 
 occupy his place before the congregation. And so he soon after 
 joined them in their exercise of supplication. The place of 
 meeting was, I have no doubt, the same which, on a subsequent 
 occasion, was visited by the Eev. Dr Edgar, and which, with 
 the persons occupying it, he thus graphically describes : — " The 
 place was a butcher's shop. The butcher, two years ago, did 
 not know A from B. God converted him : he taught himself 
 to read, and he is now a large tract-distributor at his own cost, 
 and a chief hand in the revival work. The secretary was a 
 working shoemaker — another Carey. Others present were day- 
 labourers, a stone-breaker, and a blacksmith's boy. The stone- 
 breaker, who sits on the road-side breaking stones to earn his 
 bread, is one of four brothers, lately converted. Their mother 
 
26 A sabbath's experience in the congregation. 
 
 was sister to a notorious pugilist, to whom she used to be a 
 bottle-holder, and when she entered a shop she was watched as 
 a noted thief. Her sons were pests, but God's grace has made 
 them vessels of mercy, overflowing with goodness, for not a few." 
 
 On Mr Moore's return to the manse, he was joined by one of 
 the four brethren, originally in the membership of the fellow- 
 ship-meeting, a young man, whose spiritual attainments so 
 highly commended him to the congregation that they had set 
 him apart to the work of an evangelist — a department in which 
 he has been much honoured not only in that immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, but in many other districts in the province. He had 
 waited on the minister to receive his instructions as to the 
 duties of the ensuing week, and took his leave, after arranging 
 that he should specially devote himself to a district in which 
 the people had shewn a great unwillingness to attend his meet- 
 ings, under a seeming apprehension, as he expressed it, "lest 
 the Lord should lay His hand upon them." 
 
 The services on the Sabbath were attended as usual by an 
 immense audience. The congregation being one of the largest 
 in Ulster, and comprising nearly a thousand families, the 
 church, at all times well filled, was thronged by a mass of 
 devout worshippers. During the service there were indications 
 of an unusual solemnity, the most intense earnestness being 
 depicted on every countenance, and many being melted into 
 tears. The singing of the psalms was a perfect outburst of 
 melodious sound, the greater portion of the people having for 
 some years previously been trained in the practice of sacred 
 music, and their hearts being manifestly engaged in the enliven- 
 ing exercise. The discourse was largely occupied with a setting 
 forth of the leading characteristics of the American revival of 
 the preceding year — a subject with which the hearers were not 
 altogether unfamiliar, as a few months previously they had been 
 addressed by visitors from Philadelphia — young men connected 
 with the Christian Association, on whose labours such a signal 
 blessing has rested in that city. When the service, Avhich had 
 been somewhat more protracted than usual, had concluded, the 
 pastor rose and stated that, in consideration of the period of the 
 
A VISIT TO THE PRAYEE-MEETING. 27 
 
 day and of the meetings for prayer throughout the congregation 
 in the evening, there would not on that occasion be a second diet 
 of worship; but he requested as many as could find it convenient 
 to remain for an additional half hour, for the purpose of invok- 
 ing the Divine blessing on the statements which they had then 
 heard. The greater portion of the audience remained, when, 
 after a brief exposition of a psalm, a general request was made 
 that some member of the church would engage in supplication. 
 The call was at once responded to, and our devotions were led 
 with much appropriateness by an individual who, as his pastor 
 afterwards informed me, had not on any former occasion taken 
 such a part in the public services of the house of Grod. 
 
 In the evening of that Sabbath I took the opportunity of 
 visiting one of the many meetings for exhortation and prayer in 
 the vicinity, selecting that (as being nearest) in the adjacent 
 village of Kells. The exercises had begun and were going for- 
 ward when we entered. The house in which the meeting was 
 held was filled to inconvenience, the greater portion occupying 
 the available space above, while the ground-floor was crowded, 
 and the very stair was occupied in every part. There was the 
 utmost order and decorum, and for some twenty minutes we 
 sat listening with much interest, and unobserved by the 
 speaker, who was overhead, to a very touching address deli- 
 vered by one of comparatively tender years, in which he dwelt 
 with pathetic earnestness on the necessity of an instant 
 closing with Christ on His own terms, as the only and all- 
 sufiicient Saviour. After he had concluded, and prayer had 
 been engaged in, it was agreed that, in consequence of the 
 crowded and uncomfortable condition of the apartments, an 
 adjournment should take place to another house hard by; which 
 being done, the exercises were resumed — Mr Moore himself pre- 
 siding. There were many present who appeared to be in deep 
 mental concern, and of whom several would willingly have 
 waited on the minister for his friendly counsel. He was obliged, 
 however, to announce that, owing to the number of such, he 
 was under the necessity of postponing to meet with them, as 
 they desired, for private conference till the following Tuesday. 
 
28 SYMPATHY AilONGST THE CONVERTS. 
 
 It was now nine o'clock, and we took our leave, the benediction 
 having been pronounced. We left the majority, however, still 
 in a state of apparent expectation, and shewing, from the way 
 in Avhich they lingered outside, a disposition to engage once 
 more in exercises which had manifestly so much in unison vdih 
 all their feelings. I have little doubt that they did resume in 
 the same place the congenial occupation. 
 
 A short time after we had returned to the pastor's dwelling, 
 an intimation was made to us that in the course of the morning 
 service a young man who had for some time been under anxiety 
 of mind had obtained "peace in beheving; " — " but that," said my 
 excellent brother, " is nothing uncommon, for scarce a sermon 
 is preached or meeting held in which some such results are 
 not realised ; " and then he went on to mention other similar 
 instances. 
 
 Next morning I took my departure. On passing through the 
 village, Mr Moore, who accompanied me to Ballymena, alighted 
 from the vehicle on which we were conveyed, and entered a re- 
 spectable-looking dwelling. On his rejoining me, he said, "Yes, 
 it is even as we heard last night. That is a house which is visited 
 by almost all our younger converts as soon as they have obtained 
 peace. They are all in Christ in that habitation, and there 
 others are attracted by the assurance of their sympathy. Late 
 in the evening, the young man referred to, a holder of land in 
 the neighbourhood, had called. He told them that at such a 
 part of the service his burden was lifted off, and when he 
 came to them, as they expressed it, "the tears were trickling 
 down his cheeks for very joy." 
 
 Continuing our drive, we passed soon after two houses by the 
 wayside — referring to which my friend said, as he pointed to 
 them, "There are seven in that little nook," meaning thereby 
 that these had also through grace believed. Had time and 
 opportunity allowed me to accompany Mr Moore in some of his 
 pastoral rounds, I have little doubt that he could have pointed 
 out hundreds of such cases ; but as Mr Arthur has well expres- 
 sed it, with respect to that admirable minister, at a subsequent 
 stage of the movement, and after much attention had been 
 
UNOSTENTATIOUSNESS OF THE WOKK. 29 
 
 attracted to it — " Even now !Mr Moore says nothing of numbers, 
 writes nothing to papers, leaves the numbers to be learned by 
 the state of the church — the effects to be found out in the lives 
 of the people. He is not so anxious to trumpet conversions, as 
 to save souls." 
 
 In regard to the results of the revival, as witnessed in the 
 improved state of the district, one or two statistical facts may 
 be mentioned. Of nine public-houses, two are closed by the 
 conversion of their owners, and a third for want of trade ; while 
 the quantity of drink now sold by the six that are open is less 
 than that formerly sold by one. In 1857 there were in the 
 parish thirty-seven committals for offences connected with 
 drunkenness ; in 1858, eleven; in 1859, four, of whom two were 
 strangers. And whereas in 1857 there were twenty-seven 
 paupers in the Union Workhouse, there are but four at present, 
 •while the poor-rates are only half the amount they were before. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL PEOCLAIMED AS HAVING COME. ' 
 
 Visits of the Awakened to Ahoghill — A Scene amid the Clouds of Night 
 — " I am Saved"— Spread of the Work— The Eager Multitudes— The 
 Physical Affections on their first appearance — A similar instance in 
 Coimty Down — Efi'ects on the Community — Meeting in a Cockpit. 
 
 Although, as lias been already stated, the work of preparation 
 was going forward in some of the neighbouring congregations, 
 it was not till near the close of 1858 that any striking results 
 appeared. On the 9th of December of that year, an event 
 occurred which was destined, in the train of causes, to exert a 
 wide-spread spiritual influence. On that day a young man who 
 had been led to attend the Connor fellowship - meeting was 
 for the first time penetrated with a sense of sin, and induced to 
 cry for mercy. No sooner had he tasted the joys of pardon and 
 of peace than he began to bethink himself of the state of his 
 relations, resident a few miles ofi", in the Ahoghill district ; and 
 with all the fervour of a young disciple he solicited some three 
 or four of his fellow-converts to unite with him in prayer on their 
 behalf, that they also might be made partakers of his abound- 
 ing happiness. A few weeks after, he visited his mother and 
 family, to communicate to them his own experience of the 
 loving-kindness of the Lord, and to excite them to a kindred 
 earnestness about the "great salvation." Once and again he 
 came with the same anxious and prayerful aim ; nor was it long 
 till he was gladdened by the tidings that, after an exercise of con- 
 viction, his mother had been made a partaker of like precious 
 faith, and was rejoicing in the hope of glory. Another member 
 
A SCENE AMID THE CLOUDS OF NIGHT. 31 
 
 of the family, a brother, was the next object of his solicitude. 
 At the time when he went in search of him, the brother was at 
 a shooting match, and there, amid the excitement of the scene, 
 fell on his ear the startling words, " I have a message for you 
 from the Lord Jesus." A strange effect soon followed, and he 
 was brought under the subduing influence of a Divine agency. 
 It was amid the clouds of night that after parting from one 
 another, each for his respective place of habitation, the brother 
 resident at Ahoghill was all at once immersed in the horror 
 of a deeper darkness, his whole frame trembling as in the 
 immediate presence of the Invisible. In the midst of a soul- 
 conflict, in which he experienced the pangs of unutterable agony, 
 he found a measure of relief in prostrating himself before the 
 throne of mercy, and though still much agitated and enfeebled, 
 made the best of his way home. Day after day he groaned 
 under the weight of his heart-sorrow, and sought deliverance 
 with awful cries and supplicatit)ns. At length his burden was 
 graciously removed, and, rising from his loom, he fell upon his 
 knees, and gave full vent to his rejoicing in rapturous thanks- 
 givings. Thenceforward a new life was infused into him, and 
 he burned with an unquenchable desire to glorify the name of 
 his Almighty Saviour. One of his first impulses was to rush 
 directly to his minister, (the Rev. F. Buick,) to whom he com- 
 municated his whole soul in the glad utterance, " I am saved." 
 And then, as he found opportunity, he wrought unceasingly 
 both night and day, and even to the neglect of his daily task 
 in seeking to win others to a participation in the same immortal 
 hopes. In a short time several members of the same household 
 had experienced a gracious change. 
 
 An anxious desire having been expressed by Mr Buick, that 
 others of the lay brethren from Connor should visit the neigh- 
 bourhood, a meeting was held in his own church, to which 
 they were invited. " It was," as he testifies, " an earnest, heart- 
 stirring meeting. A holy flame was kindled. A strong desire 
 for a gracious revival began to gain ascendancy. The brethren 
 from Connor were again invited. The school-house, where the 
 meeting was to be held, was altogether too small to accommo- 
 
32 FIRST APPEAEANCE OF THE PHYSICAL AFFECTIONS. 
 
 date the hundreds that were in attendance. It was accordingly 
 adjourned to the Second Presbyterian Church, Ahoghill, where 
 similar stirring appeals and prayers of burning fervency moved 
 the vast assembly. Thereafter, prayer-meetings began to mul- 
 tiply. The new converts, with other Christians whose hearts 
 the Lord stirred, engaged in the work of prayer and exhorta- 
 tion with unquenchable zeal. Thus the work spread. Daily, 
 fresh interest was awakened. . Common houses, and even large 
 churches, were not able to contain the multitudes that assembled, 
 so that often the highway and the open field, in the cold even- 
 ings of spring, were the scenes of deeply-interesting meetings. 
 So eager have the multitudes been to hear the services of the 
 converted brethren, that many travelled miles to be present, 
 and, without any weariness, they would have remained, even 
 all night, if the services had continued. There has been an 
 uncommon thirsting for the Word." 
 
 In the statements which foUcJw, the physical affections which 
 henceforward characterised the movement are thus noticed in 
 their early manifestations : — 
 
 " At these meetings many convictions have taken place. From 
 one up to ten and twelve have been arrested by the Spirit of 
 God, through the word and prayer of these honoured brethren. 
 Even strong men have staggered and fallen down under the 
 wounds of their conscience. Great bodily weakness ensues. 
 The whole frame trembles. Oh ! it is a heartrendmg sight 
 to witness. With wringing of hands, streams of tears, and a 
 look of unutterable anguish, they confess their sins in tones 
 of unmistakable sincerity, and appeal to the Lord for mercy 
 with a cry of piercing earnestness. I have seen the strong 
 frame convulsed; I have witnessed every joint trembling; I 
 have heard the cry, as I have never heard it before, 'Lord 
 Jesus, have mercy upon my sinful soul ; Lord Jesus, come to 
 my burning heart ; Lord, pardon my sins ; oh, come and lift 
 me from these flames of hell ! ' 
 
 "These convictions vary in different individuals, both in 
 strength and duration. While some obtain peace in believing 
 soon after their conviction, others do not attain it for several 
 
AN INSTANCE IN COUNTY DOWN. 33 
 
 days. It is after many a conflict, 3vitli conviction oft returning, 
 with much prayer and reading of the Word, through which 
 spiritual light makes great progress in the mind, that a settled 
 peace and holy joy take possession of the soul." 
 
 While the bodily prostrations above referred to have been 
 generally regarded as originating in connexion with the awaken- 
 ing in Ahoghill, there is reason to believe there Avere occasional 
 instances of a similar description, and at the same period, in 
 other parts of Ulster. Thus, in the county of Down, in a rural 
 district called Crossgar, the following case, never before publish- 
 ed, is narrated by the Rev. J. G. Thomson, the young minister 
 of the place : — 
 
 "In the middle of the month of January 1859, 1 was called 
 upon early one morning to see a previously strong, healthy 
 young man, who supposed himself to be dying. On my arrival, I 
 found him lying in bed, and evidently in a state of great bodily 
 weakness, although his sickness did not seem to be unto death. 
 Entering into conversation with him, I learned that he had 
 been sick of soul, previous to his being sick of body, and that 
 the former was the cause of the latter. He told me that he had 
 been very much impressed by a sermon I had preached on the 
 last Sabbath afternoon, from these words, " I have a message 
 from God unto thee." (Judges iii. 20.) Alarmed on account of 
 sin and the punishment due to it, he could get no rest, day 
 nor night. Loudly did he cry for mercy, and did not cry in 
 vain. He knocked, and the door of mercy was opened for the 
 outpouring of spiritual blessings. He obtained pardon and 
 peace after a severe struggle, by which he was left in a state of 
 great bodily weakness. He was unable to walk for a number 
 of days, and not until two months had passed was he able to 
 pursue his ordinary business. Strange to say, when affected 
 first, he complained of there being about his heart, unattended 
 by any pain, a heavy weight, which he considered in some v/ay 
 to be associated with the idea of sin. This was removed, as he 
 said, \Yhen the" Holy Spirit came into his heart, and produced 
 within him that faith which enabled him to lay hold upon 
 Jesus, and to fly to Him from the wrath to come. His features 
 
 c 
 
34 EFFECTS ON THE COltfMUNITY. 
 
 indicated the gladness of one who had found some great and 
 lasting treasure. You could have seen the very joy sparkling 
 in his eye ; and more than once did I hear him say, that if the 
 Lord willed, he would rather depart and be with Jesus. His 
 case was, in many particulars, similar to that of many I have 
 seen since the great religious movement came among us. While 
 his weakness remained, I frequently read the Scriptures, con- 
 versed and prayed with him. In all such exercises, he took, 
 and still takes, the deepest interest. He is still growing in 
 gi'ace, and by his walk and conversation in the world, gives 
 every evidence of being a son of the Lord Almighty, This and 
 similar cases have been like drops before the shower." 
 
 The w^ork in Ahoghill, from the outset, was largely character- 
 ised by those physical effects which henceforward to a greater 
 or less extent marked its onward progress. It is not to be 
 wondered at that the sudden, singular, and violent conversions 
 which w^ere now so frequent, produced a strange and startling 
 effect on the community. Such instantaneous seizures, so dif- 
 f:erent in their character from the slow methods to which the 
 Church has been accustomed, were naturally regarded with 
 some suspicion and alarm, as introducing a new process in 
 regeneration, and it was not without an internal struggle that 
 many could be brought to admit their genuineness. It was 
 impossible to deny, however, that the most blessed results were 
 to be found associated with these affections, and that society in 
 all its aspects was undergoing a wondrous transformation. 
 
 The Synod of Ballymena and Coleraine held its meeting in 
 the month of ]May, and the report then submitted (see Appendix 
 A), and which was prepared by the Rev. F. Buick, is valuable 
 as the first public testimony emitted by a court of Christ with 
 reference to the awakening. 
 
 Many interesting incidents might be narrated, illustrative of 
 the wonderful effect which was produced upon the public mind 
 in the same neighbourhood, as evinced in the new direction it 
 took, amid scenes where formerly the most demoralising prac- 
 tices prevailed. Take the following as an instance, narrated by 
 the Rev. David Adams : — 
 
IVIEETING IX A COCKPIT. 35 
 
 " I may here quote a statement I wrote some time ago respect- 
 ing a meeting at Creaglirock, midway between Alioghill and 
 Eandalstown, a place where ever since, at the request of the 
 people, a monthly religious meeting has been held in the open- 
 air, attended by hundreds. This place had become famous, or 
 rather infamous, as a cockpit, especially on Ahoghill old fair- 
 day, when thousands would assemble for the degrading sport of 
 cock-fighting, thereby making it a scene of lying, blasphemy, 
 drunkenness, and all manner of profligacy. In these ' revival ' 
 times a number of the awakened, some of whom, perhaps, were 
 ' cockers ' themselves, resolved on this occasion to make it a far 
 different scene, and therefore invited several ministers to attend, 
 and address the meeting against all manner of vice, and for the 
 promotion of all manner of holiness. Tuesday was one of June's 
 finest days — sky unclouded, sun brilliant, all nature laughing 
 with joy, and 'heaven smiling o'er us.' The meeting was at ten 
 o'clock A.M,, and even at that early hour, crowds in all direc- 
 tions, and of all characters — in many cases, from a distance of 
 five or six miles — were seen wending their way gladly to the 
 Ptock, and at one time there could not have been much less than 
 two thousand present. The meeting was earnestly and usefully 
 addressed by four ministers, and pious prayers were offered up 
 by fervent laymen. A most solemn impression was produced 
 on all, from the gray-haired man of ninety to the merry child of 
 a few years. Many of the old and young were deeply and visibly 
 impressed by the Spirit's power; and altogether such a hallowed 
 scene cannot fail to be engraven on the heart of every beholder, 
 for many a year, as it is believed several on that day could there 
 and then look up to heaven and say of Jesus — • 
 
 ' Rock of ages, cleft for me.' " 
 
 A twelvemonth has now elapsed since the blessing came upon 
 the neighbourhood of which such things have been recorded. 
 Have the results disappointed expectation 1 or has the impres- 
 sion died away with the occasion that gave it birth ? Let the 
 following dispassionate statement, written at the close of the 
 past year, supply the answer. It is by the Rev. F. Buick : — 
 
36 SERIOUS DEPORTMENT OF THE CONVERTS. 
 
 "When Barnabas visited Antioch to see and report on the 
 revival that had taken place there, it is said in the sacred history, 
 ' When he came, and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and 
 exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave 
 imto the Lord.' This is the case witL us. The grace of God is 
 visible in its effects in producing light and knowledge, prayer 
 and praise, attendance on ordinances, holiness of life, and 
 reformation of manners. Great gladness has been obtained 
 by hundreds who have come to the enjoyment of pardon and 
 peace, and are now rejoicing in the Lord. Great gladness has 
 been introduced into families. Men that were coarse and 
 savage, and a source of untold misery to their wives, are now 
 so altered, so mild, so pleasant, so God-hke, that the change 
 in their domestic happiness is like heaven on the earth. The 
 melody of joy and gladness is now heard in many families, just 
 because they are families of the righteous. Throughout this 
 privileged season there has been great gladness — higher strains 
 of praise in the Church triumphant, on the return to the Lord 
 of so many prodigals. There is great gladness in the Church 
 militant, because of the increased attendance in the courts of 
 the Lord's house, the lofty strains of her praise, the deep-toned 
 earnestness of her services, and the life and power of her devo- 
 tions, all of which have largely partaken of the revival. 
 
 " It is truly astonishing to witness the deep solemnity which 
 pervades the whole deportment of many who, before conversion, 
 were regardless of divine things, and who even shewed a positive 
 aversion to them. Now their real appearance is that of an all- 
 pervading seriousness. How they have been subdued, and 
 changed, and solemnised ! Their growth in knowledge is rapid; 
 Juheir love of the Bible is intense ; and it is marvellous to hear 
 with what fluency, unction, and power, they can approach the 
 throne of grace in prayer. They are called to be saints. 
 
 " It is the general impression that a work of grace has been 
 going on silently, and without observation, on the heart of 
 hundreds throughout the country, who have had no bodily 
 prostrations. It is known by the feeling of deep solemnity that 
 pervades the neighbourhood — by the vast increase of family 
 
INCREASE m THE ATTENDANCE ON ORDINANCES. 37 
 
 religion — by the absence of hitherto prevailing sins — by the 
 keeping up of prayer-meetings in almost every locality — by the 
 great increase in the attendance on the ordinances of God's 
 house — and by the large accessions which have been made to 
 the communicants' roll in all the churches. The three Presby- 
 terian churches in Ahoghill are full ; and the Second and Third 
 are contemplating large additions to their accommodation." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN ITS DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 The Man in the Market — Varieties in the process of Conviction — Pro- 
 cedure at the Meetings—" What 's the News ? " — The Young Man 
 and his Brother — " I have heard of these things long before " — 
 Three Type Cases — Letter to a Teacher — Abiding Beneficial 
 Results — Statement of Rev. S. M. Dill — Description of the 
 Physical Phenomena — Stages of the Bodily Affection. 
 
 Ballyiviena is three miles distant from Ahogliill. It is one of 
 the most flourishing inland towns in Ulster, with a population 
 of about 6000, and a principal seat of the linen trade. In this 
 community the work began early in April. Amid a crowd of 
 people on the market-day, according to the statement of the 
 local journal, a strange phenomenon was witnessed : — ■ 
 
 " A man, apparently about thirty years of age, formerly of 
 Ballymena, and now resident in the neighbourhood of Ahoghill, 
 suddenly fell upon his knees, and alarmed the entire neigh- 
 bourhood by loud and desperate cries, expressive of the most 
 appalling agony. His despairing shouts were such as might be 
 expected from a man who felt himself suddenly attacked, and 
 sinking under the repeated and deadly stabs of an assassin. 
 People ran to the spot from all directions, expecting to find 
 that an unfortunate sufferer had become the victim of some 
 terrible accident. The man continued his cries for the space of 
 about ten minutes, after which interval he became more com- 
 posed ; and, being in a very weak and agitated state, he was 
 assisted by some friends to the house of a relative in Bridge 
 Street. On passing down Linen Hall Street he was repeatedly 
 
EFFECTS OF THE OUTPOURING. 39 
 
 heard to exclaim, 'Unclean! unclean! — Lord, be merciful to 
 me a sinner!' In the course of the evening he was visited 
 by some religiously -disposed young men of the town, who 
 prajT^ed with him; but a report of the result in this case has 
 not reached us." 
 
 I shall narrate the progress of the work in the words of a 
 young friend resident on the spot, who took part in the move- 
 ment in his native town, and who has suppUed me with the 
 f ollo\\dng impressive statement : — 
 
 " The week which began with May 17th can never be forgotten, 
 though it cannot easily be described. When the great outpour- 
 ing came, worldly men were silent with an indefinite fear, and 
 Christians found themselves borne onward in the current, wdth 
 scarce time for any feeling but the overpowering conviction that 
 a great revival had come at last. Careless men were bowed in 
 unaffected earnestness, and sobbed like children. Drunkards, 
 and boasting blasphemers were awed into solemnity and silence. 
 Sabbath-school teachers and scholars became seekers of Christ 
 together; and languid believers were stirred up to unusual 
 exertion. There was great earnestness with all, and enthusiasm 
 with some, but little extravagance or ridicule was knoAvn. 
 Ministers who had often toiled in heartless sorrow suddenly 
 found themselves beset by inquirers, and wholly unequal to the 
 demands which were made. Every day many were hopefully 
 converted : passing through an ordeal of conviction more or less 
 severe, to realise their great deliverance, and to throw them- 
 selves with every energy into the work of warning others, or of 
 leading them to the Lord. 
 
 " All this came suddenly, and many thought it strange. It 
 was little marvel that the world was astonished, but the incre- 
 dulous wonder of many Christians shewed how much we needed 
 a revival. We were astonished that God took us at our word, 
 and sent at last the quickening grace for which we had been 
 dreamily praying so long. The theory of asking and receiving 
 was common, but the getting of a blessing for which there was 
 no room was rare. The day-spring broke upon sleepers ; there 
 were few who could wait and watch with their unchanging Lord. 
 
40 VARIETIES IN THE PKOCESS OF CONVICTIOX. 
 
 'Tliy kingdom come' was familiar; but the coming kingdom 
 was the wonder of the day. 
 
 " It was in the opening summer that the revival came, when 
 the darkness lingers so long at nightfall, and the bright morn- 
 ings break so soon. We can remember how many lighted 
 windows there were though the night was far gone, and how 
 prayer-meetings were prolonged till the day had returned again. 
 Every evening the churches were crowded, and family worship 
 became almost universal. In the country, large meetings were 
 held in the open air, and hundreds were often visibly impressed 
 by strong conviction. Part of the dinner hour was generally 
 devoted to singing and prayer, and the sound from numerous 
 groups of worshippers could be heard far at a distance as it was 
 borne on the summer breeze. Thousands of tracts were circu- 
 lated and read with avidity, and long-neglected Bibles came 
 into general use. The order of an accustomed formality was 
 gone ; and while exhausted ministers were compelled to leave, 
 the people reluctantly dispersed — some to pray over unimpressed 
 friends, others to feel the workings of an awakened conscience, 
 and many to rejoice in their new liberty, and to glory in their 
 King. 
 
 " The process of conviction was greatly varied. In the larger 
 number it was little observed, and not connected with any 
 bodily affection. On some the conviction of real, present, 
 terrible danger came like a thunderbolt, and they were com- 
 pelled to shout for mercy in total disregard of place or circum- 
 stances. Others were less violently impressed, and the evidence 
 took the milder form of weeping. As a general rule, however, 
 a deep anxiety was felt for a longer or shorter time before the 
 crisis of strong conviction. The most hopeful were generally of 
 the first or third class. The violent bodily paroxysm was felt 
 usually by those who had been previously ignorant or openly 
 immoral. In some cases it might be traced to mere sympathy, 
 or to an exclusively physical agency, and the apparent reform 
 was only temporary; but in the great majority the change was 
 lasting and deep. It is not strange that the reason was occa- 
 sionally affected for a time by those attacks, and that the health 
 
PEOCEDUEE AT THE MEETINGS. 41 
 
 shared in the mental suifering. Many were thus instantly im- 
 pressed who never attended any meeting at all, and others at 
 their usual employment. The great purpose seemingly intended 
 by this special visitation was the arousing of others by dhect 
 appeal to their senses, and it was completely accomplished. 
 
 "The order of procedure at the town meetings was little 
 varied, yet the interest never failed while the summer lasted. 
 Each evening had its own incidents, but one general sketch 
 may give an idea of all, 
 
 "For some time before the appointed hour, many of the 
 younger converts assemble to sing together some of the 
 favourite hymns. A little later the people pour in rapidly, 
 and soon every seat is occupied. We can see men of business 
 along with their workers, each in the usual attire of the day. 
 A large proportion is made up of the scholars in the Sabbath- 
 school, and of the lower classes, who were specially visited 
 during the awakening. Some seem very anxious, and all are 
 solemn. On the faces of the recent converts there is such a 
 beaming gladness that even a stranger can tell their story at a 
 look. 
 
 " A few minutes after the single stroke of the hour is heard, 
 the minister ascends the pulpit stairs, and reads the opening 
 psalm, which is sung with thrilling fervency. The prayer which 
 follows bears greatly on the three classes of worshippers, the 
 converted, the anxious, and the unawakened, and contains ear- 
 nest pleadings for the Spirit's presence, and for the spread of 
 the revival work. Very often, as the petition passes, there is 
 heard far above the speaker's voice, and then sounding in the 
 solemn stillness, the thrilling cry of some who were arrested as 
 they prayed. And as many a conscience trembles at the arous- 
 ing call, others silently offer a prayer to the Great Physician of 
 the soul, that the broken-hearted penitent may enjoy the healing 
 of His grace. 
 
 " The addresses which follow from lay members or others are 
 practical and earnest. The master-truths pressed home are the 
 guilt and danger of every unconverted listener, and the full and 
 present salvation of Jesus. By way of illustration, recent inci- 
 
42 " what's the news ]" 
 
 dents are quoted, and each is brouglit to bear on the pressing 
 appeal At tlie close, the leader usually gives a short summary 
 of the revival progress in the surrounding districts, and then 
 reads the first line of the favourite hymn, ' What's the News V 
 As the closing verse is sung, few are silent or unmoved — 
 
 * And then, if any one should say, 
 
 What 's the news ? — what 's the news ? 
 
 Oh ! tell them you 've begun to pray — 
 That 's the news ! that 's the news ! 
 
 That you have join'd the conquering band. 
 
 And now with joy at God's command, 
 
 You 're marching to the better land — 
 That 's the news ! that 's the news ! ' 
 
 Then follows the closing prayer, and the benediction. On seve- 
 ral occasions this had to be pronounced twice, and, though at 
 midnight, all had not dispersed. 
 
 " j\Iany strange relations are connected with this period, when 
 thousands were set free from the bondage of evil. Some have 
 escaped so gently that they scarcely knew when their chains fell, 
 and the freedom came. Others have writhed and struggled in 
 their bonds so long, that reason almost sank in the strife. We 
 have heard of some who wandered about in morbid gloominess 
 for months, while on a brother or sister the light has broken in 
 a day. One can tell how he has hardly been saved from his 
 diaboHcal enemy, whom a racked imagination made almost 
 visible ; and another can speak of nothing but the story of a 
 wondrous Deliverer, and how He brought light and liberty to 
 the darkened soul. When the mind has been stored by previ- 
 ous training, there is needed only the quickening life ; but when 
 conviction of peril finds no trust to fall back upon, there is a 
 fearful groping in darkness and in doubt. This brings us many 
 lessons in reference to the early teaching of the elements of 
 truth. Tlicse life-seeds cannot perish; they lie till the life swells 
 them, and the spring-time of the soul comes round. ' God's 
 Word,' says Samuel Eutherford, ' will come to God's harvest.' 
 The psalms and lessons of the Sabbath-class have been repro- 
 duced so clearly, that many thought the revival mii-aculous. A 
 
THE YOUNG MAN AND HIS BROTHER. 43 
 
 minister was astonished to liear a woman of his charge, who had 
 been convicted, repeat with great feeling and striking accuracy 
 the instructions of a communion class at which he had laboured 
 about thirty years before. This quickening of the memory 
 brings back the truth, when every nerve is strained in the grasp- 
 ing after safety, and fits workers for their duty when the need 
 is felt. Sabbath-school teachers ! do not neglect this patient, 
 painstaking labour. Fill the mind with truth. This light from 
 Heaven is the best safeguard against error on earth. 
 
 " Another lesson may be inserted here. It is the power of 
 urgent, personal dealing. We who work for the Master are too 
 slack and listless with perisliing men. 
 
 " A young man who had been savingly changed, felt shortly 
 afterwards a strong desire to visit his brother, who lived near. 
 This drawing he could not explain, but it was too strong to be 
 resisted, and accordingly he set out under the conviction that 
 there was a w^ork before him to be done. When he arrived, his 
 message was soon told. He spoke of the change which had 
 passed upon his own soul, and pressed the great salvation on 
 the acceptance of all who heard. Still his brother was unmoved. 
 ' You need not speak to me about these things,' he said 3 ' I 
 have heard of them long before.' But the messenger pleaded 
 on, and could not return. When the evening drew on they were 
 together alone, and again the same arguments were used, but 
 seemingly with little prospect of good. At length, when the 
 night was far gone, he almost began to despair of present suc- 
 cess, and arose to go ; but he could not leave. Again he returned 
 to prayer and pleading, and before the morning broke, his 
 brother was convicted by his side. 
 
 " Christ has said, ' Strive to enter in.' This is a struggle for a 
 crown, but the crown gained does not end the struggle. If you 
 have got the life within your own soul, it will be commended to 
 the soul of your neighbour too. It is in the glow of the first love 
 that there is the unwearying persistence of earnestness. When 
 one is converted in a family, he becomes a fireside preacher, and 
 is often the means of bringing others to the Lord. It is to this 
 outgoing of love that many owe the safety that is enjoyed to-day. 
 
44 THREE TYPE CASES. 
 
 " We can see fruits of the great quickening in every class. This 
 work of the Lord is good, and it is jjleasant to trace out its 
 beauties. We insert three type cases, not because they are rare, 
 but that they are common, and so far the more truthful as 
 examples here, 
 
 "The first leads us to a labourer's home. He was a rough, 
 untutored man, of a quiet temperament, but occasionally falling 
 into fits of intoxication, and seldom seen at the church. The 
 two children who remained at home were greatly uncared for ; 
 and his wife, a delicate woman, busy in the vexatious striving 
 with her husband's errors, and the world's demands. This home 
 has a parallel in thousands around. 
 
 "It was towards the summer's close that a Visitor entered, 
 whose presence brings liberty and life. That woman is care- 
 worn still, but the world's care is gone. She has often said, 
 ' The toiling and striving is nothing to me now ; I am trusting 
 that the Lord will give us all we need ; but it cuts me to the 
 heart when I hear others denying His name.' One of the chil- 
 dren has been hopefully changed, and one is a burden for the 
 family prayer. Their father has become a total abstainer, and, 
 we believe, an earnest, humble Christian. The home is poor 
 still, for a severe winter has pressed its inmates closely ; but 
 they are rich with God's treasure in heaven. 
 
 "The subject of the second case was an occasional Sabbath- 
 school teacher. He was amiable, moral, and well instructed, 
 fully up to the world's idea of a Christian. He may stand as a 
 type of that great class of friends and acquaintances, of whom 
 we hope good things, but for whom we have sometimes to 
 fear. 
 
 " About a year before the revival came, the subject of per- 
 sonal religion had been brought before him. He was interested 
 for the time, and somewhat alarmed ; but the drawings of the 
 Spirit were overborne, and he became more regardless than 
 before. The course which branched oif here has been the fune- 
 ral way of many an immortal. When Christ is refused as a 
 living Lord, the corruption of mind and spirit is not long 
 delayed. Whatever bands are round a young man's heart, if 
 
LETTER TO A TEACHER. 45 
 
 the cords of God's love keep it not, lie "will soon fall in with 
 the notion of the fool. To keep God out of the heart is, in the 
 main, one with saying there is no God at all. 
 
 " It soon came to this, that there was nothing but a thin veil 
 of profession between the inward infidelity and the outer world. 
 Still the working Spirit was not gone. Sometimes the old 
 anxiety returned, and there was a week of apprehension and 
 earnest prayer. At length, w^hen the revival came, the former 
 impressions came back with renewed power. There was a 
 lessened striving once more with the urgent Saviour ; but the 
 time of deliverance was near. 
 
 " The passing word of a minister helped to hasten the change. 
 It was a warning against allowing the special quickening to 
 pass unimproved. A day later, the absorbing feeling possessed 
 the whole mind, and sleep was hardly known. The gray dsivra 
 of the following morning was breaking when he rose in rest- 
 less anxiety, the more easily to pass the weary hours till another 
 day was gone. Before the evening fell, that fear was cast away 
 for ever. In a meeting held about mid-day, peace was found, 
 and the struggle closed. Henceforth opened the new life, with 
 the prospect of ending in the chosen ministry of the truth. 
 
 "The third case is that of a little Sabbath-scholar, whose 
 heart the Lord touched. The fact of his conversion is inserted 
 only to introduce the extract Avhich follows, and which is part 
 of a letter written to his teacher not long ago. It speaks much 
 of the work in the heart, and of the Worker there : — 
 
 " ' I must now proceed to relate some of my own personal 
 experience, which is the most diJSicult of all to describe, because, 
 as I said before, I am not accustomed writing letters. 
 
 " ' I feel my heart very deceitful, and desperately wicked. 
 My love is sometimes very cold. My faith is often very weak, 
 and overcome by the temptations of Satan. I cannot do my 
 duty to God and my fellow-man aright. Sometimes I can 
 hardly pray, my thoughts wander so, and I am so much cast 
 down in spirit. My walk and conversation are very often not 
 consistent with vrhat I profess ; I do not walk worthy of the 
 high vocation wherewith I am called. I am afraid that I am 
 
46 SECTARIAN DIFFERENCES OVERLOOKED. 
 
 not looking enoiigli to Jesus, wlio is the Author and Finisher 
 of our faith ; that I am not running the race with patience 
 which is set before me. I have made, indeed, but very little 
 progress in holiness ; for, so far, I am only a babe in Christ. 
 To say it in short, I am nothing but a poor Christian. 
 
 " ' But I have great reason to be thankful that He has granted 
 some manifestations of Himself to me. My faith grows stronger 
 every day. I see that the eyes of the Lord are over the righte- 
 ous, and that His ears are open to their cry. There is one 
 thing which is very strange to me — perhaps it is not so with 
 those who are more advanced in grace — that when I am medi- 
 tating on God's Word, perhaps on the portion that I have in 
 the morning read, or on the death and sulBFerings of Christ, my 
 heart becomes full of love to the Saviour, I feel the very ear- 
 nest of His Spirit, which enables me to bear the cross more 
 patiently, and leads me to hope that I shall yet wear the 
 crown. I do not trust to my feelings now as formerly. I see 
 that it is a very easy thing to trust my soul into the hands of a 
 loving Saviour. This is but a short summary of my experience; 
 I would like very much to continue it if I could.' 
 
 " The teacher to whom this was written, is the writer now. 
 We thank God that He has given a dear brother such grace as 
 we now witness to the world. Reader, is there nothing here foi 
 your soul to-day 1 
 
 " Filled with such incidents, the summer and autumn months 
 passed by. As the work progressed, every rank felt its power, 
 and shared in its good fruits. The labouring classes were first; 
 and largely impressed ; but the awakening seemed as great 
 among the rich and respectable. Among the young, there has 
 been a decided and special quickening. In a denominational 
 point of view, no Church has been so favoured a-s the Calvinis- 
 tic Presbyterian, though sectarian differences have been greatly-J 
 overlooked. Many Unitarians and Roman Catholics were con- ^ 
 vinced of their errors, and hopefully changed. It would be* 
 untrue, on the one hand, to describe the sudden and complete 
 check which was given to current vice as a lasting change ; and c 
 unjust, on the other, to consider the reflux of the interrupted / 
 
 i 
 
ABIDING BENEFICIAL EESULTS. 47 
 
 current as an evidence of universal defection. Deep, real, 
 enduring the work has been. A few abuses we admit, but 
 unnumbered blessings we maintain. Christ's credit is in it, 
 and He will guard His own. 
 
 "As we write, 1859 is almost by. Up to this day there is a 
 continued earnestness and growing zeal. Some have shewn 
 that their profession was false, but their number is small now, 
 and their evidences, in the main, were never clear. The actual 
 good is less noticed by men, because the larger proportion of 
 real converts were not openly immoral before. The greatest 
 blessing is not the blessing seen, though there is enough to dis- 
 prove every doubter. Sabbath-schools have been increased and 
 invigorated. A town-mission has been instituted. Prayer-meet- 
 ings are very numerous, and family worship generally observed. 
 Church accommodation has been almost universally found in- 
 sufficient, while the resorts of pleasure are greatly deserted. 
 Though the bursting rush of the life-spring is lessened, its calm, 
 deep flow runs on in a widening stream. 
 
 " There are two ways of closing a revival story. On man's side 
 the fittest response is a universal doxology ; but the word of the 
 Glorified brings a lesson to the heart. Gently reproving past 
 indiflerence, He says — 'O ye of little faith, wherefore did ye 
 doubt*?' Here is another plea for mif earing confidence. AYho 
 will not profit by the lesson, and answee to the call ?" 
 
 We have already seen, that a peculiar impetus was given to the 
 movement in another district by the bodily afiections, the report 
 of which was extensively noised abroad. So also was it in 
 Ballymena. 
 
 The following, among other instances, is narrated by Mr Dill, 
 as having fallen under his pastoral cognisance : — 
 
 " June 9. — On returning home to-day, found an urgent mes- 
 sage from a respectable member of my congregation, who wished 
 to see me immediately. I at once proceeded to his house, and 
 found him engaged in his daily avocations. Quitting them at 
 once, he came and sat down with me in his parlour. In reply 
 to my inquiries, he gave me a very full account of the state 
 through which he had passed. 'I may tell you,' said he, 'that 
 
48 A PASTOEAL VISIT. 
 
 from the beginning of this revival I put no belief in these cases 
 of conviction. I attributed them to nervousness brought on 
 by fear, or excitement produced by attending large meetings, 
 and listening to terrifying addresses; yet I attended every 
 meeting within reach, and heard all the addresses, and sermons, 
 and prayers that were delivered at them both by ministers and 
 laymen. I was also witness to a great number of cases in 
 various stages. Still no impression was made on my own mind, 
 and I saw no reason to change my opinion respecting the move- 
 ment as originating in excitement. Happening, however, to be 
 acquainted with one of the young men who had assisted at a 
 meeting on the previous evening, I invited him to breakfast the 
 following morning. Before leaving, I asked him to conduct 
 family w^orship. His prayer was not at all of an exciting 
 character, but plain and scriptural, and uttered in a quiet, 
 earnest tone. While I was on my knees, I began to feel myself 
 oppressed by an overpowering weight crushing me down to the 
 earth. I tried to pray, but had no heart for it, and no utter- 
 ance. I felt as if I was ready to burst. For a long time I could 
 get no relief; but at length I found some hberty in prayer, and 
 was enabled to trust in Jesus for pardon and salvation. Tears 
 also came to my relief, although I never remember to have shed 
 a tear before. This crushing w^eight and agony of mind re- 
 turned upon me once again, but again I found comfort and 
 peace in believing prayer; and I bless God that I can now take ^ 
 the Lord Jesus as " all my salvation and all my desire." ' I ven- 
 tured to ask him if he had seen any visions, when he replied, 
 ' No, nothing of the kind ; and I lay no stress upon the hoclily 
 affection. I can't account for it. Doubtless it must Lave been 
 from the hand of God, but I look entirely to His dealings with 
 my soul.' ' And what,' said I, ' do you think noiv of all j^our 
 former profession?' 'All a worthless form. You know how 
 regular I was in attendance on public w^orship, and the other' 
 ordinances of religion. I was doing all I could, and thought 
 myself a very good Christian ; but I now find that I w^as going 
 about to establish my own righteousness, and that I had not 
 submitted myself to the righteousness which is of God by faith.' 
 
THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA. 49 
 
 He added, with passionate energy, ' I never knew myself before. 
 I knew well enough when I committed actual sin, but I never 
 thought of the sin of the heart — of the sin of unbelief. I never 
 prayed one prayer till now. I never understood the Word of 
 God till now. I never knew Christ till now ; and, though I am 
 not so happy or rejoicing as others seem to be, I would not part 
 with my interest in Christ, no, not for ten thousand worlds ! ' 
 We sang and prayed, and I left him in a calm and peaceful 
 state of mind." 
 
 The subjoined statement by the same hand on the physical 
 manifestations is valuable as the recorded judgment of one of 
 the most judicious ministers of the Presbyterian Church, pro- 
 nounced at an early period in the history of the awakening : — 
 
 " It appears to ifie that in all these cases there are tivo things 
 to be considered — one, the bodily affection ; the other, the spiri- 
 tual change. The former is more likely to draw the attention 
 of the curious onlooker, and often to elicit the silly or heartless 
 comment of those who are wholly incomi)etent to give an opi- 
 nion on the subject. The latter will be eagerly fixed upon by 
 the children of God, that, apart from all its accidents or accom- 
 paniments, it may be made the subject of heartfelt gratitude 
 and praise. For wise and gracious jjurposes, no doubt, it has 
 pleased ' the Lord to come out of his place,' and awaken souls, 
 at this time, in a very peculiar and remarkable manner. One 
 of these purposes has been already largely accomplished before 
 our eyes ; and that is, the convincing of an ungodly world of the 
 truth and reality of Divine influences uj)on the soul, and through 
 them, of the conversion of the heart to God. How many mul- 
 titudes were uttering the credo^ ' I believe in the Holy Ghost,' 
 ■udthout ever thinking of the meaning of the words 1 An icy 
 incrustation of formality seemed to have gathered over the very 
 waters of Hfe, and it required an Almighty Power to break it up 
 before the thirsty soul could obtain a draught. So inveterate 
 was the practical unbelief of a gospel-hardened people, that one 
 might have said to them, ' Except ye see signs and wonders, ye 
 ^\ill not believe.' Such signs and wonders God has been pleased 
 to work, not miraculously, but most mysteriously. Of course no 
 
 D 
 
50 THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA. 
 
 eiiliglitened Cliristian will regard a mere bodily affection as any 
 evidence of a work of grace in the soul. Facts which have come 
 under my own observation, even though the Scriptures had 
 been silent as to the marks and evidences of regeneration, would 
 refute such a theory. Still, it cannot be denied that these bodily 
 affections are connected in some way with the influence of 
 Divine truth upon the mind, and are invariably marked by an 
 uncontrollable impulse to pray I do not deny the exist- 
 ence of nervous excitement, or that it is much promoted by the 
 power of social sympathy ; but I emphatically deny that the 
 origin of the movement is to be accounted for in this way, or 
 that, even now, these are anything more than accompaniments 
 of it — the bubbles and foam upon the surface of a deep and 
 mighty river. * 
 
 " Further, it is a total mistake to suppose that the agitations, 
 either of mind or body, have been usually produced hj fear. 
 My experience is, that alarming truths have not been the ordi- 
 nary or most effective instrument in this work. The story of 
 the Cross, told in the simplest language, has proved itself, as of 
 old, to be the ' power of God.' Again and again have I heard 
 the same account from the penitent's lips. One woman, whose 
 heart the Lord was pleased to touch whilst I was addressing a 
 few quiet words to some persons gathered together in a country- 
 house, afterwards took great pains to assure me that she had 
 not been terrified or alarmed by anything I had said. ' What 
 was it, then,' said I, ' that so affected you V 'I felt,' she re- 
 plied, ' that they were my sins that had nailed the Saviour to 
 the cross — that " He was wounded for my transgressions, and 
 bruised for mine iniquities." It was for this I grieved, and not 
 from any fear of punishment.' " 
 
 Reserving for the present any discussion respecting the physi- 
 cal phenomena and the explanations of them, it may not be out 
 of place, before proceeding further, to refer to some of their 
 characteristic features. Others were superadded subsequently, 
 to which we shall necessarily advert in the course of our nar- 
 rative. 
 
 It may be observed generally, that So far as can be gathered 
 
STAGES OF THE BODILY AFFECTION. 51 
 
 respecting the great majority of cases, they have been preceded 
 for a longer or shorter period by an agonising sense of sin ; 
 sometimes lying dully on the conscience for weeks and months 
 together, sometimes overwhelming as in a moment by its in- 
 tolerable pressure, and violently demonstrative in its manifes- 
 tations. The physical prostration itself has taken place under 
 every possible variety of circumstances — at home, abroad, in the 
 church, and in the market-place ; in the crowded meeting, and 
 the seclusion of retirement. One is stricken as he plies the 
 shuttle or the loom; another as his eye falls upon some familiar 
 passage, or his ear is arrested by some oft-repeated invitation 
 of the Word ; a third while he is engaged in secret meditation 
 or prayer. " I have known the case of a man," says the Rev. 
 John Macnaughtan of Belfast, referring to another class of 
 instances, after his visit to Ballymena, " going home from the 
 market after he had sold his produce, passing along the road- 
 side, and counting his money to see Avhether it was all right, 
 when he sunk down as if sun- struck, and his money was scat- 
 tered on the road." 
 
 Of the several stages in the experience of those who have 
 been the subjects of physical prostration, the first is charac- 
 terised by an awful apprehension of impending evil, a fearful 
 looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, accompanied by 
 a crushing pressure on the region of the heart, inducing the 
 loud despairing cr}'-, or the groan of agony. In this state the 
 sufferer is overwhelmed as by the billows of Divine w^rath, so 
 that human help is for the time of no avail, and all that man 
 can do is to await the issue, committing it to Him who causeth 
 light to arise in the darkness. Then is the period also of fierce 
 wrestling, real or imagined, with the Evil One, whose person- 
 ality is apprehended with terrible distinctness, insomuch that 
 the soul is as an arena in which a death struggle is being car- 
 ried on between the powers of Hght and darkness. 
 
 In the second stage, which is generally very sudden in its 
 development, there is a transition from the deep depression 
 before experienced to a calmer state of feeling, and some object, 
 earnestly desired and longed for, stands out before the view — the 
 
52 STAGES OF THE BODILY AFFECTION. 
 
 intensity of the mind's gaze being siicli that no human presence, 
 although many may be intently waiting by, is realised. It is a 
 sort of waking dream, in which the steadfast countenance and 
 upturned eye denote the character of the inward exercise. The 
 labouring chest no longer heaves under its oppressive burden ; 
 there is a subsidence of the sob, the groan, the wail of lamenta- 
 tion, and the cold damps are passing off the brow. The arms 
 that tossed about so wildly, are now stretched forth as if to 
 embrace the prized and cherished object, and utterances like 
 these drop from the lips in melting cadence, — " O blessed Jesus, 
 come ! Thou art my hope, my life, my all ; wash me in Thy 
 most precious blood ; take away this filthy garment, and cover 
 me with Thine own pure righteousness ;" or more affecting still, 
 as in the case of that little girl, but eight years old, who ex- 
 claimed imploringly, in her native paiois, " Christ, come to 
 me ! and when you come, oh, dinna lea' me, but aye stay wi' me." 
 It is in this stage that images flit before the mind with all the 
 vividness of reality, and as if possessed of shape and substance; 
 insomuch that the person, subsequently referring to his experi- 
 ence, will speak as if he had seen the dread realities of heaven 
 or hell, although assured on calm reflection that the objects 
 before his vision have only been his own thoughts embodied in 
 that form. 
 
 And now a third experience ensues. It is that of sensible 
 relief, a lightsome and liberated feeling, of which the chief in- 
 gredient is the assurance of forgiveness prompting to the out- 
 burst of rapturous praise. The fountains of the soul seem to 
 be opened, and forth flows in unrestrained exuberance the 
 gushing fulness of its joy. The bodily sensations correspond 
 with the inward ecstasy, and even the plainest features glow as 
 with an unearthly beauty. The heavy load, the incubus that 
 weighed down all the sj^irit's energies, is lifted oft', and there is 
 a buoyancy and elasticity proportionate to the depressing bur- 
 den. The new-born happiness seeks audible expression. The 
 language of the lips is all in unison with the serenity that reigns 
 within. " Christ and him crucified " being once apprehended, 
 the grand, the dominant desire is to commend Him to all 
 
STAGES OF THE BODILY AJFECTION". 53 
 
 around. How often then are heard such words as those in 
 which a Sabbath -school girl, some thirteen years of age, was 
 addressing her little companions by her bedside, as she lay in 
 much exhaustion after a season of mental agony, while a gleam 
 of spiritual joy played over her pale countenance, — " O Annie ! 
 O Jane, dear, come to Jesus ! He '11 not put you away. Oh, give 
 Him your heart, give Him all your heart, and He '11 take away 
 .all your sins, and make you as happy as He has made me. Oh, 
 that all the sinners about here would come to Him ! He has 
 room for them all. He would si^ve them all." 
 
 To the above may be added a fourth stage in the prostration 
 — namely, the languor and exhaustion which are the natural 
 reaction from the intense excitement by which the frame has 
 been agitated, and by reason of which not only delicate females, 
 but strong and stalwart men have often been for days unfitted 
 for any manner of work. 
 
 Such bodily affections were almost universally associated with 
 the awakening, when, for the first time, it appeared in any 
 neighbourhood; although in many places the work proceeded 
 most satisfactorily without their presence, and they generally 
 subsided as it advanced. From their novelty and publicity they 
 naturally attracted a large share of attention, serving, no 
 doubt, an important j)urpose, but often stimulating an idle 
 curiosity, and in the case of the uneducated and ill-informed, 
 leading to a confounding of the spiritual process with the 
 physiological characteristics by which it was accompanied. 
 There have been from the outset unreal cases presenting similar 
 appearances, to which we shall advert hereafter. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN ITS PROGRESS NORTHWARDS. 
 
 Erouglishane — The Spinning Factory — The Profligate Nailer— The 
 First Case — The Full Outpouring — The Praying Matrons — General 
 Eesults — Illustrative Cases — Loughguile — The Woman by the 
 Road-side — The "Gently Drawn" — The Fieiy Baptism— The 
 Struggle with the Evil One — The Joy Unutterable — Proofs of a 
 Glorious Work — The Hidden Jewels — -Private Exercises and Ex- 
 periences of Ministers — Ballyrnoney — The Work among the Young 
 — The Young Man who "would judge for himself" — The Deaf 
 and Dumb. 
 
 Within about three miles of Ballymena stands tlie village of 
 Broughshane, the centre of a densely-inhabited and almost ex- 
 clusively Presbyterian district. At an early period, the awaken- 
 ing spread in that direction. One morning a number of young 
 women were affected in a spinning factory hard by. Immedi- 
 ately intense excitement spread among the workers, and •svithin 
 an hour twenty or thirty persons, of both sexes, were laid pros- 
 trate. The business of the entire establishment was interrupted, 
 and, as a matter of necessity, it was closed. When reopened 
 two days after, nearly half the usual hands were absent. About 
 the same time, a congregation of several thousands assembled 
 in the open air in front of the Presbyterian church, and the 
 services were not concluded till an advanced period of the 
 evening. In the village itself, and all the country round, such 
 meetings were of frequent occurrence throughout the summer 
 months, and hundreds, there is reason to believe, were brought 
 in connexion with them under the power of a DiviiTe influence. 
 A visitor, at the beginning of the awakening, thus describes 
 
THE PROFLIGATE NAILER. 55 
 
 the presence and address of a Brougshane convert at a meeting 
 in a quarry pit, at which there were several thousands in attend- 
 ance : — 
 
 " Xear the end of the preaching, one old man stood up to 
 address the multitude. He was a remarkable-looking man. I 
 was beside him before he rose. A dealer in rags would not 
 have given more than sixpence for all the clothes he had on his 
 person. He bore the marks and tokens of a ' hard liver,' a con- 
 firmed drunkard. He spoke something to the following effect, 
 as nearly as I can remember : — ' Gentlemen,' and he trembled 
 as he spoke — ' gentlemen, I aj)pear before you this day as a vile 
 sinner. Many of you know me ; you have but to look at me, 
 and recognise the profligate of Broughshane. You know I was 
 an old man, hardened in sin ; you know I was a servant of the 
 devil, and he led me by that instrument of his, the spirit of the 
 barley. I brought my wife and family to beggary more than 
 fift}^ years ago ; in short, I defy the townland of Broughshane 
 to produce my equal in profligacy, or any sin vvhatever. But 
 ah, gentlemen, I have seen Jesus ; I was born again on last 
 night week ; I am, therefore, a week old to-day, or about. My 
 heavy and enormous sin is all gone ; the Lord Jesus took it 
 away ; and I stand before you this day, not only a pattern of 
 profligacy, but a monument of the perfect grace of God ! I 
 stand here to tell you that God's work on Calvary is perfect ; 
 yes, I have proved it, His work is perfect. He is not like an 
 architect who makes a drawing of a building, and then he looks 
 at it, and he takes out this line and that, or makes some other 
 alteration, and frequently alters all his plan, and even when the 
 building is going on, he makes some other change ; but God 
 drew out the plan of salvation, and it was complete, and He 
 carried it out with His blessed Son Jesus ; and it is all perfect, 
 for had it not been so, it would not have been capable of reach- 
 ing the depth of iniquity of , the profligate nailer of Brough- 
 shane.' " 
 
 The following statement, dated 26th April 1860, by the Rev. 
 Archibald Bobinson, of Broughshane, sets forth the character 
 and progress of the work in that important district. It is the 
 
66 THE FULL OUTPOUEING. 
 
 only paper which Mr Robinson has ever written on the subject. 
 He thus accounts for the delay of its transmission : — " My time 
 is ahnost wholly occupied with congregational work. You may 
 have some idea of this when I tell you that, irrespective of other 
 duties and labours, I have visited over six hundred families 
 since the beginning of the present year. Besides, I have a 
 feeling, perhaps a wrong one, against writing or speaking de- 
 cisively on the particulars and details of the revival movement. 
 I deem it wise to let the rough and trying duties of life grate 
 upon the new surface, and bring out the characters of men a 
 little before we lift a note of triumph about their conversion. 
 There can be little doubt that many have had but the white 
 heat of religion, and have only endured for a season." 
 
 After such a preamble, the narrative will be perused with 
 peculiar interest : — 
 
 The First Case, — " The first case of awakening here was of a 
 very peculiar and solemn kind. It was in 1858. It was that 
 of a man who had been a drunkard. He was drunk the week 
 before. In the middle of the night he awoke and roused the 
 family out of their beds — said he had had a dream — an angel 
 came and told him to be up and busy praying for mercy, for he 
 would die at one o'clock, or, if not at one, decidedly at four 
 o'clock next day. He dressed, and gave himself up entirely to 
 reading and prayer. People thought he was mad — in delirium 
 tremens. He refused all solicitations to induce him to drink — 
 went about wringing his hands and entreating mercy, till about 
 one o'clock — went to his bed, and died happy about four ! 
 
 Tlie Full Outijouring. — " It was not, however, till May 1859, 
 just before the meeting of Synod, that we were visited with a 
 most gracious and abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We 
 had been praying for and expecting some such precious blessing, 
 but were, notwithstanding, taken by surprise, so sudden, power- 
 ful, and extraordinary were the manifestations of the Spu-it's 
 presence. Persons of every shade of temperament and character 
 were mysteriously affected, overpowered, prostrated, and made 
 to pour out the most thrilling agonising cries for mercy. Most 
 of those thus impressed and awakened found peace and comfort 
 
THE PKAYING MATRONS. 57 
 
 in a very short space of time, and then their countenances shone 
 with a sweetness and glory beyond description. Very many of 
 them received a marvellous fluency and power of prayer. A 
 hatred of sin, a love for the Saviour, a zeal for His cause, an 
 affection for one another, and an anxiety about perishing sinners, 
 took absolute possession of their hearts, and literally ruled and 
 governed their actions. For about six weeks almost all agri- 
 cultural operations, and indeed every kind of secular employ- 
 ment, were suspended, no man being able to think of or attend 
 to anything but the interests of his soul. Night and day the 
 sound of praise and prayer never ceased to float upon the air. 
 An overwhelming sense of awe and terror held in check the 
 boldest sinners, while thousands who till now had lived as if 
 eternity were a priestly fiction seemed now for the first time to 
 realise its truth and presence, and to feel as if the end of all 
 things was at hand. I should say about one thousand people 
 were suddenly, sensibly, and powerfully impressed and awaken- 
 ed. Fully one half of this number, if not more, have profited 
 by their experience, and are now as fair and hopeful cases of 
 conversion as one could well desire, while not less than five 
 hundred were silently, gradually, and without observation 
 brought, I may say, from death unto life, or from a state of 
 stupor and coldness into a state of activity and warmth, and 
 are now rejoicing in the peace that passeth understanding. 
 Not less than twenty Roman Catholics came under the power 
 of the truth, and were made to acknowledge the errors of the 
 Church of Rome. Three of these were rebaptized at their own 
 urgent request, and afterwards admitted to the Lord's Supper. 
 The others still attend the prayer-meetings, and now and again 
 the public worship of the sanctuary. 
 
 The Praying Matrons. — " In one district of country almost all 
 the matrons within an area of more than two miles were gra- 
 ciously visited and converted in the most satisfactory and 
 conclusive manner, if we can so speak about another's con- 
 version at all. These women have exercised a mighty influence 
 on their families and neighbourhood ; and if one wishes to see 
 the religion of the Cross in her loveliest features, in the sim- 
 
58 GENERAL RESULTS. 
 
 plicity, beauty, and power of primitive times, lie has but to pay 
 this district a visit and see and hear for himself. I have no 
 doubt he will return, saying, as the Queen of Sheba, that the 
 half has not been told him. 
 
 " The gift of prayer bestowed on these matrons is beyond 
 conception, and certainly it is not left to rust. They have a 
 prayer meeting of their own — none but females being admitted 
 — the exercises of which are praise, prayer, and reading the 
 Scriptures without note or comment. This meeting has tended 
 greatly to fan the flame of love in their own hearts, and kindle 
 it in others who come. We have many such female prayer- 
 meetings, and I am satisfied of their utility. 
 
 "About the month of August the physical features of the 
 revival in a great measure passed away, but we had abundant 
 evidence that the work of the Lord was still going on, more 
 silently, but as progressively as ever. The Holy Ghost, we 
 rejoice to say, has not been as a wayfaring man with us. His 
 gracious operations have not as yet ceased. From time to time 
 we have been constrained to note unmistakable signs of His 
 presence and power. Seldom does a week elapse without some 
 groping, hoping, praying soul finding Christ, and pardon, and 
 peace in a way more or less marked and visible. Frequently 
 our x^rayer-meetings have experienced a sudden, mysterious, 
 overpowering impulse, swaying the whole assembly as one 
 man, and leaving all weeping, praying, rejoicing. Men have 
 felt as if the Lord had breathed upon them. They were first 
 affected with awe and fear — then they were bathed in tears — 
 then filled with love unspeakable. Such a scene as this occur- 
 red about a month ago in the midst of the ordinary services 
 of the Sabbath. 
 
 General Besults. — "True and undefiled religion has received 
 a mighty impetus here by the revival. Since ]\Iay 1859 it has 
 been progressing in the most satisfactory and cheering manner. 
 Never in the experience of the oldest members of our church 
 were the spiritual interests of the people of this parish so far 
 advanced and so promising. Without any fear of exaggeration 
 or disappointment I may say we can count true and decided 
 
GENERAL RESULTS. 59 
 
 cases of conversion, not by tens, not by fifties, bnt by hundreds. 
 Tlie liouse of God is filled, Sabbath after Sabbath, by an over- 
 flowing congregation of anxious worshippers. Temporary seats 
 occupy the passages, and these are crowded, and many are con- 
 tent to stand at the door during the whole service. The very 
 countenances of the worshippers declare the anxious and the 
 happy feelings they possess, some seeming to say, 'Sir, rve 
 would see Jesus,' and others, ' we have tasted, and are now come 
 to drink— we have found Him whom our souls love, and He is 
 indeed precious.' The thirst of the young for Sabbath- school 
 instruction is intense and insatiable. Not less than fourteen 
 hundred children attend every Sabbath morning desiring the 
 sincere milk of the Word, while my own class averages some 
 eighty young men and women. We are reading the ' Confession 
 -of Faith,' and have circulated through the congregation some 
 tv.'o hundred and fifty copies of it, with about an equal number 
 of ' Patterson's Shorter Catechism.' Social meetings for prayer, 
 reading the Scri^Dtures, and exhortation, are held throughout 
 the parish, each district having its own prayer-meeting, and 
 each prayer-meeting its own staff of conductors. No person is 
 allowed to engage in the services unless approved of by this 
 bench of managers. These meetings are attended by the whole 
 population, with very few exceptions — young and old, rich and 
 poor. Episcopalian and Roman Catholic taking pleasure in 
 listening to the simple prayers and earnest exhortations of their 
 Presbyterian neighbours. The interest in them is still well 
 sustained, and in the darkest, fiercest nights of winter, and now 
 in the busiest days of seed-time, the number of those who meet 
 together to thank and praise the Lord has not diminished. 
 
 "Previous to 1859 the voice of family prayer was seldom 
 heard. Urgent appeals from the pulpit to erect a family altar 
 were unheeded. Now family worship is rather the rule than 
 the exception. There is a marked improvement in the public 
 morals of the community. Men are ashamed of doings that 
 formerly were considered as things of course. Two public- 
 houses have been obliged to close. The owners of others have 
 assured m^e their trade is gone, and two more intimated their 
 
60 GEN^ERAL RESULTS. 
 
 intention not to renew the licence. One of them said it was 
 unsafe to himself and injurious to others. A deceased publican 
 told him, he said, " that it was a cursed trade ; that he knew 
 many in it, and, with two exceptions, he never knew one but 
 the devil got a hold of, and these two had to give up and run, 
 or he would have gotten them also.' Sabbath desecration, 
 profane swearing, drunkenness, uncleanness, unseemly strife, 
 and such like sins, are much abated and decreased, not one 
 instance for every five we had in previous years ; while tem- 
 perance, meekness, brotherly kindness, a holy reverence for 
 the name and glory of God, have started into new life, and are 
 putting forth new vigour. The Bible is the book of constant 
 study. ]\lany carry it about with them and read it by the way- 
 side, or at intervals in their labour, and refer to it for the 
 settlement of every disputed point. Two of our National 
 School-houses have been enlarged, in order to make them 
 capable of accommodating the prayer-meetings, and we have 
 subscribed about <£ooO for a new church. 
 
 " It has been said tliat God employed lay agency as the instru- 
 mentality for introducing the revival ; and some, assuming this 
 as a fact, have attributed much, if not all, of this movement to 
 the heated atmosphere and the exciting addresses and praj^ers 
 of revival meetings. In opposition to all this, I can testify 
 that on one evening, in three distinct localities, miles separated 
 from one another, and by three distinct methods of operation, 
 the religious awakening of 1859 manifested itself among us, 
 and but one of these had any connexion at all with revival 
 speakers or meetings ; while weeks and months previous to this, 
 before lay agency was heard of, either here or elsewhere, there 
 were three instances of awakening as extraordinary, serious, 
 and hopeful as any that have since been noticed that I am 
 aware of. The history of these is interesting, but too tedious 
 to relate. 
 
 "It has been said that lay agency has done more harm 
 than good in the successful promotion of revival work. My 
 experience is the very reverse. I have seen indisputable proof 
 that the Lord greatly honoured and blessed the zealous self- 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE CASES. 61 
 
 denying efforts of tlie Christian people. He touched their 
 hearts, opened their mouths, and then rewarded their labours. 
 Here they have been most useful auxiliaries to the ministry, and 
 through their aid an amount of work has been overtaken which 
 no half-dozen ministers could have performed. These young 
 men deserve the highest praise, and I bear this testimony, that 
 I have seen literally nothing of that overweening conceit and 
 spiritual pride, so natm-al and so much feared by some good 
 men. 
 
 " It was said the Church would be inundated by a very deluge 
 of heresies, as the fruit of such promiscuous and uneducated 
 exhortation. I know of no place where exhortation by unedu- 
 cated men (but men with warm glowing hearts, who had 
 received the truth in the love of it, who were fresh from the 
 agonies of conviction, and in many cases from the throes of the 
 new birth) was more encouraged and practised than here, and 
 yet we have been troubled with no heresies, but are much more 
 conversant with the Bible, much more orthodox and Calvinistic 
 than ever we were." 
 
 Now for a few facts : — 
 
 Illustrative Cases. — " On the 12th of July the Orangemen of 
 the district asked me to preach them a sermon; about four 
 thousand assembled in the open air without beat of drum or 
 any insignia of their order, and after engaging in religious exer- 
 cises, returned peaceably to their homes, no drink and no dis- 
 order appearing among them. On the Broughshane June fair- 
 day, a band of strolling players as usual made their ajopearance ; 
 a prayer-meeting was immediately convened opposite their 
 showy platform. The players had but two visitors in the per- 
 sons of two Koman Catholic policemen. The business of the 
 fair was summed up by a prayer-meeting of not less than five 
 thousand people. 
 
 '•' I saw a young girl, in great distress about her soul, weeping 
 bitterly ; her mother stood by and said, ' Oh, dear, why do you 
 take on so ? ' The girl threw the shawl from her shoulders, dug 
 her long bony fingers into the flesh of her naked bosom, and 
 cried out, with bated breath, 'It's sin, sin, sin, cursed sin, here/ 
 
62 ILLUSTKATIVE CASES. 
 
 Tlie mother, * Oh, no, you were always a good girl.' ' Mother,' 
 said the girl, ' don't talk that way to me ; I 'm tempted sorely 
 enough to think I 'm not so bad, but oh, I am bad, very bad ; 
 oh, dear me, what a great sinner I am; Lord Jesus, liave mercy 
 on a poor, wicked, guilty v/retch.' A young woman was for- 
 bidden by her employer — a minister of the Church of England 
 — to go to the prayer-meeting, but if she was very anxious she 
 might go down the back way and listen to what was said, through 
 the wall of the churchyard where the meeting was held. That 
 night she was awakened, and found peace. Next day the minis- 
 ter rebuked her, saying, ' How 's this ? did I not command you 
 not to go there ? ' She replied, * Yes, sir ; but you said I might 
 go down the back way, and God found me by the back way as 
 well as if I had gone by the front way.' 
 
 " A lady remarked, that she thought the presence of the Lord 
 was very near to her ; she almost felt as if God was in the air 
 beside her. A man, at the close of one of our prayer-meetings, 
 asked us to remember a poor stranger from Dungannon, who 
 was in the midst of us, and anxious about his soul. Next night 
 he came back and told us that he came to see the work of the 
 Lord, and had found the Lord himself: 'and this,' said he, 'was 
 the way I found Him : I Avent up to my own little room, and took 
 my Bible, and then went down on my knees and prayed over 
 Avhat I had read, and then read again, and then again prayed, 
 and this is what I said in my prayer : Thou art a great God, and 
 I am a poor sinner ; I would come to Thee, but I have no offer- 
 ing to bring, no sacrifice to present, and Thou wilt not accept 
 me without a sacrifice ; Lord Jesus, Thou hast a sacrifice ; 
 Thou hast ofiered Thyself a sacrifice ; ok, present Thyself before 
 the Father for me, and take me by the hand and lead me to 
 Him, and make peace between us by the blood of Thy cross. 
 And tljen,' said he, ' I felt a movement in my soul, and the 
 Saviour came and took me near, and I found there was peace 
 between my Father and me ; and now I am so happy.' 
 
 " A young man was passing along the way one day, and heard 
 voices on the other side of the dyke. He looked and listened; 
 three children were there, and one vras in the exercise of jDrayer; 
 
ILLU3TEATIVE CASES. 63 
 
 when one finished another began ; the third boy said he could 
 not pray, and when urged, burst into tears ; his two companions 
 put his hands together, and said, ' Pray, mon ; try it, if it be 
 only the publican's prayer ; say, God be merciful to me a sinner, 
 and that will do.' The boy repeated the words, when one of 
 the others said, 'There, now, may be that was the best prayer 
 of the three.' 
 
 " A social tea-party met one night in a farmer's house. His 
 wife, a very zealous Christian, felt that one of the guests had 
 no right feelings about his precious soul. Something said to 
 her she must not let this man away without faithfully warning 
 him to seek the Lord. She retired to her closet and inquired of 
 God what He would have her to do, but no plan was suggested 
 to her. There was family worship ; she felt the prayer was 
 cold and not sufficiently pointed to warn her friend, about whom 
 she was so suddenly interested. Just as they were all rising 
 up from their knee's, she could restrain her anxious feelings no 
 longer, and, though contrary to her notions of female delicacy 
 and duty, she burst forth in the most earnest and impassioned 
 supplications, throwing out such warnings, and imploring such 
 mercy for the careless, thouglitless ones of the number, as not 
 only relieved her own breast of a burden, but sent a thrill to the 
 heart of him for whom she felt so strongly. 
 
 " A poor man, after finding peace, said, ' Yesterday I was a 
 poor, lone, desolate, friendless creature, caring for no one, and 
 no one caring for me, without father or mother, house or friend ; 
 this day I am rich and happy, and would not exchange places 
 with the Queen on the throne, for God is my Father, Christ 
 Jesus is my Brother and Master, heaven is my home, and all 
 God's people are my friends.' " 
 
 " It was towards the end of May 1859," says the Eev. H. W. 
 Carson, " that the first symptoms of the great awakening began 
 to discover themselves in the parishes of Lochguile, Kilraughts, 
 and Dunaughy. 
 
 " The first in these parts deeply moved about her sins and 
 eternal interests was a middle-aged woman. After six years' 
 absence from the house of God, she felt a sudden inclination to 
 
C4 THE " GENTLY DRAWN." 
 
 return. The Word of God that Sabbath proved sharper than a 
 two-edf^ed sword. Her distress of mind grew deep ; and never 
 shall I forget the picture of misery she presented, as I found 
 her sitting by the road-side wringing her hands, and, with up- 
 turned, tear-dimmed eyes, suing for mercj^ Her sins w^ere 
 indeed many and dark, but she never saw them before in the 
 same colours. Let us trust we can add, ' Her sins, which were 
 many, have been forgiven her.' This woman may be regarded 
 as the type of a large number who have passed ' through fire and 
 through water into a wealthy place.' 
 
 " No doubt the Lord drew not a few gently under the shadow 
 of His cross. There was a youth of fourteen who attended a 
 monster prayer-meeting in the village of Cloughmills, when 
 there could not have been less than 2000 present, and when the 
 arrows of the King flew thick, so that many fell down before 
 Him in penitence : and, as he afterwards related, he felt his 
 heart opening to Christ, while tears flooded his ej^es. Another, 
 somewhat older, who has since often told the story of his 
 conversion, and earnestly invited others to taste the grace that 
 was so abundant to himself, acknowledged, ' Oh, He drew me 
 in gentleness and love ! ' The hearts of these youths, and others 
 like them, opened like the leaves of a rose to the light of 
 morning. Sitting in the sanctuary ere the exercises commenced, 
 a middle-aged man began to think of the blood of Christ, (to 
 use his own description of his blessed experience,) thought he 
 saw blood, and then his heart, in a stream, flowed towards 
 Christ. He went quietly home, retired to thank God for the 
 revelation of His Son in him, and soon began to experience joy 
 unutterable. His exclamation, on first meeting me afterwards, 
 was, 'Lovely ! lovely!' 'What?' said L He replied, 'Jesus 
 is lovely.' This was indeed a revival, or a vivid revelation of 
 Divine things. The man had spoken of Christ, thought of 
 Christ, but never before had he such a clear and lively impres- 
 sion of Christ. He was ever to him an historical personage, 
 but now He is a living reality wdth him, on the right hand and 
 on the left. 
 
 " But while these were drawm gently, God dealt differently in 
 
THE JOY UNUTTERABLE. 65 
 
 the majority of conversions. Most passed through a terrible 
 ordeal, and received, like Biinyan, a fiery baptism. Spectral- 
 like, their sins affrighted them; millstone-like, their sins pressed 
 them down. As the prisoner in the dock, hearing his sentence, 
 and realising his awful death, has been known to shrink and 
 swoon away, so, awakening to a sense of their condition, behold- 
 ing the pit opening, and devils come to drag them down, they 
 have uttered doleful cries, heartrending shrieks. They have 
 been carried out from the church ; we have followed them to the 
 green, and marked the writhings of the body, expressive of the 
 commotion within ; and we remember, while standing over the 
 quivering frame of a youth, a convert, turning round to a stout 
 man, a somewhat unmoved spectator of the scene, and saying, 
 ' If sin does that in one so young, what must it do in the Hke of 
 you, sir?' 
 
 " A noticeable stage in the spiritual history of the converts 
 has been frequently that of severe mental struggle with infernal 
 power. Satan, tenacious of his prey, has contended with the 
 Saviour, and in the rage of disappointment and mortification of 
 defeat, has thrown do^vn, as in the days of Christ's sojourn 
 on earth, the sinner coming; yea, has torn him in expulsion. 
 Some do not believe in a personal devil, but there was strong 
 evidence from the lips of converts. One told us how he had 
 tormented her repeatedly. ' How do you act in such circum- 
 stances 1 ' we asked. ' Oh,' said she, ' I fly to Jesus and pray.' 
 She knew the secret of victory over her ghostly adversary. We 
 remember standing over one whose soul seemed to us the most 
 interesting of battle-fields ; for we had reason to believe it was 
 the scene of encounter between Christ and the evil one. The 
 person lay with closed eyes, discoloured face, and twitching 
 nerves, and, as she continued in this state, we heard her mut- 
 tering 'Satan, Satan,' and as the fit grew less violent, and 
 the struggle seemed drawing to a close and a happy issue, her 
 ejaculation was, ' Oh, but the light of heaven is bonny ! ' For 
 days, for weeks, we have known parties suffering distracting 
 fears and doubts. At last came relief in the consolations of the 
 Holy Spirit — in the sweet whisper of peace. It was perhaps 
 
 E 
 
6G PROOFS OF A GENUINE WORK. 
 
 while singing the 40th Psalm, (which was such a favourite, and 
 into the meaning of which so many hearts flew,) or while some 
 Barnabas, some good man who went from house to house, 
 reading such passages as ' Let not your heart be troubled ; ye 
 believe in God, beheve also in me ;' even then the means were 
 blessed, and souls could bless God who comforteth in all tribu- 
 lation. Like the disciples in the storm, they were agreeably 
 surprised by Jesus drawing near, hushing the winds, calming 
 the waves, and diffusing a great calm. Jesus — oh, how we have 
 found the mention of that name sufficient to extract the arrows 
 from guilty bosoms ! And then the peace, and joy, and happi- 
 ness that took possession of tempest-tossed souls were unutter- 
 able. We have seen the joy sparkling in the eye, or expressed 
 by clapping of hands, and heard one say he would not barter 
 his peace for all the crowns of the globe. 
 
 " It is not, however, mere feeling which distinguishes these 
 individuals; their spirit, their lives, their walk bespeak the 
 marvellous revolution in their history. Is love to the Bible 
 a proof of conversion? There is one who keeps it at her 
 pillow, another who carries it in his pocket, for a hurried glance 
 amid the business of the field. The summer before last, in a 
 bog, were seen, in the hands of different parties, while resting 
 from the labour of cutting turf, five packs of cards ; last summer 
 there were as many Bibles their companions in toil. Is fellow- 
 ship with one another a mark of grace ? Numerous are the 
 little prayer-meetings held in the cottages where neighbours 
 assemble to read and pray together. A minister's steps, as he 
 travels through the country, are repeatedly arrested by 'the 
 grave, sweet melody' from some humble abode, where 'they 
 that fear the Lord speak often one to another.' Is love of the 
 Sabbath an evidence of conversion 1 One told me she longed 
 for the return of the holy day, and Sabbath morning was the 
 pleasantest of the whole week Is liberality to missions a 
 token of grace? There is a poor farmer who once gave only 
 his sixpence on a day of missionary contribution, but now he 
 lays down his pound-note, and feels it more blessed to give 
 than to receive. It was thought this was done out of gratitude 
 
PEOOFS OF A GENUINE WORK. 67 
 
 to God for reclaiming a vicious son. This may have been one 
 reason, but the chief reason is that his own once-niggard heart 
 has been enlarged — his once-closed hand has been opened by the 
 Spirit of God. You could not converse four minutes with the 
 man without finding his speech bewraying him and marking 
 his dignity. Are daily communings v.dth the Most High signi- 
 ficant of conversion ? There are fifty houses which a heathen 
 might have visited, and only discovered their inmates not to be 
 heathens by the absence of everything like heathen devotion; 
 lo, now they are ' the tabernacles of the righteous, in which 
 is heard the voice of joy and rejoicing.' Morning and evening 
 incense arise therein to God. Salvation has come to these 
 houses. There are swearers whose tongues now bless, and curse 
 not. There are drunkards reclaimed by something more potent 
 than the pledge; their burning lust has been cooled by the 
 blood of the Cross; and not a few of these lift a warning voice 
 among us against what they call invariably the deviVs ciijy. 
 So strong is the testimony borne by the Spirit against the use of 
 intoxicating drinks, that four public-houses in the parish have 
 closed, and those publicans w^ho remain in the trade find their 
 occupation almost gone. We know one who, some months ago, 
 heartily cursed the revival and the prayer-meetings, for ' they 
 had done him up.' The Sabbath, as might be expected, is a 
 calmer, holier day. Fields and houses where once w^as heard 
 unseemly carousal are now quiet. Sabbath-like. Many who 
 once swelled the daring herd of violators of the holy day now go 
 with the multitude who keep it holy, and help to augment the 
 wondrously-increased congregations of these parishes. 
 
 " Such, then, are the trophies of the revival — the glory of 
 Christ — the monuments of the Spirit's work. Nor have we yet 
 told the half of His doings, nor shewn forth a tithe of His praise. 
 How a minister in a course of visitations is agreeably surprised 
 by a believer unbosoming his happy experience ! And what 
 fresh cause of gratitude does he find in discovering some poor 
 sinner, of whose conversion there has not been a word, because 
 not effected publicly, and with striking signs, but who neverthe- 
 less is among the ransomed of the Lord, returning to Zion ! 
 
68 PEIVATE EXPERIENCES OF MINISTERS. 
 
 There are many of this description hidden in obscurity, like 
 pearls lying at the bottom of the ocean ; and they will not be 
 fully known till that day when the Lord makes up His jewels, 
 and when nobles, kings, and queens will give more than all they 
 ever gloried in to stand in the shoes of those same obscure 
 weaver girls and servant boys. 
 
 " Doubtless there have been counterfeits : the devil, as might 
 have been expected, attempting to palm off the dead image for 
 the living man. There are men like Felix — trembling for a 
 while like an aspen-leaf; like Herod, doing many things for 
 John, and afterwards returning to the grossest indulgences. 
 There have been, we do not deny, some excesses, extravagance, 
 and error, but such we would deprecate no more than the dis- 
 order of the shroud on the resurrection of a dead friend. And 
 notwithstanding the numbers who have deceived themselves and 
 others, we gratefully recognise a great and good work. If the 
 most powerful testimonies against the gigantic evil of intemper- 
 ance ; if the lie to the infidel in that Christianity which has 
 proved itself no effete system, but life and power ; if the death- 
 blow Popery and Unitarianism have received (for who could be 
 a Unitarian after a multitude of Spirit-taught souls praying 
 *Lord Jesus, have mercy — save^'), if the death-blow the king- 
 dom of Satan has received, in depopulated jails, crowded churches, 
 and purified society — if these things are matter of thankfulness, 
 they are ours. 
 
 ' Eternal Spirit ! we confess, 
 And sing the wonders of Thy grace.' '* 
 
 Of the views and feelings by which the brethren in the mini- 
 stry generally have been actuated at this solemn season, we give 
 the following illustrations. The first is from the private diary 
 of one in whose congregation a few weeks subsequently a great 
 work of revival began, and is as follows : — 
 
 " May 24th. — I am beginning to have more hope in prayer 
 than I had. What I have heard of the Lord's wonderful doings 
 in America and in this land, and all apparently in answer to 
 believing prayer, causes me to hope that God will answer my 
 
PRIVATE EXPEEIENCES OF MINISTERS. 69 
 
 earnest prayers for the outpouring of His Spirit here. I do 
 desire it above all things. God knows I do. I hope for it. I 
 expect it. I think God is stirring my own soul in answer to 
 prayer; and I feel a burning desire for the conversion of the 
 souls of my people to God. I have hopes of them, and believe 
 that many of them are beginning to feel that there is a reality 
 in religion, and are seeking the Lord in prayer. Oh, that the 
 Lord would indeed magnify His name and grace, and by signal 
 displays of His power here, shew the people what conversion is, 
 and what true religion makes men ! O Spirit of the Son, take 
 the gospel-hammer in Thine own hand, and bring it down on 
 their hard hearts, and break them in pieces !" 
 
 The second is from the statement of a country minister, re- 
 hearsing the wonders wrought among his people : — 
 
 " Our corner of Christ's vineyard appeared to be very dry 
 and barren until the beginning of June 1859. A few weeks 
 previous to that period I was stating publicly to the con- 
 gregation that I felt greatly discouraged because I could not 
 discover almost any conversions as the fruit of my labours, 
 although I often sowed in tears. But lo, in a short time I was 
 made glad in discovering the fulfilment of that sweet promise in 
 the 126th Psalm, 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.' 
 
 "I believe that ours was the most remarkable visitation of 
 any in Ireland, so far as I have yet heard. Were I to write all 
 I know, there would be no end to my narration. I may wind 
 up all by saying how much my own soul has been benefited 
 since this great work began. One day when wTiting out a 
 lecture in my own room, having the pen lifted up in my hand, 
 and studying the last section of the 10th verse of the 3d chapter 
 of the Song of Solomon, ' And the midst thereof was paved with 
 love for the daughters of Jerusalem,' a thrill of love came into 
 my very soul, and believing it to be a greater manifestation of 
 the love of Christ to me, I bowed my knees at the chair on 
 which I sat, and oh, how joyfully I acknowledged such a kind 
 and gracious visitation ! And ever since I feel more happy than 
 I did before — believing, as I do, that my loving Saviour has 
 given me a peace that the world cannot give or take away." 
 
70 PRAYER ANSWERED. 
 
 "I could state mucli to you," says anotlier, "of my own happy 
 experience, which I have made known to very few, as I have 
 kept my lips sealed in regard to myself. I have pursued what 
 I regard as the safe scheme, of keeping strictly to my own 
 congregation, speaking much of the work of Christ, the grace 
 of the Spirit, and the love of the Father of all mercies." 
 
 To these statements we may add that of an aged and experi- 
 enced minister, for upwards of forty years a labourer in the 
 Lord's vineyard : — 
 
 "If there be a revival in religion," says the Rev. James Mayne, 
 " where must it be expected to begin 1 who may be supposed to 
 be the first partakers of it? — The ministers of religion them- 
 selves. As the sunbeams strike first upon the mountains, and 
 as the clouds pour forth their treasures first upon the hills, 
 which form a kind of natural reservoir for the valleys ; so it 
 may be looked for that the spiritual rain will descend first into 
 the pulpit before it reaches the pews. The influence of minis- 
 ters upon their flocks is very great, both for good or evil. ' Like 
 priest, like people,' is a proverb founded on truth. We are in 
 the midst of our people like central fires, producing a glowing 
 atmosphere around us, or like icebergs, which chill everything in 
 their vicinity. Should a revival take place among them^ and not 
 extend to us, we shall not only stop its progress, but undo what 
 has been done ; but if our piety be increased, the influence of it 
 will, in all probability, be spread through the Church. 
 
 "Before the season of revival, wickedness did very much 
 abound in our country, and the love of many waxed cold. 
 Often did I solicit the pouring out of the Spirit to enliven and 
 awaken ; often did I entreat, like the good John BroAvn of 
 Haddington, "for dead Haddington, and wicked, withered East 
 Lothian." So did I for dead Ballywatt, and withered, wicked 
 Ballyrashane. And now, my prayers are heard, and I and my 
 people have enjoyed times of refreshing from the Lord. I have 
 been strengthened to do more labour with more ease and satis- 
 faction now than I could have anticipated ; and I rejoice in the 
 Spirit's influences being so largely conferred for the enlivenment 
 and enlightenment of the Church of God." 
 
BALLYMONEY. 71 
 
 The Rev. Robert Park, for upwards of forty years the esteemed 
 pastor of one of the Presbyterian churches in Ballynioney, writes 
 as follows : — 
 
 "The revival movement in the parish of Ballymoney has been 
 to me specially interesting. At nearly the close of a lengthened 
 ministry to be permitted to see many of my charge brought to 
 the Saviour, to know that some, over whom my heart has often 
 yearned, are rejoicing in Jesus, and to believe that there are 
 others in a hopeful state for eternity, has been not only gratify- 
 ing, but greatly encouraging. 
 
 " As in other districts, the Divine sovereignty was exhibited 
 here in the conversion of some of the despised of the people; 
 but the larger proportion of those who have given evidence of a 
 real saving change were connected with our Sabbath-schools, 
 either as teachers or receiving instruction, or were members of 
 families well instructed in Divine truth, and more or less regu- 
 lar attendants on the means of grace. It was not the least in- 
 teresting fact in the history of God's work here that He so 
 touched the hearts of many young men who have since been 
 zealously active in religious things. 
 
 " Of these there were instances where the power of Divine 
 grace was most marked. Sometimes a ivord became an arrow 
 to wound the conscience or touch the heart. Often an observa- 
 tion intended for another was made to alarm and convert ; in- 
 tercourse with strangers, themselves affected, was blessed to 
 many ; and journeyings, sometimes of curiosity or of recreation, 
 were made efficient in the work of the Lord. 
 
 " Of these I shall give one out of many illustrations. A 
 young man of a respectable family, accustomed to all the exer- 
 cises of a religious household, himself the subject of careful 
 early training in God's Book and in God's service, yet ^^dthout 
 appearance of serious impression, or of heart-anxiety for spiritual 
 things, was thrown within the sphere of heavenly influences. 
 Intercourse with a beloved brother, himself brought to the 
 Saviour, and a young friend recently turned to the Lord, made 
 some impression on his heart, but without much outward mani- 
 festation. Accompanied by both, he journeyed from the pa- 
 
72 THE DEAF AND DUMB. 
 
 rental roof to a neighbouring town, to judge for himself respect- 
 ing cases of which he had heard. Separated from his companions, 
 he wandered through different streets, until at length he found 
 himself in one less frequented than the others. It is likely that 
 his countenance indicated seriousness, though he himself was 
 scarcely conscious of it. He was accosted by a respectable young 
 female at a door — ' Was he concerned for his soul ! ' He accom- 
 panied her through the hall into an apartment where were a 
 number of young persons, some in prayer, others crying for 
 mercy, others again declaring their new-found peace, all appa- 
 rently much excited. Almost instantaneously he became over- 
 powered, sank on the floor, and felt as he had never felt before. 
 For three hours he remained without relief, the young lady 
 kneeling by his side, whispering in his ear suitable words of 
 Scripture, directing him in prayer, and wrestling with the Lord 
 for his conversion. God's time came, and it was a time of love. 
 He arose a new man, with a heart warmed with Divine life, 
 thankful to God, and grateful to one who had been an instru- 
 ment for good to his soul. He sought his friends, told what the 
 Lord had done for him, and returned to his father's house, to 
 gladden hearts there with the tidings of his change. Of her 
 who had been thus kind little could afterwards be known. She 
 had come from Glasgow to see on this side the Channel the 
 workings of Divine grace ; had felt its power, had been useful 
 to others, and returned to direct sinners in her own land to the 
 same precious and willing Saviour. 
 
 " There is every reason to believe that that young man was 
 truly converted to God. His walk since has been most con- 
 sistent ; his anxieties and exertions for others have been blessed; 
 and he continues, within his proper sphere, to labour for souls, 
 and to urge both young and old to turn unto the Lord. 
 
 " Another most interesting case occurred in one of the country 
 parts of my district. A man, about thirty years old, born deaf 
 and dumb, who had been educated at the institution of Clare- 
 mont, near Dublin, and who is in attendance on my ministry, was 
 working in the bog, preparing fuel for the winter. He was alone, 
 with no exciting appliance. The Lord touched his heart. He 
 
THE DEAF AND DUMB. 73 
 
 felt the pangs of sin, and intense anxiety to have it removed. 
 He endeavoured to make his way to his sister's house, where he 
 resided. So prostrated was he in bodily strength, that he 
 required to lie down and rest twice before he reached his home. 
 During the night, and until the family were at breakfast the 
 next morning, and preparing for public worship, it being the 
 Sabbath, he was not relieved. The description of his manner 
 and appearance, as given by his sister, was most striking. Liter- 
 ally, he jumped some height from the ground, clasped as if some 
 person to his bosom, his countenance beaming with delight, and 
 his Avhole person indicating gratitude and love. 
 
 " In my conversation with him afterwards by fingers, he made 
 me to understand that the first text of Scripture that impressed 
 his mind and awakened comfort was Luke xv. 7, * Likewise joy 
 shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth ; ' the second, 
 1 Tim. i. 15, 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accep- 
 tation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of 
 whom I am chief.' And again and again he laboured to shew 
 me ' how happy he was in coming to Jesus.' In this, and in 
 many instances that are before me, I fancy myself with Christ 
 in the days of His ministry on earth, and almost see before my 
 eyes the miracles that testified that He was the Messiah. 
 
 " Happy am I to say that most cheering evidences of God's 
 work continue in our district. Everywhere meetings for prayer 
 and ScrijDture reading — great thirst for hearing the word — 
 increased attendance on the house of God and at the communion 
 table — and seriousness and anxiety about the concerns of the 
 soul. Oh, that this may be but the first droppings, to be followed 
 by a full shower of spiritual blessing, and that I may be spared 
 a Httle longer to see many, many more brought into the fold of 
 the Lord ! " 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE EEVIVAL IN NORTHERN ANTRIM. 
 
 Coleraine — Strange' Excitement in a School-room — The Evening of 7th 
 June — Meeting on the Fair-Hill — The Town Hall, and its Extra- 
 ordinary Opening — Daily Morning Meeting there — Interesting 
 Memorial — General Results — Testimony of Assistant-Barrister — 
 Personal character of Mr Haltridge — Portrush — Prayerful co-ope- 
 ration of the Episcopal and Presbyterian Ministers — Visit of Brown- 
 low North, Esq. — The Dunmull Open-air Meetings — Illustrative 
 Cases — The " Operation of the Spirit". — The Railway Labourer — 
 The Ploughboy and his Muse— The old Waterloo Man — The Twin 
 Sisters — The Little Orphan Maid. 
 
 There is one incident so striking in the commencement of the 
 movement in Coleraine, that it cannot be omitted in even the 
 most cursory statement on the subject. It is impossible to pre- 
 sent it in a better form than has been done by Mr Arthur, in 
 one of his Tracts on the Revival, After narrating an impressive 
 scene witnessed by one of his brethren, a Methodist minister in 
 the town, he says : — 
 
 " Not far from the spot where this took place stands a large 
 school, belonging to the corporation of London, or that body 
 connected with it, known as the Irish Society, who are land- 
 lords of Coleraine, and of much property around. In it a boy 
 was observed under deep impressions. The master, seeing that 
 the little fellow was not fit to work, called him to him, and 
 advised him to go home, and call upon the Lord in private. 
 "With him he sent an older boy, who had found peace the day 
 before. On their way they saw an empty house, and went in 
 
STRAXGE EXCITEMENT IN A SCHOOL-ROOM. 75 
 
 tliere to pray together. The two schooKellows continued in 
 prayer in the empty house till he who was weary and heavy- 
 laden felt his soul blessed with sacred peace. Rejoicing in this 
 new and strange blessedness, the little fellow said, ' I must go 
 
 back and tell Mr .' The boy, who, a little while ago, had 
 
 been too sorrowful to do his work, soon entered the school with 
 a beaming face, and, going up to the master, said, in his simple 
 
 way, ' Mr , I am so happy ; I have the Lord Jesus in 
 
 my heart.' Strange words in cold times ! Natural words, 
 when upon the simple and the young the Spirit is poured out, 
 and they feel what is meant by 'Christ in you the hope of 
 glory,' and utter it in the first terms that come ! The atten- 
 tion of the whole school was attracted. Boy after boy silently 
 slipped out of the room. After a while, the master stood upon 
 something which enabled him to look over the wall of the play- 
 ground. There he saw a number of his boys ranged round the 
 wall on their knees in earnest prayer, every one apart. The 
 scene overcame him. Presently he turned to the pupil who 
 had already been a comforter to one schoolfellow, and said, 
 'Do you think you can go and pray with these boysT He 
 went out, and, kneeling down among them, began to implore 
 the Lord to forgive their sins, for the sake of Him who had 
 borne them all upon the cross. Their silent grief soon broke 
 into a bitter cry. As this reached the ears of the boys in the 
 room, it seemed to pierce their hearts, as by one consent they 
 cast themselves upon their knees, and began to cry for mercy. 
 The girls' school was above, and the cry no sooner penetrated 
 to their room than, apparently well knowing what mourning it 
 was, and hearing in it a call to themselves, they, too, fell upon 
 their knees and wept. Strange disorder for schoolmaster and 
 mistress to have to control ! The united cry reached the 
 adjoining streets. Every ear, prepared by the prevailing Spirit, 
 at once interpreted it as the voice of those who look upon Him 
 whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him. One and an- 
 other of tne neighbours came in, and at once cast themselves 
 upon their knees and joined in the cry for mercy. These in- 
 creased, and continued to increase, till first one room, then 
 
76 MEETING ON THE FAIR-HILL. 
 
 another, then a public oflSce on the premises, in fact, every 
 available spot, was filled with sinners seeking God. Clergymen 
 of different denominations, and men of prayer, were sought, 
 and they spent the day in pleading for the mourners ; — sweetest 
 of all the toils that this earth doth witness, when men, them- 
 selves enjoying heavenly peace, labour in intercession for those 
 who are now, as they were once, broken-hearted by a sight of 
 their sins, and striving to enter in at the strait gate, in order to 
 walk in the narrow way ! Thus passed hour after hour of that 
 memorable day. Dinner was forgotten, tea was forgotten, and 
 it was not till eleven o'clock at night that the school premises 
 were freed from their unexpected guests." 
 
 The following statement respecting the movement in Coleraine 
 is furnished by the Eev. J. A. Canning of that town : — 
 
 "Upon the evening of the 7th of June 1859, an open-air 
 meeting was held in one of the market-places of the town, 
 called the 'Fair-Hill.' The announced object of the meet- 
 ing was to receive and hear one or two of the 'converts,' 
 as they began to be called, from a district some eight or ten 
 miles south of Coleraine. The evening was one of the most 
 lovely that ever shone. The richly-wooded banks of the river 
 Bann, which bounds one side of the square in which the meet- 
 ing was held, were fully in prospect, and there was not a cloud 
 in the sky. Shortly after seven o'clock, dense masses of people, 
 from town and country, began to pour into the square by all its 
 approaches, and in a short time an enormous multitude crowded 
 around the platform from which speakers were to address the 
 meeting. After singing and prayer, the converts, a young man and 
 a man more advanced in years, and both of the humbler class, 
 proceeded to address the meeting. Their addresses were short, 
 and consisted almost entirely of a detail of their own awaken- 
 ing, and earnest appeals to the consciences of sinners. After 
 the laj^se of nearly an hour, it became manifest that more than 
 one-half of the congregated multitude could not hear the voices 
 of the speakers on the platform, when it was suggested that the 
 people should separate into distinct congregations or groups, 
 and that a minister should preach to each group. This was im- 
 
MEETING ON THE FAIR-HILL. 77 
 
 mediately done, and some three or four separate audiences were 
 soon listening with most marked attention to as many preachers, 
 for all the ministers of all the evangelical churches in the town 
 were present. 
 
 " I was engaged in addressing a large group of people, com- 
 posed of all ages and of all ranks of the community, from a 
 portion of Scripture, when I became struck with the deep 
 and ijeculiar attention which manifestly every mind and 
 heart was lending to what I spoke. As to manner, my address 
 was very calm ; and as to matter, it consisted of plain gos- 
 pel truth, as it concerns man's lost condition on the one 
 hand, and the free grace of God, as displayed in salvation, on 
 the other. I know that the addresses of my brethren were 
 of a like character. I never saw before, in any audience, the 
 same searching, earnest, riveted look fixed upon my face, as 
 strained up to me from almost every eye in that hushed and 
 apparently awe-struck multitude. I remember, even whilst I 
 was speaking, asking myself, how is this? why is this? As 
 yet, however, the people stood motionless, and perfectly silent ; 
 when, about the time at which the last speaker was closing his 
 address, a very peculiar cry arose from out a dense group at one 
 side of the square, and in less than ten minutes a similar cry 
 was repeated in six or eight difierent groups, until, in a very 
 short time, the whole multitude was divided into awe-struck 
 assemblages around persons prostrate on the ground, or sup- 
 ported in the arms of relatives or friends. I hurried to the 
 centre of one of these groups, and having first exhorted the 
 persons standing around to retire, and leave me to deal with 
 the prostrate one, I stooped over him, and found him to be a 
 young man of some eighteen or twenty years, but personally 
 unknown to me. He lay on the ground, his head supported on 
 the knees of an elder of one of our churches. His eyes were 
 closed; his hands were firmly clasped, and occasionally very 
 forcibly pressed upon the chest. He was uttering incessantly 
 a peculiar deep moan, sometimes terminating in a prolonged 
 wailing cry. I felt his pulse, and could discern nothing very 
 peculiar about it. I said softly and quietly in his ear, ' Why 
 
78 THE STRICKEN ONE. 
 
 do you cry so?' when he opened his eyes for an instant, and 
 I could perceive that they had, stronger than I ever saw it 
 before, that inward look, if I might so express it, which indi- 
 cates that the mind is wholly occupied with its own images and 
 impressions. ' Oh ! ' he exclaimed, high and loud, in reply to 
 my question, ' my sins ! my sins ! Lord Jesus, have mercy upon 
 my poor soul ! Jesus, come ! Lord Jesus, come !' I endea- 
 voured to calm him for a moment, asking him to listen to me 
 whilst I set before him some of the promises of God to perish- 
 ing sinners. At first I thought that I was carrying his atten- 
 tion with me in what I was saying, but I soon discovered that 
 his whole soul was filled with one idea — his guilt and his danger ; 
 for in the middle of my repetition of some promise, he would 
 burst forth with the bitter cry, 'OGod, my sins ! my sins!' 
 At length I said in his ear, ' Will I pray ? ' He replied in a 
 loud voice, 'Oh, yes!' I engaged in prayer, and yet I doubt 
 whether his mind followed me beyond the first sentence or two. 
 As I arose from prayer, six or eight persons, all at the same in- 
 stant, pressed around me, crying, 'Oh, come and see (naming such 
 
 a one) — and and ' until I felt for a moment bewildered, 
 
 and the prayer went out from my own heart, ' God guide me !' I 
 passed from case to case for two or three hours, as did my 
 brethren in the ministry, until, when the night was far spent, 
 and the stricken ones began to be removed to the shelter of roofs. 
 I turned my face homewards through one street, when I soon 
 discovered that the work which had begun in the market square 
 was now advancing with marvellous rapidity in the homes of 
 the people. As I approached door after door, persons were 
 watching for me and other ministers, to bring us to deal with 
 some poor agonised stricken one ; and when the morning dawned, 
 and until the sun arose, I was wandering from street to street, 
 and from house to house, on the most marvellous and solemn 
 errand upon which I have ever been sent. 
 
 " Throughout the following day, the 8th of June, scenes simi- 
 lar to those which I have alluded to continued to occur in 
 private houses in almost every street. In the evening a dense 
 multitude assembled again in the market-place; and again, 
 
INTERESTING MEMORIAL. 79 
 
 simultaneously with the preaching of the gospel and prayer, 
 many more than on the preceding evening sank upon the ground, 
 and with bitter cries besought the Lord Jesus Christ to come in 
 mercy to their souls. Profiting by the experience of the pre- 
 ceding night, elders of the churches and other Christian people 
 sought now to find some building where the many ' stricken 
 ones,' as they began now to be called, might receive shelter, 
 and the attention of Christian ministers and others until the 
 morning. Just at this period the new Town Hall of Coleraine 
 had been completed, though it had never yet been used for any 
 pm-pose. Some one suggested it as a fitting place of shelter. 
 The suggestion was at once acted upon; and in the town a 
 ^^olemn interest attaches to the beautiful building, from the fact 
 that the first use for which it was ever employed was to shelter 
 many, very many poor sinners, whilst they agonised with God 
 for the pardon of sin. 
 
 " I may here mention that our Town Hall has been the scene, 
 for seven months, of one of the most blessed fruits of God's 
 gracious work among us. Early in June a meeting for united 
 prayer, by members of all evangelical denominations, began to 
 assemble at half-past nine o'clock, to continue for half-an-hour. 
 For months the spacious hall continued to be filled at the 
 appointed hour, and up to this day (January 12, 1860) a very 
 large attendance of earnest worshippers assembles for praise 
 and prayer. In the month of August the writer suggested that 
 a copy of the Word of God should be purchased for the use of 
 this union prayer-meeting, and to serve as a memorial to other 
 times of the gracious work of God among us. The suggestion 
 was very ardently adopted, and a copy of the Scriptures, of the 
 largest size, and in very costly binding, was procured, and now 
 appropriately and impressively witnesses every morning for Him 
 who sent 'times of refreshing.' The following inscription is 
 engraved on the fly-leaf of this Bible : — 
 
 " ' This copy of the Holy Scriptures, purchased by the contri- 
 butions of Christians of all evangelical denominations in Cole- 
 raine, who have been attending a union prayer-meeting in the 
 Town Hall, is intended to be— 
 
80 INTERESTING MEMORIAL. 
 
 "'1st, A memorial of tlie most gracious and wide-spread reli- 
 gious awakening wliich commenced upon the evening of the 
 7th of June 1859, at an open-air meeting for prayer and preach- 
 ing of the gospel, held on the " Fair- Hill " of Coleraine, when 
 many, with strong crying and tears, were led to exclaim, " What 
 must I do to be saved 1 " and when many more throughout the 
 night, and during the period which has since elapsed, were led 
 by the Spirit of God to embrace an offered Saviour, and to find 
 peace and joy in believing. 
 
 " ' It is meant to be, 
 
 "' 2d, A memorial of the first opening of the new Town Hall of 
 Coleraine, when upon the night of the 9th of June 1859, nearly 
 one hundred persons, agonised in mind through conviction of 
 sin, and entirely prostrate in body, were borne into that build- 
 ing to obtain shelter during the night, and to receive consolation 
 from the instructions and prayers of Christian ministers and 
 Christian people. 
 
 "'And this copy of God's Word is intended, 
 
 " ' 3d, To be a memorial to other people and to other times, of the 
 blessed spirit of union and brotherly love, which has been one 
 fruit of God's wondrous work in Coleraine, and which has found 
 its expression, and its witness, in the crowded union prayer- 
 meeting, which assembles daily in the Town Hall, from half- 
 past nine until ten o'clock. 
 
 " ' Filled with adoring gratitude to Almighty God for the gift 
 of His Holy Spirit, by whom many hundreds have been brought 
 to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, We, the ministers of 
 the gospel in Coleraine, presidents of the union prayer-meeting, 
 together with the committee of management, do subscribe our 
 names to this inscription; expressing our desire and determina- 
 tion, that this copy of the Holy Scriptures shall be committed 
 to the custody and safe keeping of the chairman of the town 
 commissioners, or other chief civic authority for the time being, 
 as a token of our gratitude to God, for the " times of refreshing " 
 with which He has been pleased to visit Coleraine, and a witness 
 to other days of " how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 
 to dwell together in unity." 
 
TESTIMONY OF A BARRISTER. 81 
 
 "'James O'Hara, Rector of Coleraine. 
 J. Alfred Canning, Minister of 2d Presbyterian Cliurcli. 
 J. Macdonnell, Minister of 3d Presbyterian Churcli. 
 John Kydd, Pastor of Congregational Cliurcli. 
 Geo. Vance, Wesleyan ]\Iinister. 
 
 Wm. Richey, Minister of the 1st Presbj^terian Cliurcli.' 
 {H €7^6 follow tlie oilier names.) 
 
 " Many hundred ministers and other servants of Christ from 
 all countries, but especially from Scotland, have visited Coleraine 
 during the summer and autumn, and, so far as is known to the 
 writer, have gone away impressed with gratitude to God for 
 what they saw and heard. Mercifully preserved from some 
 painful and hurtful accidents which accompanied the work of 
 revival in some other localities, we have gone on to this day 
 reaping its blessed fruits. The drunkard, the poor outcast 
 woman, the careless, the godless, the dupe of error, the young, 
 the old, all are with us to this day, to witness by altered habits 
 and new lives, that a holy power has been among us. To hear 
 the drunkard and blasphemer ^:>r(7?/, whilst by his side, to right 
 and left, kneel fallen women bathed in tears, and the man who 
 lived without God in the world adding his deep Amen, are 
 sounds and sights which we have been privileged to hear and 
 see. Full sanctuaries, full Sabbath-schools, full prayer-meetings, 
 brotherly love, increased liberality, and additions by hundreds 
 to the communion of the churches, — these are the fruits that 
 remain to witness to the character of the work which will make 
 the summer and autumn of 1859 to be long remembered in 
 Coleraine. As I wrote the last sentence, our local newspaper 
 was put into my hands, and I close by extracting from it the 
 follomng statement from the bench of our local County Court, 
 by a judge who would adorn any bench : — 
 
 " ' The Barrister, addressing the Grand Jury, said — " When I 
 look into the calendar for the last three months, and in memory 
 look back on calendars that came before me, I am greatly 
 struck ^^dth its appearance on this occasion. During the entire 
 three months which have passed since I was here before, I 
 
 F 
 
82 PEESONAL NARRATIVE OF MR HALTRIDGE. 
 
 find that but one new case has to come before you, and one 
 which is in some respects very unimportant." After directing 
 the jury as to this case, his Worship continued, — "Now, gentle- 
 men, as I said before, I am greatly struck at the appearance of 
 this calendar, so small is the number of cases, when I formerly 
 had calendars filled with charges for different nefarious practices, 
 pocket-picking, and larcenies of various sorts. Now, I have 
 none of these, I am happy to say. How is such a gratifying 
 state of things to be accounted for ? It must be from the 
 improved state of the morality of the people. I believe I am 
 fully warranted now to say that to nothing else than the moral 
 and religious movement which commenced early last summer 
 can the change be attributed. I can trace the state of your 
 calendar to nothing else. It is a matter of great gratification 
 when we see the people of this county improving, and I trust 
 that no temptations of any sort will arise by which they can be 
 induced to forsake the paths of rectitude. Now, gentlemen, I 
 would be inexcusable were I to occupy your time merely for the 
 sake of addressing you, and as there is nothing to address you 
 on, I need not detain you." ' " 
 
 Much has been written and published respecting the revival 
 in Coleraine. The place itself was so accessible, and the work 
 so striking, that hundreds of strangers in the course of the last 
 summer visited it, and carried back with them the good tidings. 
 Through the medium also of the Coleraine Chronicle, much 
 valuable information was circulated, especially since the me- 
 morable day in its history when its publication was delayed 
 through the agency of the quickening Spirit touching the hearts 
 of several of the compositors, and so for the time incapacitating 
 them for their ordinary avocations. 
 
 There is one incident, in the form of a personal narrative 
 by an individual from Coleraine at a meeting in Glasgow, 
 which is so extraordinary that it cannot be omitted here. I 
 have made inquiry into the accuracy of the statements, and find 
 them perfectly correct. The name of the narrator is Mr Halt- 
 ridge : — 
 
 "It was in the year," he said, "when God was pouring out 
 
PERSONAL NAEEATIVE OF ME HALTRIDGE. 83 
 
 the vials of His wrath upon the three kingdomSj that I went 
 to Coleraine. When the hand of God lay upon the place, many- 
 turned to the Lord ; but when it was removed, many turned like 
 the sow that had been washed to her wallowing in the mire. 
 He who stands before you was one of the latter sort. You see 
 one before you who put out his wife to the door, and took her 
 clothes, to the value of £20, and burned them. You see one 
 before you who loaded his gun to shoot his own son. You see 
 one before you who took a car and drove down three miles to 
 throw himself into the sea, and was found upon a rock with the 
 billows dashing at his feet. And you would think that this 
 was enough ; but not so. You see one before you who was tried 
 for taking away the life of a fellow-creature. I tried to break 
 the Sabbath-day in every possible manner. I took money in 
 my pocket and went away to Portrush and other watering- 
 places to break the Lord's-day. Not one in Coleraine would 
 speak to me, and I did not give one in Coleraine the credit of 
 being a Christian but one woman, who always spoke to me and 
 asked for me when she saw me. On a Monday I went to my 
 son, who was cashier, and took charge of my business, and 
 demanded five pounds. It only lasted me that day. I de- 
 manded other five on Tuesday ; this lasted me till Saturday. 
 The Rev. William Richey had overwrought himself with hard 
 work, and was laid upon his bed. The doctor told him he had 
 only half-an-hour to live, (although he recovered after a linger- 
 ing illness,) and asked if he had any matters to arrange before 
 he died. He pulled out a sealed packet from under his pillow, 
 and said — ' Will you give this to Mr Haltridge 1 ' It was a few 
 days after this the doctor gave me the package. (By this time 
 I was brought under conviction.) He said he did not know 
 what it was. I opened it. It was that little book, ' Come to 
 Jesus.' I was in great distress one day, and I went away from 
 my house about a quarter of a mile. I leai3ed over the wall and 
 went into a summer-house there, in order that the dews of 
 heaven might cool my fevered brow. I put my hand into my 
 pocket to pull out my handkerchief, and that little book came 
 into my hand. I would not give it for all Glasgow. One thing 
 
84 PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF MR HALTRIDGE. 
 
 had escaped my memory. When the revival broke out, my son, 
 a promising youth of twenty, although not brought under the 
 grace of God, attended a meeting held at Market-hill, and was 
 'stricken' down. A good -woman came to me while I was 
 reading the iflimsy trash of the day — ' novels ' — which I always 
 did : I think it w^as Eeynolds's Miscellany I had at that time. 
 She said — 'Mr Haltridge, kneel down and give God thanks, your 
 son is stricken down.' I ordered her to go out of the way, and 
 went to my bedroom, and shut myself up for eight hours. 
 They brought him and laid him on the sofa. I heard his cries. 
 For twenty-four hours no one could tell whether he w^as dead 
 or alive ; but when God revealed Himself to him, the first thing 
 he said was — ' God be merciful to my wicked father.' I heard 
 all this. My daughter attended meetings that were held in the 
 school-house. She was ' stricken ' down, and cried to God foi 
 mercy. The prayers of my Christian wife were now answered. 
 She WTtS a Christian from her youth up. I have seen her often 
 at the bedside praying. I have taken the pillow and throwai it 
 at her, at the same time lifting up my arm and defying God 
 to do His worst. On Sabbath morning I was to go away to 
 spend the Lord's-day in the same manner as before ; but my 
 wife came to the door and said, ' You will not go out to-day.' 
 I drew back, and was for maldng my way out, but she and my 
 daughter laid hold upon me, and drew me into the parlour, and 
 reasoned wnth me until I promised to go to church. I w^ent to 
 the house of God. A hymn was given out to be sung. It was 
 the same hymn that was blessed to the conversion of an actress. 
 When I came to the second line, God laid His hand upon me ; 
 my book was trembling in my hands. My wife saw me going 
 to fall, and let my head fall in her lap. I lay there for two 
 hours. I was not sensible, but they told me I was crying for 
 mercy. W^hen I awoke I was surrounded by kind friends, who 
 were praying for me ; but the one that prayed loudest and 
 longest was a boy, fourteen years of age, named John Hall. 
 He had found the Lord himself, and he was crying, 'Lord, 
 reveal Thyself to ]\Ir Haltridge.' !My son took the one arm, 
 and a kind friend the other, and helped me home. I was not 
 
POETRUSH. 85 
 
 able to walk ; my feet refused to carry me. On reacliing home 
 I was laid upon that sofa on which, a month before, my son 
 was laid. My son kept family worship in the house. God 
 opened my mouth that night to pray. I got peace from that 
 text, ' Arise, and go thy way : thy sins, which are many, are 
 forgiven thee; go and sin no more.' I now felt such love to my 
 fellow-men, that I thought I could stand . on a mountain top 
 and take the whole world in my arms. And as Christ told His 
 disciples to begin preaching at Jerusalem, I was called upon to 
 speak at meetings held in that place which has been the scene 
 of my former life." 
 
 Nowhere, perhaps, was there a more interesting movement 
 than in Portrush, one of the principal watering-places in the 
 north, a few miles from the Giant's Causeway, and during the 
 whole season crowded with visitors, many of whom, there is 
 reason to believe, were sharers in the blessing. I have received 
 a lengthened narrative from the Rev. Jonathan Simpson, from 
 which I give the following selections : — 
 
 "By a strange coincidence in the Divine providence, both 
 the clergy of the parish church and the Presbyterian minister 
 of the town of Portrush were attracted to Ballymoney in the 
 same week, without any previous concert vdth each other, to see 
 and investigate the remarkable work of revival going on there 
 in its earliest stages. The former called on the latter, and pro- 
 posed an open-air union-meeting for prayer, into which he 
 cordially entered ; and the three knelt iii prayer in the manse, 
 craving a blessing on the proposed meeting, led by the senior 
 Episcopal minister. Their hearts were melted by the love 
 of Christ, and they felt that God was about to give a blessing ; 
 nor were they disappointed ; blessed be His name ! 
 
 " The meeting took place on the 6th June, on the hill in the 
 rear of the town, and was very large, probably two thousand 
 being present : the town contains a population of about nine 
 hundred souls. Short addresses of only a few minutes were 
 delivered by the local ministers and several persons, usually 
 called ' converts,' from Ballymoney ; and a very remarkable 
 scene took place, that will never be forgotten in the village, nor 
 
86 VISIT OF ME NOKTH. 
 
 by many of its inhabitants in eternity. The first two ' stricken ' 
 ones were, one a Presbyterian, and the other an Episcopalian, as 
 if God would honour the first union prayer-meeting. 
 
 "Next morning assembled the first daily union prayer-meet- 
 ing, which was continued with great success till the close of the 
 bathing season, in September. As many as one hundred and 
 fifty-one have been counted leaving it, and in some instances 
 several went away who could not get in; while a ball-room, 
 erected during the summer, could get none to dance in it. The 
 first two mornings a young man, in each case, came under con- 
 viction of sin — one Episcopal, the other a Presbyterian. 
 
 "The churches were crowded all summer. The Episcopal 
 church has been enlarged, and the Presbyterian would require 
 to be double its present capacity, to contain the anxious appli- 
 cants for accommodation. 
 
 " Brownlow North, Esq., visited most opportunely, and, by 
 his earnest and thrilling appeals, largely contributed to advance 
 the glorious cause. He preached twice in the Presbyterian 
 church, Portrush, and addressed two open-air meetings, one 
 in the town, and the other at Dunmull. The latter was the 
 noblest meeting ever seen in the neighbourhood; the very 
 sight was grand, apart from its bearings on eternity. Mr 
 North, accustomed to large audiences, computed it at seven 
 thousand ; and so many were stricken that day, that the people 
 in the neighbouring houses never got to bed the entire night. 
 So many hearts Avere bleeding under a sense of sin, and weeping 
 over a pierced Saviour." 
 
 I shall here introduce a statement with reference to the meet- 
 ing above mentioned, by the Eev. Mr Sutherland, of Inverness, 
 who was also present : — 
 
 "At Portrush, on Sabbath, I had the privilege of hearing 
 Mr Brownlow North address an overflowing auditory, and had 
 myself the opportunity of preaching in the Presbyterian church. 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon, Mr North, Mr Simpson, Messrs 
 M'Quilkin and Meneely, from Connor, and I, proceeded to a 
 hill in a central locality called Dunmull, a beautiful and com- 
 manding object about four miles from Portrush. About six 
 
DUNMULL OPEN-AIR MEETING. 87 
 
 thousand people were congregated on the slope of the hill, and 
 some hundreds crowning its crest. It was a day of wonders in 
 this season of wonders, done in the name of the Holy Child 
 Jesus. You could almost say before.the service began, judging 
 by the prayerful and devout aspect of the people, ' There is the 
 sound of abundance of rain.' Many ministers, students of 
 divinity, and Sabbath-school teachers from a distance, were 
 present in the auditory; also, many tourists, Zaccheus-like, 
 from motives of curiosity. It is impossible for me adequately 
 to describe the scenes I witnessed, and the impression they pro- 
 duced. I witnessed the ' smiting down ' in every phase of its 
 development, from the simple swoon to the prostration, accom- 
 panied by the most fearful convulsions of the bodily frame, and 
 overwhelming mental anguish, venting itself in piercing cries 
 for mercy or wailing notes of despair. It would be too painful 
 to behold those extreme mental and physical sufferings did we 
 not feel assured that their subjects would have a reaping time 
 of joy. Instead of there being any organised system of excite- 
 ment, the prayers and addresses were calm, simple, judicious, 
 and strictly scriptural, yet the arrows of conviction flew 
 thick, and fixed that day in the hearts of many of the ' King's 
 enemies.' 
 
 " Meneely was directing them to the Lamb of God, and telling 
 his own experience, and the happy termination to his own soul- 
 distress, when, like Christian, he got a view of the cross, and 
 his burden fell from him ; and in a moment a servant lad, 
 standing quite close to me, fell down as if shot, or pierced 
 through the heart by some invisible hand. A few convulsive 
 movements followed, as if struggling with an unseen enemy ; 
 then for about half-an-hour he lay prostrate on the earth, with 
 his eyes fixed on the sky, and his lips muttering some sounds, 
 at first unintelligible, but as his consciousness returned, re- 
 solving themselves into cries to Jesus for mercy. He begged 
 not to be carried away, and within an hour sat up, and for the 
 rest of the day seemed alternately to be listening and to be 
 absorbed in silent prayer. Another young man was very 
 violently smitten, and from his irrepressible agony it was 
 
88 AN OPERATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 necessary to carry him out, like the wounded King of Israel, 
 from the midst of the host. I was directed to accompany him 
 to a house at a little distance, whither it took all the strength 
 of four men to carry him. The weight on his heart was heavier 
 than human nature could sustain, and his nervous system was 
 completely overborne. I could not bear the fearful sight, were 
 I not convinced that this terrible struggle would terminate in 
 victory, and that the Divine mandate would speedily go forth — ■ 
 'Peace, be still,' and there should be a great calm. For a 
 quarter of an hour, during which I remained with him, it 
 seemed to me, by the varying expressions of his countenance, as 
 if he were alternately drawn to some lovely spectacle, when an 
 attractive smile and a supernatural light played on his features; 
 and again repelled and horrified by some terrific object, when 
 fearful writhings and convulsions ensued. No wonder, when 
 relief is vouchsafed from this great agony, that they take up 
 and sing with such grateful delight the words of the 40th 
 
 Psalm — ■ 
 
 * He took me from a fearful pit, 
 And from the miry clay, 
 And on a rock he set my feet, 
 Establishing my way.' 
 
 " There were about a dozen affected similarly, but not so vio- 
 lentlj^, though, perhaps, it would not be too much to affirm, that 
 ten times that number were brought to a conviction of sin, while 
 some found peace in Jesus. Mr North's address was truly ad- 
 mirable. It was directed to young converts, and contained most 
 seasonable and excellent counsel." 
 
 From the numerous cases furnished by Mr Simpson, I select 
 the following as representative of many others : — 
 
 An Operation of the Spirit. — " On Tuesday morning, 7th June, 
 before going out to the prayer-meeting at seven o'clock, a fanner 
 called at the manse wanting to speak privately to the minister. 
 'What have you to say to me?' 'Sir, I have got an operation 
 of the Spirit.'' Wonderful spiritual surgery that, that cuts out 
 ' the hard and stony heart out of the flesh,' and substitutes ' a 
 heart of flesh!' Such 'an operation' H. C had got. He 
 
THE RAILWAY LABOURER. 89 
 
 had gone home from the union open-air prayer-meeting deeply 
 impressed ; the burden of sin lay so heavy on his soul, he could 
 not sleep. He rose from his partner's side without telling her 
 of the tempest of agony sweeping his bosom, dressed, took the 
 key of his barn, went there to fall upon his knees, and, like 
 Jacob, ' wrestle with the Angel Jehovah- Jesus till the dawn of 
 the day,' and say, 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless 
 me.' Like the patriarch he wrestled, like him he sped. He 
 obtained the blessing, and became ' Israel,' a ' prince with God.' 
 He got ' an operation of the Spirit,' and, without waiting till 
 his wife was up, he came away to tell the minister, and to ask 
 him if he should make known to others the work of grace on 
 his soul. 
 
 The Railway Labourer. — " Next evening, after returning from 
 country visits, a man was waiting for me at the manse. He is 
 a railway labourer, had been at the Monday evening meeting, 
 been deeply impressed, and under sore exercises of a sense of 
 sin ever since — had often, during the week, left the other men 
 on the line, and gone behind the fence to weep. At last the 
 proud heart, brought down by conquering grace, must seek 
 relief in counsel — came down on a freight-truck attached to a 
 train — literally ran froini tlie station to seek the minister. On 
 reaching the school, and finding from my teacher I was not at 
 home, the pent-up feelings found relief in a flood of tears. The 
 teacher, a worthy, excellent young man, offered all the counsel 
 
 he could — came v/ith J. M to the manse, and prayed with 
 
 him — took him to one of the elders, who also offered counsel 
 and prayer — and sent for the curate, who kindly came and spoke 
 and prayed with him. Still he remained ; and when I entered 
 told his story of guilt, while he sat trembling like a whipped 
 child, and said he had broken every commandment of God except 
 the sixth and eighth. Besides that, he never set foot in a place 
 of worship, nor bowed the knee to God. On one occasion he 
 was so drunk he lay down on the rails, and only for some one 
 passing and hauling him ofi*, he had been, by the next train, a 
 mangled corpse, and his poor soul in hell ; and then he asked 
 if it was iDOSsible such a sinner could get mercy. 'Perfectly 
 
90 THE PLOUGHBOY AND HIS MUSE. 
 
 SO, for God says it — " The blood of Jesus Clirist his Son cleans- 
 eth us from all sin." " Him that cometh unto me, I will in no 
 wise cast out." ' (1 John i. 7 ; John vi. 37.) After a few more 
 words of counsel, fjrayer was offered, and he withdrew greatly 
 relieved. He was a married man somewhere about twenty 
 years, father of ten children — had no connexion with any place 
 of worship. Since then he has been most regular, has also 
 established the worship of God in his family, and has a weehly 
 lirayer-meeting in his house. His wife and eldest daughter were 
 both afterwards 'stricken,' and the three were among nine 
 pleaders before my session to dispense with the usual length- 
 ened examination for the Lord's Supper, and admit them at 
 our last communion. They were admitted, and 'go on their 
 way rejoicing.' 
 
 The Ploughhoy and his Muse. — " During the prayer in a farm- 
 house one day, there was much emotion. At its close, a tall, 
 
 stout, able-bodied young man, twenty years of age, R E , 
 
 the farmer's eldest son, approached one of the ministers trem- 
 bling, and seizing him by the hand as tears flowed fast — ' Mr 
 
 S , you can't leave.' ' Why, Robert % ' ' Oh, you can't leave 
 
 me in this state ! ' ' Why, what's wrong 1 ' ' Oh, I 'm so ill — 
 such a load upon my heart ! ' ' But can't you go \\dth your load 
 to the cross, and Jesus will take it from you ? He says, " Come 
 unto me, all ye that lahour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest.' " ' Oh, but I can't go.' ' Can't you pray Christ to 
 take you 1 ' ' No, I 'm so ill, I can't ; will you pray ? ' So say- 
 ing, he fell on his knees before me, and I had to proceed in 
 prayer. He had just come in from the plough, with his horses, 
 in time to catch the prayer that, by the Spirit's grace, enabled 
 him to ' put his hand to another plough,' and I thank God he 
 has not ' looked back.' The accompanying piece of poetry by 
 him shews his mental complexion. It has found its way into 
 the public prints ; and after going the rounds of the press here, 
 I have seen it in the Sunday School Times, published in Phila- 
 delphia, and the weekly organ of the American Tract Society. 
 It is headed, 'A Convert's Prayer,' and the signature at first 
 was, ' By a Ploughboy, near Portrush :' — 
 
THE OLD WATERLOO MAN". 9X 
 
 * THE COXVERT'S PRATER. 
 
 * heavenly Fatlier, hear my cry ! oh, let Thy Spirit come 
 In rich effusion on mj^ soul, and make my heart Thy home ! 
 Imperfect, Lord, are all my ways in this sad vale of tears. 
 But let my Saviour's promise. Lord, remove my doubts and fears ! 
 Teach me to know Thy holy Word, by inspiration given. 
 And let Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 
 Go forth, Lord, to all the world, touch every heart below, 
 That when the gospel trumpet sounds, men every note may know. 
 Oh, let my wild, unruly tongue, that oft blasphemed Thy name, 
 No more be heard to utter words of folly, sin, and shame. 
 Create in me a thoughtful heart, both humble and sincere, 
 And in the mansions of the blest may I fill tip the rear ! ' 
 
 The Old Waterloo Man. — "Another remarkable case arising 
 out of that precious Sabbath. An old soldier of the Duke of 
 "Wellington, whose regiment had been disbanded after Water- 
 loo, and now seventy-three years of age, had stood, till late in 
 the evening, watching a poor Roman Catholic girl whom some 
 Christian ladies had removed to their house. Next morning 
 early, the old soldier's wife was down for the minister. Having 
 so many visits to make that day, even with a good steed, it was 
 afternoon before I reached the old man. He sat up in bed half- 
 dressed, and was in an awful agony of prayer, hands clasped, 
 tears pouring, without any attempt to wdpe them away. His 
 attention was diverted for a few seconds by my presence, and 
 grasping my hands with both his in iron grasp, he held me like 
 in a vice ; but soon letting go his hold, which was a great re- 
 lief to me, he burst out again in a tempest of prayer, of which 
 this is a specimen : — " blessed Saviour of the world, melt 
 this hard heart, this wretched heart ! It is a hard heart, a 
 wretched heart. blessed Saviour, pour out Thy Holy Spirit 
 on every wretched sinner like me ! Oh, a heart pressed down ! ' 
 'Pressed down with what, Billy?' I interposed. He replies, 
 ' Sin — Satan ! ' and then proceeds in prayer : — ' Saviour, free 
 me ! Oh, wash me in " the fountain opened ! " Oh, plunge me 
 in it ! I know He '11 not " put my soul to shame, nor let my 
 hope be lost." O blessed Saviour, I won't distrust you one 
 
92 THE LITTLE ORPHAN MAID. 
 
 jot ! dear Saviour, dear Lord and Saviour, forsake me not !' 
 When asked what enabled him to pour out such prayers, he 
 replied, 'It is nothing but the work of heavenly love by the 
 Holy Spirit ;' and catching the idea of ' heavenly love,' he 
 interweaves it in prayer : — ' Heavenly Love, subdue me ! Oh, 
 He will be my Friend!' When, according to custom, I asked 
 what I should pray for when I knelt beside him, he replied, 
 'For the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on this 
 wretched heart, and on all that desire Him.' Be it remembered 
 the old man can't read a word. 
 
 The Tivin Sisters. — " The following is a case of sisters who were 
 affected at the DunmuU meeting : — They continued to pray night 
 and day, ' Lord, remember me' — so much so, that their mother 
 has informed me she has heard them repeating it through their 
 sleejx A faithful God listened to artless country girls of sixteen 
 years of age, the only surviving children of their parents, and at 
 the close of a prayer-meeting in the neighbourhood both Avere 
 'remembered.' And how precious the thought that the God 
 of love gave both the second bu-th the same night, as He had 
 done the natural birth ! On our first visit after the ' Lord 
 remembered them,' the fountains of feeling were unsealed, and 
 gave forth their sparkling treasures. It was moving to see the 
 girls sitting side by side repeating alternate verses of the 12th 
 chapter of Isaiah. An old gentleman from London, and a rector 
 of Hereford, England, accompanied me. The latter asked to be 
 allowed the privilege of praying in that house, and remarked 
 when we passed out, ' I wish my bishop had been here to-day. 
 I think he would have altered his next charge to his clergy 
 about the Irish revival ;' and the old Londoner, who was very 
 much overcome, when he had dried his cheeks, lifted up both 
 hands, and exclaimed, ' Well, if this be hysteria, God grant tJmt 
 London may he soon smitten ivith it!'' 
 
 The Little Orphan Maid. — " Only one other case I mention. It 
 is that of a fatherless, motherless, orphan little servant maid. 
 She is only thirteen years of age, and when about seven was left 
 by a wretched mother in a farm-house, and she never came back 
 to inquire after the child ; and some time after the poor thing 
 
THE LITTLE ORPHAIir MAID. 93 
 
 heard all the being she had for a mother was dead. It was 
 early for the little creature to put down her tiny hands to work 
 for her bread ; but so it was, and she can say, ' When my 
 father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take 
 me up.' S. M , by the kindness of her mistress, is per- 
 mitted to attend regularly the Presbyterian church Sabbath- 
 school, and, by the care of an excellent teacher, can read very 
 well. In the beginning of August, her mistress being from 
 home, she was left alone in the house, and there came under 
 deep conviction of sin ; and when her mistress returned, she 
 found her lying in bed weeping, and she v/as again stricken 
 while pulling flax in the field. When I called on the IStli of 
 that month, in answer to the question when this work of grace 
 began in her soul, her reply was, ' Several weeks ago.' ' What 
 brought you to think?' 'I just felt I was a great sinner, and 
 needed Jesus.' ' Have you got Him?' 'Yes.' 'How do you 
 know ?' ' Because my sins are taken away.' 'How do you know 
 that V ' God says, the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth 
 us from all sin.' 'Are you resting on that word of His?' 'Oh, 
 yes, sir.' As additional reasons of her being forgiven, she said 
 she nov7 loved the Bible, which she did not do before ; loved 
 prayer, felt it sweeter, &c. She was next asked what she prayed 
 for. ' For the blood of Christ to cleanse my sins away, and the 
 Spirit of Christ to renew and sanctify my nature, and that He 
 would be a father and mother unto me.' During these answers 
 tears fell fast, but at the last allusion to her orphan situation a 
 convulsive sob shook her httle breast, and the shower from her 
 eyes came on hea^^.er. It may be easily supposed there was no 
 one present unmoved. As a last question, she was asked, 
 ' Was there any particular text more than another her soul 
 was now reposing on since she found peace?' 'Yes.' '"What?' 
 She raised her hand over her eyes — it seeming vain to try to 
 stem the flomng spring-tide — and in broken sobs repeated, as 
 well as choking utterance would let her, '"I am persuaded that 
 neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
 nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love 
 
94 EXTENT OF THE WORK 
 
 of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ' (Rom. viii. 38, 39.) 
 One of the 'Scots Worthies' departed this life sitting at his 
 breakfast-table, (Bruce, I think,) having requested his daughter 
 to open the family Bible and lay it before him, and place his 
 fore-finger on those two verses ; and the priceless passage that 
 formed peaceful anchorage for the happy spirit of the departing 
 ' Worthy ' going home, forms anchorage for the little Irish' 
 orphan maid, stunted in bodily growth by toil and hardship 
 from a child, yet admitted a daughter, I believe, of the Great 
 King. 
 
 " From a journal kept with verbal accuracy from time to time, 
 these details are merely excerpts. My record covers over three 
 hundred cases, I dare not say of conversion, but I must say of 
 the mighty Spirit's power to ' convince the world of sin.' From 
 contact with this 'wonderful work of God,' and being honoured 
 to take some little part in carrying it on, my spirit has been 
 literally overwhelmed with a sense of my own deep un worthi- 
 ness, and yet that God should 'count me worthy, putting me 
 into the ministry' at such a j)recious time of abounding mercy 
 to perishing men ; and I have felt that all earthly honours pale 
 into insignificance when compared with the highest God could 
 confer on man, being a ' fellow- worker with God, and with His 
 Christ.' It were worth living ten thousand ages in obscurity 
 and reproach to be permitted to creep forth at the expiration of 
 that time, and engage in the glorious work of the last six 
 months of 1859." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN THE CAPITAL OF ULSTER. 
 
 Visit of the Yoimg Men from Connor — Its Effects — The Movement 
 Begun — Measures taken to Guide it and Advance its Progress — 
 United Prayer-Meetings — Great Gathering in the Botanic Gardens 
 — Description of a remarkable instance of Conviction — The Meet- 
 ings in Berry Street — Cases witnessed there — Visits to some next 
 day — The Ardour of a Young Disciple — Sandy Kow Experiences 
 — Ewai't's Eow and the Educational Operations there — A Total 
 Change — Visit of Mr North — His Seasonable Addresses — The Work 
 in Townsend Street Congregation — The "Unfortunates" — The 
 Careless — The Formalists — The Backsliders — God's Children — 
 Estimate of the Qualifications of " Converts" for Revival "Work — 
 The "Sleeping" Cases and the Wonder-Seekers. 
 
 Travelling from Scotland in the end of May, in company with 
 the Rev. J. H. Moore, of Connor, after the meeting of the Free 
 Church Assembly, the conversation between us naturally turned 
 upon the extraordinary movement then in progress in our native 
 land. Intelligence received from home during the ten days pre- 
 viously had informed us of its rapid spread over the country ; 
 and it was further announced that some of the young men from 
 Connor were about to visit the metropoHs of the north, there to 
 make known the great things they had w^itnessed in connexion 
 with the advancement of the work of God. I took occasion 
 to express a somewhat unfavourable opinion of the proposed 
 mission, when my fellow-traveller interposing, said, " I have so 
 often seen how human wisdom has been at fault in this whole 
 movement, that I should not wonder if the employment of such 
 an agency as that in question should be extensively blessed for 
 
96 THE MOVEMENT BEGUN. 
 
 good, and if tlie visit of our friends should be only preparatory 
 to a great awakening among your fellow-townsmen." 
 
 Two days after and it was matter of record in the local 
 journals that the revival tide had "set in" in Belfast. On 
 the Sabbath evening previous, a very solemn meeting had been 
 held in Linenhall Street Church, when the strangers referred to 
 described the remarkable work going on in their own neighbour- 
 hood, and impressed all present by their simple and touching 
 statements. Near the close of the service, a female, who, it was ^ 
 said, had gone incredulous as to the reality of the movement, 
 was affected in a manner similar to what had been witnessed in 
 other places ; while others w^ho had attended, both male and 
 female, were reported of as being seized with religious convic- 
 tions in their own dwellings. 
 
 On the evening of Tuesday a meeting was held in another 
 church, when, after addresses by the visitors from Connor, a 
 strange commotion took place in the audience. A young woman 
 first, then a young man, cried for mercy. After the usual 
 dismissal the people lingered behind in hundreds, partly in 
 amazement at what had taken place before their eyes, and partly 
 for an additional opportunity of engaging in the exercises of 
 devotion. The building was reopened, and the pastor, the Rev. 
 Hugh Hanna, who had been engaged up to this period else- 
 where, presided. Next morning groups of interested persons 
 were congregated around the dwellings of those who had been 
 " affected " on the preceding evening. The general impression 
 ■was that the great realities which had been witnessed elsewhere 
 had come amongst us, and that the gracious rain which had so 
 copiously fallen in other places was about to descend in plenteous 
 effusion throughout our borders. 
 
 A week later and the whole community w^as agitated by the 
 unusual visitation. In the churches, on the Sabbath, attention 
 had been directed by their respective pastors to the all-engross- 
 ing theme, while a feeling of deepest solemnity pervaded the 
 congregations. In the course of a few days religious meetings 
 were commenced in many districts of the town, some of which 
 had not long before acquired an unhappy notoriety as the scenes 
 
ADVANCEIMENT OF THE MOVELIENT. 97 
 
 of party animosity, and even bloodshed. Every available agency 
 was put into requisition to meet the exigency ; and it became 
 necessary for ministers to beg the co-operation of teachers 
 in Sabbath-schools, and other friends, in attending to the 
 awakened, as they themselves were even already almost worn 
 out with work. 
 
 At an early period in the history of the revival in Belfast, the 
 ecclesiastical authorities, as might have been expected, took an 
 opportunity of declaring their judgment with regard to it. The 
 Bishop of the Diocese, at all times ready to identify himself 
 with every enterprise bearing upon the moral elevation of the 
 community, took part in a series of discourses in course of 
 dehvery on the subject by one of his clergy, and expressed the 
 most generous sentiments with respect to all, of whatever 
 denomination, who were engaged in the advancement of this 
 great work. 
 
 The Rev. Dr Miller, vicar, took occasion to insert a letter in 
 the papers, in which he said — " Whatever be the issue of this 
 movement, one thing, at least, is noiv evident, that amongst the 
 people generally there is an awakening from spiritual death, an 
 anxiety after the soul's salvation, and a growing desire for the 
 means of grace. All this is a subject of deep gratitude and 
 thankfulness to the Author and Giver of all good things. You 
 are, perhaps, aware that a meeting of clergy, with our bishop 
 presiding, was held yesterday, at the Clerical Rooms ; and, as 
 might have been expected, the unanimous feeling of the meeting 
 was, that, with ministerial zeal and faithfulness, but, at the 
 same time, with a calm and prayerful spirit, we should continue, 
 as hitherto, to feel a lively interest in the matter, and avail 
 ourselves of every available opportunity, at all times and in a,ll 
 places, to preach and to teach Christ." 
 
 The ministers of the Wesleyan and Independent bodies threw 
 themselves into the movement with characteristic energy ; while 
 the Presbytery of Belfast, at its first meeting, unanimously 
 adopted the following resolution: — "The Presbytery desire to 
 express their thankfulness to God for the various signs of a 
 religious awakening in this town and neighbourhood, and do 
 
 G 
 
98 UNITED PRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 urgently exliort the brethren of the Presbytery to use all dili- 
 gence in improving the present serious attention to Divine 
 things, by the use of such means of religious awakening and 
 instruction as may to them appear best fitted to accomplish 
 the great end of the ministry in the conversion of souls to 
 Christ, and the quickening and edifying of the Church of God, 
 and very specially to plead with the Lord for the plentiful 
 outpouring of His Holy Spirit." 
 
 In expressing their views respectively, the brethren were of 
 one mind with reference to the reality of the change then pass- 
 ing over so many of their fellow-men around them. Whatever 
 might be thought of certain well-known accidents by which it 
 was attended, it was profoundly felt and acknowledged to be a 
 wonderful display of sovereign grace, impossible to be accounted 
 for by any other than a Divine agency. Their primary duty 
 they solemnly declared to be to hail its advent, and to seek that 
 its hallowed influence might be perpetuated and extended over 
 the whole land. Although little more than a week had elapsed 
 since it had visited the town, the moderator, the Rev. Robert 
 Knox, stated that he had already visited no less than sixty per- 
 sons who had been brought under its influence. 
 
 A week later, and a united meeting for prayer — the first of a 
 series which is continued weekly till this day — was held in the 
 Music Hall; the Mayor in the chair; the building being 
 crowded to excess, while nearly a hundred ministers of all 
 denominations filled the platform. That which was held on 
 the following week was presided over by the Bishop of Down 
 and Connor, and was so numerously attended, that hundreds 
 who were unable to gain admittance engaged in similar exercises 
 in another part of the building. 
 
 Toward the end of the month, it having been considered 
 desirable by some to bring together in one place the friends of 
 the movement in the surrounding districts, the grounds of the 
 Botanic Gardens were thrown open for the purpose, and an 
 assemblage convened such as was never "leen before in the north 
 of Ireland. I was not of those who looked with special favour 
 on the proposal to collect together a miscellaneous multitude 
 
GEEAT GATHERING IN BOTANIC GARDENS. 99 
 
 wliom it might be difficult to control, and over whom no human 
 voice by possibility could reach; while the idea of such a 
 gathering seemed rather to suggest that of a " demonstration" 
 of mere numbers than of a holy convocation assembled for 
 Divine worship. Nor, after the experience of two such meet- 
 ings in which I have borne a part, have I seen cause to form 
 a different judgment respecting them. At the same time, 
 I must declare that there was that in the settled demeanour 
 and orderly array of those unprecedented assemblies, which 
 presented to the beholder the finest specimen of true moral 
 sublimity. A friend came to me as I was about to join the 
 moving mass that thronged our streets on their way thither, 
 one as calmly philosophic as he is earnestly Christian in all his 
 aims, and said, " Well, I have been looking on for the last half- 
 hour on the most impressive spectacle I ever witnessed. I have 
 seen in my own country, when a youth, some mighty gatherings, 
 especially during the agitation for Keform, and have stood by 
 when thousands of sturdy and resolute men were congregated, 
 whose very tramp had a stern purpose in it ; but I have never 
 been so impressed by any such exhibition as by the calm and 
 earnest look of those plain men and women, with their Bibles 
 in their hands, who are pouring on as in an unceasing stream 
 toward the Gardens. I have not, as you know, been satisfied as 
 to the wisdom of the course that has brought all these people 
 here, but I feel that I must join them in their solemn exercises. 
 Come, then, and let us go." And so, accordingly, we went, and 
 found it even as my friend had said. There, in tlie centre of 
 that spacious lawn with its shaven sward, and in a position 
 encircled by noble elms and beeches — a most picturesque spot 
 in garden scenery — we mingled with the mighty congregation. 
 
 Commanding the open space in which they met, the towers 
 of the Queen's College peering through the trees, and the Cave- 
 hill in rugged majesty bounding the further view, stood the 
 covered platform, or rather pavilion, which on that occasion 
 served as the pulpit for the officiating brethren. From the same 
 position the most extraordinary of living preachers, the Rev. 
 Mr Spurgeon, had about a year before proclaimed the message 
 
100 GEEAT GATHERING IN BOTANIC GARDENS. 
 
 of mercy to listening thousands. But now the occasion was not 
 one of preaching, but of prayer. These M'aiting multitudes had 
 come together not to hang upon the eloquence of man, but to 
 fall down prostrate before the throne of God. From the 
 crowded lanes and alleys of our town — from the lone hamlets 
 of the hills and cabins of the villages, all round for thirty or 
 forty miles, they had come forth that day — many of them with 
 hearts enlarged and full of new-born love — having bent the knee 
 before they left their homes, and fervently implored a blessing 
 on the devotions which they had sought to share. As they 
 arrived from one and another region round about, the citizens 
 stood amazed at their accumulating numbers, many an onlooker 
 being led to inquhe within himself whereunto this would grow. 
 The gi'eat majority were strangers, who, as they passed through 
 the crowded thoroughfares, took no heed of any of their attrac- 
 tions. Nothing of holiday abandon was seen upon them — 
 nothing of the promptings of mere curiosity, or admiration of 
 the summer glories of the scene, diverted them from the grand 
 object for which they had assembled. And now the thirty 
 or forty thousand — for they were differently estimated — bad met 
 under the open canopy of heaven, and there with one accord 
 were sending up their common supplications to the mercy-seat, 
 or filling all the air with their melodious praise. 
 
 It is not necessary to describe in detail the proceedings of that 
 solemn meeting. The presidential chair was filled by the then 
 Moderator of the General Assembly, the apostle and patriarch 
 of open-air assemblies for public worship. During the exercises 
 were heard many cries for mercy ; and although the proceedings 
 lasted for four hours, order reigned so far as was possible 
 among such a multitude. Here and there, however, were dis- 
 tinct groups of worshippers — some led by those of tender years, 
 others addressed by ministers or laymen. In the outskirts 
 there were occasionally some questionable scenes, as in one in- 
 stance witnessed on leaving by'myself and a brother minister, 
 which we stei)ped forward to endeavour to restrain, but the 
 peculiar character of the exercises rendered it impossible for 
 any one to interpose by rational expostulation. Such extra- 
 
EEMARKABLE CASE OF CONVICTION. 101 
 
 vagances, however, were comparatively rare, and there is no 
 doubt that many subsequently traced their first impressions to 
 that day. By five o'clock the town was completely cleared of 
 its unwonted visitors, and in a few hours afterwards those who 
 had come from a distance were again in their respective homes. 
 
 On the way homewards, the engagements of many partook of 
 the spirit of the services of the forenoon. Some friends who 
 had been at Portrush were returning to town that evening; 
 and as they met the excursion train with its freight of seven 
 hundred passengers at Antrim, their ears were saluted by a 
 loud outburst of melody from the occupants of the third-class 
 carriages, as with one voice and soul they sang together the 
 well-known revival lyric, " What's the News ? " 
 
 Of those who date their saving change from the great Garden 
 meeting, the following is a pleasing specimen : — In the course 
 of the proceedings, a strong and powerful man, who v/ent 
 from mere curiosity, was attracted to one of the side gTOups 
 where a youthful individual was addressing those around him. 
 At a certain point in the service a request was made that 
 all should kneel down in prayer, as an act of submission to 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Slowly and reluctantly our visitor 
 complied. He rose under great mental depression, and left the 
 ground under an agonising sense of sin. He returned to his 
 home in town, and subsequently, in hope of finding some relief, 
 he started for his mother's house, some seven miles distant ; but 
 no peace for him Avas there. He sought the prayer-meeting, 
 but left it as he came, his burthen still unremoved. That night 
 upon his bed he had a sustaining view of Christ, beheld by 
 faith. Next morning, finding a Christian friend who was at 
 his daily occupation in the field, he asked an interest in his 
 prayers. They knelt together, and had not long been in that 
 posture till he sank into an unconscious condition, and so re- 
 mained for upwards of two hours. When he arose the burthen 
 had fallen ofi", and he felt light and joyful in the Lord. Return- 
 ing home another man, his first resolve was to give up the spirit 
 trade in which he had been engaged, a resolution which he at 
 once carried into efiect. In the fulljoy of his heart he stood 
 
102 MEETING IN BEERY STEEET. 
 
 up unsolicited in the face of a meeting assembled for prayer 
 one evening, and avowed liis change, taking as the ground of 
 his remarks, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace 
 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And ever since he 
 has been enabled to witness a good confession ; while God has 
 blest his conversion and example, his prayers and labours, as a 
 means of bringing other strong men like himself to the feet of 
 Jesus. 
 
 It was only a week or two before the meeting to which I have 
 adverted, that I had witnessed for the first time the physical 
 prostrations to which the public attention had been so largely 
 turned. Being requested by the Kev. Hugh Hanna— to whose 
 congregation a signal blessing has been vouchsafed — to aid him 
 in one of his evening meetings, it devolved on me, after the 
 introductory devotional services, to deliver a short address to 
 those assembled, and by whom the church was densely filled— 
 as, indeed, it was on successive evenings for months together. 
 Anxious to repress any tendency to mere excitement, I endea- 
 voured to set forth in the most didactic and unimpassioned 
 strain the way of salvation, avoiding every allusion that might 
 be calculated to awaken mere emotion in any of the audience. 
 I had not, however, proceeded far, until there arose from a 
 female voice a despairing and yet tender cry, accompanied by a 
 sinking of the bodily energies, insomuch that she had to be borne 
 from the place of meeting. This case was soon after succeeded 
 by another and another, until it became necessary to suspend the 
 address in course of delivery, and engage in an exercise of sing- 
 ing, until all who were afi'ected had been removed. After this 
 the service proceeded without further interruption to its close, 
 if close it could be called, as after the benediction the congrega- 
 tion kept their seats, and shewed no disposition to retire. It 
 was necessary, therefore, to resume, and again address the 
 thirsting multitude. The benediction was a second time pro- 
 nounced, and yet they lingered in the sanctuary. At length 
 the place was cleared, and I accompanied the minister, and one 
 or two other brethren, to the library, to which the affected 
 parties had been removed. That apartment being densely filled 
 
VISITS NEXT DAY. 103 
 
 "by themselves and their attendant relatives and friends, they 
 were immediately taken into the adjoining gallery of the 
 church. There they remained, some for a shorter, others for 
 a longer period, mitil they were sufficiently recovered to be 
 conveyed home. All were apparently labouring under the pres- 
 sure of an intolerable burthen. One, about fourteen j^ears of 
 age, had begun to emerge out of "the depths" of her soul- 
 sorrow, and was speaking very touchingly of the grace and 
 beauty of the Sa\dour. In the case of the majority, (I think 
 there Avere from twelve to fifteen— all females,) human help Avas 
 manifestly unavailing, and we could only commit them to the 
 tenderness of the Divine compassion. There was one of the 
 cases which I had no doubt was hysterical, and nothing more. 
 The young woman was violently vociferous and convulsive ; 
 whereas in the others there was nothing of convulsive move- 
 ment whatsoever. 
 
 The next day, having taken down their addresses, I resolved 
 to visit at their own houses some of the " stricken " of the 
 preceding evening. In the first house I entered I found the 
 girl in bed, conscious and intelligent, but not yet recovered out 
 of the first stage of her prostration, as I have described it. By 
 her side sat a sister, who had herself been similarly affected, 
 but who had found relief from her mental anguish, although 
 she seemed to have but a scanty knowledge of the gospel. 
 Seated in the kitchen, however, I observed, on entering, a young 
 female, in whom I became all at once deeply interested. She 
 was tidily, but plainly, dressed, and on her countenance was an 
 expression of "perfect peace" — it was, indeed, lit up with a 
 look of radiant joy. She had a Bible in her hand ; and in 
 answer to my questioning, she stated that a short time pre- 
 viously she herself had undergone, in the same church, a similar 
 process to that which was now so common, and was rejoicing 
 in God her Saviour. She was employed in a weaving factory 
 in town, and "as her web was out," and she had a day to herself, 
 she had taken the opportunity of making the rounds of some 
 of her acquaintances, who had been the subjects of a like 
 spiritual transition. She had been a Sabbath-school scholar, 
 
104 MID-DAY MEETING OF MILL-GIRLS. 
 
 and shewed a thorough acquaintance with her Bible. She spoke 
 of her "good hope through grace" with unshaken confidence, 
 though sensible, at the same time, that clouds and darkness 
 might now and then assail her in the Christian pilgrimage. She 
 cared for little now — for nothing, indeed, of the earth. Even 
 her daily food was scarcely necessary to her. " Christ was her 
 meat and drink," and she was happy in Him. 
 
 The next occasion (I may here observe) on which I saw this 
 young disciple was a peculiarly interesting one. Being in attend- 
 ance some weeks after at one of the mid-day meetings of the 
 mill-girls held in the school-house in connexion with Linen- 
 hall Street Church, — meetings which are still regularly main- 
 tained, — I was witness to a touching scene. One of the 
 females present, towards the close of the exercise, was seized 
 with an extreme weakness. _ She did not raise a cry, nor did she 
 use any words, but her downcast look and tearful countenance 
 told of the conflict that was going on within. Several ministers 
 were present, one of whom, an Episcopal rector from a distance, 
 offered up an impressive prayer. By and by, when others had 
 fallen off from her who had excited so much solicitude, one of 
 her fellow-workers, who was in the little meeting, was seen 
 hasting to her side, and kneeling down amid the hushed atten- 
 tion of all present, was heard to offer up a fervent and most 
 appropriate supplica.tion for the afflicted one. It was a truly 
 affecting scene. The offerer of the consolation I recognised at 
 once as my young friend, whom I had met before on her errand 
 of sympathy with the sisters of the family whom I had first 
 visited. I asked her, at the close, how matters went with her 
 now ; when she at once replied, that she was quite happy in 
 Christ, and had " got more love." I have seen her once and 
 again since, and have reason to believe that she continues stead- 
 fast and exemplary, and has in her humble way proved "a suc- 
 courer of many." 
 
 But to resume. Calling at another house adjacent, I found a 
 young woman seated in the apartment, perfectly calm and 
 collected, but in a condition of deep and despamng agony. 
 Sitting by her side was one of her own sex, upon whose 
 
AEDOUE OF A YOUNG DISCIPLE. 105 
 
 countenance was a very different aspect, the unmistakable 
 indication of a reigning serenity within. In the course of our 
 conversation, I learned in a few words her spiritual history. 
 She had, according to her statement, been brought up a mem- 
 ber of a pious family, but had not until a short time before 
 known in her own experience anything of the power of piety. 
 On the contrary, she had no concern about the one thing need- 
 ful, and put away from her all tendency to serious thought. 
 When the revival came, and others were attending meetings 
 every evening, she resolved for herself, that she would resist 
 every solicitation to be present at them, caring for none of these 
 things. One day, however, when at her work, (she was engaged 
 in a sewed muslin establishment in town,) she was arrested all 
 at once by a sight of her own sinfulness, and laid her head upon 
 the bench before her, that she might give herself up to solemn 
 meditation. JSTo sooner had she so far given way to serious 
 consideration than, under the prompting of an uncontrollable 
 impulse, she fell down on her knees and cried imploringly for 
 mercy. Others of her fellow-workers were looking on, and in 
 the midst of her distress it came into her mind, at the sugges- 
 tion, she believed, of Satan, that she was subjecting herself to 
 the imputation of great weakness by such a public exhibition 
 of her i)rivate griefs, and rebuking that instant the insinua- 
 tion of the deceiver, she cried all the more earnestly, and ere 
 long had such a view of Christ, and such a sense of His won- 
 drous love, that when she arose she could rejoice in the assur- 
 ance of a present salvation. And now, she also was making a 
 few calls on those of whom she had heard as being sought 
 out of the same loving Saviour who had come to her in such a 
 time as she desired Him not. As our interview proceeded, a 
 young woman entered the place, the same, I at once observed, 
 whose case I had regarded as mere hysteria the previous even- 
 ing, and whose demeanour did not now furnish any satisfactory 
 evidence to the contrary. On being inquired of whether she had 
 any evidence of her acceptance in the sight of God, she answered 
 that the weight vvas still about her heart, and that for relief she 
 was about to return to the prayer-meeting in the evening. My 
 
106 SANDY ROW EXPERIENCES. 
 
 fellow- visitor, whose case I have narrated, said to me, when 
 subsequently referring to the experience of this other, that she 
 regarded it as far from hopeful, as the young woman in ques- 
 tion seemed to be going after meetings, instead of going at once 
 to Christ. 
 
 I paid a third visit in another part of the town — viz., Sandy 
 Row, to a house in which one of the inmates, a young girl, was 
 laid upon the bed, also in the first stage of physical prostration. 
 The old man, her father, who received me, said he was not sorry, 
 indeed, to see her there. She had been borne in in that state 
 from the meeting the previous night, and he hoped that, when 
 she recovered, she would be different from what she ever had 
 been before. Her temper was in great need of improvement ; 
 and if the same result took place with her as with her sister, 
 who had been afiected as she was, it would be a blessed change 
 for her and them. The next time I called, he assured me that 
 his expectations had been fully realised respecting his daughter. 
 " And now," said he, " there 's not a better girl in all the neigh- 
 bourhood." 
 
 In company with my old friend, the father, who said that he 
 knew at least forty in that district who were brought under 
 the same gracious influence, I called on a young man who 
 had a short time before, as was represented, experienced a 
 wondrous change. He had been a " good-for-nothing fellow," 
 spending his earnings in the public-house, frequenting no place 
 of worship, lounging about the fields upon the Sabbath, a 
 fearful swearer, and a dog-fighter. We visited the miserable 
 hovel, scarcely eight feet square, which served as the abode of 
 himself, his wife, and three little children, and found that he 
 had not recovered sufficient strength to enable him to return 
 to his w^ork on the railway hard by, but that he was calling 
 on some others in the vicinity who bad been brought to 
 themselves as he was. We heard from his wife, before he 
 returned, his striking story. She had herself, she said, been 
 brought to Christ at one of the meetings ; and though he was 
 very averse to go, she had prevailed on him, about a fort- 
 night before, to accompany her to Linenhall Street Church, 
 
CASE OF A " GOOD-FOR-NOTHING FELLOW." 107 
 
 where an address was being delivered by some Scottish mi- 
 nister. She prayed inwardly that the word might reach her 
 husband's heart. Scarcely had she sought for mercy on his 
 behalf, when, looking round to observe his looks, she saw him 
 all at once turn deadly pale, and then, with a loud cry, he fell 
 to the earth, and had to be removed from the place of meeting. 
 He was in great agony of mind afterwards, but had found 
 peace ; and now, oh, what a change ! What sometimes affected 
 him was his straitened circumstances, and his inability, not yet 
 having regained his strength, to go about his work. The other 
 day, looking at her and the children in want of bread, he had 
 burst out into a fit of crying ; but she had cheered him up, and, 
 handing him the Bible, bid him read a chapter, for she could 
 not read herself ; which done, he offered up a prayer, and then 
 was as happy as ever. By this time the husband had returned, 
 when he confirmed all we had heard respecting him. " I was 
 indeed," said he, " a drunken rascal — nothing less ; and all my 
 pleasure was to drink and sin. But, blessed be His name, I 
 have seen a sight which has made me another man." And then 
 he went on to narrate, in simple, yet eloquent language, the 
 mode in which the spiritual transition had been realised. He 
 vras lying on his bed writhing under the bm'den of sins ; and 
 such a burthen ! He saw his sins rolling down like mountains 
 of lead upon him, and he felt that they must sink him to perdi- 
 tion. But presently he saw (" that is," he continued, " I thought 
 I saw") a glorious Being rising up before him with sweet coun- 
 tenance, and bearing on Him the marks of being crucified ; and 
 as He drew near, the mountains of sin began to sink down out 
 of view, until at last they were all gone, and nothing was to be 
 seen but a loving Saviour. " I think," he said, " I see Him 
 still, and I wish, if it be His will, never to let Him out of my 
 sight." And then he went on to say how he loathed the prac- 
 tices he had loved. Whisky was now his abomination, and he 
 would not for the Avorld enter the place where it was sold ; and 
 as for profane swearing, he did not feel the least temptation to 
 it ; and when at any time he saw that an oath was coming out 
 of the lips of any one, it made his very bones tremble. But 
 
108 THE WORK IN EWART's EOW. 
 
 I must not enlarge. I have once and again visited tliis inter- 
 esting couple in humble life — on one occasion with two brother 
 ministers from Italy, who had taken the opportunity when here 
 of inquiring into the character, and estimating the results of the 
 revival — and I have every reason to believe that they continue 
 to walk together in love, and that theirs is, in the highest sense 
 of the word, a happy home. They have, some months ago, 
 quitted their former wretched habitation, and are now enjoying 
 the substantial comforts of a commodious dvv^elling. 
 
 Not to descant, however, on individual instances, I shall here 
 introduce an interesting communication respecting the work in 
 another district in the outskirts of the town. The place is 
 called Ewart's Row, and is inhabited altogether by mill- workers. 
 The proprietors of the mill, the principal of whom is our pre- 
 sent excellent chief magistrate, lent every facility to their 
 work-people to avail themselves of the opportunities of religious 
 instruction which were so abundantly enjoyed, and have had 
 their reward in the improved habits of their little community. 
 The writer of the subjoined statement is a young female, the 
 daughter of a respectable tradesman, whose own spiritual his- 
 tory is deeply interesting. Up to the 29th of June she was 
 altogether frivolous in her tastes, and fond of gaiety and worldly 
 amusements. She had, however, been importuned by a friend 
 to attend a meeting in the Rev. Hugh Hanna's church, on the 
 evening of the day in question, and very reluctantly complied. 
 In the course of the service, a young woman fell down by her 
 side, and in the act of rising to follow and render her assist- 
 ance, she herself was similarly seized. Having been removed 
 to her own home, she was for several days subjected to extreme 
 bodily weakness, her mind being all the while in " perfect 
 peace." On her recovery, finding that a walk of usefulness was 
 opened up to her, and under the prompting of an earnest desire 
 to do good to others, she opened a class for the instruction of 
 her sisters in the " Row," so many of whom had been them- 
 selves the subjects of the merciful visitation. Although in the 
 subjoined statement she makes no reference to herself, it is 
 
EDUCATIONAL OPEEATIONS. 109 
 
 well known tliat the enterprise owes its success largely to her 
 devoted labours : — 
 
 "Ewart's Row is a manufacturing suburb of Belfast, on the 
 north side of the town, having a population of about fifteen 
 hundred souls. It was visited by the grace of God at an early 
 period of the revival. Many were brought to a saving know- 
 ledge of Jesus in a very remarkable way. The change that was 
 thus manifested, and the earnest entreaties and fervent prayers 
 of the converts for the salvation of their friends and neighbours, 
 by the Divine blessing, awakened the whole locality. There 
 was no district of Belfast so deeply moved. The whole popu- 
 lation crowded to prayer-meetings and open-air preachings, 
 evincing the deepest seriousness and concern about eternal 
 things. Every one betook himself to the prayerful reading of 
 the Bible. Those who could read but imperfectly or not at all, 
 bewailed their inability; every one became eager for instruc- 
 tion in the Word of God. At this crisis the Ewart's Bow school 
 was opened by the district-visitors connected with the Berry 
 Street church. Christian friends from other congregations 
 joined in the good work, and the Lord has crowned their labour 
 with abundant success. The average attendance on three even- 
 ings dm'ing the week is about one hundred and fifty. JMany of 
 the girls who could read but very imperfectly at the opening 
 of the school, in three months had committed the whole of the 
 Shorter Catechism ; others, the greater portion of the Book of 
 Psalms ; and many, portions of the Scriptures. Theu' memories 
 are stored with the Word of God. Their hearts fondly cherish 
 it, and their lives are beautifully regulated by its requirements. 
 Useful branches of instruction have been introduced. Many of 
 the poor girls now write a beautiful band. Some have ad- 
 vanced considerably in arithmetic. Industrial occupations 
 have engaged the time of others, who will shortly be better 
 fitted for domestic duties. 
 
 " The good done in every direction is incalculable. Scripture 
 classes and prayer-meetings are without end in the district. 
 The excitement attendant on the earlier stages of the revival 
 
110 CHANGED CHAEACTER OF THE POPULATION. 
 
 has passed away, but a deep and settled seriousness remains, tlie 
 result, it is believed, of the saving grace of God. The greatest 
 happiness that earth can afford is enjoyed by teachers and 
 scholars in their schools and prayer-meetings. The teachers 
 delight in the work, and confess that the hours spent in Ewart's 
 Row have been among the happiest of their lives. The Lord 
 has done great things for us. The change witnessed in the 
 locality is astonishing. The leisure hours were formerly devoted 
 to boisterous amusements, in which profane swearing was prac- 
 tised to a fearful extent ; now the name of God is never heard 
 but with reverence, on any lips. Both sexes have shared in the 
 grace of God, and Ewart's Row is now a regenerated locality." 
 
 With reference to the changed character of the population in 
 the " Row " above referred to, or rather rows, for there are three 
 of them running parallel to each other, the Rev. Joshua W. 
 Collins, who resides in the immediate neighbourhood, and has 
 had abundant opportunities of knowing the general habits and 
 character of the people, makes the following very gratifying 
 statement : — 
 
 " Much as we all needed this awakening, I know not any dis- 
 trict, in town or country, where a ' revival ' was more required 
 than that of which I now Avrite. I am unwilling to state all I 
 have heard and known of it. The sins of the times in all their 
 extent were there indulged in. Quarrelling, drunkenness, pro- 
 fanity. Sabbath-breaking, indecent conversation, and indifference 
 to religious ordinances were universally prevalent. 
 
 " You know the process by which a wondrous change has been 
 ejGfected. Of the ' cases,' many, I have no doubt, were purely 
 hysterical, and I invariably treated them as such. It was easy 
 for any one who had experience in the movement to discrimi- 
 nate between these and others wherein symptoms were evinced 
 that no principle known to medical science can explain, and 
 which, I doubt not, are solely referable to the Holy Spirit. 
 
 "The first 'stricken' here were in the factory; and the sen- 
 sation produced when they were carried hom>e may be more 
 easily imagined than described. The place, so lately given up, 
 to all apearance, to the Wicked One, was now filled with 
 
KESULTS. Ill 
 
 anxiety about salvation. ' Won't you come into this house, sir, 
 and pray with US'?' 'Ah, please your reverence, my daughter 
 is crying to see you ! ' ' Surely you will not pass us by, and all 
 of us in such trouble ? ' These were the entreaties by which I 
 was met on every side as often as I went that way, and many a 
 time by night as well as day had I to visit them. To have their 
 burdens lifted off, to know Jesus, to be at peace with God, was 
 their only wish. Some, to my knowledge, were at least forty- 
 eight hours without food. To speak to them and pray for them 
 was all they wanted. 
 
 "I commenced immediately an open-air preaching in the dis- 
 trict, in which I was assisted by other brethren. During three 
 months in the summer, service was held in the Row and adjoin- 
 ing neighbourhood at least three times weekly, and frequently 
 attended by three thousand persons. 
 
 " As to the results up to the present time, I am prepared to 
 state from my own knowledge, that while in a few, a very few 
 cases, there has been a declension from their first love, yet I do 
 not know of any aggravated declension, even in a single in- 
 stance. The large proportion of those affected cleave steadfastly 
 to Christ, and by their whole demeanour prove, so far as we can 
 judge, that they are ' born again.' The people, generally speak- 
 ing, are now members of some church, and frequent it regu- 
 larly. The children go to a Sabbath-school, and in every respect 
 ' old things have passed away, all things are become new.' It is 
 pleasant now to go into these rows. All are anxious to receive 
 every one who comes to speak to them of Christ and His salva- 
 tion. The voice of prayer and praise is heard nightly in almost 
 every dwelling. God is now honoured where His holy name 
 was blasphemed and Satan was wont to triumph ; and there is, 
 as the result of this glorious awakening, deep cause to unite 
 with the Psalmist and exclaim, 
 
 ' sing a new song to the Lord, 
 For wonders he hath done ; 
 His right hand and his holy arm 
 Him victory hath won.' " 
 
 The reports of the extraordinary work of grace going on 
 
112 VISIT OF urn BROWNLOW NORTH. 
 
 amongst us attracted at an early period ministers and other 
 Christian friends of all denominations from England and Scot- 
 land, whose assistance in conducting meetings, and otherwise 
 countenancing the work, was most important and valuable. 
 The Scottish brethren were largely encouraged to come over by 
 the generous liberality of Peter Drummond, Esq., of Stirling, 
 v/ho was among the first from a clis'ance to mingle in the 
 scenes associated with the awakening, and who on his return 
 supplied the means by which a considerable number of minis- 
 ters were enabled to cross the Channel for the same purpose. 
 
 Among those who visited us at this time none were more 
 highly prized, either in Belfast or elsewhere, than Mr Brownlow 
 North, to whom reference has been made in connexion with the 
 great meetings at Portrush. The striking spiritual history of 
 Mr North himself, his social status, and the wonderful success 
 attending his labours, especially for the preceding two years in 
 Scotland, all contributed to concentrate public attention on his 
 evangelistic labours. He came to Belfast in the end of June, 
 and did not leave Ulster for two months afterwards. During 
 the intermediate period he was employed incessantly in public 
 ministrations, and had most abundant and sustaming evidence 
 that his labour was not in vain. 
 
 Having had frequent opportunities of hearing this eminent 
 servant of Christ during his sojourn here, I can bear testimony 
 to the wonderful power of his addresses — for sermons, in the 
 usj.ial acceptation of the term, they cannot be designated; 
 although, however, there was no attempt at methodical arrange- 
 ment or rhetorical art, yet such was the intense and outbreak- 
 ing energy of the speaker, that every one felt compelled to 
 listen. Thousands and thousands were gathered around him ; 
 and whether under the canopy of heaven, or in the largest 
 buildings that could be thrown open to receive him, he was 
 ever ready to proclaim that truth which in his own case he had 
 found inestimably precious. His visits to the awakened dis- 
 tricts were peculiarly seasonable. In many cases, those who 
 regarded themselves as brought under saving influence were 
 disposed mainly to rest for comfort on their own experience of 
 
THE WORK AMONG " UNFORTUXATES. 113 
 
 pardon and of the preciousness of Christ. With reiterated ful- 
 ness of demonstration he exposed the futility of relying on such 
 a flimsy and unsubstantial ground of hope, and the necessity of 
 being fixed immovably on the "foundation that is laid in 
 Zion." The young disciple, burning with all the ardour of a 
 first affection, was thus taught the necessity of being equipped 
 for work and warfare, and of providing against the day of trial 
 and temptation by a familiar acquaintance with the stable and 
 sustaining verities of the \sTitten Word of God. 
 
 Reserving for the Appendix the statistical department of the 
 work in Belfast, I select, from the statements kindly supplied, 
 the following narrative by the Rev. William Johnston of Town- 
 send Street church, more especially as the cases detailed are 
 typical in their character : — 
 
 " The classes in my congregation, I should suppose, like any 
 other, consist of the profane, the careless, the formalists, the 
 backsliders, and the children of God. These have all been 
 brought, more or less, under the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 
 and effects have been produced, the personal knowledge of 
 which has created the deep-seated and deliberate conviction, 
 that, however many may doubt or deride, 'this is the finger 
 of God.' 
 
 The fallen. — " The most hopeless class in our community is 
 composed of those who have lost the -virtue and the dignity of 
 women, and who have sunk to the lowest level of degradation 
 which any human creature can occupy. And yet, as in 'the 
 days of our Lord, harlots are entering into the kingdom of 
 heaven before some of our wretched and lifeless Pharisees. 
 One humble but devoted Christian woman, a member of my 
 church, has been honoured of God to rescue, during the last 
 few months, some twenty 'unfortunates' out of sin and misery; 
 and one of the most difficult, as well as the most delightful 
 portions of my ministerial i\^ork during the past summer, has 
 been to provide temporary support and permanent employment 
 for those who, like the prodigal, were disposed to return. With 
 the exception of one or two who have relapsed, by the treach- 
 ery and diabolism of their own relatives and companions in 
 
 H 
 
114 THE WOEK AMONG THE CARELESS. 
 
 crime, they are all doing admirably. Some are in good service ; 
 one has been married; and the rest are happy in active daily 
 labour. Not the least interesting portion of our worshipping 
 assembly on each Sabbath-day, and at our weekly prayer-meet- 
 ings, are these jSIaries of the Church — these daughters of the 
 revival — whose simple dress, and marked attention, and regular 
 attendance, and steady walk, indicate the dawn of a brighter 
 day, the foretaste of a better future. 
 
 " TJie Careless have been generally awakened ; and in many 
 cases, though not in all, or perhaps in most, the work of deep 
 conviction has issued in saving conversion. In this class ' the 
 bodily manifestations' seem to have been especially blessed. 
 These manifestations have been far too much talked about, and 
 regarded by many at a distance as if they formed the whole 
 work, or the principal feature of it. This is a great mistake. 
 In our congregation, there were not many cases of the kind; 
 but such as did occur, served, to my certain knowledge, very 
 much the purpose of 'the rushing mighty wind' preceding the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They 
 roused the slumbering mass; they startled whole streets; they 
 called special attention to the deep conviction of the person 
 affected; they awed and awakened the minds of many whom 
 curiosity had brought 'to come -and see;' and they were em- 
 ployed and overruled to send many back to their homes and 
 their closets to think of their own lives, to cry to God for their 
 own souls, and to look to Christ for pardon and acceptance as 
 they had never looked before. Of the many illustrative cases 
 I might quote, I shall give but few : — 
 
 " One fine but thoughtless girl? a pupil in the Sabbath-school, 
 was asked to go and sing in the house where another person 
 was in deep distress. She had not been many minutes in the 
 room Avhen the bodily manifestations so impressed her, that she 
 went home to consider the question, A Have I not as much reason 
 to weep for my own sins, and pray for my own soul 1 ' For days 
 and weeks she continued in the deepest anxiety of mind, until, 
 after a painful and protracted conflict, in Avhich her judgment 
 had wellnigh given way, she shut herself up to closet prayer 
 
 I 
 
THE WOEK AMONG THE CARELESS. 115 
 
 witli God, until she found peace in tlie finished work and perfect 
 righteousness of Christ. She is now a consistent member of the 
 church, and an efficient teacher in the Sabbath-school, and these 
 exercises of her mind have been blessed to the conversion of her 
 sister, who is also adorning the doctrine of God her Saviour. 
 
 "At the first prayer-meeting in my church which returning 
 strength permitted me to attend, when engaged at the first 
 prayer, one of my petitions was that God would be pleased to 
 convince and convert some poor careless sinner present. Im- 
 mediately after, there burst forth a most piteous, plaintive cry 
 for mercy. The person was carried out, and the prayer pro- 
 ceeded, when, shortly after, another cry was heard, and another 
 person was taken away in charge of the elders of the church. 
 When the services in the church were concluded, I went to the 
 school-room to speak to these persons, and, to my surprise, I 
 found that the first affected was one of the most hardened 
 and apparently hopeless cases in the congregation. She was 
 a grandmother, a strong-minded, active, worldly woman — one 
 upon whom I had been calling for twelve years, and trying, 
 without any success, to bring to a sense of sin or to the house 
 of God. She seemed utterly indifferent to the salvation of her 
 soul, and twice dead in sin. On the week before, her daughter 
 had been awakened, and she had prevailed on her poor mother 
 to come down that evening to the prayer-meeting, and then and 
 there she was cut to the heart. ' That's me ! ' she exclaimed, and 
 a sense of her sin burst upon her mind, under which she felt 
 utterly overpowered. Her daughter and she are both rejoicing 
 in Jesus, and are one with Christ in the fellowship of the 
 church. 
 
 '' At our communion in October, one person came forward and 
 asked admission to the fellowship of the church, who had been 
 for above twenty years a seatholder. He was an honest, good- 
 natured, worldly, godless man, and the father of a large family. 
 His son had been awakened, and was also asking admission. 
 The work of grace in the heart of his child had struck home 
 conviction to his own soul; and with a most ingenuous confes- 
 sion of his sin, and a powerful statement of the thorough dis- 
 
116 THE WORK AMONG THE FORMALISTS. 
 
 gust and dread with which the manifold inconsistencies of 
 others professing religion had often filled him, he told us how 
 the love of Christ had been shed abroad in his heart, and that 
 he now unreservedly 'yielded himself to the Lord.' With him 
 were seated twelve others, advanced in years, formerly care- 
 less and dead, but now humble followers of Christ, and seeking, 
 through His mediation, admission to the fellowship of the 
 church. Their deep sense of sin, their humbling view of self, 
 their strong confidence in Christ, and their clear views of truth 
 were such that they were all welcomed into the fellowship of 
 the church, and hailed as blessed fruits of the revival. Two of 
 the men had been for years given greatly to drink, but they are 
 now sober and consistent Christians, and stand out monuments 
 of sovereign grace. 
 
 The Formalists. — " Like most of my brethren in the ministry, 
 I had too many in my church, who, whilst steady in their 
 attendance on the means of grace, were, after all, but formal- 
 ists in religion. Upon many of these the most marked change 
 has taken place, and, as they themselves declare, 'they never 
 knew or felt the power or peace of religion before.' One man 
 up in years, moral in his character and well acquainted with the 
 Word, whilst returning from the prayer-meeting in the Botanic 
 Gardens, heard a number of lads singing one of our beautiful 
 psalms; God ordered that sound to reach his heart, and the 
 deepest conviction seized upon his soul. I never saw or met 
 with a more distressed mind. He had no rest, day nor night, 
 for weeks. He happened to meet me one day in one of the 
 most crowded thoroughfares of Belfast, and stopped me to ask, 
 ' What must I do to be saved ? I have been a hypocrite and 
 a formalist for nearly forty years ; I have been walking through 
 life with a veil over my eyes, and I feel such a burden of sin, 
 that if I do not get relief I must die, and be damned.' For 
 weeks no promise could give him peace. He knew his Bible 
 well, but that only added aggravation to his guilt. Human 
 counsels were utterly powerless. I could only pray with him, 
 and for him. Nor was this in vain. I met him one day, and 
 was delighted to see at once a gladsome countenance, the index 
 
THE WOEK AINIONG THE F0E,I»L4.LISTS. 117 
 
 of a blessed change. He told me God had shewn him his mis- 
 take. He had wished God to mend his heart, but that would 
 not do ; and it was not until, on his knees, he had unreservedly 
 resigned himself to the Lord, and asked the Holy Spirit to 
 renew him in the whole man after the im.age of God, that the 
 Lord Jesus had mercy on him, and had pardoned and accepted 
 
 him It so happened, that a few weeks after, I began my 
 
 pastoral visitation for this winter with my friend John. Wlien 
 seated together at his fireside, he said, 'I think, Mr Johnston, 
 the ministers are all iireaching a great deal better than they used 
 to do.' 'Perhaps,' said I, 'the people are hearing a good deal 
 better than they used to do.' ' That may be,' he replied ; ' but 
 I think ihey ought to preach a good deal better.' 'Why so]' 
 I asked. 'Because,' said he, 'the people are all praying now 
 for their ministers ; and before this revival, they left all the 
 praying as well as the preaching to them.' John is now a 
 living stone in the spiritual temple. 
 
 "One other illustrative case is that of a young man, who, 
 like Saul, stands out head and shoulders above most of his 
 brethren ; that fine manly body is the tenement of a clear mind 
 and a generous disposition. He has maintained an excellent 
 character, and is a person of very active habits. He has been for 
 years a member of the church. He has been engaged in the 
 spirit trade, and managed his business with all due regard to 
 propriety, and as well as that branch of business can be con- 
 ducted. During last spring, a sermon which I preached on the 
 sin and shame of the trade, so 'nettled' him, that fdr weeks 
 and months he never entered our church. During last sum- 
 mer, the Spirit began to v/ork deeply on his mind. The first 
 serious awakening was at a prayer-meeting in Townsend Street, 
 on an evening when a noble-minded elder of the Presbyterian 
 Church, and a leading merchant in our town, was expounding 
 the parable of the prodigal son. Reflection deepened into con- 
 viction, and that conviction, for several days and nights, was 
 exhibited in agonising VTestling with God for mercy. That 
 heavenly Father, who never said to any of the seed of Jacob, 
 * Seek 3'e my face in vain,' heard his prayer, and, after a most 
 
118 THE WOUK AMONG THE BACKSLIDERS. 
 
 anxious ordeal, granted him pardon and peace through the 
 blood of the Lamb. At one of our prayer-meetings he came 
 forward and asked liberty to speak a few words. This granted, 
 he proceeded to give us a most interesting statement of the rise 
 and progress of religion in his soul. He told us that for years 
 he had been a professor of religion, but only a formalist and 
 a hypocrite — that he had never known what the peace of God 
 was until within the last few days — and that if all there but 
 knew the blessedness of religion, they would seek it at once in 
 and through Jesus Christ, and they would not be disappointed. 
 After an earnest appeal, he resumed his seat. Many, who had 
 not much faith in the revival, remarked, that the address was 
 all very well, but they would wait to see what of the whisky- 
 shop. They had not to wait long; the very next week the 
 house was cleared of every vestige of the whisky trade ; he has 
 washed his hands clear of all inconsistency ; he takes an active 
 part in our religious meetings ; his new business prospers be- 
 yond all expectation, under the blessing of God ; he has just 
 passed through a fearful ordeal of illness, rejoicing in tribula- 
 tion ; he has been the honoured instrument of bringing several 
 of his relatives and friends to a saving knowledge of Jesus 
 Christ, and he is going steadily forvv^ard adorning in his daily 
 walk the doctrine of God his Saviour. 
 
 " TJbe Backsliders have not been forgotten by our gracious 
 God. Of many I might report with holy joy, but one case only 
 will I quote. He was a young man of prepossessing appear- 
 ance, excellent character, reflecting habits, and religious profes- 
 sion. He was well educated in the Scriptures, and much liked. 
 He was a successful Sabbath-school teacher, and a regular 
 communicant in the church. After some time, he was appointed 
 superintendent of a Sabbath-school, and all went on well under 
 his management. By and by a striking change passed over 
 him. He became dissatisfied with everything, and gave up the 
 charge of the school — fell away from the communion of the 
 church, and finally ceased to attend the house of God. The 
 secret of all was, he had begun to read infidel books, by which 
 his faith was overthrown, and he was unfortunately drawn into 
 
THE WOKK ASIOI«"G THE BACKSLTDEKS. 119 
 
 the darkness of Deism, and openly avowed liis contempt of 
 Christianity. In this state of mind he continued for several 
 months. When the Spirit of God visited our town and congre- 
 gation, the manifestations of His power were treated by him 
 with utter incredulity, and the whole movement was regarded 
 as woman's Vv^eakness and nervous sympathy. The work of 
 grace was denied ; and when on one occasion the conversation 
 turned on the power of prayer, that power was defied, — ' Let 
 any six men try and pray me down.' One humble fellow-work- 
 man, himself awakened at a prayer-meeting, and a reclaimed 
 backslider, and at that very time anxiously alive about his own. 
 soul, secretly accepted the challenge. There was one other 
 heart which loved that erring brother through and through — a, 
 friend who had rejoiced in his rise, and now grieved over his fall, 
 — one who, ' since the day he heard it, did not cease to pray for 
 him, and to desire that he might be filled with the knowledge of 
 His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.' Whilst the 
 prayers were being presented, the last case which I have de- 
 tailed occurred, and that address at our prayer-meeting was re- 
 ported to him by his companion. It was on a Saturday morning, 
 and the earnest tone of that working-man, himself a monu- 
 ment of mercy, went to the heart of his erring friend. He 
 went home that day in silent anxiety, and reached his home to 
 retire at once to his closet. He took down his neglected Bible, 
 and opening it at random, his eye fell on the 5 1st Psalm, and 
 as he read it he wondered. He closed it, and opening it again, 
 his attention was drawn to the 39th Psalm, with all its solemn 
 warnings. Melted down, he fell on his knees, and casting him- 
 self on God in Christ for forgiveness and acceptance, all his 
 difficulties vanished, he could not tell how, and there was no 
 objection urged by Tom Paine to which he could not have given 
 a sufficient answer. The next Sabbath he was at church both 
 morning and evening; and after the conclusion of the latter 
 service, I invited any that were anxious about their souls to 
 meet me in the vestry. About thirty came, of whom our friend 
 was one. My heart bounded with joy as I took his hand and 
 brought him into the vestry, where he told us the history of his 
 
1 20 THE WORK AMONG THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 
 
 fall, and Low, in tlie bitterness of liis hatred of Christ and 
 Christianity, he had gone to school to learn grammar and' pen- 
 manship, that he might be prepared to do his best to Avrite 
 down religion, and how, in the manner above described, he was 
 brought back to the Shepherd and Bishop of his sonl. After 
 this statement we all knelt together aronnd the throne of grace, 
 and thanked God that this His son, who was dead, was alive 
 again, was lost, and was found. He continues a humble fol- 
 lower of Christ. 
 
 "In relation to the Children of God, they, too, have been won- 
 drously and blessedly revived. The first case of prostration 
 which occurred in our congregation, was one of my Sabbath- 
 school teachers, a young man of quiet, consistent Christian 
 character. I was for some time perplexed as to the reason of 
 his being ' struck down,' but in a short time I found that Avith 
 that visitation a most remarkable stimulus had been given to 
 his mental powers and spiritual graces— that what Mr North 
 very properly describes as 'the dumb devil,' which possesses 
 too many professing Christians, was thus thoroughly cast out 
 of him — that those lips which shame and fear had sealed, were 
 opened — and that, like Saul, he stood forth a new man under 
 the baptism of the Spirit, which he was thus led to seek and 
 receive. He now leads in prayer when asked, which he would 
 not or could not do before, and is the active superintendent 
 of one of our Sabbath-schools, besides being generally useful 
 in the visitation of the careless and the sick. He stands out 
 the type of a large number, whose dormant energies have been 
 thoroughly awakened and vigorously enlisted in the cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 " Some may deny the work of the Spirit, and some require 
 the test of time. I can only say, that whilst a large amount of 
 mere emotion has arisen and passed away, and whilst many 
 have been awakened but not converted, many, very many, 
 remain to testify to the saving work of grace which has passed 
 upon them. Not one of those joining the church has lapsed 
 into carelessness or inconsistency, but all stand fast in the Lord 
 and in the power of His might." 
 
QUALIFICATIONS OF CONVERTS FOE EEVIVAL WOE,K. 121 
 
 Having had an opportunity on several occasions of hearing 
 addresses by those who were designated as " converts," I may 
 take the opportunity of stating, that whilst fully sensible of the 
 value of their services, and believing that they were eminently 
 instrumental in spreading abroad the holy flame by which both 
 town and country were overspread, I am not less convinced 
 that there was in many instances a very exaggerated estimate 
 of their competency and qualifications for addressing public 
 assemblies. So long as they confined themselves to a declara- 
 tion of "the great things which the Lord had done" for them, 
 simply narrating their own experience, and testifying to the 
 wondrous grace and mercy they had found, their statements 
 were invested with a peculiar and even tender interest, while 
 their importunate pleadings with their fellow-men to accept the 
 great salvation were fitted to come home to the heart with an 
 unwonted power. But when they undertook to become ex- 
 positors and preachers of the word, they utterly failed. How 
 could it be otherwise 1 Who could expect of uneducated youths, 
 however piously affected, any other than the crudest statements 
 of the gospel scheme ? unless, indeed, they were to be regarded 
 as the subjects of an immediate revelation, their speech and 
 even presence being endowed with all the potency of a miracu- 
 lous agency. That some such feeling existed in the minds of 
 the ignorant, may be inferred from the two following cases, 
 supplied by the Rev. Theophilus Campbell, whose labours have 
 been largely blessed : — 
 
 " A young woman, of our Bible class, under the influence of 
 the truth for years, went one evening to a place of worship 
 where one of these men was expected to preach. She sat in a 
 pew near one of the aisles. As soon as it was announced that 
 'the convert' had entered the house, and was advancing up the 
 aisle, the agitation among the people commenced. As he pro- 
 ceeded and approached near the spot where the young \voman 
 was sitting, she became violently agitated. The extraordinary 
 man whom God had so signally blessed, and who was to convert 
 the congregation, was close at hand. She trembled from head to 
 
122 THE "sleeping CASES. 
 
 foot ; the Bible nearly fell from her hand. He passed by, and 
 her agitation subsided. She was all but * a case.' 
 
 " It was perhaps the same individual who in another place 
 was on a subsequent evening engaged in prayer. The crowd 
 extended into the street. A young man, a labourer, was able to 
 work his way to the door, where he could only hear the sound 
 of his voice. The man fell completely stricken down. It was 
 no sense of sin ; it was pure excitement, resulting from the cir- 
 cumstances, that laid him prostrate. 
 
 " In the employment of these ' converts ' to preach," adds Mr 
 Campbell, " a principle laid down in Scripture, with sufficient 
 distinctness, is violated — ' Not a novice, lest being lifted up 
 with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.' The 
 margin of our Bibles explains that a ' novice ' is ' one newly 
 come (or born) to the faith,' (1 Tim. iii. 6.) In this chajjter the 
 Holy Spirit enunciates the principles and precepts that should 
 guide the Church in the selection of ministers, whose office is 
 to teach. He forbids the employment of new converts, and 
 assigns as a reason what is most natural, founded on what we 
 cannot but see happening around us. No principle of God's 
 Word can be violated with impunity, and this case is no ex- 
 ception.'' 
 
 The awakening had not visited Belfast for many weeks, until 
 some curious physical phenomena, in addition to those by which 
 it was characterised at the outset, began to attract attention. 
 Nor were these peculiar to the movement in any one place — 
 they manifested themselves in several districts. I allude to the 
 occasional suspension of the bodily powers, as indicated by the 
 loss of speech, sight, and hearing ; the subjects of them affected 
 as in a trance — deaf, dumb, blind, and motionless — while they 
 would frequently fall into a sleep, in which they continued for 
 hours, and the commencement and termination of which they 
 intimated beforehand to the bystanders. The following may 
 be taken as a specimen of this class : — A. R (we shall suppose) 
 is a girl in the humbler walks of life, a worker in a factory. 
 She intimates to her friends around her, that at such a time she 
 
THE WONDER-SEEKEES. 123 
 
 will be silent, and she ceases to speak accordingly. After some 
 hours she signifies by signs that at such a period she will speak, 
 and the event takes place as she has pre-intimated. Then, per- 
 haps, she sings a psalm, or pours out her soul in prayer. By 
 and by she is seized with blindness, from which she recovers, as 
 in the other instance. Perhaps when bereft of sight, she will 
 seize a Bible or Xew Testament, and, to the astonishment of 
 every one, point to some pertinent passage of Holy Writ. By 
 and by she will narrate the wondrous scenes she saw when 
 locked in the mysterious "sleep" from which she has just 
 emerged. At one time she has been transported to the regions 
 of the blest, and mingled with the rapt choristers before the 
 eternal throne ; and then what radiant visions of the exalted 
 Saviour, and of the surpassing glories of His regal state and 
 kingdom ! She sees and recognises some of those who have 
 gone before, and wishes she may never more be separated from 
 their blest society. There, too, she marks the provision made 
 for those who are yet to join the white-robed company, but 
 who are yet doomed to the toil and warfare of the earthly pil- 
 grimage. That empty niche in the eternal mansions, with its 
 flashing crown as yet unclaimed, and its robe all pure and 
 lustrous hanging by — ah ! they are laid up there for some dear 
 saint, mayhap her minister, who is ere long to enter the un- 
 polluted city, and mingle with its stainless denizens. Some- 
 times, however, she is conversant with far other scenes ; and, 
 visiting the doleful shades, although without partaking of their 
 misery, she will delineate in vivid colouring the horrors of the 
 " outer darkness." 
 
 It will be readily understood how such pictorial descriptions 
 were caught up by the eager listeners, and how the uneducated 
 part of the community regarded those who uttered them with 
 something of religious awe and veneration, so persuaded were 
 they of the miraculous nature of the affections that had given 
 birth to these unwonted revelations. Much injury, however, 
 ! was done by the encouragement of this class of "manifestations." 
 Those who exi^erienced them were run after as a wonder, and 
 their announcements treasured up as though they were the 
 
121 EXTENT OF THE MOVEMENT. 
 
 immediate product of inspiration. Attention was diverted from 
 the essentials of the great work to some of its most painful 
 accompaniments; and there was cause seriously to apprehend 
 that in some instances the bodily disease thus generated so 
 far extended its sad influence, as to overshadow altogether 
 religious impressions. I shall refer hereafter to cases in which, 
 by the judicious interference of ministers and others, the 
 *' sleepers " were effectually awoke out of their cherished 
 slumbers. Meanwhile it is enough to state that the pheno- 
 mena in question had nothing either of miracle or mystery 
 about them, but may be explained by the laws which regulate 
 the action of the mental on the material frame. All these de- 
 plorable attendants on the movement, however, have long since 
 passed away ; while a healthier state of public feeling in regard 
 to such affections now happily prevails over the entire Ulster 
 community. 
 
 Eespecting the extent of the movement -in Belfast, I may 
 observe, that although many in different districts were brought 
 under its influence, yet, in a community consisting of at least 
 120,000, of whom there were tens of thousands, both Roman 
 Catholics and others, of the lowest grade in point of intellectual 
 and moral culture, it was not to be expected that such a change 
 would be effected as would sensibly elevate the character of the 
 general population — especially of that class which, in our great 
 towns and cities, so largely contributes to swell the records of 
 vice and crime.* 
 
 * See Appendix A. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE REVIVAL" AEOUND BELFAST. 
 
 The Valley of the Six-Mile Water — The Eevival in Carnmoney — 
 Prayer for its Coining — Visit of a Belfast Merchant — A Hundred 
 at Once — " I have Prayed him out" — The Old Pensioner — The 
 Drunken Tradesman — Ballycarry — Heavy Blow to Unitarianism — 
 Pastor's Work at Last — Ballyeaston — The Pastor's Last Com- 
 munion—Gathered Fruit — Dimdrod, Exciting Xarrative of the 
 Work — The Pastor's Hopes and Fears — His Visit to the First 
 Awakened — The Struggle and the Victory — The Meetings in Open 
 Air and Church — Saturday Evening and Sabbath in the Church 
 and Graveyard — The Men " Coming Over" — A Young Deborah — 
 Another, and her Fellow-Labourer — The Farm-Servant in the Field 
 — Dagon Falling before the Ark — The Subsiduig Flood — Ripple on 
 the Waters — The Phenomena of " the Marks." 
 
 Two hundred years ago, no district in Ulster was so highly 
 favoured as that which lay along the Six-Mile Water in the 
 vicinity of the town of Antrim. It is interesting to notice that 
 the late revival broke out on that side Connor first, in the con- 
 gregation of Donegore, and on the very scene of the minis- 
 trations of some of the early fathers. There had for months 
 before been an increasing seriousness, but it was not till Sabbath 
 the 22d of May that any decided conversion-change was mani- 
 fested ; while on that following there was a mighty power at 
 work, prompting the imploring cry for mercy. Many have been 
 savingly influenced, as has since been shewn by their consistent 
 walk and conversation. It is lamentable to think, however, 
 that the work encountered decided opposition : some who had 
 
126 REVIVAL IN CARNMONEY. 
 
 been regarded as decided followers of tlie Lamb, throwing a 
 great stumbling-block in the way of young inquirers after the 
 way to Zion. A few mercy-drops have fallen in this dry valley, 
 but the shower of blessing is yet to come. 
 
 " When the Lord is about to visit a neighbourhood in mercy," 
 says the Eev. Joseph Barkley, of Carnmoney, (an adjoining 
 parish,) " He usually puts it into His people's hearts to pray for 
 it. It was so here — for having heard what the Lord was doing 
 in other places, a deep anxiety pervaded every bosom that we 
 should not be passed by ; and although there were no formal 
 concerts for prayer, there was many a praying Jacob, in the 
 family and in the closet, wrestling for a blessing. One lady in 
 particular, months before its appearance, said to a friend, '"We 
 shall shortly have the revival with us.' And on being asked 
 why she said so, 'Because,' she replied, 'the Lord has put it into 
 my heart to pray for it.' Others, I am aware, were expecting 
 and praying for it likewise. The answer was not long delayed, 
 but it came in a way none of us had anticipated. A Christian 
 merchant from Belfast, on the first Sabbath in June, felt con- 
 strained, as he said himself, though unsolicited, to come out and 
 address us on the subject of revivals, and to tell us more 
 especially of what he had himself witnessed of the Lord's doings 
 on the previous night ; and although there was nothing in his 
 address, so far as man could judge, calculated to produce an 
 impression, yet that evening two females, in their own houses, 
 were in deep distress about their souls, accompanied by great 
 bodily weakness. A few evenings after, the same gentleman 
 addressed an immense meeting in the church, and never perhaps 
 was there a more striking illustration of the words, 'Not by 
 might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.' For 
 barely had he spoken ten sentences, and these not remarkable 
 for power or persuasiveness, or anything of the kind, when one 
 and another were 'stricken down,' crying to the Lord for mercy; 
 and then the glory of the Lord so filled the house, that it became 
 a literal Bochim, and before morning it was computed that not 
 less than fifty souls had found peace in believing. Never can 
 that night be forgotten here. The wail of the 'convicted' and 
 
THE WORK PEOGEESSES: 127 
 
 the songs of the rejoicing were heard afar ; as in Ezra's time? 
 when the foundation of the Lord's house Avas laid, many ' wept 
 with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy ; so that the 
 people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the 
 noise of the weeping of the people. . . . And the noise was 
 heard afar off.' A few weeks later, our communion was held ; 
 and on the evening following, so glorious was the manifestation 
 of the Spirit's presence and power, that upwards of one hundred 
 may be said to have been brought to Christ from one meeting 
 alone. It is, indeed, 'a night to be long remembered' in this 
 place ; day had dawned before the last of the stricken ones had 
 found peace ; and in the calm of a summer's morning, the 
 songs of thanksgiving were heard for miles, as happy bands of 
 rejoicing believers wended their way homewards, praising God 
 for His mercy ; and if there was joy on earth, higher far was 
 the joy in heaven over those repenting sinners returning to the 
 Lord. . 
 
 "Before that week had closed, multitudes of strong young 
 men and women from among the farming population were 
 gathered to Christ, and nothing was more common than to hear 
 of numbers finding peace in their own homes. In several in- 
 stances the day-schools had to be dismissed, in consequence of 
 the children being ' stricken down ;' w^hile, in one case, an entire 
 school, even while attending to the secular department of the 
 business, was literally prostrated, and one-half of the children, 
 say from thirty to forty, are ijow rejoicing in Christ. Strong 
 men who looked upon that scene wept outright ; and few could 
 hear these children pray, after they had found peace, without 
 feeling that the Spirit was poured out upon them of a truth. 
 The work is still progressing steadily, though in a more silent 
 and imperceptible manner than heretofore. Rarely a week passes 
 that I do not hear of one or more conversions ; and I am confi- 
 [dent I do not exaggerate when I say, (and to God be all the 
 glory !) that within the bounds of tliis congregation alone, not 
 ; fewer than from three to four hundred souls profess to have 
 L found peace during the past six or eight months. It is a cause 
 of much thankfulness to be enabled further to state, that, 
 
128 THE OLD PENSIONER. 
 
 ■without almost an exception, their 'conversation is such as 
 becometh the gospel of Christ.' A marked and marvellous 
 change is now visible over the entire district. Twenty prayer- 
 meetings are held weekly, where not one was in existence before. 
 Mere factory lads and girls are holding their concerts for prayer. 
 A short time ago one of the little fellows came to me, saying, 
 " See, sir, this is my comrade in the mill ; I have 2^'^<^(y^d him 
 out, and he is now rejoicing with me.^ Those who have found 
 Christ themselves are most anxious to bring others to Him; 
 and hence, whilst teachers for our tSabbath-schools could not 
 be had some time ago, there is no lack of them at present. 
 There is an air of spiritual beauty now resting on the moral 
 landscape here that is quite refreshing. Total abstinence is 
 the order of the day. Even moderate drinking has all but dis- 
 appeared ; while drunkenness, except in the case of a few old 
 topers, is altogether unknown — and even of the most confirmed 
 of them we do not despair, as God has already plucked many 
 such out of the fire. The line of demarcation betwixt the 
 Church and the world is now marked and distinct. Torpor has 
 given place to activity ; the stillness and malaria of the stagnant 
 2:)Ool, to the rushing of the waters of life. ' The wilderness and 
 solitary place are glad for them, and the desert rejoicing and 
 blossoming as the rose;' but of this the reader may form an 
 opinion for himself, from the following specimen cases, out of 
 a variety too numerous to mention : — 
 
 " No. 1 is a pensioner, fifty-five or sixty years old, who, priorj 
 to the revival, was addicted to drink and other vices. At the! 
 commencement of the awakening here, he was brought under 
 conviction, and long was to be found at the prayer- meetings 
 ' seeking rest and finding none.' The Lord, however, at lengtl 
 visited him in mercy, and from that hour he was a change 
 man. Like Flockhart, the Edinburgh street-preacher, he forth- 
 with began to tell sinners what the Lord had done for his soul,i 
 and to enlist them into the service of Prince Messiah, as he 
 formerly had done into the service of his earthly sovereign. 
 At the very first meeting he addressed, though he spoke with 
 unlearned lips and a stammering tongue, several persons 
 
THE DKUNKEN TRADESMAN. 129 
 
 cried for mercy. Since then he has been signally owned and 
 honoured of the Lord ; and now, on days when the veterans are 
 reviewed at Belfast, or attend to receive their pensions, he may 
 be seen exhorting his old companions in arms to enrol their 
 names on the list of total abstainers, or to close with the gospel 
 offers of mercy; while at the meetings for prayer he is ever 
 foremost in urging sinners to repentance, and to flee from the 
 wrath to come. Never shall we forget his address to an aged 
 sinner (since dead) on the morning after his conversion — 'O 
 Robert, now I have taken Christ, won't you take Him too I 
 He saved me, the chief of sinners, and He will save you, O 
 man, close with Him now ; " for now is the accepted time, now 
 is the day of salvation." ' 
 
 " No. 2 is a tradesman, who was regarded by all who knew 
 him a few months before the revival as a hopeless and irre- 
 claunable drunkard. He seldom, if ever, went to a house of 
 worship, but was to be found every Lord's-day either in the 
 taverns, or staggering along the public highway, or lying in 
 a ditch, dead drunk. He was led to attend a prayer-meeting 
 addressed by a layman, and was more disposed to mock than 
 to profit by what he heard ; but just as the speaker was about 
 to close, he pointed to a tree hard by, and said, ' That tree will 
 testify at the day of judgment that salvation has been offered 
 to you, and you have v»ilfully and wickedly rejected it.' These 
 words w^ent like an arrow right into his soul, and never per- 
 mitted him to rest day or night until he gave himself to Christ. 
 When he found peace he said to his aged mother, who had kept 
 i up family prayer, ' Mother, many a time you have prayed for 
 I me, and I ran out of the house to get away from you and your 
 prayers, but they are heard at last.' He is now a sober, steady 
 Christian man, and may be seen every Lord's-day in his house 
 of worship, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right 
 mind. No earthly inducement could now prevail upon him to 
 enter a public-house ; and already the blessings and benefits of 
 religion are manifest on his outer man and the exterior of his 
 dwelling ; for the money that formerly went into the till of the 
 publicans is expended on the purchase of comfortable clothing, 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
130 HEAVY BLOW TO UNITAKIANISM. 
 
 and in making additions to his premises. ' Is not this a brand 
 phicked out of the fire ? ' 
 
 " No. 3 is a young man of property, who delighted in field 
 sports, and who, from his position in society, had many hangers- 
 on — ' lewd fellows of the baser sort ' — addicted to almost every 
 vice, and who were countenanced and encouraged by him in 
 their evil practices, and not unfrequently supplied with the 
 means of indulging in them. A great and blessed change, how- 
 ever, has come over him. He is no longer the patron of vice, 
 but the promoter of virtue ; and on the evening of the Lord's- 
 day he is now to be seen surrounded by his former associates 
 in a Bible-class, opened for their special benefit, seeking to lead 
 them to that Saviour whose power and preciousness he has felt 
 in his own heart, and inculcating the principles of truth and 
 righteousness upon them. 
 
 " Such are a few instances out of many, of the power of 
 Divine grace in this congregation." 
 
 A few miles distant from the place last noticed is Ballycarry, 
 of which the Rev. John Stuart writes as follows : — 
 
 " Here was erected the first Presbyterian church in Ireland. 
 Here the Rev. Edward Brice, in 1613, unfurled the banner of 
 Scotland's covenant, and began preaching the everlasting gospel. 
 Two faithful and godly ministers were his successors, and then 
 for eighty long years the church lay under the incubus of 
 Arianism — the frozen zone of Christianity. The God, however, 
 who reserved to Himself seven thousand souls who had not 
 bowed the knee to the image of Baal, reserved here a goodly 
 remnant which adhered to the Synod of Ulster when, in 1829, 
 their minister and a portion of his flock openly abandoned the 
 faith of God's people. Since that time, our church, like the 
 house of David, has waxed stronger and stronger, and ' Unita- 
 rianism,'' as the heresy is now called, like the house of Saul, has 
 waxed weaker and weaker. God's gracious 'revival' which 
 commenced early in May last, has still more added to our 
 members. Through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit 
 on the hearts of sinners, forty souls have been brought from 
 under that Christless system into the communion of our 
 
PASTOR'S WOEK AT LAST. 131 
 
 cliurcli, and God has bestowed on some of them, both males 
 and females, wonderful power of prayer and fluency of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 " After more than seven months' experience, I can boldly and 
 fearlessly bear my testimony to the blessed fruits and marvel- 
 lous results of this mighty movement. I have not confined my 
 labours to my own locality. I have preached and delivered 
 addresses in many a town and village, and in many a country 
 parish, of several counties ; and when I gazed on the hundreds 
 and sometimes the thousands by whom I was surrounded, I 
 could not but exclaim, ' Who are these that fly as a cloud, and 
 as the doves to their windows 1 ' Society appeared to be stirred 
 up to its lowest depths. 
 
 " Amongst ourselves here in this extensive district, God's right 
 hand and holy arm have won many victories. Never was there 
 such a summer as the last ; never such an autumn ; never such 
 a winter, so far as it has gone. Hundreds have been savingly 
 converted to the Lord. Some ' stricken ' down when the Spirit 
 came upon them like a 'rushing mighty wind.' Others con- 
 vinced and converted whilst He spake to their consciences by 
 the ' still small voice.' The first efi'ect of the revival was, that 
 ' fear came upon every soiiV Then was our church filled to suffo- 
 cation, and we were obliged to take to the open fields to declare 
 the message of mercy to a hungering and thirsting population. 
 The hitherto unoccupied pews were ardently sought after. 
 All were engaged. The aisles were filled with forms crowded 
 with anxious hearers, and now preaching became a luxury. I 
 had pastor's work to do. I had living men and living women 
 before me. They came to the sanctuary on the sole errand of 
 obtaining the ' bread of life.' Every Sabbath was a day of 
 ' sweet refreshing.' On every week-day evening ' they that 
 feared the Lord spake to one another, and the Lord hearkened 
 and heard,' and ' there were added to the church daily such as 
 should be saved.' Of all the stricken ones — two hundred in 
 number — I do not know of one backslider." 
 
 In the neighbouring district of Ballyeaston, there is a melan- 
 choly interest attaching to the work, for it was while he was 
 
132 THE pastor's last COMMUNION. 
 
 engaged in it that a devoted minister, the Eev. A. Pollock, fell 
 a victim to his exciting labours. In a letter written but a few- 
 days before his death, he thus describes Ids last communion 
 Sabbath with his people : — 
 
 "The joy of converts, the cry of penitence, the wailing of 
 friends, reminded me of the building of the second temple, 
 when some shouted and others wept. Our tokens were soon all 
 given away, which never happened before. About one hundred 
 had to be provided for on Sabbath morning, and we could not 
 persuade the people to disperse. On Sabbath morning the 
 house was filled to overflowing, and, with little preparation, it 
 was no easy task to ascend the pulpit. I addressed them from 
 the words, ' Get thee up, eat and drink ; for there is a sound of 
 abundance of rain.' The Holy Ghost was there indeed, as a 
 mighty rushing wind. Many were removed ; and in the evening 
 the green was filled, and no man can tell the number of the souls 
 which were added to the church. The young converts wished 
 to go to the first table, and sit together. We saw their eyes 
 beaming with the light of heaven, their faces shining like 
 angels', their hearts heaving with the love of Jesus, and their 
 hands clapping with joy before the God of Jacob. Such a 
 table! It was a foretaste of heaven. All was in accordance 
 with order, nothing extravagant, no extraordinary excitement. 
 God was there ; and all were bowed before Him. To Him be 
 glory!" 
 
 " One of the first-fruits of the revival in our congregation," 
 says the Rev. H. Leebody, of Ballinderry, " has gone home to 
 heaven, leaving a blessed and a glorious testimony behind him. 
 I spoke at the house the evening previous to his interment, and 
 also the day of the funeral. We had a large attendance of all 
 sects and parties, and even those who had been most opposed 
 to this blessed work had to confess that the young man who 
 had departed had shewn both in his life and in his death the 
 power of saving grace. Before the cofiin was closed, his father, 
 kneeling beside the remains of his son, blessed God for the 
 work which had been wrought in him, and fervently entreated 
 
 i 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE WORK IN DUNDROD. 133 
 
 that every member of the family might feel as he felt whom 
 Jesus had taken home." 
 
 In no part of the country, so far as I am aware, was there a 
 more genuine and in every way satisfactory work than in that 
 to which the following exciting narrative refers. Its minister, 
 the Kev. William Magi 11, was from the outset intensely solicit- 
 ous that the community among whom he labours should be 
 brought under the power of the gracious influence : — 
 
 "The revival commenced here on the 10th of June. On 
 the morning of that day, I rose from my bed impressed with 
 the thought that something strange and wonderful was about 
 to happen in Dundrod. I cannot account for the feeling, but I 
 had a strong presentiment, not of evil, but of coming good. I 
 had been in Belfast the day previously, and had leant over the 
 prostrate bodies of men and women labouring under strong 
 conviction of sin. I had heard, for the first time in my life, the 
 sighs and groans of breaking hearts, and witnessed with a 
 feeling of wonder and awe, the mental agony and the terrible 
 struggle of souls wrestling with 'the principalities and powers 
 of darkness,' and ' contending earnestly ' for life and liberty ; 
 and when the battle was won, I heard with almost equal 
 wonder the shout of victory, like the pealing of a trumpet on 
 the field from which the enemy has fled. I came home filled 
 with strange thoughts, cherishing high hopes, and breathing 
 earnest prayers that the Lord would come over the mountains 
 and visit my people. 
 
 " I expected something, and I was not disappointed. When 
 dressing on the following morning, I observed a man approach- 
 ing the manse, and the thought at once arose in my mind, This 
 man is perhaps coming for me — the work is begun. It was even 
 so. I was soon on my way to his house. He told me as we 
 went, that one of his daughters, after returning home from the 
 prayer-meeting, had fallen ill, strangely ill — that she was up all 
 night, and had raised the whole family to engage in prayer 
 with her and for her — that she had never ceased praying and 
 reading all night, and when he left her she was worse than ever, 
 
134 A NOVEL GROUP. 
 
 and he feared she was * going wrong in her mind.' He had done 
 all he could to pacify her, and said to her, if she wanted to be 
 converted, to take the matter coolly, and not create an uproar 
 about the house to alarm the neighbours. 
 
 A Novel Grouj). — "Before reaching the house, I heard her 
 voice in loud, earnest, and continuous prayer. When I opened 
 the door and looked in, I saw her mother and two sisters, 
 all on their knees and in tears. In the centre of the group, the 
 picture of woe was the ' stricken one,' with eyes upturned to 
 heaven, and face covered and seamed with tears. Her arms 
 were now extended to their utmost length, as if to grasp some 
 distant and coveted object, and then brought together with 
 violence as she clasped her hands, as if in mortal agony, whilst 
 from her lips there burst forth words of fire, as living streams 
 from a burning mountain. ' Christ, help me ! Lord Jesus, 
 save my guilty soul ! O Jesus, come, come soon, and give relief 
 to my guilty soul ! O thou quickening Spirit, come ! Oh, create 
 in me a new heart, a clean heart ! Oh, take away this hard and 
 stony heart, and give me a heart of flesh ! ' Then, as her eye 
 rested on me as I stood riveted to the spot witnessing in 
 silence this exciting and wonderful scene, for I never had heard 
 such prayers before, she exclaimed, without rising from her 
 kneeling posture, ' Oh, here is my minister ! I knew I would 
 have no peace till he came. Oh, come, come, pray for my guilty 
 soul ! ' I knelt beside her and prayed, her voice accompanying 
 mine all the time, while her expressions at intervals were so 
 rich, varied, and scriptural, that I had often to pause, and 
 then to follow instead of lead, as text after text from Old and 
 New Testament, prophet and psalmist, Christ and apostle were 
 changed into beautiful and impassioned prayer. Such asking, 
 seeking, striving to enter the ' kingdom,' I never saw before. It 
 was, indeed, Mercy knocking her loudest knocks at the door of 
 the heavenly mansion, so that the Lord himself, startled by the 
 peals which rouse up all the inmates, comes quickly, and with a 
 smile opens the door, takes her by the hand, and brings her in. 
 
 " The stnTggle is over. She rises up, and begins the song of 
 triumph. What a change — a perfect transformation ! The cloud 
 
THE STRUGGLE AND THE VICTORY. 135 
 
 has passed away, and God, like the sun in his glory, is lifting 
 up on her the light of His countenance. Her eye, as she sings, 
 is lighted up with strange and unearthly fire. Her voice is no 
 longer tremulous and plaintive, but now rings like a trumpet ; 
 Avhile her whole face is covered with a smile, such as we might 
 supose an angel to wear. 
 
 " ' Let us sing,' said she again, ' the 51st Psalm. Oh, I bless 
 God for that psalm, and for all the psalms I learned in the 
 Sunday-school and Bible- class.' I may here remark that the 
 Psalms have been with all the converts here sources of great 
 joy. 'What would we have clone without the Psalms 1' was 
 an exclamation often heard. ' Sir,' said a servant girl to her 
 master, after hearing the 51st, 130th, and 116th Psalms, ' surely 
 some persons long ago must have felt as I feel, for those psalms 
 seem to have been written for their use and comfort,'* 
 
 " When the psalm was sung, ' Now,' said our first convert, 
 ' father, mother, sisters, down on your knees, and we will pray 
 for you. Lord, save my father, and mother, and sister,' &c. 
 At her request I read to the family the second chapter of Acts 
 and sang the 60th Paraphrase ; and during the singing another 
 sister, who was standing with a child in her arms, fell to the 
 
 * "Ah, Low these rude chants of our ancestors go to the heart at such 
 times ! The Psalms are our epic^ but an epic more deep and real than 
 ever was written or sung by any people ; an interminable poem, of 
 which each one of us becomes in his turn the author; a sacred trea- 
 sure of personal and individual remembrances, joys, sorrows, desires, 
 heaped up with national associations ; not a verse, not a strophe, but 
 is quite a history or a poem. This was sung by a mother beside the 
 cradle of her first-born ; this other, one of our martyrs sang on his way 
 to death; this is the song of the Vaixdois returning in arms to their 
 country ; this that of the Camisards marching to battle. This verse is 
 one that the balls of our enemy interrupted ; that other is one of which 
 a father, when expiring, murmured the half, and went to finish it with 
 the angels. Oh, our Psalms, our Psalms ! who could ever express in 
 human words what your language is to us in our solitudes, on that soil 
 red with our blood, and vmder the vault of that heaven from whence 
 they look down upon us who have prayed, and wept, and sung before 
 us !" — Eungener's France before the Revolution, i. p. 110. 
 
136 OPEN-AIK PEAYER-MEETING. 
 
 ground, and went through the same process, being, if possible, 
 more violent, rolling on the floor in agony, tearing her hair, 
 wringing her hands, and in heartrending tones exclaiming, 
 * Oh, is there no pardon for me ? I am too great a sinner to be 
 forgiven. God, for Christ's sake, save me — save me.' Her 
 sister, now filled with joy, stands over her like a ministering 
 spirit, and cheers her by gospel promises and earnest jTayer. 
 ' Now,' said she, ' I shall have a sister in the Lord. Who 
 would have thought of it — two souls converted this morning 
 in this house ? ' 
 
 Effect of the Strange Tidings. — "The Lord had begun His 
 work. The strange news spread from lip to lip, house to house, 
 over the country. Like the ' fiery cross,' it roused the people, 
 and old and young, men and women, husbands and wives, 
 little girls and mothers with infants in their arms, ran to 
 witness the strange doings, and hear the wild, wondrous, but 
 heavenly words that flowed from the lips of these plain country 
 girls, changed in a few hours by the Spirit of the Lord into 
 'new creatures.' What is this? Is this conversion? Is this 
 the work of the Spirit of the Lord? Has God come down 
 to earth ? Are the ' last days come ? ' or have these girls gone 
 mad ? are asked on every hand. The reply is — These are the 
 last days, and God is beginning to pour out His Spirit on ' all 
 flesh.' 
 
 " That evening a prayer-meeting was held at this house in 
 the open air, in the street before the door. It was a still, fine 
 summer evening, and under the clear, open sky hundreds of all 
 ranks and ages met to unite in prayer, looking up to Heaven 
 for a blessing. Farmers and farm-servants, men, women, and 
 little children, Eoman Catholics and Protestants of various 
 names, knelt together on the hard ground, reviving the recol- 
 lection of primitive times, and forgetting or overlooking for the 
 time every mark of distinction in the common awe which all 
 felt, and in the earnest prayer which all offered up to God. A 
 psalm is sung, a word of exhortation given, and prayer off'ered 
 up, and the benediction pronounced, but the multitude stand 
 stilL Another psalm is sung, and now the converts rush in 
 
GRAVEYARD SCENE. 137 
 
 among tlieir friends and neighbours, shouting, pleading, and 
 with heaving hearts and sparkling eyes, and beaming coun- 
 tenances, and in strange, sweet tones, telling of their new-born 
 joys. The multitude heaves to and fro like a ship in a storm ; 
 and like drunken men in the streets the people stagger and fall 
 with a shout or a deep sigh. Tears are shed, and groans, as 
 if from dying men, are heard. Prayer and praise, tears and 
 smiles, mingle together. Husbands and wives are locked in 
 each other's arms, weeping and praying together ; while those 
 who came to scoff stand still, and in 'fear and trembling' 
 contemplate this strange thing that is going on before their 
 eyes. The dead are rising from their graves, as if at the sound 
 of the archangel's trumpet, for the Lord is quickening those 
 Avho were dead in trespasses and sins. As the people separated, 
 they formed into groups, and marched to their respective 
 homes, some singing, some praying, some mourning, and some 
 rejoicing. One or two had to remain all night. 
 
 " Each meeting exhibited all the features of the first one, 
 with some Little variety. Some were in the first, and some in 
 the second stage, some weeping, and others rejoicing, some 
 calm and still, some again suffering intense agony, and yet in 
 their agony praising the Lord for not passing them by. Some 
 were very weak, and for days partook of no food. ' I will not,' 
 said one, ' eat nor drink until I have found peace ; and she 
 kept her word ; and then, like David, when the trial was over, 
 she rose up and washed herself, and joyfully partook of what 
 was set before her. 
 
 " On the first Saturday evening when we met in the church 
 for prayer, the scene was indescribable ; the groups from all the 
 districts to which the revival had spread, and it spread with 
 amazing rapidity, came literally ' walking, and leaping, and 
 praising God;' and as they rushed into each other's arms, 
 straining and pressing each other to their breasts in the front 
 of the pulpit and up the alleys, the people were filled with 
 wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto them. 
 
 Church and Graveyard Scene. — "On the following Sabbath 
 the work went on. Arrangements were made to keep down 
 
138 THE MEN " COMING NOW. 
 
 excitement, and confine the converts to their own seats, and the 
 public services were not disturbed. In the evening, for the first 
 time, a neighbouring minister came to my aid, and a layman 
 from Belfast also joined in our services. I gave a short address, 
 stating what the Lord had done among us, when one of the 
 converts, our first one, rose, and with beaming countenance 
 and eyes, which told of the joys within the heart, said a few 
 things to the people, when here and there throughout the 
 church, parties rose and went out, labouring under deep con- 
 viction, and immediately the graveyard is filled with groups 
 singing and praying around the prostrate bodies of men and 
 women. Some are as in a trance, others crying for mercy. 
 Some are still falling into the arms of friends, and sinking as 
 into a swoon. Some stagger to a distance, and drop on their 
 knees to pray over the graves of the dead ; and a few rush to 
 the gates, and fly in terror from the scene. The converts are 
 flying from group to group, and raise the loud shout of triumph 
 as one after another, like the jailer of Philippi, is seen trembling 
 and heard crying out, '"What shall I do to be saved?' Up to 
 this evening the work had gone on chiefly among the females ; 
 soon, hoAvever, the men were impressed ; and I shall never for- 
 get the look and shout of joy with which one of these females 
 proclaimed the triumph of the' Lord, when strong men were 
 writhing in agony, or stretched out still and calm, but with 
 clasped hands and heaving heart, on the graves around. I 
 think I see her now— her bonnet hanging behind her head, her 
 Bible in her hand above her head — and I hear still her shout, 
 ^llie men are coming now! — tlie men are coming nojvf For 
 ten days and more the whole country was in a state of intense 
 excitement. 
 
 A Young Deborah. — " I met one of them v,-hen going to see 
 a man and his wife. She had visited some houses, read, 
 exhorted, and prayed. ' The Lord,' said she to all the people 
 in these houses, 'has sent me to bring you to Him. He is 
 waiting for you. "Arise, and follow me." ' And strange, but 
 true, they 'immediately rose and followed her.' A widow 
 woman, her sons and grandchildren, a mother with one child 
 
A YOUNG DEBORAH. 139 
 
 in Ler arms, and another at her feet, trembling and in tears, 
 girls and boys who had risen from their looms, and men who 
 had dropped their spades, and left their work in the open fields, 
 all followed her across the country, while she marched at their 
 head like a general. ' Here,' said she, when I met her, pointing 
 to her train of followers, ' is my day's work ; is it not a good 
 one ] They wanted me to stay at home, but I would not, for I 
 knew that the Lord had work for me to do. He has given me 
 
 these.' 'R dear,' said I, 'do be quiet, and don't excite 
 
 yourself, or people will say you are going mad.' She drew her- 
 self up in the most commanding manner, and measuring me 
 from head to foot, exclaimed, 'I am astonished at you, Mr 
 
 M ; did you not teach me in your Sundaj^ school and Bible 
 
 class ? Oh, I can teach the children now. I will bring them 
 to Jesus. Must I not do the will of my heavenly Father 1 Oh, 
 I have a Father noiv. Do you not remember the words of 
 Jesus, when the Pharisees reproved Him because He did not 
 silence the little children who shouted ' Hosanna ! ' as He marched 
 into Jerusalem ? — ' If these should hold their peace, immediately 
 the very stones would cry out.' I cannot hold my peace. It is 
 not I, but the Spirit of the Lord that is speaking.' I was awed 
 into silence as I stood before this young Deborah, and in the 
 meantime fell into the rear, and became one of her followers. 
 It is right to state that in a few days she calmed down, and 
 became what she still continues to be — a warm-hearted, zealous, 
 and consistent follower of Jesus. The excitement is gone, but 
 not the Spirit which gave it birth. She did her work. She 
 roused the country and then retired into private life, and in the 
 quiet home of the family circle she and her sisters are adorning 
 the doctrine of the gospel by a becoming walk and conversation. 
 Indeed it is pleasing to have to record the same testimony in 
 favour of all the other converts without a single exception. 
 Though numbering upwards of two hundred, no evil things as 
 yet can be said of one of them. 
 
 Tlie Work in the Country round. — "What I have described 
 took place in and around Dundrod, the church being the 
 centre; but in other parts of the country the work went on 
 
140 ANOTHER DEBORAH AND HER FELLOW-LABOURER. 
 
 satisfactorily, but especially in a wide district lying between 
 us and the Belfast mountains. Here the progress was truly 
 amazing. Had the French landed in Belfast, and the news 
 spread that they were on their march towards us, there could 
 not have been greater commotion among the people. Many 
 had been stricken down at Dundrod, and brought into the 
 district, and every house was a kind of hospital, filled with the 
 wounded, from whose wounds arrows were plucked to wound 
 afresh those who stood around them. The cry on all sides 
 was, ' The Lord is at hand, go ye out to meet him ' — ' The day 
 of the Lord is come.' When I visited the district I found that 
 all labour was completely suspended, and that all the people 
 were running in groups from house to house. The mourning 
 was in its extent, if not in its nature, like that of Egypt. In 
 some houses at one time I counted more than a score, old 
 and young, more or less affected. The people here seemed to 
 ' take it ' with wonderful rapidity. There was a regular chain 
 of meetings kept up night and day, each meeting feeding the 
 flame of zeal, and from each, as from a burning altar, live coals 
 were taken to touch the cold lips, and fire the dead souls of the 
 few ' careless ones ' elsewhere. 
 
 Another Deborah and her Felloiv-lahourer. — " One girl was 
 highly blessed and honoured in this district. She had been at 
 Dundrod, and was there converted. It had the honour of being, 
 as she said, her birthplace. She was well acquainted with the 
 Scriptures, and was correct and blameless in her life. She said 
 to me, ' I thought I was a good girl, but I was all wrong. I 
 never was on the narrow Avay till now^ I knew I was sound in 
 the faith, but I wanted a quickening.' She got the quickening, 
 and the change was wonderful. She was all alive, all on fire, 
 and went through the country from house to house exhorting 
 the careless ; but her chief delight was in comforting those who 
 were mourners. She soon found a fellow-labourer. A young 
 man in her neighbourhood, of wild and reckless habits, treats 
 the revival with scorn, and forbids his sisters to go too near, 
 lest they might bring the plague home with them; for some 
 actually shunned at first, and others fled from our meet- 
 
NEW-BORN FEEEDOM. 141 
 
 ings in perfect terror, lest they might 'take the revival,' for 
 they were afraid they could not ' stand it.' Like many pro- 
 fessing Christians, they had no objection to wear the crown, 
 but they would not endure the cross; they would enter heaven, 
 but not through the strait gate, or along the thorny path of 
 much tribulation. They could not but envy the joys, but they 
 shunned the sorrows of the children of God. God had, how- 
 ever, His eye on this young man, and the Spirit guided the 
 young girl to his father's house. She is resolved on conquest. 
 She lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, and, fixing her eyes on 
 him, says, ' Archy, won't you come 1 I know you '11 come. 
 Come to Jesus. I see it in your eye, you are coming. Pray, 
 Archy, pray for the Spirit.' And now they are on their knees 
 together ; while father and mother, and sisters and brothers, 
 stand a while in wonder, then kneel too, and all pray for the 
 Spirit of God. JSTor did they pray in vain. The young man 
 struggles, feels a choking sensation in the throat, and a pressure 
 on his heart; his bosom heaves with strange emotions. The 
 strong man is bowed down, the hard heart is softening, the 
 Spirit is striving; and now the struggle is over, and another 
 Saul stands up, and, rejoicing in his new-born freedom, asks 
 work, saying, ' Lord, what will thou have me to do .? ' The 
 work is given, and with all his heart he sets about doing it. In 
 his family he works, and all the inmates are changed ; father, 
 mother, sisters, and brothers, blessing God for bringing salva- 
 tion into their house. Now he flies in breathless haste to rouse 
 his sleeping neighbours and friends. He stands up in the 
 midst of hundreds in the open-air meetings, proclaiming the 
 glad tidings of salvation, and glorying in the possession of a 
 light, and life, and joy, never felt nor dreamed of before. He 
 seeks his old companions, whom he led in many a revel ; and 
 on the following Sabbath, in the face of the most crowded and 
 solemn assembly ever held among us, he marches up at the 
 head of nearly one hundred individuals, who, in front of the 
 pulpit, sign the total abstinence pledge. His mission does 
 not end here. He and others visit from house to house, 
 hold prayer -meetings, and the revival spreads around until 
 
142 THE FARM-SEnVANT IN THE FIELD. 
 
 every family in the district can count its converts ; and in 
 more than one instance whole families 'joy in God, through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom they had received the atone- 
 ment. ' 
 
 "There is life now in the people, a new, a spiritual life. The 
 Spirit has quickened hundreds who Avere 'dead in trespasses 
 and sins.' The cry is heard on all sides, 'Such times, such 
 glorious times! the Lord indeed is come.' Prayers issue from 
 lips that never moved in audible prayer before; and oh, such 
 prayers, so rich in Scripture language, so fervent, for icy hearts 
 are melted as if by fire from heaven. Men and women pray ; 
 fatlier follows son, or a sister a brother, like the gallant leaders 
 of some forlorn hope. When the foremost have fallen in the 
 track, others passing behind push on, resolved to take heaven 
 by force, and not to yield until they themselves, and their 
 friends, stand within the city of God, 
 
 The Farm-servant in the Field. — " Having heard one day that 
 a young man, a farm-servant, had been brought under convic- 
 tion, I went to see him. I called at his master's house, but was 
 told that nothing was known of it; and I went in search of him 
 to some neighbouring houses in which were converts, thinking 
 it probable he might have gone there. On my way I heard 
 sounds from a field by the wayside, and following with my 
 eye the direction of the sound, saw a number of individuals 
 kneeling at some distance at the back of a ditch, and as I 
 approached I found they were engaged in prayer. He had 
 taken ill in the field, where he had been weeding corn. At 
 a distance lay the implement of husbandry which had dropped 
 from his hands. Friends had gathered around him : a psalm 
 was sung, and now they are engaged in prayer. He prays; 
 another and another follows, and when I thought all had 
 ended, I heard the SAveet, earnest, pleading voice of a young 
 girl, who, from the first night, was prominent among the happy 
 converts; and she rose with a smile, and all rejoiced, for their 
 prayers being ended, the young man stood in the midst of 
 them, blessing and praising God, and receiving their warm con- 
 gratulations. 
 
COiOSING OF A PUBLIC-HOUSE. 143 
 
 "Prayer-meetings are appointed in the several districts of 
 the congregation, but wherever there is an earnest seeking soul, 
 the people meet for prayer. The songs of Zion, the Psalms of 
 David, those glorious psalms, never so much prized as now, 
 ascend from almost every house. And in the still summer 
 evening, strains of heavenly music seem to float on the tremu- 
 lous air. Imagination is busy, and no wonder, and men pause 
 on the highway to catch the sweet sounds, now soft and low, 
 rising and falling, and now riliging like the chimes of church- 
 bells. They thought the angels were above and around them. 
 They thought they heard the festive chimes of heaven, the 
 pealing of the bells in the city of God, as the heavenly host pro- 
 claimed the triumphs which their Lord was achieving over His 
 foes on the earth : — 
 
 ' Hark, how they sweetly sing, 
 Worthy is our Saviour King ; 
 Loud let His praises ring, 
 Praise, praise for aye.' 
 
 Closing of a Puhlic-House. — " There were many delightful 
 scenes witnessed during the progress of the ' revival ' here, not 
 alluded to in the above narrative. It would be impossible to 
 describe them all, or even do more than mention them. I can- 
 not, however, in this record, pass over one which excited great 
 attention at the time, and produced most happy results. I refer 
 to the closing of one of our largest public-houses. The owner 
 did a large business, and was making money fast. He had a 
 wife and rising family to support. But he had a conscience, 
 and had for some time felt uneasy and unhappy in his mind, 
 because he could not reconcile his profession as a Christian 
 with his trade as a publican. He has told me, that even before 
 the revival, he could not, with profit, sit under my ministrj^, 
 and dared not go to the Lord's table while engaged in such 
 accursed business. The revival came. It roused his conscience 
 afresh, and she mounted her throne, and gave him no rest until 
 her right to reign was acknowledged. In his neighbourhood, 
 particularly in one house, were many cases of conviction, and 
 
144 DAGON FALLING BEFOKE THE AKK. 
 
 many meetings. He attended tliem all ; saw, and heard, and 
 judged for himself. He said to me one morning, ' I want to 
 consult you about this business of mine ; I don't like it, I have 
 long felt unhappy in it, I will give it up. Shall I do so now — 
 or wait until I sell out my stock 1 ' I gave him my opinion, 
 and on that same evening every puncheon of whisky, and 
 barrel of beer and ale, every bottle and glass, and every article 
 used in the trade had disappeared ; and on the next morning I 
 saw their vacant spaces filled with barrels and bags of meal and 
 flour, sides of bacon, &c. This was a noble triumph. Dagon 
 had fallen before the ark of God. One fountain of evil — only 
 evil — is closed for ever. Great is the amazement of the traveller, 
 when he calls the next day for his customary glass, and he 
 opens his eyes, and stares and wonders ; and 
 
 * Still his wonder grows ' 
 
 when he steps out of the shop and finds that the signboard is 
 gone. ' 'Tis strange, passing strange ! either God or the devil 
 is here. Some say, ' J. T. is gone mad like the rest. He has 
 been bewitched ; he has taken the revival.' He has indeed, and 
 has therefore renounced the devil and all his works. In the 
 public meeting, good men heartily joined in the prayer from the 
 pulpit, ' God bless him, and reward him an hundredfold ; ' and 
 God heard the prayer, and he is blessed, and rejoices in the smiles 
 of an approving conscience, and is thankful for the grace which 
 enabled him to trample over self and sin. This case gave a 
 great impulse to the whole movement. Another pubUc-house 
 soon closed its doors, and the third, and now the only one in 
 the neighbourhood, gets almost nothing to do, and will soon, it 
 is hoped, pull down its signboard, starved into surrender. 
 
 " All that is related above occurred within a very short period 
 of time ; for the change that took place was truly wonderful, 
 sudden, and almost miraculous; resembling the transition 
 from winter to summer, and death to hfe, in some countries 
 of the East. The rain came down in torrents, and at once 
 flooded the earth, and made it bring forth and bud, giving seed 
 to the sower, and bread to the eater. ' The mountains and the 
 
THE SUBSIDING FLOOD. 145 
 
 hills brake forth before us into singing, and all the trees of the 
 field did clap their hands, for instead of the thorn came up the 
 fir tree, and instead of the brier came up the myrtle tree.' 
 
 "Like the retiring waters of the Nile, the flood has sub- 
 sided, but it has left behind it a richer and deeper soil. The 
 good seed, as in Egypt, has been sown, with faith and hope, in 
 great abundance on the surface of the waters, and when it 
 sinks into the soil when the flood has disappeared, we believe 
 it will yield a rich, abundant, and abiding harvest. We have 
 had our years, long years of famine ; but we are now ' eating 
 the good of the land,' and hope to live long on the fruits of the 
 great revival of 1859. 
 
 " This was all the Lord's doing, and it was wondrous in our 
 eyes. No event since Pentecost has so signally displayed the 
 Divine sovereignty, and so illustrated and established the doc- 
 trine of the free grace of God. 
 
 "During the flood-tide here, but especially when it began 
 to abate, the surface was somewhat ruffled. There was a 
 little agitation on the face of the waters. Here, as elsewhere, 
 narrow-minded bigotry did its w^orst to plough up into deep 
 furrows the calm surface which otherwise had remained smooth 
 and clear. But God has brought good out of evil. As in the 
 ocean, while the ripples above set in motion the straws, and 
 create the 'bubbles which float on the abyss,' in the depths 
 beneath there is undisturbed calm ; so the children of God have 
 descended into the unfathomed depths of God's unchanging 
 counsels, and have found peace and undisturbed repose in the 
 I eternal love of their covenanted God and Father." 
 
 Before passing away, from the neighbourhood of Belfast, it 
 is necessary to advert to certain phj^sical phenomena of a de- 
 lusive character, that sprang up under the shadow of the revival, 
 and by which for a time many were deceived. I allude to what 
 are called the " marks,' being neither less nor more than appear- 
 ances on the body, resembling printed characters, impressed 
 thereon, as it was represented, by a Divine agency. About the 
 beginning of September these new developments began in Bel- 
 fast to attract attention, and to excite the eager curiosity of the 
 
 K 
 
146 THE PHENOMENA OF " THE MAKKS. 
 
 multitude. A young woman, for instance, who had been 
 " seized " some three months previously, and who had been the 
 subject of a nervous disease, aggravated by fits of dumbness and 
 the like, would, in consequence of her repeated " propliesyings " 
 of the further deprivations she should undergo, come to be 
 regarded as in direct communication with Heaven. By and by, 
 however, sceptical jieoplc among the bystanders, even in her 
 own humble circle, would begin to question her pretensions. 
 What, then, was to be done ? How were the unbelievers to be 
 put to silence, and the vaticinations of the pythoness to be 
 vindicated against the gainsayers ? Why, by a notable miracle. 
 Accordingly, strange signs would appear upon her person. 
 Unbaring her bosom or her arm, she would exhibit to the 
 admiring onlookers a mystic word or symbol, impressed so 
 legibly that all might read and understand. What if the 
 lettering were somewhat indistinct, or if the sacred name were 
 incorrectly siDcUed ? For this she was in no wise accountable. 
 She was only passive in the hand of a higher agent. All unbe- 
 lief would vanish before the preternatural authentication. 
 
 The intelligence of this new phase in the movement naturally 
 produced a wonderful sensation. Hundreds flocked to witness 
 the extraordinary phenomenon, and though the more discrimi- 
 nating might shrewdly conjecture that the "marks" could be 
 accounted for without any other than a very ordinary interposi- 
 tion, there was enough of credulity in the multitude, to yield 
 assent to them as the genuine operation of a Divine hand. If 
 any questioned their existence, or, in certain cases, could not 
 trace them out distinctly, it was " because they had not been 
 stricken down," and therefore had not the visual organs requi- 
 site for such a delicate perception. Most of the visitors, it was 
 remarked, were expected to pay for the gratification of tlieir 
 curiosity. Such instances had begun to increase and multiply 
 to an extent which it was serious to contemplate, when public 
 attention was directed towards them in a way that cast a new 
 light on their character. A meeting was held one evening in the 
 town of Lisburn for the purpose of hearing from the lips of one 
 of the ministers (the Rev. William Breakey) a statement bearing 
 
"the aiAEKS" DENOUNCED AS AN lilPOSTUEE. 147 
 
 on his investigations into these new plij-sical appearances. 
 After a vindication of the re^dval as a genuine work of the 
 Holy Spirit, the speaker entered on an exposure of the pheno- 
 mena in question, his testimony being corroborated by other 
 witnesses. He stated, in substance, that he had personally 
 visited the parties on whom such marks vrere found, and that 
 he had no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that they 
 were produced by some clumsy process of maniiDulation ; and 
 he denounced the whole affair as an imposture, fitted only to 
 delude the credulous, and bring discredit on the work of God. 
 Although it required some little courage to undertake this duty, 
 owing to the excited state of feeling among the common people, 
 the exposure was followed by a rapid return to reason and pro- 
 priety, the furor which so extensively prevailed upon the sub- 
 ject almost immediately subsided, and "the work," in that 
 district at least, was saved the imputation of ministering to 
 the excesses of fanaticism. 
 
 [For a tabular view of the results of the revival in County Antrim, 
 and throughout the province of Ulster, see Appendix C] 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE GENERAL ASSEJIBLY. 
 
 Annual Meeting in tlie Irish Metropolis — Conference on the Revival 
 — A Minister's Statement there — Conversion of Four Brothers of 
 the Manse — The Prostrations and Statement of a Medical Member 
 of Assembly — Subsequent Testimony of the Scottish Brethren 
 present — Report on the State of Religion — Resolutions adopted 
 — Mr INorth in the Assembly — Adjournment occasioned by the 
 Revival — The Meeting in Belfast in September — The Conference 
 Resumed — Hallowed Character of the entire Proceedings. 
 
 The meeting of the General Assembly, which was held in the 
 city of Dublin, in the beginning of July 1859, was one of the 
 most memorable convocations that ever came, together to deli- 
 berate respecting the kingdom and work of God. Twelve 
 months before, an unusual solemnity had prevailed during those 
 special services in which the representatives of the Presbyterian 
 Church were occupied in conference and prayer respecting the 
 great revival in another land ; and now that a kindred movement 
 had commenced and spread so rapidly among themselves, it was 
 felt on all sides that the occasion Avas invested with an unparal- 
 leled and pregnant interest. A short time previously, the atten- 
 tion of the Church had been distracted by questions which had 
 led to painful discords and alienations, and many hearts were 
 agitated, lest the recollections associated with past discussions 
 should mar the harmony or impede the actings of an assembly 
 convened at such a momentous crisis. Happily the results 
 were such as greatly tended to cheer the hearts of all the friends 
 of Irish Presbyterianism. 
 
CONFERENCE ON THE REVIVAL. 149 
 
 The proceedings of the meeting, from the outset, were so 
 arranged as that a prominent place was assigned to the revival 
 movement. It was resolyed, accordingly, that an early day 
 should be set apart, in the first instance, for private conference, 
 "and subsequently for public recognition of this great work of 
 God. The adoption of this course was deemed of primary 
 importance, as the awakening was itself a new thing in the 
 midst of us, and certain of its attendant circumstances were so 
 peculiar as to demand the gravest consideration of the highest 
 judicatory of the Church. It was necessary, therefore, that an 
 opportunity should be afforded, in the fi.rst instance, for a full 
 statement on the part of those who were more especially conver- 
 sant with the work in its characteristic aspects ; and, in the next 
 place, that a mode of dealing with it shoidd be adopted which 
 could approve itself to the " collective wisdom." The confer- 
 ence thus entered on was felt throughout to be an eminently 
 seasonable and edifying occasion. One after another of the 
 members, for nearly four hours, rose in his place to contribute 
 to the general interest, either by a narrative of what he had 
 Tsitnessed in his o\\^l congregation, or by the expression of a 
 judgment in regard to what had been communicated by others. 
 The first who presented himself was an esteemed brother in a 
 country district, whose statement was, as it were, the key-note 
 to those that followed. As there were no reporters present, it 
 is impossible to present anything like an adequate account of 
 all that passed in that solemn meeting, or, indeed, to give any 
 idea of its overpowering interest. The minister to whom I have 
 referred, however, has, at my request, furnished me with the 
 substance of his address, which I have much gratification in 
 here inserting, omitting his name and residence : — 
 
 "You request me to put on paper the substance of the state- 
 ment I made at the Assembly in Dublin, respecting the com- 
 mencement of the revival in my district. To this I can have no 
 objection but one, and that is the simple fact, that as the excite- 
 ment has entirely subsided, I feel it impossible to give the 
 narrative with the freshness and fervour I then experienced in 
 uttering a purely unpremeditated statement. Still I give you 
 
150 A MINISTER S STATEMENT. 
 
 the facts, leaving you to make any legitimate use of tliem you 
 may think proper. 
 
 " Our first special meeting for the worlc of the Spirit, in con- 
 nexion with what is now known as the ' Ulster revival,' was held 
 on the 9th of June. I had monthly meetings all the previous 
 winter, professedly for asking the Spirit's influence, at which I 
 gave accounts frequently of the American revival, and endea- 
 voured to put the people into a state of expectancy ; and before 
 our first general meeting, accounts were daily reaching us from 
 Ballymena, Ballymoney, and Rasharkin, of the remarkable 
 manifestations of the Spirit of God. One or two cases had 
 even occurred here, where the persons had not been at any 
 assemblage of the kind, and the entire public mind was deeply 
 and seriously impressed when I announced our first public meet- 
 ing. I invited some young converts from Rasharkin, who were 
 known to speak well. Six came, and after tea in my own house, 
 we had social prayer, and while I commenced, each followed 
 in turn, till, before we rose from our knees, five had poured out 
 their supplications for the rich blessing of God upon the meet- 
 ing ; and so solemn was the service, and so humble and Christ- 
 like was the spirit of these men, that my wife, who was in 
 delicate health at the time, and who, I thought, was incapable 
 of attending, was among the multitude when I began the ser- 
 vice, assigning as her reason afterwards, ' that she coidd not 
 stay at home, as she felt God was with us.' 
 
 " The meeting was so large, that though it commenced in the 
 church, it had to be adjourned to the open air. I never was 
 able to calculate the numbers in attendance. The addresses of the 
 converts were earnest and searching, their prayers were full of 
 faith and hope, and the scene which ensued was awfully solemn; 
 so that — ^while twenty-three persons were stricken with a sense 
 of their sins, and were led to cry out for mercy, remaining for 
 the most part on the ground all night — the entire congregation 
 were chained as if by magic to the spot. Before our next I 
 had thirty hopeful cases in my registry ; and months after, I 
 was told by several converts in other districts that they were 
 convicted first at this meeting. 
 
CONVERSION OF FOUR BROTHERS OF THE MANS& 151 
 
 " Our second meeting, held in the next week, was still more 
 full of interest. The speakers for it were selected by my 
 brother, at my request, for their sound and calm judgment. 
 They were but three in number. Their addresses were doctrinal 
 and judicious — addressed more to the intellect than to the- 
 feelings. Nothing appeared throughout, till I pronounced the 
 benediction, more than deep, solemn attention. I left to see 
 the strangers off, expecting the congregation to retire too. As 
 we were ascending the hill leading to my own house, the loud 
 and solemn hymn of praise rose from the immense congregation 
 on the still air as the voice of many waters, which told that the 
 hearts of the people were pouring out their sincere and grateful 
 homage to God; and tlmt the Spirit of the Holy One was 
 among them, i returned, and such a scene as I witnessed ! It 
 will ever live in my memory as one of the most sacred seasons 
 of my life. The church, and several portions of the green, Avere 
 both occupied with persons prostrated, each surrounded by 
 their own friends. Never did I expect to hear such outpour- 
 ings of soul. Some were in fearful agony, as if i,n very hell — 
 others breathing out, in sweet and sonorous accents, the sacred 
 name of Jesus, in melting tones of penitence, pleading for 
 pardon and eternal life. On entering the gate leading to the 
 house of worship, the first of the awakened I met with was my 
 third son, who had already found peace, and stretching out his 
 arms he clasped me, saying, 'O papa, I have found Christ.' 
 When rejoicing over him, a friend came to me, and told me that 
 my eldest son was prostrated in another part of the green, and, 
 taking me by the hand, led me to hiuL He. was calm — perfectly 
 collected — deeply impressed with a sense of sin, and wrestling 
 in prayer with God for mercy. 
 
 " Here he lay for hours, till I got alarmed by his being so 
 long on the damp grass, and advised him to go into the church. 
 He did not, as the former, enjoy peace that night. He con- 
 sidered himself greatly injured by well-meaning but injudicious 
 friends. He kept solemn and grave all the next week, till at 
 our next meeting, feeling again deeply impressed, he retired to 
 the field behind the church, and spent the night in prayer. 
 
152 A MEDICAL member's STATEMENT. 
 
 The result of tliis meeting, with a few held through the country 
 in the same week, was thirty-eight — leaving on my book before 
 our third general weekly meeting, seventy-eight ' awakened.' 
 
 "The third meeting was nearly as remarkable for blessing; 
 twenty persons were hopefully awakened, among whom were 
 my second and youngest sons." 
 
 It may readily be conceived that the intensely-interesting 
 narrative, of which the above is a condensed statement, and 
 especially that portion of it referring to the work of grace which 
 had taken place in the four brothers of the manse, touched a 
 chord that vibrated in many responsive hearts, and that the 
 most profound emotion was stirred in the Assembly. Nor was 
 this the only instance then related of a like character. Another 
 senior minister was enabled to bear a similar testimony respect- 
 ing one of his sons ; and so the stream of thrilling incident 
 flowed on for hours, intercepted now and then by an interro- 
 gation or some word of counsel and fraternal exhortation, until 
 it was found necessary, owing to the pressure of time and 
 business, to terminate the conference. I need not say that the 
 subject of the physical prostrations was fully canvassed. 
 
 Among others, a medical gentleman, an elder, present, who 
 had not, however, witnessed any of the phenomena in question, 
 stated generally the laws which regulated the occurrence of 
 these manifestations as they ordinarily came under the notice 
 of the physician. They might arise, he said, from disease iu 
 some organ of the body — from strong mental emotion — from 
 involuntary imitation, as w^here epilepsy was induced by wit- 
 nessing an attack upon another — from intense expectation of 
 these occurrences, as in the phenomena of biology, or from their 
 previous occurrence in the same individual. In the early stages 
 of the awakening, he had no doubt the affections were caused 
 by intense mental emotion, the result of an overpowering sense 
 of sin. As the revival proceeded, however, vivid descriptions, 
 in public addresses, of these attacks, by those who had experi- 
 enced them, might lead to a general expectation that conviction 
 of sin would be so accompanied, and thus awaken an earnest 
 desire to experience them. Thus cases might be multiplied, 
 
TiiSTBIONY OF SCOTTISH BEETHEEN. 153 
 
 till society would be pervaded by what miglit be called an epi- 
 demic constitution, so that susceptible persons would come to 
 be affected, independently of mental emotion altogether. The 
 fact of the attack predisposing to a recurrence of the affection, 
 would afford a ready explanation of the same person being on 
 more than one occasion " struck," These manifestations, there- 
 fore, were to be regarded merely as accidents, not integral parts 
 of the work. They might even take place, as past experience 
 had shewn, in connexion with the propagation of religious delu- 
 sions, as well as with the advancement of s^Diritual religion in 
 the souls of men. 
 
 Perhaps the general feeling in reference to the physical 
 affections cannot be better expressed than by a reference to a 
 statement made publicly, on his return to Edinburgh, by Mr 
 Balfour, an elder of the Free Church, who, together with several 
 distinguished members of that body, was j)resent during the 
 entire proceedings. "He believed," he said, "that the ministers 
 of Ireland were quite alive to this, that these prostrations were 
 mere accidents, and Avere seeking to restrain them. They were 
 called in that Assembly the bubbles that rose to the surface. 
 He had suggested to Dr Julius Wood, whether some caution in 
 this direction ought to be thrown out at the Irish General 
 Assembly; but after listening to the conversation in the private 
 conference, they felt that there was no need for anything of the 
 sort, for their brethren in Ireland were themselves quite alive to 
 the matter ; and he must say that he was exceedingly struck, 
 not only with the spiritual tone which pervaded the Assembly, 
 but with the v/isdora, and judiciousness, and calmness of mind 
 with which the members looked on the whole movement. For 
 himself, he would never forget the happy day which he spent in 
 that private conference. The whole tone of the Assembly was 
 so solemn, genuine, and humbhng, and the members spoke with 
 such enlarged heart of the wonders of the grace of God, that it 
 was quite dehghtful to be amongst them." 
 
 Eeference has been made, in preceding portions of this narra- 
 tive, to the visit of Mr Brownlow North, and the seasonable 
 character of his addresses to all classes of the community. This 
 
154 ADJOURNMENT OCCASIONED BY THE REVIVAL. 
 
 eminent evangelist, althougli a member of the Episcopal Church, 
 had at the meeting of the General Assembly of the Free Church 
 of Scotland been publicly recognised as an honoured servant of 
 Christ, and had been formally invited to occupy the pulpits of 
 its ministers. Having witnessed on that occasion, in company 
 with the Rev. Dr Johnston, then moderator of our Assembly, 
 the very impressive exercises connected with his recognition, I 
 took the opportunity of inviting him to visit us at the period of 
 our annual meeting. Althougli he had many engagements in 
 Scotland, ]Mr North acceded to our solicitations, and received a 
 cordial greeting from our highest ecclesiastical judicatory. 
 
 In consequence of the awakening, and the desire of the great 
 majority of the ministers to return to their respective flocks 
 before the Sabbath, it was found necessary to adjourn the 
 meeting before its business was more than half concluded — a 
 circumstance which was in itself a striking attestation to the 
 movement. And thus this memorable occasion passed. It was 
 felt throughout that the deliberations of our Assembly were 
 pervaded by an overawing solemnity never realised before, 
 filling the soul with a profound sense of Jehovah's presence, 
 subduing personal prejudices and prepossessions, and infusing 
 a spirit of mutual forbearance and generous conciliation. The 
 Lord had visited His Church as a court in His own house, so 
 that, even in its ecclesiastical f)rocedure, there had been realised 
 as pure delight, as sweet communion, and as ennobling aspira- 
 tions, as could be hoped for in the most favoured times of 
 visitation. It is impossible ever to forget those hours of 
 blessing that flew by on rapid wing, when the theme of every 
 tongue was the Spirit's wondrous grace and power, and when 
 every heart was melted, as under the descent of a heavenly 
 influence. It was with feelings such as these that the proceed- 
 ings were suspended, and that the brethren separated from one 
 another, to return to their several flocks, and to preside over 
 the blessed ingathering to the fold of the "Chief Shepherd." 
 
 Nearly three months after, their consultations were resumed, 
 not on this occasion in Dublin, but in Belfast. The great 
 effusion which before had fallen in so considerable a portion on 
 
THE CONFERENCE RESUMED. 155 
 
 the field, had meanwhile mightily extended in its range, and 
 many who before had been in heaviness, because as yet their 
 congregations had been unvisited by the " gracious rain," were 
 now rejoicing in its abundant and pleasant fruits. Nor were 
 there any indications that the clouds of heaven had exhausted 
 their stores of blessing. Other lands had also shared the joy 
 with which so many had been gladdened, and from the ends of 
 the earth had arisen songs of thanksgiving for what, in this 
 far-distant isle of ocean, God had wrought. The period which 
 had elaj)sed since the adjournment in Dublin, had furnished a 
 more extended opportunity of testing its real character, and of 
 forming a judgment of all its attendant features. The Church, 
 accordingly, having discharged her primary obligation of ac- 
 knowledging the favour shewn in this great work of God, it 
 was now felt that her more immediate duty was to consider how 
 the work itself might be directed, so that it might be preserved, 
 as far as human effort could accomplish that result, from the 
 weakness and fatuity of man, and from the devices of the ^reat 
 adversary. 
 
 As on the former occasion, a conference was held, and various 
 resolutions were adopted — one of which was to the effect, " That 
 the Assembly appoint a special day for public worship in all 
 our churches, and for prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God 
 for His gracious mercy vouchsafed in the revival of religion ; 
 and that supplication be offered for the extension of this gra- 
 cious work to all churches and all lands ; " and further, " that 
 our moderator be requested to prepare an address, including 
 reasons for the observance of such day, to be printed and circu- 
 lated immediately amongst the brethren." 
 
 It was in this spirit that the proceedings of the meeting of 
 Assembly were conducted and brought to a happy issue. In 
 reviewing them, however cursorily, we should be incredulous 
 and unbelieving, were we not to acknowledge that God had 
 been among us, and that we had received from Him the earnest 
 of still greater things to come. We had lived to see a good and 
 a glad day in our history — a day long prayed and hoped for, 
 but which we hardly thought ever to witness — brought about 
 
156 HALLOWED CHARACTER OF THE ENTIRE PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 by no human power or wisdom, but by tlie grace of Him who is 
 wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. It was indeed 
 a pleasant thing to contemj^late an Assembly whose members 
 were of one heart and mind -with one another, and the good 
 fruits of whose uniting love, as we humbly trust, will spread 
 their hallowed influence over days and years to come. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE EEVIVAL AND THE OEANGEMEN 
 
 Former Celebrations of the Orange Anniversary — Their Tumviltuous 
 Character- " The Twelfth" in Sandy Row, Belfast — ISTarrative of 
 Eye-witnesses — Other Districts of the Town — The Twelfth in Lur. 
 gan — Do. in Dundrod — The Orange Hall — The Open-Air Celebi'a. 
 tion — Testimony of Ministers in Various Districts — A Returned 
 African Missionary on the Twelfth in his Native County — Chief 
 Baron Pigott on the Extinction of Party Spirit — Strange thing at 
 a Lodge Meeting, and its Lesson. 
 
 For many years the anniversary of the Battle of tlie Boyne liad 
 been associated in the minds of the lower class of Irish Pro- 
 testants mth uncontrollable displays of party animosity and 
 hatred. Glorious in itself as was the achievement of William 
 of Orange in breaking the iron dominion of a Papal despot, and 
 in erecting constitutional liberty on its ruins, that illustrious 
 name had with the unthinking multitude become a synonym 
 with ignorant bravado, and with unreasoning hostility both to 
 the system and the abettors of Romanism. With the return of 
 each successive Twelfth of July there was an ebullition of poli- 
 tical and religious frenzy, often provocative of resistance, and 
 terminating in violence and bloodshed. To the vulgar gaze 
 there was no doubt something imposing in the parade of the 
 processions of these festal days. The congregated masses, as 
 they marched along in holiday attire, each man decked with 
 some distinctive badge, a sash or a cockade of the cherished 
 colour, while the superior officers flaunted in their flowing robes 
 of scarlet — the entire array marshalled in semi-military " rank 
 and file," while drums were beating, fifes discoursing shrilly 
 
158 THE TWELFTH OF JULY. 
 
 music, and banners fluttering in the breeze— presented no mean 
 embodiment of all those elements that command the admira- 
 tion of the multitude. 
 
 It would be incorrect, however, to state that the Orange 
 organisation universally prevailed in Ulster. There are many- 
 districts into which it never entered, and for years past, partly 
 owing to the vigorous enforcement of the laws against proces- 
 sions, and still more in consequence of the spread of intelligence 
 and the diffusion of a better spirit, it has been falling to pieces 
 even in those parts of the country where formerly it exercised 
 its baneful influence. Here and there, indeed, it is still fos- 
 tered for political and party purposes ; and the " Orange par- 
 son," a genus of which a f6w specimens still survive, figures ou 
 its platforms, and fans anew the dying embers of religious dis- 
 cord. But as a system, it is on the wane ; and never has it 
 received such a fatal blow as since, within the last few months, 
 the Spirit from on high descended on the community of Ulster. 
 
 Of this auspicious change there are abundant illustrations, 
 nowhere more satisfactory than in Belfast itself. For several 
 years there was a certain quarter in that town which had 
 attained an unenviable notoriety. As the Twelfth of July drew 
 near, it had been customary to reinforce the military and police, 
 that they might keep the peace, if possible, between the turbu- 
 lent inhabitants of Sandy Eow and the nest of Ribbonmen who 
 occupied a neighbouring district. Not only had the ordinary 
 street missiles been flung in plentiful profusion on the scene of 
 conflict, but deadly collisions had taken place, shots had been 
 fired, and blood had run upon the streets. For weeks the 
 magistrates and military were nightly on patrol. The strong 
 arm of the executive had at length to interfere by martial law, 
 and by a disarming of the parties who had shewn that they 
 were wholly unfit to be intrusted with arms. Although a 
 marked change had taken place in the feelings of the Orange- 
 men towards their Roman Catholic neighbours prior to the 
 anniversary of the Boyne, the mode in which that anniversary 
 would pass over was a subject of much anxious speculation. 
 "Wait till the Twelfth of July," said our good bishop to an 
 
THE TWELFTH IN SANDY ROW. 159 
 
 English gentleman who was conversing with him in the end of 
 Jmie respecting the effect of the revival on party spirit — " wait 
 till the Twelfth ; that will test all." 
 
 How the Twelfth came and passed, let the following state- 
 ment with respect to the noted district above referred to testify. 
 It has been furnished by the worthy and intelligent librarian of 
 the Belfast Society : — 
 
 " In compliance with your request, I hasten to give you my 
 experience of the revival, more especially with reference to its 
 influence in quelling party spirit on the Twelfth of July last. 
 When that gracious movement reached Belfast, I joined an 
 organisation that had come to the help of the Lord, and the 
 field assigned to me was that very famous district called Sandy 
 Bow, and its adjuncts, where the people had been taught ' to 
 catch the Papist birds by throwing stones at them.' Yes, the 
 essence of Protestantism, and the conversion of the Romanists 
 in that region, consisted in the abundant use of brickbats and 
 bludgeons ; but the old war-cries were now hushed by a higher 
 voice, and in few parts of our beloved land was that short 
 sermon oftener preached, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved,' than in this very district. The cases 
 of prostration were very numerous — at the mill, in the factory, 
 at their own firesides, in the neighbouring houses, in the public 
 street, the prayer-meeting, and, in fact, in every place of human 
 resort. 
 
 " When the revival was at its height, Sandy Row was visited 
 by persons from all parts of the country — indeed, of the king- 
 dom. Clergymen and pious laymen were constantly holding 
 open-air meetings ; and often at these and other exercises in 
 the hours of release from labour, in ' the gloaming,' or under 
 the starlit roof, did many a sweet hymn ascend far beyond 
 the stars. It was on the evening of the Twelfth that I first 
 took part in one of those meetings. I had been assisting at 
 a temperance meeting elsewhere, and my direct road on leaving 
 lay through some of the most intensely Popish and Orange 
 districts in Belfast. On the evening of any similar anniver- 
 sary I would have performed no ordinary feat to have passed 
 
ICO NARILiTIVE OF AN EYE-WITNESS. 
 
 tlirougli those districts, but I had no fears now. There 
 were no breaking of lamps and constables' heads — no flinging 
 of the 'Macadam' missile nor of the paving stones. The 
 streets were crowded with the young of both sexes, but good 
 humour and enjoyment were the distinguishing features of the 
 scene. I marked the improvement. I knew the cause. The 
 sun will shine even through a wet blanket. But things im- 
 proved as I advanced. I had heard the songs of Zion chanted 
 by hundreds of voices amid our rocks and dells, in our green 
 meadows, and also 
 
 ' In streets and openings of the gates, 
 Where pours the busy crowd ; ' 
 
 but I never heard with anything like the same emotion as I 
 did on that occasion, the soul-inspiring strains float on the still, 
 calm air of that sweet July evening. There, where one of the 
 principal thoroughfares joins the street, were assembled a large 
 number of young females, and these surrounded by men, 
 women, and children. As I approached, the 23d Psalm was 
 falling in sweet cadence on the gale ; and I do believe that 
 there were not a few in that assemblage who got a foretaste of 
 the time when the redeemed shall sing the song of Moses and 
 the Lamb. 
 
 " Throughout the day none of the usual emblems of the Twelfth 
 appeared, — no orange garlands, nor arches flung over the 
 streets The only regret I heard expressed was, that the past 
 ■was so unlike the present. There was no military or semi-mili- 
 tary parade this evening The only peace-preserver was the 
 usual night constable. He would have been a bold man who 
 would have attempted to have broken the peace then and there. 
 
 "Seven months have passed since then. Time, that great 
 tester, and a winter, one of the most unpropitious we ever saw, 
 have not seen the revival work arrested. In-door has taken the 
 place of out-door worship. In a district where formerly some 
 four or five prayer-meetings could with difiiculty be maintained, 
 there are now% I believe, twenty-five ; and if to this be added 
 the week-evening services, well attended in the six different 
 churches, — Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and ^Methodist, which 
 
OTHER DISTRICTS OF BELFAST. 161 
 
 like a chain of fortresses surround the district, — a tolerably fair 
 conclusion may be arrived at that the good work has stood the 
 trial. 
 
 " My work in the ' West End ' has been mainly among the 
 little ragged urchins gathered from the streets. I have a room 
 now to myself and my miscellaneous class, whose members are 
 of every year of age between ten and two — the elder ones being 
 the care-takers of the younger. I rule them by the voice — not 
 mine, however, but their own. Though denied by nature the 
 organs of sweet sound myself, I am at no loss for precentors, 
 and my ' chief conductor,' is a lad about five years old. We 
 have but one tune, picked up during the warmth of the revivid. 
 When I find them getting restless, I commence old 'Martyr- 
 dom,' and they become solemnised ; and thus I see that Scrip- 
 ture verified, ' Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou 
 hast perfected praise,' " 
 
 In other districts of the town where much excitement for- 
 merly prevailed, there was a similar exhibition of happy and 
 harmonious feeling. " I preached," says a Belfast minister, " on 
 the Twelfth, on the street, in a locality where the population is 
 of a mixed character. My audience was largely composed both 
 of Protestants and Romanists. AJ.1 were attentive, orderly, and 
 respectful." 
 
 Visiting, in company with a friend, a short time afterwards, 
 in a row inhabited exclusively by mill hands, and meeting a 
 number of girls who had been brought under the influence of 
 the revival, they all exclaimed, referring to the late anniversary, 
 " It was another sort of Twelfth than the one before it. None 
 of us would have wrought a turn on that day; but now we were 
 all at our work as usual. You would not have known it was the 
 Twelfth at all." " You may well say that," remarked one of 
 their number, who had been, till a few weeks before, a Roman 
 Catholic. " Don't you remember how you chased me, and others 
 of my sort, through the country for hours that day, till you 
 nearly frightened us out of our wits ? But now we are all like 
 sisters of one family, and the head of it is Christ." 
 
 "The Twelfth of July had long been a notable day in 
 
 L 
 
162 THE TWELFTH IN LURGAN. 
 
 Lurgan," says the Rev. L. E. Berkeley, " as elsewhere through- 
 out the North of Ireland, and some curiosity and anxiety 
 were manifested as to the way in which it would be spent. 
 It is to be lamented that flags were, as usual, streaming 
 from the towers of the National church, and the tolling of 
 the bell proclaimed that the old spirit was still alive. But it 
 was subdued and solemnised. At two o'clock p.m., the Presby- 
 terian church was quite filled with people met for prayer, con- 
 ducted by a representative of each of the Protestant denomina- 
 tions in town. Not a drunk man was to be seen in the streets. 
 The people continued in their homes, or at their work, and the 
 language of one of them — a young man who used to take a pro- 
 minent part in the fun and frolic of the occasion, might doubt- 
 less have been used by multitudes—' It was the happiest Twelfth 
 I ever spent.' 
 
 " Take another illustration. Early in summer, I was called 
 on to give a subscription for the building or providing of an 
 Orange Hall. I refused. The young man, a member of my 
 own congregation, was much dissatisfied. The revival came. 
 Soon after, meeting him in the street, I inquired regarding the 
 progress of the hall. ' O sir,' said he, ' it would be better for 
 every one to try and serve God Almighty, and let party work 
 alone ! ' I believe it is the conclusion to which many, by the 
 blessing of God, have been brought." 
 
 The following statement, with reference to the observance of 
 the Twelfth of July in a rural district already mentioned in this 
 narrative, is deeply interesting : — 
 
 " From the commencement of the revival," says the lie v. W. 
 Magill of Dundrod, " some of the Orangemen had attended our 
 prayer-meetings, and had seen and heard the strange things 
 which occurred in and around the first house where the Lord 
 began His work of grace. The chiefs of the party lived in the 
 adjoining one. One member of their family especially, from the 
 first, was deeply and I believe savingly impressed. His case 
 was a singular and most interesting one. He is almost deaf, 
 yet gifted with a wonderful talent for understanding what is 
 said to him, engaging in all the services of religion — praise, 
 
THE TWELFTH IN DUNDKOD. 163 
 
 prayer, and reading the Scriptures — with the greatest delight, 
 and confessing himself strengthened by thus waiting upon God. 
 It is wonderful how much of a sermon, or of the explanation of 
 a chapter, he can understand by following with his eye and 
 finger alternately the written Word and the moving lips and 
 gestures of the speaker. He has done good in his family, into 
 which he has introduced the worship of God, and while dili- 
 gently seeking salvation for himself, is anxious for the spiritual 
 welfare of the whole household. 
 
 " It was partly through his influence that his brothers, and 
 other members of the Orange Society, kept the Twelfth day 
 of July here as it was never kept before. 
 
 " I never had been a favourite with the Orangemen of the 
 district. I had been instrumental in suppressing a public- 
 house at the gate of our church, in which they were in the habit 
 of assembling, and which had long been an intolerable nuisance. 
 This house, and the adjoining property, were purchased in be- 
 half of the congregation, and the manse now stands where it 
 stood. In revenge for the supposed injury done by pulling 
 down the public-house, an ' Orange Hall ' was erected in the 
 immediate neighbourhood as a rallying point for the brethren, 
 who, night after night, met with fife and drum, and noisy 
 clamour, to annoy the quiet dwellers in their homes in the 
 neighbourhood, and especially myself. But the Lord did not 
 pass over them ; and they too, as weU as others, underwent a 
 great change, and we hope a permanent one. 
 
 " Before the Twelfth came, I was asked by those men, whom 
 I had looked upon as bitter enemies to me, and to the cause of 
 religion and morality, if I would meet them on the evening of 
 that day, and hold a prayer-meeting in their 'Hall.' On the 
 morning of the day itself, a deputation, including the master 
 of the ' lodge,' waited on me in the manse, and requested me to 
 go over to the hall and pray with them, before proceeding to a 
 field at some distance, where they were to meet others, and 
 engage in religious exercises. I soon found myself in strange 
 company, and was put in the honoured seat, and officiated as 
 chaplain to an Orange lodge, reading first their printed prayer. 
 
164 THE OPEN-AIR CELEBRATION. 
 
 (which I must say is a most admirable one,) and then knelt 
 down in the midst of the brethren, and many others who came 
 to see and hear this new thing, and heartily blessed God for His 
 wonderful works, and prayed that the reign of peace on earth 
 and good-will among men might that day be inaugurated and 
 firmly established in the midst of us. 
 
 " With Bibles in their hands, and peace and good -will in their 
 hearts — with no music playing, no flags flying, and with no jar 
 of whisky to refresh them on the march — they walked decently 
 and soberly, and in good order, to the field, where many hun- 
 dreds met them, and joined them in praise and prayer, and 
 other religious exercises. There could not have been a more 
 attentive and serious congregation, and the different parties 
 retired to their respective districts, wondering, as they went, at 
 the strange things they had seen and heard In the evening 
 about fifteen hundred persons of all denominations met in the 
 open air, Avhere I preached to them, after which all went quietly 
 to their homes ; and thus passed the Twelfth :)f July 1859 — a 
 day much indeed to be remembered. Here was another glorious 
 triumph — the name of Jesus was exalted above every other 
 name. The name of the ' glorious, pious, and immortal ' Wil- 
 liam was not heard from a single Up; the Pope escaped his 
 usual malediction; the publicans and sinners bit their lips 
 in disappointment, for their ' occupation ' was gone. Satan 
 seemed to have fallen like lightning from heaven, and the 
 Prince of Peace reigned throughout the day. Since then we 
 have had no party strifes, no beating of drums, no 'Punch 
 dances,' no drunken revels — nothing to hurt or annoy the ten- 
 derest conscience." 
 
 Similar celebrations were almost universally held in those 
 other parts of the north where Orangeism prevailed. In regard 
 to the spirit still evinced by the confederation, the following 
 are striking testimonies : — 
 
 " The month before the revival in this neighbourhood," says 
 the Rev. J. Geddes, (County Tyrone,) " it was in a ferment — 
 nightly marchings, law proceedings, &c. Since the movement 
 began, not a drum has been struck in the bounds, and the 
 
TESTIMONY OF MINISTERS IN VARIOUS DISTRICTS. 165 
 
 leading Orangemen meet and pray for the Romanists, whom a 
 little ago they hated." 
 
 " Party spirit, from the moment the revival became mani- 
 fest," says the Rev. John Bell of Clare, (County Armagh,) " dis- 
 appeared. This is worthy of very special notice, as it prevailed 
 in this locality to a most pernicious extent. It was not worse 
 anywhere." 
 
 " Newtonlimavady," (County Derry,) says the Rev. George 
 Steen, "was the stronghold of Orangeisni. On the Twelfth of 
 July, the day was spent in preaching, praise, and prayer ; and 
 since the commencement of the Lord's work in June, I have 
 not heard the utterance of a party word, nor seen a party em- 
 blem displaj^ed." 
 
 " There is an Orange lodge in this neighbourhood," says the 
 Rev. J. Elliot, Clarkesbridge, (County Monaghan,) "which is 
 composed of some forty young men. They met monthly, and 
 each contributed a fixed sum at every meeting for the purpose 
 of procuring refreshments, which consisted almost entirely of 
 whisky. So much as <£l3 has been expended in one year in 
 this way. The name is not changed, but they now meet prin- 
 cipally for religious exercises — singing, prayer, or reading God's 
 Word. They continue their monthly contributions, and twice 
 since July have asked me to expend a very considerable sum 
 in purchase of books for a library which they have established, 
 and which is likely very soon to contain a large and valuable 
 collection of books. Now they never have any intoxicating 
 drinks at their meetings." 
 
 The Rev. H. M. Waddell, late missionary on the west coast of 
 Africa, supplies the following statement with reference to the 
 decrease of party feeling in his native county : — 
 
 " On the subject of Orange lodges, a grave, aged, good man, 
 an elder of long standing, said that he saw the power of God in 
 this revival, for nothing else could have put down the Orange 
 Society. Government had failed to suppress it ; yet here we see 
 it dying of itself under the influence of revived religion. If 
 such a powerful and united body now yield to religious convic- 
 tions, and the spirit of the gospel of peace turn their lodges and 
 
166 ORANGEMEN TAUGHT A SOLEMN LESSON. 
 
 gatherings into prayer-meetings, and their collections for feast- 
 ing into missionary contributions, as I have heard of being done, 
 may we not say that the Spirit of the Lord has gone forth 
 among the Protestants of Ulster 1 " 
 
 We do not wonder, after such records as these, that Chief 
 Baron Pigott, himself a Ptoman Cathohc, should have taken 
 occasion, when sitting on the bench in County Down, a few 
 days after the great Orange anniversary, to refer, in the lan- 
 guage of the reporters, " to the religious movement in the north 
 as having extinguished all party animosities, and produced the 
 most wholesome moral results upon the community at large ; " 
 and that he should have "expressed a hope that it would 
 extend over the whole country, and influence society to its 
 lowest depths." 
 
 Let us hope that the happy experiences of 1859 will be re- 
 peated in all future years, and that the Orange confederacy, if 
 it exist at all, will be found subserving some better purpose 
 than any for which it has hitherto been celebrated. There are 
 symptoms in some quarters of a tendency to resume the prac- 
 tices of other days ; and it may be that there is a voice of 
 warning in the following incident : — " A strange thing," ob- 
 serves the Ptev. Eobert Dunlop of Newbliss, " occurred a few 
 evenings since, at the meeting of a lodge. Four men were 
 led to cry for mercy during the singing of a profane song ! It 
 was the first evening for months that anything had been sung 
 at the meeting, and the introduction of the song led to the 
 result which I have mentioned." It was the incongruity of 
 the proceeding, I have little doubt, that so affected those who 
 engaged in it, that they were led to serious soul concern, and 
 to give audible expression to their distress. The Orangemer 
 of Ulster have been lately taught a solemn lesson in the revival ; 
 who will not hope and pray that it may never pass out of their 
 remembrance 1 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY DOWN. 
 
 The Bishop of the Diocese — His Interest in the Work — Original Com- 
 munication from him — The Revival in Castlereagh — The Converted 
 Cripple — "Remember Lot's Wife" — Comber — Great Increase — 
 Few Sudden Conversions — Bodily Health Improved — The Phy- 
 sical Manifestations — Answers to Special Prayer — Revival among 
 Quarrymen — Killinchy — Statement of the Hon. and Rev. H. Ward 
 — Newtownards — Previous State — The Work Begun — United 
 Prayer-meeting — The Schoolmaster turned Preacher — The 
 Drunken Bellman — The ToAvn Missionary — The Militia Serjeant — 
 The Converted School-girl — Other Cases. 
 
 I CANNOT more appropriately introduce the narrative of the 
 revival movement in County Down than by inserting in this 
 place a communication with which I have been favoured on 
 the subject by the esteemed Bishop of the diocese, although 
 part of Ms ecclesiastical domain lies in the County Antrim. It 
 has been already mentioned that at an early period his lordship 
 lent his countenance to the work, both by the sanction given to 
 his clergy in their labours in connexion therewith, and by his 
 presence at one of the first united meetings for prayer held in 
 Belfast. His correspondence subsequently with Bishop M'll- 
 vaine, of Ohio, in the United States, exhibited his anxious de- 
 sire to have the sustaining sympathy of those occupying an 
 influential position in the Episcopal Church of America, who 
 had been familiar with the history of revivals in that land; 
 while the prominent part he took at the Annual Conference of 
 the Evangelical Alliance, at a still later period, when he bore 
 emphatic testimony to the reality and good effects of the revival, 
 
168 COJIMUNICATION FROM THE BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 sufficiently attested his appreciation of this great work of God. 
 Knowing that in the course of the season he had directed a 
 communication to be addressed to all the ministers in his diocese, 
 making particular inquiry in relation to the several phases of 
 the movement, and having had abundant experience of that 
 courtesy and catholicity for which he is distinguished, I took the 
 liberty of requesting of his lordship a brief statement of the 
 result ; and, further, desiring his permission to avail myself in 
 the present publication of his testimony. To the request he 
 was pleased to accede, in the following terms : — 
 
 " The Palace, Holywood, Belfast, 
 February 13, 1860. 
 
 " My deae Sir, — It affords me very great pleasure to comply 
 with your request to furnish you with the result of some of the 
 queries which I issued to my clergy in reference to the religious 
 awakening, which, in the good providence of God, has visited 
 this Province, making many a barren spot fruitful, and many a 
 sorrowing heart glad. 
 
 " To my queries, I received from my clergy one hundred and 
 six replies ; seventy-five of which bore the most gratifying tes- 
 mony to the spiritual blessings which followed the ' revivals ' 
 in their own parishes — such as the careless aroused, the impure 
 made pure, the drunkard reformed, the prayerless prayerful, and 
 every means of grace eagerly attended. 
 
 " I enclose you a copy of a few of the answers which I have 
 received to two of my queries, shewing the nature of this won- 
 derful religious and moral reformation, and the truly spiritual 
 character of this great work, as testified by faithful, zealous, 
 and earnest clergymen in my dioceses ; and I feel satisfied that 
 the evidence of the clergy of your own Church, which your high 
 official position will enable you to procure, will fully corroborate 
 the same. To their zealous labours, also, in this our day of 
 * great things,' I would, in passing, pay the just tribute of sincere 
 respect. 
 
 " I cannot conclude without mentioning the result of my late 
 confirmations in Belfast, as it marks the deep impression and 
 
THE REVIVAL IN CASTLEREAGH. 169 
 
 devotional feeling which the Spirit of the living God, moving 
 over this portion of our land, has kindled. The numbers con- 
 firmed annually by me in the parish of Belfast have averaged 
 about two hundred and fifty, but last year they reached seven 
 hundred and five, and never since I have administered that rite 
 of my Church have I witnessed such solemnity of manner and 
 deep feeling as was exhibited by all whom I then confirmed. 
 
 " And now, my dear Sir, may the word spoken by us all be 
 blessed by God's Holy Spirit to those among whom we minister, 
 that, in the true revival of a sanctified life, they may become 
 ' living epistles ' of Christ, ' known and read of all men,' — Be- 
 lieve me, with sincere respect, yours truly and faithfully, 
 
 " Rob. Down & Connor & Dromore. 
 
 " To the Rev. Professor Gibson, 
 Moderator of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in Ireland." 
 
 [For the returns referred to in the above communication, see 
 Appendix B,] 
 
 Castlereagh is a rural district not far distant from Belfast. 
 It was visited by the awakening soon after its manifestation 
 in the latter place. For six years previously there was a 
 marked improvement in spiritual things ; and now that the 
 revival has come, a great enlargement has been experienced, 
 while no case of apostasy or backsliding is known. 
 The Rev. Dr Given supplies the following incidents : — 
 The Converted Cripple. — "Among the early cases of revival 
 within the bounds of my congregation was a cripple, who had 
 been in the habit of visiting the various places to which his 
 business led him, by means of a donkey-cart, though he could 
 not be persuaded to use the same mode of conveyance to bring 
 him to the house of God. Many a time as I met him by the 
 way, or found him in his own house, I had endeavoured to pre- 
 vail on him to attend public worship, but was usually met with 
 the same stereotyped excuses, — his lameness, the awkwardness 
 of the thing, the inconvenience it would cause himself and the 
 
170 THE CON VEETED CRIPPLE. 
 
 trouble it miglit occasion others. In vain did I labour to 
 remove sucli pretexts, and urge on him the importance of 
 making at least an equal effort to come to the sanctuary as to 
 reach the place of business. He could attend to the perishing 
 interests of the present passing world, while to the realities of 
 a future and a better he remained utterly indifferent. Years of 
 carelessness had rolled away. Conscience would sometimes 
 trouble him, but he soon quieted it. The thought that God, in 
 depriving him of the use of his limbs, had exonerated him from 
 attendance on His service, would from time to time silence the 
 still small voice within, and confirm him in his guilty neglect. 
 At length he was apprehended of Christ, and arrested in his 
 course. He had heard of the revival in the neighbouring 
 county, and talked of it as a matter of news with others. He 
 had been attending no religious meeting, hearing no gospel 
 sermon, nor listening to any stirring address ; but one night, on 
 retiring to rest, the Spirit of God brought his sins very vividly 
 before his mind, and putting the desire in his heart, and the 
 words in his mouth, constrained him to cry aloud, and for some 
 time continue to cry, ' Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.' He 
 remained under deep convictions of sin till the Sabbath follow- 
 ing, when, to the amazement of neighbours and acquaintances, 
 he was seen approaching the house of God. The sermon that 
 day was blessed to him ; and that same Sabbath night, after 
 much wrestling earnest prayer, deep agony, and many tears, he 
 obtained the peace that passeth understanding. Since then he 
 has possessed new light, new life, new love ; and not one 
 Sabbath since have I missed him from his accustomed place 
 in the house of God. Great has been his joy in believing; his 
 conduct and conversation also have been most consistent. He 
 loses no opportunity of testifying for God, and recommending 
 to others the Saviour whom he himself has found. As his 
 change was a marvel to many at the time it occurred, so has his 
 behaviour ever since been truly an ensample, and himself a 
 living epistle, seen and read of all. From Sabbath to Sabbath 
 he is carried in and out of my church, without ever breathing 
 an excuse, or hinting a difficulty, or uttering a complaint in 
 
" REMEMBER LOT's WIPE." 171 
 
 regard to liis infirmity, but grateful to the kind friends who are 
 ever ready to attend to him ; and rejoicing in God his Saviour, 
 he goes on his way, feeling by personal experience, and prac- 
 tically illustrating the truth, that wherever there is a will to 
 serve the Lord there is sure to be a way. 
 
 Tlie Fomnalist. — " A second instance of the reviving grace of 
 God, is that of a female, who had from early youth attended 
 the house of God with regularity, and who had often partaken 
 of the Supper of the Lord. Still she had only the form of 
 godliness, and wanted the living power. She had never closed 
 with Christ, though she had united herself to His people. She 
 had often thought of death, and always with alarm. The con- 
 sideration of her latter end, which often forced itself upon her, 
 filled her with terror. To her those words of Scripture literally 
 applied — 'Through fear of death' she had been 'all her life 
 subject to bondage.' At length deliverance came. It is a 
 pleasant Sabbath morning in the month of August ; the sky is 
 clear, the air balmy, and the fields waving with golden grain. 
 Little groups of worshippers are leisurely wending their way to 
 ' the church that crowns the neighbouring hill,' and the indivi- 
 dual referred to is among them. What with the mildness of 
 the weather, the scenery around, the companions by the way, 
 her heart was lighter, and her thoughts more cheerful than 
 usual. Arrived in the sanctuary, there was nothing that inter- 
 ested her more than on other occasions, till the announcement 
 of the text. It was contained in the words, ' Remember Lot's 
 wife,' and chosen as the groundwork of remarks which I deemed 
 suitable to be addressed to the many in connexion with my 
 congregation, who, I knew, had been recently the subjects of a 
 saving change, and whom I w^as anxious to warn against looking 
 back after having put their hand to the plough, or turning 
 back to the old ways of sin and death. The text at once 
 riveted her attention, and as the sermon proceeded, her memory 
 reverted to the sins and faults of youth, the inconsistencies of 
 riper years, the hoUowness of outward profession without in- 
 ward principle or corresponding practice. A burden pressed 
 sore upon her heart. Tears flowed copiously, and, mingled with 
 
172 EXTENT AND POWER OF THE 
 
 big drops of perspiration, wetted tlie shawl that lay around her 
 shoulders. She felt extremely weak, but, anxious to escape 
 observation, made an effort to get out of the church. She had 
 only succeeded in leaving the pew when I observed her face 
 become deadly pale, and she sank apparently unconscious in 
 the aisle. It was no fainting fit, as she has positively and 
 repeatedly assured me since. At the close of the service, and 
 during prayer with her, she thought she saw the Saviour, 
 clothed in a white garment reaching down to the feet, approach 
 her. Be that as it may, whether it was fancy or fact, one thing 
 is certain, she has found the Lord, the fear of death has been 
 removed, the Word of God is understood and appreciated bj 
 her as it had never been before. Her life, at the same time, ab 
 far as I have been able to judge, is in joerfect harmony with the 
 change." 
 
 The neighbourhood of Comber was the very earliest visited 
 by the revival in the county in which it is situated. For about 
 fourteen years previously, meetings had been held for the pur- 
 pose of seeking a revival of religion, and when the Spirit at 
 length came upon the people, it was with wondrous power. 
 Hundreds were awakened and savingly turned to God. 
 
 Extent and Power of the Revival in First Comber. — " Our 
 congregation," says the Rev. J. M. Killen, "having been the 
 first in County Down blessed with the outpouring of the Spirit 
 when the work commenced, a great sensation was produced. 
 The whole town and neighbourhood were roused. Many did 
 not retire to rest the first night at all, and for several days 
 great numbers were unable to attend to their usual avocations, 
 but gave themselves almost unceasingly to the study of the 
 Scriptures, singing and prayer ; and for the first month, with 
 about three exceptions, I did not get to bed till morning, such 
 was the anxiety of the people for pastoral instruction and con- 
 solation. For twenty-one days after the revival commenced we 
 had on an average more than ten cases daily, and altogether we 
 have had above three hundred and fifty cases of visible awaken- 
 ing in our congregation, not to speak of the still more numerous 
 instances of a silent character, of which no proper estimate can 
 
REVIVAL IN FIRST COMBER. 173 
 
 yet be formed. The revival, too, has embraced those hitherto 
 beyond the pale of the chm-ch altogether ; and drunkards have 
 been reformed, prostitutes reclaimed, thieves have become 
 honest — Sabbath-breakers, profane swearers, scoffers, neglecters 
 of ordinances, and worthless characters of all descriptions have 
 been awakened or converted. No sex or age has been exempt. 
 Our converts include children of seven and old men and women 
 of upwards of seventy years of age. Those renewed, too, 
 especially the females, manifest a wonderful power in prayer 
 and fluency of expression, and as yet I know no case of apos- 
 tasy amongst them. 
 
 "We have had no very sudden conversions amongst us. 
 Ti'ue, those under conviction in the course of an hour or two 
 generally got relief, which at first some were wont to mis- 
 take for true peace in Christ, but they mostly soon found 
 out their mistake; and I had at a very early stage of the 
 work to warn them against being satisfied with anything 
 short of Christ himself, and to urge them to make sure, first 
 of all, of Him, and that then He would give them pardon, 
 peace, and all other blessings they might require. The con- 
 sequence has been, that those awakened have not generally 
 found true peace in less than a week. Many have been several 
 weeks under conviction before they could say that they were 
 truly converted, and some, though greatly changed in life and 
 conversation, will not yet venture to say that they have found 
 the Lord. The truth is, that for the most part they appear to 
 be very jealous of themselves, and to be afraid of deceiving 
 themselves ; and the consequence has been, that the work, 
 when effected, appears to be of a very thorough and decided 
 character, and I am happy to state, that from what I am daily 
 witnessing, I believe that the converts, as a body, are growing 
 very rapidly in humility, and in the other graces of the Chris- 
 tian character. 
 
 " In not a few cases the bodily health has been greatly im- 
 proved, as well as the soul saved. One woman, who was almost 
 blind, has had her eysight restored to her, and can now read 
 the Bible, which she was unable to do for ten years before. 
 
174 PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS. 
 
 Two others that were ahnost always confined to bed for years, 
 are now quite convalescent in body, and rejoicing in spirit. A 
 boy remarkable for stammering can now speak quite well : and 
 a little girl, formerly noted for timidity and nervous weakness, 
 is now fearless and strong. 
 
 "By this great revival, ministerial life has to a large' extent 
 become quite a new thing. It is now a continued joy, and, in- 
 stead of being dispirited by the obduracy of sinners and the 
 seeming barrenness of pastoral efifort, we are now daily, I might 
 almost say hourly, gathering in a great spiritual harvest, and are 
 constantly rejoicing in the abounding communion of the saints." 
 The following additional statement by Mr Killen, of date 6th 
 April, presents several striking illustrations of the character 
 and results of the awakening. They are simply sjyecimens of 
 similar ones which might be adduced : — 
 
 "First, with regard to the ^jA?/6icaZ manifestations, I may 
 mention that some of these were of a very violent, I might 
 almost say awful character, comparable to nothing I have ever 
 read of, save the demoniacal possessions in the New Testament. 
 I have seen, for instance, four strong men quite unable to hold 
 or restrain a young lad of about eighteen years of age ; and I 
 have known parties of this tjrpe, after the paroxysm had ceased, 
 left so weak for a little that life appeared to be almost extmct 
 — reminding me of the individual mentioned in Mark ix. 26, of 
 whom it is said, that when the unclean spuit ' cried, and rent 
 him sore, and came out of him, he was as one dead ; insomuch 
 that many said. He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, 
 and lifted him up ; and he arose.' So also in the instances 
 referred to, I have noticed that strength soon returned, accom- 
 panied by a spiritual and delightful calm, which was all the 
 more striking when contrasted with the moral hurricane by 
 which it had been preceded. 
 
 " In illustration allow me to adduce a single case. An elderly 
 woman, the mother of a family, who had been a careless, 
 cursing creature, and one greatly opposed to the revival, was 
 some time after its commencement, suddenly and violently pro- 
 strated on her ovm kitchen floor. When I first saw her she was 
 
INTENSE AND AGONISING PEAYER. 175 
 
 rolling on the ground and writhing with agony. Her appear- 
 ance was certainly the most satanic I ever beheld. The by- 
 standers were overawed — all felt that influences more than 
 human were at work. A medical man was sent for, but he fled 
 at the sight, declaring that it was a case for a clergyman and 
 not for a physician. The unhappy woman was evidently the 
 subject of a great spiritual conflict. Her cries for about an hour 
 were terrific. She declared that Satan and all the devils in hell 
 were round about her. Gradually her shrieks subsided, and as 
 the paroxysms wore off, she settled down into a sort of despair- 
 ing calm. For days she continued weak in body and distressed 
 in soul, but at length the light broke — her bonds were loosed — 
 she saw and embraced Christ— obtained peace^and was filled 
 with a joy unspeakable and full of glory ; and she is now one 
 of the finest specimens of Christian character and of a mother 
 in Israel I have ever known — distinguished by her strong faith, 
 her ardent love, and her Christian meekness, her sweetness of 
 temper, and an almost uninterrupted realisation of her Re- 
 deemer's presence, combmed with a very profound reverence 
 for Messiah's character, a strong deske to promote His glory, 
 and a most extreme sensitiveness lest she should do anything 
 to forfeit the enjoyment of His love. 'O sir,' said she lately 
 to me, 'I am just watching how I lift and lay down my feet, 
 lest I should offend Him.' 
 
 Intense and Agonising Prayer. — "Nothing has been more 
 wonderful about our revival than the intense and agonising and 
 long-continued prayer by which it has been characterised. In- 
 deed, so far as human instrumentality is concerned, it appears 
 to have been produced and carried on very much by prayer. 
 We had been holding meetings at stated intervals in our congre- 
 gation for fourteen years, the great object of which was to seek 
 a revival, and when our prayers were answered and the Spirit 
 came. He came especially as a Spirit of prayer and supplication. 
 It was no unusual thing for men and women and children after 
 retiring to rest, to start from their beds and pass the remainder 
 of the night in prayer. And oh, such prayers. Literally ' with 
 strong crying and tears' did they besiege the mercy-seat, and 
 
176 ANSWERS TO SPECIAL PRAYER. 
 
 often have I known tliem tell God tliat they would, could do 
 nothing but cry to Him until He would have mercy upon them, 
 yea, I have known them declaring that they would not rise 
 from their knees till He would send relief. Secular occupa- 
 tions were for the time abandoned, the salvation of the soul 
 was alone attended to ; and many an instance have I seen as I 
 have moved amongst the awakened ones, of the ' kingdom of 
 heaven suffering violence, and of the violent taking it by force.' 
 
 " Of this intense agonising in prayer, allow me to mention a 
 single case. About the middle of July last, a farmer's family 
 belonging to my congregation were roused from their slumbers 
 about four o'clock in the morning by the father crying out for 
 mercy. In a few minutes after, his wife was also seized with 
 convictions of sin. Speedily their two sons, and afterwards 
 their daughter became affected. Before an hour the whole 
 family were on their knees imploring pardon. Parents and 
 children together wrestled for hours with the Lord, and when 
 at length they obtained some relief, and thought of preparing 
 breakfast, and of giving food to their cattle, which all this time 
 had been forgotten and overlooked, they found to their amaze- 
 ment that instead of being only about seven o'clock in the 
 morning, as they had supposed, it was past two in the after- 
 noon, and thus, this entire family had actually passed about ten 
 hours on their knees in prayer to God for the salvation of theix 
 souls. Never, however, were ten hours better spent, for God 
 had respect to their supplications, and in answer to their cries 
 He has poured out His Spirit and renewed all their hearts, and 
 father and mother, sons and daughter, now form one whole 
 family in Christ here, rejoicing in the blessed and assured hope 
 of dwellmg together with the Lord for evermore. 
 
 Answers to Special Prayer. — " I may now mention one or two 
 cases illustrative of answer to prayer. Soon after the revival 
 commenced here, a neighbouring clergyman called on me one 
 Saturday, and requested that I and our converts would pray 
 for the conversion of his two sons, boys of ten and twelve years 
 of age. I assented, and next morning, at our prayer- meeting, 
 I proposed to the converts that we should make the conversion 
 
SCENE IN A MILL. 177 
 
 of the minister's sons a special topic of supplication every 
 morning during that week. On the following Friday evening 
 this minister came over to assist me at our usual evening ser- 
 vice, and with tears of thankfulness declared that God had 
 already converted one of his children, and entreated us to con- 
 tinue our supplications for the other. We did so, and in about 
 ten days afterwards the same minister "WTote, informing me 
 that his other son was also converted to the Lord. 
 
 "Another instance, illustrative of the same fact, is that of a 
 poor man, advanced in life and unmarried, who was converted 
 in our congregation at the beginning of the work. As soon as 
 he had embraced the Lord himself, he became most anxious for 
 the conversion of the family with whom he resided, and of his 
 fellow-workmen in the mill where he was employed. But all 
 these were most ungodly ; and when they saw the change 
 which had taken place in him, instead of rejoicing in his joy, 
 they mocked, swore, sung impure songs, and did all they could 
 to thwart and distress him. He saw that remonstrances were 
 vain, and he resolved to pray for them. He did so, but for a 
 time no answer came, and he was sorely discouraged. Still he 
 resolved to continue his supplications on their behalf; and 
 suddenly one day the men in the mill were astonished at cries 
 proceeding from their homes, which were hard by. The busi- 
 ness in the mill was suspended, and when the men rushed to 
 their houses to see what caused those cries, they found their 
 wives and daughters prostrated under strong convictions, crying 
 for mercy to the Lord. The hitherto-despised convert was at 
 once applied to, and, with a heart overflowing with gratitude, 
 he led their supplications, and directed all to Christ. Soon the 
 Lord vouchsafed His mercy; the weeping penitents became 
 rejoicing converts, and wives and daughters were that day 
 added to the Lord. 
 
 Scene in a Mill. — " C ^'s prayers were as yet, however, only 
 
 partially answered. They were still to receive a more glorious 
 fulfilment. Some days after the above occurrence, the mill had 
 again to be stopped, but this time not because of the women, 
 but the men. Husbands and brothers, whilst engaged at their 
 
 M 
 
178 REVIVAL AMONG QUARRYMEN. 
 
 work, were arrested tand smitten down whilst in tlie very act 
 of attending the machinery. Some of the strongest men 
 and greatest scoffers in the whole country fell powerless in 
 a moment under the mighty and mysterious influence that was 
 at work. Never had there been such a day in that establish- 
 ment. Strong men might be seen prostrated and crying for 
 mercy; converted wives and daughters bent over them with 
 tears of joy, whilst they returned thanks to God for the awaken- 
 ing of their husbands and brothers, and prayed that soon all 
 might rejoice with one another as heirs together of the grace of 
 
 life ; and such has been the case. Poor C 's prayers have 
 
 indeed been answered, for he has just been telling me that the 
 seven souls in the house where he resides are now all converted, 
 and that about nine-tenths of the workers in the mill have been 
 visited by the Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 Revival among Qiiarrymen. — "My space, already well-nigh 
 exhausted, will only allow me to give another instance of the 
 jiower and prevalency of the revival in this district. About 
 two miles from this, near the outskirts of the parish, there is a 
 quarry which was formerly notorious for the wickedness of 
 those who v/rought in it. It was, in fact, an emporium for all 
 sorts of vice ; but when our revival commenced in Comber, it 
 was such a strange and unheard-of thing amongst these quarry- 
 men, that they resolved, through curiosity, to come and see 
 how it was that people were so mysteriously knocked down. 
 They accordingly attended the nightly prayer-meetings in our 
 congregation. Gradually a change crept over them. Drinking 
 was diminished, swearing was given up, seriousness and anxiety 
 prevailed. I was requested, as I could not go in the evening, 
 to go and preach to them during working hours in the middle of 
 the day. I did so. Immediately on my appearance all work 
 was suspended ; and at the very busiest time master and men 
 attended for upwards of two hours. Whilst under the open 
 sky, in a sort of large amphitheatre, formed by the excavation 
 of the quarry, and surrounded by the mountain's rocky walls, 
 I proclaimed to them the glorious gospel of the blessed God. 
 Much good, I understand, was that day effected. Prayer-meet- 
 
KILLINCHY. 179 
 
 ings amongst the men were immediately established. The occu- 
 pier of the quarry and head of the whole establishment soon 
 announced to his men that he himself was entirely changed, 
 and declared that he had resolved to live henceforth only for 
 Christ. A marvellous alteration was soon apparent ; and such 
 
 has been the effect produced, that Mr D , the head of the 
 
 establishment referred to, told me last week, that out of ninety- 
 six families in his employment, upwards of ninety have now 
 established family worship. ' Drunkenness,' he said, ' has dis- 
 appeared, and neither oath nor improper expression is now heard 
 
 in that quarry. As for myself,' continued Mr D , ' I now 
 
 look upon myself as a mere steward, having nothing of my own, 
 and bound by feelings, both of responsibility and gratitude, to 
 live for God's glory.' 
 
 " Such are some of the effects of the revival in this quarter. 
 I might mention more, and dwell especially on its having caused 
 family worship to be very generally, I may say, almost univer- 
 sally, observed amongst the families of my charge; but your 
 space forbids, and I must close." 
 
 A few miles from Comber is ICillinchy, celebrated as the 
 scene of the faithful labours of Livingstone, one of the early 
 fathers of the Presbyterian Church. This parish, during the 
 summer months was largely visited by the reviving influence. 
 The Hon. and Rev. Henry Ward, for thirty-five years revered 
 as one of the most devoted ministers of the Establishment, and 
 rector of the parish, co-operated throughout with the Rev. 
 David Anderson, the Presbyterian minister, "the labour being 
 divided," to use his own words, " between the ministers of the 
 two denominations, no distinction being made, and the hearts 
 of all knit together in one holy bond of Christian fellow- 
 ship." From a letter, dated March 31, 1860, addressed by 
 him to the Bishop of Down, I am permitted to give the fol- 
 lomng statement with reference to the results in that wide 
 district : — 
 
 " I am happy to inform your Lordship that, from my own 
 experience, as well as from the testimony of the Presbyterian 
 minister with whom I have been associated, more particularly 
 
180 NEWTOWNAEDS. 
 
 in tlie revival work, most satisfactory fruits have followed tlie 
 wide-spread confession of sin and profession of repentance 
 wliich attended the ministrations of the gospel during last 
 summer in this neighbourhood. We might reasonably have 
 expected to hear of many cases of relapse, and in some quarters 
 of a reaction, during the winter season, when all extra meetings 
 had to a considerable extent been suspended, and all phj^sical 
 manifestations had disappeared; but nothing of the kind has 
 reached our ears. The extreme vigilance and jealousy of some 
 who have watched the progress of the work more closely, have 
 led them to fear the stability of one or two who made a profes- 
 sion; but this only proves, that if any cases had occurred cal- 
 culated to throw discredit on the work, it could not have 
 escaped observation. Weekly prayer-meetings are very gene- 
 rally held over the whole parish, conducted by laymen of piety 
 and discretion, and are very well attended, and daily family 
 worship is continued in houses where, up to the revival move- 
 ment, utter ungodliness prevailed. 
 
 " As soon as the weather improves, we purpose resuming our 
 extra meetings upon a large scale, which the still unquenched 
 desire on the part of the people for hearing the word renders 
 necessary." 
 
 In no part of the province, so far as I can learn, has there 
 been a more genuine work of grace than in the town of New- 
 townards. The following statement in regard to it has been 
 furnished by Mr M. Harbison, the intelligent teacher of the 
 National School, in that place, who has had much to do in con- 
 nexion with the revival, although he refers to his own labours 
 in such a modest way that it is sometimes difficult to identify 
 them : — 
 
 State of Beligwn Previoudy. — " Before giving you an account 
 of the work of the Lord here, it is necessary that I should tell 
 you something regarding the state of the town previous to that 
 blessed awakening. Our population is about twelve thousand, 
 and we are supplied with four congregations in connexion with 
 the General Assembly, two Covenanting, two Methodist, and 
 one Estabhshed Church, There is also a congregation of Uni- 
 
THE WORK BEGUN. 181 
 
 tarians, and one of Roman Catholics. The attendance on all 
 these did not amount to more than twelve hundred persons on 
 an average, and of these a considerable number came from the 
 country districts around. From statistics made out by our town 
 missionary, (there has been one employed for the past three 
 years,) we came to the conclusion that fully one-half of the 
 population had not even a nominal connexion with any place of 
 worship. You will see from this that religion was in a very low 
 state among us, and you will not be surprised to hear that this 
 town of twelve thousand inhabitants supported some seventy 
 public-houses, and more than a dozen pawn-shops. Their neces- 
 sary pendants. Sabbath desecration, intemperance, and immor- 
 ality, were fearfully prevalent. 
 
 " Such was the state of things about the 1st of May last. Some 
 time previous to this, the attention of many had been directed 
 to the accounts of the marvellous work that the Lord was doing 
 in Connor, AhoghUl, and other places in Antrim. A school- 
 master, a native of that district, went down to see for himself 
 the wondrous things about which he had heard so much. The 
 reality exceeded the fame, and he came back deeply convinced 
 that the finger of God alone could produce what he had seen. 
 He engaged two young men — one a teacher, and the other a ' 
 Scripture-reader — to come to Newtownards and give an account 
 of what the Lord was doing around them. They came about a 
 week after, and, before a considerable audience, gave a narrative 
 of the wondrous scenes they had witnessed. Many seemed 
 deeply impressed; others were sceptical, on account of the 
 physical accompaniments. They wished for a revival, but were 
 not reconciled to the modus operandi of the Holy Spirit. I 
 should state that, about a week before the arrival of the young 
 men, a united prayer-meeting had been established on Wednes- 
 day evening, which was to be continued weekly. It commenced 
 in one of the Covenanting churches, and was attended by about 
 two hundred persons. This number, though but small, was 
 looked upon by every one as something marvellous. One of 
 our most popular divines could hardly have drawn together 
 such an audience on a week-day evening a month previous. 
 
182 THE SCHOOLMASTER TURNED PREACHER. 
 
 This prayer-meeting was changed from house to house, until it 
 had gone over all the evangelical churches in the town, the 
 audience gradually increasing. Still, few but churchgoers 
 attended. The vast outlying population had yet to be reached — 
 the lost were yet to be sought and saved. For this purpose the 
 Spirit used His own instruments ; and, in order that He might 
 have all the glory, they were weak ones. 
 
 The Schoolmaster turned Preacher. — " On the Lord's-day after 
 the visit of the young men, the schoolmaster, (Mr H.,) who 
 had invited them, was much pressed in spirit by observing the 
 Sabbath desecration Avhich was so prevalent in the street in 
 which he lived. It was a lovely evening, and the people were 
 spending it standing idly at their doors, talking about the world 
 and the things thereof — their children, meanwhile, playing 
 noisily before their eyes. Both young and old seemed to have 
 forgotten that their Creator had ever commanded them to keep 
 His day holy. Mr H. went out about half -past six p.m., and 
 called on a number of the people, inviting them to come to his 
 schoolroom at seven o'clock, as he wished to talk and pray 
 with them. Among others, he visited the bellman of the town, 
 (J. K.,) notorious for his drunkenness and profligacy. Many of 
 them promised to attend; but after waiting half-an-hour be- 
 yond the appointed time, only two children made their appear- 
 ance! It suddenly occurred to Mr H., that if they would not 
 come in to hear him, it was his duty to go out and speak to 
 them; and although unaccustomed to public speaking, and 
 naturally of a timid disposition, he felt he was moved by an 
 impulse which he could not resist. He went out to a place 
 where two streets crossed, opened his Bible, and commenced to 
 sing a psalm. The novelty of the preacher, who was Avell known 
 to the people, drew together in a few minutes more than a 
 hundred persons. Mr H. addressed them from the parable of 
 the barren fig-tree, (Luke xiii. 6-9.) The speaker was helped 
 wonderfully, and all seemed deeply impressed. One heart, at 
 least, was opened to attend to the things that were spoken, 
 that of the drunken bellman, who, to the surprise of all, was 
 present. He did not cry out at the meeting, nor was he pros- 
 
THE TOWN MISSIONARY. 183 
 
 trated, but for some days after he could neitlier eat nor sleep. 
 He was in darkness and in heaviness ; a strange weight pressed 
 upon his soul ; a yearning for something, such as he had never 
 felt before, occupied all his thoughts. A few evenings after, 
 Mr H. asked him out to take a walk with him, and then he 
 told him of the love of Jesus, and that He had died to save 
 him. The man stopped, and lifted up his hands in an ecstasy 
 of joy. The darkness and the heaviness had vanished, and a 
 flood of light, love, and peace, filled his soul. Ten months have 
 since elapsed, but J. K. still continues steadfast. Although 
 often tempted by his former wicked companions, he never since 
 has entered a public-house. Under his humble roof, which 
 once resounded with oaths and imprecations, a family altar has 
 been erected, upon which is daily offered that sacrifice which is 
 never despised when presented by our great High Priest. In- 
 stead of abusing his wife and children, as was formerly the 
 case, he is now a kind husband and father; and whoever is 
 absent from the church or the prayer-meeting, J. K. is sure to 
 be in his place. Such, as far as known to us, are the first-fruits 
 of the revival in Newtownards. 
 
 The Work Sj^reads. — " The open-air meeting, so auspiciously 
 begun, was continued from Sabbath to Sabbath in the same 
 place. The attendance rapidlj^ increased, until, instead of hun- 
 dreds, thousands were present. About three weeks after it 
 commenced, the Scripture-reader before mentioned had been 
 appointed to the situation of town missionary. He was asked 
 to address this meeting. As he had come from the district 
 where the revival had made most progress, and as his labours 
 had been greatly blessed, there was muCh anxiety to hear him, 
 and the meeting was a large one. A young woman, whose 
 clothing was so deficient that she could not go out to the street, 
 heard him from the window. The Sjjirit carried the word in 
 power to her heart, and she was deeply convinced of sin. She 
 rose from her seat, got down on her knees beside her loom — for 
 she was a weaver — and Cried, in the most heartrending tones, 
 'God be merciful to me a sinner;' 'Lord, save me.' She re- 
 mained in this position for the greater part of the night. The 
 
184 THE STREET-MEETINGS. 
 
 house was crowded with anxious faces. Sin and salvation 
 seemed to be the all-pervading subjects of thought with every- 
 one present. How to escape the one and obtain the other, was 
 the inquiry of many hearts. One man present — a soldier, and 
 a Unitarian— was observed with the tears trickling down his 
 cheeks. The work had now fairly commenced, and during the 
 week it spread rapidly. A considerable number of similar cases 
 of awakening occurred in almost every street in the town. 
 Among others, a number of prostitutes were convinced of sin, 
 and were heard crying for mercy. The public excitement was 
 great. Every face wore an expression of awe. In thousands 
 of hearts, and on hundreds of lips, was the question, 'What 
 must I do to be saved ? ' On Wednesday evening, the largest 
 church in the town was crowded, ground-floor and gallery, pews 
 and aisles. Hundreds could not get admission, and would not 
 go away. The lawn in front of the church was densely filled ; 
 some one in the crowd gave out a psalm ; and prayer and praise 
 ascended to the throne of God from the outside as well as from 
 the inside of the church. More than four thousand persons 
 must have been present at that prayer-meeting. 
 
 The Street-Meetings. — " An incident worthy of note occurred 
 about this time. On a Monday morning, some of the very 
 persons who had been invited a few weeks previously to attend 
 the prayer-meeting in the schoolroom, but did not, called and 
 asked the master to conduct a meeting in the street, as the 
 people were thirsting for the word. The missionary complied 
 with their request, and it seemed as if nearly all the people 
 residing in that street were present. 
 
 " It was found that one meeting in the week was not enough, 
 so, in addition, almost every church in the town was opened 
 for prayer, every evening in some cases, and two or three in 
 the week in others. Besides all these, street-meetings became 
 numerous, and were everywhere well attended. In order to 
 secure an audience at any time, all that was necessary was to 
 go into the street and commence to sing a psalm, and nearly 
 all the people within view would be present in five minutes. 
 The effect upon the entire community was very observable. 
 
THE AWAKENED. 185 
 
 Drinking was almost entirely given up, drunkenness almost 
 unknown. Streets and lanes formerly thronged at certain 
 hours of the night by strange women and their associates* 
 were deserted. In passing through districts where the ' noisy 
 laughter of the fool,' or the impure language of the profane 
 was wont to be heard, the voice of psalms caught the ear in all 
 directions. The 12th of July, the anniversary of Satan as well 
 as of the Orangemen, came and went, and left no trace behind. 
 ' Not a drum Avas heard,' not an arch was erected, not a shot 
 was fired. The prayer-meetings took place as usual — were 
 thronged as usual. 
 
 "The sale of religious tracts and books, but especially of 
 Bibles, was greatly increased. Parcel after parcel was obtained 
 from Belfast, hundreds of copies were sold, and hundreds were 
 given gratis to those who were unable to purchase. A society 
 also was organised for the purpose of leaving a tract monthly 
 at every house in the town. 
 
 The Awakened. — " With regard to the manner in which parties 
 were impressed, I suppose it was much the same here as else- 
 where ; perhaps fewer cried out at meetings with us than in 
 other places. Indeed, such were rather the exception than the 
 rule. It was generally in their own houses, often in their beds, 
 that they first began to feel anxious about their souls. One 
 man, a militia Serjeant, was arrested while throwing a bullet on 
 a bet for drink. His hand fell by his side, and he was unable 
 to raise it. He has since been one of the most hopeful of the 
 converts. Another man was awakened at his loom. He had 
 been a drunkard and a blasphemer, but has become a useful 
 and intelligent Christian — has assisted in organising a total 
 abstinence society, and is forward in every good w^ork. 
 
 " One little girl, about twelve years of age, the child of godly 
 parents, was reading on the Sabbath evening to her mamma the 
 hymn, 'What's the News V When she came to the lines, 
 The Lord has pardoned all my sin, 
 I feel the witness now within/ 
 
 her mamma stopped her, saying, 'I doubt you can't say that, 
 dear.' It was a v/ord in season. It reached her conscience, and 
 
186 THE COTTAGE-]VIEETINGS. 
 
 in a moment she was on her knees crying for mercy. For some 
 hours she was in awful agony of soul, using such expressions as, 
 ' Oh, what a dreadful sinner I am ; ' ' Lord, wash away my sins 
 in Thy blood.' After remaining in this state for about tAvo 
 hours, the light all at once broke in upon her soul, and she 
 clapped her hands for joy. She repeated, with remarkable 
 emphasis and expression, M'Cheyne's hymn, 'I once was a 
 stranger to grace and to God.' It seemed the very language of 
 her soul. A few days after, she requested to be allowed to dis- 
 tribute Bibles and tracts, and has since been letting her light 
 shine before men. The teacher of the school that she attended, 
 on the following morning told the children what he had heard 
 her say, and immediately about ten of them cried out very 
 bitterly for mercy. They have since given evidence of a change 
 of heart. 
 
 "There were, perhaps, fewer of the converts -^dth ns than 
 almost anywhere else who manifested a desire for addressing a 
 meeting, so that very little lay agency was employed. Indeed, 
 they all seemed more anxious to learn than to teach ; more 
 d-esirous to be hearers of the M'ord than preachers of it. Many 
 of them were very ignorant ; could not even read. Several 
 classes on week-day evenings have been organised for their 
 instruction. Among others, a considerable number of married 
 jDcrsons attend, who were ignorant of the alphabet when they 
 came. Their progress is astonishing. Many of them in three 
 months have learned to read the Word of God. 
 
 TJie Cottage-Meetings. — " I must not omit to mention another 
 means of usefulness, not altogether originated bj'^ the revival, 
 but mightily strengthened by it. I refer to 'Cottage-Meetings' 
 for prayer, praise, and the reading and exposition of God's Word. 
 In almost every street in the town one of these is conducted 
 weekly. About twenty of such meetings are in existence at the 
 present time, attended by from thirty to hfty individuals on an 
 average. In this way th e gospel is brought into the verj'^ houses 
 of the people. About eight hundred of our population have 
 weekly the privilege of hearing its joyful sound, many of whom 
 are unable to attend upon public worship. The missionary visits 
 
RESULTS OF THE REVIVAL. 187 
 
 these meetings in rotation ; in the intervals they are conducted 
 by intelligent laymen. 
 
 "The revival is now ten months old among us, so that we 
 have ample time to test its results. The excitement has passed 
 away, but the great majority of the awakened manifest, by a 
 'life and conversation becoming the gospel,' that they have 
 indeed 'passed from death unto life.' Those who were merely 
 frightened into a temporary sobriety, have, as might be expected, 
 returned to their old habits, and, in consequence, the haunts of 
 vice have rallied a little ; but after making deductions for all 
 this, there is much cause for thankfulness to the Father of 
 mercies for the abundant shower of Divine grace with which we 
 have been visited." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY DOWN — continued. 
 
 Visit to Boardmills, and Preaching on a Sabbath Eveniug — Groups 
 on the Green — Few Stricken — Every One Moved — No Extrava- 
 gances — The Children at the Prayer-meetings — Happy Change in 
 Society — Open-air Communion — Preciousness of Calvinistic Doc- 
 trine — Ballinahinch — Revival Incident, as told by a Scottish 
 Minister — The Washerwoman's Prayer — A Christian Female Re- 
 vived — Conlig — Answer to Prayer — Ballycopeland — Illustrative 
 Cases — Rathf r Hand — A Student's Statement — Banbridge — State- 
 ment of Mr Greene, Civil Engineer — Dromara. 
 
 It was on a Sabbath evening in the end of June that I had 
 an opportunity of witnessing the first-fruits of revival in the 
 County Down. I had been requested by the Rev. George 
 H. Shanks of Boardmills to deliver an address on the American 
 awakening of the previous year. He had been labouring under 
 great depression of mind, induced by a painful apprehension 
 that the showers of blessing which were falling elsewhere were 
 not to descend on the field in which he laboured. I have in a 
 former chapter introduced a portion of his statement, in which 
 he refers to this distressing experience. 
 
 On my alighting at his dwelling, on the Sabbath evening to 
 which I have referred, I was met by this excellent minister 
 with a joyous congratulation. The revival had come a few 
 days before, and his countenance was lighted up with an ex- 
 pression of mingled gratitude and joy. The whole " country 
 side" was now in movement. I could have learned what had 
 taken place by the crowds of earnest men and women through 
 
SABBATH EVENING AT B0ARDMILL3. 189 
 
 whicli I passed, all moving on with their Bibles in their hands, 
 and indicating that they were converging to some common 
 place of meeting. On the morning before, I was informed 
 by Mr Shanks that so many as seventy under deep soul- 
 concern were at the manse by ten o'clock, while all night 
 long the house was filled with persons who had been taken 
 there after the meetings of the evening. Then as we walked 
 along to the church, the pastor pointed to this and that 
 dwelling as having been the scene of a wondrous visitation 
 within the last few days, old things having passed away, and 
 all things become new. 
 
 At the church, it was almost impossible to effect an entrance. 
 Never had such an assemblage been collected there, and never 
 had the community around been stirred by such a profound 
 and general interest. The numbers were so great, that it 
 was evident they could not be accommodated in one place, 
 and so an extra service was conducted in the school-house 
 by the Rev. Alexander Dobbin. On ascending the pulpit 
 and seeing the appearance of the multitude, I gave up all 
 thought of addressing them on the subject which had been 
 announced. The American awakening, however interesting 
 in its details, was an event belonging to the past, and the 
 audience before me were engrossed with the strange realities 
 now passing before their. eyes. I endeavoured, accordingly, to 
 suit my discourse to their existing state and feelings, opening 
 up and pressing home the unconditional freeness of the gospel 
 of Christ. As I proceeded, there was profound solemnity and 
 intense emotion, and one or two occasionally quietly retired; 
 but there were no prostrations, such as usually were exhibited 
 on such occasions. At the close, and after the benediction, 
 nearly aU remained, and, breaking up into groups, fell into 
 earnest conversation, or, gathering around some friend or neigh- 
 bour who had given signs of mental distress, engaged in 
 exercises of prayer or praise. Many were there who had found 
 peace on the preceding evenings, and who were testifying to 
 others the overflowing fulness of their joy. A countryman and 
 his wife, both of whom had been the subjects of the gracious 
 
190 EVERY ONE MOVED. 
 
 visitation, left tlie place with an enlargement of heart unfelt 
 before, and as they went, they sang together one of the songs of 
 Zion, Here was a knot of young women, who had not seen 
 each other since they had been severally brought to Christ, and 
 as they met, they literally rushed into each others' arms. There 
 was a group of boys clasped in affectionate embraces, while one 
 was saying, "Precious Jesus!" another, "Oh, that all Avould 
 come to Him!" a third, "He is the chief among ten thousand, 
 and altogether lovely!" while another still, in the fervour of 
 his new-born love, was moving about among those present on 
 the green, and saying, "Look to Jesus all of you — look, and 
 live ! " Hard by were some silent weepers, and one or two who 
 were labouring in sore agony, as though all the waves of Divine 
 wrath were raging round and over..them. It was a scene to be 
 remembered even by those wdio witnessed it — a marvellous 
 manifestation of the love of God the Father, the grace of the 
 Lord Jesus Cinist, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 These beginnings, so full of promise, were succeeded by other 
 incidents of like interest ; and in no district was the work more 
 entirely in accordance with that sobriety and order which are so 
 desirable in a time of general excitement, I shall allow Mr 
 Shanks himself to continue and conclude the narrative : — " For 
 some five weeks, without intermission, a public meeting was held 
 every evening, the church being frequently unable to hold them 
 all; while at my own house, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, crowds 
 assembled in deep spiritual anxiety. For some days every 
 room in my house had a ' stricken ' soul in it, surrounded by a 
 small group of praying friends, no bustle nor noise being allowed, 
 but all calm, solemn, prayerful, reading God's Word, or singing 
 a psalm, as the case might require. After some eight days, the 
 'striking down ' and all external manifestation nearly ceased, 
 except a case at intervals ; but there appeared no abatement of 
 religious concern nor cessation of the Spirit's influence. Whole 
 households were awakened and brought to seek the Saviour, 
 and have all ever since ' brought forth fruits meet for repent- 
 ance.' Everybody for a number of weeks was moved, and all 
 seemed to think they should seek salvation, feeling as if they 
 
NO EXTRAVAGANCES. 191 
 
 were on the very verge of tlie spiritual and tlie eternal world, 
 and in tlie immediate presence of Deity. 
 
 "I do not say that all wlio were under serious impressions 
 continued to retain them till they found Jesus ; for in that case 
 I verily believe there would scarcely be a solitary individual 
 unconverted in the w^hole neighbourhood ; but thus much I can 
 affirm, that with not more than four exceptions, (if so many,) all 
 whom I considered real converts have continued to give every 
 evidence up to the present moment, and in no single instance 
 that I am aware of, have done anything inconsistent with a 
 Christian profession. There has been ' an abounding in prayer,' 
 and an insatiable thirst for the Word of God. ' Oh, to pray 
 morning and evening,' one is overheard saying, ' would never 
 suffice — we must just pray as we need it.' 'I had a cloud come 
 over me,' says another, ' but I prayed, and I got relief — I prayed 
 while I was at my work, but that would not do, and I left the 
 workers and went behind the hedge and prayed.' The Bible is 
 seen on the loom, and the man in the held can bring it out of 
 his pocket when a text is quoted. Catechise or converse with 
 persons, and you will soon find that they are in the habit of 
 reading the Scriptures. 
 
 " The ' striking down,' and other similar manifestations, 
 always seemed to me to be generally the effect of the absorbing 
 earnestness with which the soul sought the Saviour — so as to 
 become, in a measure, unconscious of all things else, and indif- 
 ferent to them. 
 
 " ' father,' said one, ' call it not " taking ill," as if it was 
 sickness— it is no sickness, it is just the soul taking Christ.' 
 ' There has been sickness many a time in the country,' said a 
 poor aj^prentice boy, ' but it never sent people to their prayers.' 
 There have been no convulsive fits here, nor ' sleeping cases,' nor 
 visions, dumbness, deafness, nor marks, &c. All tendencies of 
 this kind were carefully checked, as decidely adverse to real 
 religion, and people were warned that the outward manifesta- 
 tions were themselves no part of conversion, although sometimes 
 accompanying it, and that persons should not pray to be struck 
 down, but just to be brought to Christ. It was very favourable 
 
192 CHILDREN AT THE PRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 to the cause here that the ministers were all perfectly unani- 
 mous—seeing as with one ej^e — throwing their whole soul into 
 the work ; and I can easily conceive what excesses and abuses 
 would take place, where, from scarcity of ministers, their stand- 
 ing aloof, or any other cause, the guidance of the movement 
 would fall into the hands of inexperienced persons, however 
 zealous and well-meaning they might be. 
 
 " ' Now I am happy,' says a wife, ' and I have got what I 
 prayed for, — my husband keeps worship every day.' 
 
 " ' My father prayed for me,' said a stricken one, ' a nice 
 prayer, and he has prayed and kept family worship every day 
 since.' 'What made you cry so much when you went home 
 last Thursday ? ' I asked a young woman. ' Oh,' said she, ' my 
 father spoke sharp to us for staying so long, and I cannot stand 
 a scolding now as I used to do. But what made me cry was 
 this, — if my earthly father had reason to be angry with me, I 
 thought what provocation I am daily giving to my heavenly 
 Father.' The only source of complaint for some weeks on the 
 part of parents was, that the children went to too many prayer- 
 meetings, and stayed too long at them, and I generally took 
 the side of the parents in this quarrel. ' If you had heard how 
 little Isabella prayed when their father scolded them for being 
 out so late— and she prayed that they might all obey their 
 parents,' said a mother. Such scenes have sometunes so melted 
 the father that he was moved, as one told me with tears, ' that 
 he would never say a word, no matter how many prayer-meetings 
 they attended.' It was frequently a contract between parents 
 and children that they should only go twice a week to a prayer- 
 meeting, besides the Sabbath. 
 
 " ' Little Anna is now the happiest child I have,' says a 
 father ; ' formerly she seldom sat down to a meal without crying, 
 because it was not good enough, and now she eats with thank- 
 fulness whatever she gets.' Families are happy and industrious. 
 Mothers and wives are joyful. Little variances and feuds have 
 disappeared. The poor are clothed, and attend places of wor- 
 ship. Shoemakers and tailors I often meet in the houses of 
 the poor. There is less poverty than formerly, and even less 
 
PEECIOUSNESS OF CALVINISTIC DOCTKINES. 193 
 
 sickness and mortality. There is no such thing as cursing. 
 Multitudes spontaneously offered their names to the Temper- 
 ance Society and Band of Hope. A public-house has been con- 
 verted into a haberdashery and book shop, and a weekly prayer- 
 meeting is held in it, attended by as many as the house can 
 hold. A notorious drunkard, whom I saw myself in the hands 
 of the police, in Belfast, and Vv^hom the magistrates about 
 Saintfield knew well, has been a total abstainer for seven 
 months, and gives every e\ddence of being a sincere believer ; 
 and although now poor, having gone through much of his pro- 
 perty, yet he is respected and loved by all, the chief hand in 
 conducting two prayer-meetings, and the moving sj^ring of 
 several charitable and religious undertakings. Free classes 
 are taught, not exclusively for reading the Scriptures, which, 
 instead of thinning the daily schools, serve rather as feeders 
 to them. A thirst for knowledge is awakened, and I know- 
 several grown-up persons attending daily schools. A shoe club, 
 as it is called, were accustomed, in former years, to have whisky 
 to celebrate the close of the term when they had all got their 
 shoes, but this winter they had a temperance soiree, addressed 
 by several ministers and others. I believe family worship is 
 nearly universal. 
 
 " The exercise of the gifts of prayer and exhortation by the 
 people has had no tendency to generate vanity or forwardness. 
 On the contrary, there is more of humility, and modesty, and 
 docility, and the ministerial office was never so much respected. 
 The thorough Calvinistic doctrines which were always preached 
 here from all the pulpits (although often without interest to 
 preacher or hearer) give a healthfulness and strength to the 
 revival in this part. To say ' stick to Christ, and He will stick 
 to you,' would give but small comfort to the converts, who 
 would be ready to reply, in deep despondency, ' Oh, I cannot^ 
 my bad heart will not let me ; I will give Him up, and He will 
 leave me for ever, and I will be lost.' The comfort rather is, 
 ' He sticks to me, and therefore I will stick to Him, and never 
 let Him go, and be saved for ever.' ' But I think I have malice 
 in my heart against Christ,' said one who for months had been 
 
194 THE WORK IN SAINTFIELD. 
 
 ill direct conflict — ' Well,' it was replied, ' it will be forgiven to 
 you for Christ's sake.' ' Will it ? ' lie exclaimed in astonishment. 
 ' Oh, I see now how it is,' he said, some days afterwards, ' if my 
 sins were a million more than they are, the blood of Christ 
 could wash them all away.' ' Do you know how it is "vsdth me 
 now r said a very poor man, who had been a drunkard, ' I think 
 that no sin at all is now charged against me ;' and when I 
 quoted to him, ' Who shall lay anything to the charge,' &c., I 
 found him quite familiar with such texts. ' I can read them 
 all,' said he, in his own peculiar manner, ' but I cannot read the 
 ffospels, for when I read the doings and sayings of Christ, a stun 
 goes through me.^ 
 
 " I would remark, in conclusion, that I now find some cases of 
 strong conviction and hopeful conversion had taken place un- 
 known to me, before there was any word of revival in this 
 district ; and also, that so far as my own congregation is con- 
 cerned, the * cases ' have generally occurred among those who had 
 often heard the Word, either at public worship, Sabbath-school, 
 or personal interview, and to whom I had often spoken as 
 pointedly as possible regarding the salvation of their immortal 
 souls ; and more than ever have I been taught the lesson that 
 it is God and not man who converts a soul; while yet it is 
 man's duty and privilege to use the means — prayerfully to 
 scatter the seed of the Word, demonstrating that ' God hath 
 from the beginning chosen us unto salvation through sanctifica- 
 tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth.' " 
 
 About the middle of June the revival wave, which had already 
 set in in County Down, swept on to Saintfield, There had for 
 some time previously been an unusual earnestness and desire 
 after Divine things on the part of many of the people. One 
 man, a shoemaker, who had been visited by his minister, the 
 Rev. J. Mecredy, early in May, was found with an open Bible 
 beside him on his seat. Addressing Mr Mecredy in earnest and 
 affectionate terms, he said, " I was very angry, as you may re- 
 member, when you refused some time ago to baptize my child 
 because of my neglect of ordinances, but I have learned to prize 
 
BALLINAHINCH. 195 
 
 your faithfulness, for it has been the means of leading me to 
 serious thought about salvation." 
 
 The Sabbath before the movement began was a solemn day. 
 At the close of his sermon Mr Mecredy, addressing his people, 
 observed that he had now been among them for eleven j^ears, 
 and though he had laboured earnestly for then* salvation, he 
 could not lay his hand on one to whom he could refer as sav- 
 ingly impressed through his instrumentality. He then entreated 
 that prayer should be offered by those who knew and prized 
 the privilege for the outpouring of the Spirit on the place. In 
 a few evenings after, at a united meeting, held in conjunction 
 with the Rev. Samuel Hamilton, the minister of the first Pres- 
 byterian church, in which there has been an extensive awaken- 
 ing, the gracious influence began to descend which so abun- 
 dantly refreshed the weary heritage. 
 
 Night after night, as elsewhere, the people flocked in crowds 
 together, and multitudes were deeply affected and impressed. 
 The joy of the converted knew no bounds: they burned with 
 intense desire for the conversion of all around, and could with 
 difficulty be induced to take their necessary sleep. On one 
 occasion, far on in the evening, when the Rev. Dr Murphy, Pro- 
 fessor of Hebrew, was urging one to go home as the night was 
 advancing, he interposed, and said, " But what care I about day 
 or night, now that my soul is saved 1 " 
 
 It were easy to multiply cases, but it is enough to know 
 that a great and cheering work has been going forward in 
 all that neighbourhood. With some, impressions that were 
 only transient, and the effect of temporary excitement, are 
 dying away; and others, who were for the time outwardly 
 reformed, are falling again into their old sins. But the life 
 and reality of religion have been brought home to many as 
 the}'- never were before. The dead have been awakened, and 
 those who were ready to die have been raised up to newness 
 of life. 
 
 A short stage by rail onward is Ballinahinch. The ministers 
 here also waited long, as they imagined, before they witnessed 
 
196 VISIT OF A SCOTCH AHNISTER. 
 
 any decided indications of a gracious work in their own bounds. 
 In the cahn of a summer evening, however, whilst one of them 
 Avas addressing a number of persons in the open air, and recom- 
 mending an organisation of prayer-meetings in the district, the 
 audience were all at once arrested by a piercing cry, which in- 
 vested the scene with a new interest; and though many months 
 have since elapsed, the influence of that meeting is distinctly 
 felt by many to this hour. It is unnecessary to enter into 
 details. Enough to say, that every testimony of the Divine 
 presence, elsewhere vouchsafed, was experienced at ]>allina- 
 liinch. Prayer-meetings sprang into existence, and helpers were 
 raised up on every side. The work was full of labour, but it 
 was also full of life and joy. It was the season when visitors, 
 in large numbers, frequent the place to drink the waters, and 
 many of these entered with the deepest interest into the move- 
 ment, and contributed their best assistance. 
 
 Of the many gratifying results, one has been the establish- 
 ment of a free school in the week evenings, in which, under a 
 goodly band of devoted teachers, no less than a hundred and 
 twenty adults are trained in ordinary as well as in religious 
 knowledge. 
 
 The following incident, in connexion with a visit to Ballina- 
 hinch, has been kindly supplied, at my request, by an esteemed 
 minister of the Free Church of Scotland : — 
 
 "I and my wife went over to Ireland in the month of 
 August; and, in the same steamer in which we went, there 
 
 WTre Mr B , a brother Free Church minister, and his wife. 
 
 I went a full believer in the revival, as reported in the friendly 
 newspapers, and hoping to have my belief confirmed by per- 
 sonal observation. Mr B went a strong sceptic, and also 
 
 hoped to have his scepticism confirmed. When we landed at 
 Belfast, we parted company. 
 
 " After spending some days in Belfast, where we saw many 
 interesting cases of parties who had been converted during the 
 revival, we resolved, by the advice of a friend, to visit Newtown- 
 ards, a country town about a dozen miles from Belfast, and 
 where we were given to understand the work of revival had 
 
REVIVAL INCIDENT. 197 
 
 begun, and was manifesting itself in great strength. We had 
 just left our hotel, on the way to the railway station, when a 
 
 car swept past us. Mr B and his wife were on the car. 
 
 We hailed them, and they stopped. 
 
 " ' ^Yhere are you going V said Mr B . 
 
 " ' To Newtownards,' I replied. 
 
 " ' Come up, then,' said Mr B , ' and we will drive you to 
 
 the station.' • 
 
 " So up we mounted, and before we reached the station, I 
 learned that Mr B 's scepticism had been completely re- 
 moved, and that, from what he had seen, he had become a 
 thorough believer in the genuineness of the work. 
 
 "Mr B was going to Ballinahinch, and from what he 
 
 told me of the work that was going on there, I resolved to 
 accompany him, and so we took our tickets for Ballinahinch. 
 
 " We landed at our destination about six o'clock in the even- 
 ing, and took up our abode in a farm-house two or three miles 
 beyond the town. After taking some refreshment, we all set 
 out to attend a prayer-meeting which we understood was to be 
 held that evening. The meeting was to be in the village school- 
 house ; and as we wended our way along, we could observe the 
 various roads and by-paths thronged with parties, all moving in 
 the direction of the prayer-meeting. 
 
 " The school-house was full ; perhaps about a hundred Avere 
 
 present. Mr B , opened the meeting with praise and prayer, 
 
 and then gave a short account of what he had seen in Belfast ; 
 and concluded by stating that he Imd been a sceptic as to the 
 revival previous to his coming to Ireland, but that now his 
 scepticism had given place to the strongest conviction of its 
 truth, and that he believed it to be a great and gracious work of 
 God. 
 
 " It was expected that I would say something ; but as I had 
 come to see and to hear, I resolved that I would not open my 
 mouth. Thereafter, two men — common ploughmen — one after 
 the other, gave out a psalm, read a portion of Scripture, and 
 prayed ; and then both of them, at the earnest and pressing- 
 request of Mr B and myself, gave a plain, simple, and most 
 
198 THE washerwoman's PRAYER. 
 
 interesting account of their respective conversions. Here there 
 was a pause in the meeting, and again I was appealed to to 
 say a word ; but I would not. I wanted to be a hearer, for I 
 felt I was among praying people. There was a gentleman from 
 Belfast present, and he was requested to conclude with prayer 
 and praise. This gentleman consented. But before he offered 
 up prayer, he requested the meeting to engage in silent prayer. 
 
 "And accordingly we all went to our knees, and were for 
 some little time engaged in silent prayer, when the stillness and 
 solemnity of our devotions were broken, or rather, I should say, 
 increased, by the voice of a woman pouring forth the following- 
 prayer — a prayer M'hich I give from memory, but which made 
 so deep an impression upon me at the time, that I can almost 
 guarantee it to be given vei^hatim as it was offered up — with this 
 only difference, that in so far as it is not given verbatim, it 
 suffers grievous injury : — 
 
 '"Father! if our hearts deceive us not, we have come here 
 to-night to call upon Thy name ! We have come here to seek 
 Thee in the appointed way, and to pour out our hearts before 
 Thee in prayer. 
 
 '"Father! wilt Thou not hear us! Thou hast heard me 
 before, and I know Thou wilt hear me again. Thou art the 
 Hearer and the Answerer of prayer. This is the name by which 
 Thou art known among Thy people. Thou didst hear Thy ser- 
 vant Moses when he prayed unto Thee in the wilderness on 
 behalf of the rebellious children of Israel, and Thou didst spare 
 them. Thou didst hear Thy servant Elijah when he prayed 
 unto Thee that it should not rain, and it rained not for the 
 space of three years and a half. Thou didst hear Thy servant 
 Daniel when he prayed unto Thee in the lions' den, and the 
 lions' mouths were shut, so that they hurt him not. And Thou 
 art the same God still ; the same yesterday, to-da3% and for 
 ever. Thine ear is not now heavy that it cannot hear, neither 
 is Thine hand shortened that it cannot save. Hear us also, 
 therefore, Father, when we pray unto Thee ; hear us when 
 we thus kneel at Thy footstool, and cause our prayer to ascend 
 before Thee ! 
 
THE washerwoman's PRAYER. 199 
 
 " 'Father ! we pray for unconverted ministers — ministers who 
 are blind themselves, and leaders of the blind — ministers who 
 are nothing but finger-posts pointing the way of salvation to 
 others, while they themselves stand still, and walk not in that 
 way ! Father, give them grace to hold their peace until they 
 have a message from Thee ! And, oh, have mercy upon them, 
 and make them — oh, make them ministering spirits, that they 
 may minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation ! 
 
 " ' Father, we pray for the new-born babes — those whom 
 Thou hast quickened at this time, and made new creatures in 
 Christ Jesiis! Wrap them in the swaddling-bands of Divine 
 love — compass them wdth Thy favour as with a shield — keep 
 the everlasting arms underneath and round about them, and 
 cause them to thirst after the sincere milk of the Word that 
 they may grow thereby ! Hold Thou them up, and they shall 
 be safe. Let not the enemy triumph over them, but guide 
 them by Thy counsel, and then shall they have respect unto 
 Thy statutes continually. 
 
 " ' Father ! we pray for unconverted sinners ! Oh, have mercy 
 upon them ! Let the earthquake come, with its terrible shak- 
 ings, that they may be alarmed ; and if the earthquake pass 
 unheeded, let the still small voice of conscience come and 
 whisper its warning ; and if the voice of conscience be stifled, 
 let a soimd from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind, come ; 
 and if still they remain hardened and unmoved, then put the 
 hammer of Thy word into the hand of Thy Spirit, and break 
 their rocky hearts in pieces ; and if, when thus crushed and 
 broken, they still hold out, then put them, we pray Thee, where 
 Thou didst put Thy prophet Jonah of old — put them into the 
 whale's belly, and keep them there until they shall be con- 
 strained to exclaim, " Salvation is of the Lord." 
 
 "'Father! we pray for the Pharisees — those whited sepulchres 
 that appear outwardly righteous, but vvho are full of all un- 
 cleanness within. Our blessed Lord did say unto them, in 
 the days of His flesh, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
 hypocrites ;" but do Thou say unto them, in this day of merci- 
 ful visitation, " Turn ye, turn ye from your e\dl ways, for why 
 
2C0 SUBSEQUENT INTERVIEW. 
 
 "will ye die ? " Father, iiave mercy, we pray Thee, upon poor 
 blind Pharisees! 
 
 " ' Father I hear this our prayer, we beseech Thee ; and hear 
 it, not for our own selves — for, alas, we are vile and unworthy 
 that our prayer should be heard and answered — but hear it for 
 the sake of Plim who sits at Thy right hand clothed in oui 
 nature, a Prince and a Saviour, and who once bowed His head 
 upon the cross, and said, "It is finished;" for His sake hear 
 this our prayer, and for His sake answer it in great mercy; 
 and the glory thereof shall be to the Father, and to the Son, 
 and to the Holy Ghost, one God, both now and for ever. 
 Amen.' 
 
 " Immediately after this prayer was offered up, the gentleman 
 from Belfast engaged in prayer, and then we joined together in 
 a song of praise. The work of the evening being now over, Mr 
 
 B rose to pronounce the benediction, but I stopped him, 
 
 saying, ' No, not yet ; for after the remarkable prayer that we 
 have just heard, I feel I can be silent no longer, but that I 
 must say something.' The fact is, I felt that because of my 
 determined silence I was regarded by the meeting as a revival 
 sceptic, and that I had been prayed for as an unconverted 
 minister ; and so I told them that from the very first I had 
 been an ardent believer in the work of revival, and that I had 
 come over to Ireland, not only to see the work, but with the 
 view of having my own soul quickened. I told them also how 
 I had been providentially led to visit Ballinahinch ; that I felt 
 thankful to God for bringing me there ; that I had greatly 
 enjoyed their prayer-meeting ; and that I would have reckoned 
 myself abundantly rewarded for coming to Ireland though I 
 had seen nothing but this meeting. 
 
 " Having expressed a wish to have some conversation with 
 her by whom such a striking prayer was offered, she told me 
 that she was a washerwoman, and had to work hard for her 
 daily bread, but that she could spare an hour on the morrow. 
 And as I had arranged to leave by the ten o'clock morning 
 train, we appointed the hour of meeting to be six o'clock in 
 the morning, at her own house. Accordingly, next morning at 
 
A CHRISTIAN FEMALE REVIVED. 201 
 
 six o'clock, I found her awaiting me ; and during our interview 
 I got lier whole history. I found that she had had Christian 
 parents, her mother being still alive, and with whom she lived ; 
 that she had been piously trained up ; that from her earliest 
 years she had been conversant with the Word of God, and even 
 mighty in the Scriptures ; that she had been a Sabbath-school 
 teacher, and regarded by all that knew her as a decided Chris- 
 tian, but that she herself was all the while conscious that she 
 was nothing more nor less than a hardened sinner, and that it 
 was not till the work of revival made its appearance in Ballina- 
 hmch that she was quickened and made alive from the dead 
 and brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 The gentleman from Belfast, referred to by the narrator as 
 having been x^resent on the occasion of the prayer-meeting above 
 described, supplies the following case, which came under his 
 observation in the same neighbourhood : — 
 
 A Christian Female Revived. — " I had seen many cases of 
 various type and character, but none more interesting than one 
 which occurred on a Sabbath morning in Mr Davis's church. 
 He had given out the 110th Psalm, and was commenting on 
 the unwillingness of sinners to take Christ as their King to rule 
 over them ; and as he read the hnes— 
 
 * A willing people iu Thy day 
 Of power shall come to Thee,' 
 
 Nancy H , a woman advanced in years, was stricken, and 
 
 was removed to the session-room ; and, at Mr Davis's request, 
 I followed her. For a considerable time she lay silent, but her 
 countenance was lit up with a heavenly smile. No terror — no 
 cry for mercy— her look was perfect peace and love. Then she 
 clasped her hands in the most graceful manner, and thus broke 
 out in rapturous strains of joyful praise and prayer : — ' O blessed 
 Jesus, I have found thee ! My mother's prayers are heard. 
 Holy Spirit, come and open mine eyes, that I may behold Thy 
 law. Come, Jesus, up — come up to my couch — sit down beside 
 me — put Thine hand on every word. Give me line upon line^ 
 Oh, teach me, abide with me, and then I will go on my way re- 
 joicing.' I went about four miles the next day to her residence. 
 
202 CONLIG — ANSWER TO PRAYER. 
 
 and found her in the same happy state of mind. She spoke 
 much of the 8th chapter of the Acts, and how she had been im- 
 pressed with reading about Philip and the eunuch on the Sab- 
 bath morning before going to church, which may account for 
 her alluding to the interview in prayer. Her minister and one 
 of the elders told me that Nancy had for many years been most 
 regular in her attendance at church, and that in every way her 
 walk and conversation have been becoming the gospel. May 
 we not infer from this that there is a higher exaltation in the 
 Christian life, and that this pious female has attained unto it V 
 
 The following striking incident, out of many, is mentioned 
 by the Rev. S. J. Hanson, late of Conlig, now of Kingstown." 
 It is here recorded as an encouragement to j^raye^- : — 
 
 " I had gone to Coleraine to witness the movement there ; 
 and, having ascertained that that place, so richly- watered by the 
 outpouring of the Spirit, had been made the subject of special 
 prayer by the Ahoghill converts, I resolved to request the 
 prayers of those lately awakened on behalf of Conlig. On the 
 following week I was in Comber, addressing a meeting for Mr 
 Rogers, and during my address my resolution flashed over my 
 mind. I seized the suggestion, and then and there besought 
 God's children to join in prayer for Conlig. I returned home 
 the following day, and found, on arriving, that there had been a 
 messenger for me. I immediately set out for the place from 
 which the messenger came, and, to my delight, there found a 
 soul rejoicing in Jesus. On making inquiry as to the time and 
 circumstances of the merciful visitation, I learned that, at the 
 very time Mr Rogers's people were engaged in prayer for us, 
 this woman awoke from sleep, repeating Isaiah lii. and 2, 
 'Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jeru- 
 salem ; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive 
 daughter of Zion.' Such was the introduction of the revival 
 work here, as if, in answer to special prayer, God encouraging 
 us to climb more frequently the Mount of Intercession by this 
 token of assurance that the prayer of the righteous availeth 
 much." 
 
 Within a short distance of Donaghadee, on the sea-coast, is 
 
BALLYCOPELAND— COMSIENCEMENT AND PROGRESS. 203 
 
 a rural district called Ballycopeland. The Rev. Robert Black 
 thus records the commencement of the awakening in that neigh- 
 bourhood : — 
 
 " When the revival visited Millisle, the whole village was 
 moved. Few retired to rest, crowds collected around the doors 
 of the awakened ones to hear them cry for mercy — such a 
 night was never witnessed here. This greatly intei>sified the 
 feeling. 
 
 " From that date there was no difficulty in collecting a large 
 meeting, on any day of the week, with the smallest notice. I 
 may say that open-air services were held here throughout the 
 entire summer, on the Sabbath evenings, with an attendance 
 varying from three hundred to twelve hundred of all classes in 
 the district — high and low, rich and poor, moral and immoral — 
 listening, not only with attention, but with deep earnestness, to 
 plain gospel truths proclaimed in the name of Christ. 
 
 " I cannot enter into details to any extent, but will give one 
 or two cases which may prove interesting : — 
 
 " Mrs B , the wife of a respectable farmer, and mother of 
 
 a family, felt herself constrained to attend a prayer-meeting 
 that was held one Saturday evening in her neighbourhood. 
 Her husband had made light of the revival, and she came to 
 the meeting rather as Nicodemus did to our Lord. I read the 
 loth chapter of Luke's Gospel — an address was delivered from 
 the parable of the prodigal son — the Lord applied the word — 
 she was convinced of her need of a Saviour, and publicly cried 
 out for mercy. 'Oh!' she exclaimed, 'lam as the prodigal! 
 When I was young, at a Sabbath-school, I resolved, if the 
 Lord would spare me till I was settled in life, I would give my 
 heart to Him. I got married, but the world filled my heart. 
 I had children, and they intwined themselves around my affec- 
 tions, and I forgot God. I sometimes tried to become religious, 
 but I found I could not do it; I had delayed too long; but 
 now, praise to His holy name, Jesus has put forth His own 
 mighty hand, and pulled open the door of my heart, and has 
 entered in.' And then, in ecstasy, she burst into a shout of 
 praise — 
 
204 ILLUSTRATIVE CASES — " THINK OF THE CHILDEEN." 
 
 " * Jesus, my Lord, I know His name. 
 His name is all my boast ; 
 Nor will He put my soul to shame. 
 Nor let my hope be lost.' " 
 
 The above is only a bare outline of her case, as the mental 
 agony continued for hours. It was Sabbath morning ere I left 
 her. I will never forget an answer she gave her husband that 
 
 night. He, supposing she was insane, said, ' Oh, M , think 
 
 of the children — what will become of them if ' ' Yes,' she 
 
 answered, ' I ivill think of them. You know I have wrought 
 hard for their bodies — from this time I will seek also the good 
 of their souls.' I believe she is keeping her promise. Her old 
 father was there ; his heart swelled with emotion — he wept like 
 a child — all wept — and I, too, wept though not to weeping 
 given. 
 
 " There have been many cases of 7riivcd, properly so called — 
 i.e., Christians quickened to newness of spiritual life. I will 
 
 just notice one case, James is a quiet, unobtrusive man, 
 
 about sixty years old, of that rank in life which depends on daily 
 labour for support. He has been, I believe, in Christ ever since 
 I have known him. One night his mind was so engaged with 
 religious thought that he could not sleep. He arose and 
 prayed almost the entire night. His mind was similarly 
 engaged for many nights. 
 
 "I do not wish to leave the impression that, in this neigh- 
 bourhood, the spirit of revival has pervaded the mass of the 
 people ; but the Lord has graciously done so much for us, that 
 His people here are encouraged to look for more abundant 
 showers of blessing." 
 
 Among those engaged, in the course of the summer of 1859, 
 in the advancement of the work of God, were many young men 
 in course of preparation for the ministry. A goodly number of 
 these were themselves quickened into newness of life, and 
 willingly consecrated their energies to the holy cavise. To such 
 an extent were they thus employed, that when the period 
 arrived for the bestowal of the degrees and other literary and 
 scientific honours, annually awarded by Queen's University, 
 
RATHFEILAND — A STUDENT'S STATEMENT. 205 
 
 several of the undergraduates were found to have withdrawn 
 for the time from the competition — a circumstance which was 
 publicly noticed at the time, both by the Vice-Chancellor of the 
 Universitj^ and by his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire- 
 land. The theological students were especially serviceable in 
 their respective neighbourhoods, and the experience they 
 acquired mthin the few months referred to, gave them a pro- 
 founder insight into the mode of dealing with individual souls 
 than they could have attained by whole years of academic 
 training. 
 
 I have much gratification in introducing here a statement by 
 one of the young men who were actively occupied in the work. 
 Mr James Heron thus describes the movement in Rathfriland, 
 his native place : — 
 
 " Though the late remarkable awakening burst forth suddenly 
 upon the people of Rathfriland and its neighbourhood, yet it did 
 not come unsought for ; it came not without many an earnest 
 wish and many a fervent prayer. 
 
 " Its presence was first manifested on Saturday evening, the 
 9th of July 1859. Only a few persons, however, were 'stricken' 
 on the occasion ; but enough to excite the curiosity and wonder 
 of the whole neighbourhood. It was announced that the young- 
 man, whose address had been attended with such singular re- 
 sults, would appear before the union prayer-meeting on Sabbath 
 evening. I should have observed sooner that the young man in 
 question had been affected in Belfast, under the address of a 
 BalljTiiena convert, and had come to relate his experience, and 
 to testify in behalf of the cause of Christ, to the people of Rath- 
 friland. The news of the Saturday-evening's meeting had 
 already spread far over the country. Hundreds who had come 
 from a distance remained for the evening services, and crowds 
 flocked from every direction, expecting to hear and to see won- 
 ders. So great Vy^as the multitude, that it was soon found 
 necessary to retire to a field in the vicinity of the town. The 
 exercises of praise and prayer were conducted by one of the 
 ministers. The youthful speaker then rose, and proceeded to 
 address the vast assemblage with the utmost coolness. The 
 
206 A SABBATH WEEK. 
 
 discourse had not continued fifteen minutes when the audience 
 began to be stirred. A venerable-looking old man sank to the 
 ground close bj^ the platform. Apparently he had swooned, and 
 he was removed out of the crowd as speedily as possible. The 
 silence of the multitude became breathless; the feelings were 
 deeply intense. But the solemn stillness was soon broken by a 
 faint cry which was raised on the opposite side of the platform 
 to that where I had taken my stand. I had scarcely time to 
 turn myself, when, sudden as a gunshot, a strong woman sent 
 forth an unearthly scream at my very side. In a moment she 
 was upon her knees, crying, as she clapped and wrung her hands 
 alternately in wild excitement, ' Oh ! my heart. Oh ! my hard 
 heart.' The crowd was convulsed, and shook like aspens in the 
 breeze. The voice of the sjDeaker was soon drowned amid the 
 shrieks ; the air was filled with groans and screams for mercy. 
 Crowds gathered and pressed around to listen to the lamenta- 
 tions, and here and there to the fervent appeals of the awakened. 
 It was not till long after nightfall that a large portion of the 
 helpless mourners were carried to their homes. 
 
 "A tremendous awakening had taken place. During the 
 week that followed, the meetings were continued, and the pros- 
 trations did not in the least subside. It seemed, indeed, as if 
 a new era had dawned. Men and women left their ordinarj^ 
 avocations to talk about their souls, and the strange sights they 
 had witnessed. The public mind was pervaded with awful 
 solemnity, and that whole week seemed a protracted Sabbath. 
 
 " As might be anticipated, the excitement began to subside 
 as the number of prostrations decreased. In proportion, how- 
 ever, as the meetings became less boisterous, they apparently 
 grew more spiritual. And at present, when prostration is hardly 
 heard of, there remains an unusually serious concern about 
 spiritual things. 
 
 "Languishing Christians have been stirred up to vigorous 
 activity. Hundreds who were sleeping in their Christianity 
 have been aroused out of their slumbers, have shaken ofi" their 
 spiritual indolence, and have been quickened to energetic 
 activity. 
 
BANBRIDGE. 207 
 
 "Professors have been seriously alarmed. Many whose re- 
 ligion was an outer moral garment, or a mere plausible sham, 
 have been disturbed in their supposed security, and having 
 received grace from on high to cast themselves upon a loving 
 and beloved Saviour, are now advancing rapidly in the divine 
 hfe! 
 
 " But nowhere has such a change been wrought as upon those 
 whose lives were openly immoral, or who entertained an utter 
 disregard to the observance of religious duties. Considering the 
 very low ebb to which true religion had declined, and, in many 
 cases, the looseness of moral principle, before this great awaken- 
 ing passed over the land, and comparing this with the state of 
 religion and morality which now prevails, one cannot but be 
 amazed at the magnitude of the change that has taken jDlace. 
 Drunkards have been reformed into sober men, Sabbath-breakers 
 have been led to respect the Sabbath, profane swearers have 
 ceased to blaspheme ; old injuries have been forgiven, private 
 animosities forgotten, by parties long at enmity. Families in 
 which the God of all families was never worshipped, where the 
 AVord of God was seldom, if ever, read, where the name of Jesus 
 wa3 only mentioned to be blasphemed, have now the family 
 altar raised in the midst of the domestic circle, make the Scrip- 
 tures their daily study and delight, and reverence and love the 
 sweet name of Jesus beyond every name. Prayer especially, 
 which used to be a wearisome duty to those who still clung to 
 religious forms, has become a pleasant exercise, accompanied 
 with stronger faith and deeper fervency; and every one now 
 reads his Bible. God's Book is made the book of reference, and 
 preferred to any other." 
 
 The town of Banbridge is one of the most important in the 
 county in which it is situated. For the last few years an 
 unwonted interest in religion has been created in the young 
 men of the locality, mainly through the devoted labours of a 
 Christian layman residing there. As the result of his exertions, 
 the most important moral and spiritual changes had been going 
 forward, and the way seemed to be prepared for a still more 
 extensive spiritual visitation. 
 
£08 THE YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The following brief statement of the origin and character of 
 the awakening in Banbridge is interesting, not only for the facts 
 it contains, but as being contributed by a devoted layman of 
 the Episcopal Church, who, during a tw^elve years'" residence in 
 Spain, in the capacity of a civil engineer, applied himself, while 
 constructing some of the leading railroads in that country, no 
 less assiduously to the preparation of that "way of the Lord" 
 along which the gospel chariot has even already commenced its 
 onward progress in that land. 
 
 " I returned from Spain," says my esteemed correspondent, 
 Wm. Greene, Esq., "towards the close of 1858. In the month 
 of December I was invited to Banbridge by a Christian friend, 
 to a meeting of the Young Men's Association. We numbered 
 about forty on that occasion. Several of us spoke, and many 
 earnest prayers that the Lord would pour out His Spirit on that 
 place were offered. The Lord was among us that evening, 
 and we all seemed to feel His presence in no common w\ay. 
 Tow^ards the close of the proceedings I felt impelled to say that 
 I was certain He was about to do a great work in that town. 
 This was fully six months- before the revival w^as experienced in 
 this country. 
 
 "Prayer-meetings w^eie held from time to time, and month 
 after month passed, but no sign was given. At length I was 
 present at a solemn meeting. I could not refrain from tears at 
 the earnest spirit evinced by all. We parted, however, without 
 having witnessed anything uncommon but intense earnestness. 
 It was about three days afterwards, w^hen the same persons 
 were assembled, that the blessed showers came down to refresh 
 the waiting hearts of God's people. Such sights as were 
 witnessed on that night it would not be possible to describe. 
 Multitudes had their stony hearts broken under the subduing 
 influences of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 " Soon after I was in the neighbourhood again, and went in 
 the evening with the same friend to a prayer-meeting. On our 
 ■svay, about half-a-mile from the toAvn, we went into tw^o lowly 
 dwellings; and, in a few minutes, there gathered around us 
 eight or nine, who seemed to be filled with joy and peace. We 
 
THE UNFORTUNATES — THE TRAVELLING CIRCUS. 209 
 
 remained but a short time to pray and exliort, and then went 
 off. Scarcely had we got to the door of the Presbyterian church, 
 which was very full, when we met some sin-sick ones being 
 carried, one after another, to the school-house adjacent, crying 
 and sobbing in indescribable agony. Some received peace in 
 answer to earnest prayer whilst there, and many were taken to 
 their own homes. I think it was on that night that a woman 
 of the town, who had been pursuing her sinful course, standing 
 on the bridge enticing the passers-by as they came from the 
 meeting, was shot by an arrow from the unerring bow. She 
 was carried to her house — I was going to say her home. But 
 what a home ! Her bed of straw was on the cold ground. I 
 AT.sited her with my friend a day or two after. But the house 
 of 'ill-fame' was now a house of prayer, and never shall I forget 
 the lowliness of that poor pardoned soul as she prayed by her 
 bed of straw. This case attracted the attention of several 
 persons of similar condition in the same street ; and I have 
 heard since that as many as twenty had given up their evil 
 courses, although some have fallen away since. 
 
 " A good man, hearing the story of the ' unfortunate ' above 
 mentioned, immediately opened his house to her, and from 
 that time to this has supplied all her wants. Such acts as 
 this are worthy to be chronicled for the benefit of future gene- 
 rations. 
 
 " The revival movement was slow in coming to Banbridge, 
 but it has done a wonderful work ; and many facts prove with 
 what power the Spirit has been working there. A few months 
 ago, a travelling circus came to the town one market-day. 
 The Presbyterian minister, knowing the evil influence that 
 generally accompanies this kind of show, gave notice of an 
 open-air preaching at the time of the morning entertainment. 
 Only three people went to the show, so that it remained 
 unopened. They were told to come again that evening, but so 
 scanty was the attendance that the money received did not 
 suffice to pay the rent of the ground on which the pavilion had 
 been erected. The company struck their tents the following 
 morning and decamped, having determined to leave the north 
 
 
 
210 OTHER RESULTS — DROMARA. 
 
 of Ireland altogether, as theirs was a losing game among such 
 people. 
 
 " Take another striking fact. A distiller's agent, in collecting 
 his money among the public-houses in one quarter of the town, 
 found his half-year's receipts from the sale of whisky to be 
 .£500 less than for a corresponding period of the previous year. 
 
 "Last winter'large sums were subscribed by the inhabitants 
 for the poor, and scarcely a needy person was left without feel- 
 ing that the Lord's people were indeed like the Lord himself, 
 that He dwelt in them of a trujih — clothing, and coals, and 
 food being liberally supplied to multitudes. The Sabbath- 
 schools here in connexion with the Presbyterian body number 
 nearly five hundred children, and thanks to the zeal and energy 
 of the minister, and the devoted life of my friend, already 
 referred to, together with the successful and self-sacrificing 
 labours of the Christian young men, a more flourishing school 
 I have nowhere met than in this place. A variety of other 
 excellent arrangements, such as a temperance hotel, a savings 
 bank, &c., have been put in motion during this celebrated ' year 
 of grace,' 1859." 
 
 The following account of the revival in the parish of Dromara 
 has been supplied by the Rev. W. J. Patten, minister of the 
 Second Presbyterian Church there : — 
 
 " On the 25th of July about a thousand persons assembled in 
 Mr Craig's church for prayer. A deep solemnity pervaded the 
 meeting. !Many sobs were heard, many tears were shed, and 
 many were the ' groanings that could not be uttered.' The 
 meeting closed, and all separated for their homes. Shortly 
 afterAvards intelligence arrived that some persons had been 
 * stricken ' on their way home. We started ofi", and the scene 
 which met our gaze will not soon be forgotten. There, on the 
 roadside, with their backs against the ditch, and their faces 
 toward heaven, lay seven persons, supplicating mercy. They 
 were all young and unlearned, yet so scriptural and appropriate 
 were their prayers, that to me, and to the large concourse who 
 listened, they seemed to be suggested by Him who has been 
 promised to ' help our infirmities.' 
 
A WEDDING SCENE — THE MEETINGS. 211 
 
 " A young girl was heard to assign as a reason why she had 
 not attended the meeting just described, that she was afraid of 
 being seized, and thus rendered unable to be present at the 
 wedding of a friend, to which she had been invited. Tlie mar- 
 riage morn arrived, and the ceremony was performed. At the 
 suggestion of some of the party, the feasting and the mirth 
 gave place to praise and prayer, and this girl and her sister 
 bridesmaid began to sob and weep, and, in accents which can- 
 not be described, to call for mercy in the name of Jesus. Since 
 that time she has given every evidence of being espoused to 
 Christ. Truly the prayer of faith was heard. The Lord and 
 His disciples were bidden guests. The same Jesus who graced 
 the marriage in Cana, did not deny His presence to the humble 
 villagers of Dromara. 
 
 " On the evening following this — the 2&th July — a prayer- 
 meeting was held on the green beside my church, that building 
 being unable to contain the two thousand or more who were 
 present; and at the same place, on the succeeding Sabbath 
 evening, there was another meeting, larger still, attended by 
 not fewer than three thousand. Those were two evenings long to 
 be remembered. None who were present can ever forget them. 
 On the first not fewer than fifty persons, and on the second 
 about seventy, young and old, men and women, stretched on the 
 green sward, were heard openly to bewail their sins before God, 
 and ask forgiveness in the name of Jesus. In some few this 
 was accompanied with strange convulsions of body ; but in most 
 of those aftected there was nothing but tears, and groans, and 
 earnest prayers. One young girl remained seven hours on her 
 knees. Another resolved that she would neither eat nor drink 
 till she had found Christ. I went into the church and looked 
 around. Many were there attending their friends. But others, 
 as well, had come in. In one seat were three girls kneeling in 
 prayer ; in another were two others ; in another still, were two 
 boys, and so throughout the house. Coming out, I looked into the 
 session-room, and there were five or six boys, belonging to my 
 Bible class, upon their knees. One was praying — ' Lord Jesus, 
 pardon my sins ; they are so great that crimson and scarlet are 
 
212 EFFECTS ON OLD AND YOUNG. 
 
 no name for them ' — and yet there was not a better behaved boy 
 in all the country. They continued there for some hours offer- 
 ing prayer in turn. 
 
 "During the fortnight that followed, many were similarly 
 affected in their own homes, and in the jjrayer-meetings, which 
 were held in private houses all hours of the day and the night. 
 For the time being business was very much suspended. The 
 whole parish was a place of weeping, and praying, and singing, 
 and reading. There cannot be a doubt that there ' were more 
 Bible-readers, more believing prayers, more loving thoughts of 
 Jesus, in our parish in the month of August than had been in 
 the five years previous. A Scotch minister was present one 
 evening at that time at our prayer-meeting in the church. As 
 usual the house was crowded — every eye was riveted, and many 
 were in tears. After the service, earnest inquirers were invited 
 to remain. Nearly all sat still, and when spoken to, seemed to 
 delight in unbosoming the state of their souls. On our way 
 home he heard the sweet songs of Zion sung along the road by 
 the people going from the house of God. When we reached 
 home, he heard that two persons who had been enemies for 
 years — who had fought with fists and fought at law — had that 
 evening clasped each other in their arms. 
 
 " After musing for a time, he said to me, ' I have read through 
 Lardner's great work on the ' Evidences,' but what I have seen 
 to-night is a more powerful proof of the truth of Christianity 
 than all that Lardner ever wrote.' 
 
 " The young, from six to twenty-five years of age, were par- 
 ticularly anxious. They would assemble and pray together. 
 On such an occasion, when a little fellow was praying for all 
 his unconverted playmates, a little girl began to cry aloud for 
 mercy. The boy arose, clasped another boy's hand and said, 
 ' Johnny, God sooner far hears us ivee fellows, than He does big 
 men.' 1 remember one day, going into a house to see a boy 
 who had been stricken. The door of the room was locked. 
 When it was opened. I found three other boys along with him, 
 reading their Bibles. He was reading and praying with them, 
 and trying to lead them to Jesus. 
 
CHANGES PRODUCED IN THE PARISH. 213 
 
 " I asked a little girl, whom I had seen sob and pray some 
 weeks before, if she observed any change in herself of late. 
 ' Yes,' she said, ' I do.' ' What is it ? ' ' Why,' said she, ' before, 
 Christ was no concern to me, and now, He is never out of my 
 thoughts.' Another, in answer to the same question, said, 'I 
 had not Christ before, and now I have.' 
 
 " In a few weeks from their commencement, the bodily pros- 
 trations nearly altogether ceased. Of the numbers thus affected 
 I cannot form an estimate. They amounted to several hun- 
 dreds. But the good work was not confined to them. God's 
 Spirit came to at least as many others in the 'still small voice.' 
 Not seldom since, have I met in their homes, or along the roads, 
 persons who told me they were led to Christ without outward 
 observation, and I can truly say that the death-beds I have 
 attended since July 1859 have been much more pleasing and 
 hopeful than those I attended before. 
 
 "From the time that the movement commenced until the 
 present, the earnestness has continued, though not with the 
 same excitement. No doubt, some were stricken down from 
 mere sympathy, and these, as might have been expected, have 
 returned to their former indifference ; but the number of such 
 is comparatively small. The great majority, some in a few days> 
 others in a few weeks, and others not till months had elapsed, 
 professed to find peace in Jesus, and their conduct in general 
 has been such as to become this profession. 
 
 " I shall briefly mention a few of the changes which the re- 
 vival has produced in the parish. Formerly the Bible was 
 little read— now there are few families in which it is not read 
 each day. A man remarked to me some time ago, ' I have 
 seen more reading and praying in my house in the last few 
 months than I have done since I was born.' And how much 
 more attentively it is read ! ' Before this,' said a little fellow to 
 me, * when my mother told me to read a chapter, I just ran over 
 it as fast as I could that I might get out to my sport.' But 
 now many read it, praying, as another young boy prayed, ' Lord, 
 teach us how to read Thy Word, for we have not read it at all— 
 we have just scampered over it.'' 
 
214 CHANGES PRODUCED IN THE PARISH. 
 
 " Formerly many did not pray in private, or if they did, it 
 was only as a matter of form. Now, I believe, there are few 
 who do not, morning and evening at least, and many more fre- 
 quently, bow their knees to the God of all grace. And, oh, how 
 earnest they are to be kept from sin ! I once heard a young 
 girl pray — ' Lord Jesus, who didst look on Simon Peter when 
 he sinned, and made him go out and weep bitterly— Lord, when 
 I sin, look on me.' Another prayed — ' Lord, keep me from the 
 devil, and if he does come, don't let him come as an angel of 
 light. Lord, keep the devil just like the devil, that when I see 
 him I may know him, and may fly from him.' 
 
 " How many earnest, beautiful prayers I have heard of late ; 
 and how many have ascended up on high ! 
 
 " Formerly not five out of a hundred observed family worship 
 — now, I should say, two-thirds of the people do so. In many 
 a house the son or daughter leads the family devotions, when 
 the father is unable or unwilling. 
 
 "I conclude by saying, that any one who knows what the 
 parish was in January 1859, and what it is now in April 1860, 
 will have no hesitation in writing of Dromara what Luke, 
 eighteen hundred years ago, wrote of Antioch — ' And the hand 
 of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed, and 
 turned unto the Lord.' " 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN THE CITY AXD COUNTY OF DERRY. 
 
 The Commencement — Statement by the Eev. R. Wallace — Accidents of 
 Prostration — Agencies Employed — Extent of the Work — Cases — 
 " It 's my brother George " — Results — Maghera — The First Prostra- 
 tion — " God has been with us this Morning " — Good sense of the 
 People — The Prayer-Meetings — Results — The Work Goes On — 
 Line of Action that Ministei-s should Pursue — -Lecumpher — Arrest 
 on a Jaunting-Car — Newtonlimavady — Mr North and his Doctrine 
 of " Realisation " — Eight Candidates for the Ministry — The Work 
 in Other Parts of the il^eighbourhood — Ballykelly — Addresses and 
 Prayers of the Converts —Children's Meetings — Different Hearing 
 of the Word— The Elders Moved— The Tempter's Wiles— Results 
 — The First Case in JMoneymore — Letter froni a Young Woman — 
 The Youths' Meeting. 
 
 About a hundred and seventy years ago, the "Maiden City" 
 was the scene of an event of thiilling interest, for on its walls 
 was raised the standard under which magnanimous defiance 
 was hurled against the myrmidons of a Popish bigot, and a 
 successful blow was struck for faith and freedom. Rich in 
 historic associations, it has within the last few months wit- 
 nessed a moral revolution in the experience of hundreds of its 
 population — leaving on the minds of the community a mingled 
 sentiment of awe and admiration at the wonders which grace 
 has wrought. 
 
 I cannot better introduce the notice of the work in Derry than 
 by inserting a letter with which I have been favoured from the 
 Rev. Robert Wallace, a highly- esteemed minister of the Wes- 
 leyan body, then in that city — at present in Belfast, and chair- 
 man of the district in which he now resides. His relation to 
 
216 MR WALLACE S STATEMENT. 
 
 the Church of which he is a minister, enables him to testify to 
 the work, not in Deny only, but in other districts : — 
 
 " Very early in the year my attention was directed to some 
 remarkable accounts of what was said to be a great revival, 
 accompanied by extraordinary manifestations. On comparing 
 these with what I had read of revivals in England, Scotland, 
 and America, I soon came to the conclusion that it was a work 
 of God, and with others began to look for the gracious visita- 
 tion in the city of Derry, where I was placed at the time. 
 More than three months passed away, however, before w^e had 
 anything more than a general spirit of expectation. Early in 
 the summer, arrangements were made to bring down from 
 Ballymena and Ballymoney a number of those who had been 
 recently brought under gracious influence, and it was agreed 
 that they should take a part in the public services in the Pres- 
 byterian and Wesleyan churches, and also in the open air at 
 the market-place. At these services great crowds attended. 
 The persons recently awakened spoke with great simplicity of 
 the wonderful change that God had wrought in them by grace 
 in the course of the last few weeks or days. A solemn awe 
 rested upon the people; several were stricken down in the 
 manner we had heard of, and a still greater number were cut to 
 the heart, and earnestly sought the Lord. At the commence- 
 ment of the meetings, a number of ministers, representing various 
 denominations, met by request at the house of the senior Pres- 
 byterian minister, and arranged plans for combined efforts to 
 promote the cause of God ; and in this manner a service was 
 held in the market-place every evening throughout the summer. 
 The utmost unity prevailed, and this greatly tended to deepen 
 the interest among the people. 
 
 "The gracious influence visited place after place in a very 
 remarkable manner, each town and neighbourhood seemingly 
 taken in regular course. It would be inconsistent with the 
 brevity I should observe, to go into details, although I have 
 had opportunities of observing them in a great many parts 
 of the province. I have seen strong men prostrated as if 
 stricken with a ball— some apparently in great agony, and 
 
EXTENT AND FEATURES OF THE REVIVAL. 217 
 
 others seemingly unconscious — most professing to find peace, 
 (and some remaining uniiappy so long as the meeting con- 
 tinued. I have seen as many as fifty in a state of prostra- 
 tion at once. I saw at least sixty persons who professed to find 
 peace with God at one meeting. I found the subjects of this 
 awakening to comprise all ages, and, to some extent, all ranks ; 
 except that, so far as my experience goes, few of the upper, or 
 even middle classes became subjects of bodily prostration. I 
 have seen, again and again, that wonderful change of countenance 
 which attracted so much attention. I had many opportunities 
 of witnessing the extraordinary attachment which the young 
 converts manifested towards each other. I know some remark- 
 able cases of conversion from gross wickedness, and several 
 persons who gave up what they considered an unlawful calling 
 as the result of their awakening. I know several Roman Catho- 
 lics who never attended mass from the day they were stricken, 
 and some who can give as intelligent an account of their con- 
 version to God as you could meet with anywhere. I am not 
 able to say exactly how many have been received during the 
 year into our own communion, or placed upon trial ; but I have 
 no doubt that the numbers are larger than those of any previous 
 year. But as to the people generally, after examining the facts 
 as far as I could gather them, I judge that not less than one hun- 
 dred thousand persons in Ulster were brought under gracious 
 influence during that time. How far these have remained stead- 
 fast I cannot say. I have heard of some going back to former 
 wickedness, but none such have come under my own knowledge. 
 " The prominent features of the revival, so far as came under 
 my notice, were — the suddenness of the awakening, the bodily 
 prostrations, and the great extent to which the whole people 
 were impressed. The peculiar features were — that, unlike any 
 former revival, it had the countenance of almost the entire 
 secular press ; that it was not confined to any one denomina- 
 tion, but embraced all Evangelical Churches ; and that up till 
 the present time all these have maintained an unprecedented 
 unity. I consider it the most glorious work of God ever known 
 in this country in so short a time ; and although we have not 
 
218 CASES OF PROSTRATION. 
 
 the excitement of last summer and autumn, I believe there is a 
 religious influence upon the people of Ulster surpassing any- 
 thing ever before realised." 
 
 In continuation of the narrative of the work in Derry, the 
 Rev. Richard Smyth observes ; — 
 
 " At a morning service, conducted by Mr Smyth of Armagh, 
 a Roman Catholic in attendance had been brought under con- 
 viction, and the first person in the evening who was ' stricken ' 
 was also a Roman Catholic. When the unearthly cries were 
 uttered, and the name of Jesus sounded over that dense congre- 
 gation from the lips of a sinner who felt herself on the brink of 
 hell, a thrill passed through every heart that is utterly inde- 
 scribable. The whole auditory seemed smitten with a sudden 
 and universal paralysis. They went home, but many were ill 
 at ease. Religion had assumed a new aspect ; there appeared 
 to be in it work for the heart of man, and multitudes felt that 
 hitherto they had misunderstood its nature. Some have told 
 me that they never closed an eye that night, but the * visions 
 of their head troubled them on their beds.' They rose and 
 dragged themselves to their business with the arrow of God 
 fast in their souls, or sat in their rooms communing with dis- 
 tressed hearts. Next evening a meeting was held in the same 
 church, addressed by a number of ministers, in calm and unim- 
 passioned terms ; and at that meeting there could not have 
 been less than fifty savingly impressed. Not more than ten 
 suffered from physical prostration, and these cases did not 
 assume any cataleptic type. The work had graciously begun, 
 and an earnest had been given of the showers of blessings that 
 have descended since. 
 
 " We have had in this city comparatively few cases of bodily 
 affection or prostration — not one in ten — perhaps not one in 
 twenty. One of the most trying and really distressing cases 
 that came under my observation, was that of a girl who ima. 
 gined herself in hell for three hours, and still out of the 
 depths of hell cried to Jesus for mercy. Her face during this 
 time gave one the idea of a lost soul; there was over it the 
 shadow of a hopeless immortality. At the end of three hours 
 
AGENCIES EVIPLOYED. 219 
 
 she fell over into a kind of trance. Her face resumed its 
 natural appearance ; it then became unnatural once more, but 
 in a different manner, the radiance of glory overspread it, and 
 for four hours she seemed to be in the regions of the blest. Of 
 the 'visions' she had during that time she never wished to 
 speak, and I never encouraged her to do so, for I knew her 
 mind to have been strung to an ecstatic pitch ; but I rejoice to 
 say that she continues steadfast in the faith of Jesus, and is an 
 example of humility and love, and all the other graces of the 
 Spirit. I have much delight in testifying that I am not aware 
 of one single ' stricken ' case in Derry that has turned out to be 
 spurious. 
 
 Agencies Emjjhyed. — " Except at the first two meetings, we 
 dispensed entirely in Derry with the aid of converts in address- 
 ing meetings. Those who were brought to Jesus in the revival 
 were of incalculable aid, at anxious inquirers' meetings, in pray- 
 ing with the convinced and distressed, in conversing with the 
 anxious, in directing the perplexed, and in visiting from house 
 to house ; but they never took part in the public meetings in 
 the city. Many of the young men of the city were, indeed, 
 much blessed in other districts of the country — in Donegal, 
 Tyrone, Fermanagh, and Cavan. Some of them speak with 
 much power and fervour, and I can testify (for I took some of 
 them with me to meetings in the country) that their simple and 
 heart-stirring words were acknowledged of God to the rousing 
 of many a careless sinner. One young man, who had been 
 brought to Jesus in our congregation, and whom I knew to be 
 qualified, from his knowledge of Scripture, to address meetings, 
 was asked by me to go for this purpose to the country. ' Ah !' 
 said he, 'don't ask me.' 'Why not?' asked I; 'are you not 
 ready to testify for Jesus'?' 'I am ready in one way,' was 
 his reply, ' but not in another. I am willing, but not able. 
 Then, pulling a little Testament from his pocket, he opened it, 
 and pointed me to Luke xxiv. 49, where Christ says to the 
 apostles, ' But tarry ye at Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
 power from on high.' I saw the drift of his humility, and said? 
 ' Well, wait a little ; God will give you the power.' And so He 
 
220 EXTENT OF THE WORK. 
 
 did. That young man has spoken and wrought for Jesus ; and 
 souls have been given to him as a reward in the day of Christ. 
 It would have been well if all had tarried, as he did, for estab- 
 lishment in the faith, and for further enlargement of the know- 
 ledge of Christian doctrine, before becoming so forward in the 
 exercise of their gifts. 
 
 Extent of the Work. — " I am not acquainted with any locality 
 where the gracious work was more general among all classes of 
 the community than here. There was an impression abroad, 
 especially at a distance from the revival districts, that it was 
 only the ignorant and those in the humbler ranks of life who 
 were visited with the influence of the revival. 1 believe that 
 impression to have been unfounded regarding ever}'- locality, 
 and most certainly regarding Derry. From the highest to the 
 lowest, not only were serious impressions predominant, but the 
 evidences of saving conversion were afforded. Men of educa- 
 tion, and men of business talents — women of refined mental 
 culture, were brought to weep and lament over their unbelieving 
 hearts, and had eventually their sorrow turned into joy. 
 
 " On the other hand, the Spirit of God reached the most illite- 
 rate, and in many instances, where not a letter of the alphabet 
 was known, the name of Jesus and His redemption were 
 familiar to the heart and lip. 
 
 "All denominations in the city partook of the gracious 
 shower ; the zeal of believers was quickened ; and if the revival 
 had done nothing else save stirring up God's people to greater 
 and more combined efibrts for the extension of Messiah's king- 
 dom, it would have been no mean result of the holy and grand 
 excitements of the year 1859. I am not prepared to endorse all 
 that has been said about the actual number of conversions, for 
 I have seen statements put forward that conversions in this 
 city are to be numbered by thousands. That I do not believe ; 
 and nothing is to be gained by exaggeration. It is better for us 
 to keep within the mark if we venture upon calculations of this 
 kind. No doubt the silent impressions of saving grace have 
 been made upon many whose names are unknown to ministers, 
 and who as yet are only known in the Lamb's Book of Life. 
 
CASES OF CONVERSION. 221 
 
 But when a considerable margin is left for such, I do not think 
 that there were more than a thousand converts in the whole 
 city. Yet even this is a mighty host, when we remember that, 
 in the warfare of the Cross, 'one of you shall chase a thou- 
 sand' — that one sanctified soul in a city will outweigh the 
 feeble efforts of a thousand in the miserable hosts of ungodli- 
 ness. I find that at the last communion in the First Presby- 
 terian Congregation in the city there were, about one hundred 
 communicants above the average, and when I remember that 
 there were perhaps not much less than a hundred Sabbath- 
 scholars savingly impressed who did not come to the Lord's 
 table, I am free to give my opinion that in that congregation 
 there were perhaps two hundred brought into the fold of Jesus. 
 Take this, along with the revival of God's own saints, and you 
 form some conception of what God has done for us. But this 
 is what has been done in all the congregations in the city in, I 
 should say, like proportion, some more and some less. One 
 peculiar feature of the work here was this — no one congregation 
 took any lead as distinguished for revival spirit. The four 
 Presbyterian, the Eefonned, the Independent, and the Wesleyan, 
 seemed all equally favoured of God, and there was no one place 
 to which strangers were specially attracted. 
 
 Cases of Conversion. — "A young man, of loose habits, was walk- 
 ing up the wall of Derry one night about midnight, and seeing 
 a light in a church he walked in to see what was going on. He 
 observed in the church groups of persons here and there, and 
 one of these specially attracted his attention, where about 
 twenty individuals were gathered round a double pew. He 
 marched up the aisle to this group, and wdth indifferent air 
 took up his place among them. A boy had been 'stricken' 
 in the pew, (son of a most worthy and respectable sea-captain,) 
 and some nine or ten boys were on their knees around him, 
 alternately praying for the peace of the distressed boy's soul. 
 Our profligate visitor looked on and listened. The scene was 
 new, and he began to feel his knees smiting against each other. 
 At last the stricken boy began to pour out his soul in strains of 
 the most exalted prayer, and then it resolved itself into thanks- 
 
222 IT S MY BROTHEE GEORGK 
 
 giving and praise. This being over, the boy prayed for uncon- 
 verted people in the city of Derry, and wrestled with God, like 
 Jacob beside the brook. There was one soul in the surround- 
 ing group that was bending like a forest tree. Each word, as it 
 rose from the lips of the ecstatic boy, fell on the soul of that 
 other like a coal of fire. At last he gave way, fell down, and 
 cried most i)iteously for mercy. Those terrible moanings are in 
 my ears to this hour. He arose in a few minutes, but fell down 
 again like one paralysed. He leaned his head on a form, and 
 the tears streamed to the floor. A young man came forward — 
 one who had himself been brought to Jesus a year ago — and not 
 knowing who the young man was, lifted up his head to see the 
 weeping face, and tears of joy sprung from liis eyes as he ex- 
 claimed, ' It 's my brother George ! ' Next day he had laid hold 
 of the hope set before him, and he has since given all credible 
 tokens of being a ' new creature in Christ Jesus.' 
 
 " A man of moral character, who had been a member of the 
 church for more than ten years, thought himself so elevated in 
 religious attainments that, as far as he was concerned, the ' ex- 
 travagances of revival' were quite needless and out of place. 
 In the Victoria Market one Lord's-day he was struck with the 
 heartiness of the voice of praise as it rose to God from three 
 thousand hearts. He asks himself, in rapid words, the question, 
 ' Shall I ever hear the singing of heaven 1 No ! ' He went 
 home in an agony. Three days he spent in abounding fears, 
 and went through a series of mental tribulations that have 
 rarely been surpassed in the annals of conviction. He lay 
 sleepless, and went during the day carrying, as he said himself, 
 'a burning heart.' He prayed, and sang, and groaned, and 
 wept, and was almost in despair. At last a text of Scripture 
 gleamed upon him, and he saw the heavens opened by the eye 
 of faith, and the Son of man standing omnipotent to save. He 
 now rejoices as much in Jesus as he had confidence in himself. 
 He has visited his native Scotland, and I believe has been used 
 of God to promote the interests of his Saviour's kingdom in 
 that land. 
 
 " Time would fail me to describe the individual marvels of 
 
GENERAL EESULTS. 223 
 
 Divine sovereignty in the conversion of souls. I know well one 
 most interesting family, wliere a father, an aged man, and six 
 grown-up children have all been brought to Jesus, and are re- 
 joicing in the hope of the glory of God, 
 
 "There have been, I believe, but few, if anj'', objectionable 
 phases in the work here. I know nothing but what may have 
 been of God. We had no attempts at prophetic ecstasy; no 
 dumbness, or deafness, or blindness, nor any clairvoyant gifts. 
 It is not for me to speak in condemnation of these things, for I 
 have never witnessed them, and all I have to do is to record that 
 they never were developed here. For what God has done we 
 have reason to thank Him every day we live, and I am sure 
 such a spirit largely pervades the Christian community. 
 
 General Results. — " The first and most valuable result is the 
 delightful spirit of Christian union. In speaking of Christian 
 union in Derry, I grieve to be obliged to ignore the Episcopal 
 element in its clerical phases. The clergy would not unite with 
 'Dissenters,' though the people have in general exhibited a 
 most conciliatory and charitable spirit. It is but fair to say that 
 the Episcopal laity at first shewed every disposition to unite in 
 prayer-meetings until their leaders endeavoured to infuse into 
 them another spirit. The rest of the community are one. We 
 know one another better, and appreciate each other more. 
 There is now that interchange of genuine feeling which is the 
 characteristic of true spirituality. 'Each one accounts the other 
 better than himself.' 
 
 " We have two united meetings for i3rayer every day, in one 
 of which the laity take a prominent part. The ministers are 
 thus at once helped and refreshed. 
 
 " In addition to these united meetings there are Presbyterian 
 meetings, in which the various congregations unite, and also in 
 each congregation one meeting in the week for their own mem- 
 bers and others who may join them, all of which are well 
 attended. 
 
 " There is no decaying of interest, and the stability of pro- 
 fessed converts has far exceeded our most sanguine expecta- 
 tions." 
 
224 MAGHERA — THE FIRST PROSTRATION. 
 
 Among the congregations first visited in County Derry by tlie 
 revival was that of Magliera, of which an account is given as 
 follows, by the Rev. Thomas Witherow : — 
 
 "On Thursday, the 2d of June 1859, the first indications of 
 the presence of the revival appeared at Maghera, On that day 
 a young man, called Thomas Campbell, came over from the 
 County Antrim to see his friends at Ciilnady — a village two 
 miles from this town, on the way to Portglenone, and, while 
 describing at the fireside to his relatives and neighbours the 
 strange scenes which, for sometime past, he had witnessed at 
 religious meetings held beyond the Bann, suddenly the servant- 
 boy in the family was affected with all the usual symptoms, 
 "While those present gathered round him in astonishment and 
 alarm, the servant-girl was affected ; and soon afterwards, the 
 brother of the speaker, George Campbell, a young lad of some 
 seventeen years of age. The prostrations that occurred on this 
 occasion could not have arisen from excitement. It was under- 
 stood that, up to the evening in question, none of these persons 
 had been under religious concern ; no attempt had been made 
 in the neighbourhood to produce a revival ; public attention 
 had not been drawn to the subject further than by a naiTative 
 of the work going on at Connor and Ahoghill, given from the 
 pulpit on the previous Monday by Rev. Jonathan Simpson, 
 which it is not probable any of the parties referred to had been 
 present to hear. The place where they were struck down was 
 the fireside of a farm house, when they were listening to the 
 conversation of the friend who, in the district of the County 
 Antrim where he lived, had witnessed prostrations, but had 
 never been prostrated himself. There was no exposition of 
 Divine truth, no appeal to the passions, no excitement beyond 
 what the novel and interesting incidents related might be sup- 
 posed to produce. Word of what had occurred soon spread 
 through the village, neighbours gathered in, and the whole 
 night was spent in prayer and in singing praises to God. 
 
 "Early in the morning a message was despatched for me, 
 and about ten o'clock I reached the spot in company with a 
 friend. Groups of people, with anxiety and terror pictured on 
 
" GOD HAS BEEN WITH US THIS MORNING." 225 
 
 their faces, were collected on the streets of the village, waiting our 
 arrival, and discussing among themselves, in subdued tones, the 
 strange things that had occurred. The first case which we saw 
 was a poor woman, the mother of a number of young children, 
 who had that morning gone to visit those who had been stricken 
 on the previous night, and who had instantly been afi"ected her- 
 self. She was an ignorant woman of her class, who had been 
 living an irreligious life, and had not been in the habit of attend- 
 ing any place of worship. We found her stretched upon the bed 
 in her little cabin in a state of great physical weakness, but 
 talking incessantly about her sinful life, and about Satan, ' that 
 beast,' as she called him, who sought her destruction, and about 
 Christ, who had saved her from ruin. She talked in a wild 
 incoherent way, reminding the bystanders of one who was 
 ' drunk with new wine,' and quoted so many texts of Scripture 
 as surprised us all, who knew she could not read, and had not 
 the advantage of public instruction for many years. The ser- 
 vant-girl, who had been afiected the previous night, was found 
 by us apparently exhausted, but in a quiet state, and not seem- 
 ingly disposed to communicate her feelings. On seeing me 
 enter she lifted her head from the pillow of the bed on which 
 she had stretched herself, and said, ' Sir, God has been with 
 us this morning.' The servant-man did not say much, but 
 gave us to understand that the burden of sin, which he said 
 was pressing on his heart, was not yet removed. It was differ- 
 ent with George Campbell, the young lad previously mentioned. 
 He had enjoyed the advantages of better instruction in the 
 Scriptures than any of the others, and now the previous know- 
 ledge he had acquired became available. We found him sitting 
 on his bed, surrounded by the neighbours who had gathered in, 
 and singing the 20th Psalm with a heart and spirit such as I 
 have seldom heard thrown into a song of praise. After prayer, 
 he exhorted the friends who had crowded in, telling them how 
 God had delivered him from his sins, and made him a partaker 
 of His grace. ' Oh,' said he, in the most earnest and impas- 
 sioned manner, ' there was a mountain of sin pressing on my 
 heart, but God in mercy sent the arrows of His love, and 
 
 P 
 
226 FEW PROSTRATIONS. 
 
 pierced tliat mountain through and through, and it is gone.' 
 Then he warned all against sin, especially the sin of drunken- 
 ness, denouncing the public-house as 'the broad road to hell ;' 
 and, striking with great violence the Bible which he held in his 
 hand, he shouted, in a voice of thunder, ' Who would dare to ask 
 me to enter a public-house now 1 ' He called on all present to 
 renounce their sins else they would be lost, and spoke to them 
 of Christ with a pathos and energy that drew tears from many 
 eyes. This address, coming from a young lad, who, one day 
 before, would not have ventured to open his lips to any human 
 being on the subject of religion, evidently made a deep impres- 
 sion. The news of these things spread over the whole district 
 in a single day. As my friend and I returned home in the after- 
 noon, the people in the fields threw down their implements of 
 labour, and ran to the wayside to speak to "Us as we passed ; 
 and to each party in succession we had to stop and tell the 
 wonderful things we had seen and heard. This was the origin 
 of the movement at Maghera. 
 
 '• The physical prostrations were comparatively few in number. 
 In a small number of cases, at most three or four, the affection 
 resulted in a sort of mental derangement, which in every 
 instance passed away in two or three weeks without impairing 
 the general health. At first very many of those affected saw 
 visions — thoughts of Christ, and of heaven, and of hell, which 
 rose up before their disturbed minds ; but at no time did any 
 persons here profess to prophesy, or to exhibit marks of a 
 supernatural kind upon their bodies. Extravagances of this 
 kind would not, I am confident, have received much encomage- 
 ment from the public. 
 
 " The first cases of prostration that occurred were in general 
 the most marked, and at all times there was considerable variety 
 in the physical phenomena, scarcely two persons being affected 
 alike. Few comparatively happened at the public meetings. 
 Sometimes they occurred in the street, but in general the people 
 were affected at their own homes while engaged in their ordi- 
 nary avocations, or perhaps when in their beds. A young 
 married woman told me that when out tending cattle in the 
 
GOOD SENSE OF THE PEOPLE. 227 
 
 field she began to think seriously in regard to her salvation, 
 sang by herself the 23d Psalm, then passed to the paraphrase, 
 
 ' As long as life its term extends, 
 Hope's blest dominion never ends/ 
 
 and as she concluded the second line she was struck down. 
 She knew of the revival meetings being held, but up to that 
 time had never been present at any, so that her affection could 
 not be ascribed to any merely human influence directly brought 
 to bear upon her. From the end of July less demonstrative 
 but no less satisfactory symptoms appeared among the young. 
 Some of the most intelligent of the young people — persons 
 whom I regard as the flower of the flock — became seriously 
 impressed in regard to their spiritual condition, and, after 
 passing through a season of darkness, and doubt, and tempta- 
 tion, were enabled to give themselves to the Lord, and to rejoice 
 in the hope of the gospel. Without physical affection or demon- 
 stration of any kind, they were gently and quietly drawn to the 
 Saviour. After the wind, and the earthquake, and the fire, 
 came the 'still small voice,' but in our case God was in them all. 
 "The people in general acted with great good sense. For 
 the first six weeks there was, no doubt, some excitement ; the 
 novelty of lay-preaching and prostrations drew crowds of 
 wonder-seekers for a time. The more ignorant believed at first 
 that every case of prostration was a case of conversion, and 
 that in order to conversion prostration was essential ; others 
 attached undue importance to visions ; and some imagined that 
 frequent returns of the physical affection, accompanied, as it 
 was in some cases, with dumbness and blindness, were peculiar 
 marks of Divine favour. But a little time, along with a little 
 instruction, corrected these mistakes. The body of the people 
 soon learned that animal excitement is a different thing from 
 spiritual life ; they lent a passive but a stubborn resistance to 
 the unworthy attempts made by sectaries of various kinds to 
 draw them from the membership of their own Church; and 
 they gave marvellously little credence to the 'lying wonders' 
 which it was frequently reported had taken place at a distance. 
 
228 RESULTS — THE WORK GOES ON. 
 
 "So soon as a sufficient number of young men had been 
 awakened and converted, they immediately shewed an inclina- 
 tion to be active and useful. Prayer-meetings were established 
 in town and country ; Sabbath-schools which had been sus- 
 pended were revived ; and at the various meetings held in the 
 town and country, the young men attend, and either lead in 
 prayer or deliver addresses, as their capacity enables them. 
 One of these meetings has been held every morning for the last 
 six months, and is conducted by the young men of the town ; 
 another, attended exclusively by females, is held every Friday 
 evening, at which some twelve or thirteen of the young ladies 
 of the congregation officiate each in her turn. Every country 
 district also has its prayer-meeting. In general they are all 
 well attended, and have done much good. 
 
 " The results so far have been very beneficial. In a congre- 
 gation of three hundred and fifty families there are about a 
 hundred individuals who have benefited more or less, some of 
 them having, for the first time, experienced a saving change, 
 and others, who were believers previously, having received a 
 new and richer baptism of the Holy Ghost. Others may have 
 benefited, with whom there was less outward demonstration, 
 and whose cases have not come to my knowledge. Making 
 every allowance for such cases, however, there is no denying 
 that, for so far here, the mass of the community has been 
 passed over, and the heart of the population has not yet been 
 touched. The district has only received some drops of the 
 shower. But even drops have done us good. The popular 
 feeling is much more favourable to religion. Attendance on 
 the means of grace has been improved. Nineteen pounds' 
 worth of Bibles and Testaments were sold during 1859 at 
 our village depository, whereas the average of other years was 
 no more than six. Domestic prayer has been commenced in 
 many families where it was formerly neglected, the young of 
 both sexes in many instances discharging the duty that is 
 generally expected from the father ; while drunkenness and 
 immorality are neither so public nor so prevalent as in for- 
 mer times. Greater things have been done for others, but 
 
LINE OF ACTION THAT MINISTERS SHOULD PUESUE. 229 
 
 it is with thankful hearts that we acknowledge He has done 
 great things for us. Besides, richer blessings may be still 
 in store for us. While writing this brief narrative, I have 
 been called out this day (20th January 1860) to visit an inter- 
 esting young girl, a member of my communicants' class, who 
 was affected on Wednesday evening last for the first time. 
 She is at present rejoicing in the Saviour. Other cases have 
 lately occurred in the neighbourhood, so that even yet the work 
 goes on. 
 
 " One main design of history is to enable future generations 
 to profit by the experience of the past. The benefit w^hich I 
 received from reading, at the outset of the late movement, the 
 article in the Princeton Review on the ' Bodily Efifects of 
 Keligious Excitement,' and also the 'Autobiography of Peter 
 Cartwright,' was so great, that I am encouraged to repay it in 
 some measure by leaving on record my opinion of the line of 
 action that ministers should pursue, if it shall please God, on 
 any future occasion, to send on our Church and country a simi- 
 lar visitation. 
 
 " 1. The ministers ought to fall in with the movement, avoid- 
 ing the extremes of doggedly opposing it, on the one hand, or 
 sanctioning extravagances, on the other ; and they should seek 
 to gain such influence with its promoters as vnil enable them 
 to foster the good, and check the evils Hkely to ensue. 
 
 " 2. Undue excitement should be discouraged ; it may do 
 harm, it can do no good. If reason and good sense do not 
 hold the helm, the ship is in danger. 
 
 " 3. Every reasonable opportunity should be given for hold- 
 ing meetings; but meetings should not in general continue 
 more than a few hours at a time. 
 
 " 4. The people should be warned from the first against pro- 
 selytism ; they should be instructed repeatedly in the nature of 
 true conversion, and taught not to give heed to signs and visions, 
 but to the written word of God- 
 
 " 5. Laymen of sound principles and good character should be 
 afforded every facility for addressing the people in the neigh- 
 bourhoods where they reside, and where they are personally 
 
230 ARREST ON A JAUNTING-CAR — NEWTONLIMAVADY. 
 
 known ; but persons not well instructed in religion, even 
 though converted, should not be encouraged to speak till they 
 have gathered sufficient knowledge ; and strolling orators of 
 all kinds, coming from a distance, should not be permitted to 
 address any congregation. During the present movement some 
 servant-boys have left their employments, and though barely 
 able to read, are now ranging over the province, and striving 
 to earn a living from the public by itinerant preaching. Good 
 can scarcely result from such conduct, either to the public or 
 themselves." 
 
 " We also," says the Rev. James Wilson of Lecumpher, " have 
 had most wonderful and impressive scenes, all indicating the 
 sovereignty and gracious character of the work. We have had 
 convictions, not only in the church, but in the family, in the 
 absence of all excitement, and not a few during the silence of 
 the night season. While some have taken upon themselves to 
 account for all thes3 manifestations from an over-heated atmo- 
 sphere, I may state that they have continued during the most 
 intensely cold days in the late storm. So far as I have seen, 
 they have been attended with good. In one case the screams 
 were heard by persons at home at work, and they became con- 
 vinced of sin, and cried for mercy. In another case four per- 
 sons were so weakened by their prostration, that they and some 
 friends were detained in the vestry till a late hour before they 
 could be removed. During this time, some members of an 
 Episcopal family were passing the road on a jaunting-car, and 
 on seeing the light in the window, the oldest, a girl above 
 twenty years of age, immediately cried out, and, after proceed- 
 ing a little way, was so prostrated that the car-party were de- 
 tained at a house for some time, and then, on returning home, 
 a second and a third cried out till morning. The whole family 
 were engaged in prayer. At daybreak all had found peace. 
 On hearing of what had occurred, a neighbour came to see 
 them, and was similarly affected. They are, I believe, all main- 
 taining a walk and conversation becoming the gospel." 
 
 In the town of Newtonlimavady, the movement commenced 
 toward the end of the month of May in pretty much the usual 
 
MR NORTH AND THE DOCTRINE OP REALISATION. 231 
 
 manner. In a short time the entire vale of the Roe was the 
 scene of most intense emotion. Business was all but sus- 
 pended. Nothing was thought or talked of in every circle but 
 the wonders incomprehensible on every hand around. " A 
 thrill of solemn dread/' says the Rev. N. M'A. Brown, " passed 
 like an electric current, from the one end of th© presbytery to 
 the other. The twelve congregations were all assembled in 
 crowded houses, in the course of a few days, and multitudes in 
 each were crying for mercy in screams of agony. 
 
 "From Sabbath the 12th June till the present time, a united 
 meeting of all the Presbyterian congregations in, town has been 
 held daily ; multitudes of converts, young and old, being most 
 ready to engage in rehgious exercises. 
 
 " A wonderful impetus was given to the good work by the 
 frequent visits and addresses of friends from Scotland and else- 
 where, but especially of Mr Guinness and Brownlow North, Esq. 
 The former addressed some three thousand persons in the open 
 air with effect and acceptance ; but the impression produced by 
 Mr North was deeper still, and doubtless will be more lasting. 
 
 " He visited this place twice within a week, and preached 
 once in the open air and once in a house of worship on each 
 occasion — four addresses in all. The house he spoke in was 
 literally crammed on both occasions. The first open-air address 
 was attended by some four thousand of an audience, and the 
 second by upwards of seven thousand — the second-largest 
 audience he had in Ireland. These addresses were faithful and 
 true — solemn, searching, and practical — and were highly dis- 
 tinguished for fervour, unction, and power. The realisation 
 of the sinner's lost condition — ^of the living God just here and 
 looking on — and of a present salvation through faith in God's 
 Son, was the theme upon which he specially dwelt. Want of 
 realisation of God and of divine things, he asserted, was prac- 
 tical infidelity, and lay at the root of every sinful, indifferent, 
 and ungodly life. He held a meeting of those who were anxious 
 to ' renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh,' and ' present 
 their bodies living sacrifices to God ; ' and to these he delivered 
 an address particularly suited to their circumstances. His visit 
 
232 THE CONVERTS — THEIR ADDRESSES AND PEAYERS. 
 
 will long be thankfully remembered, and liis faithful admoni- 
 tions produced an effect on many that shall never be altogether 
 known till 'the day shall declare it.' 
 
 " The effects I shall sum up in a few words : — Drinking of 
 ardent spirits was scarcely known in town for the months of 
 June, July, and August. Of those impressed, not more than 
 one or two have gone back to intemperance. Party spirit and 
 quarrelling, are all but dead. The assistant-barrister has almost 
 nothing to do on the Crown day. Prayer-meetings are held in 
 every hamlet of the country and in every street of the town 
 almost every evening, and sometimes twice on the same even- 
 ing, in different places, by the same persons. Scarcely a young 
 man above the age of fourteen, either in town or country, will 
 refuse to pray publicly in any meeting ; and sometimes little 
 boys, of nine or ten years old, astonish their grandfathers by the 
 beauty and fervour of their devotions. The daily meeting is 
 well attended, and the early zeal appears scarcely aught abated. 
 Many that were strangers to the house of God almost all their 
 lives, are now among the most regular attendants ; and family 
 and private prayer, that used to be the exception, have now 
 become the rule." 
 
 In a conversation with Mr Brown, since the above was \\Tit- 
 ten, I learned the gratifying fact that, as one of the happy 
 results of the movement, no less than eight young men, of 
 whom six have almost arrived at maturity, were led to com- 
 mence the work of preparation for the Christian ministry. 
 They are all now regularly applying themselves with this view 
 to their studies, while, at the same time, they lend their assist- 
 ance, as they have opportunity, to the conducting of the religious 
 exercises in connexion with the daily meeting for prayer. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Y. Killen, of Ballykelly, after narrating the 
 mode in which the work began among the people of his charge, 
 thus proceeds to describe its progress and results : — 
 
 The Converts — Their Addresses and Prayers. — " For some time 
 at first, some of those who had been converted during the re- 
 vival addressed the meetings, — relating their own experience — 
 telling how it was with them in the days of their unregeueracy 
 
children's meetings. 233 
 
 — how they had tasted the pleasures of sin and the world, and 
 found them vain and unsatisfying — how they had been awakened 
 to a sense of their guilt and danger, and led to see the refuges 
 of lies in which they had hitherto trusted — and how the Spirit 
 of God had revealed Christ to their souls as the only Saviour 
 for guilty sinners. These addresses were generally simple, scrip- 
 tural, and earnest — sometimes most touching and beautiful; 
 and coming, as they did, from the hps of young persons well 
 known to those present, and who, they were all aware, would 
 have previously shrunk from opening theu' lips in the presence 
 of others, produced a profound impression. Always at the close 
 of their statements they prayed ; and if absorbing fervency, and 
 childlike confidence, and deep self-a,basement, and powerful 
 pleading constitute the very essence of prayer, then I have 
 indeed listened, during the past summer, to some of the most 
 genuine specimens of true prayer it has ever been my lot to hear. 
 Very few of the converts were willing to address our congrega- 
 tional meeting after the first statement of their experience. 
 Many of them, however, are still ready to lead in prayer, and 
 take their part in conducting district meetings. 
 
 "At these meetings, and also at public worship on the Sab- 
 bath, we have had many requests for special prayer, for indivi- 
 duals, families, and congregations — sometimes presented by the 
 parties themselves, and sometimes by friends who took an inte- 
 rest in their spiritual welfare. Above a hundred and forty such 
 requests have been presented. 
 
 "Besides the prayer-meetings now in operation, which are 
 conducted by adults, a number of the children of one of our 
 daily schools remain by themselves twice a week, after school 
 hours, for mutual prayer. The meeting was commenced of 
 the free motion of the children, and without the know- 
 ledge of the teacher. One evening, as his own children did 
 not follow him home as usual, he became anxious about 
 them, and, after waiting for some time, returned towards 
 the school-house to ascertain the cause of the delay. On 
 approaching it, he was met by the children in tears, and 
 found that they had already met for prayer in this way for 
 
234 PREACHING AND ITS EFFECT. 
 
 several days, and that on this day, while they prayed, one of 
 the boys had been stricken, which had produced a deep impres- 
 sion on the rest. Another children's prayer-meeting was held 
 for several months in the barn of one of our elders, with an 
 attendance of about twenty of the lambs of the flock. It had 
 met several times before he was aware of its existence, but has 
 lately been discontinued, as the children could not attend in the 
 dark evenings. ' Mamma,' said a little boy of eight years, who 
 had been left at home one Sabbath to watch the cows, to his 
 mother on her return from public worship, ' we had a fine day 
 to-day.' 'What were you doing, dear?' asked the mother, ex- 
 pecting to hear of some childish plays. ' Oh,' replied the child, 
 ' So-and-so came,' mentioning some of liis young companions, 
 'and we had a prayer-meeting on the roadside.' 
 
 Preaching and its Effect. — " Formerly it was almost impossible 
 to make one's hearers feel under the preaching of the Word. 
 While the revival prevailed in its intensity, preaching was 
 doubtless easier and pleasanter work than ever before, for the 
 simplest truths, presented in the plainest form, were greedily 
 drunk in by the hearers ; but, in another sense, more difficult, 
 for there was such tenderness of conscience on the part of the 
 young Christians, that one could scarcely address a word of 
 warning to the impenitent, or point out the works of sinners in 
 Zion, without exciting in their minds the fear that they wxre, 
 after all, deceiving themselves, and plunging them into the 
 depths of despair. For years I had longed and prayed to see 
 some evident and immediate results produced by the preaching 
 of the word, and have been made to see that, when wielded only 
 by my hand, the hammer of the word, no matter what force of 
 argument, or strength of expression, or dreadful pictures I might 
 employ, only rebounded harmlessly from the heart of stone. 
 Last summer, I have seen the mere reading of the words, ' Thy 
 heart is not right in the sight of God,' arouse the fears of a 
 young woman, and cause her to shriek for mercy. 
 
 " At the dispensation of the Lord's Supper there were deep 
 and solemn feelings, more so than I ever witnessed here, and I 
 believe God's children felt that they were seasons of special and 
 
THE OLD PROFESSION BUT HYPOCEISY. 235 
 
 real fellowship with Jesus. When the session met for the final 
 examination of the candidates on their knowledge and Christian 
 experience, one of the elders, seeing among them a child of 
 twelve years, said, ' I have great doubts about the propriety of 
 admitting any so young.' ' Well,' said I, ' we must wait till we 
 have examined them, and judge of them individually by their 
 answers.' One after another appeared before us, till it was the 
 turn of that little girl ; and when she had replied to the usual 
 doctrinal and experimental questions, it was an impressive sight 
 to see the tears trickling from the eyes of the elders ; while the 
 one who had made the above remark stood up, and, with deep 
 emotion, declared that now he could say nothing against it. 
 AVe have agreed to observe the Lord's Supper quarterly for the 
 time to come, instead of half-yearly as heretofore. 
 
 The Prostrations. — " For a time we had, both at the ordinary 
 service of the Sabbath and the meetings during the week, a great 
 number of bodily prostrations. They were not produced by 
 crowded meetings — many of them occurred in the open air, in 
 the cool of the summer evenings, some of them in the fields, and 
 some by the roadside, as parties were returning home at mid- 
 night, and some in their own houses. There was nothing un- 
 usually exciting in the sermons. They commenced here while I 
 was preaching an old sermon, delivered years before to my for- 
 mer charge without producing any visible efiect, and to which, 
 from want of time for preparation, I was obliged that day to 
 resort. Indeed, many of the sermons I preached last summer 
 had been dehvered elsewhere without exciting any emotion. 
 
 " Some of those prostrated did not appear to have felt any 
 particular anxiety before they were stricken. They had come 
 to the meetings through mere curiosity, and were not at the 
 time under any convictions of sin. Sometimes, when I ex- 
 amined them afterwards on the subject, they could not recollect 
 that they had ever been thinking either of their sins or their 
 souls when they were prostrated. 
 
 The Old Profession hut Hypocrisy. — " Many of those afiected 
 were already, some for many years, communicants ; but they 
 have confessed that they had previously only a form of godli- 
 
236 THE tempter's wiles. 
 
 ness, in which they rested, while they felt not its living power. 
 
 E. J is a respectable farmer, of good moral character, father 
 
 of a family, and long a church-member, leading, as men would 
 hitherto have said, a consistent life. He was stricken in his 
 own house while reading his Bible — came to a meeting a few 
 evenings after — told the people that, as his neighbours, they all 
 knew him, and were aware that he would not, for any con- 
 sideration, have opened his mouth among them before; but 
 that he felt constrained to speak to them — declared that he had 
 regarded himself as a very good Christian, but had now been 
 made to feel that his former profession was only hypocrisy, and 
 that he had till then experienced no real spiritual danger ; but 
 that he blessed God that He had given him His Spirit, and 
 opened his eyes, and enabled him to cast himseK as a guilty 
 sinner upon the merits of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Some StricJcen who were in Christ before. — " It w^as not the 
 unconverted alone •who were thus stricken. When many who 
 had, I firmly believe, closed with Christ before, beheld the joy 
 and love of the young converts, so far surpassing anything they 
 had themselves experienced, they longed to attain a similar 
 state of feeUng, and desired to be stricken as the most likely 
 means. They came to regard the prostrations as a mark of 
 God's special favour, and thought they could not be His children 
 in reality unless they were affected like the others. Many of 
 them, in spite of the remonstrances addressed to them, thus 
 wrought themselves into a state of deep anxiety, and were 
 actually prostrated. Sometimes their experience, while affected, 
 was very similar to that of the unconverted. Frequently it was 
 almost wholly joyful and triumphant. 
 
 The Tempter's Wiles. — " While some Christians have received 
 a large accession to their spiritual joy, and were gladdened by 
 unwonted consolations, others, as Avell as some of the awakened, 
 have been assailed W'ith sore temptations. One man was for 
 wrecks bordering on a state of distraction, being tempted to 
 think that he was utterly forsaken of God, and frequently to 
 doubt the very existence of Jehovah. A young woman one 
 night had the question, 'How do you know there is a Christ?' 
 
MONEYMOEE — THE FIRST CASK 237 
 
 injected, as it were, into her mind. It recurred to her again and 
 again. Do what she might, she could not get rid of it. Even 
 in her prayers the question would be rung in her ears, ' Where 
 is the use of praying if there is no Christ ? ' Sometimes when 
 she applied to God's Word for relief, she could not lay hold of 
 a single promise. Sometimes a single text formed her sheet- 
 anchor. For weeks this continued, till it was feared her mind 
 would give way under the struggle ; but now, I am thankful to 
 say, she is greatly better, and able to lay hold of Jesus as her 
 Saviour. We have had several such cases, some of them most 
 remarkably resembling the temptations of John Bunyan, as 
 recorded in his ' Grace Abounding.' 
 
 " At present, we have not by any means the same liveliness 
 which we had some months ago, even among true Christians ; 
 and those who only experienced passing convictions are going 
 back to thek old sins. Still, I have every reason to believe there 
 has been a most genuine work of grace in many hearts, whose 
 fruits will never pass away ; and on conversing with those who 
 have, I trust, been savingly impressed, I find that they continue 
 in a tender frame, and are diligent in the discharge of their 
 personal and social duties." 
 
 One of the many places early visited in County Derry was 
 Moneymore, where the work of revival commenced in the be- 
 ginning of June. The first case was that of one who was a 
 noted drunkard in the neighbourhood, who, as often as he had 
 occasion to visit any of the neighbouring towns, was, before he 
 left, confined in the "lock-up" for his immoderate use of ardent 
 liquor. After being prostrated several hours he attained true 
 peace, and ever since he has been a new man in his entire 
 habits and character. The manner of his countenance is alto- 
 gether changed, and it wears an aspect of peculiar sweetness to 
 this day. 
 
 At an open-air assemblage one evening on the "Fair Hill," 
 among those affected was a young woman, who took the earliest 
 opportunity of declaring her state of mind to the Rev. Dr 
 Barnett, in a letter which she put into his hand, and of which 
 I subjoin an exact copy; with this only difference, that the 
 
238 LETTER FROM A YOUNG WOMAN. 
 
 orthography is corrected. It will be seen that the grammatical 
 structure might also be improved, but on this I make no change 
 whatever : — 
 
 "June 27, 1859. 
 
 " I who have been in darkness and in sin all my life long, 
 and a rejecter of the Most High and His blessed Word ; which 
 Word, by the preaching of one of these young converts, a.nd the 
 blessing of God, and of His Holy Spirit accompanying it to 
 my heart, has brought me from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God. When that powerful voice cried, 
 *Stop !' the light of His righteous law discovered to me my 
 sin, and I saw I had been a transgressor from the womb. My 
 conduct appeared bad, and I feared the consequence ; but when 
 the hidden depravity of my heart was revealed, and the foun- 
 tains of the great deep pit of corruption were broken up, I 
 died. Before, I endeavoured and strove to do something for 
 relief ; but now all was in vain. All was over ; hope expired, 
 self-despair seized me, misery surrounded me, gloom spread 
 its horrible wings over me, and despair of mercy looked in 
 upon me. In this condition I lay at the door of mercy, like 
 another poor Lazarus, full of sores, panting for a crumb of 
 mercy, if a crumb might be spared ; and in this case I was 
 when He was pleased to speak pardon to my soul, peace to 
 my conscience, and joy to my heart. And never, never can I 
 forget the sweetness of His mercy, but shall often with plea- 
 sure sing — 
 
 ' Sweet was the hour I freedom felt, 
 
 To feel my Jesus mine ; 
 I view His lovely face, and melt 
 In pleasure all divine.' 
 
 " I therefore praise God for giving me to know what it is to 
 be born of the Holy Spirit, and what prayer is. It is not words 
 out of a book, but it is the desire of the heart. It is my desire 
 now to give up my book of prayer, and to take up the Holy 
 Bible, and pray that the Holy Spirit may bring it home to my 
 heart with refreshing streams of mercy, I also pray that all 
 unconverted people, and all Protestant ministers who do not 
 
THE youths' meeting. 239 
 
 believe in this blessed work of the Holy Spirit, may be con- 
 verted and believe. 
 
 '' To the Rev. Dr Barnett." 
 
 The only other incident connected with the work in the same 
 neighbourhood that I shall introduce, is a peculiarly touching 
 one, as follows : — 
 
 The Youths^ Meeting. — A young lad, aged seventeen, who had 
 been brought to a knowledge of salvation at Coleraine, where 
 he had been in a mercantile establishment, came on a visit to his 
 friends at Moneymore. During the ten days which he spent 
 there, he called together seven others, his young associates, with 
 whom he regularly spent some portion of every day in prayer. The 
 last evening of his visit, they met as usual, and were addressed 
 by him with deep solemnity, when all at once, six of the seven 
 fell down imploring mercy. It was not long till they all rose 
 rejoicing, and then, addressing him who alone remained un- 
 moved, they appealed to him and said, " And are you the only 
 one among us who will put Christ to shame ? " when, overcome 
 by their fervent expostulation, he also cried out in the same 
 manner as the rest had done for mercy. Of these seven youths, 
 five are Presbyterians, and have since joined the communion of 
 the Church. The other two are Episcopalians, and, I believe? 
 have also witnessed a good confession. All are reported as 
 consistent in their deportment, and he who was the instrument 
 in drawing them to the possession of like precious faith, has the 
 joy unspeakable of regarding them as given to his entreaties 
 and his prayers. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY TYEONE. 
 
 The Revival in the Fair of Orritor, and its Results — The Work in 
 Cookstown and Vicinity — A Case of " Prophesying," and its Ex- 
 posure — The Movable Tent — Things Brought to Remembrance — 
 Movement at Castlederg — Its Origin through Commercial Travel- 
 lers — Wesleyan and Presbyterian Co-operation — Results — Cheering 
 Fact as to the Progress of the Work — Strabane — Narrative of the 
 Work in a Community where there was no Remarkable Excite- 
 ment. 
 
 Not far from Moneymore, the place last mentioned in the 
 preceding chapter, is the village of Orritor, of which, in con- 
 nexion with the revival, there is one notable incident which 
 may not be omitted here. It may be properly entitled 
 
 The Revival in the Fair. — In the beginning of the month of 
 June, there is an annual fair at Orritor. It is a kind of Donny- 
 brook in miniature, and has ever been regarded by the well- 
 disposed as a grievous nuisance, injurious alike to morals and 
 religion. Thither the idle and the profane have been in the 
 habit of resorting from year to year, and there they met with 
 those attractions which best accorded with their depraved 
 taste and desire — the show, the licensed drinking-tent, the 
 gamingtable. It was a scene where Satan held high festival, 
 and whence a noxious influence was diffused over the whole 
 neighbourhood. The Rev. W. Wray, the Presbyterian minister 
 of the place, resolved, during the period of the revival, when 
 an unwonted seriousness and awe pervaded the community, to 
 grapple with this established and gigantic evil. He took occa- 
 
THE REVIVAL lH THE FAIR. 241 
 
 sion, accordingly, to announce on tlie Sabbath previous, that 
 divine service would be held in the church at a period when 
 he knew the fair would be at its height, and its frequenters 
 would be in the very heyday of their boisterous revelry. About 
 two hundred persons, at the hour appointed, assembled for 
 religious exercises, which were continued in the church till 
 about three o'clock. By that time some of his brethren from 
 the neighbourhood, whom the worthy pastor had invited to 
 come to his assistance, had arrived. It was then at once re- 
 solved to meet the adversary face to face, and on his own 
 ground. The congregation was immediately dismissed, and 
 marching to a field hard by, the ministers in front, they took 
 up a position right in the very camp of the enemy, their num- 
 bers having so much increased on the way, that when the 
 service was resumed, they were as four to one compared with 
 those who remained on the fair ground in the pursuit of 
 "vanity." The motley congregation thus attracted were held 
 attentive to the word of truth for hours together; and before 
 they separated, some had given way before the higher Power 
 which lighted down upon them, and the noise of riot and dis- 
 sipation was hushed before the agonised and despairing cry for 
 mercy. Many in other years had taken their first step at this 
 country fair on the downward course of rum ; but a far different 
 experience is associated with its last gatherings, for there are 
 those in that neighbourhood who will never cease to think of 
 these as marking a new era in their history, even the period 
 when they forsook the way of sin and folly, and entered on the 
 path to life and immortality. 
 
 "Among the many individuals of whom I could speak as 
 dating their first serious impressions from that day," says the 
 minister of the place, " there is a man in connexion with my 
 congregation who was a notorious drunkard. On every occasion 
 that could furnish him any excuse, he indulged in the inebriat- 
 ing beverage ; so that he brought on his children poverty, on 
 his wife misery, and on himself disgrace. And such a state of 
 things would, doubtless, have continued, had not the Spirit of 
 the living God brought him to see the evil of drinking ; for, to 
 
 Q 
 
242 THE WORK IN COOKSTOVVN 
 
 use his own words, 'thirty ministers could not have effected the 
 slightest change. I would have listened to them, but no sooner 
 but of sight than I went my own way. I saw not the evil of 
 drinking, and regretted it not, but only the mischief v^hioh'! did 
 ivJien drunk' This man is now steady — not only so, but is an 
 advocate for total abstinence — attends regularly on public 
 worship, has prayer-meetings in his own house, and contributes 
 of his substance to the cause of God." 
 
 In the districts adjacent to that last mentioned, there has 
 been a great awakening, with corresponding results. 
 
 " If," says the Rev. J. P. Wilson, " we take a district four 
 miles round Cookstown, hundreds have been added to the com- 
 munion of the Church. Family worship has been established 
 where it was never observed before ; people come out to the 
 house of God in greater numbers, and listen with more marked 
 attention ; district prayer-meetings are multiplied ; drunkards 
 have been reformed ; and neighbourhoods have totally changed 
 their character. Drunkenness and blasphemy have greatly 
 diminished ; though, as the larger part of the population is 
 Roman Catholic, and therefore disposed to mock at the revival, 
 we need not be surprised to find cases of drunkenness before 
 our magistrates, or to hear the awful oath from some as they 
 return from market. 
 
 " We have had some extravagances here, but the people have 
 settled down to an earnest, sober, prayerful use of the means of 
 grace ; and whether we look to old men of seventy seeking to 
 be numbered among God's people, or to the large number of 
 young persons who wait with regularity on instruction in con- 
 verts' classes, or to the numbers whom we know to be diligently 
 and prayerfully studying the Word of God, I believe that con- 
 version and humble walking with God were never prospering 
 more than they are at present." 
 
 To the same effect writes the Rev. J. K. Leslie : — 
 
 " I am now busily engaged visiting in the country ; and the 
 downright reality of the glorious revival is demonstrated in the 
 extraordinary transformation of character I witness in many 
 
AND VICINITY. 243 
 
 families, who, from being the most careless, are now ready for 
 every good work. I never enjoyed such real pleasure in any 
 former visitation of my people. Nothing amazes me more than 
 the number of the prayer-meetings that are established every- 
 where throughout the country. Neither my brethren nor my- 
 self have had anything to do with the formation or sustenance 
 of them. All false delicacy and shame are laid aside in matters 
 of religion, and men and boys that could not be induced to 
 pray before others, now do so with effect and profit." 
 
 "There has, no doubt," says the Rev. John Maxwell of 
 Brigh, " been largely intermingled with the work of God much 
 both of man and the devil's work that was calculated to do 
 great evil ; but the fears I at one time cherished on this matter 
 have to a great extent been agreeably disappointed, and I now 
 am strongly impressed with the conviction that permanent 
 spiritual good will be the result. Of the stricken ones, while 
 some have ended in temporary conviction, I fully believe the 
 great majority were either cases of conversion or the revival of 
 genuine Cliristians. Many have received much spiritual profit 
 where no physical manifestation took place, and I am every 
 week learning new instances of this sort. The mind of one 
 individual gave way under intense conviction, but is now per- 
 fectly restored. The ' great fear ' which was upon the general 
 population is now passing away, but I trust the good work is 
 still progressing. On last Sabbath evening I was privileged to 
 witness a most refreshing scene, at a service I conducted in 
 Lord Castlestuart's private chapel." 
 
 Among the extravagances above referred to as having created 
 considerable anxiety at one period in this neighbourhood, I 
 may notice 
 
 A Case of " Prophesying''' as it was believed in for a time, 
 which, in connexion with some others of a like character, was 
 calculated to bring much discredit upon the work. 
 
 There was a young man, of great appearance of sanctity, who 
 so impressed the common people of the district by the convic- 
 tion of his insight into futurity, that they unhesitatingly gave 
 
244 A CASE OF " prophesying" EXPOSED. 
 
 themselves up to his prophetic influences. It was his practice 
 to announce to certain individuals, either in person or by dele- 
 gation, that their days were numbered, and that at such and 
 such a period they would cease to live. These intimations, 
 accredited alike by the unhappy subjects of them, and by the 
 general community, were calculated, as will at once be seen, to 
 raise an intense excitement throughout the whole neighbour- 
 hood. On one occasion, at a meeting of his adherents, the 
 " prophet " intimated to them, that, to the number of seventy, 
 they were divinely commissioned to proceed successively to a 
 certain house, and each was to announce to its occupier that 
 within a fortnight from that date his life would come to an 
 inevitable end. The effect of such a visitation, at a period when 
 the public mind was intensely roused, was, in the case of him 
 to whom the seventy messages, accompanied with awful admo- 
 nition, not unmixed with tears and cries on his behalf, were 
 addressed, almost enough to bring about the predicted issue. 
 A meeting was held at which the subject of the pre-intimation 
 was, for the last time, to have prayer offered on his behalf ; as, 
 if he did not then obtain peace and salvation, his destiny for 
 eternity was to be regarded as irrevocably sealed. The time had 
 arrived, and all were in grave expectancy, when uprose an in- 
 telligent and pious layman, and opening the Bible, he read 
 aloud the statements therein contained bearing on the charac- 
 ter and exposing the pretensions of false prophets ; and as he 
 read he enforced his argument, mixing up for an hour together 
 scriptural exposition with vehement a]:)peal and scathing de- 
 nunciations of the man who dared to affect a knowledge of the 
 secrets of the unknown future, while the auditory were spell- 
 bound by his artless eloquence. "When he had concluded, the 
 pretender to the prophetic gift stood up, and in a tone of deep 
 humiliation confessed that he had been all the while deceiving 
 himself and others. Those who had been the dupes of the 
 delusion looked on in blank amazement and dismay; and on 
 their "chief" making acknowledgment of his delinquencies, 
 their eyes were at length opened to the full extent of their 
 own. folly and infatuation. His prophesyings had come to an 
 
THINGS BROUGHT TO REMEMBRANCE. 245 
 
 untimely end, and Cookstown and its neighbourhood were no 
 more deluded by the pretended inspiration. 
 
 From the many incidents and cases supplied from other 
 districts in Tyrone, I can only select the following : — 
 
 The Movable Tent. — "In our district," writes the Rev, J. 
 M'Askie of Clogherney, " where a prayer-meeting has been held 
 since the month of June last, the attendance was so great, that 
 no place could be found large enough to contain the numbers 
 of all denominations who flocked to it. They erected a tent, 
 which is movable, and which, with a barn to which it is always 
 attached, holds about four hundred. I have seen five hundred 
 crammed into it on one of the coldest nights during the winter, 
 and standing for three hours listening with the most intense 
 attention to the preaching of the word." 
 
 Things Brought to Remembrance. — " I mention," says the 
 same minister, " the case of an amiable young girl, as one of the 
 most striking fulfilments of the promise, ' Ho shall teach you 
 all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,' it has 
 been my privilege to witness. She was stricken at a meeting in 
 B., with some others. When returning to consciousness, or 
 rather, when recovering the use of speech — for she appeared to 
 be totally unconscious of the presence of any one, as she lay 
 with eyes turned up to heaven, and fixed — for about four 
 hours she continued repeating sermons and other addresses 
 dehvered by myself during the previous month. In many 
 instances she repeated whole passages of them verbatim. 
 Pausing at intervals, she would exclaim, ' Oh, what have I not 
 heard!' and then she would resume the repetition of some 
 striking passages with a fluency and an accuracy that were 
 perfectly astonishing. But what struck me most in her case 
 was the readiness with which memory called up those portions 
 of the Word of God most suitable under her own peculiar cir- 
 cumstances. Not less than one hundred Scripture texts were 
 repeated, and sometimes half a chapter at once, with the greatest 
 accuracy, and all bearing upon her own case. I have had fre- 
 quent opportunities of conversing with her since, and, what is 
 very strange, many of the passages in the sermons so fluently 
 
246 COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS AND THE REVIVAT^ 
 
 repeated that night, seem to be quite forgotten, and the por- 
 tions of Scripture she could not repeat with the same accuracy. 
 E. J is one of the happiest of Christians." 
 
 At Castlederg there was a great awakening. From the out- 
 set, the Wesleyan and Presbyterian ministers co-operated in the 
 movement — especially at the evening meetings, which were 
 held in the open air during the summer months. Having at a 
 subsequent period had occasion to visit the place, in connexion 
 with the opening of a Presbyterian church, I had an oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing a pleasing instance of the harmony exist- 
 ing between the members of these denominations. The church 
 going habits of the people were so increased by the revival, that, 
 in anticipation of an attendance at the dedication services 
 beyond what the new structure could possibly accommodate, 
 the Weslej'an*' brethren had made an offer of their chapel, which 
 was also filled on the day in question by a respectable audience, 
 while another minister, who had been provided in the event of 
 such a necessity arising, officiated. Although the population is 
 chiefly agricultural, the amount raised, so far as I can recollect, 
 was about £130. 
 
 The revival in this neighbourhood had an unwonted origin, 
 the agents being not the stated ministers or visitors of the 
 usual class from the awakened districts, but commercial tra- 
 vellers^ whose business had brought them to the village through 
 some of the towns of Derry and Antrim. " All of these per- 
 sons," says the Rev. John Crockett, " saw and bore witness to 
 the great change wrought in the hearts of those with whom 
 they were brought into contact. Some of them, who had them- 
 selves become the subjects of this change, were led to stop in 
 our town over Sabbath, and being of our communion, attending 
 our services on the Lord's-day, and being known to us, an oppor- 
 tunity was given them to speak to the people after service, and 
 thus to relate what they had seen in others, and what they were 
 made to feel in themselves. This practice was pursued for two 
 or three Sabbaths in my own and the neighbouring congrega- 
 tions, and contributed very much to produce deep and serious 
 impressions on one and all of us. About the middle of the 
 
OPEN-AIK MEETINGS AT CASTLEDERG. 247 
 
 month of August, Mr Armstrong, Mr Love, and myself, joined 
 with the ministers of the Wesleyan Methodists in holding an 
 open-air service every Sabbath evening at five o'clock, in a field 
 procured for the purpose adjoining the town. The attendance 
 was large — say from three to four thousand. For a time all 
 that could be noticed was a deep seriousness, and an unwilling- 
 ness on the part of many to depart when the service was over, 
 which was not before the shades of the evening had set deeply 
 in. On the fourth evening of our service, the assembly was 
 visibly moved, many cried for pardon of sin in great bitterness 
 of heart, and some were prostrated and carried off the field b}' 
 their friends to some place of quietness ; and every succeeding 
 evening, so long as this service was continued — which was for 
 six or eight Sabbaths — the power of God was manifested on 
 many. The persons affected at the meetings were met with, by 
 the pastors of the difierent congregations at their respective 
 places of worship, and were ministered unto till a late hour. 
 At none of these meetings was there anything said particularly 
 exciting, with the exception of two or three occasions, when 
 some young men who were introduced spoke perhaps rather 
 pointedlj'- to the feelings, and in a way calculated to produce 
 great terror." 
 
 Referring to some who had been the subjects of prostration, 
 Mr Crockett states that "stubborn and self-willed servants" 
 evinced subsequently much the same temper as before. He 
 accounts for this largely by their ignorance; as, even when 
 anxious for the glory of God and the good of others, they did 
 not well know how to set about it. He states also that he has 
 found a great unwillingness in many of them to receive instruc- 
 tion. "They are full of a desire for prayer and singing the 
 praises of God ; while, at the same time, they are careless of 
 contemplating the truth as it is in Jesus. Such cases, however, 
 so far as I can judge of the work generally, are exceptional — 
 the greatest readiness being, for the most part, e\dnced by 
 those who were previously ignorant to be instructed in the 
 gospel. 
 
 " It is no exaggeration to say," continues the narrator, " that 
 
248 RESULTS AT CASTLEDERG. 
 
 the attendance at our houses of worship is double what it was 
 last year, and that attention to the services of the sanctuary 
 fills every heart. There is a new feature manifested in our 
 assemblies — the people evidently come to hear, and to learn 
 that they may obey. On the last administration of the sacra- 
 ment in our congregations, there was at least one-third of an 
 addition to our communicants' roll, and this increase consisted 
 principally of young converts. Prayer-meetings are in active 
 operation in our bounds, and there is not anything connected 
 with the whole movement so astonishing as the fervent, elo- 
 quent, and well-conceived prayers put forth on these occasions 
 by young converts, whose education and opportunities for 
 mental improvement have been so limited. A few Sabbaths 
 ago I made an appeal to my people for some money to procure 
 a congregational library, that knowledge might be increased 
 among our young, and I was met in a way I did not expect — 
 all were inclined to give. Had the subject been mooted among 
 us some years ago, not one in twenty would have responded to 
 the call. It is true the excitement which was manifested some 
 months ago has subsided, but the work, nevertheless, manifests 
 progress; and in different families I can detect palpable evi- 
 dence of its good effects. For example, family worship is now 
 more the rule than the exception, and other duties may be said to 
 keep pace with this; and, happily, it cannot be said that there 
 is one case of backsliding among all the awakened in the neigh- 
 bourhood. In short, let men say what they may of this re- 
 vival, or let them believe what they will concerning it, one 
 thing is certain — that a great and glorious change has taken 
 place here among the whole Protestant population. All in 
 their respective spheres are ceasing to do evil, and learning to 
 do well. 
 
 " There is one thing connected with this movement that I 
 have not seen noticed ; it is this — and I say it in no sectarian 
 spirit — that it appears to be very much confined to the locali- 
 ties in which Presbyterianism abounds. We are on the borders 
 of Fermanagh, a Protestant county, but originally settled from 
 England, where the principles of our polity are scarcely known, 
 
STRABANE. 249 
 
 and otlier forms of Protestantism prevail Now, every effort 
 has been made by our Methodist brethren, who were very suc- 
 cessful among us, to carry the work into Fermanagh, but 
 hitherto to no purpose. I mention the fact, because to me it 
 appears somewhat strange." 
 
 The town of Strabane is one of the most considerable and 
 important in the county to which it belongs. No great excite- 
 ment took place among its population, although the most salu- 
 tary effects are observable among them. The narrative which 
 follows, therefore, may be regarded as a description of the work 
 in a community in which there was an absence of many of those 
 features which usually characterised it. It has been supplied 
 by Mr J. G. Clarke, a licentiate of the Presbyterian Church, 
 who gave his best assistance to the movement : — 
 
 " Immediately after authentic reports had reached us in 
 Strabane of the Lord's work in Derry and Coleraine, a united 
 meeting for prayer was held in the Town Hall, which was so 
 crowded on that occasion, that many who arrived late were 
 obliged to go away for want of accommodation. About ten 
 days after an open-air united meeting for prayer was com- 
 menced in one of the enclosed market-places of the town. The 
 hour was eight o'clock in the evening, and the exercises con- 
 tinued usuaUy from an hour to an hour and a half ; after which 
 an adjourned meeting was held in the second Presbyterian 
 church, which was close at hand, when those who were desirous 
 of it had an opportunity of joining in devotional exercises for 
 an hour or more, as the occasion required, but in no case was 
 it considered advisable to keep the people to an unseasonable 
 hour. At the conclusion of each service, a considerable number 
 of anxious inquirers remained to speak with the ministers pre- 
 sent ; but as this arrangement was found to be inconvenient, it 
 was abandoned for the more convenient one of morning classes, 
 at suitable hours for inquirers. 
 
 " The open-air meetings were most encouraging. They were 
 attended by hundreds, without any apparent diminution of 
 interest, until the shortening evenings of autumn compelled us 
 to give them up. 
 
250 RESULTS OF THE MOVEMENT 
 
 " Besides the evening open-air meeting, there was one held 
 every Tuesday, the market-day of Strabane, in the same place, 
 from twelve to one o'clock. This was attended chiefly by the 
 country people, who had come into town to market, but who 
 gladly snatched an hour from the busy day to devote to eternal 
 interests, and it was ascertained that at almost every meeting 
 some had been awakened to anxiety about salvation. 
 
 " Except on two occasions near the commencement of the 
 revival, the services of converts were not in requisition. The 
 meetings Avere in every case presided over by ministers, elders, 
 or other experienced Christian laymen. In conducting them, 
 ministers of different evangelical denominations in and around 
 Strabane — including those of the General Assembly, Reformed 
 Presbyterian body, and Methodist persuasion — heartily con- 
 curred. I am sorry to add that I must except the Episcopalian 
 ministers, who have stood entirely aloof here throughout the 
 whole movement, though numbers of their people have taken a 
 deep interest in the revival, and attended the prayer-meetings 
 viith great regularity. 
 
 " It may be asked. What are the results of the movement 
 here 1 This is a question by no means unimportant, as many 
 have supposed that, because we have had little or no excite- 
 ment, there has been no good accomplished ; an inference which 
 is altogether unwarranted, as the few facts which I now give 
 will shew : — 
 
 "1. The work has assumed a steady, permanent form, and is 
 therefore the more likely to take a deep hold on the minds of 
 the communitj^ There are now congregational prayer-meetings 
 established in the two Presbyterian churches in the town, and 
 a union weekly prayer-meeting, conducted wholly by the Presby- 
 terian ministers. It is always well attended, and most inter- 
 esting from the earnestness and attention manifested by the 
 people. 
 
 "2. There is a largely-increased and earnest attendance on 
 the Sabbath services of the sanctuary. Before this movement 
 reached us, it was no unusual thing to see empty or partially- 
 filled pews in the house of God on the Sabbath. Now, how- 
 ever, it is quite different. In beholding the marked attention 
 
IN AND ABOUT STRABANE. 251 
 
 of those assembled in the house of God, one is forcibly reminded 
 of Isaiah's prediction regarding gospel days — ' The eyes of them 
 that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall 
 hearken.' The interest in missionary operations has been 
 greatly increased ; a practical proof of this is afforded by en- 
 larged contributions to the different mission schemes of the 
 Church. A desire for God's Word has been excited ; at no 
 former period were there so many copies of the Scriptures sold 
 at the Edinburgh Bible depository as during the past year, and 
 those precious books are not bought for mere show ; they are 
 searched in private, and read statedly in families where previ- 
 ously the worship of God was unknown. Family worship has 
 largely increased. 
 
 " 3. Many district praj'er-meetings have been established : 
 some in the town, conducted chiefly by young men whose hearts 
 God has lately opened ; others in the country, sometimes pre- 
 sided over by ministers, when they can spare time, but gene- 
 rally by the elders of the district. 
 
 " 4. There has been much hopeful work among the young. 
 While we have reason to believe that God has touched some of 
 the old, yet He has been dealing chiefly with the young, a con- 
 siderable number of whom, we trust, have been turned to the 
 Lord. 
 
 "Thus it will be seen that we have not been unblessed. 
 Did we, indeed, estimate the good done here by the amount of 
 excitement produced by the revival, the sum total would be 
 small. But we adopt no such criterion. Some among us, it is 
 true, have passed through deep mortal conflict, and others are 
 still under sharp convictions • but, except in a very few cases near 
 the outset, we have had none of those ' physiological accidents ' 
 which formed such a marked and prominent accompaniment of 
 the revival elsewhere." 
 
 The Kev. James Gibson and the Rev. William Russell, the 
 ministers of the Presbj^terian Church in Strabane, the former of 
 whom was only settled there in September last, confirm all the 
 statements made in the preceding communication. 
 
 I must reluctantly pass over other districts in Tyrone, refer- 
 ring for details to Appendix E. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN COUNTY AEMAGH. 
 
 The Work in Lurgan— The First Convert — "Neither Mad, nor Wicked, 
 nor Ignorant "—First United Meeting — The Work in the Pastor's 
 Absence — He is Summoned Home— The New Scenes he Wit- 
 nesses — Classes and Meetings — The Comity Districts — Awful End 
 of a Mocker — Treatment of the Visions— Life from the Dead — 
 The True Instrument — The Rector's Statement — Magheralin — 
 The Archiepiscopal City — Scenes in a Daily and in a Sabbath 
 School — First Moved in the Congregation — The Work Becomes 
 Public — " Crying for his Sins " — The Convert Girl and the Sailor 
 — Scene in the Retiring-Ptoom — The Youth who had his Plans 
 Laid — The Dying One Revived — Tullyallen — Tartaraghan — Me- 
 mories of the Year. 
 
 I SHALL confine the narrative of the work in this county princi- 
 pally to the statements furnished by the ministers in its two 
 principal towns, Armagh and Lurgan, introducing the latter 
 first, as it was first visited. 
 
 "A work of preparation for revival," says the Rev. Lowry 
 E. Berkeley, " had been in progress at Lurgan, as elsewhere, for 
 years prior to 1859. Here the Rev. Thomas Millar, publisher 
 of the Tracts for Ireland, lived and laboured. The * healing 
 leaves ' had been scattered on every side. Sabbath-schools had 
 done much for the instruction of the young. A. goodly number 
 of earnest Christians were here, who continued in prayer and 
 supplication, expecting a blessing; and they were not disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 "The Synod of Belfast met in May 1859. The interesting 
 
NEITHER MAD, NOR WICKED, NOR IGNORANT." 253 
 
 statements made there by diflferent ministers of what they had 
 seen and heard, were noted, and the substance of them brought 
 before the people. A feeling of expectation that God was about 
 to visit the land began to prevail. Soon after came the news 
 of the great revival begun in the north-west. I shall not soon 
 forget the profound impression produced upon a crowded con- 
 gregation by the reading of a letter, on a Sabbath about this 
 time, from an elder in Faughanvale, the congregation to which 
 I formerly ministered, in which he said, ' I have glorious news 
 to tell you. God has been pouring out His Spirit, night and 
 day, in large abundance here. . . . Let the whole congregation 
 of Lurgan pray for the people of Faughanvale, that God may 
 continue and increase His blessed work among them.' 
 
 The First Convert. — " Early in June, Christian people of dif- 
 ferent denominations in town manifested a desire to come 
 together for prayer, first in the different congregational prayer- 
 meetings, and afterwards in a neutral place, at the dinner hour 
 of the working classes. These meetings were but begun, when 
 a licentiate of our Church was one night raised out of bed to 
 see a young man in a lodging-house, a stranger, who wished to 
 talk with a Presbyterian minister. The people of the house 
 thought he was beside himself. It was a case of true spiritual 
 conviction. Next day he was rejoicing in Jesus, and making 
 Him known, by writing letters to his friends, and by the work 
 of tract-distribution, 
 
 " Neither Mad, nor Wicked, nor Ignm-antr — " Some weeks 
 after, calling on a family where correct views were not held of 
 the nature and necessity of conversion, ' the revival ' was the 
 subject of conversation. A lady present pronounced it all ex- 
 citement, and, ' at any rate, it was confined to the lowest and 
 most ignorant of the people.' I mentioned that the first case I 
 had visited was of a very difterent kind, stating the circum- 
 stances, without any name. ' He must have been very wicked,' 
 said a young lady present. 'No; he was one of the most 
 amiable and moral young men in Lurgan.' ' Well, he was mad,'' 
 was the rejoinder of another. ' Nay, he was perfectly sober in 
 his mind, but he felt an a^vful load of sin.' 'He must have 
 
254 THE WORK IN THE PASTOR'S ABSENCE. 
 
 been very ignorant, not to know that the "blood of Jesus 
 cleanseth from all sin," ' said a third. ' That will not account 
 for it either,' I said, ' for he is one of the best-instructed per 
 sons I know — well acquainted with his Bible, and able to teach 
 others also.' Their philosophy was utterly at fault. The thing- 
 was unaccountable to them. When will people, living amid the 
 light and privileges of the gospel, with the Word of God in 
 their hands, learn that ' except a man be born again, he cannot 
 see the kingdom of God 1 ' 
 
 First United Meeting.—'' The first meeting for united prayer 
 in which any of the Episcopal ministers took part, was held in 
 the Presbyterian church, on the 28th of June. Hitherto the 
 brethren had rather kept aloof, doubting the real character of 
 the movement, but from this period their doubts seemed to 
 vanish. At that meeting, one public conviction took place. 
 It turned out a case, as far as man could judge, of real conver- 
 sion to God. The court in which the individual who was the 
 subject of it dwelt, resounded for many days with the voice of 
 singing and prayer. It had produced a solemnising effect upon 
 the whole neighbourhood, and it became evident that if Satan 
 was working, it was for the overthrow of his own kingdom. 
 
 The Work in the Pastor's Absence. — " I left for the Assembly 
 in Dublin on the 4th of July, having made arrangements for 
 the meetings during that week. On Tuesday evening the 
 second meeting for united prayer, in which all denominations 
 were represented, was held. A student of theology addressed 
 it. There were six cases of public conviction. On their way 
 home, and after reaching it, many were brought to their knees. 
 The next day the people were giving way in all directions. No 
 meetings had been announced for that evening, but the young 
 people and others assembled voluntarily, filled both the school- 
 rooms as well as the church, and continued till two or three 
 o'clock in the morning in singing and prayer. On Tliursday it 
 was the same. United exercises were almost impossible. In 
 every pew was a prayer-meeting. Some were prostrated under 
 agonising conviction. Others were rejoicing as having found 
 Jesus. As in Israel of old, it was almost impossible to * discern 
 
THE NEW SCENES HE WITNESSES, 255 
 
 the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of 
 the people.' It is believed that hundreds were impressed dur- 
 ing those two nights, and many of them truly converted to God. 
 The labours of the Rev, Matthew Murphy, the licentiate pre- 
 viously referred to, on this occasion and subsequently, were 
 eminently useful and much blessed. 
 
 He is Summoned Home. — " From him I heard, whilst attend- 
 ing the sittings of Assembly, of what was- going on, and con- 
 cluded at once that duty called me home. I had left on 
 Friday morning, before a telegram arrived conveying the 
 anxious wish of some of my people for my return. They feared 
 that excitement was going too far. They knew the inflammable 
 materials by which we were surrounded. The enemy would 
 speak reproachfully, if any occasion should be given. The 
 multitude came together that evening as usual. I had gathered 
 up, as far as possible, the counsels of the brethren as expressed 
 in the conference at the Assembly, and was prepared to act 
 upon them. The people were exhorted and prayed with, and 
 those who had found Christ were advised to ' go home to their 
 friends, and tell them how great things the Lord had done for 
 them, and how He had compassion on them.' With difficulty 
 they were persuaded to disperse, and after the church was 
 closed, many assembled in the school-rooms adjoining, and con- 
 tinued for a time in devotional exercises. 
 
 The yew Scenes he Witnesses. — " The next evening there was 
 a delightful meeting, composed very largely of those whose 
 hearts God had touched. Some of the converts prayed. After 
 a short service, those anxious about their souls were invited to 
 remain for conversation. Almost all waited. Every pew w^as 
 again filled wdth mourning or rejoicing. Those who had found 
 Christ were inviting others to come to Him. I walked about 
 among them for an hour, speaking a word here and there, but 
 specially intent on observing what was passing. It was a scene 
 over which angels must have rejoiced. Such godly sorrow ! 
 Such love to Jesus ! Such simple gospel-preaching ! Such 
 fervent prayers ! In one pew I observed a man sitting, appa- 
 rently under deep conviction, whilst a lad of fifteen or sixteen 
 
2o6 THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS. 
 
 years of age was standing with outstretched arm preaching to 
 him Jesus *? ' You have only to look to Him, and be saved. Is 
 it possible you mil not trust in Jesus ! ' Out of the mouth of 
 babes praise was perfected. 
 
 " The next day was the Sabbath, and a high day it was. The 
 courts of God's house were crowded. I read the second chapter 
 of the Acts. ' No,' said a woman to herself, as I read on, ' I 
 am not drunken,' and she bowed down on her knees in the pew, 
 pouring out her heart to God, and had shortly to be removed. 
 Another in the gallery cried aloud to God, but the singing of a 
 psalm quieted the people, and left time for her removal also. 
 At the close of the service a young man was helped out, whom 
 I found shortly after in the school-room in a very agony of 
 prayer, wrestling with God, and asking help against Satan. He 
 continues steadfast in the faith and hope of the gospel. 
 
 Classes and Meetings. — " From the first I had classes for in- 
 quirers and converts, which were greatly needed and much 
 blessed. At the close of every prayer-meeting, (and they were 
 held in the church five evenings each week during the months 
 of July and August,) persons anxious about their souls were 
 invited to remain, and warning, instruction, and encouragement 
 were given as might be required. Many meetings for prayer, 
 conducted by members of the church, were at the same time 
 held throughout the country. These still continue, to the num- 
 ber of about twenty each week. They are well attended, and 
 have helped greatly to confirm the souls of the disciples. 
 
 The Country Districts. — " The movement passed from one 
 part of the country round here to another, and in some places, 
 of course, the impression was more marked and manifest than 
 in others. I remember one day in the beginning of harvest 
 driving out to see a person in a rural district. No work was 
 being done in the neighbourhood. The people were gathered in 
 groups on the public roads, literally walking, and leaping, and 
 praising God, or assembled in their houses engaged in exercises 
 of devotion. No manner of labour was being attended to, 
 though the fields were white to the harvest. The concerns of 
 the soul and eternity were occupying exclusive attention. 
 
TREATMENT OF THE \^SIONS. 257 
 
 Awful End of a Mocker. — " While there, I was informed that 
 a young woman had died suddenly in the neighbourhood. The 
 statement, too, was, that she had mocked at the re\ivaL I went 
 and inquired. She had w^alked out of the house in her usual 
 health about two o'clock in the day, had fallen down a perch 
 from the door, was carried in, and in a few minutes expired. 
 I inquired of her landlady as to the truth of the story of her 
 mocking. ' Why, sir, I did hear her say,' speaking of those who 
 had been stricken, ' that she hoped if she would fall down she 
 might never rise.' This providence produced a very solemn 
 impression in the neighbourhood. 
 
 " Yet here, as elsewhere, excitement was often carried too far. 
 To this I attribute very largely the repeated strikings down, 
 as well as the dumbness and visions with which many were 
 visited. There were very many cases of all these in the neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 " A young woman — not a member of my congregation — whom 
 I was called to see, and Avho had been repeatedly stricken, gave 
 me a very simple and natural account of the matter. ' I was 
 stricken,' she said, ' and then I found peace. Afterwards I did 
 not live as I ought, and I could not go to class-meeting and say I 
 had peace when I had not. So I wished to be stricken again, to 
 see if the same feeling would come back.' Is it wonderful if 
 one going weak in body, and in that state of mind, to a crowded 
 meeting, conducted after a certain fashion, should be completely 
 overcome, and again prostrated ? 
 
 Treatment of the Visions. — "The dumbness and the visions 
 continued among us for a time, though in hardly an instance 
 was a Presbyterian thus affected; but as soon as the people 
 were taught that no reliance could be placd on such things— 
 that the former, in particular, was an affliction, and an evident 
 indication that excitement was being carried too far— they 
 totally disappeared. These things were among the chief hind- 
 rances to the progress of the work here. The question with 
 many for a time became — 'Is such a one really seeing these 
 visions ] ' instead of the personal question — ' What must I do to 
 
258 TIIE TRUE INSTRUMENT. 
 
 be saved 1 ' and the opponents of the work were led to doubt or 
 deny the reality of the whole movement. 
 
 Zi/e frcnn the Dead. — " But who that goes among the people 
 noAv, and compares their present state with what it was even 
 twelve months ago, can deny it ? I see places where all was 
 then dead, cold, and careless, now filled with earnest living 
 Christians. I can point to this and the other family whose home 
 is a Bethel, where formerly no voice of praise or prayer ascended 
 to God. I see numbers of young men, formerly given up to 
 sinful pleasures and excesses, or at least stupid and unconcerned 
 about spiritual and eternal things, now living as disciples of 
 Christ, and for the glory of God. The cause of temperance has 
 been greatly advanced. Party spirit has much diminished. Re- 
 ligious magazines are circulating in hundreds, and supplanting 
 mischievous ' light reading.' Christian liberality is gTeatly in- 
 creased. Believers have been wonderfully quickened. 
 
 The True Instrument. — " What we have seen of late should 
 lead us to have more faith in the Word of God as the instru- 
 ment of conversion. I meet a young man on a Sabbath after- 
 noon going out to conduct a prayer-meeting, I inquire as to 
 the change that has passed upon him, and how it has been 
 effected. He says it was just the hearing of that chapter read 
 about the man who ' had his dwelling among the tombs, and 
 no man could bind.' 'Wlien I heard it,' he says, 'I at once 
 said, That is my case ; and I went home and read it again, and 
 prayed to God that He would bind me — and He has done it.' 
 The truth of God is mighty, when applied by the Spirit to the 
 pulling down of strongholds. Let us read it as God's Word, 
 and expect the reading as well as the preaching to be a means 
 of convincing and converting sinners. 
 
 " And, above all, let us depend on the Holy Spirit to give 
 efficacy to the word. Under His power the hardest heart can 
 be melted, and the proudest spirit subdued. Let us learn the 
 privilege and the power of prayer, and be among the number of 
 those who keep not silence, and give God no rest till He estab- 
 lish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." 
 
 Through the kindness of the Bishop of Down, I have been 
 
PEESENT EFFECTS OF THE REVIVAL. 259 
 
 favoured with extracts from letters, in reply to late inquiries, 
 addressed to some of liis clergy, as to tlie " present effects " of 
 the revival. The following is from the Rev. Thomas Ejiox, 
 rector of Lurgan, and is dated 16th April 1860 : — 
 
 " 1st, Congregations, both in church and at cottage lectures, 
 greatly increased. The increase is composed, in a great mea- 
 sure, of young men and women who were formerly indifferent 
 to spiritual matters. 2d, The communicants nearly doubled, 
 and from the same class of persons. 3d, Adult classes have 
 sprung up of persons anxious for instruction. 4th, A young 
 men's society, established by the exertions of my curate, the 
 Rev. T. Cosgrove. They assist in district-visitings, and in distri- 
 buting tracts that we supply them with. I may also add, that 
 a more religious tone pervades the entire neighbourhood. 
 Drunkenness has declined, and we have observed no case of 
 relapse in those who had really been affected at the period of 
 the revival. Two or three Roman Catholics who had then joined 
 our congregations, have been with us ever since, and are daily 
 studying Scripture and attending the classes. These are the 
 principal features. We require accommodation for five hundred 
 more, at least, in the church, which I hope will be ready for 
 them in about eighteen months." 
 
 The following, also dated 16th April, is from the Rev. Henry 
 Murphy, rector of Magheralin, in the same neighbourhood : — 
 
 " It affords me the most sincere pleasure to be able to say 
 that the effect produced among us answers to the 'cause.' 
 There is a hungering and thirsting after the word of God, as is 
 clearly evinced by the full attendance on every means of 
 grace. My church was built to accommodate five hundred ; it 
 is full every Sabbath morning, (yesterday there were five hun- 
 dred and thirty-one;) and the evening congregation averages 
 three hundred — (it used to be forty or fifty.) I have two even- 
 ing services during the week ; one in a school-house, which is 
 always crowded — the other in the church, which is attended by 
 a steady congregation of between three and four hundred. Be- 
 fore this religious awakening, (about three years ago,) I com- 
 menced an evening service in the village; but after some time I 
 
260 SCENES IN SCHOOLS. 
 
 discontinued it, because I could get no attendance. Now, had 
 I a service every evening in the week, I could command a meet- 
 ing. Besides all this, morality, in every sense of the word, is 
 the order of the day. The change, indeed, is a mighty one." 
 
 The Aixhiepiscopal City. — It was not till the middle of August 
 that the city of Armagh was visited by the gracious movement. 
 For at least two months previously, it had been anxiously antici- 
 pated. Meetings had been held, and persons from other dis- 
 tricts had been specially brought to narrate something of the 
 scenes in which they had themselves shared ; but no appliances 
 of this description seem to have had any place assigned them 
 in connexion with the awakening in Armagh. In passing 
 through, a few days after the " outburst," I found the brethren 
 in the very midst of the new duties then imposed upon them. 
 It was on the Monday morning, and the Presbyterian, Wes- 
 leyan, and Independent ministers were met in prayerful con- 
 ference with reference to the work in which they all had shared. 
 I had met one of these friends — the pastor of the Independent 
 church— about a month before in our own town, where he had 
 come to beg a visit of Mr North, then in the midst of us ; but 
 that eminent evangelist had his hands too full to admit of his 
 undertaking any additional engagement. But now the set time 
 had come, and all were encouraging one another in their com- 
 mon Lord. 
 
 Among the earliest incidents of the revival in Armagh, the 
 following is related by the Rev. J. R M'Alister, respecting a 
 scene of aAvakening in a daily, and also in a Sabbath school : — 
 
 " One morning, a little girl, about eleven years old, entered into 
 my daily female school, lifted up her hands and clasped them, 
 saying, ' Oh ! I have found Jesus ! I have found Jesus !' There 
 was no minister present at first ; there had been no address de- 
 livered to children. The words of the child kindled the flame, 
 and in a few minutes a wail of sorrow ascended to heaven that 
 alarmed the inhabitants of the surrounding houses. As I passed 
 along the street, a boy came in breathless haste to me, and said, 
 'Come, sir, come, the girls in the school are all crying for 
 mercy.' When I entered, some were lying on the floor, some in 
 
THE FIEST MOVED IN THE CONGEEGATION. 261 
 
 the arms of the teacher, some in the arms of the monitor, some 
 in the arms of other children ; floods of tears were flowing ; con- 
 fession of sin was freely made from little broken hearts ; cries 
 for mercy to God; supplications for Jesus to come and save 
 them ; earnest prayers for the Holy Spirit to come and take the 
 stony heart out of them, and give them a heart of flesh. A 
 similar scene occurred in my Sabbath -school. Many were 
 stricken down in an hour or two. It was a solemn, a grand 
 scene ! Young persons of both sexes, from twelve to twenty- 
 two years of age, awakened, agonising under conviction of sin ; 
 lifting up their hands to heaven ; fixing their eyes upon Jesus ; 
 confessing their transgressions : one saying — ' I am lost ! I am 
 a child of the devil ; for I have told lies, and the devil is the 
 father of lies;' another exclaiming — 'AJi! I have mocked 
 Jesus ! ah ! I have mocked Jesus ! ' another — ' What a hypo- 
 crite I have been!' many from time to time praying — *0 
 Lord! for Jesus' sake have mercy upon me;' 'Lord, open the 
 door of my heart and come in;' 'O Jesus, wash me in the 
 fountain of Thy blood,' &c., &c. : the ministers and Sabbath- 
 school teachers moving amidst them travailing in birth till 
 Christ would be formed in them ; praying with them ; singing 
 over them, and directing their souls to the great Physician; 
 others coming, seeing the wondrous work of the Lord, returning 
 to their homes to render themselves up to God," 
 
 The Rev. Jackson Smyth has furnished me with the following 
 narrative of the work as it came under his inspection : — 
 
 The First Moved in the Congregation. — "The first moved 
 in this congregation was an interesting young girl, whom I met 
 in the street one day, weeks before there was any public mani- 
 festation in the city. I spoke to her, on meeting her, and her 
 eyes filled with tears. ' What is the matter ? ' I said. Her lips 
 quivered, her chest slightly heaved, and the truth flashed upon 
 my mind. Whereupon I added, 'Are you in concern about 
 your souH' 'Yes, sir,' was said with deep feeling. 'I shall 
 visit you in the evening;' and I did. JSTo one in the house 
 knew her state of mind, as she did not make it known. Her 
 sister wondered that I had all at once taken to visit the family 
 
262 THE "WORK BECOMES PUBLIC. 
 
 every day, when I had never visited in the house before. These 
 visits continued two weeks, when one day I entered, and there 
 was a calm, sweet expression in her face which told of joy within. 
 * What account have you to give of yourself to-day ! ' ' I am 
 happy in Christ; and, oh, what happiness!' 'The revival has 
 commenced in Armagh,' I mentally exclaimed, and thanked 
 God. Weeks afterwards, on calling one day at the house where 
 this interesting girl lives, (it is a business house,) I said to her, 
 ' Now that you have tasted that God is gracious, what would 
 you think of holding a prayer-meeting with your companions 
 every night before going to bed 1 ' ' We do that, sir,' was the 
 reply. One after another, the young persons in that house were 
 brought to the Lord, till no fewer than seven gave clear indication 
 of hopeful conversion. There was not a case of prostration in 
 the house at all. 
 
 The Work becomes Piiblic. — " By and by, the work became more 
 public, though there had been a falling off in the attendance at 
 our prayer-meetings. There was an impression abroad, that 
 God was not going to visit Armagh. One evening, as we assem- 
 bled for prayer in the church as usual, the pews were almost 
 empty. I made a few remarks in reference to our wonderful 
 position. Like Gideon's fleece, we were dry, whilst all around 
 the earth was watered. A brother minister rose, read a chapter, 
 commented very briefly on it, and gave out a psalm. As he sat 
 down, I whispered to him, ' I see a young man under deep con- 
 viction of sin in one of the pews ; he will cry out very soon.' 
 When the singing ceased, the wail rose up to heaven — ' Jesus, 
 have mercy on my soul.' Another voice was heard in the 
 gallery, crying loudly for pardon and acceptance with an offended 
 God. The revival ^had comeV That first young man was a 
 Sabbath-school teacher, but his teaching had been lifeless till 
 then. Now he teaches with ail his soul, and he has been blessed 
 to the conversion of many. 
 
 Cryincj for his Sins. — " This first-fruit of a public manifesta- 
 tion of the power of God's Spirit, on the following Sabbath 
 evening held a prayer-meeting in a private house, a little dis- 
 tance in the country, where there were two or three cases of 
 
CRYING FOE HIS SINS. 263 
 
 * striking.' Being members of my congregation, I called on 
 Monday to visit them. Two were rejoicing intensely — a girl of 
 about eighteen years of age, and a boy of about twelve. While 
 I sat, a little boy of five years of age came up and leaned against 
 my knee. I thought this a very unusual thing, for, having come 
 recently to the city, I was quite a stranger. Taking up the little 
 fellow on my knees, I said, ' Well, my boy, do you know any- 
 thing of Jesus ? ' ' Yes.' 'And what do you know about Him 1 ' 
 He paused, and then his mother spoke. 'John (the boy's 
 name) was out yesterday evening in the corner of the adjacent 
 field, when Mr H. was holding a prayer-meeting there. We 
 heard bitter crying, and thinking John was hurt, I ran quickly 
 out. He was coming towards the door, screaming piteously. 
 He threw himself down at the side of the wall, and continued 
 to cry very bitterly. In a little, I heard him utter the word 
 " Jesus^ No one disturbed him then. When he had cried for 
 a length of time to Jesus to take away his sins, he paused, rose 
 up, wiped his eyes and cheeks hurriedly, and ran up to me (his 
 mother) and kissed me rapturously. Presently he ran out, and 
 entered a house hard by, and asked a little playmate if he would 
 come and "cry for his sins." His companion was indifferent, 
 wondered what it all meant, and stayed where he was. John 
 
 returned, and, commencing to weep, exclaimed, " T. J will 
 
 not come and cry for his sins."' 
 
 " Whilst his mother was giving me this narrative of the 
 evening before, the little fellow sat on my knee with a settled 
 calm in his face, which spoke volumes for the truth of Chris- 
 tianity. Desirous of ascertaining the certainty of his conversion, 
 I called on the following week to make inquiry. 'What about 
 John?' 'He has been very quiet during the week, giving no 
 trouble in the house as he used to do, but he is very cheerful. 
 He attends the prayer-meetings in the houses around, and is 
 very attentive.' ' Does he pray at home V 'Yes.' ' Is it only 
 the prayer he used to repeat as a matter of form % ' ' No, he 
 uses words of his own.' By this time all the children in the 
 house had been convinced of sin, with one exception, (a Sabbath- 
 school girl.) ' Last night,' continued his mother, ' when I was 
 
264 THE CONVERT GIRL ON THE STEAJMBOAT. 
 
 preparing him for bed, he ran away from me, and knelt down 
 and prayed, " O Jesus, come and pardon the sins of father, and 
 mother, and Charlotte.'" That boy has been most consistent 
 in his demeanour ever since, and is no doubt a trophy of grace, 
 one of those of whom is the 'kingdom of heaven.' 
 
 The Convert Girl on the Steamboat. — "The eldest girl of this 
 family had occasion to go to Scotland shortly afterwards. On 
 board the steamer she met a sister convert. They sat down on 
 deck, as the boat cut through the waves, and the stars of heaven 
 were twinkling overhead, and commenced to sing a sweet psalm 
 to the God of the sweet singer of Israel. They attracted part 
 of the crew, who assembled round the ' hymn- singers,' in that 
 strange place. One gruff 'Jack' ordered them to desist. He 
 hated the music, because it was sacred. They did desist But it 
 
 w^as not chance brought them there. M. W spoke to the 
 
 surly sailor. It was so sweet, so pathetic, so arresting, that he 
 did not dare to stop her ; nor did he turn away. It was about 
 his soul and the Saviour she addressed him. He Hstened, and 
 became interested, absorbed. His eyes filled with tears; they 
 flowed. He spoke— he remembered days gone by, when he had 
 heard such things before, but he had long forgotten them. She 
 pressed home Scripture arguments, heart arguments. The sailor 
 spoke of mercy and pardon, and hearing there was pardon for 
 such as he, for ' the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin,' he 
 drew a bottle from a pocket in his rough jacket, and flung it 
 overboard, exclaiming, 'What a vile sinner I have been ! Never 
 more shall I take that cursed thing, strong drink. Tlie Lord 
 enable me to live to Him henceforward for ever ! ' Probably we 
 may hear no more of the results of that interview till the books 
 shall be opened. But one must feel that in the conversation of 
 that young girl, a wave of influence x3ommenced to flow, which 
 will never cease till it strike against the shores of an eternal 
 world. She has been conducting meetings among young persons 
 of her own sex ever since, in the town of D in Scotland. 
 
 Scene in the Retiring-room. — "The good and glorious work 
 went on. One day in the church, when I had terminated the 
 morning devotional exercises, and was about to commence the 
 
SCENE IN THE RETIEING-ROOM. 265 
 
 exposition of my text, a person cried aloud for mercy; then 
 another, and another, till about a dozen left the church, or were 
 helped to leave. When I left the pulpit, it was to witness a 
 touching sight in the retiring-room. There were seven of a 
 family all kneeling together — the father a godly man, and who 
 had been so for many years. Two daughters already Christians, 
 and the other four crying for mercy. The scene rose to the 
 grand and subHme, when one of the boys arose trusting in 
 Christ, and the father embraced him as a new-born babe in 
 Jesus, and then the other immediately afterwards. These boys 
 have been steady Christians ever since. There was another 
 group, consisting of two young girls, one only about nine years 
 of age, kneeling together. The younger had said on entering 
 the Sabbath-school that morning, 'I am just a week old.' She 
 had been converted the Sabbath before. Now she was kneeling, 
 preaching Jesus Christ to the distressed soul of a young Sab- 
 bath-school companion. In another part of the room was still 
 another group. Two girls who had been Unitarians, and had 
 come with their parents to the neighbourhood of Armagh, were 
 convinced of sin, and found peace in the Lord. Tears must 
 have gushed forth from the most obdurate to witness the 
 affectionate embrace of those poor girls, now children of God 
 through faith in Christ Jesus. Their subsequent history 
 furnishes a memorable instance of the power of prayer. Their 
 mother had not been regular in attendance on the public means 
 of grace, and their was no family altar ever erected to the Lord 
 in their home. These girls forthwith commenced the blessed 
 exercise of prayer, and reading God's Word in the family. They 
 conducted its exercise in turn — one in the morning, the other in 
 the evening. This continued for some time, till at length the 
 mother became interested. She came out to attend a meeting 
 in a country house where I preached. On the following Sab- 
 bath she came to church — was forced to cry out — remained in 
 distress for hours — at length departed to her home, where she 
 soon enjoyed repose in Christ, and now is not ashamed to assist 
 her daughters in their humble yet acceptable service of a kind 
 and gracious God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
266 THE DYING ONE REVIVED. 
 
 The Youth ivho had his Plans Laid, — "There is connected 
 with our Sabbath-school one remarkable monument of sovereign 
 grace. A young man who had been a lover of such society as 
 is fearfully destructive and subversive of the principles of all 
 true religion and morality, became convinced of sin, and was 
 led to cry, ' What must I do to be saved V Happy to know it, 
 I seized every opportunity which presented itself to talk with 
 him. At length one day, meeting him on the street, I said, 
 
 'J , what do you feel the relation between your soul and 
 
 God to be to-day V 'I am a sinner, but a pardoned sinner,' 
 said he, ' washed and redeemed.' Oh, truly I am a sinner 
 rescued from destruction, a brand plucked from the fire, I tell 
 you now, sir, that I had intended shortly to leave the city, and 
 I not only meant to live a careless life, but I had actually 
 ivicked j^lcins laid out for myself for life. I never had true 
 enjoyment on the Lord's-day till the last, for I had the luxury 
 of knowing what it is to do something for my Saviour in the 
 Sabbath-school.' Since then, he has been a devoted teacher. 
 During the harvest, he met one night one of his quondam boon 
 associates as he passed along the street. ' Hilloa ! ' said his old 
 friend, ' is it you V and proceeded with a volley of raillery, 
 which sobered down into a reference to former times. ' Those 
 times are gone for ever,' said our Sabbath-school teacher. The 
 other made a reply derogatory to religion. 'I am changed,' 
 continued the convert, 'old things are passed away. Come 
 with me, and through Jesus Christ I will do you good. If not, 
 we must part, for I cannot go your way ; ' and they parted, for 
 they were clearly walking on different roads. 
 
 The Dying One Revived. — " Many of God's people have been 
 revived in the proper sense of the word. A young woman was 
 dying of consumption. She was, as I believed, a ripe and 
 exulting Christian. She began to talk of the revival in the 
 city. Every day brought her fresh tidings of new conversions, 
 and one morning she said to her mother, ' Dear mother, I should 
 like to have a visit from God's Spirit, like I hear others getting.' 
 'My dear,' said her mother, 'is tlie Holy Spirit not sanctifying 
 you] Do you not trust in your Saviour?' That day I was 
 
REJOICING m THE SAVIOUR. 267 
 
 sent for to see M. S ' Come quickly, she is ill.' As I was 
 
 engaged at the moment, I could not go. In ten minutes a mes- 
 senger knocked, entered and said, ' Mrs S would be glad to 
 
 see you instantly. Her daughter is dreadfully ill.' I left all and 
 went to the house. I found the young woman sitting up in the 
 bed, or rather held up by her mother. Her eyes were full and 
 red. Her cheeks, before pale and haggard, were now swollen 
 and livid. She was crying for pardon, and she cried till she 
 induced hemorrhage of the lungs. I spoke to her of the 
 Saviour — His work, His promises and invitations. She was 
 too weak to answer, except an occasional word, and this was 
 of her sins. Asking her mother to lay her down on the pillow, 
 I took up God's Word and read to her of the Saviour, and then 
 offered up prayer. She lay calmly for a while, and then a smile 
 played sweetly on her countenance, and she said, ' Oh, why did 
 I doubt *? Why did I distrust my Saviour 1 He is ever the 
 same. I see Him now to be lovelier than ever. Oh, to be ever 
 with the Lord ! ' Why did she doubt ? It was a case of mere 
 doubting — nothing more. She was a child of God before, but 
 God's Spirit seemed to be working her sanctification and ripen- 
 ing her rapidly for glory. In the course of two days the news 
 came in, * M. S is dead.' ' Not dead, but sleepeth.' " 
 
 The Rev. Wm. Henderson, another of the Armagh ministers, 
 supplies the following incident : — 
 
 " The second person I visited after the revival came had been 
 stricken down in her own dwelling. She was not then con- 
 nected with my congTegation, but nominally belonged to the 
 Established Church. For many years, however, she had not 
 attended any religious service, and, with her husband, was 
 reckoned careless and godless. One evening she returned from 
 her day's labour, and while preparing food for the family she 
 fainted, as her husband thought. She continued for half-an- 
 hour in this state ; and on becoming sensible she cried out in 
 fearful agony for mercy and forgiveness. Again she relapsed 
 into the faint, and after a similar period had passed as before, 
 she became sensible, and was rejoicing in the Saviour as lie?' 
 Saviour. It was the day following that I first saw her, and she 
 
268 GREAT OPEN-AIE MEETING. 
 
 was then liappy in the Lord. She told me that Jesus had shewn 
 her her sins ; that He had shewn her His love in taking her 
 sins away, but that she was not at liberty to tell all she saw or 
 heard. Previous to this occurrence little was known of the 
 revival in this immediate neighbourhood, and the woman had 
 no opportunity of becoming acquainted with any of its pecu- 
 liarities, nor had she been spoken to about her soul by any one. 
 I have seen her often since, and witnessed her conduct, and 
 there is much to make me hopeful of her salvation." 
 
 In the month of September a great meeting was held, in the 
 open air, in the neighbourhood of Armagh, at which fully three 
 thousand persons were present. This meeting was addressed, 
 among others, by the Hon. and Eev. Baptist Noel, who made a 
 tour of the greater part of Ulster about that time. " Consider- 
 able emotion," says the Rev. K Wallace, of Tottenham, who 
 was present, " soon began to evince itself in the meeting, and 
 during the day many (as many as sixteen came under the 
 personal observation of my friend and fellow-traveller) men, 
 women, and children were struck down and forced to cry for 
 mercy ; in all there were about thirty such cases on this occa- 
 sion. I sat on the platform, and had a commanding view of 
 the countenances of the people during the whole of the service. 
 The excitement was at its height during the address of a young 
 convert, as he detailed God's dealings with himself, and 
 earnestly besought all hearing him to flee from the wrath to 
 come and lay hold on eternal life. And what struck me most 
 of all was, not the case of those who were prostrated and forced 
 to cry out for mercy, but the case of those who were manifestly 
 struggling to conceal their convictions and to suppress the 
 rising emotions of their hearts. In many cases I saw the big 
 tear roll down the man or woman's cheek ; and I saw strong 
 men seeking to conceal their feelings by hiding their faces in 
 their caps and hats, and leaning upon one another, as hardly 
 able to stand before the preacher's words and appeals. And 
 from what I beheld of this sort, and from the general solemnity 
 and seriousness which pervaded that meeting, it is my convic- 
 tion that the number of persons struck down bears no propor- 
 
MEMORIES OF THE YEAR. 269 
 
 tion to the number of those who were really smitten in heart, 
 truly convicted of sin, and made to cry out, although silently, 
 ' What must we do to be saved ? ' 
 
 " The speech of Mr Moore, of Ballymena, struck me as par- 
 ticularly calm, discriminating, excellent, and forcible. He 
 faithfully warned the audience against trusting in the mere 
 physical manifestations or effects, and confounding them with 
 conversion." 
 
 The Eev. Jackson Smyth thus closes his narrative : — 
 
 Memories of the Year. — " There are many sweet reminiscences 
 of 1859, which a minister of the gospel can never forget. How 
 many expressions of trust in Christ ! How many outpourings 
 of the desires of the soul for pardon ! How many naive expres- 
 sions of confidence — gentle, child-like assurances of trust in a 
 land, heavenly Father, and dear and loving Saviour ! 
 
 " Let the world judge as it may, there is a glorious reality in 
 the revival of 1859. The effects are visible. The races here, it 
 is estimated, were not attended by more than one-fifth of the 
 number on former years. Women have been redeemed from 
 the paths of shame and infamy ; the lips of swearers have been 
 sealed ; the cup of the drunkard has been broken ; and the 
 churches have been filled. 
 
 " With regard to intemperance, the ofl&cer whose duty it is to 
 fiU drunken committals in the city, told me he did not fill a 
 single one yesterday, the day after Christmas. Formerly there 
 were many. ' Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his good- 
 ness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men ! ' " 
 
 The following brief statement by the Rev. J. D. Martin, of 
 TuUyallen, may be taken as a specimen of the work in the rural 
 districts of the same county : — 
 
 " On Sabbath, the 30th June 1859, the Rev. S. J. Moore, of 
 Ballymena, came to preach the annual sermon on behalf of the 
 Sabbath-school Union in this quarter, at Tullyallen. The ser- 
 vices commenced at five o'clock p.m. The audience was large, 
 amounting to several thousands. Strong men trembled ; faces 
 grew pale ; many could scarcely reach home when the services 
 were ended, through weakness and anxiety, and many as they 
 
270 THE WOEK IN KURAL DISTRICTS. 
 
 went were disposed to retire to some solitary place to pray. 
 Such was tlie state of feeling produced on such a multitude in a 
 few minutes. This was surely the powerful work of the Holy 
 Spirit as on the day of Pentecost, That meeting was kept up 
 for several hours, and was addressed by the ministers of the 
 neighbourhood, who were present. Prayer-meetings Avere ap- 
 pointed during the week, and on the next Friday evening a 
 large number attended. During the services, fifteen or twenty 
 were impressed or stricken, crying aloud for mercy. The work 
 of revival had now come. 
 
 " The attention of the community was quite arrested, and the 
 people spoke of little else but the revival. The business of the 
 world was to a great extent laid aside ; religion seemed to take 
 its proper place — the first place ; the salvation of the soul seemed 
 to be the one thing needful , many almost forgot to take their 
 regular food — became pale and weak. Their great anxiety ap- 
 peared to be, ' What must I do to be saved ? ' 
 
 " Stated meetings weekly have been kept up in our church 
 now for six months — Avell attended — and at most of these for 
 months the cry for mercy was often heard. The outward mani- 
 festations have now nearly ceased, but the work of the Spuit is 
 going on steadily and quietly. 
 
 " To describe the various states of mind of those on whom 
 the Spirit operated, would require much time. But in general 
 there were strong convictions of sin, a deep feeling of the 
 terrors of the law and of the lost state of the soul, overpowering 
 frequently both mind and body ; an apprehension of Christ as 
 the Saviour, and an earnest desire to obtain Him ; a spirit of 
 prayer in an extraordinary degree ; a willingness to submit to 
 Christ ; a trusting in Christ for salvation ; and joy and peace of 
 a high character. 
 
 " In all cases which have been considered genuine conversion 
 of sinners, or revival of saints, there seems to be a much greater 
 hatred of sin, and guarding against it, and a delight in and 
 attention to religion. Is not this the work of the Spirit of 
 God?" 
 
 Subjoined is a touching instance of the power of prayer in 
 
INSTANCE OF THE POWEE OF PRAjfEE. 271 
 
 the case of an entire household. It is supplied by the Rev. 
 George Nesbitt, of Tartaraghan, also in County Armagh : — 
 
 "A pious mother, in very humble circumstances, began early 
 last summer to spend an hour daily in prayer for a revival in 
 her family, and in our congregation. Her elder boy, about 
 sixteen, one Monday morning in September, after she had been 
 thus engaged, came off his loom and went to his knees. A few 
 minutes after, her second boy was found on his knees in the 
 cow-house. They prayed all that day and the following night. 
 I heard some of their petitions : — ' O Lord, come into my hard 
 heart. Put in Thy hand by the hole of the door and open for 
 Thyself, Jesus. Wash me in the fountain of Thy blood, not 
 my hands and my feet only, but my heart and my soul. O 
 Thou that manifested Thyself unto the Hebrew children in the 
 jfiery furnace, manifest Thyself unto us this night as our recon- 
 ciled Father. We have sinned against great mercies and privi- 
 leges, and are not worthy to be called Thy sons ; oh, make us 
 as hired servants ! ' One found peace on the following day, the 
 other not till Saturday night. Three little brothers have been 
 brought to Christ since. The youngest, who will not be nine 
 years of age till March, was on his kness almost incessantly for 
 sixteen days. His mother has been asked to pray with him 
 three times after the family retired for the night, and often she 
 lifted him from his knees to persuade him to take food. Not 
 one of the five boys was ' stricken,' and all had been in convic- 
 tion a number of weeks before their distress was perceived by 
 their parents." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL IN DONEGAL, MONAGHAN, AND CAVAN. 
 
 County Donegal : Monreagh — Scenes in the Churcli — In the Open Air 
 — Three Memorable Services, and their Effects — Saul among the 
 Prophets — Two Notable Instances — The Domestic Altar — Abiding 
 Fruits — Donoughmore. County Monaghan : Statement of the 
 Eev. Hope M. Waddell — Impressions of a Visit in the Country — 
 On the Sabbath — Newbliss — The First Case — Those Principally- 
 Reached. County Cavan : Bailieborough — Drumkeeran — Won- 
 derful Awakening and Excitement — Statement of the Rev. F. F. 
 Trench, of Kells (Covmty Meath) — A Meeting over the Borders — 
 How the Revival has been Propa-gated — Another Visit over the 
 Border — " Shooting the Goose " — A whole Family Surrendering to 
 Christ — The Moral Results — The Movement Southwards — Leinster 
 and Munster. 
 
 Space will not admit of a prolongation of this narrative. And 
 in the case of the three counties which yet remain to be noticed 
 in connexion with the progress of the movement, I must select 
 out of the materials at my disposal only a slender portion, re- 
 ferring, as before, to the Appendix for a condensation of many 
 similar contributions. The subjoined account of the awakening 
 within his own bounds is written with much simplicity, and 
 yet with a vividness that invests it with a genuine interest, by 
 the Eev. Andrew Long. The place is Monreagh, a rural dis- 
 trict in Donegal, a few miles from the city of Derry : — • 
 
 " In no congregation in this district has the Lord wrought 
 more marvellously. The full tide of the river of God which was 
 passing over our land reached us about the middle of June. 
 We had most interesting meetings in the ojien air on June 14th 
 and 21st. Another in our church on the 24th, when about 
 
SCENES IN THE CHUECH. 273 
 
 twenty souls were savingly impressed. An infidel would have 
 seen that the Holy Spirit alone was working there. One young 
 lad had gone a few yards from the church when he stood and 
 said to his mother, ' Mamma, I cannot go further ; I must turn 
 back and speak to Mr Long.' He remained in the vestry with 
 the others, for a considerable time wrestling with God in deep 
 distress. As yet, however, it was the day of small things with us. 
 Scenes in the Church. — " On the following Lord's-day, June 
 26, we enjoyed showers of blessing. God strengthened me as 
 He never did before^ for the services of that memorable day; 
 but I know" it was in answer to many prayers, and especially 
 those of some of our new-born souls who were heard pleading 
 for me during the day. I never witnessed such deep solemnity. 
 The exercises had almost closed, when one person fell out of 
 her pew upon the aisle, the door being open, and shrieked loudly 
 for mercy. In a few moments about twenty were prostrated 
 in different quarters of the house. And then, what a scene 
 ensued ! Relatives in groups carrying their stricken ones into 
 the adjoining vestry ; multitudes weeping, and the whole con- 
 gregation moved and excited as if the judgment-day had come. 
 I came down from the pulpit in order to keep the passage to 
 the vestry clear, when just behind me, a young female, a mem- 
 ber of the congregation, whose heart the Lord had' touched in 
 Derry, lifted up her hands, and in an unearthly voice, addressed 
 the assembly, thanking God that the flood of God's Spirit had 
 not passed us by unvisited — telling of her love to Jesus, and 
 entreating those who were looking at salvation from afar, to 
 come to the precious Saviour and be reconciled to God. SJie 
 would not take ten thousand w^orlds for Jesus. I — not know- 
 ing what to do — permitted her to address the congregation for 
 a few minutes. The heavenly light which had been imparted 
 to her mind beamed through her countenance. And she who, a 
 few days previous, would not and could not have ventured to 
 speak one word for Christ, was not ashamed now to lift up her 
 voice like a trumpet, and out of the abundance of her heart to 
 urge the thoughtless sinner to fly from the wrath to come. Her 
 simple address was certainly the most touching and telling 
 
 s 
 
274 IN THE CHURCH AGAIN. 
 
 appeal to whicli I have ever listened ; and the entire scene was 
 unlike one of earth. Many a stout and stubborn heart that had 
 hitherto resisted the Holy Ghost was compelled to yield. I 
 had often read of the prostration of the convicted leper, but I 
 never witnessed a facsimile of it until that day. A strong 
 young man was on his knees in deep mental agony, refusing to 
 be comforted, pressing his very face upon the dust of the vestry 
 floor, and in this position he remained for several hours. In 
 every part of the church there were broken-hearted penitents 
 on their knees pleading for mercy ; and at the same time, not a 
 few hardened sinners were looking on and wondering. But at 
 length the feelings of many gave way, and the big tears rolled 
 down many a wrinkled cheek. 
 
 In the Open Air. — " In the evening I held a meeting in the 
 open air about a mile from the church, and addressed an 
 assembly of two thousand. There were three converts from 
 Derry present, — a porter, a tailor, and a sailor. The former 
 said, in his own tender, simple, touching manner, ' I am but 
 a poor porter, earning nine shillings a week, for drawing my 
 handcart through the streets of Derry, but I would not change 
 my situation for that of the richest among yez if you have not 
 got Christ.' The tailor, in offering up a short prayer, said, 
 ' Lord, have mercy on those poor sinners who do not care one 
 happorth about their souls.' 
 
 In the Church again. — " At this meeting a few were awakened, 
 and at its close a great number flocked to the church, though 
 it was now nine o'clock, and remained there till next morning. 
 There was one great-grandmother present, and several grand- 
 parents were rejoicing over their penitent offspring. And, oh, 
 the burning words of some who had obtained peace as they 
 addressed God in prayer ! It was a joyous time. The counte- 
 nance of one girl was truly angeHc, as, looking up, she poured 
 forth her gratitude to God, and gave Him the glory, crying, 
 ' Precious Jesus ! lovely Jesus ! sweeter to me than honey and 
 the honeycomb.' Similar expressions might have been heard 
 ringing through the sanctuary at intervals, as the parties found 
 peace and joy in believing. One person, aged fifty-five years, 
 
INTERESTING MEETING. 275 
 
 arose, and said in a loud voice, that he never had a family altar 
 in his house, but he would go home and erect one, and keep it 
 up till he would die. It is now nine months since, and he is 
 jtill faithful to his vow. One little girl of eleven said, she 
 would not take a hundred guineas for her interest in Christy 
 no, nor a thousand, for Christ was better to her than them all. 
 Another girl on obtaining peace offered up a sweet prayer in the 
 presence of a multitude. She first gave God the glory for what 
 He had done for her soul, and then pleaded earnestly for me ; 
 and many others have done in like manner. I have frequently 
 overheard them wrestling with God on my behalf. 
 
 " On the following Tuesday evening, June 28, 1 held a meeting 
 in the church. At the close of the service, about seventy were 
 on their knees praying as in an agony — some of them the vilest 
 of the people. Next day, I addressed about three hundred 
 in the open air at Molenan. Fifteen persons who were in 
 deep distress retired to an adjacent house, and prostrated 
 themselves on an earthen floor. I was greatly struck in wit- 
 nessing the love which young Christians manifested for each 
 other. Often did I see girls embrace each other on obtaining 
 peace, and unite in prayer for those who were still in spiritual 
 distress. 
 
 " On Friday, July 1, a most interesting meeting was held in 
 the church, which could not contain the numbers that repaired 
 to it. Many had come from a great distance, so that the like 
 was not seen here in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Up- 
 wards of seventy were brought to cry, ' What must I do to be 
 saved r A powerful, athletic man, on obtaining partial peace, 
 at the close of the service arose, and, in the midst of that vast 
 assembly, said, in a stentorian voice, ' I cannot get peace with 
 man or God till I tell you what I have been. I cursed my 
 father, threw stones at my mother, profaned the Sabbath, and 
 committed every crime but murder.' His wiie then clasped 
 him in her arms, and his aged mother, who is on the verge of 
 the grave, clung by his neck, kissed him and wept with joy. 
 Soon afterwards, his partner in life was brought to. the Saviour ; 
 and all are now rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Before 
 
276 THREE MEMORABLE SERVICES, 
 
 the congregation was dismissed, I announced that a meeting 
 would be held next evening at Carrigans, in the open air. 
 Although the notice was short, upwards of one thousand of the 
 surrounding population assembled, and among the multitude I 
 saw a few of the aristocracy of the district, who belong to the 
 Established Church. At this meeting a little girl was stricken 
 in the fields. She was praying earnestly when I came to her. 
 I encouraged her to continue wrestling with God until she ob- 
 tained the blessing, reminding her of some portions of God's 
 Word to incite her to importunity. 'And,' said she, 'that's 
 another nice wee promise, " Draw nigh to God, and he will draw 
 nigh to you." ' ' Yes,' I replied, ' He has said, for the encou- 
 ragement of the young especially, " I love them that love me ; 
 and they that seek me early shall find me.'" 'Oh yes,' she 
 cried in rapture, ' Christ loves wee weans, for He has said, 
 " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, 
 for of such is the kingdom of heaven." ' 
 
 Three 3£€7norahle Services. — " On the following day. Sabbath, 
 July 3, I arranged to hold three meetings — ^two in the church, 
 and one at Drumennon in the open air, about three miles dis- 
 tant. Although the notice w^as very short, more than one thou- 
 sand individuals were present at the latter place, and the entire 
 audience was deeply affected. At the close of the sacred exer. 
 cises there, I drove hastily to Monreagh for the evening service ; 
 and it was most interesting to see httle flocks of men running 
 from Drumennon to the church, through fields, with coat on 
 arm. Many of these had been hitherto living as if there were 
 no God, and yet this was the third service on that day to which 
 they were hastening, without having returned to their homes. 
 I was told that one of them actually fainted from hunger by 
 the way. When I reached the church, accompanied by three 
 worthy young men, who rendered me efficient aid throughout 
 the day, we found the sanctuary and vestry densely thronged in 
 every part, and many could not obtain admittance. Anxiety 
 was pictured on every countenance, and the entire scene was 
 such as I had never witnessed. The meeting was continued 
 till midnight, and I could not but remark the wondrous change 
 
AND THEIR EFFECTS. 277 
 
 that had passed over the land, when the attention of such a 
 vast multitude could be enchained till that hour. 
 
 " The Divine influence came down upon the people at each 
 sevice throughout that interesting day. There were many- 
 physical manifestations. Upwards of one hundred persons lay 
 prostrate in the pews, and agonised in prayer till three o'clock 
 next morning. Many of the cases were quite unusual. One 
 young female continued to sing a sweet, mournful ah", appa- 
 rently her own, to words that occurred to her at the moment, 
 all about Jesus, and all as beautiful as if arranged by the finest 
 poet. She seemed unconscious and sat in her pew all the time 
 •with her eyes steadfastly gazing upwards. Never did /, or any 
 of that awe-stricken audience listen to sounds so unlike those 
 of earth. It was like an angel's song. Her voice seemed to be 
 attuned by some celestial power ; and its clear, sweet, sympho- 
 nious tones, led us all to feel that that place was like the very 
 gate of heaven. 
 
 "Towards the end of July, bodily prostrations became less 
 frequent, yet God did not cease to work mightily among the 
 people. From time to time dead souls have been quickened, 
 and among those who found the Lord Jesus, the most intense 
 earnestness continued to be manifested. Their new life became 
 apparent by a new obedience, and a diligent waiting upon God 
 in all the ordinances of His grace. 
 
 " A short time ago I was visiting from house to house in a 
 distant district of the congregation, and in the evening called 
 upon a respectable family, to pay my last visit that day. In a 
 little while after I entered, the voice of psalms in the distance 
 fell upon my ear. On inquiring what meaneth this, I was in- 
 formed that it was a little prayer-meeting in the other end of 
 the house, attended by five young men who are members of the 
 district meeting, and assemble weekly besides, to pray specially 
 for a more abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the 
 land. I at once joined the little band in the small 'upper 
 room.' One of the young men whose duty it was to engage in 
 prayer, modestly declined doing so in my presence — saying, he 
 was ' but a babe, and weak.' I encouraged him, and at length 
 
278 TWO NOTABLE INSTANCES. 
 
 he poured fourtli a sweet, simple prayer, in which I was not 
 forgotten, 
 
 Saul among the Fropliets. — " There are many notable in- 
 stances of conversion in this district. At the commencement 
 of the awakening, and at the close of a service on one of our 
 most memorable evenings, a man was observed in the church 
 gazing at a multitude who were on bended knee pleading for 
 mercy. He moved along from pew to pew, surveying the pros- 
 trate suppliants with a look of indifference on his countenance. 
 He was questioned regarding his spiritual state, and exhorted 
 to join the praying band, and seek the Lord while He is to be 
 found ; but He refused, and left the church rejecting the great 
 salvation. But as he journeyed alone toward his home, his 
 heart became impressed by what his eyes had seen and his ears 
 had heard. With difficulty he reached his cottage, and as he 
 entered, he staggered and fell upon his knees, and in the most 
 earnest cries besought God to break his stubborn, flinty, Avicked 
 heart, and make him a new creature. Now I do not know a 
 more humble, devoted, earnest Christian in this neighbourhood. 
 He has forsaken all his old ways. He spends a considerable 
 portion of every night in reading the Scriptures ; he worships 
 God in his family twice each week-day, and thrice on Sabbath ; 
 he is a labourer, and on some occasions has not time for break- 
 fast and family prayer ; he worships God, however, and goes 
 forth to his daily labour without food ; he now loves me as 
 his pastor. At one of our union meetings he engaged in 
 prayer, and some were led to exclaim, 'Is Saul also among 
 the prophets % ' 
 
 Two Notable Instances. — "Another man was notorious for 
 drunkenness and Sabbath-breaking. His mouth was full of 
 cursing and bitterness. He frequently ill-treated his wife, and 
 sometimes she has come to me to complain of her husband, 
 with undeniable marks of his brutality upon her visage. Sel- 
 dom did he bow his knees in private prayer, and in the sanc- 
 tuary his seat was usually vacant. But now the family altar is 
 erected, the house of God is attended, and his wife and others 
 say that he is the kindest of husbands. Another strong man 
 
ABIDING FRUITS. 279 
 
 in middle life was gathered into the fold of Christ in the month 
 of July. He was prostrated in his own house, and was deaf, 
 dumb, and blind, for several hours. His relatives sent for me 
 to visit him, and when I reached his bedside, he had regained 
 his strength, and was rejoicing in Christ Jesus. His eyes re- 
 sembled balls of fire. He stretched forth his strong arms in an 
 ecstasy, and clasped me to his iron frame as if he would crush 
 my very bones. He expressed his love to Christ, his love to 
 me, and said from his inmost soul that he ' would willingly die 
 if he could bring one sinner to Jesus.' 
 
 Tlie Bamestic Altar. — "Formerly family prayer was much 
 neglected throughout this entire district — now there are few 
 households in which God has not an altar. There are some 
 instances in which mothers and daughters have established the 
 worship of God in their families, when the father has refused 
 to conduct the service. Even men-servants, in the absence of 
 their masters, not unfrequently keep the sacred fire alive on the 
 altar. About twelve months since, some of my people, whose 
 education has been altogether neglected, supposed that this 
 exempted them from the discharge of the duty, and peremptorily 
 declined observing it. Now some of these worship God in the 
 family twice each day, and occasionally pray in the district- 
 meeting. Untn lately, I never heard the voice of one of my 
 people in prayer ; now they are not ashamed to engage in this 
 exercise in my presence, and regard it as a privilege to be called 
 on to pray at our union-meetings. 
 
 Abiding Fruits. — "I am happy to say, also, that, in so far 
 as known to our session and myself, there has not been one 
 case of backsliding. There may not be that intense ardour 
 which was apparent on ' the day of their espousals ; ' yet I 
 beheve there is no real diminution of love to Christ, but an 
 accession of higher and deeper feelings. The change in the 
 moral aspect of society here is truly marvellous. Formerly a 
 party of strolling players were in the habit of occasionally 
 visiting the village of Carrigans, in this neighbourhood, and 
 realising some pounds weekly from the people during their 
 stay. During last autumn they visited the village as usual, but 
 
280 DONOUGHMORE. 
 
 were obliged to leave. Only one individual entered the minia- 
 ture theatre, and the manager returned his money, and moved 
 away, denouncing the revival, and cursing the inhabitants for 
 their stinginess. These are the ' wonders of the right hand of 
 the Most High.' There has been no distinction of age or sex. 
 The Lord has had mercy on many who were ' far off from righte- 
 ousness ; ' and we cannot witness the reformation thus effected 
 on society to its very centre without 'seeing the arm of the 
 Lord,' and saying, 'This is the finger of God;' 'I believe in the 
 Holy Ghost.' " 
 
 In Donoughmore, in the same county, there was a great 
 awakening, followed by an entire change in the moral aspects 
 of society — a change not confined to those who w^re themselves 
 brought to a knowledge of the truth, but extending to almost 
 all residing in the locality. 
 
 " The work began," says the Rev. Alex. Caldwell, writing on 
 the 24th April 1860, "on the 29th of June, at the annual meet- 
 ing of our Sabbath-schools. On the former Sabbath there had 
 been a case of conviction, and on the evening of that day a 
 female had been stricken, and forced to cry aloud for mercy 
 while reading the Bible in her own house. 
 
 " On the 29th of June, the Eev. Richard Smyth, of Derry, 
 kindly came to our meeting, and delivered a very poweful and 
 effective address. I never saw an audience so deeply moved. 
 Every person with whom I have since conversed seems to have 
 experienced the same deep, solemn feeling pervading the mind. 
 He was followed by two young men from Derry, who gave a 
 statement of their experience. The meeting was next addressed 
 by the Rev. W. A. Russell, of Strabane, and during his address 
 three females present were stricken, and cried aloud for mercy 
 in the congregation. Th^re were persons present from all the 
 congregations around, and all being deeply impressed, the 
 revival spread at once through the surrounding districts. On 
 that night I was called to see a young man in one of the most 
 distant parts of the congregation, who was stricken in his own 
 house, and whose case produced a great impression in his own 
 neighbourhood. And on the evening of the following Friday 
 
. ALL CLASSES AFFECTED. 281 
 
 tliree persons were prostrated on leaving a prayer-meeting in 
 Castlefin. The case of these young men, whose cries for mercy 
 were heard at a great distance, had a powerful influence on the 
 whole district. But these cases were as nothing to what 
 occurred in the meeting-house on the following Lord's-day, and 
 again on Monday evening. The number of those forced to cry 
 aloud for mercy was so great that it was difficult to proceed 
 with the service and to preserve order in the meeting. 
 
 "With respect to the outward manifestations attending the 
 revival, there have been comparatively few cases of bodily pros- 
 tration. There were many more cases of persons simply forced 
 to cry aloud for mercy. And the number of those silently con- 
 vinced of sin and brought to believe was much larger than the 
 two former classes combined. In this district I find among all 
 these classes, as subjects of the revival, persons of all ages, from 
 threescore and fifteen to ten years of age — persons of all degrees 
 of intelligence, from the best-educated to the most ignorant — • 
 persons of very different physical constitution, from the most 
 intrepid and resolute men to the most timid and nervous female 
 among us — and persons of every shade of character, from the 
 most amiable and blameless to the most profane and reckless in 
 the community. Again, I find a very great difference existed in 
 the state of mind previous to the revival in diff"erent individuals. 
 Some were forced to cry for mercy after having had conviction 
 of sin for months together, while others, were brought under 
 conviction and forced to cry for mercy in a moment. Some, 
 again, have experienced conviction on account of the neglect of 
 some particular duty, or from having committed some particular 
 sin ; and others, from a sense that they were sinners, without 
 reference to any particular transgression. And when in agony 
 of mind, I have invariably found that whatever might be said 
 to them, nothing brought relief but the pure Word of God quoted 
 verbatim. 
 
 "I have been much surprised at the outpouring of prayer 
 resulting from the revival. How difTerent the prayers from 
 those of former times ! how original the ideas and the language 
 ia whicli they were expressed ! I was deeply moved on one 
 
282 ABronsTG feuits. • 
 
 occasion by hearing a female, in a public meeting, use the fol- 
 lowing words — ' Lord, I know the devil is no stronger now 
 than he was, but Thou well knowest he is a thousand times 
 busier with me than he ever was, Lord, for my Saviour's 
 sake, command him to leave me, that I may have peace.' 
 
 ''The relief experienced after the mental agony was very 
 remarkable, and at the same time a feeling of love to all mani- 
 fested itself. I once asked a woman, the day after she was 
 stricken, how she felt, and her reply was, ' Oh, Sir, my heart is 
 all love to everything and everybody.' And many who had 
 taken offence at others could have no peace till they were fully 
 reconciled. 
 
 " The foolish, pernicious habit of smoking tobacco prevailed 
 here very generally. I felt it my duty to call attention to it 
 several times, but without success, until the revival began. 
 Since that time I know as many as forty individuals who have 
 given it up. One day, a middle-aged man took me aside, after 
 preaching in Strabane, and said to me, ' Sir, I wished to say to 
 you, that I have given up the use of tobacco altogether ; and I 
 have resolved, by the grace of God, to give every penny it 
 would have cost me to the missions, and to spend every mo- 
 ment I must have spent in smoking m reading my Bible.' 
 
 " With respect to the permanency of the work, thank God, 1 
 am able to say that, out of more than two hundred cases which 
 have come under my observation, I do not know one who pro- 
 fessed to be savingly converted who is not still maintaining a 
 consistent walk and conversation, I know persons who were 
 not only stricken, but heavily prostrated, w^ho seem more har- 
 dened and wicked than ever. There are only very few of these, 
 and not one of them ever even professed to be converted 
 
 " In reference to the lay agency employed with so much 
 success in promoting the revival, I have observed that when a 
 person gave a statement of his own experience, those impressed 
 by it belonged to that class similar in mind and disposition to 
 the speaker, and whose experience, I believe, would correspond 
 to his. I have also observed that when the person went beyond 
 
COUNTY MONAGHAN. 283 
 
 a simple statement of Ms own case, and attempted to explain 
 Scripture, or exhort, no good result followed. 
 
 " During many weeks I had fears for the result of the revival. 
 Now, however, I have no fear whatever that even Donough- 
 more shall be in my day in the same state in which the revival 
 found us. The change upon so many fine young persons of 
 both sexes is so great, that I have every hope they will become 
 the agents, under the Holy Spirit, in extending this glorious 
 work still more, until the whole district has become leavened 
 by it. Instead of supposing that the revival has ceased, I look 
 upon it as only beginning, and I know it is still making rapid 
 progress here." 
 
 COUNTY MONAGHAN. 
 
 Impressions of a Visit. — The Rev. H. M. Waddell, missionary} 
 first in Jamaica, and subsequently in Western Africa, in re- 
 ferring to his unwillingness to traverse the revival districts, 
 lest too many visitors should prove injmious to the young con- 
 verts, adds, " But when I heard that it was making progress 
 through mjt native county, Monaghan, which tourists and 
 travellers seldom visit, where I could see old friends and fulfil 
 old promises, by preaching for some of the overworked minis- 
 ters, I thought that I might, in the way of duty, go and 
 see that great thing which the Lord has brought to pass in 
 our days. 
 
 In the Country. — After narrating several interviews with 
 ministers and others, Mr Waddell proceeds to state that he 
 went among the hamlets and small farmhouses in " an out-of- 
 the-way" rural district, there to converse with some of the 
 families in which the revival had appeared with some of its 
 more remarkable effects. "At one place," he says, "seven 
 young women hastily came in from their field labours to meet 
 me, one running to call another. They had all but one been 
 struck, though at different times and in different places ; and, 
 as usual, after a period of prostration had found peace and 
 comfort by that greatest and best of all names, the name of 
 
284 A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Jesus. One of them was a recent case, and she was still weak. 
 They gave a simple account of what had happened to them : 
 sudden and uncontrollable emotion, with fears, and faintness, 
 and depression ; a load at the heart ; their sins and their souls ; 
 recovery, after hours of anguish, by faith in Jesus the Saviour. 
 It did not for so far seem unintelligible. They had all been 
 Sabbatli scholars, and some of them communicants. The Spirit 
 of the Lord made short work with them. The experience of 
 years was compressed into hours ; and their conversion, like 
 the outburst of a tornado on the African coast after a long 
 calm, was the explosion of accumulated and condensed forces, 
 brief and violent, breaking down all before it. 
 
 " One of them, I have said, had not been struck, and she w^as 
 the only one who did not seem happy. Indeed, she was in 
 deep distress about her salvation, and wept abundantly for fear 
 the Lord had passed her by. She knew the truths of the gos- 
 pel, and could assent to its invitations and promises, but not 
 lay them to heart, nor take the comfort of them. These young 
 women were just such as any true gospel minister would like 
 to have in his advanced Bible-class — anxious inquirers, and 
 young Christians setting their faces Zionward. 
 
 " In another place, I found a mother, a grave, elderly woman, 
 and three young daughters, two of whom, with herself, had 
 been stricken. They gave a similar account with the others, 
 and 'all others, as to the w^ay they had been affected, and were 
 in a similar state of happy peacefulness. The one who had not 
 been stricken was not careless, but gave a good account of her 
 faith in Christ, and was in a hopeful state. 
 
 " Elsewhere, I found a middle-aged, single woman, who had 
 been several times stricken ; as had also a young woman, her 
 neighbour, who came in at our call. The entrance of her 
 minister and me unexpectedly, seemed to excite some nervous 
 affection, and, after a vain attempt to compose herself, she sank 
 powerless on the floor, and went into a fit of violent tremblings. 
 We supported and comforted her, while she, perfectly con- 
 scious, whispered prayers to the Lord Jesus to keep her and 
 
ON THE SABBATH. 285 
 
 save her, and comforted herself with the assurance that He 
 wonld never forsake her, for He was 'a loving God.' The last 
 words were uttered with ineffable tenderness and confidence, as 
 a chUd would repose itself, in felt safety, on its mother's bosom. 
 The trembling terminated in a rigid contraction of form and 
 feature, a violent spasm or cramp, for a few moments, dis- 
 tressing to behold, which, however, soon relaxed ; and then the 
 other, sitting beside her, exclaimed, ' Now, sister, now is your 
 time ; now pray.' And we all bent our knees in supplication to 
 the Lord, with blessing and praise; after which she arose 
 refreshed, and sat down composedly beside the door, engaging 
 in cheerful conversation, the tenor of v/hich shewed her love 
 for her Saviour and devotedness to Him. Neither of these 
 women had ever been subject to nervous attacks, or fits of any 
 kind, before the revival began. And I learned from them that 
 the latter attacks differed from the former in being short, and 
 unaccompanied by any fear; whence I concluded that the 
 repetition of them was the consequence of increased nervous 
 excitability and bodily weakness. My companion dissuaded 
 the one who tad just suffered, from coming to meeting on the 
 morrow, as too weak to bear the excitement. Time failed, or 
 we might have gone to many other families in which the spirit 
 of revival had taken effect in the same way. 
 
 On the Sabbath. — "Next day. Sabbath, I preached in two 
 places of worship, some miles apart, to very large and serious 
 congregations, perhaps eight hundred each. During the fore- 
 noon and afternoon services ten or twelve persons were struck, 
 and removed as quietly as could be ; some insensible, others 
 only deeply affected to groans and tears ; some with outcries, 
 unable to restrain themselves, whom I had observed contending 
 with their feelings a long time before they gave way, and took 
 help to retire. Some of these had been struck on former 
 occasions, and now soon recovered themselves and returned 
 into the church. Others in the congregation prevailed to keep 
 their seats, though greatly agitated, even to sighs and tears. 
 Some men, I was told, had enough to do to keep quiet, and 
 
286 NUMBERS STRICKEN. 
 
 tvere pouring wrth perspiration from the violence of their 
 emotions. So we might expect. A stroke may only stagger a 
 man which suffices to prostrate a woman. 
 
 "At five o'clock that evening I preached to a great union 
 prayer-meeting. A number of persons — eight or nine I was 
 told — were struck and carried out, some of them, I noticed, 
 after prolonged self-conflict. Of these, some were insensible, 
 some agitated to strong crying. One person was neither the 
 one way nor the other, but under emotions so powerful, and so 
 powerfully restrained, that the heaving of the breast was quite 
 remarkable and almost audible, 
 
 " Such a movement was really very affecting, and neither 
 preacher nor hearers could be untouched while that mighty 
 power of conviction and conversion was abroad in these con- 
 gregations. But I felt bound to restrain myself, lest, if I should 
 give way to my feelings, confusion might ensue. The subjects 
 on which I preached were not of an exciting character, nor 
 delivered in any exciting manner. In both respects I might 
 say they were rather the opposite — simple gospel sermons. For 
 I had heard that cases of striking were not unfrequent in both 
 places, and I purposely avoided whatever might provoke such 
 occurrences, that I might the better judge of what was going on. 
 I had preached the same discourses in Scotland, without seeing 
 any unusual effect produced. I must, therefore, attribute the 
 effect on this occasion to some other cause than my preaching. 
 What the 'proper hysteric tone and gesture' may be, which 
 some hostile or frivolous writers allude to, I know not. Cer- 
 tainly mine, on these occasions, whether bad or good, were just 
 what they have usually been, and in themselves, I presume, as 
 ineffective as ever. That evening congregation assembled midst 
 he.avy rain, and under the rain many went home singing psalms 
 as they walked in company ; and I thank God for what I saw 
 of His power and grace displayed among them." 
 
 The town of Monaghan shared in the blessing, and the Rev. 
 John Bleckley, the much-respected pastor of the Presbyterian 
 church, has been refreshed after a lengthened ministry, by the 
 happy results that he has witnessed. In the course of about 
 
THE FIRST CASE. 287 
 
 five months after the commencement of the revival, he preached 
 no less than a hundred and thirty times ! 
 
 A few miles distant from the county town is Newbliss, in 
 which the movement began in August. The immediate occa- 
 sion was the visit of two lay-agents from county Antrim. " In 
 their addresses," says the Rev. R Dunlop, who supplies the 
 information, " there was not the slightest attempt to arouse 
 an undue excitement, or produce a merely temporary enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 The First Case. — " On the morning of the day following their 
 first visit, I was summoned to attend a young woman, a mem- 
 ber of my congregation, who was under deep and awful convic- 
 tions of her sinfulness and danger. She had been carefully 
 and religiously trained, had frequently communicated, and was 
 looked on by all her acquaintance as sincerely and unaffectedly 
 pious. ^Vhen I entered her room, she was lying on her bed in 
 a state of great physical weakness, but wrestling most earnestly 
 in prayer. Her language was almost entirely scriptural, and 
 strangely appropriate to her condition. Her utterance was most 
 fluent; she never seemed at a loss for either sentiments or 
 words ; and, although naturally of a shy, retiring disposition, 
 she did not feel the least diffidence to pray before 'a large num- 
 ber of strangers. "VMiat most astonished me was, that though 
 she knew little or nothing of the featm^es of the revival move- 
 ment, the physical and mental characteristics in her case were 
 almost exactly similar to those which had been exhibited in 
 County Antrim. Hers was the first case I had attended, and I 
 shall never forget the sensations of solemn awe which I expe- 
 rienced as I stood by her bedside witnessing her soul-agony, 
 and listening to her supplications for mercy. It seemed a re- 
 newal of the scene of Jacob wrestling with the Angel of the 
 Covenant. We had all deemed her religious, but in that season 
 of trial, when she was brought face to face with God, the mask 
 of profession fell off, and her soul appeared all filthy and naked, 
 in need of the cleansing of Christ's blood, and the clothihg of 
 Christ's righteousness. Her strugglings after spiritual peace 
 were severe and long-protracted. But gradually the light of 
 
288 THOSE PPJNCIPALLY REACHED. 
 
 heaven shone in upon her, and she is now rejoicing in the light 
 and liberty of the children of God. 
 
 " Two or three other cases of conviction occurred during that 
 and the following week. In the second week of August, the 
 great outburst of religious feeling began, and spread with un- 
 exampled rapidit}'- from house to house and from district to 
 district. From Newbliss to Drum, there was scarcely a town- 
 land where there were not several families some of whose mem- 
 bers had been under deep convictions of sin, and had been led 
 to put their trust in the only Saviour. On the northern side of 
 the village, towards Monaghan, the movement was much slower 
 in developing itself. It was several weeks after the first out- 
 burst before more than two or three cases could be quoted. 
 But now, there is not a district where more hopeful cases can 
 be pointed out, where greater changes have been wrought in 
 the moral and religious life, where greater anxiety continues to 
 be manifested, or where prayer-meetings are more numerously 
 attended. 
 
 Tlwse Principally Reached. — "As to the parties mainly reached 
 by the movement, I should say that those who had received a 
 good religious training in early years form the most influential 
 class. The number of women converted is greater than that of 
 men, but not to any very marked degree — not more than might 
 be expected from the well-known fact, attested by the attend- 
 ance on all religious assemblies, and by the communion-roll of 
 almost every church, that women are much more religiously 
 disposed than men. The number of young' persons brought to 
 experience an interest in Christ's salvation is very much larger 
 than that of the middle-aged and old ; and while I rejoice to 
 say that many old people in the neighbourhood are giving evi- 
 dences of a saving change having been recently ^Tought on their 
 souls, the statistics of the movement here confirm the solemn 
 fact, that the difficulties of conversion and the chances against 
 salvation are increased in direct proportion to an increase in 
 years from youth upwards. Some who lived ■«dld, reckless, 
 godless lives, are now walking in the beauty of holiness ; but 
 most of those who have been led to rely savingly on Christ, 
 
COUNTY CAVAN. 289 
 
 were previously distinguished for tlieir moral purity, which 
 they felt, however, to be a feeble reed to rest on in the hour 
 of the soul's trial by God's omniscient Spirit. 
 
 " The sermons most blessed to the conviction and conversion 
 of souls were not those which are naturally most alarming — 
 such as God's wrath against sinners, the danger of eternal tor- 
 ments, &c. — on the contrary, they were those which spoke of a 
 Saviour's love, of the Father's unmerited mercy, of the Spirit's 
 gracious influence, of the joys of the righteous, and of the glori- 
 ous inheritance of heaven. 
 
 "The revival movement has produced a very decided im- 
 provement in the public morals of at least the Protestant por- 
 tion of the community. Intemperance has been largely checked ; 
 tippling at markets and fairs has been to a great extent dis- 
 continued. The only member of my congregation who kept a 
 public house, has, at great personal sacrifice, closed his shop, 
 and betaken himself to another line of business." 
 
 COUNTY CAVAN. 
 
 It was about the middle of the month of August when this 
 county, one of the most distant from the centre whence the 
 work of revival radiated forth in all directions, was visited by 
 the gracious influence. Several of the principal towns, as Cavan, 
 Killesandra, Cootehill, and Bailieborough, felt its power. In 
 the neighbourhood of the last-named district there was a very 
 extensive awakening. The circumstances were briefly these : — 
 
 On the 8th of August last two young men, now students in 
 divinity in connexion with the Presbyterian Church, visited the 
 first congregation of Bailieborough, of which for many years 
 their father has been the respected pastor, and addressed a meet- 
 ing there. Having intimated that they would narrate, on the 
 evening following, what they had witnessed in the north, they 
 had an unusually large attendance, when the usual results were 
 witnessed. A few evenings later, and the green around the 
 church was thronged by groups of persons, now returning thanks 
 for some near relative or friend who had found the Saviour, 
 now in earnest supplication that light might break in upon 
 
 T 
 
290 B AILIEBO ROUGH. 
 
 the darkness of some distressed soul, and peace be found by 
 some troubled conscience. 
 
 Special meetings were immediately established in the Pres- 
 byterian churches, and the neighbourhood was deeply moved. 
 The hands of ministers were so full, that had they not received 
 timely aid, they must have been altogether overborne. Happily 
 a Young Men's Society, which had met for some time for reU- 
 gious purposes, came to their aid ; while the two students found 
 abundant occupation throughout all the adjacent districts. 
 
 In the congregations of Bailieborough there are few houses 
 in which family worship is not maintained. Throughout the 
 district generally there is a marked improvement. Meetings are 
 held for prayer and Christian fellowship, sometimes in the 
 houses of those who formerly neglected gospel ordinanx^es alto- 
 gether, and several such meetings are also held among the 
 female members of the church. Two congregational libraries 
 are being organised ; while in the town itself a public Hbrary 
 and Christian Literary Society are being formed. Scripture 
 commentaries, and such books as Watson's " Body of Divinity," 
 are in growing demand among the people. Two public-houses, 
 have been closed, one for want of trade, the other for conscience' 
 sake — its former proprietor being now a steadfast and devoted 
 supporter of every good cause. 
 
 There is a district not far from Killesandra, in the same 
 county, named Drumkeeran, of which no notice has ever been 
 taken in any of the reports of the revival, and where certainly 
 a most extraordinary and in some respects unf.recedented 
 movement has taken place. The young minister of the Presby- 
 terian church, the Rev. Samuel Patrick, has been so enfeebled 
 by excessive labour, that he has been unable to furnish any 
 statement on the subject. During the first week in October, 
 about which time the place was visited, he never laid himself 
 down to sleep. The meetings which were held nightly in the 
 church were so exciting, and the interest of the people such, that 
 they could not be prevailed on to disperse till the following 
 morning ; while, during all the day, anxious inquirers and others 
 demanded the incessant attention of the pastor. 
 
STATEMENT OF REV. F. F. TRENCH. 291 
 
 It was on the evening of Sabbath, the 1st of October, that 
 a meeting had been announced in the church, at five o'clock. 
 Before four it was completely filled ; and when the time of ser- 
 vice came, it was found necessary to hold the meeting in a field 
 adjoining, there being about 1500 persons present. At an early 
 period in the devout exercises, a wild cry was raised, the first of 
 many foUo^^ing, that almost drowned the preacher's voice. 
 Those who were thus afiected were removed into the church, in 
 .which there were eventually no fewer than three hundred ! 
 Then the manse was filled ; and many more, who could find no 
 other place of shelter, were lying among the trees. 
 
 The work was progressing satisfactorily for some months sub- 
 sequently, when the spirit of proselytism was raised, and painful 
 results ensued. Yet there is every reason to believe that much 
 good has been accomplished in the neighbourhood, and that 
 many are rejoicing in that liberty wherewith Christ has made 
 them free. 
 
 Among the earliest visitors to the North of Ireland, after the 
 commencement of the revival, was the Rev. F. F. Trench, pre- 
 bendary of St Patrick's, Dublin, and rector of Newtown, near 
 Kells, in the province of Leinster. For many years the name 
 of this devoted minister, (the son of the last Archbishop of 
 Tuam.) has been well known in connexion with every evangel- 
 istic movement in the Episcopal Church. After his visit north- 
 wards, he took the opportunity of publishing some account of 
 his impressions in the public newspapers, thus spreading an in- 
 terest in the movement in many quarters in the South and West 
 of Ireland. During the winter he has been called to take a part 
 in conducting meetings in some of the parishes in county 
 Cavan, adjacent to his own in Meath ; and from a statement 
 issued for private circulation, which I have his kind permission 
 to use, I select the following cases as still further illustrative of 
 the character and progress of the work in the former county : — 
 
 " There are many residing in the province of Leinster who 
 are and have been praying that ' the revival ' may ' reach even 
 unto them ; ' and it will be deeply interesting to all such to 
 know that this unprecedented movement, in its full force and 
 
292 ^lEETING ON THE BORDERS OF MEATH. 
 
 power, is at their doors. I have extreme gratification in being 
 able to state that, within an easy morning's ride from my own 
 house, I have witnessed as interesting scenes, and have heard 
 of as remarkable cases of conversion, as any of those which 
 I witnessed or heard of higlier up in the North. 
 
 " Very lately, I spent a Sunday in a neighbouring parish in 
 the county of Cavan for the purpose of ascertaining facts. I 
 had heard that several persons had been struck in Presbyterian 
 churches, and in the parish church, some at open-air meetings, 
 many more at their own houses, in the fields, and while engaged 
 at their ordinary occupations. On visiting this parish, and 
 making inquiry at the curate, and also at the Presbyterian 
 ministers, I found that the facts were quite as remarkable as 
 had been stated to me, and that the awakening had not been 
 confined to the lower classes, but that men of wealth and re- 
 spectability, and considerable education, had been led to feel 
 their sins, as well as persons in the lower class, and of the most 
 abandoned character, male and female. I found that a large 
 and lucrative business in the sale of spirituous liquors had been 
 renounced for conscience' sake, serving as a strong testimony of 
 the sincerity of the merchant who did so. I found that persons 
 had been convinced of their sins in an overwhelming manner in 
 all sorts of places, — churches, meeting-houses, parlours, shops, 
 bed-rooms, and in 'byres' or cow-houses. And I also ascer- 
 tained that these conversions had been attended with a great 
 variety of the most remarkable circumstances, and the best 
 moral results. 
 
 A Meeting on the borders of Meath. — " At the request of the 
 
 rector of the parish of , on the borders of Meath, I 
 
 preached in a densely-crowded school-house, in which about 
 three hundred persons were assembled. I had preached for 
 upwards of an hour to this congregation, listening not merely 
 with what is called ' breathless attentioii,' but listening in that 
 indescribable way which is sure to draw out from the preacher 
 the very best he has in him. Having heard that there had 
 been much of bodily affections in connexion with other re- 
 ligious services in this neighbourhood, I felt thankful for the 
 
HOW THE REVIVAL HAS BEEN PROPAGATED. 293 
 
 quiet and happy manner in whicli 'the Word' had been received. 
 After the sermon a hymn was heartily sung, and the meeting 
 was being concluded by prayer, offered up by the incumbmt of 
 a neighbouring parish, when some persons, unable to restrain 
 their feelings, began to cry. Kneeling beside me there was a 
 stout, elderly farming man, who was crying, not in such a way 
 that any advocates of the ' hysterical ' theory could think of 
 claiming him as their 'patient,' but the tones were such as in 
 a boy would be called 'blubbering.' There was no screaming^ 
 but the number of persons who cried and sobbed increased 
 rapidly ; perhaps one-fourth of the congregation was more or 
 less affected in this way, and ten or twelve persons, perhaps, 
 either swooned or fell from their seats, or needed support. If 
 any encouragement had been given to outward manifestations, 
 either by loud or exciting prayer, or by loud preaching, I have 
 no doubt that three-fourths of the congregation, if not more, 
 might have been brought into this excited state. The object of 
 the wise and good rector of the parish, who conducted the meet- 
 ing, was, of course, to calm the people, without saying anything 
 which could be construed into a rebiike of what was manifestly 
 involuntary, and mixed up with so much of what was inestim- 
 ahly precious, and what most ministers of Christ from Sabbath 
 to Sabbath labour (I fear often in vain) to promote, namely, 
 any degree of proper feeling of religion. 
 
 How the Revival has been Propagated. — " I am no advocate for 
 forcing religion upon those who are unwilling to receive it. In 
 my judgment, we have had far too much of that in Ireland al- 
 ready. I do not think the gospel can be propagated by storm. 
 But I think that the legitimate and inoffensive means of ' revival 
 meetings ' should be used in every neighbourhood to call atten- 
 tion to the subject. It has been by these means, and through 
 a chain of Presbyterian churches — and ' let their own works 
 praise them in the gates ' — that the revival has come so near to 
 us ; and may we not hope that the experience which the Church 
 has acquired during the past year may enable it to conduct such 
 meetings vsith fewer drawbacks to their utility? As to the 
 legitimacy and expediency of availing ourselves of the assist- 
 
294 ANOTHER VISIT OVER THE BORDERS. 
 
 ance of recent converts at such meetings, and more especially of 
 those whom the Lord may have converted in a remarkable 
 manner, I entertain no doubt. In fact, the movement is a 
 movement of the people. It seems to be a plain and unques- 
 tionable matter of fact, that 'converts' have been God's chiefly- 
 honoured instruments in extending the work in the North, and 
 such being the case, it can scarcely become us to forego their 
 assistance in endeavouring to extend the work to the South- 
 As an instance of blessing attending the efforts of ' converts,' I 
 quote the following words from a letter from an experienced 
 and devoted clergyman in these parts. He says : — 'Since revived 
 persons visited my parish, several persons have been awakened 
 in a very remarkable manner ; meetings are held every night, 
 excejjt Saturday, besides my Wednesday meeting, which is well 
 attended, at three o'clock, and the congregations on Sunday are 
 greatly increased. Last night there was a large meeting of 
 persons, young and old, who had been awakened. . . . Notwith- 
 standing some mental visions and dreams, there is no dreaming 
 or visionary conduct in their every-day life.' 
 
 Another Visit ove?- the Borders. — "On the 27th of last December 
 I received the following communication from the minister of 
 two united parishes, one in the county of Cavan, and the other 
 in the county of Meath : — ' At Sunday - school, yesterday 
 (Christmas) evening, one of the young men proposed that I 
 should announce Friday, the 6th of January, as a day of thanks- 
 giving for those who have been awakened in this parish — will 
 you kindly come and help us on that day] The idea suggested 
 itself to a young farmer over his spade in the field. The young 
 men propose to make contributions on the thanksgiving day 
 for any object I recommend.' 
 
 " I gladly acceded to the above request. The meeting was held 
 in a school-house, and though the day was severe the house was 
 crowded; the congregation was composed almost exclusively of 
 small but independent farmers. The minister of the parish* 
 having opened the meeting with a hymn, and the htany of our 
 Church, and having alluded to the occasion of the meeting, 
 called upon eight persons in succession to offer up prayer, and 
 
"shooting THE GOOSE." 295 
 
 address the meeting. Of these eight, the first seven who were 
 called upon were laymen. Six were farmers, or farmers' sons, 
 all of whom, with one or two exceptions, have been ' revived,' 
 or, to speak more correctly, ' awakened,' within the last few 
 months. The prayers were fervent and simple, the addresses 
 earnest and scriptural ; the singing not only general, but very 
 unusually good; but what appeared to me the peculiarity of 
 this meeting was the marvellous propriety of both the matter 
 and manner of the newly-converted speakers. There was no 
 affectation — nothing to offend the most fastidious ears. In 
 proof of this, I may mention that, when on my way to the meet- 
 ing, in company with two well-educated young men, one an 
 undergraduate of the University of Cambridge, the other of 
 Dublin, I said, ' It is probable some persons who have not had 
 your educational advantages may address the meeting, and you 
 must put your good taste in your pocket, and not be surprised 
 if you hear some expressions to which you are not accustomed.' 
 At the close of the meeting these young men assured me that 
 there had not been any occasion for my caution, as nothing had 
 been said that could have offended the politest ears. The 
 nearest approach to anything of the kind which I can recollect, 
 was when one of the speakers assured the meeting that the 
 present was the ' handiest time for turning to the Lord.' 
 
 " Shooting the Goose'' — " Some very strange things were stated. 
 One of the young men said that on the Christmas-day before 
 hist he had been ' shooting the goose ' instead of being at church. 
 He alluded to a cruel custom which had been in this parish, of 
 tying a goose by the leg to some fixture ; a penny a shot was 
 charged for firing at this goose, and the goose became the pro- 
 perty of whoever shot it dead. The distance of the shooter was 
 such as to prevent this occurrence taking place very speedily, 
 and the poor bird generally lay with broken wings and broken 
 legs long before it was actually killed. This young man told us 
 that he had had a long look-out for such sport this year, for that 
 on Christmas-day 1858, he was aware that Christmas-day 1859 
 would fall on a Sunday, and he knew that, for decency's sake, 
 they could have no shooting the goose on that day; but that 
 
296 A WHOLE FAMILY SURRENDERING TO CHRIST. 
 
 he had comforted himself and his companions with the thought 
 that the goose might be fired at on ' old Christmas day,' that is, 
 the 6th of January ; yet, marvellous to relate, on that very day 
 which he had so looked forward to, there he was, instead of 
 shooting the goose, standing up before that large congregation, 
 thanking God for the wondrous change that had come over him 
 and almost the whole parish. Another of the speakers told us 
 that he had been a ' red-hot ' Orangeman ; that on a certain 
 Romish festival, he was returning on horseback drunk from the 
 market ; that a bonfire in honour of the saint was blazing in the 
 middle of the road, through which he endeavoured to force his 
 horse, using at the same time, a wicked and vulgar expression 
 respecting the Pope, but now he loved his Eoman Catholic 
 neighbours, and would not willingly offend any one of them. 
 
 A ivhole Family Surrendering to Christ. — "The head of a family 
 at whose house a meeting had been held, was reading an account 
 of ' the revival ' elsewhere : one of the daughters went away, 
 and throwing herself on her bed, lay there for an hour in an 
 agony of prayer. This was a decidedly ' stricken case,' and the 
 young woman has since exhibited all the marks of the ' new 
 creature in Christ Jesus.' A few perches distant from this house 
 there lives a brother's family. When the young men of their 
 house (four in number) heard of the happy change which had 
 taken place in their cousin, they went to visit her, and on their 
 way knelt down to pray ; but when they reached the house, and 
 while there, they felt their hearts as cold as ever, although re- 
 ligious exercises were going on all the time, and they returned 
 unimpressed. On their return home, they had their own family 
 prayer, after which, all, except one boy who remained at prayer, 
 went to their beds. The boy who remained at prayer soon ex- 
 perienced great distress of mind, on perceiving which, his 
 mother went and knelt beside him, and then the father. The 
 other sons, who had retired, on hearing unusual prayer, came 
 one by one from their beds, only partly dressed ; the j- oungest 
 boy, his father told me, came with nothing on but his shirt, and 
 that he covered him with his own coat ; in this condition they 
 all simultaneously engaged in prayer, and at that time the whole 
 
THE MORAL RESULTS. 297 
 
 family was, as tliey believe, enabled to surrender themselves to 
 Christ. The heads of these two families (brothers) had been 
 on bad terms, and quarrelling about land for three years, but 
 now are on the happiest terms with each other. 
 
 The Moral Results. — '' The following occurrence took place be- 
 tween three brothers, two of whom had been for eight years on 
 bad terms with the other, because of his having taken a farm 
 which they conceived they had a right to. (Those who know 
 the murderous results which so frequently attend agrarian quar- 
 rels in Ireland, will know how to estimate it.) The man who 
 had taken the farm, while engaged in family worship, became 
 unhappy, and on his wife asking him the cause, he turned to 
 Matt. V. 23, 24 — ' If thy brother hath aught against thee,' &c., 
 and, pointing to the passage, said, 'That is the cause.' His 
 wife replied, 'Then why don't you act upon it?' 'Will you 
 come with me?' 'I will;' upon which they both rose, and 
 went with the literally open Bible to their brother's house, 
 which was close by. He met them at the door. His brother 
 then said, that since the grace of God had reached his heart, he 
 could not be happy Avhile on bad terms with him, and pointed 
 to the above-mentioned passage in the open Bible which he held 
 in his hand. On reading it, his brother was affected to tears, 
 and kissed him. He then asked him if he would like to make 
 friends with the other brother, and that if so, he would send 
 for him. The other brother was accordingly sent for; the 
 same Scripture was shewn to him ; he also was affected to tears, 
 embraced his brother, and a similar reconciliation took place 
 with him on the spot. These three brothers have since con- 
 tinued on good terms ; two out of three now partake of the 
 Lord's Supper, which only one of them did before, and all three 
 have commenced the practice of family worship. The following 
 is perhaps a scarcely less perfect example : — A convert said, after 
 returning from the first fair he had been at after his conversion, 
 that ' he never was so hard put to it as to sell the cow without 
 telling a lie about the milk.' Several Roman Catholics living 
 in Protestant families have been deeply ' affected.' I conversed 
 with one most intelligent convert, now regularly attending the 
 
298 THE MOVEMENT SOUTHWARDS. 
 
 church ; and impressions tending to good have unquestionably 
 been made on many others. For instance, the following con- 
 versation relative to certain young men who had been converted, 
 under most remarkable circumstances, occurred between some 
 Roman Catholic labourers in the employment of a farmer, who 
 
 repeated it to me :— ' , didn't you say the revival was the 
 
 devil's work ?' ' No, I didn't.' ' Then, what did you say 1 ' 'I 
 said I couldn't understand it at all.' ' Then, some of you said it 
 
 was the devil's work ; and I say it can't be, for see , and 
 
 others, — the de\dl wouldn't bring such a change over them ; and 
 what's more, even we ourselves, when we see the change in 
 them, can't sin as we used to do ; and, signs on it, we haven't 
 the penance we used to have !' The respectable farmer who 
 heard this conversation, told me that he was so affected by the 
 testimony to the power of religion which these Roman Catholics 
 gave one to another, that he was obliged to leave them," 
 
 Here we must close this portion of our narrative of the 
 progress of the movement in Ulster. There is reason to beheve, 
 hov^'ever, that it has not been altogether confined to our 
 northern province, but has, to a greater or less extent, been 
 taking a direction southwards. In the county of Longford, 
 which is in Leinster, there are not wanting indications of its 
 presence ; and there, too, the brethren report, that some of a 
 higher class in the community have been brought under the 
 gracious influence. 
 
 In the metropolis itself there have been evidences of an un- 
 usual interest in the things of God. Meetings for prayer and 
 fellowship, on a scale unknown before, have been lately held ; 
 and in the minds of the Protestant community there is a grow- 
 ing anticipation of better things to come. 
 
 In Munster, too, although there is not a plenteous rain, yet 
 drops of the shower are falling upon the pastures of the wilder- 
 ness. In the city of Limerick, in particular, there would seem 
 to be the commencement of a time of hallowed visitation. In 
 the Presbyterian church, under the ministry of the Rev. David 
 Wilson, there have been delightful evidences of a deepening 
 spirituality; and, especially at communion seasons, there has 
 
THE WORK AT KINGSTOWN. 299 
 
 been sweet and refreshing Christian fellowship. An evangelical 
 union for prayer, into which the ministers of the Independent 
 and Wesleyan churches have cordially entered, is in efficient 
 operation, and the best impression has been produced on the 
 public mind by the edifying spectacle. On the second week in 
 January last, when the concert for prayer was general, the 
 several congregations with their pastors were seen to flow 
 together to one place at special services, and to meet for prayer 
 and praise as one body in Christ. In the Independent chapel 
 there are held nightly and protracted meetings, at which many 
 are represented to have been brought to the enjoyment of 
 perfect peace. And so this ancient city is opening its gates to 
 that Celestial Visitant, who, in wliatever heart or home He finds 
 an entrance, brings with him a satisfying and abiding joy. 
 
 Are we not warranted in the belief that the light of a better 
 day has dawned upon our country, and that the period is not 
 far distant when the whole land shall be illumined by its hal- 
 lowed radiance 1 
 
 [For full congregational returns from aU the counties of 
 Ulster, see Appendix C] 
 
 As these sheets are passing through the press, I have received, 
 from the Rev. J. Denham Smith of Kingstown, a little volume, 
 (just published,) in which he narrates the progress of a remark- 
 able work of revival, not only among his own flock, but among 
 a class of men who have too often been unhappy wanderers 
 from the fold — the sailors of the port. The crews of the 
 express boats Telegraph and Cambriu, plying across the 
 Channel, are especially alluded to as having become the sub- 
 jects of a gracious influence. The following extract is deeply 
 interesting : — 
 
 " It would be impossible to describe all the happy scenes on 
 board these boats. 
 
 "Lord's-day, December 3, will be long remembered. It was 
 the day when Roman Catholic Kingstown was assembled in 
 sympathy for the Pope. There was within sound of that meet- 
 
300 PRAYER-MEETING ON THE PIER. 
 
 ing one in the open air, convened for prayer. Tliere, on tlie 
 bended knee, and beneath the chill skies of December, the 
 newly-awakened and converted were pouring forth their warm, 
 loving prayers, that God, in mercy to us, would send forth His 
 own Spirit into the hearts of all — Protestant, Nonconformist, 
 and Romanist alike. This meeting was held at the New Pier. 
 There was no prearrangement. Providence alone had driven 
 •it to the open air. At the usual hour for Divine service on 
 board, it became evident that hundreds could not avail them- 
 selves of the ordinary accommodation. For long months the 
 saloon, passages, and stairs of the steamships have been too 
 strait for the crowds that assemble. By request, the whole 
 mass of the people resorted to the deck, which was partly 
 covered and partly open. The scene on board and on shore 
 was one of great interest. Tliere was no noisy excitement, no 
 declamatory violence, no cold formality, no pharisaic sense of 
 sect or party, but one calm and continued manifestation of the 
 Spirit of God in prayer. An earnest and solemn appeal was 
 made by one of the speakers, on the value of the human soul, 
 the brevitj'- of time, the nearness of eternity, of heaven and hell; 
 on the value of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 the preciousness of its present experience, as well for life as for 
 death, A letter to the captain was read, and a short sermon 
 preached. At the call for prayer for the outpouring of the 
 Holy Ghost on Kingstown, Dublin, and the towns and villages 
 around, one after another, sailors and landsmen, in calm and 
 orderly succession, commenced to pray. Some who prayed were 
 the newly-converted. Never were more earnest supplications 
 
 uttered, under similar circumstances, in Kingstown 
 
 "On the 11th of the same month a still more remarkable day 
 was given to the friends of prayer on board the Llewellyn city 
 of Dublin steamship, as she lay alongside the quay, near the 
 railway station. The service on board this boat commenced 
 about three o'clock. The fore-deck was filled, and a large com- 
 pany of all ranks and creeds ranked themselves along the pier, 
 who listened with marked attention to the addresses and 
 prayers. A Koman Catholic priest was present during the 
 
MR SPUEGEON'S TESTIMONY. 301 
 
 sermon on tlie words, * Ye must he horn again.^ This service 
 concluded at four o'clock, when the Lleivdlyn crew joined the 
 crew of the express boat, and sang hymns together, one of the 
 Llewellyn sailors bursting forth into prayer. The weather was 
 peculiarly favourable for this open-air service, and many came 
 away rejoicing at what the Lord was doing. A minister of the 
 Established Church offered up prayer at the close. It was men- 
 tioned at the noon prayer-meeting, by the president of that 
 meeting, that he had seen more of the distmct manifestation of 
 ilie Spirit's woi^k in Kingstown, since the previous Sabbath, than 
 he had seen in his whole life before, excepting the last three 
 months, when the revival may be said to have commenced 
 there. 
 
 " The happy condition of these sailor-brethren is thus charac- 
 teristically referred to by one who was lately crossing with 
 them — an observant passenger — the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, in his 
 discourse, January 26, 1860 : — 
 
 " * The most pleasing thing I have seen is this. Hervey once 
 said, ' Each floating ship a floating hell.' Of all classes of men, 
 the sailor has been supposed to be the man least likely to be 
 reached by the gospel. In crossing over from Holyhead to 
 Dublin and back, I spent the most pleasant hour that I ever 
 spent. The first vessel that I entered, I found my hands very 
 heartily shaken by the sailors. I thought, ' What can these 
 sailors know of me?' and they were calling me ''h^otlier.^ Of 
 course I felt that I was their brother too ; but I did not know 
 how they came to talk to me in that way. It was not generally 
 the way for sailors to call ministers brother; and when I made 
 the inquiry, 'What makes you so kind?' 'Why,' said one, 
 * because I love your Master the Lord Jesus.' I inquired, and 
 found that out of the whole crew there were but three uncon- 
 verted men ; that though the most of them had been before 
 without God, and without Christ, yet by a visitation of the 
 Spirit of God they had all been converted. My heart was lifted 
 up with joy, to think of a ship being made a floating church — 
 a very Bethel for God. When I came back by another ship I 
 did not expect to see the like, but it was precisely the sama 
 
302 THE CREWS OF THE EXPRESS BOATS. 
 
 Tlie same work had been going on. They told me a story of 
 a gentleman who stood laughing when a hymn was being sung, 
 and one of the men proposed that they should pray ior him. 
 They did, and that man was suddenly smitten down, and began 
 on the quay to cry for mercy, and plead with God for pardon. 
 ' Ah ! sir,' said the sailors, ' we have the best proof that there is 
 a God here, for we have seen this crew marvellously brought tc 
 a knowledge of the truth ; and here we are, joyful and happj 
 men, serving the Lord.' " 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE EOMAN CATHOLICS. 
 
 The Experiences of the Last Quarter of a Century — Labour and Suc- 
 cess — The Revival the most Potent Agency — Cases — The Crimean 
 Soldier — Two Females and a Male Convert — An Aged Female — 
 The Boy who Battled for his Liberty— The Lost Token— The 
 Drunken Beggar — The Woman who had Married a Presbyterian — 
 The Stammerer Cured — The Woman who was a Sinner — The 
 Maid-servant at the Fair — The " Wild Arab " Tamed — The girl of 
 Thirteen — Taught by a Tombstone. 
 
 For the last quarter of a century the several Protestant 
 churches in Ireland have been engaged in earnest efforts for 
 the evangelisation of the Ptoman Catholics of that country. 
 At the period of the famine, about fourteen years ago, when 
 the hand of the Almighty lay heavily on the land, a door of 
 access was opened to those districts which, in the south and 
 west, had suffered so severely from the calamitous visitation. 
 Agencies were thenceforward employed, and enterprises under- 
 taken, some of them on a large and expensive scale, for the 
 dissemination of Protestant truth ; and there is reason to be- 
 lieve, that for some years subsequently many were led to re- 
 nounce the system of Romanism, and to embrace the tenets of 
 a purer faith. Of late there has been comparatively little to 
 report of success in this department, unless whatever may have 
 been realised among the youthful portion of the population 
 through those industrial and educational appliances which, 
 especially in Connaught, have done much to elevate the gene- 
 ral community. The great awakening, however, by which a 
 
304 LABOUR AND SUCCESS. 
 
 merely nominal Protestantism has been made to glow with a 
 new life, has brought Divine truth into vital contact with the 
 minds of many who have heretofore been immersed in Romish 
 ignorance ; and has guided along the upward path many who 
 were groping amid the thickest darkness. Some of these are 
 noble specimens of Christian consistency and steadfastness, who, 
 amid many trials and seductions, have already proved that they 
 count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is impossible to compute the number of this most interest- 
 ing class of converts. In many cases, as stated in the returns 
 with which I have been favoured, individuals have been spirited 
 away from their respective neighbourhoods, and placed out of 
 the reach of all those influences under which they had given 
 hopeful evidence of being brought. In others, and these, per- 
 haps, the majority of instances, the first trarsient impressions 
 were speedily effaced, and the parties so affected returned to 
 their former spiritual allegiance. The practice too generally 
 adopted of making public every case of secession from Rome, 
 inspired its votaries with fresh vigilance, and alarmed the 
 priesthood into the employment of all their artifices by which 
 to win back the neophytes, and to assert over them their own 
 exclusive jurisdiction. To this it is to be added, that, knowing 
 little of gospel truth before they became alive to the importance 
 of eternal things, even the best of those who "came out" from 
 the old system by which they were enslaved, required much 
 careful training and instruction before they could be admitted 
 to the participation of Christian privilege. 
 
 It is wonderful, however, how, notwithstanding the operation 
 of such varied and adverse influences, so many were intelligently 
 enabled to relinquish their ecclesiastical relationships, and to 
 embrace the simple truth as it is in Jesus ; how all at once they 
 turned away from human mediators, and, with loud cries for 
 mercy, did homage to the only name by which the sinner can 
 be saved ; how, in despite of social ties and petty persecutions, 
 they persevered in waiting upon God in a form and manner 
 which not long before they would have utterly abjured; and 
 
THE CRIMEAN SOLDIER. 305 
 
 liow SO large a number have been enabled to witness a good 
 confession before many witnesses, and by the quiet force of an 
 exemplary demeanour, to stop the mouths of gainsayers. 
 
 In the returns alluded to, I have received the most satisfac- 
 tory assurances, after making full deduction for all dubious 
 cases, of the genuine conversion, so far as man can judge, of 
 several hundreds of Romanists, and that only in connexion with 
 a single section of the Protestant Church. The following 
 selected instances are taken from the several communications 
 with which I have been furnished : — 
 
 The Crimean Soldier. — The first case is that of one who gave 
 good evidence of genuine conversion, both in life and death. It 
 is supplied by the Rev. Joseph Barkley, of Carnmoney, County 
 Antrim. "He was a soldier, who lost his health by exposure to 
 cold in the trenches at the Crimea, and was discharged in con- 
 sequence. He returned to his native place an enfeebled and 
 broken-down man, though still in the prime of life, but without 
 pension or other means of support. Two years ago he was sup- 
 posed to be at the point of death, and was told by both doctor 
 and priest that he had but a short time to live ; on which the 
 poor fellow burst into tears, and besought the Lord to spare 
 him a little longer, 'to make his soul,' as he expressed it. His 
 prayer was heard, his health in a measure restored, and his 
 soul saved in the following manner : — A young man, who had 
 himself been brought to Christ during the revival, set his heart 
 on his conversion. He spoke to him about his soul, and, as the 
 soldier had never learned to read, he spent night after night 
 instructing him out of the Scriptures in the way of salvation, 
 and uniting with him in prayer. The other converts were also 
 exceedingly attentive to him, meeting almost every night for 
 prayer, in his little cabin, which consisted of a single apartment, 
 and supplying him out of their own scanty means with all the 
 necessaries of life. They loved him as a brother, and it was a 
 very beauteous spectacle to see the deep interest they took in his 
 welfare. God at length crowned their efforts with success. 
 The Spirit was given in answer to prayer, and he was enabled 
 to rejoice in God his Saviour; and seldom has it been our lot 
 
 U 
 
306 TWO FEMALES AND A MALE CONVEET. 
 
 to witness, even among Protestants, deeper piety, or more 
 unfaltering faith in the finished work of Christ, than was 
 exhibited by the Crimean soldier prior to his death. He wore 
 gradually away, and at last fell asleep in Jesus ; charging his 
 wife, before his departure, not to permit the priest to visit him, 
 and to embrace the faith that he died in, if she would meet him 
 in heaven ; and leaving, as his parting legacy to his kind 
 Christian instructor, the appropriate and expressive words, 
 though he knew not where to find them, having never learned 
 to read, ' Let him know that he who converteth the sinner from 
 the errror of his ways shall save a soid from death, and shall 
 hide a multitude of sins.'" 
 
 T%m Females and a Male Convert. — These cases are supplied 
 by the Rev. F. Buick, of Ahoghill, in the same county. " Several 
 Koman Catholics in this district who felt the revival, are keep- 
 ing firm to Christ, and are growing in Divine things. Some of 
 them, who were bigoted in their former faith, hostile to the 
 truth, and far from what they ought to be, are now amongst 
 the loveliest specimens of a living Christianity. With the 
 change of their hearts, their views and characters, there is a 
 most pleasing change in their outward person. The love of 
 Jesus, of His Word and ordinances, is now intense. One of the 
 same persuasion, brought up in the glens of Antrim, was dark, 
 and ignorant, and gloomy indeed. She was brought under con- 
 viction, and led to Jesus. Forthwith she was severed from her 
 former faith, and light gradually began to cast its bright radiance 
 on her features. She felt very powerful bodily manifestations, 
 being unable to speak for several days ; but during this period 
 she made rapid advances in knowledge. When directed to 
 Jesus — when she got glimpses of His love — when persuaded of 
 His willingness to save even the chief of sinners — and when 
 assured that, believing on Him, she should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life, her countenance assumed a heavenly appearance 
 of light and beauty, filled with joy unspeakable, and full of 
 glory. She is now an earnest worshipper in a Presbyterian 
 church, and of the reality of her change her neighbours entertain 
 no doubt. Another woman of the same persuasion, who was a 
 
AN AGED FEMALE. 307 
 
 regular bigot in her way, has been converted in the revival. 
 Her hold of Rome has been broken ; and her prayers for her 
 former guides are most earnest and special. She is in terror 
 lest her people should force her to return home, well knowing 
 that they would confine her, in order to compel her to go back 
 to her former faith — but against this she seems fully determined. 
 A young man, brought up in the same religion, happened to 
 attend worship in our church on a Sabbath when there was a 
 povv'erful movement among the congregation. Many were 
 stricken, and most of the worshippers on that day were moved 
 to tears. After his return from the house of God, and when in 
 a family where the revival had entered, he was stricken ; and 
 when visited, he was found pouring out a stream of holy and 
 earnest prayers to Jesus, as the Saviour of sinners. On a Bible 
 being put into his hand, he said he would 'never let it go.' 
 Thenceforth he has been an anxious inquirer. His progress in 
 Divine things is astonishing. His gifts of prayer, and praise, 
 and exhortation, are truly wonderful ; and his delight by night 
 and day now, is in continuing to exercise them, and in trying to 
 win sinners to the Saviour. His path is like that of the just, 
 shining more and more unto the perfect day." 
 
 An Aged Female. — The next case is one which also occurred 
 in the County Antrim. Going to visit one day with a brother 
 minister, Mr Simpson of Portrush was met by a young woman, 
 who thus accosted him : — 
 
 " Mr Simpson, when are you going again to vist the Widow 
 S ?" 
 
 "I am just on my way there ; have you any message for me?" 
 
 With Ciuivering lip and tearful eye she walked along, and 
 made no reply. The two ministers followed in silence after the 
 weeper, not wishing to interfere with the sacredness of her grief. 
 By and by Mr Simpson came up, and addressed her : — 
 
 " Please who are you ? and have you anything particular to 
 say to me V 
 
 " Oh, I am wife to A. C , and the old woman was very 
 
 uneasy in her mind since she heard you at Widow S 's house, 
 
 and wants you to go back again." 
 
308 ROMAN CATHOLIC OLD WOMAN. 
 
 The "old woman" referred to was so wedded to tlie Romish 
 system, that she had been known to rush out of a house in 
 which a Presbyterian minister was about to kneel in prayer. 
 
 "You don't mean to tell me that she wishes to hear me, do 
 you?" 
 
 " It's true enough, sir. She bade me call on you, and inquire 
 when you would be up ; but I didn't know how I could even go 
 to your door after what I have done." 
 
 "Why, what's the matter? what have you done ?" 
 
 " Oh ! I was once a Presbyterian, but married a Ptoman 
 Catholic, and have gone to mass with him, and had my cluld 
 christened by the priest." 
 
 "Bad enough." 
 
 "Yes, very bad; but of one thing I'll assure you, if God 
 spares my health and life, my foot shall never cross a mass- 
 house door again." 
 
 A fresh gush of tears came, and she sobbed convulsively^ 
 After a little quiet, Mr Simpson, who himself was not a little 
 moved, invited her to come over with her aged relative to the 
 house in question, to which she readily assented. The place was 
 filled, as usual when a minister was seen to enter any house on 
 such an errand. The portion read was the 103d Psalm ; and in 
 the remarks made, it was particularly urged that each should be 
 led to ask that they might be enabled to say, " Bless the Lord, 
 O my soul." The exercise in due time terminated, and the 
 minister retired. 
 
 Calling after nightfall at another house in the neighbourhood 
 Mr Simpson found that its principal inmates had gone to pray 
 with the Roman Catholic old woman who so earnestly desired 
 to hear him in the morning, as she had been very unhappy. 
 In the after-part of the day she was outside her little cottage, 
 when a perfect flood of light, as she imagined, bathed the 
 dwelling ; and rushing in, she raised a wild cry for, mercy, and 
 fainted away. It was not to the Virgin that she poured forth 
 her jjlaint, but to Him who alone can hear and give deliverance. 
 
 Ai eleven o'clock that night, the foot of the Presbyterian 
 minister crossed her threshold, and as soon as her eye fell uponj 
 
THE BOY WHO BATTLED FOR HIS LIBERTY. 309 
 
 liim, she exclaimed, " Oli ! I can say, sir, before I sleep, ' Bless 
 the Lord, O my soul.'" Beside her on the bed lay an open 
 Bible, the symbol of her new faith and hope, though she could 
 not read a syllable. The 103d Psalm, at her request, was again 
 read, and thanks were offered to Him from whom she had 
 obtained mercy. 
 
 The younger woman, who had borne the message of the 
 morning, seeing the change so divinely wrought, especially on 
 the unhappy temper of the aged female, was convinced also. 
 " Both have since been received," says Mr Simpson, " into the 
 communion of the Presbyterian Church, and are, so far as man 
 can judge, walking in the commandments and ordinances of the 
 Lord blameless." 
 
 The Boy ivlio Battled for his Liberty. — This case is thus in- 
 troduced by the Eev. James White of Carrickfergus : — • 
 
 "We have had some interesting cases of awakening among 
 Roman Catholics, One young lad, who had been brought 
 under conviction while a servant in the employment of a hearer 
 of mine, has been spirited away I know not where. Poor boy ! 
 I fear it has been made impossible for him to follow the con- 
 victions of his own awakened conscience. Another boy, after 
 braving a storm before which many an older head would have 
 quailed, has battled successfully for his liberty." 
 
 The latter case here referred to is one of peculiar interest. 
 The name of the lad is Costello, and the circumstances are well 
 known in Ulster through the public press, as brought out in a 
 judicial investigation ; as the result of which, his own mother, 
 who had grievously maltreated the youth, was obliged to give 
 security to keep the peace towards him. He had been a sub- 
 ject of the awakening in his native place, and had received such 
 treatment as is too often shared by those who assert their inde- 
 pendence of the yoke of Bome. In his evidence before the bench 
 of magistrates, and in a letter subsequently in a Liverpool pub- 
 lication, Costello made, in substance, the following statement : — 
 
 " On the evening of the 3d July, my mother having, along 
 with others, taken me home by force, they all began together to 
 try to influence me. One said I should be put behind the fire 
 
310 THE BOY WHO BATTLED FOR HIS LIBERTY. 
 
 and burned ; others attempted also to put me in bodily fear, 
 A person who was stopping in the house, more reasonable than 
 the rest, said to them, ' You cannot resist the Almighty. If 
 the boy desires to go to meeting, (the Presbyterian worship,) 
 let him ; if he wants to go to chapel, (the Roman Catholic,) let 
 him go.' But they would not consent to that at all. Searching 
 my clothes after I had gone to bed, they found a little hymn- 
 book in my pocket, which they burned. My mother came into 
 the room in which I lay, not yet asleep, but pretending to be 
 so, and sprinkled me with holy water. When I awoke in the 
 morning, I began to sing little hymns which I had learnt out 
 of the book they burned. My mother bade me desist, but I 
 persevered until she gave me my own way. I then got a New 
 Testament, and began to read in bed; whereupon one of two 
 ladies who had come in, said that it should be burned too ; the 
 other said, No ; she would rather bury it. Again, when they 
 had left, I sang some hymns ; whereupon my mother seized a 
 heavy stick, and began to do as she had been instructed by the 
 priest, who, when sent for the day before to see me, did not 
 come, but sent a message to them to beat me with a stick, and 
 throw a bucket of cold water over me. I strove, as well as I 
 could, to defend myself, but after a struggle I sank resistless 
 on the bed. I was sorely hurt j but I blamed the priest, not 
 my mother. 
 
 " After a while my strength recruited, and the priest came. 
 He began to laugh, and mock, and scoff at the revival — speak- 
 ing of a mustard blister and the asylum as the best cure for it. 
 I quoted part of the New Testament in the second cha^Dter of 
 the Acts, when he immediately said, ' How do you know that 
 that is the word of God 1 If you prove to me that any part of 
 the Bible is the word of God, I '11 give you £200.' ' Well, sir,' I 
 said, ' I can't prove anything ; but since you don't believe the 
 Scriptures, I need not talk to you.' The holy water being run 
 out, my mother asked him to make some more ; and then he 
 spent some fifteen minutes at the holy water at the bed-side. 
 So I got rid of him. Others coming in, one asked me to say my 
 prayers, which I said on till I came to the ' Hail Mary ! ' which 
 
THE LOST TOKEN. 311 
 
 I skipped, and came to the apostles' creed. ' Hail, Mary ! ' cries 
 the other. ' No,' said I, ' no " Hail, Mary ! " for me ; ' and with 
 that my mother began again with the stick, at the bidding of 
 this woman ; but I forgive her, for she acted as she was told. 
 In the scuffle the candle was blown out, and on its being lighted 
 again, the person before mentioned drew me towards her, and 
 made me say the Popish prayers. If I had not said them, they 
 would have all but killed me ; and with this I conclude. I 
 have not penned half of the things against them, for they have 
 gone out of my mind." 
 
 And this scene was enacted in the middle of the nineteenth 
 century, not in Rome or Naples, but in the North of Ireland, 
 and within a distance of only seven miles of the capital of 
 Ulster ! It is gratifying to know, as stated by 'Mr White, that 
 the victim of such cruelties has escaped out of the hands of 
 his tormentors, and is now receiving the benefit of instruction 
 in one of our principal educational institutions. 
 
 The Lost Token is thus stated by Mr Matthew Patteson of 
 Edinburgh, to whom it was communicated when on a visit to 
 his native country at the period of the awakening : — 
 
 "A Roman Catholic woman returning from the town of 
 B , in the County Antrim, on a Saturday evening, saw some- 
 thing shining on the road. She had never seen anything like it 
 before. * I don't know what it is,' said she ; ' but it is for luck 
 any way,' and she put it in her pocket. Next day she looked 
 at it, and read, 'This do in remembrance of me,' (Luke xxii. 19.) 
 She thought on these words — what could they mean 1 It must 
 be something about Christ. On Tuesday night she w^as pros- 
 trated in her own house, under deep conviction of sin, and 
 cried to the Lord Jesus to have mercy on her soul. Her hus- 
 band proposed to send for the priest. ' No, no,' said she, ' no 
 one can do me good but Jesus Christ.' Her husband still per- 
 sisting, she said, ' If you send for any one, send for the Presby- 
 terian minister.' He was sent for, and on arriving he saw in a 
 moment what was the matter, and said, ' The blood of Jesus 
 Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' * Neither is there 
 salvation in any other, for there is none other name under 
 
312 ONE WHO HAD MARPJED A PRESBYTERIAN. 
 
 heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.' ' Him 
 that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out.' He oiBfered up 
 a short and simple prayer, and left. Some days after, he saw 
 her again. She was quite composed. He asked her, ' Had she 
 been at any meeting ?' ' No.' ' What, then, led you to think of 
 your sins ? ' She mentioned the above particulars, and draw- 
 ing something from her pocket, added, 'It was this did it all.' 
 Looking at it, he said, * This is one of my communion tokens ; 
 some one returning from the Saturday sermon must have 
 dropped it.' He explained its use as a sign of church-member- 
 ship, and that they were returned by the parties when seated at 
 the communion-table, adding, ' We have a limited number of 
 them, and are anxious they should not fall into wrong hands ; 
 and as it is of no use to you, I will feel obliged to you for it.' 
 ' Oh, no,' she replied, ' I cannot give it you. I will never part 
 with it till I put it into your own hand sitting at the com- 
 munion-table.' " 
 
 The Drunhen Beggar is mentioned in a few words by the 
 Rev. J. M. Rogers of Kilrea, County Derry : — 
 
 " One of our converts was a Papist, a beggar, and a drunkard. 
 He persists in attending most regularly our public services and 
 prayer-meetings — though, on principle, we have not given him, 
 till now, any congregational aid. He never takes intoxicating 
 drink of any kind, though offered money to use the smallest 
 quantity. He is proof, as I believe, through grace, against 
 ridicule, temptation, and persecution." 
 
 One ivho had Married a Presbyterian finds a narrator of her 
 interesting story in the Rev. Alexander Minniss of Saltersland, 
 County Derry : — 
 
 " S K was married to a dissolute man, whose name 
 
 she bears, some years since. Her husband was a nominal Pres- 
 byterian, but by his godless habits gave melancholy evidence 
 of the utter absence of all religion. His wife was brought up 
 a strict Roman Catholic, to which system all her connexions 
 belong. After her marriage she occasionally attended public 
 worship in our congregation. Her presence there did not result 
 from any love to the truth, or any change in her religious views, 
 
AN INTJEHESTING CASE. 313 
 
 but merely from a slavish fear of her husband, by whom she 
 was sometimes constrained to attend. This was still further 
 evinced by the fact, that when I sometimes called at their 
 house, I could easily observe that she had very little regard 
 either for me or my religious principles. Matters went on in 
 this way for a year or two after their marriage, w^hen eventually 
 they gave up all connexion with us, and sank into a state of 
 absolute heathenism, both alike neglecting all ordinances, and 
 the husband, in particular, becoming addicted to the "vilest 
 habits. 
 
 "Early in June last, she who is more particularly the subject 
 of the present notice, was stricken down at a meeting in the 
 neighbourhood, though not conducted by me. I had not seen 
 her for two or three years before that time. It seems that 
 when visited in this way, those who were about her offered to 
 send for a priest or any clergyman of any denomination she 
 might desire. She stated that her wishes were that I should 
 be sent for. With as much promptitude as possible I visited 
 her habitation, and found her weak in body, and much dis- 
 tressed in mind. After a considerably lengthened interview, I 
 left her in an improved condition, not only in relation to mental 
 peace, but even apparently in regard to bodily strength. 
 
 "From that time forward, she began to attend, with the 
 utmost regularity, our Sabbath services, evening meetings, and 
 classes for the instruction of the young. She was grossly igno- 
 rant, not having been taught even to read. Her desire for 
 knowledge appeared very earnest, and her progress satisfactory. 
 
 " Matters went on in this way until about the end of August, 
 when, apparently in great anxiety, she came to me one Sabbath 
 morning, to say that she desired to speak with me. The object 
 she had in seeking an interview was to narrate to me a dream 
 that she had had on the previous night. She dreamed that four 
 angelic-looking beings came into the room where she was, and 
 sang a portion of the 40th Psalm, and enjoined her to persevere 
 in the course she was pursuing. I gave her what instruction on 
 the subject I considered salutary — telling her, that although we 
 are not to regard dreams as prophetic, yet God may even in 
 
314 AN INTERESTING CASE. 
 
 sleep superintend the imagination for good and useful purposes, 
 and endeavouring practically to apply the truth in her case. On 
 the Wednesday following she came to me again, and stated, that 
 during the preceding night she had had a vision similar to the 
 other, in which she was enjoined to come to me and desire to be 
 baptized. From that time she became intensely anxious to re- 
 ceive the ordinance of baptism. Her views on the subject were 
 perfectly correct. She often stated to me that it was not owing 
 to a belief that it would save her soul that she desired to be 
 baptized ; but owing to the fact, that having had the ceremony 
 administered according to the form of the Church of Rome, shp 
 had never been scripturally baptized. For some wrecks she 
 waited carefully on instruction. I was pleased, and even 
 astonished at her progress. At length I examined her in the 
 presence of the session, after our Sabbath service, and having 
 received their approval, on the succeeding Sabbath, in the pre- 
 sence of the assembled congregation, administered the solemn 
 rite. After that, at our com.munion in the month of November, 
 I had the peculiar gratification of admitting her for the first 
 time to the Lord's table, in company with a considerable num- 
 ber of the young of our charge, who had made a consistent 
 profession of having received a saving change. 
 
 " It is with great gratification that I am able to add, that 
 the profession of this woman is still marked by the most un- 
 swerving consistency. I believe she bears the most unmistake- 
 able fruits of genuine godliness. Her husband, who was one of 
 the most reckless men in the whole community, has now been 
 completely changed. He also was admitted to the Lord's 
 Supper, for the first time, on the last occasion. I believe the 
 influence of her example and admonitions was blessed by God 
 as the instrumentality in leading to this change. Owing to 
 imprudent habits during past years, they had contracted debt. 
 Their creditors were disposed, I believe, to give up their case 
 as hopeless. Since this change, however, by great self-sacrifice 
 they seem determined to act honestly. But with all this out- 
 ward pressure and straitened circumstances, I have been aston- 
 ished at the liberality they seem disposed to exercise in the 
 
THE STAMMERER CURED. 315 
 
 cause of God. In the population of this district there is a con- 
 siderable Romish element. Her friends and neighbours bitterly 
 opposed her, and chiefly in regard to the matter of her baptism. 
 Not a few of the careless belonging to all denominations were 
 disposed to scoff. In all cases, when speaking of this cruel 
 treatment, I never saw anything like the existence of a vindic- 
 tive spirit on her part. Her intimate acquaintances testify how 
 much she delights in prayer. When the imperfect accommoda- 
 tion of her humble home may not have been able to secure her 
 from intrusion, she has been known to retire to some secluded 
 place outside, that there she might more uninterruptedly hold 
 communion with God. In such a situation as this she has 
 been accidentally met with, prostrated before a throne of grace. 
 
 " Such, together with many others that we might specify, are 
 some of the fruits that attest the reality of a change effected 
 by that God who is 'wonderful in counsel and excellent in 
 working.' " 
 
 TJie Stammerer Cured. — This is the very remarkable case of 
 a young man, David Creswell, respecting whom I have made 
 the fullest inquiry, and whose history is as follows : — 
 
 He had come to Moneymore from Derry, his native place, in 
 very sad plight, seeking work as a stone-mason; and calling at 
 the house of a kind-hearted Wesleyan, his miserable appearance 
 bespoke the sympathy of its owner, who first supplied him 
 with a little food, and afterwards found him suitable employ- 
 ment. Although he had been addicted to intemperance, which 
 had reduced him to his deplorable state of destitution, he con- 
 ducted himself with much propriety during his sojourn in the 
 place, and there became the subject of a spiritual change, which 
 gave a new direction to his entire future life. 
 
 Nothing is more remarkable in the case of Creswell, after his 
 change, than the removal of a natural impediment which at 
 times deprived him of the power of intelligible utterance. So 
 painful was it to witness his ineffectual attempts at articulation, 
 that when he has called at a house to deliver a message, the 
 person whom he addressed has been known to retire to some 
 other apartment on the pretence of business, only to find, on his 
 
316 THE STAMMERER CURED. 
 
 return, the messenger still labouring to announce his errand. 
 With this constitutional defect he was also unhappily addicted 
 to the use of profane language, interlarding his discourse, so far 
 as his stammering tongue permitted it, with words of blas- 
 phemy. When Moneymore was visited by the awakening, he 
 attended the meetings, but only to hang about the outskirts and 
 indulge in mockery. 
 
 On the night of Sabbath, the 19th of June, he was passing, at 
 a late hour, the open door of a private house in the village, and 
 heard a voice engaged in fervent supplication, and the name of 
 Christ was used in it so impressively and tenderly, as to arrest 
 for the moment his errant footsteps. He felt constrained to 
 enter ; and in a short time found himself among the domestic 
 group, and uniting w^ith them in the outward form in prayer. 
 When the exercise w^as ended, and the Rev. Dr Barnett, by 
 whom it was engaged in, rose to depart, he left along with him, 
 — keeping at a distance, to avoid the possibility of personal 
 communication, but resolved to follow him to another dwelling 
 where his presence was desired by some of its anxious inmates. 
 Just then the arrow of the Almighty pierced his spirit, a strange, 
 bewildering terror took possession of him, and he sank prostrate 
 on the earth. 
 
 It was now one o'clock on Monday morning, and he was 
 carried into an adjoining house, where he was violently affected 
 for several hours. At five, he was able to walk to his own 
 lodging ; and there, for nearly a fortnight, he was the subject 
 of many alternations of hope and fear, his bodily weakness 
 incapacitating him for any manner of work. On the 2d of 
 July he was struck down a second time, and, after a deadly 
 conflict, he was led, as he believes, to the enjoyment of "perfect 
 peace." Before his change, he had been given to the immode- 
 rate use of tobacco, as well as strong drink when he could pro- 
 cure it ; but ever since, he has lost all taste for both ; while the 
 removal of his physical infirmity came contemporaneously with 
 his spiritual deliverance. From the first moment when he felt 
 himself in the grasp of a higher Power, he refused all priestly 
 aid, and, renouncing the religion of the crucifix for that of the 
 
THE WOMAN WHO WAS A SINNER. 317 
 
 cross, put himself into the hands of Him who, by His own 
 marvellous intervention, had rescued him from temporal and 
 eternal ruin. He has ever since continued to walk worthy of 
 his new-born freedom, and is at this moment at a seminary in 
 England, where he has been placed by the kindness of friends, 
 that he may be educated, and trained for some department of 
 active usefulness. 
 
 The Rev. John Knox Leslie, of Cookstown, relates, in the 
 following terms, the case of 
 
 The Woman who was a Sinner. — "At the close of one of 
 our prayer-meetings, in summer, a woman I had never known 
 or seen before came up to me, weeping, and expressing an 
 anxious desire to speak to me, as she felt that she was very 
 ignorant of the way of salvation. In company with one of 
 our students, I went out to the country to see her; when 
 I had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with her strange 
 history. She had been cohabiting with a man, whose wife 
 is still living, for nineteen years, and had nine illegitimate 
 children. Some weeks before the outburst of the revival, she 
 told me, she felt a dreadful weight upon her spirits, which she 
 could not at first understand, but found at last that it was con- 
 nected with her sin. Her distress of mind became so great, that 
 she could neither eat nor sleep ; and in the paroxysms of her 
 grief, she would rush out of the house, and falling down on 
 her knees behind a hedge, she would call on the Lord for mercy. 
 One day she said to another Romanist woman, that she was so 
 distressed, that she must go to the priest. ' You need not go,' 
 said the other, 'for he will not listen to your confession, as you 
 are living with a strange man.' 'Well, if he does not receive 
 me, I will go to God Almighty.' The poignancy of her grief con- 
 tinued to increase for weeks. To obtain relief, she had recourse 
 to every Popish expedient — but all in vain. She resolved to pray 
 night and day to the Virgin — but still she received no relief. 
 She then began to draw off from Rome, conversing freely with 
 Protestants on matters of religion, and attended prayer-meetings. 
 She began also to have some obscure glimmerings of the more 
 .excellent way of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ. She 
 
318 THE MAID-SERVANT AT THE FAIR. 
 
 was groping on in darkness, and the Lord led lier by a way that 
 she knew not. She told me, that one day, when overwhelmed 
 with agony of soul, she lifted up her heart solely to Christ, 
 when immediately she found relief, and her joy knew no bounds. 
 In the presence of many of the neighbours assembled, she told 
 the man she had so long lived with, that her Saviour would 
 not allow her any longer to live with him in sin ; that she was 
 yet very ignorant of what she should do, but that she was pre- 
 pared to do whatever the Lord Jesus would require. Her attend- 
 ance at prayer-meetings and public ordinances in our church 
 has been unremitting. She cannot read, but she is growing 
 rapidly in religious knowledge, and her character and entire 
 conduct are so changed, as to exhibit a perfect contrast to what 
 she once was. She continues steadfast and consistent in her 
 religious profession. I said to her one day, ' Could you not be 
 induced once more to pray to the Virgin 1' 'No,' she said; 
 ' God has taught me in the school of affliction how vain it is 
 to trust in any creature for salvation.' She is now a member 
 of the Presbyterian church." 
 
 The Maid-Servant at the Fair. — I have already described the 
 country fair at Orritor, near Cookstown, at which the ministers 
 of the neighbourhood so successfully contested the day with the 
 frequenters of that scene of riot and dissipation, holding a re- 
 ligious meeting of three hours' duration. Among those there 
 impressed was a Roman Catholic maid-servant. The statement 
 which follows with respect to her is furnished by the Rev. J. 
 P. Wilson : — 
 
 " She had gone to the fair, after having heard much about the 
 revival ; and when she saw the meeting, she resolved to be one 
 among others. She came, heard, and was convinced. A severe 
 ordeal awaited her. Kind friends provided a conveyance and 
 took her to her master's house, but scarcely had she been laid 
 upon a bed, and friends begun to console her, when her mother 
 and other relatives burst into the house, rushed to her, and 
 would haul her out of bed. By and by the mother saw the utter 
 helplessness of her daughter, and thought proper to desist ; but 
 she returned again the following day with a cart, and would 
 
THE "wild ARAB" TAMED. 319 
 
 force her daughter to go home with her. The poor girl has 
 since recovered from her bodily weakness, and has, we trust, 
 also found healing for her soul. She has been obliged lately to 
 leave this neighbourhood and go to a distance, that she might 
 avoid the persecution of those who thought themselves her 
 friends." 
 
 The " Wild Arab " Tamed. — The following interesting case is 
 furnished by the Rev. William J. Patten, of Dromara : — 
 
 " In this parish lives a man who earns a livelihood by gather- 
 ing rags through the country. In all the district there was none 
 more notorious for wickedness. Every penny he could get was 
 spent in drink ; and often has he pawned the clothes off his 
 back to buy whisky. Swearing was so familiar, that scarcely 
 a word escaped his lips without an oath. Frequently has he 
 been seen lying on the road in a fit of epilepsy, drunk, and 
 after the fit was over, heard to swear so awfully as to make the 
 bystanders tremble lest God should strike him dead. 
 
 " When under the influence of drink he was always disposed 
 to fight, and many a time had his poor wife to bear the brunt of 
 the battle. Right well she knew, from hard blows and cruel 
 usage, what it is to be a drunkard's wife. His own account of 
 himself is, that there was no bad practice of which he was not 
 guilty, except theft and murder ; ' and, indeed,' he said to me, 
 ' I did rob and murder my children, for I starved them.' 
 
 " He was a Romanist, and a very bigoted one — the more so, 
 perhaps, that his wife was a Protestant — and he had never been 
 in a Protestant place of worship in his life. He was, more- 
 over, as ignorant as any priest could desire — not able to read 
 a word. 
 
 " Such was this ignorant, Popish, drunken, swearing, fighting, 
 wife-beating ragman. 
 
 "When the revival began here, he mocked, as might have 
 been expected. Speaking one day of a person who had been 
 afiected, he said, with an oath and a sneer, ' It has not touched 
 me yet.' But soon after, God's Spirit did touch him. 
 
 " It was one Sabbath night in the beginning of August. He 
 had ordered his children that day to go to school at the Popish 
 
320 THE "wild ARAB" TAMED. 
 
 chapel. Their mother, however, unknown to him, had sent 
 them to the Presbyterian school. When they came home, learn- 
 ing somehow that such had been the case, he cursed, and raged, 
 and threatened ; and thus the Sabbath evening was spent. 
 
 " So angry was he with his wife, that he vowed he would not 
 occupy the same room with her, and went and lay down on the 
 kitchen floor. During the night he awoke, and felt himself 
 trembling from head to foot. He tried to rise, but could not — 
 his side seemed benumbed. He attempted noiu to speak to his 
 wife, but his tongue refused to move. And so he lay, trembling 
 and praying, all night on the floor. 
 
 " In the morning he found himself able to rise and speak, and 
 when he got up, he said to his wife and children, ' With God's 
 help, from this time forward, I will lead a new life.' 
 
 "During the day he went to the priest. He was greatly 
 affrighted by what had occurred, but ignorant of what he should 
 do, and so he went to the priest for advice. But from him he 
 got no comfort. Some of the converts, meeting him, advised 
 him to go home and pray. He did so, and from that time began 
 to attend our prayer-meetings, though once or twice after he 
 went to the chapel. For the next five or six weeks his mind 
 was in this doubting, anxious, inquiring, prayerful state, seeking 
 rest but finding none. 
 
 " At last God fulfilled to him the promise, ' Then shall ye 
 know, if ye follow on to know the Lord.' The truth was made 
 manifest to his conscience. He saw himself to be a sinner, and 
 Jesus to be the one Mediator ; and his weary soul found rest in 
 Christ. To use his own words, he ' gave himself up, soul and 
 bod}^, to Jesus, and trusted Him with all.' 
 
 " Since that time he has continued steadfast. No more has 
 he gone, and no more, he saj's, will he go, to the chapel, but 
 regularly attends the Presbyterian church and prayer-meet- 
 ings. Every night he gets his children to read the Bible aloud, 
 and he conducts family worship. He has a prayer-meeting in 
 his house, in which he sometimes takes a part, pouring out his 
 thanks and wishes and wants to God in language very homely, 
 but very expressive. Often in his travels through the country, 
 
A GIRL OF THIRTEEjN. 321 
 
 gathering rags, does he meet with cursing and reproach. ' You 
 deserve to be hunted out of the country for turning,' said a 
 Romanist to him one day. 'It was not I tliat turned,' was 
 his rei^ly; 'it was Christ that turned me, or I never would of 
 myself.' 
 
 " As far as human eye can see, he is now a meek and lowly 
 follower of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 " Yesterday (March 15)1 saw him lying on the bed of sick- 
 ness, dangerously ill with inflammation of the lungs. ' Now,' 
 thought I, 'is the time to test his sincerity and faith.' 'Well, 
 William,' said I, ' how do you feel in mind V ' Oh ! ' said he, 
 ' I am quite resigned to whatever is the will of God. I always 
 pray to be able to say, " Thy will be done." ' ' Would you be 
 afraid to die, if it pleased God to call j^ou away now ? ' ' No, 
 sir,' said he, ' I would not. I have given myself, soul and body, 
 into the hands of Christ. I do this every morning and every 
 evening, and often during the day ; and I have not a doubt or 
 fear.' 
 
 " I left him, adoring God's grace in having changed this 
 'Wild Arab' into 'an Israelite indeed.' " 
 
 The two following instances are supplied by the Rev. Andrew 
 Long of Monreagh, whose narrative has been already given. 
 The first is that of 
 
 A Girl of Thirteen. — " She was stricken at one of the open- 
 air meetings. I asked her a great many questions about the 
 way of salvation. I found she was looking to Christ alone. I 
 said, to try her, ' Why don't you call on the Virgin iSIary now 1 ' 
 She replied, 'Sir, I want none but Christ.' 'What !' said I, 
 'surely some of the saints or angels will come to your aid in 
 your difficulty'?' 'Oh, no, sk,' she said, 'none but Christ can 
 do me any good.' Her grandfather threatened to send her 
 away if she would not go to the priest ' to get the devil put out 
 of her.' She told him respectfully but firmly, that it was Christ 
 she had got, and she would not part with Christ for any one — 
 no matter what they would do to her. I gave her a Bible, 
 which she read as often as she could do so privately. She kept 
 it under her pillow at night. She commenced our Shorter 
 
 X 
 
322 TAUGHT BY A TOMBSTONK 
 
 Catechism also, and composed some Leautif ully simple verses of 
 poetry. Her parents, however, came from Scf)tland, and im- 
 mediately sent lier to a Koman Catholic school. The girl 
 resisted as long as she could, but was at last compelled by a 
 tyrannical mother to comply ; and I have not now the privilege 
 of visiting her. 
 
 The Scoffer Silenced. — "The numerous groups on the field, 
 that were either praising God or praying, produced a deep 
 sensation among Roman Catholics, and scoffers, and those who 
 neglect the great salvation. One strong man fell in the crowd 
 in Carrigans while returning home. He was carried to the 
 house of one of my people, and as the j^rocession advanced 
 through the village, the poor fellow^ cried vehemently, ' Christ 
 have mercy on me.' A brown-faced woman, a Roman Catholic, 
 was leaning over her half-door, listening to the sounds — for it 
 w^as now dark, and she could not see — and in reply to the 
 stricken mans prayer, she offered the wicked response, 'The 
 devil take j'ou.' It so happened that, like a beam, she cap- 
 sized over the half-door ; her face came in contact with the 
 flags outside, and the blood gushed very freely for a consider- 
 able time. Many concluded it w^as a judgment from the Al- 
 mighty ; but be this as it may, it had the effect of stopping 
 her mouth, and caused the Roman Catholics of the district to 
 stand in awe." 
 
 Taught hy a Tomhstone. — The following statement is com- 
 municated by the Rev. H. P. Charleton, County Donegal : — 
 " The circumstances which led to the conversion of a Roman 
 Catholic, a small farmer, residing three or four miles from 
 Londonderry, are somewhat remarkable. Some months pre- 
 vious to the ' revival ' reaching the neighbourhood where he 
 resides, he was earning a livelihood in England. His attention 
 had been attracted by a small house on the wayside, overgrown 
 with ivy, and approached by a gate. He seems to have been 
 curious as to the use to which the building was put — whether 
 it Avas inhabited or not. One evening he paused in his walk 
 and looked over the gate, when his eye fell on a tombstone 
 bearing a rude inscription in verse, the purport of wdiich was, 
 
THE EEVIVAL A NEW ADVERSARY TO ROME. 323 
 
 that those who die out of Christ must perish everiastingly. 
 The rude and simple verses sent the arrow of conviction to his 
 heart. For months a wakened conscience kept him uneasy. 
 He returned to Ireland. About June 1859, a wave of the sea 
 of grace then rising in our land swept over the neighbourhood 
 where our convert then resided, and where he is still residing. 
 One day he was at his devotions, and, I believe, entreating God 
 to have mercy on him, when he was seized by one of those 
 swoons so peculiar and so common during the season of revival. 
 This seems to have been the turning point in his life. He has 
 abandoned the communion of Rome — is regular in his attend- 
 ance on the Presbyterian church of Burt, and on each Sabbath 
 evening renders his aid in conducting a prayer-meeting in a 
 hamlet in the neighbourhood of his residence. His prayers 
 are very earnest, and remarkably scrii)tural, and he evidences 
 both the gift and the grace of prayer. His life is most con- 
 sistent." 
 
 Such are a few cases, out of many, in which there is good 
 reason to believe a change has been effected, not only in the 
 religious profession, but in the entire spiritual history of those 
 who have experienced it. In this great awakening, Rome has 
 encountered a new adversary ; and although all her arts have 
 been resorted to — too often successfully — for the purpose of 
 arresting inquiry and stifling conviction, the power with which 
 she has contended is too mighty to be baffled by her machina- 
 tions.* In the liberation of so many of her unhappy votaries 
 
 * " The priests," says the Quarterly Revieiv, in an interesting and 
 favourable article, evidently furnished by one who has had opportuni- 
 ties of judging from personal obsei-vation of the movement, "denounced 
 the revival. Many advised their flocks against this ' new work of the 
 devil,' and represented it as an alarming contagious disease. They 
 blessed charms and bottles of holy water, and sold them to the people 
 to prevent them from ' catching it.' "We know of one priest who 
 realised £5 in a month, and of another who made £17 in a few weeks. 
 A poor servant lad bought a bottle for Is., stole into his master's room 
 while he was at prayer, and shook the bottle over his head, to prevent 
 him from taking the 'prevailing epidemic.'" 
 
 L 
 
324 THE EARNEST OP HER FINAL DOOM. 
 
 without the immediate intervention of any human agency, may 
 we not see an earnest of that day of triumph, when her knell 
 shall be rung out in the hearing of exulting Christendom, and 
 when heaven shall re-echo to earth the shout of jubilation that 
 shall arise over her irrevocable doom? 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND THE PATHOLOGICAI. AFFECTIONS. 
 
 Experiences of the Late American Awakening — Its Freedom from 
 Physical Excitement — Curious Affection of the Scotch-Irish in a 
 Former Revival — Common View of the Pathological Features of the 
 Ulster Movement — Their Acknowledged Effect — Such Affections 
 not the Necessary Accompaniment of Religious Feeling — Province 
 of Imagination — Danger from its Abuse — Bodily Agitations often 
 Associated with Spuriotis Excitements — Increased by being En- 
 couraged — Instances — Views of Archdeacon Stopford, and their 
 Effect — Medical Aspects of the Question — Our Emotive Nature, 
 and its Modes of Action on the Body — Our Duty to Hearken to 
 the Voice of Science — No merely Physical Theory Sufficient — The 
 Bodily Affections Accounted for by Excited Mental Action — By 
 Sympathy — Statement from Dr A. Alexander — By Nervous Disease 
 — Prostration not Conversion — Improper Mode of Treating " Cases " 
 — The Phenomena of Dumbness, &c. — Sleeping Cases Dealt with — 
 A Prophesier and a Sleeper Rebuked — Two Striking Cases De- 
 tailed. 
 
 The pathological phenomena which at an early period were 
 associated with the awakening recorded in the preceding pages 
 have been the theme of much perplexed discussion. I approach 
 this part of the subject, therefore, with some degTee of diffi- 
 dence, especially as I am convinced that nothing can be more 
 out of place than a tone of dogmatism in dealing with a ques- 
 tion which demands for its solution a nice acquaintance with 
 our complex constitution, and with the laws that regulate its 
 wondrous mechanism. 
 
 In the course of the year immediately preceding that in 
 which the outburst of religious fervour engaged universal in- 
 
326 PATHOLOGICAL AFFECTIONS. 
 
 terest at home, I had enjoyed the privilege of witnessing, to 
 some extent, the course of that great revival by Avhich the 
 churches of the New World had been visited, and which has 
 been regarded by them as one of the most memorable displays 
 of Divine power and mercy. Especially had I remarked its 
 noiseless character, and its entire freedom from those tumul- 
 tuous agitations which have sometimes signalised the progress 
 of kindred movements in that land. I was well aware, too, 
 that the ablest theologians of America, warned by the expe- 
 rience of the past, had, both by Vv^ord and deed, discounte- 
 nanced the physical concomitants of the awakenings by which 
 their country has been so often favoured, and that their absence 
 on the occasion of the late effusion of the Spirit was a theme of 
 general congratulation. Accordingly, when a numerous and 
 influential meeting was convened for private consultation, soon 
 after the first appearance of the revival in Belfast, I took the 
 opportunity of referring to such experiences, especially as en- 
 forced by Dr Hodge of Princeton, than whom America can 
 boast no greater master in Israel. Others also made similar 
 representations. 
 
 The pathological affections that were developed at an early 
 period in the Ulster movement, although presenting some 
 points of resemblance, were not identical in all respects with 
 those delineated in the narratives of the American revivals of 
 other days. In the latter case, they were the voluntary muscles 
 of the system that were called into violent action, as in the 
 well-known instances in Kentucky and other places ; in the 
 former, the symptoms were those of physical debility, and of a 
 total sinking of muscular energy often amounting to insensi- 
 bility. It was felt, therefore, that the phenomena in question 
 should be judged of according to the phase under which they 
 actually appeared ; and as they were a new thing in our expe- 
 rience, a committee was appointed to inquire into their peculiar 
 character, and into the movement generally, and to report to 
 future meetings. These meetings were held for some time, and 
 were under the oversight of the late lamented Dr Wilson, Pro- 
 fessor of Sacred Literature, one of the soundest intellects in con- 
 
LETTER FROM BISHOP m'iLVAINE. 327 
 
 nexion with any Church. I regret that no formal statement of 
 his views on the subject was ever published, as it might have 
 done much to guide others, at an early stage, in relation to a 
 department of such exciting interest. There is no doubt, how- 
 ever, that our departed friend was thoroughly convinced, from 
 the beginning, of the reality of the work, although he made 
 little account of its unusual accompaniments. 
 
 In adverting to the peculiar character of those physical affec- 
 tions with which we are now familiar, I may here introduce an 
 extract from a letter, lately received by the Bishop of Down and 
 Connor, from Bishop M'llvaine of Ohio : — 
 
 " As to the cases of ' striking ' which have appeared so often 
 in connexion with the work in Ireland, I have recently become 
 acquainted with some singular facts. I was conversing the 
 other day with the grandson of a very intelligent and promi- 
 nent man among the early settlers of Ohio, who said, that when 
 those accounts from Ireland were first read among his friends, 
 they exclaimed, ' Why, that is exactly what occurred among the 
 Scotch-Irish in Kentucky, 1804!' The older counties of Ken- 
 tucky were settled from Virginia, and from a part of Virginia 
 which was peopled by the posterity of the Scotch- Irish Presby- 
 terians, who originally went thither from Ireland. It was that 
 Scotch-Irish posterity that settled Kentucky — a Presbyterian 
 people chiefly — an intelligent, hardy, industrious, brave, and 
 quiet set of people. About the year 1804, there occurred a great 
 revival among them, spreading over several counties, under the 
 preaching of certain faithful men. They met by thousands in 
 the forests for worship — the few houses of worship being too 
 small and scattered. The revival was followed by very perma- 
 nent and marked spiritual blessings. It left its impress in the 
 very decided Christian character of its subjects. The grand- 
 father of my informant w^as one of them. Afterwards he moved 
 to Oliio, and his son was Governor of Ohio. 
 
 " The character of the people was precisely that from which 
 you would least expect mere excitement. They were the very 
 ones to suspect and resist all attempts to produce excitement. 
 But among those Scotch-Irish strangely appeared precisely such 
 
328 THE BODILY AFFECTIONS, 
 
 cases of striking as the same sort of people, in the very region 
 whence their fathers came, have been now exhibiting. Infidels 
 and scoffers went to see and ridicnle the work, and instantly, 
 without conscious preparatory states of mind, were stricken 
 down. All the phases mentioned in Ireland took place in 
 Kentucky, except that I cannot say anything of the visions, (a 
 peculiarity in which I see nothing of importance.) These 
 strikings were preached against, and not sought to be promoted ; 
 the temperament of the people was averse to them, and still 
 they appeared ; and, what is very remarkable, since the days of 
 Jonathan Edwards, and the great revival in New England in 
 his day, (1735 and 1740,) such manifestations have not appeared 
 among any other people. We have heard of bodily effects of 
 various kinds among some very ignorant, disorderly sects in our 
 frontier settlements ; but they were not connected with gospel 
 truth, and were directly sought and promoted as religion, and 
 were ludicrous as well as strange. These curious coincidents in 
 regard to a peoi^le who have been among the very best of our 
 populatioUvS, I mention only as matter of fact." 
 
 The first and general view taken of the phenomena in ques- 
 tion by the religious portion of the public, was, that on what- 
 ever theory they might be accounted for, it was a great thing if, 
 under any circumstances, men were awakened from the almost 
 universal death-sleep into which they had fallen. That might 
 be real which was not beneficial; and as in the growth of 
 a plant there is a development of much which does not 
 effloresce in blossom or ripen into fruit, why might there not 
 be certain associated developments even in connexion with 
 religion, the highest Avork of God, which, though not of the 
 nature of true godliness, have yet some relation to its pro- 
 duction 1 So reasoned the calmest and least excitable among 
 us. Nor did they think it wonderful that persons who had 
 been unfamiliar with the experiences of the higher life, and 
 wholly untrained in spiritual things, when suddenly overborne 
 by Divine influence, should find an outlet for the expression 
 of their soul agony through other than the usual, and, as we 
 say, legitimate channels ; and that, tossed upon the stormy 
 
AND THEIR MORAL SIGNIFICANCE. 329 
 
 billows, they should not well know how to carry themselves, 
 and drift almost uncontrollably away. Better, surely, to breast 
 the roaring surge on the live ocean, and speed on before the 
 favouring gale, than lie becalmed and motionless amid the 
 stagnation and putridity of the waveless sea of death. 
 
 From the beginning, too, as has once and again been in- 
 dicated in this narrative, there was a general impression that 
 the strange excitsment by which, in almost every district, this 
 great impulsive movement was ushered, in, might have a pro- 
 found moral significance. So insensate are the generality of 
 men, that nothing can exceed their indisposition to realise the 
 spiritual and invisible; and why should not the quickening 
 Spirit, through the medium of strange and startling things on 
 earth, arouse tlie dormont intellect to the contemplation of the 
 far stranger things in heaven '? Might not these unwonted 
 incidents, in the case of a people naturally impassive, and who, 
 although familiar with the gospel scheme, had practically re- 
 jected it, be regarded as an alarm-cry from eternity of awful 
 import — a trumpet-call to arouse the sleepers from their fatal 
 slumber 1 Were they not at least entitled to rank with those 
 inscrutable visitations of disease and famine which have proved 
 the divinely - commissioned messengers of mercy as well as 
 judgment, and by which men have often been arrested in their 
 unconcern, and led to flee from the wrath to come 1 
 
 Whatever may be the solution of these visitations, there is no 
 doubt that by their suddenness they surprised and awed the 
 minds of the community. A sensible and solemn dread, not 
 unmixed with superstition, fell even upon the most hardened 
 and abandoned, when, on ihis side and on that, so many were 
 visibly passing through such agonised experiences ; and those 
 who before had mocked, were seized Avith mortal terror, like 
 criminals whose hour had come. No wonder that profanity 
 and profligacy cowered in their awful presence, and luoked re- 
 verently on, when such tempest-heavings of emotion were almost 
 rending asunder the mortal tabernacle. And when the hurri- 
 cane had spent its force, and the scene of such wild commotion 
 was lighted up by the calm sunshine of an untroubled heaven; 
 
3.30 ACKNOWLEDGED EFFECT. 
 
 wlien one and another, who had lived long years in utter disre- 
 gard of all that an immortal being should most diligently seek 
 to realise, had, after having being bowed down like a bulrush, 
 risen up to newness of life, the entire bent of mind and charac- 
 ter transformed, and the chambers of imagery, so dark before, 
 irradiated as by a celestial brightness ; and when the witnesses 
 w-ere the everyday acquaintances, and in many cases the inti- 
 mate connexions, of those who had experienced the marvellous 
 transition, — how could it be otherwise than that the new-born 
 wonder of the moment should give place to the intelligent and 
 admiring contemplation of the astounding moral revolutions 
 that were being wrought '? A single transmutation of this de- 
 scription, with its attendant circumstances, was a no less con- 
 vincing attestation to the presence of a Divine agency than if 
 one had risen from the dead,— it brought near to every one, and 
 almost forced upon the senses of the beholder, the dread reali- 
 ties of the world to come. 
 
 Such were the impressions, for the most part, produced on 
 serious men by the peculiar character of the religious movement 
 and its accessories, in the North of Ireland. That the latter 
 were always wisely treated, it would be contrary to evidence 
 and experience to assert, for there were those who seemed in 
 every case to regard them as due to a direct influence of the 
 Spirit of God. Had such views prevailed extensively, it is not 
 difficult to say what excesses would have been committed, and 
 what occasion would have been given to the adversary to speak 
 reproachfully. It was w^ell for Ulster, and for religion, that 
 throughout the country there w^as a body of educated and en- 
 lightened ministers, who, from the Cflitset, set themselves to re- 
 press extravagance and excess, and to eliminate from the scenes 
 they witnessed those spiritual influences which were so mani- 
 festly at w^ork, though frequently commingling with baser ele- 
 ments. The disorders that have taken place in some quarters 
 are largely to be attributed either to the lukewarmness of those 
 who might have been expected to direct the movement, or the 
 too ardent temperament of others who allowed themselves to 
 be borne along, irrespective of the course it took, upon every 
 
BODILY AGITATIOISr NOT NECESSARY. 331 
 
 outflow of the tide of excited feeling, or to the peculiar position 
 of ca third class, who, though favourably affected to the new 
 state of things, were not in circumstances to render much effi- 
 cient service in guiding and directing it. 
 
 It has been stated in an early part of this volume, that in the 
 neighbourhood of Connor, where a gracious work bad been in 
 progress for eighteen months before public attention was con- 
 centrated upon it, there were no violent agitations such as were 
 elsewhere subsequently witnessed. Hundreds were led to seri- 
 ous consideration, and passed through a spiritual crisis, under 
 the silent operation of the truth ; nor were there any outcries 
 or prostrations in all the district. That apprehension of things 
 spiritual which arises from Divine illumination, has nothing in 
 it which of necessity violently deranges the bodily organism, 
 although instances are on record in the Bible, in which gracious 
 affections would seem to have been accompanied by much physi- 
 cal depression ; nor is there anything in the Word of God to 
 countenance the idea that " bodily exercise " of this description 
 must be the legitimate effect of religious feeling. We do not 
 find such results attendant on the personal ministry of our 
 Lord and His apostles — not even on that solemn day when the 
 awful truth flashed on the bewildered and confounded listeners, 
 that He whom they had crucified was both Lord and Christ. 
 Doubtless, the depths of moral feeling were then profoundly 
 stirred; and conscience, with its self-reproaches, was doing its 
 proper work, when, from that mighty multitude, " pricked to 
 the heart," there arose the agonised and imploring cry, — " Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ?" 
 
 Nor is there any stress laid in the Scriptures on such feel- 
 ings as are excited through the medium of the imagination. 
 This faculty, like every other, has an almost boundless field 
 presented to it, over which to expatiate in the system of re- 
 vealed truth. As on a seraph's wing it may soar afar into the 
 regions of ethereal light and purity, and take its stand upon the 
 sapphire pavement of the city of the great King. At one time 
 it may scan the heavenly hierarchy, as they attend the " throne 
 and equipage of God's almightiness," or cast their crowns before 
 
332 IMAGINATION — ITS PROVINCE AND DANGERS. 
 
 that radiant form once marred more than any, now clothed 
 with unearthly splendour. At another it may take a downward 
 plunge, and hold converse with every existent spirit in the 
 doleful shades, recoiling at the imagery with which it has itself 
 invested the realms of the outer darkness. From such mate- 
 rials it may conjure up many a wondrous spectacle; now rapt 
 as in Elysian bowers, now racked as in intolerable and endless 
 torment. But while the imagination has its legitimate pro. 
 vince in relation to the things of God, there is danger that it 
 rest on what is merely figurative, to the comparative neglect of 
 the solid and stable truth which figure is intended to convey. 
 And " when an affection," as Edwards has it, " arises from the 
 imagination, and is built upon it as its foundation, instead of a 
 spiritual illumination or discovery, then is the aflfection, how- 
 ever elevated, worthless and vain When the Spirit of 
 
 God is poured out to begin a glorious work, then the old ser- 
 pent, as fast as possible, and by all means, introduces this 
 bastard religion, which has from time to time brought all things 
 
 into confusion The imagination or fantasy seems to 
 
 be that wherein are formed all those delusions of Satan, which 
 those are carried away with who are under the influence of false 
 religion, and counterfeit graces and riiiections. There is the 
 devil's grand lurking-place, the very nest of foul and delusive 
 spirits." 
 
 It is further to be borne in mind that bodily agitations, 
 visions, and trances, in their varied modifications, have been 
 associated in their history, not only with genuine revivals, but 
 with kindred excitements, in all countries and ages. " That 
 they are all alike attributable to the same cause," says Dr Hodge, 
 " is probable, because they arise under the same circumstances, 
 are propagated by the same means, and cured by the same 
 treatment. They arise in seasons of great, and especially of 
 general excitement; they, in a great majority of cases, affect 
 the ignorant rather than the enlightened, those in whom the 
 imagination jDredominates over the reason, and especially those 
 who are of a nervous temperament, rather than those of an 
 opposite character. These ajffections all propagate themselves 
 
BODILY AFFECTIONS MAY BE RESTRAINED. 333 
 
 by a kind of infection, lliis circumstance is characteristic of 
 the whole class of nervous diseases. Physicians enumerate, 
 among the causes of epilepsy, ' seeing a person in convulsions.' 
 This fact was so well known, that the Romans made a law, that 
 if any one should be seized with, epilepsy during the meeting of 
 the comitia, the assembly should be dissolved. This disease 
 occurred so frequently in those exciting meetings, and was pro- 
 pagated so rapidly, that it was called the morbus comitialis. 
 
 Sometimes such affections become ej)ideniic, spreading 
 
 over whole provinces. In the fifteenth century, a violent ner- 
 vous disease, attended with convulsions and other analogous 
 symptoms, extended over a great part of Germany, especially 
 affecting the inmates of the convents. In the next century, 
 something of the same kind prevailed extensively in the South. 
 of France. These affections were then regarded as the result of 
 demoniacal possessions, and, in some instances, multitudes of 
 poor creatures were put to death as demoniacs." 
 
 It is a characteristic circumstance respecting -the physical affec- 
 tions thus referred to, that they have rarely appeared, or at least 
 they have not long continued, when not approved or encouraged. 
 Thus, says Hodge, "in Northampton, where Edwards rejoiced 
 over them, they were abundant ; in Boston, where they were 
 regarded as ' blemishes,' they had nothing of them. In Sutton, 
 Massachusetts, they were ' cautiously guarded against,' and con- 
 sequently never appeared, except among strangers from other 
 congregations. Only one or two cases occurred in Elizabeth- 
 town, under President Dickinson, who considered them as ' irre- 
 gular heats,' and those few were speedily regulated. There was 
 nothing of the kind at Freehold, where William Tennent set his 
 face against all such manifestations of enthusiasm. On the 
 other hand, they followed Davenport and other fanatical 
 preachers almost wherever they went. In Scotland they were 
 less encouraged than they were here, and consequently prevailed 
 less. In England, where Wesley regarded them as certainly from 
 God, they were fearful, both as to their frequency and violence. 
 A physician, already quoted, says, ' Ptestraint often prevents a 
 paroxysm. For example, persons always a.ttacked by this affec- 
 
334 THE AFFECTIONS AMONG THE CAMISARDS. 
 
 tion in churclies where it is encouraged, will be perfectly calm 
 in cliurclies where it is discouraged, however affecting may be 
 the service, and however great the mental excitement.' " * 
 
 I have thought it right to introduce these striking testimonies 
 from one who, though himself one of the most eminent and 
 experienced of theologians, is not less remarkable for his saintly 
 grace and for his surpassing tenderness. Often, as I am assured, 
 when he is addressing his students at those Sabbath conferences 
 in which they meet together for edification as well as instruc- 
 tion, the venerable divine of Princeton is overcome by deep 
 emotion, and his overflowing heart finds vent in tears. It is 
 from no want of genuine sympathy, therefore, either with the 
 distress of awakened or the joy of delivered souls, that he re- 
 cords such a decided judgment on the subject of those physical 
 developments which in his own country have been the occasion 
 of much anxious consideration. 
 
 As shewing the strange and unreliable character of such affec- 
 tions elsewhere, I may here introduce a brief statement with 
 reference to their appearance among the Camisards of France, 
 as supplied by Herzog in his "Encyclopaedia," p. 539, (Edinburgh 
 edition) — 
 
 " In 1688, many persons in the Dauphinee, mostly females, 
 commenced, in half-sleeping, half-waking ecstatics, to exhort 
 people to repentance and faith, speaking fluently and correctly, 
 though in common life theirs was a provincial brogue. In 
 these exhortations they shewed an extensive acquaintance with 
 the Bible, Avanting to them when awake. Before long, children 
 began to fall down during the meetings of the Reformed, who 
 would warn them of traitors and enemies, that proved to be 
 really at hand. The number of prophets increased rapidly — all 
 Dauphinee and Languedoc were full of them. Thus, the Re- 
 formed were strengthened ; but the fire of persecution also grew 
 in the same degree. When these real supernatural manifesta- 
 tions gradually began to fail, impure, fictitious, and even demo- 
 niac prophecies took their place, especially as the persecution, 
 too, assumed so malignant a character." 
 
 » Hist. p. 78. 
 
THE ARCHDEACOX OF MEATH AND HYSTERIA. 335 
 
 In connexion with these statements, I may liere allude to the 
 production of an eminent dignitary of the Irish Establishment, 
 who, at an early period, gave the world the benefit of his views 
 of the revival movement, as well as his experience of hysteria. 
 I refer to the Rev. Edward Stopford, Archdeacon of Meath. 
 There can be no question that he wrote with a benevolent pur- 
 pose, and that he wrote well. It is greatly to be regretted, 
 however, that while warning against the " Counterwork," he did 
 not give due prominence to the "Work" itself. So far as appears, 
 he made a visit for a short period to Belfast, going the rounds 
 of some congregations where there was nightly an intense ex- 
 citement ; and not, as it would seem, having sought out any other 
 localities where he might have had an opportunity of learning 
 at least as much, and among a more intelligent class of the 
 population, of the real character of the movement. He heard 
 from some of our pulpits — whether from their stated occupants 
 or others we are not informed — harangues which he regarded as 
 a specimen of the style of address then prevalent in town and 
 country, and which he represents as made up largely of coarse 
 and harrowing appeals, " prolific of hysteria ; " while the prayers 
 were of a like character, and " offered with the most frenzied ex- 
 citement and gesticulations." However excellent his aim, and 
 admirable his exposure of many things that needed to be se- 
 verely dealt with, he left, unhappily, a false impression on the 
 minds of multitudes who were satisfied to follow without in- 
 quiry in the wake of such an able ^\Titer and distinguished dig- 
 nitary. The disproportionate attention which he gave to the 
 purely physical concomitants of the work created a not unna- 
 tural irritation in those who knew much better than any casual 
 visitor its real character ; and while his statements were eagerly 
 caught up by its opponents, they were, for the most part, set at 
 nought by the very parties to whom they were more immediately 
 directed ; and who, had he exhibited a more sympathising s^jirit, 
 would have given him a willing audience. 
 
 On the medical aspects of the question under consideration I 
 shall not largelj^ enter. It is right to state, however, that the 
 recognised organs of the faculty in London and Edinburgh take 
 
336 TESTIMONY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 
 
 substantially tlie same view of the pliysiological features of this 
 movement as the Archdeacon of Meath, regarding them, if not 
 as decidedly hysterical, as yet of the nature of "irregular hys- 
 teria" — a morbid condition produced by some emotion seeking 
 for itself an outlet denied through its natural channels of acti- 
 vity — the pent-up force producing a paroxysmal fit proportionate 
 in severity and duration to the original strength of the feeling, 
 or to the exhaustion resulting from efforts to repress it, the 
 movements- occurring in no fixed order, so that the presence or 
 absence of " globus," (the ball in the throat,) is not conclusive 
 with regard to its existence.* 
 
 In medical disquisitions, such as I am adverting to, the con- 
 nexion between our emotive nature and its physical manifes- 
 tations occupies a leading place. There are, according to the 
 physiologists, in the human system, three grand centres of 
 nervous influence. In the higher region there is the brain, the 
 seat of thought ; in the inferior, the sensorium (as it is popularly 
 named), the seat of feeling ; whence downward extends the 
 spinal chord, the source of motion.; and as each of the changes, 
 whether in the superior or inferior organs, disengages " force," 
 it is averred that we have in this a solution of the effects of 
 strong emotion on our corporeal frame. 
 
 Thus, then, according to physiology, as expounded by its 
 ablest investigators, such as Drs Carpenter and Carter, emotive 
 force will manifest itself in outward effect, now operating down- 
 wards, if unduly excited, on the automatic nerves, in which case 
 its action will be seen on the physical energies ; now operating 
 upwards on the brain, and influencing reason, will, and con- 
 science; or, again, taking both an upward and downward direc- 
 tion at the same moment, when a complex result may be evolved. 
 The phenomena produced, in so far as they are the effect of 
 action on the sensorium, are regarded as manifestations of a 
 disordered state of the nervous system, to which the general 
 name hysteria is applied, though under that designation many 
 anomalous cases are included, not witnessed by the jihysician 
 in his ordinary practice, but sufficiently analogous to others 
 *See Journal of Psychological Medic'^ie for January 1860. 
 
TESTIMONY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 337 
 
 that are familiar, as to warrant their being. referred to a common 
 cause — namely, the excitation of those emotions which, when in 
 their normal state, are regulated and controlled by the higher 
 faculties. All nervous affections, we are further assured, have an 
 extraordinary power of self-propagation, either by sympathy, or 
 by that " expectant attention" which, in periods of great excite- 
 ment, and even in some of the more alarming epidemics, such 
 as cholera, operates frequently, as a predisposing cause. And 
 for illustrations in abundance,, we are referred to such works 
 as that of Hecker on the Epidemics of the Middle Ages, in 
 which, among other similar instances, he gives a full account of 
 the French convulsionnaires, and of the enthusiasts who fre- 
 quented the tomb of the Abbe Paris, in the beginning of the 
 last century. 
 
 Medical science thus claiming to be heard on one leading 
 department of the question, why should any be jealous of its 
 testimony % Xo refuse or undervalue it, were wilfully to close 
 our eyes in a case into every phase of which we are required, 
 by a regard to the high interests involved, to institute a most . 
 sifting scrutiny. Some ma^ seek to arrest inquiry by the 
 assertion of miraculous intervention ; but such a course is alien 
 to the genius of Protestant Christianity. If certain, of the 
 accompaniments of the revival can be accounted for on natural 
 principles, let us by all means, so dispose of them. To call in 
 the aid of the supernatural for the solution of any ordinary 
 phenomenon, is a serious error, alike in logic and theology. 
 
 Is it possible,, however, even with the aids of science in its 
 present state of adv.ancement, to account for all the pathological, 
 phenomena by any purely physical theory 1 And even if it 
 were, would this remove them from under the Divine superin- 
 tendence and control ? May not every one of them be capable 
 of solution by the known laws that link together our mental 
 and corporeal organisms, and yet be charged with a, most 
 important and specific spiritual mission^ Does not the Moral 
 Governor rule by law in everjiihing, and yet who will deny Hii' 
 ever-present agency amid the constanqy and uniformity of 
 nature? Granting, therefore, that a satisfactory explanation 
 
 Y 
 
338 EFFECT OF EXCITED MENTAL ACTION. 
 
 on physiological principles could be given of- the phenomena 
 under review, that would not sever the connexion between 
 these manifestations and the finger of God in them. Some such 
 concessions, it is gratifying to find, are made by the medical 
 authorities themselves. Thus the Edinburgh Medical Jourmxl 
 for January writes — " The anti-revivalists are quite in error if 
 they imagine that when they have proved the ' cases' to be 
 hysterical, they have disposed of the whole case. It is quite 
 possible, that even in these instances salutary impressions may 
 co-exist with the ebullitions of emotional feeling, and the 
 symptoms of actual disease." While the reviewer in Dr Win- 
 slow's Journal of Psychological Medicine introduces the element 
 of " demoniac agency" as one of the perverting causes in a time 
 of " visitation." 
 
 May we not, then, arrive at a solution of both the spiritual 
 and the physical phenomena that will not traverse any of the 
 known laws of our constitution % I do not know that we have 
 sufficient data, or that it lies within the range of our knowledge, 
 fully to solve this question. Nor is it, perhaps, for practical 
 purposes, needful that we should *do more than disentangle the 
 higher process from that which has no necessary connexion 
 with it, discountenancing all tendency to rest in anything but 
 what is spiritual as an evidence of a saving change. At the 
 same time, it is desirable that we should reduce the cases, of 
 whatever description, under their proper heads ; and these, I 
 humbly submit, are the three following : — 
 
 I. Those in which the bodily effects are traceable to strongly- 
 excited merited action. Under this class will fall to be ranked 
 by far the greater number ordinarily witnessed. The mental 
 action, I am persuaded, as a general rule, is the immediate and 
 invariable antecedent of the bodily affection. It cannot for a 
 moment be supposed that the phenomena in question demand a 
 specific theory, as though a new mode of the operation of the 
 Divine Spirit directly upon our corporeal organism, and irre- 
 spective of the laws of mind, had been introduced among us. I 
 am aware that here and there a few cases are reported, and some 
 in the preceding pages, in which the parties affected are repre- 
 
EFFECT OF SYMPATHY. 339 
 
 sented by themselves as wholly unconscious of any mental 
 impression anterior to the physical prostration. But such 
 representations are too loosely made to be of much real value. 
 Who does not know that there are states of consciousness 
 that evanish almost as soon as they arise, and leave no trace 
 behind 1 Especially when violent emotion ensues, how difficult 
 for the subject of it to analyse or even to remember the ante- 
 cedent operation of the intellect 1 May not a dominant idea 
 produce its appropriate effects, without leaving any distinct 
 impression on the mental tablet, whether we adopt the theory 
 that there are mental states of which we have no consciousness, 
 or that in certain cases the mind, though conscious of its own 
 operations, gives them too little attention to imprint them on 
 the memory 1 
 
 I am- aware, also, that there are some sudden and character 
 istic cases of persons being " stricken" in their own houses, on 
 the road, or in the field ; and some more peculiar still, in which 
 resistance to the work has shewn itself by mocking and deriding 
 it ; and the popular opinion in regard to these is, that they 
 came without any premonition from within. But though the 
 state of mind in such cases may have appeared to an on-looker 
 to be one only of impervious hostility to the work, may it not 
 be as readily accounted for by the attempt to drown conviction, 
 and stifle conscience, under the transparent guise of an unseemly 
 and unnatural levity 1 
 
 II. There are other cases of which the only satisfactory 
 solution that can be given is, that they are attributable to tlie 
 lyrincijyle of symjxithy. I need not here descant on the peculiar 
 character or extensive influence of this principle, as one of most 
 important application for good or evil. Let me rather supply a 
 case in illustration of its influence in a time of religious excite- 
 ment in America, as narrated by the Bev. Dr Archibald Alex- 
 ander of Princeton, in his admirable volume "On Beligious 
 Experience ;" shewing sufficiently that spiritual convictions are 
 not necessary to create physical manifestations, and that, in a 
 season of awakening, there may be those who are even violently 
 agitated, whose consciences give all the while no evidence of 
 
340 POWER OF MERE SYMPATHY. 
 
 being quickened by a biglier agency. He justly observes, that 
 ministers cannot prevent the impressions which arise mainly 
 from sympathy; neither should they attempt it; but when they 
 are about to gather the wheat into the garner, they should 
 faithfully winnow the heap. 
 
 " Being in a part of the country where I was known face to 
 face to scarcely any one, and hearing that there was a great meet- 
 ing in the neighbourhood, and a good work in progress, I deter- 
 mined to attend. The sermon had commenced before I arrived, 
 and the house was so crowded that I could not approach near 
 to the pulpit, but sat down in a kind of shed connected with 
 the main building, where I could see and hear the preacher. 
 His sermon was really striking and impressive, and in language 
 and method far above the common run of extempore discourses. 
 The people were generally attentive, and, so far as I could ob- 
 serve, many were tenderly affected, excepting that, in the ex- 
 treme part of the house where I sat, some old tobacco-planters 
 kept up a continual conversation, in a low tone, about tobacco- 
 plants, seasons, &c. When the preacher came to the application 
 of his discourse, he became exceedingly vehement and boisterous, 
 and I could hear some sounds in the centre of the house which 
 indicated strong emotion. At length a female voice w^as heard 
 in a piercing cry, which thrilled through me, and afiected the 
 whole audience. It was succeeded by a low, murmuring sound 
 from the middle of the house ; but in a few seconds one and 
 another arose in different parts of the house, under extreme 
 and visible agitation. Casting off bonnets and caps, and raising 
 their folded hands, they shouted to the utmost extent of their 
 voice ; and in a few seconds more the whole audience was 
 agitated, as a forest when shaken by a mighty wind. 
 
 " The sympathetic w^ave, commencing in the centre, extended 
 to the extremities, and at length it reached our corner, and I 
 felt the conscious effort of resistance as necessary as if I had 
 been exposed to the violence of a storm. I saw few^ persons 
 throughout the whole house who escaped the prevailing in- 
 fluence ; even careless boys seemed to be arrested, and to join 
 in the general outcry. But what astonished me most of all 
 
POWER OF MERE SYMPATHY. 341 
 
 was, that the old tobacco -planters whom I have mentioned, and 
 who, I am persuaded, had not heard one word of the sermon? 
 were violently agitated. Every muscle of their brawny faces 
 appeared to be in tremulous motion, and the big tears chased 
 one another down their wrinkled cheeks. There I saw the 
 power of sympathy. The feeling was real, and propagated 
 from person to person by the mere sounds which were uttered 
 — for many of the audience had not paid any attention to what 
 was said — but nearly all partook of the agitation. The feelings 
 expressed were different, as when the foundation of the second 
 temple was laid ; for while some uttered the cry of poignant 
 anguish, others shouted in the accents of joy and triumph. 
 The speaker's voice was soon silenced, and he sat down and 
 gazed on the scene with a complacent smile. 
 
 " When this tumult had lasted a few minutes, another preacher, 
 as I suppose he was, also sat on the pulpit steps, with his 
 handkerchief spread over his head, and began to sing a soothing, 
 and yet lively tune, and was quickly joined by some strong 
 female voices near him; and in less than two minutes the 
 storm was hushed, and there was a great calm. It was like 
 pouring oil on the troubled waters. I experienced the most 
 sensible relief to my own feelings from the appropriate music, 
 for I could not hear the words sung; but I could not have 
 supposed that anything could so quickly allay such a storm ; — 
 and all seemed to enjoy the tranquillity which succeeded. 
 The dishevelled hair was put in order, the bonnets, &c., 
 gathered up, and the irregularities of the dress adjusted, 
 and no one seemed conscious of any impropriety. Indeed, 
 there is a peculiar luxury in such excitements, especially when 
 tears are shed copiously — which was the case here. But I 
 attended another meeting in another place, where there had 
 been a remarkable excitement, but the tide was far on the 
 ebb ; and although we had vociferation and outcrying of a 
 stunning kind, I did not hear one sound indicative of real 
 feeling, and I do not think that one tear was shed during the 
 meeting." 
 
 III. There is a third class of cases, which, either in whole or 
 
342 OPERATION OF NERVOUS DISEASE. 
 
 in part, may be ascribed to the O2')eration of nervous disease. 
 That such a disease, call it by what name we may, and by what- 
 ever means originated and propagated, has in most places been 
 running parallel with the spiritual movement, does not admit 
 of question. To be aware of its existence is the first step in 
 the process towards its proper treatment. That it may be 
 either checked or stimulated, past experience, especially in 
 the case of the American awakenings, has sufficiently estab- 
 lished. It requires, no doubt, a measure of discrimination 
 and decision to deal aright with such manifestations, which, 
 wherever they exist, are generally encouraged by the common 
 people, who take pleasure in all strong excitement. Still, it is 
 all-important, for the sake of those who are the subjects of 
 them, as well as for the character and credit of the work with 
 which they may be accidently associated, that in so far as they 
 are merely corporeal, they be kept in their own proper place of 
 relative insignificance."'^ 
 
 * I think the following statement, by the Rev. Theophilus Campbell, 
 from whom I have received it, worthy of insertion here, as tending to 
 guard against placing any stress on mere corporeal indications : — 
 
 " As soon as the violence of the attack has passed away, the eye 
 exhibits a peculiarly happy expression, lighting up the countenance 
 with a radiancy that must attract the notice of every beholder. At the 
 same time, a sense of relief is experienced, which is too often mistaken 
 for the peace of the gospel. I visited a young woman at this stage of 
 the attack. On entering the room where she was sitting, she rose and 
 grasped my hand with delight, saying that she had found peace, and 
 was so happy. She introduced me to a young man, whose ' happy eye ' 
 at once revealed the fact that he too had been affected. We sat down. 
 Quietly I spoke to them of the way of salvation, and proposed a few 
 questions. They were very ignorant of the Scriptures, and almost even 
 of the work of our Lord on the cross. After about half an hour's con- 
 versation, they themselves perceived their ignorance. The excitement 
 under which they were labouring calmed down — a total change ensued — 
 the brightness of the eye faded — and the peculiarity adverted to passed 
 away. Instead of it, an anxious expression marked the countenances. 
 When I rose to depart, after prayer, the young woman, with earnest- 
 ness, requested me to specify some portions of the Scriptures for her to 
 read in private, remarking that 'others had visited her, but had not 
 
REPREHENSIBLE TREATilENT OF THE " AFFECTED." 343 
 
 Judging by the past amongst ourselves, there is a tendency, 
 prevailing however but to a limited extent, to cultivate the 
 " prostrations," as though they were the starting-point in the 
 process of conversion. How necessary, therefore, that en- 
 lightened views upon the subject should be diffused, and that 
 the public mind should be drawn off from these, at best inci^ 
 dental accompaniments of the work of God ! " The apology 
 made in Corinth," says Dr Hodge, speaking of similar affec- 
 tions, " for the disorders which Paul condemned, was precisely 
 the same as that urged in defence of these bodily agitations. 
 * We ought not to resist the Spirit of God,' said the Corinthians, 
 and so said all those who encouraged these convulsions. 
 Paul's answer was, that no influence which comes from God 
 destroys our self-control ' The spirits of the prophets are 
 subject to the prophets.' Even in the case of direct inspiration 
 and revelation, the mode of communication was in harmony 
 with our rational nature, and left our powers under the control 
 of reason and the will. The man, therefore, who felt the 
 divine affection, had no right to give way to it under circum- 
 stances which w^ould produce noise and confusion," 
 
 In the case of those who have been physically affected^ 
 whether at the period of the spiritual change or subsequently, 
 nothing surely can be more inconsiderate or reprehensible thjui 
 to subject them to the likelihood of a repetition of the affection, 
 which, as often as it is reproduced, tends to exhaust the frame 
 and to induce permanent disease. It is most distressing to 
 hear of young females being fifty, a hundred, and, as in one 
 case of which I am advised, two hundred times "stricken." 
 Wherever there is a predisposition to, this tendency, it were 
 alike a duty and a kindness to isolate the individual as much 
 as possible from all exciting causes ; to resist, as an intrusion, 
 the presence of every curious visitor ; and to draw off the min(l 
 from its own exercises by some suitable occupation. This 
 course has been followed in many instances, and -vvith the 
 happiest effect. 
 
 spoken to her as I had done.' From that time she has attended my 
 classes for scriptural instruction." 
 
344 CONVERSION AND ITS ABNORMAL ACCOMPANIMENTS. 
 
 Account as we may, however, for the complex phenomena 
 which have presented themselves in connexion with the move- 
 ment under consideration, one thing is certain, that no possible 
 combination of mental or material elements could leave behind 
 it, irrespective of a higher agency, the residuum of renewed souls. 
 With the vast majority of the " affected," the secret of the matter 
 was, that one over-mastering sentiment took hold of them, and 
 carried them away, sometimes they knew not whither. It was 
 not so much a sense of danger as a sense of sin that crushed 
 them down, — an apprehension of the awful hohness of God, and 
 a more than ordinary realisation of the evil of offending Him. 
 And what if, before the astounding disclosures then opened up 
 in all their terrible distinctness, any should have given w\ay — 
 the sympathetic feeling intensifying the impression — till, all 
 unused to restrain the natural outflow of emotion, they should 
 break forth in the wild cry of horror and despair 1 Was it a 
 time to look on with scrutinising or censorious eye, w^hen the 
 heavens were rending and the earth was shaking at the presence 
 of the Lord 1 And though we may congratulate the district or 
 the community in which a wide-spread spiritual interest has 
 been awakened on the absence of tumultuous excitement; yet, 
 shall we refuse to recognise the presence and the power of the 
 Eternal, even although some strange things should have hap- 
 pened, and here and there a few should have been disordered 
 by unhealthy stimulants and injudicious treatment? Is not 
 the process of -conversion, under any circumstances, the result 
 €f a superhuman agency? and why should it be thought 
 extraordinary if, when a whole community is stirred, there 
 should be a proportionate increase in its abnormal accompani- 
 ments 1 
 
 I shall only add, with reference to the affections so frequently 
 referred to, that there is no ground to believe that they have 
 conducted those who were the subjects of them along a higher 
 pathway than has been trodden by others, in Avhom the mo- 
 mentous change was wTOught without any experience of them ; 
 while in many cases, they have developed some peculiarity of 
 temperament or character which has called forth, on behalf of 
 
THE CASES OF DEAFNESS AND BLINDNESS. 345 
 
 the " affected," a more than ordinary solicitude on the part of 
 such as have been interested in their spiritual progress. 
 
 With reference to the cases of dumbness and the Hke, which 
 •were for a time an occasion of much stupid wonder to many, I 
 cannot better express the view entertained of them by all who 
 are intelligently informed, than by quoting the following pas- 
 sage from the able and most seasonable paper presented by my 
 excellent friend, Dr M'Cosh, to the Annual Conference of the 
 Evangelical Alliance at its meeting in Belfast in fc'eptember 
 last : — 
 
 " From an organism weakened by repeated excitement, pro- 
 ceed cases of blindness and dumbness, and of persons who 
 can bring on sleep at a particular time, and awake at an 
 appointed hour. I have found in a vast number of cases 
 that the deafness and blindness have appeared, not in persons 
 who have been struck the first time with a conviction of sin, 
 but in persons Avho have been struck a number of times. It is a 
 warning, given in God's natural providence, that in that particu- 
 lar district the bodily excitement is being carried too far, and is 
 in danger of overriding and oppressing the spiritual work. All 
 such persons should be put under the care of a kind Christian 
 physician ; they should be encoiu-aged to pray that their bodily 
 weakness may be relieved as speedily as possible ; and to seek 
 to come under the influence of faith and confidence and love, 
 which, instead of weakening the body, have a tendency to soothe 
 and strengthen the frame. As to the sleeping cases, every one 
 who has studied the subject knows that mesmerism is full of 
 them. A trained traveller can fall asleep when he pleases, and 
 rise at any hour he fixes ; and people in a mesmeric state can 
 anticipate and regulate their mesmeric slumbers. If there be 
 any persons so preposterously foolish — I had almost said blas- 
 phemous — as to ascribe such cases to the Spirit of God, I would 
 remind them that the Hindoos can produce far more wonderful 
 cases than those in Ireland ; for, in India, individuals who have 
 acquired this mesmeric power allow themselves to be buried 
 for days, and tell beforehand the precise time when they are to 
 awake, and their friends are to open the ground to allow them 
 
346 TRANCE CASES PROPERLY DEALT WITH. 
 
 to rise. When such cases appear, Christians should by all 
 means discourage them. They were just beginning in a village 
 with which I am acquainted, when a Christian physician, who 
 had been the main earthly leader of the movement in the dis- 
 trict, reasoned with the people, and they immediately disap- 
 peared. Great mischief arises from such persons being visited 
 by neighbours, and strangers, as if they were objects of admir- 
 ation, whereas they are rather objects for our commiseration and 
 our prayers. I have often seen that the people who go won- 
 dering after such cases, are of all persons the least likely to 
 wish to become partakers of the spiritual work. Nothing, in 
 my humble opinion, is so much fitted to grieve the Spirit, as 
 to find persons gazing at the weakness of man, as if it were the 
 power of God. The only thoroughly conceited converts I have 
 seen in this movement, are those who have got into such a state 
 of physical weakness, that they see visions and predict events. 
 The predictions, I may remark, have all the characteristic 
 marks of clairvoyance, which has so often been exposed. I 
 may add, that while the cases of this description have hitherto 
 been very few, yet we have already evidence that if encourage- 
 ment were given, especially of a pecuniary kind, deception is 
 ready to appear, and Satan would triumph." 
 
 Let me here also introduce a statement illustrative of the 
 good effects that are sure to follow when such cases as those 
 referred to are judiciously treated. The narrator is the Rev, 
 Alexander Field, of Dervock, a highly-intelligent young min- 
 ister of the Presbyterian Church. It will be seen from 
 the introductory sentences, that he warmly entered into the 
 movement, and that the results in his congregation were most 
 encouraging : — 
 
 " It is unnecessary for me to enter into a minute detail of the 
 blessed movement as it came under my notice. It was dis- 
 tinguished here by the prostrations and those other features 
 that characterised it elsewhere, and with which you and the 
 public are so familiar. Suffice it to say, that great good has 
 been its result in this locality and the surrounding district. 
 
A CASE AT dekvock:. 347 
 
 A greater prayerfuluess, and a greater love of God's Word are 
 prevalent among God's people ; also a greater interest in each 
 other's spiritual welfare. The tone of the general community is 
 much changed ; religion is more' respected ; religious conversa- 
 tion is easier; and the minister of the gospel, as he goes his 
 rounds, finds that he moves in a more wholesome religious 
 atmosphere. I am happy to be able to say that the trance cases, 
 which were so prevalent in some quarters, were not numerous 
 within my bounds ; I believe there were only three such cases. 
 Two of these came particularly under my cognisance, and I shall 
 briefly inform you how I dealt with them. 
 
 " In the first case, I was specially sent for by the girl herself 
 to see her fall into the trance state. She had been 'ill' on the 
 previous night, and had been told, she said, among other revela- 
 tions from the spiritual world, that she was to be in the same 
 condition three times more, and on the following evening at a 
 certain hour. I was with her at the appointed time, being 
 anxious to see a case of the kind, and to try whether I could do 
 anything in the way of prevention. There was no watch nor 
 clock in the house, and I forbade all reference to time by the 
 inmates. However, at the predicted hour, she became strangely 
 ill. I took her outside, thinking that the fresh air might remove 
 the affection, and kept up a brisk conversation, eliciting replies 
 to my questions, that thus I might, if possible, ward off the 
 threatened dumbness. I succeeded for some time, but at length 
 she signified her inability to speak. I then, in a determined but 
 kind manner, told her that I believed she could speak, if she 
 chose to make the effort ; and reminded her that she had read 
 of Jesus, when on earth, always opening the mouth, never of 
 making people dumb, and that He was the ' same Jesus ' now 
 that He was in heaven ; and also that it was her duty to glorify 
 God by exercising the faculty of speech with w^hich He had 
 blessed her. This had the desired effect, and she spoke, and 
 continued to speak during the remainder of the evening. I 
 acted in a similar manner in reference to her eyes, which she had 
 persisted in keeping shut; and at last I left her quite well, 
 
348 ANOTHER CASE. 
 
 possessing the power of all her faculties. She never afterwards 
 had a return of the attack; and so the predictions of the previous 
 night came not to pass. 
 
 " The second case was that of a young woman, not then con- 
 nected with my congregation. I was going my rounds, visiting 
 those of my flock who had been ' stricken,' when I was met on 
 the road by her mother, who earnestly soHcited me to go into 
 her house and see her, stating that she was then in the trance 
 state, and had intimated that her state was to last for seventeen 
 hours. I went with her to please her, not expecting that I would 
 be of any service — my experience in the former case not war- 
 ranting me to conclude that I could bring a person out of the 
 trance state, but only that 1 might be able to prevent her falling 
 into it. On entering the house, I found her daughter lying on 
 a bed, and apparently unconscious, deaf, dumb, and blind. I 
 engaged in devotional exercises, and then proceeded to deal 
 with her as in the other case, firmly and kindly telling her to 
 open her eyes and to speak, and expressing my conviction that 
 she could do so, if she chose to make the effort. This not 
 having any effect, I then opened her hands, which were clenched 
 like a person's in epilepsy, and lifted up her eyehds. Gradually 
 consciousness returned, and she evidently both saw and heard 
 me. I next got her mouth opened, and, on looking in, observed 
 that her tongue was tucked back so that she could not speak, 
 but by means of water and the friction of her own finger her 
 tongue was unloosed, and the low voice of prayer announced 
 that her power of speech was regained. After a little, she arose 
 from her bed, dressed, and accompanied me to the house, a little 
 way off", whither I was proceeding when her mother met me. 
 The recovery was complete. For eight weeks previous she had 
 been seldom out of these trances; her health was much im- 
 paired ; her physician had been tried in vain ; and her parents 
 had been exceedingly distressed ; but since that day there has 
 been no return of the state, and her bodily health has been 
 completely restored. I leave you to draw your own conclusion 
 from these cases. My own theory was, that somehow or other 
 
TRANCE CASES AND THEIR SOLUTION. 349 
 
 her will liad become dormant, and imagination and desire had 
 got control of the mental system. In my treatment my object 
 was to reinvest the vnll with its proper authority, in the hope 
 that, having once regained its place, it would retain it ; and in 
 this I was not disappointed. The effort of the party to resist 
 the disposition to the trance state so strengthened the power of 
 the •will, that neither imagination nor desire could afterwards 
 overcome it. 
 
 " There were no more cases of this kind ^vithin my bounds 
 after these two. My success in treating them brought them 
 rather into disrepute, and consequently they ceased." 
 
 The explanation given by the Archdeacon of Meath of such 
 cases is worthy of being introduced here : — 
 
 "The dumbness is perfectly accounted for by the hysteric 
 action of the nerves of the throat. The blindness may be 
 accounted for either on the same ground or by hysteric action 
 extending to that part of the sensorium which receives the 
 nerves of sight. The visions and revelations are due to hysteri- 
 cal suppression of the powers of will and reason, leaving the 
 operation of the cerebrum and sensorium as uncontrolled as in 
 dreams It does not seem impossible that hysteric affec- 
 tion of a portion of the sensorium should cause temporary deaf- 
 ness ; but when so unusual a phenomenon becomes prevalent, 
 a knowledge of hysteria suggests another solution, . . . . ' The 
 pleasure of receiving unwonted sympathy,' says Dr Carter, 
 ' once tasted, excites a desire for it that knows no bounds ; and 
 when the fits have become familiar occurrences, and cease to 
 excite attention, their effect is often heightened by the designed 
 imitation of some other disease.' .... If they hear of deaf- 
 ness in others, they will be deaf. I cannot look on this as 
 ordinary imposture. It is the diseased moral action of hysteria. 
 .... The foretelling of the duration of dumbness, &c., or the 
 time of recovery, is easily explained. The desire does itself 
 induce the hysteric action, and can equally determine its 
 cessation." 
 
 The following is a somewhat amusing instance of the way in 
 
350 A " PROPHET" Al^D A SLEKPKlt BAFFLED. 
 
 which a prophet and a sleeper were both arrested, and a real 
 service rendered to the neighbourhood in which the scene 
 occurred : — 
 
 In a country parish of County Down, of which a decided 
 work of grace has been recorded in this volume, and in t e 
 bounds of his own congregation, which received so largely of 
 the blessing, the Presbyterian minister happened one day to 
 call at a house where several of the inmates had been awakened, 
 taking with him two Scottish brethren, who were anxious to be 
 informed, by personal observation, of the real character of the 
 work. Scarcely had they been seated, when two country-lciok- 
 ing young men, one of whom was only some eighteen years ot 
 age, entered the house, and, without any ceremony, seated 
 themselves in the apartment. The younger immediately inti- 
 mated, with much show of importance, that his comrade would 
 fall asleep in ten minutes after, and would not awake for two 
 hours. He was at once challenged by my friend the minister^ 
 who asked him to produce his credentials substantiating his 
 claim to the prophetic gift. When he was dealing with the 
 young man in question, and charging him either with being an 
 impostor or the victim of delusion, the breast of his companion 
 began to heave, and he closed his eyes as if to induce the 
 approach of the wondrous sleep. The 2^(^sio^ ^oci, however, 
 continued his admonition, exhorting his reluctant auditor 
 quietly to go home, to mind his proper business, and ask for- 
 giveness for his presumption. He reminded him that even the 
 gift of prophecy, supposing he were endowed with it, was no 
 evidence of grace ; referring to the case of Balaam, who, though 
 he had uttered true predictions, fell fighting against Israel, and 
 to the protestations that, at the great day, shall be made by 
 many who will in vain appeal, in arrest of judgment, to their 
 having prophesied in the name of Christ. He enforced esjDe- 
 cially upon him the duty of humility, as the becoming ornament 
 of the Christian profession, rating him soundly for his uncere- 
 monious intrusion into the presence of several ministers and 
 others to whom he was an entire stranger, and who had other 
 things to mind than sleeping cases and their prophesiers. 
 
CASES OF THEILLING IXTEEEtT. 351 
 
 The brethren who were present joined in the objurgatory- 
 strictures, and addressed themselves ^^ith great earnestness to 
 the older visitor, as to the inutility, either to himself or any 
 other, of his falling into the state announced ; while my friend 
 also remonstrated with him on the unseasonableness of such an 
 operation in such a place, and the absurdity of imagining that 
 any good purpose could, under any circumstances, be served by 
 it. The sleeper and the seer were alike nonplussed by this 
 unexpected reception, and left the house, but not till more than 
 twice ten minutes had elapsed after the announcement of the 
 "prediction." It was cause of congratulation that this, the 
 first attemiDt to import the sleeping fits into the neighbourhood, " 
 was so successfully resisted, as, hearing of such things around 
 them, the people might otherwise have fallen into like disorder 
 and extravagance. It was the only case of the kind within the 
 district, and the mode in which it was met and put to shame 
 called forth an expression of unmingled satisfaction from the 
 entire community. 
 
 I shall conclude this chapter by a statement of two cases, 
 each of thrilling interest. The subjects of both were stricken; 
 but the first, instead of being the better, only became worse ; 
 while the second emerged from the fiery trial through which he 
 passed, a conqueror, and more than conqueror. 
 
 The Eev. Thomas Y. Killen, of Ballykelly, narrates the fol- 
 lowing : — » 
 
 " One class of cases resembled, more than anything else 
 I can think of, the demoniacal possessions in our Lord's day. 
 The whole bodies of the persons afiected were convulsed in the 
 most frightful manner, so that it required five or six strong men 
 to hold them, while their cries were of the most piercing kind. 
 These frightful cases were comparatively few in number, and, 
 I regret to say, have not generally turned out well. Several 
 of those who passed through fearful struggles have gone back 
 to their old ways, and instead of getting better, seem rather to 
 have grown worse. Take one remarkable case : — M. H. is the son 
 of a widow in respectable circumstances. He was always wild, 
 reckless, and passionate, and during five years at sea seemed to 
 
352 MELANCHOLY CASE OF A SCEPTIC. 
 
 have imbibed infidel opinions. On a Sabbath morning he tra- 
 velled home from Belfast, where he had been staying for some 
 weeks, to the great grief of his mother, who had tried diligently 
 to imbue the minds of her children Avith a sense of the Sabbath's 
 sanctity. He declared his utter disbelief in the whole move- 
 ment, but came with the family to public worship. A num- 
 ber of persons were stricken that day, and when the first cry was 
 uttered, he felt a cold tremor come over him, and left the house. 
 His mother thereupon turned up the Bible, and pointed her 
 daughter to the account of Jonah flying from the Lord, and 
 how the Lord laid hold of him notwithstanding. He came 
 in again, and quietly sat out the service. That evening and 
 the next forenoon he kept ridiculing the revival, and laughing 
 at the stricken ones, declaring that he would warrant them he 
 would not be stricken, but if he were he would have the sense 
 to keep his mouth shut at any rate. A friend, who dined with 
 them that day, tried to reason with him on the subject ; but he 
 persisted in his scepticism, until his mother requested them to 
 let him alone, ' for,' said she, ' he has broken my heart already, 
 and unless the Spirit of God lay hold of him, man can do 
 nothing with him.' His friend, however, continued to argue, 
 and he to resist, till his sister interfered, and entreated, if he 
 would not himself believe, to hold his tongue, and not to do 
 harm to others ; adding, that there was no use talking to him. 
 Upon this he got enraged, and said, 'My sisters are turned 
 against me — nobody will speak to me now,' — rushed to the 
 kitchen, and then exclaimed with an oath, 'They're always 
 preaching at me ; ' — got into a perfect fury, tore his cap and 
 threw it into the fire, and in the midst of his rage was in a 
 moment laid prostrate on the floor. His friends heard his 
 cries, and came out and found him writhing on the ground, 
 and for three-quarters of an hour he was dreadfully convulsed, 
 while it required several strong men to hold him. His first 
 cry was, ' A knife ! a knife !' then ' It 's too late ! it 's too late !* 
 then ' He 's dragging me down, he 's dragging me down ! ' and 
 at length, ' Lord Jesus, have mercy on me ! save me ! ' After 
 some time he became quiet, but lay in an unconscious state. 
 
HAPBY CASE OF THE WIDOW'S SON. 353 
 
 I had been sent for, and when I arrived I found a friend 
 praying over him. In a little while he opened his eyes and 
 stared vacantly round. When I first spoke he did not recognise 
 me, but when told who it was, he held out his hand to me. I 
 said, ' Were you afraid Satan was going to get you 1 ' He 
 replied, ' He had me.' One of his friends said to him, ' Did 
 you see Jesus ? ' ' Yes,' said he, ' and He told me I had a black 
 heart, but He would give me a new one.' When he got some- 
 what better he said that Satan coiled himself round him, and 
 was dragging him down to hell, which seemed like the crater of 
 a great volcano, and as he was dragged towards it, it appeared 
 to be growing still larger and more dreadful, till, when he was 
 brought very near, he felt almost suffocated by tlie sulphurous 
 vapour. He said that Jesus then appeared to him and delivered 
 him, and he saw heaven — a most beautiful place, with many 
 in it whom he did not know, but that he had recognised two 
 friends who had died some years before. I could not see that 
 he had the slightest conviction of sin, or felt any need of a 
 Saviour ; and though he appeared to be sober for a little, and 
 had two other attacks like the preceding, no change for the 
 better appeared. In a few days he refused to praj^, and would 
 scarcely ever open his Bible. The family emigrated in autumn, 
 and I regret to say that the last account I had of him from 
 his sister, when in London, awaiting the sailing of the vessel, 
 was to the effect that he seemed now to be regarding himself 
 as belonging to Satan, and that God had nothing to do 
 with him. His was certainly the most melancholy case we 
 have had." 
 
 The other is one of peculiar and even sublime interest, and 
 is to be recorded in connexion with the movement in Armagh. 
 Two of my correspondents in that city have referred to it, and 
 from the statements they have supplied, I am enabled to pre- 
 sent it in the fullest and most authentic form : — 
 
 There was a youth of seventeen years of age, the son of a 
 widow, who w^as attending the prayer-meeting one evening, and 
 who remained behind, along with a number m. re, to converse 
 with the ministers in regard to the great concerns then pressing 
 
 z 
 
354 EARNEST PRAYER. 
 
 heavily on many souls. Restless and agitated, lie rose after a 
 short period, and left the church. He repaired in the first 
 instance to a service in another place of worship, but soon after 
 turned homeward. Arriving at the door, he found that the key, 
 which had been left by his employers for himself and com- 
 panions, was not to be found, and turning to the street, he met a 
 young man of the city whom he knew to be a serious Christian, 
 to whom he said, abruptly, " Oh, what am I to do ? My heart 
 will break ; I am for ever lost ! " His friend urged him to ac- 
 company him to the church. "I was there already," he replied, 
 "but all in vain." He complied, however, with the invitation, 
 and arriving, sat down. The auditory had all dispersed except 
 some dozen individuals, with whom the ministers were holding 
 earnest conversation, eliciting their doubts and difficulties, and 
 of whom several that night were led to profess their faith in 
 Christ, and to "go on their way rejoicing." 
 
 "We were in the act of bringing this meeting to a close," says 
 the Rev. William Henderson, " when we were surprised and 
 startled by words of earnest prayer from a young man in the 
 adjoining pew, who was bowed on his knees in supplication. I 
 shall never forget the scene that followed. For about two hours 
 that young man continued pleading with God, and wrestling 
 with Satan, and he ceased not till he rose a conqueror, exulting 
 in the blood of the Lamb. It is now seven months since this 
 occurrence, and during that period I have had frequent oppor- 
 tunity of observing this youth, who is engaged in business in 
 town, and I have not yet known him to falter in his burning 
 love to Jesus, nor to waver in the strong hope which God gave 
 him that night. His prayer was the most wonderful one that I 
 ever listened to. Many of his utterances are yet vividly im- 
 pressed on my memory. Aided by some notes, which were 
 hurriedly taken by a brother minister at the time, I subjoin a 
 few of the petitions, as well as expostulations with the enemy, 
 which fell from his lips : — 
 
 " . . . . ' Satan, thou enemy of my soul, begone ! —thou de- 
 ceiver of the world, leave me ! Come not near me, Satan, for 
 Jesus is here ! O Jesus, save me ! Thou didst smite Saul of 
 
THE CONFLICT AND THE VICTORY. 355 
 
 Tarsus, the persecutor of Thy Church, and Thou hast smitten 
 me, an enemy of Thy cross, an enemy of Thy Bible, an enemy 
 of Thy Sabbath, an enemy of mankind. O Jesus, heal my 
 wounded heart ! Jesus Christ, the Kighteous One, save my soul ! 
 Satan, thou father of lies, I have served thee long. I have been 
 a subject of thy kingdom ; but now thy chains are breaking. 
 Keep back, Satan! ... eternal Son of God, have mercy! 
 O Spirit of the living God, draw near to me ! . . . O Jesus ! 
 Thou didst come to Bethlehem's manger — Thou didst come to 
 Gethsemane's garden — Thou didst come to Calvary's cross — 
 Thou didst love poor sinners. ... thou Saviour of the lost, 
 save me ! Thou hast arrested me in the broad road which leads 
 down to hell. I see my companions hurrying downward. Oh, 
 have mercy on my poor soul ! I see my sin as a great moun- 
 tain, — wash it away ! Spirit, Thou hast smitten, but, Jesus, 
 do Thou heal the wound ! My sins are like a thick, dark? 
 dismal cloud, — oh, shine over it and take it away ! . . . Ob, 
 human nature, sinful, vile, polluted, hell-deserving ! Holy 
 Spirit, I thank Thee for Thy glorious work. . . . O Saviour, 
 Thou art here. I see Thy face. It is shining, it is radiant — 
 it is radiant like the sun, yea, like millions of suns. Little 
 wonder that Satan is confounded before Thee ! . . . Jesus, 
 Thou didst say to the raging sea, " Peace, be still," and there 
 was a great calm. Let it be so here ! . . . Thou hast taken 
 me away from my past life — it is all a blank, it is a black cata- 
 logue of sin O Saviour — the Saviour — tlie Saviour, help 
 
 me ! Oh, let Thy glory be advanced in this smitten soul ! . . . 
 Oh for faith ! Faith is the wanting grace. . . . Oh, the con- 
 flict is sore ! . . . O Jesusj gather in all my wandering thoughts, 
 and cluster them on Thy cross, and take and purify them from 
 sin ! . . . Satan, it is hard to baffle thee. Oh, come not near 
 this poor, naked, wounded soul ! Say not there is no mercy ! 
 Ah ! there is mercy for the chief of sinners ! Satan, thou 
 knowest thy kingdom is being shaken, and to-night tbou hast 
 lost a subject. . . . O Church of the first-born in heaven ! 
 Admit me, Jesus, to be a member of it. . . . Satan, thou art 
 hanging on long, for thou hast had a strong hold here. Thou 
 
356 BEFORE AND AFTER 
 
 didst reign here even from infancy. Oh that thou wert de- 
 throned in my heart ! for thou hast swayed me too long. Jesus, 
 Thou didst conquer on Calvary, come and save me ! ... I come 
 to Thee as a sinner, that I may be saved. I have nothing to 
 give Thee in return, but a broken heart. And, oh ! it is hard, 
 for it was long subject to Satan. Do Thou soften it. . . . Oh, 
 sin ! sin ! sin ! thy weight is very heavy. ... Oh, the moun- 
 tain is very high, wash it away ! — it is very lofty, cast it behind 
 Thee ! . . . Oh, this wounded soul ! . . . Light, light ! . . . I 
 see faith coming under the door. ... I see the red river of 
 Emmanuel's blood. I see the eternal river that flows from the 
 side of Jesus. ... I see the top of the mountain is gone \ 
 Blessed Jesus ! Thou hast begun a work. I trust to Thy name 
 Thou wilt carry it on till our feet shall stand in the streets of 
 the new Jerusalem. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but 
 Thy word shall never pass away." ' 
 
 "These are but fragments," adds Mr Henderson, "of the 
 prayer ; but truly the kingdom of heaven suffered violence that 
 night, and the violent took it by force. None that witnessed 
 that spiritual conflict will ever forget it. What a reality it im- 
 parted to the solemn truths of God's Word, which, from our 
 very familiarity with them, we too often fail to realise to their 
 full extent ! I should say that the young man who was the 
 subject of this remarkable work, had received nothing more 
 than the rudiments of an English education. He had been a 
 moral living youth, and a regular attender at the Sabbath-school 
 and at public worship. Naturally he is of a retiring disposition, 
 and not till this occasion had he ever offered a word of prayer 
 before others. He would have been ashamed to have spoken of 
 Jesus. I found, in conversation with him afterwards, that his 
 mind w^as fully conscious during the great struggle through 
 which he passed. There have been cases in which prayers were 
 uttered by persons when under prostration, and were not re- 
 membered by them. It was different with him. He was never 
 unconscious of anything that passed. The ministers present 
 spoke to him at intervals, mentioning suitable texts of Scrip- 
 ture, and these his soul grasped at witli wonderful avidity, and 
 
THE GREAT CHANGE. 357 
 
 he would say, ' That is a promise. Oh, the sweet promises of 
 God ! Oh for faith to rest upon them !' At other times prayer 
 was made for him, and he seemed to be encouraged thereby, as 
 he exclaimed, ' Thou wilt hear the prayers of Thy faithful ser- 
 vants.' He mentioned to me afterwards, that when on his 
 knees at prayer, the thought rushed into his mind that the 
 moment of his salvation had come, and that it should be ' now 
 or never.' It is interesting to know that his mother had expe- 
 rienced the blessed change the preceding night, and when he 
 spoke to me some days afterwards of God's mercy towards him, 
 he exclaimed, with streaming eyes, ' Ah, my mother was pray- 
 ing for me ! ' At the same time he thanked God for the Sab- 
 bath-school. ' Oh, blessed Sabbath-school, how much do I owe 
 to you ! ' " 
 The Rev. Jackson Smyth states of this youth, that, meeting 
 
 him lately, he said to him, " Well, H , do you still feel that 
 
 lightness of soul and glow of love which you did some time 
 ago 1 " " No," was the answer ; " sometimes Satan tempts me 
 — ^he is casting a gloom across my soul at times." " And are 
 you then afraid ? " " Oh no." " Wherefore V "I know that 
 Jesus lives, and when I come to Him in prayer, He teaches me 
 that He does." " And except at these times, when a cloud flits 
 across your vision, is your love to Him as strong as ever?" 
 " Oh yes, increasing and growing. You know His promise, ' I 
 will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' " 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND ITS LESSONS. 
 
 The review fitted to strengthen Faith in the Omnipotent energy of 
 the Holy Spirit — To illustrate the rapidity with which God can 
 bring about His purposes of Mercj^ — To shew the marked Coinci- 
 dence between the Working of the Spirit in the early Church and 
 now — To teach the Church that the forces she now possesses are 
 sufficient for the Conversion of the World — To enforce the true 
 theory of Christian Union — And to cast a new light on individual 
 responsibility and duty — Conclusion. 
 
 To the record presented in the preceding pages, it cannot be 
 necessary to append any corroboration. Authenticated as the 
 great awakening of 1859 has been by those who, from the out- 
 set, had the most abundant opportunities of estimating its reid 
 character and results, nothing further can be requisite to com- 
 mend it as a genuine and wonderful work of God. Its origin 
 and progress unequivocally attest it as divine. In startling and 
 impressive grandeur, it burst forth in a comparatively seques- 
 tered region, and scarcely had the new-born flame, drawn down 
 by the few earnest watchers there, begun to burn, than it sjiread 
 in all directions over an entire province. All classes and all 
 ages caught the heavenly fire. Within the Church, a cold for- 
 mality, an apathetic and unimpressible decorum were exchanged 
 for a living and vigorous piety ; without, the ignorant and 
 unreclaimed were seized as by a resistless power — and from the 
 ranks of the abandoned and the profligate, as well as of those 
 who had been brought up under the droppings of the sanctuary, 
 
THE OMNIPOTENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 359 
 
 thousands and tens of thousands were made to realise the pos- 
 session of an endless life. 
 
 In reviewing the course of this great spiritual movement as 
 here narrated, there are many reflections which cannot but 
 suggest themselves, and to some of these it may not be un- 
 seasonable to devote this concluding chapter, 
 
 I. Is not a narrative like the present fitted in an eminent 
 degree to revive the faith of the Church in the omnipotent 
 grace and energy of the Holy Spirit ? 
 
 How else is it possible to account for such an extraordinary 
 movement upon the souls of men, than by referring it to that 
 almighty Agent by whom alone the dead are quickened into 
 newness of life '? Or what other solution can be given of the 
 strange phenomenon, than that it is the operation of the same 
 power that ^vrought the Pentecostal wonders ] Although a 
 recognition of the personality and working of the Holy Spirit 
 is a fundamental article in the creed of every true Church of 
 Christ, yet how inadequate has been the apprehension of this 
 grand truth ! and how low the standard of the Church's hopes 
 and expectations ! Forming her calculations rather on the slow 
 rate of progress with which she is familiar, she is afifected with 
 an almost incredulous amazement or surprise, when a wide- 
 spread interest in religion is evinced, and a whole community 
 is shaken as by the voice that shakes the wilderness. Profess- 
 ing to believe in the descent of the Spirit upon all flesh, she is 
 yet startled and awed when here and there an earnest of future 
 increase shews itself, forgetting that the partial shower of 
 blessing is but the forerunner of those rushing floods that shall 
 ere long descend to refresh the weary heritage, and cover the 
 face of the world with fruit. But let a great awakening come, 
 and how does she stand abashed because of unbelief, and rise 
 to an anticipation commensurate with the glorious fulness of 
 gospel promise, and with her own predestined future on the 
 earth ! Lifted up into a new position, and mightily advanced 
 in living and abiding power, she looks forward at such a time 
 to a greater enlargement still, w^hen, through the instrumentality 
 of her new-born sons and daughters, she shall break forth on 
 
360 THE AVORK AN EARNEST OF THE FUTURE. 
 
 the right hand and the left, clothed with an immortal energy, 
 and arrayed as in a divine panoply for the conquest of the 
 world. The arm of the Lord has been revealed, and she can 
 say with a new emphasis, and with something like an apprecia- 
 tion of its profound significance, "I believe in the Holy Ghost." 
 Tlius apprehending this great truth in its intense vitality, she 
 learns to regard even the most stupendous manifestations of 
 the Divine power that have ever yet been witnessed, as but the 
 prelude to those greater marvels that shall be wrought when, 
 with an energy of influence of which but a few transient 
 glimpses have as yet flashed on the beholders, the quickening 
 Spirit shall transform a very chaos of malignant elements into 
 a fair and happy moral world. 
 
 II. What an illustration is presented by such a movement, 
 of the rapidity with ivhich God can b?'ing about, in accordance 
 with the sure word of prophecy. His purposes of mercy to the 
 world I 
 
 But a short time ago the prospect, whether in a temporal or 
 spiritual sense, seemed dark for unhappy Ireland. But what a 
 rapid change ! Within the last twelve years, our country has 
 been emerging, with unprecedented progress, into a condition 
 of extraordinary temporal prosperity ; and now, through this 
 great revival, she has been lifted up to the gaze of universal 
 Christendom. Visitors from many lands — from Continental 
 Europe, Asia, and America — have come to admire the wonder- 
 ful work which has been wrought among her people ; and the 
 spiritual change produced within her Northern Province, has 
 given a new impetus to the cause of truth and righteousness, 
 even to the ends of the earth. The toiling pioneers among the 
 distant heathen have been quickened by the glad tidings ; the 
 worn and weary watchers at every mission-field have seen, in 
 what has come to pass in Ireland, an earnest and an augury of 
 the blessed time when they shall no longer go forth weeping, 
 bearing precious seed, but when, their patient toil rewarded, 
 they shall have a reaping-time of joy in the great world-harvest 
 of ransomed souls. Every living Church has been revived and 
 stimulated by the record ; and from this far-off isle of ocean, 
 
. IN HAHMONY WITH TILE PROPHETIC RECORD. 361 
 
 has gone forth a hallowed influence, that has told with thrilling 
 power upon the hopes and aspirations of the world. 
 
 And why may not all this be but the commencement of that 
 mighty wave of life that shall sweep on in swelling majesty 
 till it has laved the shores of every continent, and carried, 
 as in a spring-tide of salvation, its healing waters over the 
 wide earth ? We know that the Lord will make a short work 
 in the earth, and cut it short in righteousness; and why not 
 now? 
 
 Exception has, however, been taken to this spiritual move- 
 ment, because of the very rapidity of the process by which its 
 transformations have been wrought. But what is there here to 
 excite astonishment, if we really believe the past, or forecast 
 the prophetic future ? Does not all that we know of the early 
 Church, especially as associated with the day of Pentecost, 
 attest a rapid, powerful conversion-work, when multitudes, as 
 in a moment, were renewed ? And though those were the times 
 of miracle, yet renovation of heart is never ascribed to any such 
 agency, but to the Word of Truth as the sole insti-ument, and 
 the Spuit of Truth as the sole power exerted in effecting it. 
 These mighty spiritual forces are the same now as ever ; and 
 if they once converted men by thousands in a day, in a single 
 city, what may they not be expected to achieve when the pro- 
 mise, long-delayed, is realised in all its plenitude of grace and 
 blessing ? It is true that heretofore, except in special seasons 
 of awakening, the transition has been slowly made by in- 
 dividual souls, from darkness unto light; and, governed to a 
 great extent by the traditions of the past, we are astonished 
 when this stereotyped and stealthy process is supplanted by an 
 immediate and unfaltering decision on the part of many to be 
 the Lord's. But is this state of mind and feeling in harmony 
 with Scripture precept or prediction 1 What is there in either 
 to encourage the imagination that the case of one who all at 
 once throws down the weapons of rebellion and surrenders 
 himself to Christ, is less to be desired than if the individual, 
 after many struggles with temptation, and long delays, submits 
 himself, accepting, with but an indifferent grace, the overtures 
 
362 COINCIDENT WITH THE 
 
 of mercy, and hesitating to the last whether he will believe and 
 live? 
 
 And when at any time we witness an instantaneous reception 
 of the gospel tidings — when the light that has broken in upon 
 the darkened intellect is welcomed as the harbinger of endless 
 day — when thousands, and tens of thousands, hearing of free 
 mercy, grasp the offer, and experience the unclouded sunshine 
 of a settled peace — when, on a great scale, there is a turning 
 unto God, and an exuberant delight proportionate to the mar- 
 vellous transition — is not this just what we should expect, as 
 the most reasonable fulfilment of Divine prediction — a glad- 
 some foretaste of the golden day, when the glorious things 
 spoken of the city of God shall be realised, and the abundance 
 of the Spirit, long withheld, shall be poured out upon all man- 
 kind ? 
 
 III. In contemplating the present awakening, it is interesting 
 to observe the marked coincidence hetween its leading features 
 and tliose which charaxierised the working of the Spirit in apostolic 
 times. 
 
 And here let us briefly advert to the experience of the early 
 converts, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, (chap. ii. 
 42, &c.,) as compared with that of those in Ireland who have 
 been lately added to the Church. 
 
 What holding fast of their x)''^ofession ! During the period 
 that has elapsed since the commencement of the work of grace 
 in the North of Ireland, many have been tempted to forsake the 
 course on which they entered, and to relapse into their old sins. 
 Yet they have continued, in all good conscience, until this day ; 
 and though the fervour of the first love may have subsided, 
 they have sustained their character for consistency, and have 
 been enabled to maintain an edifying deportment, often amid 
 many provocations. 
 
 What steadfastness "m doctrine /" for this is the secret of all 
 continuance in well-doing. What thirst for God, and for His 
 truth ; what meditation in His law day and night ; what dili- 
 gent attendance on catechetical instruction ; what reUsh for that 
 
EXPEEIENCE OF THE EARLY CHURCH. 363 
 
 theology of which Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the all 
 and in all ! 
 
 What steadfastness "iii fellowship ! " To talk with one another 
 of the preciousness of Christ, and of the great salvation; to 
 strengthen each other's hearts, help each other s infirmities ; to 
 stimulate each other to a still greater readiness to work for their 
 blessed Master; and, as they travel on to their eternal home, 
 to lighten the toil and trial of the pilgrimage by speaking to one 
 another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, and, ofttimes 
 with hearts too full for utterance, to pour out their common 
 supplications before the throne — these are the delightful and 
 abounding evidences that the new children of the covenant are 
 knit together in an endearing and indissoluble alliance. 
 
 What inexpressible delight in tJie ''^hrealdng of bread r'' The 
 communion is now a holy festival — a very feast of gladness. 
 Such sacramental seasons as have been witnessed when the 
 young disciples commemorated, in presence of their brethren, 
 the dying love of Jesus ! What tears of joy have freely fallen 
 even in the prospect, as on that touching occasion referred to by 
 a minister, (the Eev. J. K Dill, of Dromore, County Tyrone,) 
 when forty, all of w^hom professed to have found the Saviour, 
 could not contain for weeping ! " On the Sabbath morning of 
 the communion, a wonderful scene took place in the vestry, 
 where they had met for prayer. Such a deep influence of the 
 Spirit came down upon their hearts, that they were utterly un- 
 able to proceed with singing the words, 
 
 * My broken body thus I give.' 
 
 Nothing was heard but sobbing." And what an accession to 
 the membership of the churches, when, even in connexion with 
 some three hundred congregations in that section of it to w^hich 
 most frequent allusion is made in the foregoing narrative, up- 
 wards of ten thousand have lately been enrolled in membership | 
 What continuance ''^ in prayer /" From first to last the work 
 has been, to a great extent, a record of answered prayer. Let 
 the revival of secret and domestic worship — the new-born gift 
 
364 COINCIDENT WITH THE 
 
 poured out alike on old and young, male and female — the heaven- 
 directed aspirations presented at those brief seasons snatched 
 from worldly occupation for spiritual converse — the many social 
 gatherings now sanctified by the word and prayer — and the 
 distinctness, importunity, and expectancy exhibited by those 
 who have been divinely taught to pray, bear witness to the 
 extent to which tlie Spirit has been given as a Spirit of grace 
 and supplication. 
 
 Of the "/mr tliat fell on every soul,^^ wherever this visitation 
 came, innumerable instances are noticed in the preceding pages. 
 Doubtless this " fear," in so far as it operated merely on the 
 great mass of society, has now largely passed away. Old habits 
 have resumed their sway in the case of those to whom no spi- 
 ritual renewal came, and who were seized only by a dread of 
 consequences which, for the time, had fallen upon them. Yet 
 nothing was more characteristic of the movement than the cir- 
 cumstance that wherever it extended, "great fear" pervaded the 
 whole community, so that the most thoughtless and irreverent 
 of every creed were constrained to say, "The finger of God is 
 here." 
 
 What a oneness of interest among the subjects of the awaken- 
 ing ! even as when in the early time " all that believed were 
 together, and had all things in common." How have the 
 promptings of natural selfishness been overborne by the love of 
 Christ, and of His people ! How have the homes and hearts of 
 many been freely opened to welcome those who came among 
 them to observe the works and wonders of the Lord ! And if no 
 great outflow of Christian liberality is yet to be recorded, it is to 
 be borne in mind that "not many rich" have been the subjects 
 of the gracious influence, the Divine sovereignty being conspicu- 
 ous in giving most to those who needed most, while the great 
 majority of the converted have been among the younger mem- 
 bers of the families into which it has found an entrance. Yet 
 many an unseen offering has been laid already upon the altar of 
 the Lord for the advancement of His cause — the spontaneous 
 prompting of hearts which had been opened to hearken to His 
 word— and many a toil-worn pastor has been encouraged by the 
 
EXPEEIENCE OF THE EARLY CHUECH. 365 
 
 considerate gifts presented in their Master's name by those who 
 count themselves his spiritual children. 
 
 And what shall we say more, or how more adequately cha- 
 racterise their whole deportment, than in the remaining words of 
 the same passage of inspired history 1 " And they, continuing 
 daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from 
 house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness 
 of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people." 
 Till the revival came we had no adequate conception of such a 
 social state as is here delineated. But we can now, in some 
 measure, understand it. A state of things in which the diffi- 
 culty is, not to bring people together to the sanctuary, but to 
 induce them to retire from its cherished precincts — an abound- 
 ing and pervasive joy, manifesting itself in open-hearted hospi- 
 tality and welcome given to the brethren in Christ, the very 
 countenance irradiated as by a gleam of the heavenly glory — the 
 everyday life a psalm of praise — the habitual converse the out- 
 flowing of a fount of perennial gladness — and the "adorning of 
 the doctrine of God our Saviour " so palpable and attractive as 
 to win all hearts, constraining even the impenitent and the 
 unbeliever in the work to accord the tribute of esteem and ad- 
 miration, — these are the indications of a higher tone, and a holier 
 brotherhood, than have been ordinarily exemplified in the 
 Church. And what though, in the first outburst of the new life, 
 some temporary excesses and extravagances have appeared, yet 
 who at such a time will harshly criticise, or grudge to these new- 
 gathered souls the overflowing fulness of their joy? Is it not 
 refreshing in this cold world, and amid the formalism which 
 insinuates itself into the very Church of God, to mark in any the 
 artless and enrapturing expression of their gushing sympathies, 
 and their brave indifference to times and places, ceremonials, 
 and all outward things ] Irregularities, if such we call them, 
 will correct themselves — and the serenity of the horizon will, 
 alas ! too soon, be clouded by the storms and trials with which 
 these new-born children of the Lord will have to contend, till 
 the strife is ended, and the life-battle won. 
 
 IV. May we not learn from such awakenings as that under 
 
366 NO OTHER GOSPEL NECESSARY. 
 
 review, that for the conversion of the world loe do not need 
 another gospel^ and tJiat the forces which the Church iww possesses, 
 always including, over and above mere machinery, the presence 
 of the life-giving Spirit, are ampbj svfficient/or the great ends of 
 her existence ? 
 
 There has been manifested in certain quarters of late, an un- 
 defined but unmistakeable impatience with the old and familiar 
 modes in operation for the extension of the cause and king- 
 dom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Symbolism has done its best 
 to supersede the simple gospel, by overlaying it with forms of 
 curious device and tracery, and by the introduction of ritual- 
 istic novelties, by which, although the taste of the aesthetic man 
 may be regaled, the free spirit is only hindered in its efforts to 
 ascend to the pure region where it ought to worship and adore. 
 And a mystic school, the spawn of rationalism, has arisen, 
 which, under a fair and bland exterior, and using a few plaus- 
 ible generalities of discourse, seeks to veil under its airy form 
 the central and surpassing glories of the cross. Thus do the 
 patrons of gilded toys and baubles, on the one hand, and the 
 abettors of a vague, unmeaning intellectualism, on the other, 
 fondly cherish the imagination, that by their respective nostrums 
 they will introduce a better era for a languid Church, and a re- 
 volted world. And even in the true Church itself, and among 
 those who retain a hold of the old doctrine of the apostolic and 
 reformation age, there has been to a lamentable extent a want 
 of faith in its Divine energy and efficacy, so that the Word has 
 but seldom pierced as a dividing sword, and its testimony has 
 failed proportionately to pass as God's own emissary from the 
 speaker s tongue to the hearer's heart. 
 
 But when a spirit of revival comes, away with pictorial 
 playthings and mystic shadows ! The necessities of man's moral 
 nature demand a better and a more enduring substance. Then 
 none but Christ, and Christ without any other ! and every 
 tendency to idealise anything as a substitute for His finished 
 work, dies within sight of the shades of Calvary. Then, too, 
 the Church of God learns, as she had not done before, that she 
 is in possession of that mighty secret, would she only use it 
 
TRUE THEORY OF CHRISTIAN UNION. 367 
 
 by which the whole earth is to be subjugated to her almighty 
 King. She finds that all the glad results she witnesses have 
 sprung from the felt and prized experience of those truths 
 which, in their divine harmony, have been exhibited in her dis- 
 tinctive symbols, and handed down from generation to genera- 
 tion of her children. She realises the conviction, that for all 
 the ends of her establishment she needs no other instrument, 
 and no other organisation by which to carry it over the habit- 
 able globe. She learns that what she ought to aim at with in- 
 tenser earnestness than ever, is to bring the truth in its native 
 force and divine simplicity into direct and immediate contact 
 with the hearts and consciences of men ; and thus she is sus- 
 tained and strengthened in the anticipation of the period 
 when the rebuke of her people shall be taken away from off all 
 the earth, — when all that prophecy unfolds to the eye of faith 
 shall be a grand reality, — and when there shall be a voice of 
 much people in heaven, as it were the voice of a great multi- 
 tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
 thunderings, saying, " Halleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth," 
 
 V. We learn from such a work of grace as that which has 
 taken place in Ulster, the true theory and solution of the 'probleTn 
 of Christian union. 
 
 Is it not to the Church an instructive, and to the world a con- 
 vincing sight, which is exhibited at such a time of spiritual 
 renovation % How often do we hear on platforms of " sinking 
 of minor differences," and the like ; and yet how rarely do 
 we practise it, or make it manifest that we are one with 
 all who hold by the Living Head, in faith, and hope, and 
 charity ! 
 
 But let a baptism of the Holy Ghost be given, and what 
 before was a pleasing theory, beautiful to contemplate, imjjos- 
 sible to realise, becomes without an effort an actual reality. 
 Let the Disperser of confusion rend the heavens and come 
 down to do things that we looked not for, and the mountains 
 flow down at His presence. Separations that threatened to 
 last for ever yield to His glad advent, and the perpetual hills 
 
368 TRUE THEORY OF CHRISTIAN UNION. 
 
 bow before Him whose ways are everlasting. The different 
 sections of the one great spiritual community then find that 
 they have so much to do with anxious, inquiring, and converted 
 souls, that they have no time, no taste, no spirit, for aught 
 beside. Thus is accomplished a result that no semi-mechanical 
 agencies, however well intended, could possibly achieve. When 
 we find others beyond our own pale, and whom, it may be, we 
 have been accustomed to regard with jealousy, blessed with 
 a shedding down upon them of the same gracious influence, 
 how can we, in the face of such heaven-descended tokens, be 
 found perpetually trumpeting forth vain-glorious assertions of 
 the pre-eminent value of our own systems and usages ? and how 
 can we refuse to say, as we look abroad on the wide circle of 
 Divine mercy, " Grace be with all those that love the Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity ? " 
 
 And has not this spirit to a large extent been manifested 
 among the brethren of the various denominations that have 
 shared the blessing in the North of Ireland ? Wherever they 
 have been like-minded in regard to this great work of God, 
 have they not, as by a resistless force, been drawn into fraternal 
 sympatliy and united action"? When the conference of the 
 Evangelical Alliance was held in September last, in the metro- 
 polis of Ulster, — a convocation that was attended by unusual 
 blessing to all engaged in it, as well as great advantage to the 
 revival itself, as tending to obviate misapprehensions and cor- 
 rect abuses, — was it not felt by all, that the interest awakened 
 by this spiritual movement constituted a new and peculiarly 
 tender bond of brotherhood? What can be more apparent 
 than that it is not by dint of controversy (although we must 
 not recede by a hairbreadth from any article we hold important, 
 either pertaining to the doctrine or the polity of the Church) 
 that we shall attain to uniformity of belief 1 And even those 
 conventions that may be held as an annual or local demonstra- 
 tion of unity, what are they but the cover, not the removal, of 
 division — a superficial virtue drawn over a deeper vice 1 The 
 conclusion of the matter therefore is, that for the healing of the 
 wounds of a distracted Church, and for the melting down of 
 
CHEISTIAN RESPOXSIBILITY AND DUTY. 369 
 
 sectarian jealousies and alienations, there is but one sovereign 
 remedy — the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Yl. This great awakening casts a new light upon the duties 
 and responsibilities of individucd Christians. 
 
 In this respect it has called forth into harmonious de- 
 velopment a new power in the Church, even the power of 
 prayerful effort among its true-hearted and devoted members. 
 What is it that has long been for a lamentation among the 
 faithful ministers of the gospel in this land 1 Has it not been 
 that their labours were not seconded by the prayers and efforts 
 of their own people — the great bulk of whom seemed to regard 
 themselves as in no way responsible for the state of religion, 
 either in their immediate neighbourhood or in the world ? For 
 want of Christian sympathy and co-operation, have not the 
 hands of ministers hung down, and their spirits often sunk 
 within them, as they contemplated the low condition of the 
 professing Church of God % 
 
 Happily, this hindrance is being taken out of the way. In 
 many a district there are those who have begun to say unto 
 their brethren, " Know the Lord," * and are thus shewing that 
 they are living unto Christ and working for Him in the world. 
 Sloth, worldliness, selfishfiess, in their various forms, are being 
 practically rebuked, and a state of preparation is going forward 
 for putting the Church in a position in which her energies shall 
 be increased a thousandfold. 
 
 The times are pressing, and many who lingered long in the 
 
 * While full scope should be afforded for the exercise of the varied 
 gifts and graces of the members of the Church, respect must be 
 always had to the divinely-constituted ordinance, of a standing minis- 
 try, which none may take upon theijiselves unless duly qualified 
 and called thereto. '' The sending out of unlearned men/' says Mr 
 Tennant, in a letter to President Dickenson, Feb. 12, 1742, " to teach 
 others, upon the supposition of their piety, in ordinary cases seems to 
 bring the ministry into contempt, to cherish enthusiasm, and bring all 
 into confusion. Whatever fair face it may have, it is a most perverse 
 practice. The practice of singing in the streets is a piece of weakness 
 and enthusiastical ostentation." "As to lay-preaching," says Hodge, 
 " it found little favour with any but the openly fanatical." 
 
 2 A 
 
370 CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY A^^D DUTY. 
 
 doomed city of Destruction have been arrested by the angel of 
 the covenant, and led forth into a wealthy place, and are now 
 exulting in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Who can 
 tell but that a season of trial may soon follow, and that even 
 now the cloud is blackening in the heavens that shall ere long 
 burst forth in floods of thundering ruin and devastating fury 
 upon the earth ? 
 
 Is not the voice that has broken in upon the security of so 
 many sleepers, a trumpet-call to "God's elect" to gird the 
 armour on and prepare for battle? Of those who have been 
 lately added to that " consecrated host," many, the greater 
 number, may, in the estimate of man, be a feeble company — 
 striplings unpractised in the art of war. But in this conflict, 
 the feeble may be as David, and may smite down, with sling 
 and stone, the giant forms that have defied the onset of more 
 experienced combatants. Let us welcome into the field these 
 new companions in arms — it may be in tribulation, too — and 
 assign them their true place in the decisive struggle, even the 
 serener heights of prayer and observation, whence they may 
 penetrate into the invisible, and draw down that holy fire that 
 will consume every adversary. 
 
 What more befitting language in which to conclude than that 
 of a devoted minister of the English Establishment, who \\4t- 
 nessed the work of grace in Ulster, and on more than one occa- 
 sion stood forward in its vindication — the Rev. Flavel Cook of 
 Millbrook, Cornwall : — 
 
 " We cannot expect, with any confidence, that the power now 
 working in this revival will continue to exert the same energj'-) 
 although we may trust that the effects of what is already done 
 may be abiding. There seems, from analogy, or rather from 
 precedent, reason to regard this as being to the Church what 
 the inundation of the Nile is to Egypt ; let us do as the hus- 
 bandmen of that land — dig channels, open all sluices, remove 
 obstacles, small and great, that the fertilising water may flow 
 over every foot of parched ground. We ought not to reckon on 
 its being high water long. 
 
 " Some green things are left beside the brooks, but, as a land, 
 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 371 
 
 we are drooping for lack of spiritual moisture. As in Joel's 
 day, so now — ' The field is wasted, the land mourneth ; for the 
 corn is wasted : the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth,' 
 (chap. i. 10.) What avails it, then, to 'pull down our barns and 
 build greater,' to multiply and perfect the ploughs and harrows, 
 or even to increase the number of labourers 1 Hain, rain is what 
 we need ; and welcome tempest and storm, welcome thunderings 
 and earthquakes, if they bring us rain. 
 
 "Deeply interesting it is to study this movement in con- 
 nexion with other remarkable stirrings which are taking place 
 simultaneously in many parts of the world, such as (to say 
 nothing of England and Wales) America, Sweden, Italy, Spain, 
 the Turkish dominions, and even among the dispersed of Israel. 
 Are not these things — to which may be added the greatly- 
 increased activity and results of missions to the heathen — 
 enough to remind us of the words of the Lord, ' Behold the 
 fig-tree, and all the trees ; when they now shoot forth, ye see 
 and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at 
 handl' (Luke xxi. 29, 30.) What if these shootings forth of 
 spiritual leaves on the withered fig-tree of Israel, and on (all 1) 
 the trees of the Gentile Churches, be the herald of the summer 
 of the kingdom of God 1 
 
 " ' Thv kingdom come.' * Even so, come, Lord Jesus ! ' " 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A, Page 124. 
 
 THE EEVrVAL AND PUBLIC MOEALITY. 
 
 An attempt has been made in certain hostile quarters to 
 depreciate the character of the're\dval, by a series of statistical 
 statements affecting the moral status of Belfast. It has been 
 stated, for example, that drunkenness has been considerably 
 on the increase since the commencement of the movement in 
 that town. Before adverting more particularly to this repre- 
 sentation, 1 may be permitted to give a few detailed statistics 
 in relation to crime in the province of Ulster during the year 
 of the revival. 
 
 The number of prisoners for trial at the Quarter-Sessions for 
 County Antrim, October 1859— that is, six months after the 
 commencement of the revival — was exactly one-half that of the 
 previous year; the figures being, October 1858—14; October 
 1859—7. 
 
 At the Ballymena Quarter-Sessions, held before John H. 
 Otway, Esq., Assistant-Barrister, in April 1860, — that is, when 
 the revival had been above a year in existence in that neigh- 
 bourhood, which has been its central district, — there was not a 
 single case of indictment iirpon the record. 
 
 On this subject, the following extract from a letter to the 
 Bishop of Down from the Kev. Edward Maguire, the lately- 
 appointed incumbent there, is valuable : — 
 
 "I met, a few evenings ago, a number of gentlemen con- 
 nected with this neighbourhood. Among them there were 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 three magistrates. Their unanimous testimony was, that since 
 the revival the public morals Avere vastly improved; and 
 though, as Ave might expect, there were some cases of drunken- 
 ness and other vices, yet they said these were quite exceptional. 
 I asked various and independent parties, — the barrister, (Mr 
 Otway,) magistrates, and grand-jurymen, all at different times 
 and in different places, — to what cause, in their opinion, was 
 this absence of crime owing, and they each and all at once 
 replied, ' To the revival.' " 
 
 At the Quarter-Sessions in Coleraine, a place which is second 
 in interest only to Ballymena, as one of the earliest scenes of 
 the revival, the testimony of the assistant-barrister, to the same 
 effect as given in the preceding part of this volume, was volun- 
 tarily emitted in presence of the grand jury. 
 
 At the Quarter-Sessions, Belfast, in April 1860, the assistant- 
 barrister, as reported in the local journals, said, "Gentlemen of 
 the grand jury of this division of the County Antrim, I have 
 been enabled, in the fiv8t two toivns of the county in which I 
 held the Sessions, to congratulate the grand jury upon having 
 nothing at all to do. Gentlemen, I cannot exactly offer to you 
 the same amount of congratulation, because you have three 
 cases to try ; but still I think we can congratulate ourselves on 
 having such a small calendar, all of a trifling character. ^^ 
 
 At the March Assizes, 1860, for the county of Antrim, there 
 were but five jDrisoners for trial ; and for the county of the town 
 of Carrickfergus, none. 
 
 At the Quarter-Sessions for Londonderry, in April 1860, held 
 before Wm. Armstrong, Esq., Assistant-Barrister, there ivas no 
 criminal business, and his worship was presented with a pair of 
 white gloves. 
 
 At the Spring Assizes for County Derry only three persons 
 professing Presbyterianism were convicted. 
 
 An official connected with the county prison of Down says, 
 in a private letter, " As to the criminal business of the county, 
 the late Assizes (IMarch 1860) had an average amount ; but at 
 the Quarter-Sessions, on several occasions, not a prisoner for 
 trial appeared on the calendar, though some were out on bail." 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 One of the most important and decisive facts — as illustrat- 
 ing the moral results of the revival over the face of a whole 
 county — is the following : — The number of committals for the 
 county of Antrim had decreased from 3281 in 1858, to 2784 in 
 1859 ! It is well known that Antrim is predominantly Protest- 
 ant in its population ; yet the Protestants committed during 
 the past year were only 1002, while the Roman Catholics were 
 1069, exhibiting a decrease of 99 Protestants as compared with 
 the previous year, and an increase of 53 Roman Catholics. 
 
 In the County Monaghan prison, there is at present only a soli- 
 tary Presbyterian — a respectable woman in humble life, whose 
 mind gave way during the revival. 
 
 These are a few facts which are undisputed, and they ought 
 to go far, even were there no other testimony, to settle the 
 question of the moral tendencies and results of the revival. 
 
 A leading newspaper in Ulster, however, has attempted to 
 shew that, so far from promoting morality, the revival has 
 actually fostered crime and increased immorality. The charge 
 is serious ; but what is its exact extent 1 It is stated, on the 
 authority of certain police statistics, that drunkenness had 
 increased during the year of revival beyond the proportion of 
 ante-revival years. The cases were, — ^for 1858, 2539 ; for 1859, 
 3112 — increase, 573. But the question arises, What have these 
 statistics of drunkenness to do with the revival 1 Might it not 
 be as well and as wisely said, that drunkenness caused the 
 revival, as that the revival caused drunkenness? The two 
 things lie contemporaneously within certain months, but it is a 
 logical fallacy to represent them as connected by relations so 
 intimate as those of cause and effect. If it had been asserted 
 by the advocates of the religious movement, that every in- 
 dividual of the 120,000 or 130,000 inhabitants of Belfast had 
 been brought under the influence of the revival, these statistics 
 of drunkenness might be legitimately appealed to in the case. 
 But it is a fact, which admits of no dispute, that iw person has^ 
 during the year in question, been before the police court of Belfast, 
 on a charge of drunkenness, who liad ever been brought under 
 religious infiuenjces. According to the logic of this objector, 
 
376 APPENDIX. 
 
 the towns of Ballymena and Coleraine ought to be the most 
 immoral and drunken in Ireland. 
 
 With regard to the increase of drunkenness in Belfast — as 
 indicated by the police statistics — I do not see that the friends 
 of the revival are under any obligation whatever to account for 
 them. It is well known, however, that the majority of the 
 "drunken" cases are persons who make no profession of any 
 form of Protestantism, and who' constitute the lower stratum of 
 the population of Belfast. There is reason, indeed, to believe 
 that the immense majority of them are nominally Roman 
 Catholics, who constitute about one-third of the inhabitants. 
 It is further to be observed, that in the cases above reported, 
 the same parties have in many instances been committed over 
 and over again for the same offence. To whatever denomination 
 they belong, tliey are of that degraded and criminal class which, 
 in our large towns and cities, has never yet been reached by 
 any of the appliances of evangelisation. 
 
 It is gratifying to state that Ballymacarrett, an almost ex- 
 clusively Protestant suburb of Belfast, containing about ten 
 thousand inhabitants, is undistinguished by this disgTaceful 
 inebriety. The police-books of Belfast testify that from Friday 
 morning, 23d December 1859, till Wednesday, the 28th of that 
 month, including the Christmas holidays, only three persons 
 w^ere taken into custody in that whole district. 
 
 THE REVIVAL AND INSANITY. 
 
 Akin to the charge just adverted to is the averment which 
 has been put forward, that the revival has promoted insanity to 
 a degree fearfully in excess of all ordinary averages. The most 
 exaggerated representations have been published on the subject^ 
 and have been caught up with great eagerness, and reproduced 
 in the leading Popish, Tractarian, and anti-Evangelical journals 
 of Britain. 
 
 It T\^s stated, for example, in a Belfast journal, that "seven 
 individuals had been admitted into the Belfast Lunatic Asylum 
 within the last two weeks, whose aberration of mind is dis- 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 tinctly traceable to the excitement consequent on the religious 
 preachings!" — (July 12, 1859.) An inquiry was immediately 
 instituted into the truth of this statement, when it appeared 
 that two of the "cases" were women who had been in the 
 asylum before, and had relapsed into insanity from the effects 
 of the religious excitement ; a male patient had been ill since 
 the previous November — several months before the revival 
 commenced — and no allegation was made at the time of his 
 admission, that he had come within reach of the revival excite- 
 ment ; another male patient was found to be afflicted with 
 " acute mania " — quite a different thing from religious insanity ; 
 a female patient, admitted during the time specified, had been 
 present at a revival meeting, where a woman seated near her 
 was prostrated, but she herself had not fallen. No account has 
 been given of the seventh case. 
 
 In the month of September 1859, the same journal published 
 a paragraph, headed, " Insanity of Eevivalism," which was to 
 the following effect : — " We have it on good authority that, since 
 the commencement of the revival movement, there have been 
 lodged, in the Belfast Asylum and county jail, no fewer than 
 twenty-two cases of insanity from Larne and that neighbourhood 
 alone." This was an astounding allegation, but it was promptly 
 met by the following statement of facts : — As regards the Bel- 
 fast Lunatic Asylum, only one case of insanity "from Larne 
 and that neighbourhood alone" had been admitted, but it was 
 a transfer from the county jail; so that, in reality, the Lunatic 
 Asylum had none at all to account for. As regards the county 
 jail, there were admitted, since the commencement of the re- 
 vival, only five insane persons from Larne and its neighbour- 
 hood whose aberration was attributed to religious excitement. 
 The precise nature of this aberration — as connected with reli- 
 gious excitement — is not stated in any document, and may have 
 been wholly unconnected A^dth the revival for aught that is 
 shewn. Of these five persons, one, as I have said, was trans- 
 ferred to the Lunatic Asylum, three had recovered, and one was 
 stiU in the county jail on the 15th of September 1859. 
 
 I have obtained, from an official connected with the Belfast 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 Lunatic Asylum, a list of all the cases admitted into that insti- 
 tution, classed under the head of religious excitement, during 
 the year ended March 31, 1860. They are exactly sixteen, and 
 include, of course, nearly all the cases already referred to. My 
 obliging informant says in regard to these sixteen cases : — " You 
 will perceive that a number of these cases come from jail, and 
 in all such the particulars we receive are very imperfect. 
 Several others, I believe, are represented very much according 
 to the feehng of the medical man who visits the patient before 
 admission, and it is he who gives the character to the disease, 
 stating in his certificate the species of insanity with which the 
 patient is afflicted. / may rtiention that there ivere eight cases 
 admitted here last year under the head of religious excitement^ 
 lefore there was any talk of revivals in the country.'''' It follows, 
 from this statement, that as there were sixteen cases in all, 
 during the official year, only eight cases can be fairly attributed 
 to the excitement of the revival — and this proportion is not in 
 excess of the ordinary average ! 
 
 So much for the cases in the Belfast Asylum. In that of 
 Armagh, which was erected for the three counties of Armagh, 
 Monaghan, and Cavan, there were only nine cases admitted last 
 year whose insanity was traced to religious excitement; of these, 
 six were discharged cured, and three relieved. 
 
 I believe that we should have heard little of the "insanity 
 caused by the revival" had it not been for two or three melancholy 
 cases, in which the religious excitement led to great physical 
 exhaustion, and ultimately to imtimely death. I am some- 
 what surprised, indeed, that there were not more of this descrip- 
 tion ; for individuals were often in the habit of sitting up, night 
 after night, engaged in religious exercises, and in a heated at- 
 mosphere, in defiance of all the laws of health ; and it was not 
 to be expected that, m the case of persons of morbid tempera- 
 ment, or predisposed to insanity, the exhaustion of nature, and 
 the operation of moral causes of highly-wrought intensity, should 
 not lead to mental derangement. Still, it is important to re- 
 mark that all great crises in the history of the world, political 
 as well as relii^ious. have swelled the numbers of the insane ; 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 and I believe that the revival in Ulster has led to fewer instances 
 of the kind than any similar movement on record. Sir Alexander 
 Morrison, late physician to Bethlem Hospital, says : — " The 
 predominant ideas of th6 times, vs^hether religious or political, 
 have great influence in the production of insanity. Thus, at the 
 time of the Crusades, many cases of disordered mind occurred. 
 The celebrated novel of Cervantes was written expressly to ridi- 
 cule the insanity of knight-errantry prevalent about the time 
 he wrote. There ivere also, it is said, many persons afflicted iviih 
 religious insanity at the time of the Eeformation.''^ I am not 
 aware, however, that any section of the anti-Evangelical press 
 has opposed or condemned the Reformation on the same ground 
 as that on which the Ulster revival has been so unscrupulously 
 vihfied. 
 
 B, Page 169. 
 
 DOWN AND CONNOE DIOCESE EETUENS. 
 
 Subjoined is a selection from the answers received to the 
 queries addressed by the Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dro- 
 more, to the clergy of his diocese, and referred to in the com- 
 munications from his Lordship. 
 
 " I. Hovj has the revival ojoeratedin reference to your congrega- 
 tion — tlie cdtendance at the Lord's table — or at your school-house 
 or cottage lectures ? " 
 
 "1. I formerly had about twenty at a cottage lecture ; for the 
 last ten weeks there has been an average of 700 every Thursday 
 evening at an open-air service. 
 
 " 2. My congregation, which, before the commencement of the 
 religious movement, averaged eighty, now numbers one hundred 
 and twenty, the attendance at the Lord's table in proportion ; 
 increased attention and devotion very remarkable ; all reUgious 
 meetings crowded ; necessity obliges us to hold meetings in the 
 open air. 
 
380 APPEMDIX, 
 
 *'3. Hundreds leave my church unable to get in. Com- 
 munion three times the former average. 
 
 "4. The effect of the attendance on every means of grace 
 has been almost miraculous. The Sunday-morning service 
 more than double, the evening service has been increased six- 
 fold, and the communion quadrupled. 
 
 " 5. Congregation increased. School-house lecture overflow- 
 ing. A most solemn feeling and deep-seated earnestness char- 
 acterising all, 
 
 " 6. Several persons of the humbler class have lately been 
 observed in church who were not known to attend any place 
 of worship." 
 
 " II. Since the wppearance of the revival^ have you observed any 
 improvement in the habits of your people ? " 
 
 " 1. Decidedly less drunkenness — ^less violation of the sanctity 
 of the Lord's-day. 
 
 " 2. A most marked improvement. Drunkenness and other 
 notorious vices have almost disappeared. In one large estab- 
 lishment, the business of each day is commenced and ended 
 with prayer. 
 
 " 3. A total change for the better ; and the police have con- 
 fessed they have little to do. 
 
 " 4. It is most gratifjdng to observe the habit of reading the 
 Bible among families, where it was before totally neglected, now 
 becoming so prominent. 
 
 " 6. A reverence for religious subjects, and willingness to con- 
 verse upon them. 
 
 " 6. The habits of the people completely changed. Formerly 
 drunkenness was the prevailing habit, now sobriety. There had 
 been a total neglect of family worship, it is now very general. 
 
 " 7. In almost every house, and by the hedges, I find the 
 Bible read. 
 
 " 8. My parochial census of 1857 exhibited only seven families 
 who had family worship; and, up to this date, I have given 
 314 forms of prayer for family worship to the heads of families 
 soliciting them, and now, I believe, using them. 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 "9. Eeligion is the universal topic of conversation. 
 " 10. The general aspect of the place is changed." 
 
 It may here be stated, that, of the Episcopal ministers of the 
 North of Ireland, the Eev. Charles Seaver of St John's, Belfast, 
 was among the most earnest and successful in connexion with 
 the revival movement. At an early period he came forward, in 
 his own pulpit, with a vindication of its genuineness ; and sub- 
 sequently, at the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, his admir- 
 able statement produced a deep impression. That paper has 
 since been widely circulated, and has, doubtless, told with happy 
 effect throughout the entire kingdom. Mr Seaver has through- 
 out been joint-superintendent of the weekly union prayer-meet- 
 ing, conducted by the brethren of all evangelical denominations 
 in Belfast. His visit to London, at the request of the committee 
 of the Evangelical Alliance, did much to commend the move- 
 ment in the metropolis and its vicinity. 
 
 0, Page 147. 
 congregational eetuens. 
 
 The following tabular statement contains the substance of 
 returns from three hundred and seven out of four hundred 
 and sixty Ulster congregations in connexion with the General 
 Assembly, (there are five hundred and twenty in all, North and 
 South,) in reply to a circular issued in the month of December 
 last. At that period, in most of the congregations referred to, 
 there had been only one communion season subsequent to the 
 revival. In such cases the returns do not by any means shew 
 the full extent of increase to the membership of the Church 
 consequent upon the movement. In a few instances only, in 
 which an unusually large accession is recorded, as in some of 
 the Belfast congregations, the additions to the Church are 
 reckoned up to the 1st of April 1860. The names of some 
 congregations are reluctantly omitted, no definite numbers 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 being specified in the returns received from them. It is a strik- 
 ing attestation to the extent of the movement, and the deep 
 interest evinced in it, that such a mass of valuable statistics as 
 the following table exhibits was furnished by ministers of the 
 Presbyterian Church, not in obedience to any official require- 
 ment, but solely as a contribution on their part to the present 
 publication, for which it was notified that the information 
 was desired. 
 
 With reference to the cases of individuals formerly connected 
 with the Roman Catholic Church, of which between three and 
 four hundred are reported, it is to be observed that none are 
 given but those of which a hopeful opinion is entertained in the 
 several neighbourhoods with which they are connected. 
 
 The following abstract shews the comparative number, both 
 of congregations visited by the revival, and of individuals added 
 to the Church in connexion with them, in the several counties 
 of Ulster : — 
 
 Antrim, . . 
 
 81 
 
 Congregations. 
 
 4353 Additional Communicants. 
 
 Down, . . 
 
 69 
 
 y> 
 
 2132 
 
 i) 
 
 Derry, . . 
 
 36 
 
 » 
 
 1258 
 
 )) 
 
 Tyrone, . . 
 
 42 
 
 » 
 
 1189 
 
 >» 
 
 Armagh, 
 
 27 
 
 » 
 
 625 
 
 )f 
 
 Donegal, 
 
 23 
 
 )) 
 
 502 
 
 n 
 
 Monaghan, . 
 
 18 
 
 » 
 
 412 
 
 It 
 
 Cavan, . . 
 
 10 
 
 )) 
 
 169 
 
 i> 
 
 Fermanagh, 
 
 1 
 
 » 
 
 21 
 
 if 
 
 307 „ 10,661 „ 
 
 In all the congregations throughout the Church, many who 
 cannot be reckoned in the above statement, inasmuch as they 
 were nominally in communion, have, after a long neglect, been 
 reunited in the fellowship of the Church. The increase above 
 the average, frequently stated below, is largely to be attributed 
 to the accessions from this class, and amounts to several thou- 
 sands. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 383 
 
 Name of Congregation, 
 
 County Antrim. 
 1st Ahoghill, , . 
 
 30 
 
 2d Ahoghill, 
 3d AhoghiU, 
 
 Ballycarry, 
 
 Ballycastle, . , 
 Ballyclare, . , 
 1st Bally easton, 
 
 2d Ballyeaston, 
 Ballinderry, . 
 
 Ballylinney, . 
 1st Ballymena, 
 
 7 
 19 
 
 o. 
 
 127 
 
 65 
 
 34 
 
 70 
 
 13 
 20 
 65 
 
 40 
 22 
 
 30 
 64 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 280 communicants above the average 
 —202 added to the Church in 1859 
 — 700 hopefully awakened — From 8 
 in a family to 1 — From 80 years old 
 and under — 700 Bibles and New 
 Testaments, 200 Catechisms, and 40 
 Confessions of Faith sold — Stipend 
 increased. £40 — 8 Roman Catholics 
 impressed, 5 of whom joined the 
 Church ; another was baptized. 
 
 Former average 15 — 6 Roman Catho- 
 lics now connected with the con- 
 gregation, 
 
 56 above average — One Roman Catho- 
 lic has joined the Church. 
 
 [The parish church is about to be 
 rebuilt and enlarged as a result 
 of the revival.] 
 
 100 anxious inquirers in Bible class 
 — 100 Reference Bibles sold, and 
 5000 religious tracts and books — 
 Prayer-meetings universal — 1000 in 
 attendance in the several districts. 
 
 170 above average — attendance on 
 public worship increased one-third 
 — 56 under examination for com- 
 
 A publican estimates his loss at £40 
 yearly by the revival — Another took 
 down his signboard, 27th June. 
 
 90 over average — Many middle-aged 
 and old persons, who had neglected 
 the ordinance for years, came for- 
 ward voluntarily before the session 
 to acknowledge their sin of neglect^ 
 
384 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 1st Ballymena- 
 continued. 
 
 3d Ballymena, . 
 
 1st Ballymoney, 
 2d Ballymoney, 
 3d Ballymoney, 
 
 Ballynure, . . 
 1st Ballyrashane, 
 
 2d Ballyrashane, 
 
 Ballysillan, . 
 Ballyweany, . 
 Belfast, . . 
 
 ai 
 
 tc aJ 
 
 bo 
 
 ^.a 
 
 
 rt -u 
 
 o 
 
 .« -tJ 
 
 3J 
 
 fl ?' 
 
 S 
 
 1! 
 
 U 
 
 & 
 
 15 
 
 
 O ?! 
 
 PL. 
 
 £ 
 
 
 160 
 
 
 67- 
 
 100 
 
 38 
 
 in 
 
 81 
 
 town 
 
 
 and 
 
 
 coun- 
 
 
 try. 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 70 
 
 9 
 
 30 
 
 
 80 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 stating that they did not feel at 
 liberty to approach without having 
 made such acknowledgment. 
 200 above average — Only 3 per cent, 
 of the awakened prosti'ated — Prayer- 
 meetings pervade town and country 
 — Some who had given over drink- 
 ing have returned to it — Additional 
 chvirch accommodation required — 
 
 10 Roman Catholics and some Ar- 
 ians — The latter the more hopeful. 
 
 120 over average — several Komanists. 
 
 150 over average — (Scarcely a family 
 which has not experienced a revi- 
 val — 6 Eomanists added to the 
 Church. 
 
 50 brought under the influence of the 
 revival at the first meeting — Seve- 
 ral families, once living in practical 
 heathenism, now amongst the most 
 regular, prayerful, and pious in the 
 congregation. 
 
 65 above average — All the members 
 of the Church now observe family- 
 worship, except 20 — Parties for- 
 merly at variance, and possessed of 
 such an angry spirit as to absent 
 themselves from communion for 20 
 years, were at last communion to- 
 gether, and now live in peace — 2 
 Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 100 above the average. 
 
 2 Romanists added. 
 
 4 new congi-egations and churches in 
 progress — At a meeting lately held 
 of the agents of the town mission, 
 
 1 1 in number, licentiates of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, it was reported 
 that all who had been hopefully im- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 385 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Belfast — continued. 
 
 Albert Street, 
 Alfred Street, 
 
 Ballymacarrett, . 
 
 Berry Street, 
 
 College Street, . 
 Eglinton Street, 
 
 Fisherwick Place, 
 
 Great George's St. 
 Linenhall Street, 
 
 10 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 80 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 So 
 
 17 
 25 
 
 70 
 
 350 
 
 17 
 42 
 
 65 
 
 200 
 160 
 
 Facts and Obseevations. 
 
 pressed in their respective districts 
 continued steadfast, save a very- 
 few. 
 
 Average at Gommunion increased 50 
 per cent. — 2 Eomanists added. 
 
 Few stricken — Some of the young 
 men much honoured as instruments 
 in many districts of Ulster, and 
 even in Scotland. 
 
 100 above average — Of the 70 added 
 to the Church some are far advanced 
 in life. 
 
 1500 at the Sabbath schools— 21 Ro- 
 manists hopefully awakened. 
 
 i5 above average. 
 
 The church enlarged by addition of 
 400 sittings — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 The weekly prayer-meeting, with diffi- 
 culty sustained before, has an in- 
 crease of from 300 to 500—200 
 cases of hopeful conversion, chiefly 
 in daily and Sabbath schools, among 
 the young, who have prayer-meet- 
 ings among themselves — 800 at the 
 Sabbath school — Several cases of 
 conversion in members of the con- 
 gregation when at watering-places 
 last summer — 2 members of the 
 Church have set agoing the erection 
 of new churches, by donations of 
 £1000 each and upwards — At pre- 
 sent the revival is more healthy in 
 the congregation than at any former 
 period. 
 
 The communion-roll doubled — Fresh 
 instances of awakening reported of 
 late. 
 
 About 100 families have joined the 
 congregation — Prayer -meeting for 
 half-an-hour, held daily in the school- 
 room, attended by the young women 
 2B 
 
386 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Linenhall Street — 
 continued. 
 
 May Street, . . 
 Rosemary Street, 
 Sinclair Seamen's, 
 Townsend Street, 
 
 York Street, 
 
 03 +J 
 
 So 
 
 40 
 
 40 
 40 
 70 
 
 33 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 of the neighbouring factories (during 
 dinner hour), many of whom have 
 been hopefully awakened. 
 
 140 above average — 6 or 7 Romanists, 
 one of whom was the most intelli- 
 gent of all the young communi- 
 cants who lately joined the Church. 
 
 80 above average — Great awakening, 
 but no excitement — The late pastor, 
 the Rev. David Hamilton, preached 
 frequently in his district in the open 
 air last summer — His labours in 
 season and out of season were, it is 
 apprehended, a predisposing cause of 
 his last illness, early in January 1860. 
 [In the Independent, Wesley- 
 an, and Baptist churches of the 
 town similar results were wit- 
 nessed — The Episcopal churches 
 most largely visited were Trinity 
 Church, St Paul's, St John's, (com- 
 municants doubled,) the Magdalen, 
 and Christ Church — In Trinity 
 Church the congregation is over- 
 flowing, and more than one-half 
 communicants — The young of the 
 congregation and schools meet in 
 the school -house for prayer and 
 reading the Word at eight o'clock 
 every Sabbath morning, and four in 
 the evening — 161 were lately con- 
 firmed, almost all of whom have 
 come to the Lord's table — Only 16 
 were "stricken" cases — In Christ 
 Church the physical manifestations 
 were extremely few — 200 more par- 
 touk the communion on last Christ- 
 mas-day than on the preceding.] 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 387 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Billy, .... 
 Broughshane, . 
 
 Buckna, . . . 
 Carncastle, . . 
 
 Cammoney, . . 
 1st Carrickfergiis, 
 
 2d Carrickfergus, 
 Cloughwater, 
 1st Coleraine, . 
 
 2d Coleraine, . 
 
 18 
 4 
 
 20 
 20 
 
 6 4) 
 
 3d Coleraine, . , 
 
 51 
 140 
 
 70 
 40 
 
 80 
 90 
 
 140 
 36 
 51 
 
 60 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 75 
 
 SO above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 An additional church in progress 
 £550 subscribed — Fresh appear- 
 ances of awakening in March 1860 
 — Prayer - meetings abound — 20 
 Roman Catholics — 3 rebaptized. 
 
 200 above average — 1 Roman Ca- 
 tholic in membership, and 3 or 4 
 attend. 
 
 80 above average — Former average of 
 additional communicants 5 — Of 
 about 200 awakened only 2 have 
 gone back. 
 
 100 above average. 
 
 Instead of the large congregational 
 meetings of last summer, many 
 smaller ones. 
 
 60 of the communicants married per- 
 sons — 3 Roman Catholics. 
 
 77 above average — A large increase 
 of examinants at present for com- 
 munion. 
 
 100 above average — The 15th of No- 
 vember having been set apart by 
 the General Assembly as a day of 
 thanksgiving for the revival, the 
 ministers of the Establishment, and 
 of the Methodist, Baptist, and In- 
 dependent churches all united in 
 the observance, the factories were 
 stopped, and the places of busi- 
 ness occupied by Protestants in the 
 town were closed ; there were united 
 prayer-meetings in the Town-Hall 
 morning and evening, in addition 
 to the services in the several houses 
 of worship. 
 
388 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1 
 
 05 
 
 m <0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (O 
 
 .« -iJ 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 1 
 
 
 Facts and Observations, 
 
 Connor, .... 
 
 
 127 
 
 The communicants greatly elevated in 
 tone and character — A network of 
 prayer-meetings over the whole dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Croaghmore, . . 
 
 10 
 
 37 
 
 2 hopeful Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 Cullybackey, . . 
 
 
 41 
 
 4 do. do. do. 
 
 Dervock, .... 
 
 
 41 
 
 60 above average. 
 
 1st Donegore, . . 
 
 12 
 
 
 The young communicants under exa- 
 mination for a year, hence no report 
 of additions as yet. 
 
 DnTmreagh, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 30 
 
 2 Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 1st Dunboe, . . . 
 
 
 105 
 
 200 above average — 8 Romanists have 
 joined the Church. 
 
 Dundrod, .... 
 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 100 in Bible class — £1 4 worth of books 
 sold by one individual — £250 of 
 debt cleared off — No whisky or wine 
 now presented in any house in the 
 congregation — The "churn" or har- 
 vest-home was generally observed 
 
 k 
 
 
 
 as a prayer-meeting — The '"work" 
 
 
 
 
 still going on — Large additions made 
 to the minister's income, and hand- 
 some gifts presented to him since 
 the revival. 
 
 Dunean, .... 
 
 7 
 
 35 
 
 
 Dunloy, .... 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 Duuluce, .... 
 
 14 
 
 50 
 
 80 above average — Inquirers' class at- 
 tended by 150. 
 
 Finvoy, .... 
 
 14 
 
 35 
 
 The worlc more prosperous than six 
 months ago — 2 Roman Catholics, 
 one of whom is a communicant. 
 
 Glenarm, .... 
 
 
 30 
 
 A few Roman Catholics, all most ex- 
 emplary — The Countess of Antrim, 
 whose castle adjoins, was away in 
 England while the revival was in 
 progress, and on her return, having 
 heard much of it, resolved to visit a 
 number of those who had been re- 
 ported to have come under its in- 
 fluence. She did so, and was fully 
 satisfied the work was of God ; but, 
 finding many of the young to whom 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 389 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Glenarm — continued. 
 
 Glenwherry, . . 
 1st Islandmagee, 
 2d Islandmagee 
 Kilbride, . . . 
 Killead, . . . 
 1st Killymurris, 
 2d Killymiirris, 
 2d Kilravights, . 
 1st Lame, . . 
 
 LylehiU, 
 M alone, 
 
 6 
 4 
 6 
 
 8 
 16 
 
 03 ® 
 
 -S2 
 
 C 4) 
 
 50 
 40 
 
 29 
 40 
 32 
 18 
 51 
 90 
 
 20 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 instruction in Scripture truth, was 
 evidently most desirable, she opened, 
 in a school-room in the town conve- 
 nient to her residence, a class for 
 such persons for one hour in the 
 evening one day in the week, and 
 for this purpose met them herself. 
 
 140 above average. 
 
 80 do. — 1 Koman Catholic. 
 
 100 do.— 1 do. 
 
 40 do. 
 
 100 do. 
 
 156 above average — From £30 to £40 
 worth of Bibles, &c., bought — Not 
 a single backslider out of hundreds 
 hopefully converted — A few Roman 
 Catholics — The tendency is to ad- 
 here to Calvinistic doctrine and 
 Presbyterian polity. 
 
 In the town of Larne a missionary is 
 maintained by John Getty, Esq., a 
 Christian gentleman, a native of the 
 place, now a retired Belfast merchant, 
 who has also erected two commodious 
 mission houses, superintended by the 
 missionary. In one of these is a Sab- 
 bath-school teacher, who had been a 
 Unitarian up to the period of the re- 
 vival. In the other is one (also a 
 teacher) who had before beena drunk- 
 ard, a swearer, and a Sabbath-breaker 
 — now a devoted Christian. Some of 
 the children were Roman Catholics ; 
 some were Unitarians. 
 
 30 above the average — 2 Roman Ca- 
 tholics and 1 Unitarian family added 
 to the Church, i 
 
890 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Maragal, . . 
 Mosside, . . 
 
 2d Portglenone, 
 3d Portglenone, 
 Portrush, . . . 
 
 Haloo, .... 
 
 Ramoan, . . . 
 
 2d Randalstown, 
 Rasharkin, . . 
 Roseyards, . . 
 
 T emplepatrick, 
 
 County Down. 
 
 Anahilt, . . 
 Annalong, 
 Ardglass, 
 Ballyblack, . 
 Ballycopeland, 
 Ballydown, . 
 Ballygowan, . 
 
 1st Ballynahinch, 
 3d Ballynahincli, 
 
 Ballyroney, . . 
 
 1st Bally waiter, 
 Banbridge, . . 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 18 
 
 4 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 10 
 
 as <0 
 
 
 90 
 
 20 
 
 80 
 25 
 
 13 
 
 23 
 
 22 
 
 10 
 
 64 
 
 54 
 
 8 
 
 36 
 
 8 
 20 
 54 
 
 70 
 
 42 
 
 11 
 30 
 
 Facts akd Observations. 
 
 30 above the average — 1 Roman Ca- 
 tliolic. 
 
 200 copies of James's " Anxious In- 
 quirer " bought — 4 Roman Catho- 
 lics joined. 
 
 40 above the average. 
 
 22 above the average — The first two 
 missionary collections after the re- 
 vival £20, former average of each 
 £4. 
 
 120 above the average — 2 Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 40 above the average — 2 Roman Ca- 
 tholics. 
 
 40 above the average — 3 Roman Ca- 
 tholics. 
 
 152 above average. 
 
 25 above average. 
 
 Communicants doubled. 
 
 175 above average — The entire neigh- 
 bourhood transformed. 
 
 200 above average. 
 
 66 above average — Several Roman 
 Catholic cases. 
 
 165 above average — 6 Roman Catho- 
 lics, of whom 3 regularly attend. 
 
 100 above average — 400 average at- 
 tendance at Sabbath-school — Dis- 
 trict schools for boys attended by 
 150 — Evening school for girls, ex- 
 clusively taught by young ladies, 100. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 391 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 1st Bangor, . 
 
 2d Boardmills, 
 
 Brookvale, 
 
 Carrowdore, 
 
 Cargycreevy, 
 
 Carryduff, 
 
 Castlereagh, 
 Clondiiflf; . 
 1st Comber, 
 
 Conlig, . . 
 
 Donacloney, 
 
 Donoughmore, 
 
 6 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 a. a 
 
 S © 
 £5 
 
 18 
 25 
 16 
 30 
 40 
 31 
 
 42 
 
 16 
 
 152 
 
 40 
 30 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 50 above average — 2 Roman Catholics. 
 70 above average. 
 57 above average. 
 
 140 above average. 
 
 70 above average — Measures for 
 additional church accommodation 
 in progress — Within two miles of 
 the church 4 pubUc-houses closed 
 through the revival — One family 
 at the church gate not only closed 
 their shop, but poured the whisky 
 on the ground — No drink now at 
 funerals — A Roman Catholic gentle- 
 man, resident in England, travelling 
 from Belfast on the coach one mar- 
 ket evening last summer, confessed 
 to the Rev. S. Burnside, his fellow- 
 traveller, that, although not be- 
 lieving in the revival, he was 
 greatly struck with the change in 
 the appearance of the country peo- 
 ple returning home ; in a distance of 
 5 miles he did not observe a single 
 individual in the slightest degree 
 intoxicated. 
 
 1 00 above average. 
 
 50 above average — 3 Roman Catholics. 
 
 250 above average — Doctrinal class all 
 last summer attended by about 200, 
 even during the busy season of har- 
 vest — The first missionary collection 
 after the revival trebled — 1 Roman 
 Catholic family joined in member- 
 ship. 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 Only 1 prayer-meeting formerly — 100 
 giving hopeful evidence of conver- 
 sion — Many anxious inquirers. 
 
392 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 ai 
 
 bo 
 
 11' 
 
 
 
 '■t2 
 
 c5 -kJ 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 
 S2 
 
 ^1 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 1st Dromara, . . 
 
 20 
 
 50 
 
 1 36 above average — 654 in Temperance 
 Society — Several cases of Roman Ca- 
 tholic servants, and one whole family. 
 
 2d Dromara, . , 
 
 
 52 
 
 150 above average — 300 total ab- 
 stainers — 6 Roman Catholics — 1 
 public-house closed — The drinking 
 and dance at the harvest - homes 
 supplanted by tea and prayer — The 
 50 or 60 prayer-meetings in the 
 parish attended by an average of 
 60 each. 
 
 1st Dromore, . . 
 
 8 
 
 
 100 above average. 
 
 Drumbo, .... 
 
 
 60 
 
 100 above average — Some Roman Ca- 
 tholics. 
 
 Drurabanaglier, . . 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Drumgooland, . . 
 
 15 
 
 40 
 
 
 Drumlee, .... 
 
 9 
 
 
 Communion greatly increased— 1 Ro- 
 man Catholic. 
 
 Driimlough, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 31 
 
 120 above average. 
 
 Dimdonald, . . . 
 
 11 
 
 
 50 above average in communicants' 
 class, at present (April 1860) 102. 
 
 Garvaghy, . . . 
 
 12 
 
 20 
 
 
 Gilford, .... 
 
 
 
 50 do. — 1 Roman Catholic, most steady. 
 
 Glascar, .... 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 Groomsport, . . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 40 do.— 1 do. 
 
 Kilkeel, .... 
 
 
 15 
 
 30 do. 
 
 Kilkinamurry, . . 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 1 Roman Catholic removed, but stead- 
 fast. 
 100 above average. 
 
 Killyleagh, . . . 
 
 
 
 ELillinchy, . . . 
 
 16 
 
 67 
 
 200 above average — 2 Roman Ca- 
 tholics. 
 
 Kilmore, .... 
 
 12 
 
 5Q 
 
 Communicants nearly doubled. 
 
 Legacurry, . . . 
 
 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 Leitrim, .... 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 2 Roman Catholics, most satisfactoiy. 
 
 Lissara, .... 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 70 above average — 60 abstainers be- 
 fore the revival, now 200 — 1 Roman 
 Catholic, who is bringing up his 
 family in the Protestant faith. 
 
 LoughacLray, . . 
 
 15 
 
 103 
 
 1 Roman Catholic family. 
 
 Maghera hamlet, . 
 
 
 10 
 
 24 above average. 
 
 Maglierally, . . . 
 
 
 22 
 
 60 above average. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 893 
 
 
 
 s'5 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 it 
 PL, 
 
 '5 73 
 
 Facts and Obskrvations. 
 
 Millisle, .... 
 
 3 
 
 25 
 
 
 Moira, 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Morne, 
 
 12 
 
 69 
 
 150 do. 
 
 Newmills, . . . 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 2 Roman Catholics. 
 
 1st Newry, . . . 
 
 
 
 30 above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 2d Newry, . . . 
 
 7 
 
 30 
 
 50 do. 
 
 ] st Newtonards, 
 
 6 
 
 150 
 
 
 Regent Street, do., . 
 
 
 36 
 
 100 do. — 5 Roman Catholics ; believe 
 the nvimber to be considerably larger. 
 
 4th Newtonards, . 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 Newtonbreda, . . 
 
 
 
 Communicants for first time doubled 
 — First case of awakening a Roman 
 Catholic, very satisfactory. 
 
 Portaferry, . . . 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 40 above average — Missionary collec- 
 tions doubled — 20 prostrations in 
 this neighbourhood — About one- 
 tenth of the really awakened — only 
 one such in the church, that of a 
 strong, able-bodied man. 
 
 
 15 
 
 75 
 
 200 above average — 70 families added 
 — 1 Roman Catholic, very decided. 
 
 1st Rathfriland, 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 
 70 above average — 1 public - house 
 closed, 2 about to close — 1 Roman 
 Catholic. 
 
 2d Rathfriland, 
 
 
 10 
 
 20 above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 3d Rathfriland, 
 
 
 18 
 
 36 do. 1 do. 
 
 1st Saintfield, . . 
 
 
 108 
 
 300 do. 
 
 2d Saintfield, . . 
 
 
 24 
 
 50 do. 
 
 Scarva, .... 
 
 
 16 
 
 28 do. 
 
 Ryans, 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 
 TuUylish, . . . 
 
 
 25 
 
 - 
 
 County Derrt. 
 
 Ballyamet, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 25 
 
 85 above average — 4 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Ballygoney, . . . 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 The first stricken a Roman Cathohc, 
 is learning to read, and regularly 
 attending ordinances. 
 
 Ballykelly, . . . 
 
 21 
 
 71 
 
 3 Roman CathoHcs seeking instruction 
 and attending services. 
 
 Ballywillan, . . , 
 
 8 
 
 92 
 
 2 Roman Catholics. 
 
394 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 03 a> 
 
 £5 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 Banagher, . . . 
 Bellaghy, .... 
 
 14 
 
 Boveedy, . . 
 Boveva, . . 
 Castledawson, 
 Churchtown, . 
 Claggin, . . 
 Cumber, . . 
 
 1st Deny, 
 2d Derry, 
 
 3d Derry, 
 Derramore, 
 
 6 
 7 
 3 
 6 
 15 
 
 14 
 30 
 
 33 
 29 
 70 
 50 
 27 
 30 
 
 50 
 
 26 
 
 28 
 12 
 
 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 61 above average. Bellaghy was long 
 notorious as a hot-bed of vice and 
 sink of moral filthiness — cock fight- 
 ing, party rows, drunkenness, pro- 
 fane swearing, Sabbath desecration, 
 neglect of ordinances, and such like, 
 being the order of the day. There 
 is now an amazing decrease of crime, 
 and Romanists seem to have exclu- 
 sive possession of that field. Many 
 have, so far as man can judge, un- 
 dergone a saving change, and a 
 very large number, probably the 
 majority, have been brought to the 
 Saviour without any physical suffer- 
 ing ; while in the case of most who 
 have never been brought under the 
 Spirit's influence, great reformation 
 of character has taken place, and 
 many, formerly stout-hearted in 
 their sins, are now evidently afraid 
 to indulge in their former evil prac- 
 tices. The Romanists are also much 
 more accessible than before. 
 
 2 Roman Catholics. 
 1 do. 
 
 120 above the average. 
 
 3 Roman Catholics. 
 
 1 do., keeping steady. 
 
 100 above average — 150 families ob- 
 serving family worship — Several 
 Roman Catholics, 
 
 100 above average — Several Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 Many prayer-meetings, both congre- 
 gational and united, in town and 
 country. 
 
 Though the intense feeling of the re- 
 j vival time has subsided, the good 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 395 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Derramore — 
 continued. 
 
 Draperstown, 
 Drumachose, 
 
 2d Dunboe, . 
 Faughanvale, 
 
 2d Garvagh, 
 
 2d Glendermot, , 
 Gortnessy, . , 
 
 Largy, . . 
 1st Kilrea, 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 
 26 
 
 28 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 32 
 
 22 
 40 
 
 26 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 fruits remain. The prayer-meetings 
 have been well kept up,notwithstand- 
 ing the extreme severity of the win- 
 ter; and, while the fervour of those 
 who pray is somewhat abated, there 
 is a vast improvement in the mode of 
 expression. A number of females, 
 also, have met for some time to read 
 and pray. 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 1800 Bibles, &c., disposed of— 8 Ro- 
 man Catholic cases. 
 
 5 Roman Catholics. 
 
 150 above average — Church greatly 
 enlarged — 200 copies of "Anxious 
 Inquirer " sold — Several Roman Ca- 
 tholics reading the Scriptures. 
 
 70 above average — Family worship all 
 bu.t universal — 2 persons baptized 
 who were dissatisfied with the Ro- 
 mish baptism — 2 other Roman Ca- 
 tholic cases. 
 
 "The presence of the work of grace 
 here is marked chiefly by the so- 
 lemnity and reverence which per- 
 vade our religious meetings, by the 
 awakened and earnest attention to 
 all the services of public and social 
 worship, and by the manifest power 
 true religion has upon the social in- 
 tercourse and habits of the people." 
 — 2 Roman Catholics. 
 
 2 Roman Catholics. 
 
 30 above average — The converts here 
 evince a desire to " learn in silence " 
 — No prostrations in the public ser- 
 vices, although many such else- 
 where — Few even of the " authenti- 
 cated" evangelists allowed to speak 
 at meetings — The attendance on the 
 
396 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 oj 
 
 (» 0)' 
 
 
 
 bo 
 
 .2 
 
 §•§ 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 u 
 
 ^1 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 1st Kilrea — 
 
 
 
 weekly union meeting four or five 
 
 continmd. 
 
 
 
 times greater now than ever — A 
 wonderful improvement in general 
 morals— The attention in the house 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 of God has become something awful 
 — The young believers greatly in 
 advance of the old in faith and love, 
 in tenderness of conscience and hu- 
 mility — 3 Roman Catholics, stead- 
 fast for so far. 
 
 Lecumpher, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 48 
 
 The congregation so much increased 
 that the church requires to be en- 
 larged — District prayer-meetings, 
 embracing the whole extent of the 
 congregation, held in the houses of 
 the rich and cottages of the poor — 
 3 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Macosquin, . . . 
 
 
 24 
 
 3 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Maghera, . . . 
 
 10 
 
 40 
 
 Gi-eatly increased sale of Bibles, &c. 
 
 Magherafelt, . , 
 
 
 26 
 
 50 above average — 5 or 6 Roman 
 Catholics under instruction. 
 
 Money more, . . 
 
 
 42 
 
 
 Myroe, .... 
 
 12 
 
 80 
 
 Persons attending worship who have 
 not done so for years — 2 abandoned 
 women stood up before the congre- 
 gation, and voluntarily confessed 
 their sins — 2 public-houses closed 
 — 5 or 6 Roman Catholics. 
 
 2d Newtonlimavady, 
 
 7 
 
 60 
 
 100 above average — For three weeks 
 every night was spent in public 
 prayer; more than 1000 often in at- 
 tendance, and sometimes morning 
 dawned before the ministers could 
 leave — The converts continue stead- 
 fastly to hold on their way — 5 or 6 
 Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 Ringsend, . . . 
 
 
 20 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 Saltersland, . . . 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 Scriggan, . . . 
 
 
 18 
 
 3 Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 Tobermore, . . . 
 
 
 40 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 397 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 County Ttkone. 
 
 Albany, . . . . 
 
 1st Ardstraw, . . 
 2d Ardstraw, 
 
 Aughnacloy, . . 
 
 Ballygawley, 
 Ballymagrane, 
 Ballyreagh, . 
 Brigh, . . . 
 
 Castlecaulfield, 
 
 fl.S 
 
 c ^ 
 Of:- 
 
 12 
 27 
 18 
 54 
 
 35 
 34 
 
 26 
 90 
 
 56 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 60 above average. 
 
 Sabbath-school trebled — Several hun- 
 dreds of Bibles and religions books 
 sold — 2 Roman Catholics — "The 
 tidings from Anierica," says the 
 Rev. Mr M'llwaine, " and your own 
 visit in January 1859, tended mate- 
 rially, under God's blessing, to pre- 
 pare the way. We have had no 
 extraordinary occurrences, but I 
 have met with many most hopeful 
 cases of conversion, and which have 
 been followed by a holy and con- 
 sistent life." 
 
 Attendance on public worship doubled. 
 
 Two 70 years old; 2 others, a grand- 
 father and a grandmother, and 6 
 married persons, among those who 
 have joined the Church — 15 above 
 the former average— Many awaken- 
 ed who were not physically affected 
 — 6 Romanists, 3 have joined, the 
 others attend on instruction. 
 
 Greater increase than for the last 
 twelve years — Several Roman Ca- 
 tholic cases, but the majority co- 
 erced by persecution, 4 steadfast — 
 A weekly union meeting conducted 
 by the curate and Presbyterian 
 minister, sometimes 700 present — 
 At the united prayer-meeting, on 
 the 9th January, conducted by Epis- 
 copalian, Methodist, and Presby- 
 terian ministers, 800 present, in- 
 cluding many of the upper classes. 
 
398 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 1st Castlederg, . 
 2d Castlederg, . 
 Claggan . . . 
 Clenanees, Upper, 
 Clenanees, Lower, 
 Clogherney, . . 
 
 1st Cookstown, . 
 2d Cookstown, . 
 3d CookstowD, . 
 Crossroads, . . 
 
 Douglas, . . . 
 1st Dungannon, 
 
 Dromore, . . 
 
 PL( 
 
 4 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 Drumquin, . 
 
 S o 
 
 40 
 20 
 
 56 
 13 
 60 
 
 31 
 
 40 
 25 
 
 28 
 27 
 
 58 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 40 
 
 57 above average — 1 Roman Catholic. | 
 
 Family worship increased fivefold — 1 
 
 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Communion increased one-tenth. 
 
 About 60 above average. 
 
 The prayer-meetings well attended, 
 notwithstanding snow-storms and 
 slippery roads during the winter, 
 the most dangerous to man and 
 beast for 20 years — Considerable 
 social discomfort in consequence of 
 high rents, but a large measure of 
 spiritual prosperity. 
 
 2 Roman CathoHcs. 
 
 The rector and the Presbyterian min- 
 ister conducted the first meeting in 
 connexion with the movement — 
 5 was the former average of young 
 communicants — 1 Roman Catholic 
 — " The awakening," says the Rev. 
 J. R. Dill, " has effected a most 
 marked and marvellous change in 
 this parish. During a ministry of 
 25 years, I beheld but little fi-uit — 
 I could find few, very few, of whom 
 I entertained a good hope that they 
 were converted. Kow, there are 
 many, changed in heart and re- 
 formed in life, who have been 
 ' turned from darkness to light, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God.' 
 Prayer-meetings (well attended) are 
 conducted in almost every district." 
 Roman Catholic. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 399 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 Eglish, 
 
 Fintona, . 
 Gillygooley, 
 Glenelly, , 
 Gortin, 
 
 10 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 11 
 15 
 18 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 Eoman Catholics — " The whole 
 aspect of the country changed — 
 people serious, solemn, temperate, 
 and generally awakened in regard 
 to their spiritual condition. The 
 clergy of the Established Church 
 opposed — teaching the people that 
 it was a dangerous disease with 
 which the country was visited, 
 and exhorting their flocks to keep 
 away from the meetings. Of the 
 Presbyterian Church, too, some of 
 the more bigoted have all along 
 been secretly opposing themselves 
 to anything that savours of pro- 
 gress, but others are most zealous 
 in the cause." 
 
 30 above average. 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 5Q above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 45 above average — 5 Roman Catholics 
 — 250 added to the abstinence list 
 — ^The innkeepers have almost no- 
 thing to do — Scarcely a Protestant 
 drinks — 10,000 tracts distributed 
 and many religious books — Persons 
 of all ages, from 5 to 82 years, 
 awakened — " At the beginning of 
 the revival, one (a Primitive Me- 
 thodist) asked to tell his experience, 
 and he just related a dream he had. 
 I saw," says the Rev. M. Logan, 
 "that such exhibitions would not 
 favour scriptural Christianity, and 
 at once expressed my disapproba- 
 tion, and we have had nothing of 
 the kind since. Almost all who 
 have found peace have abandoned 
 the use of tobacco as well as ardent 
 spirits, and they care little about 
 what food they eat." 
 
400 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 tr. 
 
 CO «J 
 
 
 
 fcX) 
 
 |S 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 O 
 
 1 
 
 PL, 
 
 I:: 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 Killetur, .... 
 
 
 8 
 
 30 above average — 2 Roman Catholics. 
 
 Leckpatrick, . . 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 Minterburn, . . . 
 
 10 
 
 75 
 
 100 above average — 7 Roman Catho- 
 lics, of whona 3 give decided evi- 
 dence of a saving change. 
 
 1st Newtonstewart, 
 
 
 9 
 
 20 above average — No backslider 
 known. 
 
 2d Newtonstewart^ 
 
 
 12 
 
 2 Roman Catholics impressed, but 
 prevented from attending meet- 
 ings. 
 
 Orritor, .... 
 
 
 19 
 
 39 above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Pomeroy, . . . 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 
 Saudholes, . . . 
 
 9 
 
 46 
 
 78 above average — Several Roman 
 Catholics steadfast amid bitter per- 
 secution. 
 
 Six-mile-cross, . . 
 
 16 
 
 40 
 
 67 above average — 1 Roman Catholic 
 very hopeful. 
 
 1st Stew^rtstown, . 
 
 7 
 
 
 35 above average — A publican has 
 given tip the trade — 1 Roman Catho- 
 lic. 
 
 2d Stewartstown, . 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 1st Strabane, . . 
 
 10 
 
 35 
 
 70 above average. 
 
 2d Strabane, . . 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 30 above average. 
 
 Urney, .... 
 
 4 
 
 20 
 
 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 County Armagh. 
 
 
 
 
 Ahorey, .... 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 4 cases of Roman Catholics con- 
 verted. 
 
 2d Armagh, "^ 
 
 30 
 
 15 
 
 
 3d Armagh, j 
 
 50 
 
 
 Arm aghbrague. 
 
 3 
 
 
 More additions to the Church than 
 during the five previous years. 
 
 Bessbrook, . . . 
 
 7 
 
 34 
 
 3 Roman Catholic cases. 
 
 Cladymore, . . . 
 
 7 
 
 20 
 
 3 Roman Catholic cases, hopeful. 
 
 Clare, 
 
 3 
 
 53 
 
 
 Clarksbridge, . . 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 
 Cremore, . . . 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 401 
 
 
 tn 
 
 05 aJ 
 
 
 
 
 1.S 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 
 c 2 
 ^1 
 
 Facts and Obsekvations. 
 
 1st Drumbanagher, 
 
 
 12 
 
 More good done in the last few months 
 than during a ministry of half a 
 century in ordinary times — The 
 steward and gardener at Drum- 
 banagher Castle hold a prayer-meet- 
 ing for 20 minutes at the hours of 
 breakfast and dinner daily, with 
 happiest effect — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Drumhillary, . . 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 Drumminis, . . . 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 1st Keady, . . . 
 
 9 
 
 50 
 
 
 2d Keady, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 22 
 
 
 Kingsmill, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 22 
 
 i Roman Catholic cases, steady. 
 
 Knappagh, . . . 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 2 Roman Catholics beheved to be 
 savingly converted. 
 
 Ltirgan, .... 
 
 20 
 
 70 
 
 A. to\^n mis.sionary and colporteur 
 employed, and a new Presbyterian 
 church about to be erected. 
 
 Markethill, . . . 
 
 5 
 
 36 
 
 
 Middletown, . 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 Mountn orris. 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 Portadown, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 36 
 
 
 Poyntzpass, . . . 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 
 Eedrock, .... 
 
 12 
 
 27 
 
 1 Roman Catholic girl, who has en- 
 dured much persecution. 
 
 Tandragee, , . . 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Tartaraghan, . . 
 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 Of the many hopefully impressed very 
 few stricken — The majority found 
 peace in their own homes — Bibles, 
 &c., sold to the value of £14, 
 
 Tassagh, .... 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 
 TullyaUen, . . . 
 
 
 25 
 
 6 Roman Catholics, 3 of whom are 
 steadfast. | 
 
 County Donegal. 
 
 
 
 
 Alt, 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 
 Buncrana, . . . 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 In a congregation of only 55 families, 
 40 persons are regarded as savingly 
 
402 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 o5 
 
 bo 
 
 
 
 to a^' 
 
 
 
 *^ 
 
 ce+j 
 
 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 S2 
 ^1 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 Buncrana — continued. 
 
 
 
 impressed, 1 2 being heads of fami- 
 lies — Between 20 and 30 others 
 under concern, one 80 years of age 
 — £400 subscribed for a new 
 church. 
 
 Burt, 
 
 
 70 
 
 3 Eoman Catholics, all remarkable 
 
 cases. 
 
 Carndonagh, . . . 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 Carnone, .... 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 Convoy, .... 
 
 7 
 
 38 
 
 
 Crossroads, . . . 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 Four-fifths maintain family worship — 
 1 Roman Catholic, 
 
 Donoughmore, . . 
 
 18 
 
 45 
 
 100 above average — 2 Roman Catho- 
 lics — Missionary collections and con- 
 tributions to Bible Society doubled. 
 
 Fahan, .... 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 2 Roman Catholics — 1 went to Scot- 
 land to escape persecution. 
 
 Far net, .... 
 
 6 
 
 
 30 hopefully converted — No prostra- 
 tions. 
 
 Kilmacrenan, . . 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 Knowbead, . . . 
 
 8 
 
 31 
 
 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 1st Letterkenny, . 
 
 
 17 
 
 50 above average — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 2d Letterkenny, 
 
 
 
 20 above average. 
 
 Malin, 
 
 3 
 
 25 
 
 Persons awakened from 10 to 83 years 
 — G Roman Catholics. 
 
 Monreagh, . . . 
 
 12 
 
 51 
 
 Young females and boys sometimes 
 condiict family worship — 4 Roman 
 Catholics, 
 
 Newtonciinningham, 
 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 50 above average. 
 
 1st Eaphoe, 
 
 10 
 
 22 
 
 
 2d Kamelton, . . 
 
 
 33 
 
 Upwards of 100 hopefully awakened 
 — The services conducted almost 
 exclusively by ministers — Very few 
 cases of physical prostration — Many 
 led to cry for mercy through mere 
 sympathy, or from ignorance, or 
 thinking it necessary — The con- 
 verted most anxious to bring others 
 to Christ — Almost all who had 
 great joy passed subsequently 
 through a state of mental darkness 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 403 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 2d Ramelton — 
 continued. 
 
 3d Ramelton, . . 
 1st Ray, .... 
 
 2d Ray, . . . . 
 
 Trenta, . 
 
 County Monaghan. 
 1st Ballybay, . . 
 
 on O 
 
 -^ s 
 
 H (B 
 
 6u 
 
 24 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 — The converted chiefly among the 
 young, especially members of the 
 Bible-class, all of whom good hope 
 entertained, continue steadfast unto 
 this day — Those who were awak- 
 ened, but not converted, returning 
 to their former state of indifference. 
 
 " To pronounce many cases of nervous 
 excitement that I have seen," says 
 Dr Rentoul, "as some have done, 
 cases of real conversion, is great 
 presumption, and extremely dan- 
 gerous." 
 
 60 over average — In the two congre- 
 gations of Ray there are 11 prayer- 
 meetings — Roman Catholics attend- 
 ed, but were prevented by the 
 priests in consequence of conver- 
 sions reported elsewhere — The 
 movement did not commence here 
 till October. 
 
 The congregation not very large — 38 
 cases of conviction of sin, all hope- 
 ful; one remarkable, being that of 
 an aged female, who for 23 years 
 was never in a house of worship, 
 and a great worldling ; she continues 
 to adorn her profession — There are 
 two children's prayer-meetings con- 
 ducted by young persons, scarcely 
 above 12 years of age, and even 
 younger. 
 
 30 above average — The power of the 
 Spirit most marked among the care- 
 less, the pi'ofane, and the intempe- 
 rate; also among the poor, and those 
 
404 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 1st BalTybay — 
 contimied. 
 
 2d Ballybay, 
 
 Broomfield, , . 
 CaliaDS, . . . 
 
 2d Castleblayney, 
 Carrickmacross, 
 
 1st Contibret, 
 Corlea, . . 
 Grieve, . . 
 Derryvalley, . 
 
 
 26 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 lying beyond the influence of ordi- 
 nances — The awakened continue 
 steadfast. " The doctrines of the 
 gospel/' says the Rev. J. G. Smith, 
 " are being more adorned by master 
 and servant, by parents and chil- 
 dren, and in the business transac- 
 tions between man and man ; glaring 
 vices have been dethroned, and the 
 demon of intemperance has been 
 chained up ; boisterous spirits have 
 been tamed, and turned into men 
 of peaceful bearing ; and the whole 
 community has felt the majesty of 
 God and His presence in the land." 
 
 75 above average — A very beneficial 
 change observable in the general 
 habits of the community — 2 Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 The communion dispensed when the 
 revival movement had little more 
 than commenced. 
 
 60 copies of " Confession of Faith " 
 disposed of, and other religious 
 books — 5 Roman Catholic cases ; 3 
 removed, 2 still attend. 
 
 50 above average — £11 worth of 
 Bibles, &c., sold — The excitement 
 abated, but the work continues — A 
 few Roman Catholics brought under 
 conviction, but soon removed; 1 
 hopefully converted. 
 
 20 above average — Family worship 
 general — Attendance on ordinances 
 doubled — " Incalculable good " 
 effected. 
 
 Now rare to see a person intoxicated. 
 
 The revival, though "young" here, 
 has accomplished a happy change. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 405 
 
 
 m 
 
 m <o 
 
 
 
 
 1-§ 
 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 05 +J 
 
 ^1 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 1st Drunij . . . 
 
 3 
 
 43 
 
 2 Roman Catholics — The prayer-meet- 
 ings often thronged to inconveni- 
 ence in the rural districts. 
 
 2d Drum, . . . 
 
 20 
 
 84 
 
 100 above average — Family worship 
 observed by 40 families for one be- 
 fore — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Druinkeen, . . . 
 
 5 
 
 55 
 
 4 Roman Catholics, out of a ntxmber 
 impressed, remain steadfast. 
 
 Glennan, .... 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 150 persons have become total ab- 
 stainers — 1 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Monaghan, . . . 
 
 7 
 
 30 
 
 Few prostrations, and these the least 
 promising, though some satisfactory 
 — Several young men have already 
 commenced to study for the mini- 
 
 
 
 
 stry as the result here, and are 
 making great progress — The " re- 
 vived " all total abstainers — Some 
 who coidd not read are diligently 
 learning— 200 of the " Anxious In- 
 quirer " and 150 "Christian Pro- 
 gress " sold in a few weeks — Only 
 3 or 4 cases of falling off — Delight- 
 ful harmony among all Protestant 
 denominations. 
 
 Newbliss, .... 
 
 
 30 
 
 Tippling at fairs and markets given 
 over to a large extent by Pro- 
 testants. 
 
 Smithborough, . . 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 30 above average. 
 
 Stonebridge, . . . 
 
 4 
 
 40 
 
 100 do. 
 
 County Cavan. 
 
 
 
 
 1st Bailieborough, . 
 
 7 
 
 48 
 
 Great demand for religious books — 
 The Commentaries of Scott and 
 Henry find ready sale — Many Roman 
 Catholics impressed. 
 
 2d Bailieborough, . 
 
 7 
 
 18 
 
 40 above average. 
 
 Ballyjamesduff, . . 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 100 copies of "Anxious Inquirer" sold 
 — Attendance on public worship in- 
 creased fourfold. 
 
406 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Name of Congregation. 
 
 CO 
 
 bo 
 
 a 
 
 « 
 
 M 6 
 
 0.S 
 
 li 
 
 Facts and Observations. 
 
 
 
 
 Ballasis, .... 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 20 above average. 
 
 Cavan, 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 Greater increase in family worship 
 than during last 8 years. 
 
 1st Cootehill, . . 
 
 2 
 
 40 
 
 
 2d Cootehill, . . 
 
 
 20 
 
 40 above average. 
 
 Drumkeeran, . . 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 The Roman Catholics bitterty op- 
 posed, in some instances using vio- 
 
 Killesandra, . . . 
 
 
 
 lence — 4 hopefully changed. 
 Great awakening in this district. 
 
 Shercock, .... 
 
 
 
 Do. — Whisky - drinking and accom- 
 
 
 4 
 
 21 
 
 panying vices greatly decreased. 
 Do. do. 
 
 Pettigo, County Fer- 
 managh, . . . 
 
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