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TH E KING’S BUSINESS
conversion occurred in December following. A young man became greatly alarmed. After some time, in answer to earnest prayer by himself and others, he found peace and con fidence. Early in January, 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. Spe cial prayer, about the same period, was fre quently offered 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 ex tensive 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 im moral. A few had heard of a similar triumph of Divine grace beyond the Atlantic.. The services were peculiarly solemn. The Mas ter’s presence seemed to be recognized, and ' His call heard. A great impulse was given to consideration and seriousness, intensify ing and extending these general precursors of conviction and revival. The old prayer- meetings began to be thronged, and many new ones established. No difficulty now to find persons to take part in them. The muter ivas past; the time of the singing of birds had come. Humble, grateful, loving, joyous converts multipliedf’ SIMPLE BEGINNING. Such was the simple beginning of the movement that lasted for about a year, dur ing which time it is estimated that no less than 100,000 persons were awakened to spir itual things. In this number were included persons of all ages, ranks, occupations and denominations, for numbers of Roman Catholics were soundly converted. Secta rian and political differences were lost sight of, and such days as Saint Patrick’s Day and the Twelfth of July, which previously had been marked by battles between the oppos ing factions, passed over as peaceably as other days. Drunkenness and crime de creased so materially as to call forth con-
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 sense of perplexity and approaching to de spair, succeeded by a view of Christ as a Saviour, full, sweet, restoring. Such in stances 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 quar ter of a century the ‘prayer meeting’ had ex isted in that locality, while similar meet ings had in other districts, after many in effectual efforts to maintain them, lan guished 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, and by de grees the little company increased, until it became ‘two bands.’ In the same district, also, it deserves to be mentioned, the Bible training of the young in connection with the organization of Sabbath schools, had been most successful; the class which had been established there being more promising 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 Rev. S. J. Moore of Bally mena, ‘soon ceased to be a secret one; and slowly one kindred spirit after another was introduced, on the recommendation of some of the original members. For a few months they had to walk by faith.' The seed, how ever, 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 He intends signally to answer prayer, He disposes the supplicant to plead, and, with growing anxiety, to plead on till the blessing is secured. The first observable instance of
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