Linlithgow (1860)



Dear Sirs,—A wave of blessing is indeed pass¬ing over our land; "the Spirit of God is moving on the face of the waters." In all my journeyings the precious work is going forward. I stayed a little time in this interesting place, on my way from Glasgow to Edinburgh. In the Congregational Chapel, on Sabbath afternoon, when the service was not in the slightest exciting, one young man was deeply impressed, wept bitterly, and was taken into the vestry. In the evening he appeared to have lost his load; to have found the Saviour; and to be rejoicing in his love. Many abandoned characters here have been brought to the knowledge of the Lord. The husband of a woman attending the Revival meetings, a sad man, who used commonly to be carried home insensibly drunk; whose chief aim was to rob his wife and helpless children in order that he might gratify this craving appetite; and who for cursing and swearing, bad no equal; who abhorred even the name of Revival, or any person or thing connected with it became affected through the instrumentality of his injured wife; went to a meeting conducted by Mr. Hammond, where he was awakened, and has, subsequently, come to the knowledge of the truth; giving unmistakeable evidence of its power. Another sad profligate having crawled home drunk one Sabbath morning, heard, some hours after, singing, praise, and prayer in the street. He listened, and was convicted on the spot; went up to the chapel, but was afraid to enter; asked a young woman if he might come in; was shown to a seat, where he was still further impressed; and, on returning in the evening, found peace amongst the anxious who had remained behind. I sat in a seat near a person, but a few days ago, a stout, profligate young fellow. One day, while standing at the door of his own house, he was thinking of the courage necessary to enable a young man to stand up in the street to preach. The words of the paraphrase flashed into his mind, "I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, Or to defend his cause." This sentence unravelled the mystery. He went up to the gathering in the street; was there convicted of sin; in the evening waited with the inquirers, and was brought to the knowledge of Jesus. After this, his first thoughts and earnest solicitude were for his wife; he sent petitions to all the prayer-meetings, and requested two of the brethren to come to his house and converse with her; she was subsequently enabled to lay hold of Jesus as her Saviour. The cases I have referred to are of those who used to be notoriously wicked. They are all well-known characters whose names are in my possession. The great secret of blessing to their souls arose, I feel persuaded, from the earnest, faithful, wrestling prayers of the devoted "little flock" that continually meets at 257, High-street, in the house of "a certain women named Lydia." If we really believe God is the Hearer and Answerer of prayer, why should Christians be surprise at such won¬derful manifestations of his power? We are continually told it is excitement. Doubtless, in many cases, there is excitement:-

From, 'The Revival Newspaper,' Volume iv, p93.


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