Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-08-20
SABBATH READING.
Forty Thousand People at Prayer
Meeting.


The Edinburgh Witness gives the sub
joined account of very remarkable prayer
meeting, probably the largest held since the
dawn of the Christian era We presume
that the numbers are somewhat cXargcrl.
ted, as othcrpapcrs do not place them high
or than from twenty to thirty thousand.
\ great union prayer meeting, in con-
nccton with the present remarkable move
mcnt, was held in the open air, in Belfast,
Ireland, on "Wednesday forenoon, at half,
past clock. lii order to accommodate
all parties, the use of the spacious grounds
of the Royal Botanic Gardens Was obtained
for holding tho meeting; and, as it is we'll
known that many persons from the SUR
rounding country were dcsirous to be pres
cnt, special trairs of uncommon length were
run by the different railway comraui =; =
Some idea of the interest felt may be mag
incd when we state thatit is computed that no
fewer than fifteen thousand individuals ar
rived in Belfast, and that from thirty-fivc
to forty thousand persons in all were pres
cnt at the services The leading streets of
the town presented, during midday, most
arrival of the trains. The footways were
literally throngcd with wcll-dressed and
respectable looking people from the country
not passing alone with the negligent and
easy -goingair of pleasure seeking excursion
lists, but staid and solemn in dcmcanor--thc
younger as we'll as the elder; and the ma
iority With bibles or hymn books in their
hands, rs if proceeding to Sabbath service.
On they passed towards the place of meet
ing, passed the glttcring rows of gorgeous
shops, and through the fashionable thor
oughfares Thus the living strcanl-and
such stream Mas never before witnessed
i'll Belfast, poured onwards for at least two
hours, along both sides of the street
The scene in the garden grounds is said
by the Banner of Ulster to have been one
0f the most striking, as well as impressive
and animating, ever witnessed in the prov.
incc. The whole space within view from
any point was as closely packed as it was
well possible for it to be. Even the bran:
chcs of the trees were taken advantage of
bynumbcrs of the junior members of the
audience, as the most suitable situation for
seeing and hearing; and there, while the
sounds of praise were rising from the null
ttudc below, these young worshippers We're
heard joining in song and thanksgiving.-
Nothing of holiday lcvity, nothing of the
thoughtlcss mirth of youth, was manifest
among these; their attention was us mar
kcd, and their conduct as well ordered as
That of any persons in the vast asscmbagc
Both as regarded its magnitude, and tho
deep solemnity and earnest spirit chat per.
tadcd it, the meeting is said to have recall.
ed wildly the historic days and scenes of
thc singing of the "Solcmn League and
Covenant"
"Thc Rct. John johnson, of Tullsh,
Moderator of the General Assemblysof the
Irish Presbyterian Church, presided, aud
he was supported by the ministers of the
different Protestant denominations in and
around Belfast. After prayer, the chair
man read a chapter from the Holy Scrip
turcs, and then gave out the Tooth Psalm
and never before III Belfast did so many
voices unite in such hearty accord in sin
9ing this fivoritc song of Zion, Searccly
had the first lotc been raised on the Plat
form, when 1t was caught up by the i'm
mcnsc asscmblagc, the majority of the vol
ccs combining insurprising andupcxpcc.
ted harmony and, as each stanM closed,
the dying away of The cadence ia the tar
distance of the throng, had an effect at
once solemn and thrilling.
Short addresses were delivered by min.
listers and converts; and also by Mr. vii.
liam Dickson of Edinburgh, and mir, i'c
Ser Drummond of Sterling. Prayers were
also offered up, and verses from hymns
sung AS it was impossible for the speak.
ers, on the central platform to make them.
selves heard by the whole OF tfte vast NAL
titudc, ciorgymcn and others scattered
themselves among them, each forming the
centre of a large congregation which i'm.
'nediately gathered around, joining in de-
yotional exercises
"At one time there were no less than
twenty of these subordinate meetings, nuul-
bcring from two hundred to one thousand
each. Every here and there throughout
the immense multitude, while the hymn or
the prayer was rising on high, persons
were being struck down under sense of
deep and oycrpowcring conviction 0f sin.