Smyrna times., 1902-03-12

trumpet blast was Gods signal for i'm
mediate land decisive action. Down
deep in the caverns of the soul, amid
the recesses of disturbed spirits, for |
hours afterward were heard the rever-
beratiOns of those words, as if they |
would not die-as if their authority |
became more and still more awe-in-
spring. That night witnessed scenes
of penitence and exhibitions of ecstasy
that the memory of fifty-fve years re-
produces with the vividness of yester-
day. The whole church was an altar.
Could the terror have been greater the
morning after the angel of the Lord
smote the camp of the Assyrians than
was the triumph of Gods people the
morning after this revival was ushered
in? They recounted the moral victo-
ries, and then was their mouth filed
with laughter and their tongues with
singing; then said they, The Lord
hath done great things for us He
had turned the captivity of Zion.
"The news spread; the people came;
the church was thrOnged. Night after
night, week after week, for successive
months, worship was kept up, and
sometimes till the morning hours. The
shout of newborn souls again and
again broke the stiffness of the mid
night as they returned to their homes
to tell the great things God had done
for them In store and shop and
counting house. at the corners of the
street, in social and business circles,
the people of all ages and conditions
spoke of the revival. What would be
its result? If it could commence un-
der such circumstances, continuance
was not incredible. Religion was the
ascendant attraction. It was the
thought of every mind, the theme OF
every tongue. Guilt confessed, Con-
triton wept, Faith struggled, Prayer
prevailed. The revival had come to
stay till its mission was accomplished.
1t swept through town like tornado.
The young readily yielded; the stout
hearted quailed; the obdurate were
subdued. Some, sunk in vice, rose to
eminence in virtue: the desperate, that
defied the sweep, were torn away from
the grasp of iniquity; the town was un-
der a moral arrest! o, that day! the
tears of Joy come while write. 1t was
an epoch In the writer's history; it was
in the history of many. How sagely
did Judge Davis say, IF these boys
will only be faithful, God will make
men of themp
Though the revival was generally
unlocked fol as bolt from a serene
sky, the work was as manifest as when
the ancient oak is shivered or the mas
sive tower is riven.
Even Business Places Were Visited.
''The exhibitions of power were not
confined to the sanctuary; at the fam
lily altar hearts received the truth and
: found peace with God. On one occa.
sion the room filled with apprentices al
trade became scene of agony and
rapture. This was at eventide. In
another instance, at morning prayer, 6
lady in the neighborhood, under deep
: est concern for her soul, rushed into
} the private dwelling, kneeling there t.
! pray for her pardon; that morning
| ,,rax,or xropf nm ALL pOop oOI fbo Il
was filled with those who came to wit
Y ness and profit by the work.
D ''The field and forest became the re
sort of renitents. Not while memory
has its seat will the writer forget tn,
10Th of June, 1929, when, at quarte
l before ten o'clock at night, he foun(
4 forgiveness of all his sins in the fielC
S where he had gone with a burden tha
had been as a milestone about him fo
five nights of deepest anguish. HI
l had gone there for seclusion anC
: wrestling with God; but his cries drew
4 many from distance to the place, ant
. when the light of heaven shone, ther
C were more than score of person
!, present to witness his rejoicing. Th
y next day he accompanied a younI
T. friend, Joseph Mann, to the woods
/ where he, too, soon rejoiced in con
It scious pardon, and i'll the outburst @
J. ecstatic spirit gave the early proof 0
: the talents by which nature did so al
him in his subsequent ministry.
s The Whole Town Was Alive.
a "Perhaps nothing was more remark
:. able in that revival than the earnes
It type of Christians that it made. Their
II was work; there was shouting; ther
u | 1unro lnto noti,,crr. 4hc,.a LLAMA ...a,.