Presbyterian Church Tyrone's Ditches (1859)
“The first prayer meeting at this place was held on the 7th of July and was conducted by the minister, no converts from other places addressing any of the meetings in the neighbourhood. The writer, a student of the General Assembly, was one of those blessed by the Lord at the first meeting. There could not have been less than fifty cases of conviction on that night. The people did not leave the church till four or five o’clock in the morning. Since then the work has been advanced with astonishing rapidity. Meetings are held every evening in various places, and though the physical manifestations are not so numerous as at first, the meetings are still crowded. These have been conducted by the local ministers and some Presbyterian students, and no strangers have yet visited the place. There are some unbelievers in the movement, but they cannot deny the great change that has taken place in the country; they cannot deny that intemperance, Sabbath breaking, blasphemy, etc. are now almost unknown; they cannot deny that more than one public house has been closed. This neighbourhood was notorious for its religious sectarianism, but God has broken this heartless bigotry into ten thousand pieces. You can now see Covenanter, Seceder, Assembly-man, Episcopalian, and Methodist, sitting side by side listening to the story of the cross, when formerly they would scarcely have looked at one another. Many Roman Catholics have been converted, and the last person the writer spoke to was a converted Unitarian.”
It is now upwards of two months since the good work of the Lord manifested itself in the above-named localities. The interest excited at the first outburst of the movement continues unabated, although the outward manifestations are not now nearly so numerous. The results of the Revival are of a striking and undeniable character. The ordinary Sabbath services are crowded; prayer-meetings are established all the country round; the Sabbath-schools are filled, and there is now no lack of teachers. The trade of the whiskey-seller is in a hopeless condition. Another of the blessed influences of the Revival here is seen in the unity and brotherly love which exist in a neighbourhood, hitherto notorious for its religious sectarianism. You can now see Seceder, Covenanter, Assembly-man, Episcopalian, and Methodist, seated side by side, listening to the story of the Cross, where formerly they would have hardly looked one another in the face.
From ‘The Revival Newspaper,’ Volume i, p74, Oct 1st, 1859.