it is sometimes
dashed out, as by a bucket of cold water thrown on by inconsistent or
quarrelsome church members. It was to Christians that St. Paul sent the
message, "Quench not the Spirit."

In 1858 there began a marvelous work of grace, which extended not only
throughout the churches in New York, but throughout the whole country.
The flame was kindled at the beginning of the year in a noon-day prayer
meeting, instituted by that single-eyed servant of Christ, Jeremiah C.
Lamphier, who had once been a singer in the choir of my church. The
flame thus kindled in that meeting soon extended to my church in Market
Street, and presently spread over the whole city. The special feature of
the revival of 1858 was the noon-day prayer meeting. It was my privilege
to conduct the first noon meeting in Burton's old theatre in Chambers
Street, and in a few days after, a similar one in the Collegiate Church
in Ninth Street, and also the first prayer meeting in a warehouse at the
lower end of Broadway. It is not too much to say that often there were
not less than 8,000 to 10,000 of God's people, who came together at the
noon-tide hour with the spirit of supplication and prayer. The flame,
having spread over the city, then leaped to Philadelphia, and Jayne's
Hall, on Chestnut Street, was thronged by an immense number of people,
led by George H. Stuart. And so it went on from town to town, and from
city to city, over the length and breadth of our land. The revival
crossed the ocean and extended to Ireland. On a visit to Belfast I saw
handbills on the streets calling the people to noon-day gatherings.

I began my ministry in Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn,
as its first pastor, in April, 1860. From the start I struck for souls;
and when our new edifice was dedicated we were under a refreshing shower
of the Divine Spirit. Six years after my installation as pastor, God
blessed us with an extraordinary downpour. The first drops were followed
by an abundance of rain. That revival began where revivals often
begin,--in the prayer meeting. It was on the evening of the 8th of
January, the first evening of the "week of prayer," which is generally
observed over the land. The meeting was held under the direction of our
Young People's Association,--that same body of young Christian workers
which gave the Rev Francis E. Clark both the inspiration and practical
hints for the formation of his first society of Christian Endeavor. What
a