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"Sunday, May 20, being with Mr. B--ll, at Everton, I was much fatigued, and did not preach; but Mr. B. did, and I observed several fainting and crying out, while he was speaking; afterwards at church, I heard many cry out, especially children, whose agonies were amazing; one of the eldest, a girl of ten or twelve years old, was full in my view, in violent contortions of body, and weeping aloud, I think incessantly, during the whole service; and several much younger children were in Mr. B--ll's view, agonizing as they did. The church was equally crowded in the afternoon, the windows being filled within and without, and even the outside of the pulpit to the very top , so that Mr. B. seemed almost stifled with their breath; yet feeble and sickly as he is, he was continually strengthened, and his voice for the most part, distinguishable, in the midst of all the outcries. When the power of religion began to be spoken of, the presence of God really filled the place; and while poor sinners felt the sentence of death in their souls, what sounds of distress did I hear? The greatest number of them who cried or fell, were men; but some women, and several children, felt the power of the same Almighty Spirit, and seemed just sinking into hell.

"This occasioned a mixture of various sounds; some shrieking, some roaring aloud. The most general, was a loud breathing, like that of a people half strangled, and gasping for life, and indeed almost all the cries were like those of human creatures, dying in bitter anguish. Great numbers wept without any noise, others fell down as dead; some sinking in silence, some with extreme noise and violent agitation.

"I stood on the pew-seat, as did a young man in the opposite pew, an able-bodied, fresh, healthy countryman; but in a moment, while he seemed to think of nothing less, down he dropped with a violence inconceivable. The adjoining pews seemed to shake with his fall; I heard afterwards, the stamping of his feet, ready to break the boards, as he lay in strong convulsions, at the bottom of the pew. Among several that were struck down in the next pew, was a girl, who was as violently seized as he. When he fell, Mr. B--ll and I felt our souls thrilled with a momentary dread; as when one man is killed with a cannon-ball, another after feels the wind of it. Among the children who felt the arrows of the Almighty, I saw a sturdy boy, about eight years old, who roared above his fellows, and seemed in his agony to struggle with the strength of a grown man. His face was red as scarlet, and almost all on whom God laid his hand, turned either very red, or almost black. When I returned, after a little walk, to Mr. Berridge's house, I found it full of people. He was fatigued, but said he would, nevertheless, give them a word of exhortation.

"I staid in the next room, and saw the girl whom I had observed peculiarly distressed in the church, lying on the floor as one dead, but without any ghastliness in her face. In a few minutes, we were informed of a woman filled with peace and joy, who was crying out just before. Immediately after, a stranger, well dressed, who stood facing me, fell backward to the wall, then forward on his knees, wringing his hands, and raving like a bull. His face at first turned quite red, then almost black. He rose, and ran against the wall, till Mr. Keeling and another held him. He screamed out, 'O what shall I do, what shall I do? O for one drop of the blood of Christ!' As he spoke, God set his soul at liberty, he knew his sins were blotted out; and the rapture he was in, seemed too great for human nature to bear.

"On another occasion he writes thus: While he was preaching, fifteen or sixteen persons felt the arrows of the Lord, and dropped down. A few of these cried out with the utmost violence, and little intercession, for some hours; while the rest made no great noise, but continued struggling, as in the pangs of death. I observed, besides these, one little girl deeply convulsed, and a boy, nine or ten years old; both of these, and several others, when carried into the parsonage-house, either lay as dead, or struggling with all their might; but in a short time, their cries increased beyond measure, so that the loudest singing could scarcely be heard. Some at last called on me to pray, which I did; and, for a time, all were calm; but the storm soon began again. Mr. Hicks then prayed, and afterwards Mr. B--ll; but, still though some received consolation, others remained in deep sorrow of heart."

But lest you should suppose such scenes are confined to the ignorant and uncultivated among us, I will trouble you with a few words extracted from a letter of the President of Amherst College, of a recent date.

"God has poured out his Spirit a second time on Amherst College; for several weeks there was a manifest increase of concern for those who were ready to perish, till there came to be mighty wrestlings with the angel of the covenant, such as I believe always prevail. The noise and shaking among the dry bones, was sudden, and the work rapid in its progress. The word of God was quick and powerful! In many cases, conviction of sins were extremely pungent. In some they may be said to have been overwhelming; but in most instances they were short. When the student became convinced that the wrath of God was abiding on him, he shut himself up with his bible, and his stricken heart, under the full persuasion, that the crisis of his eternal destiny had come."