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In reference to these new candidates for honor as great harvesters in the field of souls, one of whom is a personal friend, we find the ample materials scattered in books and periodicals, and gather them into such form as will best meet the wants of our readers, being careful to exercise judgment in the selection and grouping, that we may portray truthfully the ways of Providence in their course of education and training for their present mighty success. D wight Lyman Moody was born in Northfield, Massa- chusetts, February 5th, 1837. He received but little education, being naturally averse to study and more fond of woi'k and play. His people were of the Unitarian faith, and a writer tells a story of the boy that shows how natural it is for even a wild, wicked boy to pray when in trouble. He had little faith in prayer. Once when he was creep- ing under a heavy fenoe, it fell down upon him and caught him, so that he could not get away. He struggled till he was quite exhausted, and then began to cry for help ; but he was far from any house, and no one heard him. At last he got safely out ; and this was the account he gave of his escape : "■ I tried and tried, and I couldn't lift them awful heavy rails ; then I hollered for help, but nobody came ; and then I began to think I should have to die away up there on the mountain all alone. But I happened to think that, maybe, God would help me, and so I asked him. And after that I could lift the rails, just as easy ! " He also gives us an incident of the early home which Dwight often uses with powerful effect. Being himself a man of the strongest domestic attachments, he appeals to HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 19 i hich iU a Is to these tenderer elements of our nature with rarq and tremen- dous skill and power. One of the elder sons, with a boyish ambition to make his fortune in the great world, suddenly disappeared. For years no tidings of the lost boy reached the widowed mother. It seemed sometimes as if her heart would break for him. " Oh 1 if I could only know he was dead, it would be better than this ! Maybe he is sick and in want ! — maybe he has fallen in with wicked men, who will make him like themselves ! " They would all sit in a semi-circle about the fire of a stormy winter's night, and listen to stories of their dead father : what he did, what he said, how he looked, how he was kind to a friend and lost a great deal of money by him, and BO their little home was mortgaged, and they were poor. But if by chance any one spoke the name of the absent brother, a great silence fell upon them ; the tears would come into the eyes of the mother, and then they would steal away to bed, whispering their " good-nights," and walking softly as they went ; for that name was like a sword-thrust to the mother's heart. Then they would lie awake listening to the roar of the wind among the mountains, thinking maybe Jie was out in the cold somewhere ; or, worse than that, perhaps he had gone to sea, and while they were snug in bed, was keeping watch on a wave-beaten deck, or climbling a reeling mast in just such darkness and storm. Now and then, between the gusts, a sound would be heard like the wail of the summer wind when it used to make harp-strings of the leaves and branches of the great maple trees in the yard : low and gentle now, and again rising into louder and stronger tones. Then they held their breath and listened. Mother was sitting up to pray lor her lost boy. -4i 20 MOODY AND SAN KEY. ill !N§xt morning perhaps she would send them down to the post-office in the village, a mile and a half away, to ask for a letter — a letter from /a*w, though the mother never said so. But no letter ever came. Long years after, when the widow was growing old, and her soft dark hair was turning white, one summer afternoon a tall, swarthy man, with heavy black beard, was seen coming in at the gate. He came up under the porch, and, the door being open, he stopped and looked in, with an eager anxious face, as if he were afraid he might not find the one he was seeking, though he had stopped at the church-yard on his way through the village, to see whether there were two graves instead of one, where his father had been laid so many years ago. Surely his mother was not dead, but was she still at the old home ? The widow came to the door to bid the stranger in. The eyes that had watched so long for his coming did not know him now. He was only a boy when he ran away ; years of hardship and exposure to sun and storm had made him strange ^en to his mother. " Will you come in 1 " said she, in her courteous and kindly way. But the stranger did not move or speak. He stood there humbly and penitently, in the presence of her whose love he had slighted, and whose heart he had broken ; and, as a sense of his ingratitude began to overwhelm him, the big tears began to find their way over his weather-beaten face. By those tears the mother recognized her son. He had come at last ! There was so much of the old home in him that he could not always stay away. But he would not cross its threshold till he had confessed his sin against it, and heard from the same lips which had prayed for him so often and so long, the sweet assurance that he was forgiven. HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 21 " No ! no ! " said he ; "I cannot come in till my mother forgives me." Weeping upon his neck, forgetting all the sorrow he had caused her in the joy of seeing him once more, she forgave him because he asked it, and because she loved him. " And that is just the way," says Moody, — who some- times tells the story to his great congregations, — " that is jusst the way God forgives all the prodigal sons who come back to Him. Do you think mother kept her long-lost boy out there in the porch till he had gone through with a string of apologies, and done a list of penances, and said ever-so- many prayers 1 Not at all ! She took him to her heart at once. She made liim come right in. She forgave him all, and rejoiced over his coming more than over all the other children. He had been lost, and now he was found ! " D wight also felt an irrepressible anxiety to strike out for himself, and he accordingly went to Boston with his mother's blessing on his head, and commenced his city life as a clerk. He was drawn to Dr. Kirk's church, and with Edward Kimball's Bible class. Hero he made considerable sport by his desire for knowledge, and his abrupt ways. He once asked his teacher, who was descanting on the great Jewish Lawgiver, if that Moses wasn't a pretty smart sort of a mati. He was led to Christ by the instrumentality of these influeiioes, but through lack of instruction was not permitted to join the church till a year and a half had passed, or he was able to give an intelligent account of himself as a believer. Nothing daunted, he kept straight on ; but at last, feeling his own deficiencies among a people composed so largely of the educated, and being kindly advised by his pastor that he had not bettor attempt to speak in the meet- ings, he became discouraged and left the East, and gravitated to the metropolis of the* West, and began work in a shoe- mmBsmm 22 MOODY AND SAN KEY. IB ! ! I' store in Chicago, September, 1856. Says one of his bio- graphers : ''On Sunday he sought out a Mission Sunday School, and offered his services as a teacher. He was informed that the school had a full supply of teachers, but if he would gather a class, he might occupy a seat in the school-room. The next Sabbath he appeared with eighteen boys and a place was assigned him for his n6w and rough recruits. This was the beginning of his mission to ' the masses.' On that day he unfolded his theory of how * to reach the masses * — * Go for them.' " Soon after, he commenced the * North Market Hall Mission School.* The old market-hall was used on Saturday nights for dancing; and after the motley crowd had dis- persed, Mr. Moody and his associates spent the late hours of Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning in removing the sawdust and filth, cleansing the floor, and put- ting the room in order for their Christian work. The repe- tition of this kind of labour week after week was obviously not very agreeable ; but it was cheerfully rendered by a young man who lived for one object — the salvation of souls. In this hall the school was held for six years, and increased to over one thousand members. Many were brought to Jesus ; and the work was carried forward amidst marked encourage- ments and discouragements. " Finding it extremely difficult to hold prayer-meetings or Sabbath-evening services in this hall, Mr. Moody rented a saloon that would accommodate about two hundred persons. He boarded up the side windows, and furnished it with un- painted pine-board seats. It was a dismal, unventilated place, and during service it was necessary to have policemen to guard the door and building. Here he collected the poor and the vicious ; and sought, by melting appeals and fervent MISTORV or THEIR £ARLY Lll^E. 23 prayers, to lead hardened sinners to abandon their evil courses and accept the offers of salvation." Says another : " The man who may be called, par excel- lence, the Lightning Christian of the Lightning City is Mr. Moody, the President of the Young Men's Christian Ac^ocia- tion, and a man whose name is a household word in connec- tion with missionary work. I went to one of his mission schools, and have rarely beheld such a scene of high-pressure evangelization. It made me think irresistibly of those breath- ing steamboats on the Mississippi, that must either go fast or burst. Mr. Moody himself moved energetically about the school most of the time, seeing that everybody was at work, throwing in a word where he thought it necessary, and in- spiring every one with his own enthusiasm. " As soon as the classes had been going on for a specific number of minutes, he mounted a platform, rang a bell, and addressed the children. He is a keen, dark-eyed man, with a somewhat shrill voice, but with thorough earnestness of man- ner and delivery. His remarks were few, but pointed and full of interrogation, keeping the children on their mettle. It is one of his first principles, never, in any of the religious exercises, to allow the interest or attention of the audience to flag for an instant. At a great religious convention held at Chicago to which five hundred delegates came from all parts of the United States, he got a resolution passed that no one should be allowed more than three minutes for his speech. The result was that an immense number got an opportunity for speaking, and an admirable check was put on the Ameri- can tendency to copious, flowery oratory. Every man had to dash in niedias res, at once, say what he had to say without loss of words, and leave out all minor points to get time for the points of most importance. One or two of Moody's remarks were, ' Services are not made interesting enough, ao 24 MOODY AND SANKEY. as to get unconverted people to come. They are not expected to come, and people would be mortified if they did come. Don't get into a rut. I abominate ruts. There are few things that I dread more.' " Though earnest in his piety, and full of religious con- Tersation, Moody has no patience with mere cant, and wants everybody to prove his sincerity by his acts. At a meeting in behalf of a struggling charity, a wealthy layman, loud in his religious professions, offered up a prayer that the Lord would move the hearts of the people to contribute the sura required. Mr. Moody rose, and said that all the charity wanted was only two thousand dollars, and that he considered it absurd for a man with half a million to get up and ask the Lord to do anything in the matter, when he could himself, with a mere stroke of his pen, do all that was needed, and ten times more, and never feel the difference. " The first thing Mr. Moody does with those whom he succeeds in bringing under Christian influence is, to turn them to account in pushing on the good work. He considers no place too bad, no class too hardened, to be despaired of. He sometimes takes a choir of young people, well trained in singin^c, to the low drinking saloons, to help him in wooing the drunkards and gamblers away to the meetings. On one such occasion, which was described to me, he entered one of these dens with his choir, and said, ' Would you like to have a song, gentlemen 1* No objection was offered, and the chil- dren sung a patriotic song in fine style, eliciting great ap- plause. Mr. Moody then had a hymn sung by them, and meanwhile went round giving tracts to those present. "W hen the hymn was over he said, * We shall now have a word of prayer.* ' No, no,' cried several in alarm, * no prayer here.' * Oh yes, we'll have a few words of prayer. Quiet for a i^inute, gentlemen,' he said, and proceeded to offer up a few HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 25 earnest petitions. Some of the men were touched ; and when he invited them to go with him to his meeting and hear more ahout salvation, half of them rose and went. It is believed that if Pandemonium were accessible, Mr. Moody would have a mission started there within a week." Mr. Reynolds of Pooria said recently, as if in illustration of this last remark : ' "The first meeting I ever su^v him at was in a little old shanty that had been abandoned by a saloon-keeper. Mr. Moody had got the place to hold the meeting in at night. I went there a little late ; and the first thing I saw was a man standing up, with a few tallow candles around him, holding a negro boy, and trying to read to him the story of the Prodi- gal Son ; and a great many of the words he could not make out, and had to skip. I thought, if the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for his honour and glory, it will astonish me. After that meeting was over Mr. Moody said to me, * Reynolds, I have got only one talent : I have no education, but I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to do something for Him ; and I want you to pray for me.* I have never ceased from that day to this, morning and night, to pray for that devoted Christian soldier. I have watched him since then, have had counsel with him, and know him thoroughly ; and, for consistent walk and conversation, I have never met a man to equal him. It astounds me when I look back and see what Mr. Moody was thirteen years ago, and then what he is under God today — shaking Scotland to its very centre, and reaching now over to Ireland. "The last time I heard from him, his injunction was, ' Pra> for mu every day ; pray now that God will keep me humble'" " I shall always remember Mr. Moody," says one ; " for he was the means of leading me to Christ. I was in a i: I' I 26 MOODV AKD SaNReV. railway train one day, when a stout, cheery-looking stranger came in and sat down in a seat beside me. We were passing through a beautiful country, to which he called my attention, saying,— " * Did you ever think what a good Heavenly Father we have, to give us such a pleasant world to live in ? ' ^' I made some indifferent answer ; ugon which he earnestly inquired, — " * Are you a Christian 1 ' " I answered, ' No.' " * Then ' said he, ' you ought to be one at once. I am to get off at the next station, but if you will kneel down, right here, I will pray to the Lord to make you a Christian.' " Scarcely knowing what I did, I knelt down beside him there, in the car filled with passengers, and he prayed for me with all his heart. Just then the train drew up at the station, and he had only time to get off before it started again. " Sudden] -"^ coming to myself out of what seemed more like a dream than a reality, I rushed out on the car platform, and shouted after him, * Tell me who you are 1 ' " He replied, * My name is Moody.* " I never could shake off the conviction which then took hold upon me, until the strange man was answered, and I had become a Christian man." Thus he wrought with men wherever he could find open ears to hear the message of salvation, whether in the saloon, the railway car, the mission building or the sanctuary. His soul being intent on saving men, he knew that by joining others in his Christian enterprises he would thus vastly multiply his usefulness. . He accordingly made himself a recruiting agent for his school, and brought the neglected multitudes of the North side into classes taught by such helpers as he could yoke up with himself. The population HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 27 of his district was largely made up of Gennans and other foreigners, who are accustomed to a Sabhath not of the Puritanic but rather the Satanic sort. Sunday is the day devoted by many to concerts, balls, and pleasure generally. Mr. Moody saw that to succeed in sach a population, a school must be exceedingly lively and attractive, and as he observed that the Germans made constant use of music in their meetings, he was led to consider whether music might not be employed somewhat promin^ently in the service of Christ. Not being himself a singer, he got a friend who could sing to help him, and for the first few evenings the time was spent between singing hymns and telling stories to the children, so as to awaken their interest and induce them to return. A hold having in this way been established, the school was divided into classes and conducted more in the usual way. This school became the basis of wider operations. After a time a lively interest in divine things began to appear among the children. This led to the holding of meetings every night, and to the offering of prayers and delivery of addresses suitable to the circumstances of the children. These meetings began to be attended also by the parents, some of whom shared the blessing. It may be stated here that some of those young persons who were converted at this time, remain to the present day the most valuable and active coadjutors in the work with which Mr. Moody is associated in Chicago. In most cases neither the children nor their parents had hitherto been connected with any Christian church. Mr. Moody began to find himself constrained to supply them with spiritual food. At first he encouraged them to connect themselves with other congregations. But it was found that in these they were next to lost or swallowed up ; they felt 28 MOODY AND SAN KEY. themselves strangers, sometimes unwelcome strangers, while they lost all the benefit of neighborhood, mutual interest, and combination in the worship of God. Gradually, there- fore, Mr. Moody felt shut up to taking charge of them, and supplying them with Christian instruction. Both school and church continued to increase, the school amounting to about a thousand, and suitable buildings were erected through the liberality of friends. Mr. Moody had by this time given up business, so that he might be free to give his whole time and attention to the work. As he felt himself called by the Lord to this step, he resolved to decline all salary or allowance from any quarter, and trust for the maintenance solely to what it might be put into the hearts of God's people to contribute. Being quite destitute of private means, this resolution showed that his faith in a divine call to give himself to Christian work was capable of bearing a g^eat strain. At the same time, while adopting this course for himself, he has never pressed it upon others, unless they should clearly see it to be their duty. And while believing himself called to a kind of supplementary work in the ministry, he is very far from prescribing the same role to others. On the contrary, he is the stead}' friend of a regular ministry, being fully persuaded that in " ordaining elders in every city," the apostles meant to set up the permanent platform of the Christian Church. Mr. Moody had acquired a position of much influence in the United States in connection with Sunday-schools and mission work when the war broke out between North and South. This led to a new turn being given to his labors. There was a large camp in the neighborhood of Chicago, to which he gave much attention, going there night after night and striving to bring the soldiers under the influence of divine grace. When the Christian Commission was organ- HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 29 gers, while al interest, ally, there- them, and school and g to about hrough the le given up e time and led by the| salary or taintenance i of God's irate means, call to give ng a gi-eat course for nless they B believing rk in the I lie role to f a regular g elders in permanent liluence in hools and I N'orth and lis labors, hicago, to fter night I fluence of vas organ- ized, under the presidency of his friend, George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, Mr. Moody became one of his most energetic coadjutors. He did not go into the army as an agent of the Commission, but he was President of the Executive branch for Chicago, and nine different times he went to one or other of the scenes of warfare, remaining some weeks and working with all his might. These services with the army were of hd little use, not only in producing direct fruit, but also in developing that prompt and urgent method of dealing with men, that strenuous endeavor to get them to accept imme- diate salvation, which is still so conspicuous a feature of his mode of address. With wounded men hovering between life and death, or with men on march, resting for an evening in some place which they were to leave to-morrow, it was plainly, 80 far at least as he was concerned, the alternative of " now or never ; " and as he could not allow himself nor allow them to be satisfied with the " never," he bent his whole energies to the " now." In all this work Mr. Moody bore an important and honor- able part. His frequent excursions to battle-fields and camps made him, more than any other man, the medium of commu- nication between the work in the army and the work at home. He was on the field after the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Shiloh, and Murfreesboro', with the army at Cleve- land and Chattanooga, and was one of the first to enter Richmond, where he ministered alike to friend and foe. The war being ended, Mr. Moody had more time to develop his work in Chicago. To set others to work in the vineyard had long been one of his chief aims, and by means of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, in which he took a great interest, he was highly successful. Mr. Moody strove to inspire the Chicago Association with his own spirit, and to send them to work in 30 MOODY AND SANKEY. # the vineyard. The hall of the Association became one of the stated scenes of his own labors. The Association was very unfortunate in the matter of fires — its first building having been burnt down in 1867, and its second in the great fire of Chicago in 1871. According to Mr. Da^ Macrae, " the lightning city " showed such activity ofc movement, that the money for the second building wi^ all subscribed before the fire had completed the destruction of the first. This, we believe, is somewhat hyperbolical; but in sober truth, the arrangements for the restoration of the building after the first fire were made with wonderful rapidity. The new building contained a hall of enormous size. Mr. Moody was accustomed to preach to his own people in the morning, to superintend a Sunday School of about a thousand in the afternoon, and to preach again in the evening in the hall of the Young Men's Association. In October, 1871, occurred a terrible fire which destroyed a great part of Chicago. Mr. Moody, with his wife and two children, was roused in the middle of the night to find the fierce fire approaching their dwelling, and leaving his house and household gear to their fate (all the property he pos- sessed), had to hurry along to seek shelter in the houses of friends. Mr. Moody's school and church, as well as the buildings of the Young Men's Ch*tian Association, perished likewise in the conflagration. The feelings of himself and his fellow-citizens, on going to see the ruins, can hardly be conceived. But after the first stunning sensation was over, faith and hope revived. In one month after the fire a tempo- rary erection was completed ! No small energy must hare been required to accomplish this, amid the confusion, the bustle, and the infinity of things that had to be attended to. But reared the wooden building was, and it has served the purpose of church and school till a new and substantial building has been erected. HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 3' When things had settled down aftei the Chicago fire, Mr. Mood^Mgpi to think of permanent premises for his school and cmnjill^ A suitable site was secured, and it was resolved to proceec^'ith the erection of a large and commodious buildirg, which, besides accommodation for the schools, will have a hall or church, containing sittings for 2,500. The cost of the whole will be about $100,000. Mr. Moody, by his disinterested labors, has made so many friends all over his country, that the contributions have flowed freely from all parts. Among the most interesting was a colossal sub- scription from 500,000 Sabbath School children, of five cents each, all anxious to ha ' a brick in Mr. Moody's tabernacle. From Pekin he received a contribution of $300 from an unknown friend. A few converted Chinamen collected a few dollars even from their Pagan countrymen. Mr. Moody was now so well known that invitations to hold or address meetings poured in upon him from all parts of the country, and his connection with the Young Men's Christian Association gave him prominence, and won him hosts of influential friends. He saw that he could be more useful in widening his sphere of labor, and this also induced himflD cross the sea, and catch the inspiration from earnest hearts in England, where piety runs deeper than it usually does in our active communities. A large number of his congregation in Chicago were also Britons, and this circum- stance gave him an introduction to the scenes where he has won his splendid triumphs. Twice has Mr. Moody visited England, and become known by his preaching and by organizing a daily prayer- meeting in Loudon. His heart was won by young Harry Morehouse, who gave him many beautiful lessons in preach- ing by his example, and also encouraged him in those Bible readings which have made him a power for good in many 1 32 MOODY AND SANKEY. cities and communities at home and abroad. Morehouse and Valley were chosen friends of the American Evangelist, and they welcomed him to their own»country with hearty enthu- siasm. Mr. Varley relates that : * . " On visiting at a friend's house with Mr. Moody in England some years ago, I said to him, * It remains for the world to see what the Lord can do witli a man wholly consecrated to Christ.' Mr. Moody soon returned to America, but those words clung to him with such power that he was induced to return to England, and commenced that wonder- ful series of labors in Scotland and England in which he is still engaged. Mr. Moody said to me on returning to England, ' Those were the words of the Lord, through your lips, to my soul.' " Mr. Moody also passed through some marvellous religious experiences that roused him to attempt great things for God, so that when asked why he was going to England a third time, he answered, " to win ten thousand souls for Christ." He had no means to go with, but having felt called of God to enter upon his tour, he prepared for it as if the money was already in hand. And up to the very eve of his departure he knew not where the money was coming from to pay his passage. Then a gentlemen came to him, and said he thought he might need funds after he got to England, and placed in his hands live hundred dollars. Mr. Moody's financial condition after the Great Fire was well shov/n by an incident that occurred the following Sunday night. He had been invited by Dr. Goodspeed, the pastor of the Second Baptist church, to preach for him. This invitation was convoyed to him by his brother-in-law, W. H. Holden, Esq., Superintendent of the S. S. of the Second church, and accepted. After sermon, the pastor offered him ten dollars with the remark, " this ia all I have," " Then," I have the preac remarked half a doz from the there exa thorough by the ii been won devotion Manual o clad in tl fame as a over men saints ha\ What a man of and blunt is sharp, thiug lik( downright if he belit He gets w effort, y with then home witl into the h and of wli large nuui light on clench th( tion to al MISTORV of tHEIR EARLY LiFE. "Then," said Mr. M., " I won't take but half of it, though I have not one cent." An immense congregation greeted the preacher, and Dr. Kobert Patterson, who was present, remarked that there was more Gospel in that sermon than in half a dozen ordinary ones. His Bible, which he had snatched from the flames, he left on the desk, and the pastor finding it there examined it with care, and observed with wonder how thoroughly and faithfully it had been studied, as was shown by the ink marks it bore on almost every page. He had been wont to rise before day, and give himself with absolute devotion to the prayerful, conscientious study of that Divine Manual of instruction for the preacher's work. Going forth clad in the panoply of God, he has filled the world with his fame as a herald of Christ, who has honored him with power over men for salvation such as f»?w of the world's heroes and saints have ever had. What are the elements of Mr. Moody's power ? He is not a man of much education or culture ; his manner is abrupt and blunt ; his speech bristles with Americanisms ; his voice is sharp, rapid, and coUoqu'al ; and he never attempts any- thing like finished or elaborite composition. But ho is in downright earnest;. He believes what he says ; he says it as if he believed it, and he expects his audience to believe it. He gets wonm , 'ii^'"-- 34 MOODY AND SANKEY. 14 him to plead very earnestly at the very citadel of the heart. At first his tone may seem to be hard. He will take for his text, "There is no difference," and press the doctrine of universal condemnation as if the worst and the best were precisely alike. Possibly the antagonism of his audience is somewhat roused. But by and by he will take them with him to some affecting death-bed, and his tone will show how profoundly his own heart is stirred by what is happening there. The vein of pathos comes out tenderly and beauti- fully. He seems as if he were lying on the ground pleading in tears with his hearers to come to Christ. But, most important of all, he seems to rely for effect absolutely on Divine power. Of course, every true preacher does, but in very different degrees of conscious trust and expectation. Mr. Moody goes to his meetings, fully expecting the Divine presence, because he has asked it. He speaks with the fear- lessness, the boldness, and the directness of one delivering a message from the King of kings and Lord of lords. And he takes pains to have his own heart in the spirit of the message. He tries to go to his audience loving them, and actively and fervently longing for their salvation. He says that if he does not try to stir up this spirit of love beforehand, he cannot get hold of an audience ; if he does, he never fails. He endea- vors to address them with a soul steeped in the correspond- ing emotion. He seems to try, like Baxter, never to speak of weighty soul concerns without his whole soul being drenched therein. With all this, there is in M .*. Moody a remarkable natural- ness, a want of all approach to affectation or sanctimonious- ness, and even a play of hurc»)ur which spurts out sometimes in his most serious addresses. Doubtless he gets the tone of his system restored by letting out the humor of him after a long day's hard and earnest M'ork. For children he has obviousl pleasant Sunday agoing M are sure ing the f The repi artificial must agr bad in '. aim shou it restore make bin ar yon plishmen Speak us of a pr to Him w believe tl baptism o tion in hi dom looks Amon rebuke w period jus Brother M and roligi( service." look into God." The q ^fr. Mooc gifts. Tl HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. M- obviously a great affection, and they draw to him freely and pleasantly. "We should fancy him a famous man to lead a Sunday School excursion party to the country, and set them agoing with all manner of joyous and laughing games. Wo are sure he himself would be the happiest of the party, enjoy- ing the fun himself as well as pleased at their enjoyment of it. The repression of human nature, or the running of it into artificial moulds, is no part of his policy. We are sure ho must agree with the late Dr. Guthrie, that there is nothing bad in human nature except its corruptions, and that our aim should be not to destroy it or any part of it, but to get it restored, as God at first made it. His instincts of sagacity make him recoil from all one-sidedness, and desire that men vomen, under God's grace, should hide no true accom- ar plishment, and lose no real charm. Speaking of his preparation for ChrLst'a service, one tells us of a prayer-meeting where he and others offered themselves to Him with a new spirit of consecration. " We have reason to believe that at that time Mr. Moody received a fresh and full baptism of the Spirit, and that this was the Divine prepara- tion in his soul for the great work upon which all Christen- dom looks to-day with wonder and with thanksgiving to God. Among Mr. Moody's gifts is the rare one of bearing rebuke with Christian meekness. Some time before the period just referred to, a person met him and said, " I fear, Brother Moody, that you may be losing some of your humility and religious devotion, and with these your power in Christ's service." He replied, in substan-e, " Perhaps I am ; I will look into my heart, and endeavor to humble myself before God." The question is often asked. What are the elements of Mr. Moody's power 1 They are certainly not his natural gifts. They flow directly from Christ. Filled with the ^ r 36 MOODY AND SANKEY. Spirit, he seems to lose sight of everything but the message of his Master to perishing sinners ; and he cannot rest until they are rescued from peril. His Heavenly Father is around him and within him, pressing him every moment to serve him, and to think of nothing else. The love of the Saviour pervades and quickens all his sensibilities, and is the atmos- phere through which he sees his fellow-men. He can say with the Apostle Paul, " 1 live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." f . Dr. Van Doren, of Chicago, says : *' An incident, some twelve years ago, occurred at the city of , where the pastors and friends of a revival sought were assembled. Mr. Moody, as his manner then was, laid the blame of spiritual coldness on the church, and of course the several ministers present felt the strokes. ** One arose and brought down the lash on what he called the Pharisaic display, &c., and repelled the charge. Poor Marsyas did not come out of the hands of Apollo more thoroughly flayed alive than did Brother Moody from the hands of that trenchant speaker. Instead cjf resenting it, he arose, and trembling with emotion, said, * I, from my heart, thank that brother. I deserved it ; ' and then asked that brother who held the rod, ' to pray for him.' " Every heart was melted ; and when that prayer was ended, not one, we believe, in that vast audience but was willing to embrace and welcome Brother Moody from that moment to this. ** Secondly : Our Brother Moody is a man of inextinguish- able zeal. In our city of 400,000 people all the boys of this wicked city know him, and respect him too. A short time since, while distributing tracts, I rebuked some boys kindly for profanity. ' Say, Mister, do you belong to Brother Moody 1 ' At one time, walking in the crowded South "Water street with a friend, he met a knot of worldly acquaintances. Pausin Here if drew tl and w silence. "B a marv clergyn Homer saith tl that wet His pro think t who wa author's "Th faith. at times, "W mon, *Si England chance, previous "Wl Holy Gh pillar di( the terms Befor must giv singer, m HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 37 Pausing a moment — ' Friends, we may never meet again. Here ia an alcove. Let us have a prayer.' Love like that drew them aside, and he led, all standing. Waving his hand, and with an eye hearaing with tears, he passed on in silence. " Broth-^r Moody is a firm believer in God's word. It is a marvel to all our ministers, that while so many educated clergymen in the Evangelical Church treat the Bible as Homer or Plato, he practically writes over every verse, * Thus saith the Lord.' Hence he has avoided all those crotchets that weaken and deform the influence of many good preachers. His profound, adoring love of the Scriptures has led some to think that he reads nothing else. But, like Dr. Johnson, who was said *to take the heart out of a book,' he grasps an author's plan and illustrations with an intuitive glance. " Thirdly : He is a man of prayer. This, I hold, includes faith. We know that Luther spent half the night in prayer, at times. " When President Edwards preached that memorable ser- mon, 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' at Enfield, New England, and a glorious revival began, it was discovered, by chance, that the elders of the church had sjent the ivhole }wevious night in prmjer for a descent of the Holy Ghost. " What is remarkable with Brother Moody is, that the Holy Ghost seems actually to precede him, as the cloudy pillar did Israel ; and when he comes, his announcement of the terms of mercy falls on open ears and hearts." Before wo accompany this beloved brother to England, we must give some account of his famous coadjutor the sweet singer, 11 ^^J ^ 38 MOODY AND SANKEY. Ira D. San key. His father's family was English, and his mother's Scotch- Irish, so that he has good blood in him. He was born in Edinburgh, Pa., in the year 1840. The influences of his home were spiritual, and there was an earnest Scotchman to whose kindly offices he was much indebted. In a speech at a children's meeting, Mr. Sankey says of this good man, Eraser, " The very first recollection I have of anything pertaining to a religious life was in connection with him. I remember he took me by the hand along with his own boys to the S. S., — that old place which I will remember to my dying day. He was a plain man, and I can see him standing up and praying for the children. He had a great warm heart, and the children all loved him. It was years after that when I was converted, but my impressions were received when I was very young, from that man." He was seventeen when he joined the M. E. church, and at twenty he was a S. S. superintendent, and then began to sing, as an attraction to the children, the bright melodies they love. He developed an early taste for the "Word of God, and as a class-leader encouraged his brethren to use Bible language in their remarks. He was a soldier in the war for the Union, and retained his faith and zeal amidst the temptations of army life. He was President of the Y. M. C. A. of his town of Newcastle, and thus came into contact with Mr. Moody, who at first sight fell in love with his style of singing, and felt drawn towards him as a dear brother. He also made over- tures to him to join him in evangelizing labors at Chicago '1 elsewhere. After solemn deliberation, he resolved to >. . .If all worldly business, and devote his life to the service -' ig. ■ He united himself with Mr. Moody and they jt^a : operations, with Chicago as a centre. This was only f. \m ■w Mi K- :^ 1 } 'V '''\ 1 iMi' a shorl Moody calamil while ] that ii labours "I little f the gre little fi for me of our well, hi was gle huts, e\ that sh waiting you to- she saic speak t Christie you rer had th( even mi Lord Ji That t( quarter me to t] might Si beautifu she leai little h^ bedsides HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 39 a short time before the city was burned ; the church of Mr. Moody's gathering was likely to be broken up. But this calamity was averted and Mr. Sankey ministered to the flock, while Mr. M. was absent. He related an incident in Dundee that is illustrative of the blessing God early gave his labours. " I want to speak a word about singing, not only to the little folks, but to grown people. During the winter after the great Chicago fire, vrheu the place was built up with little frame houses for the people to stay in, a mother sent for me one day to come and see her little child, who was one of our Sabbath -School scholars. I remembered her very well, having seen her in the meetings very frequently, and was glad to go. She was lying in one of these poor little huts, everything having been burned in the fire. I ascertained that she was past all hopes of recovery, and that they were waiting for the little one to pass away. ' How is it with you to-day 1 ' I asked. With a beautiful smile on her face, she said, * It is all well with. me to-day. I wish you would speak to my father and mother.' * But,' said I, * are you a Christian?' * Yes.' 'When did you become onel' *Do you remember last Thursday, in the Tabernacle, when we had that little singing-meeting, and you sung * Jesus loves even me ? ' * Yes.' * It was last Thursday I believed on the Lord Jesus, and now I am going to be with him to-day.* That testimony from that little child, in that neglected quarter of Chicago, has done more to stimulate me and bring me to this country, than all that the papers or any persons might say. I remember the joy I had in looking upon that beautiful face. She went up to heaven, and no doubt said she learned upon the earth that Jesus loved her, from that little hymn. If you want to enjoy a blessing, go to the bedsides of these bed-ridden and dyin^ ones, and sing to '. J*.*S \.m «!K« ""v^ : ;i 1 ill w 40 MOODY AND SANKEY. them of Jesus, for they cannot enjoy these meetings as you do. You will g6t a great blessing to your own soul." These testimonies have been frequent since those humble beginnings, and Mr. Sankey has proved himself only less gifted in speech than in song. He was souglit by others as a companion in evangelizing towns, but providentially clung to Mr. Moody and together they set sail for the old world. How admirably he was adapted to meet the tastes of the British, the following testimonies, and a multitude of others may serve to show. " As a vocalist, Mr. Sankey has not many equals. Pos- sessed of a voice of great volume and richness, he expresses with exquisite skill and pathos the Gospel messages, in words very simple, but * replete with love and tenderness,' and always with marked effect upon his audience. It is, however, altogether a mistake to suppose that the blessing which attends Mr. Sankey's efforts is attributable only or chiefly to his fine voice and artistic expression. These, no doubt, are very attractive, and go far to move the affections and gratify a taste for music ; but the secret of Mr. Sankey's power lies, not in his gift of song, but in the spirit of which the song is only the expression. He, too, is a man in earnest, and sings in the full confidence that God is working by him. Like his colleague, he likewise has a message to lost men from God the Father ; and the Spirit of God in him finds a willing and efTective instrument in his gift of song, to proclaim in stirring notes the ' mighty love ' of God in Christ Jesus. * It was a few evenings ago,* said a youth in the Young Men's Meeting in Roby Chapel, * when Mr. Sankey was singing in the Free Trade Hall " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," that I was made to feel my need of a Saviour ; and when he came to these words, " Too late, too late," I said to myself it must not be too late for me, and I took him to my heart there a^d then.' HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 41 * I was in great darkness and trouble for some days,* said a poor woman, rejoicing and yet weeping ; 'and just a little time ago, when Mr. Sankey was sinking these words ' (point- ing to them with her finger), * " And Jesus bids me come," my bonds were broken in a moment, and now I am safe in his arms.' " Who ever heard of a fine voice and sweet music yield- ing such results as these] It is mere scoffing to say t^Jiat Mr. Moody's touching stories and Mr. Sankey's sweet singing are the secret of the power exercised by these men. Tlie work is of God, and they are His instruments, each earnestly using, to the best of his ability, the gift that God has given him, in the full confidence that the blessing will and must follow. " Not a few have been, not unnaturally, offended by the phi-ase, 'Singing the Gospel,' which was at first used in advertisements ; and some have, unfortunately, never taken the trouble to inquire what was meant. But everyone who has heard Mr. Sankey sing is well aware that his hymns are more than the mere accessory to speeches, as they have too often been among us. He has taught by example how great is the power of song when a man with gifts of music loves the truth of which he sings ; and the hymns which we have heard him sing, with his wonderful distinctness of articula- tion, unaffected fueling, and magnificent voice, will linger in our ears and hearts till our dying day. A few weeks have made his favourite hymns as familiar to every rank and to every age as those older hymns which we have known best and longest. Poor sufferers in the wards of the infirmary, lone old men and women in dark rooms of our high houses and back streets, are now cheered in a way no one dreamed of before Mr. Sankey came, by visits from those who do not attempt to preach to them, but only to sing psalms and hymns li'l 42 MOODY Al^D SANKEY. Iv '■:i and spiritual songs. The consoling power of song has been tested and proved at many a sick-bed, and many a death-bed. And that is not all ; for we have been led to see that it is a mistake to confine song to utterances of praise or prayer in Christian meetings. We have learned to value more highly its power in instruction. The use of song for instruction and for the application of the truth is not new. It is as old as David^ as old as Moses, but it has received a new impetus among us ; and we who are called to ' teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,* may well be glad to have been reminded how this may be done." " The admiration of Mr. Sankey's music is enthusiastic. When he siugs a solo a death-like silence reigns, or as the Irish Times describes it, * It seems that he only is present in the vast building.' When he ceases there is a rustling like the leaves of a forest when stirred by the wind. We might apply to him the language of Scripture : * Lo ! thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one who hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.' No one can estimate the service he has rendered to the Church of Christ by the compilation of his book of * Sacred Songs ' and their sweet tunes. They are the delight of all ages. I have heard in Scotland that already they are sung in our most distant colonies. Ere long I believe that they will be sung wherever the English language is spoken ov^r the earth. Nor will they be confined to that language, foi a lady is at present engaged in translating them into German. He was a wise man who said, * Let me make the songs of a country, and I care not who makes its laws.' " Mrs. Barbour says : "Mr. Sankey sings with the convic- tion that souls are receiving Jesus between one note and the next. The stillness is overawing ; some of the lines are more spoken than sung. The hymns are equally used for awaken- •.* HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 43 ing, none more than ' Jesus of Nazareth passetli by.' When you hoar the 'Ninety and Nine' sung, you know of a truth that down in tliis corner, up in that gallery, behind tliat pillar which hides the singer's face from the listener, the hand of Jesus has been finding this and that and yonder lost one, to place them in His fold. A certain class of hearers come to the services solely to hear Mr. Sankey, and the song throws the Lord's net around them. " We asked Mr. Sankey one day what he was to sing. He said, * I'll not know till I hear how Mr. Moody is closing.' Again, we were driving to the Canongate Parish Church one winter night, and Mr. Sankey said to the young minister who had come for him, ' I'm thinking of singing " I am so Glad," to-night.' * Oh ! ' said the young man, ' please Jo rather sing " Jesus of Nazareth." An old man told me today that ho had been awakened by it the last night you were down. He said, " It just went through me like an electric shock." ' " A gentleman in Edinburgh was in distress of soul, and happened to linger in a pew after the noon-meeting. The choir had remained to practice, and begin * Free from the Law, happy Condition,' &c. Quickly the Spirit of God carried that truth home to the awakened conscience, and he was at rest in the finished work of Jesus. ~ - It is interesting to know that there are scarcely two of those hymns which Mr. Sankey sings by the same author. They have been collected during an eight years' experience of the Lord's use of them among believers, inquirers, and the careless. In the singing of them he seems to become uncon- scious of everything but tlie desire that the truth should sink deep into the souls of the listeners, and that the people who sit in darkness should see a great light shining for them from the cross of Him who hung upon the tree. N -1 ij if t Im UlU . Ill ! i |i' ! MOODY AND SANKEY. " In a Highland parish, a young man who had lived far from God, and seemed to his minister inaccessible to the truth, was found one day last summer deeply awakened. When asked to what this was owing, he said it was in conse- quence of hearing his little sister sing, ' When He cometh, when He cometh, To make up his jewels.' " Perhaps not a week has passed during the last year in which we have not had evidence that the Lord had directly used a line of one of these hymns in the salvation of some soul. A young man who had been deeply impressed, and was yet unwilling to stay to the inquirers' meeting, and about to leave a church, was arrested at the door by hearing the choir sing, ' Yet there is Room.' He felt there was room for him, went back to the pew, and after having the truth clearly laid before him, received Christ. " The wave of sacred song has spread over Ireland, and is now sweeping through England. But, indeed, it is not being confined to the United Kingdom alone, for away off on the shores of India, and in many other lands, these sweet songs of a Saviour's love are being sung. Mr. Sankey's collection of sacred songs has been translated into five or six languages, and are winging their way into tens of thousands of hearts and homes, and the blessing of the Lord seems to accompany them wherever sung. • ' We umy forget the singer, But will ne'er forget the song.' " Mrs. Sankey is an earnest Christian woman, and fully sympathizes with her husband in his blessed work. Both are members of the Methodist Church ; while his sweet songs float over and inspire multitudes in all Christian denomi- nations." The Harp of David was the prototype of t|iQ Harmonium of Sankey. ^ "*1^ "iXs =*' 1^ S^HHniVw ^'i rrsv-f^ yCP Hl't.v' l^ i^ M: «"•'., 3?^* aB| 1' !fl ''W, MOODY AND SANKEY IN (iREAT BRITAIN. CHAPTER II. BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 'N the spring of 1873, Messrs. Moody and Sankey left Chicago for England. They had been invited by three gentlemen to hold meetings in that country. No one else had joined in the invitation, and no one else was interested in their visit. They had no appointments. No ari-angeraents were made for them. No compensation was promised. No one knew of their intention to come. They were persuaded that God sent them, and therefore tliey went. Mr. Moody carried his Bible^ Mr. Sankey his organ and singing book. In June they landed in Liverpool, sought a place to preach and sing the Gospel, and held a few services. No attention was attracted and nothing accomplished, and after a few days they proceeded toward York to find the friends who liad invited them over. Two of the men were dead. But with a confidence that resembled audacity, they found a place to preach and went to work. One preached the Gospel ; the other sang it. They hold their meetings, conversed with I 46 Moody and sankev in great Britain. sinners, prayed to God ; and men and women began to ask what they must do to bo saved. They laboured in York a month, and it is believed that two hundred persons were converted to Christ. On Sunday, July 27th, they went to Sunderland, a con- siderable town near York, on the invitation of a Baptist minister, Rev. Arthur Rees. The other ministers generally hesitated, or opposed the work. " We can never go on in this way " was Moody's characteristic remark ; " it is easier fighting the devil than fighting the ministers." At length a delegation of young men from the Y. M. C. A. of Sunderland, waited upon the evangelists at their lodgings, and one of them tells the story of their reception in the following fashion : " They had already been a week in Sunderland ; but, as yet, I had not seen either of them. Ah ! thought I, what a lift heavenward shall I get from these holy men ! We were shown into a back parlour by the servant, and very soon the two evangelists sauntered in in a style neither ecclesiastical nor dignified. Turning to me, Mr. Moody asked, in true Yankee fashion, What was our business with him 1 He did not show us a seat ; he did not offer us his hand : alto- gether an auctioneer-like reception. / « t ^Q represent the Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. Moody, and have come to ask if you will give us an address in Victoria Hall, on Sunday afternoon.' " ' Preach for you ? Oh yes ! I'll preach for you,' re- plied Mr. Moody. " * We don't want you to preach for us ; we want you to preach for Christ.' " ' Oh yes — yes ! All right ! I'll preach for you.' " ' Our committee,* continued I, * hope you will not mis- understand the reason of their not joining you earlier in your work. It is not for want of syiupathy j but because you came to with ^ grounds enough *'A with B significa And wh is souls "Ali of souls panion, i "'Tl "Ho^ out of sij me, and 1 the platfc "Tha eye blaze( looking f( memory y dead and "On rooms of 1 meeting prophesyi; Moody hi manner of him my h to the mo innocent ' BECIINNINGS ARROAt). 47 came to us in a sectarian connection, and have allied yourself with Mr. Eoes ; and if we were to join you on sectarian grounds, we should injure our institution, which has enemies enough already.* *' After explaining his position, and that his connection with Brother Rees and his congregation had no sectarian significance, he said, — " * I go where I can do most good : that is what I am after.' And when we left, he followed us out to the gate, saying, * It is souls I want : it is souls I want.' ** Alas ! I had mistaken the man ; and whether he spoke of souls or anything else, it is all the same to me now. " * Well, Frank, what did you think of it V asked my com- panion, as we walked off from this strange interview. " ' Think ! It is money : that is what it is, .Tames.' " However, I went to the meeting, being careful to keep out of sight ; but when Sankey began singing, I felt it draw me, and very little more of it would have pulled me on to the platform. "That was not a good afternoon for Mr. Moody. His eye blazed with mournful earnestness, as it ranged that crowd, looking for anxious faces ; and its strange light lives in my memory yet, while all my prejudices and misconceptions are dead and rotten. " On the following Sunday night, when I got to the rooms of the Young ISIen's Christian Association, I found the meeting on fire. The young men were speaking with tongues, prophesying. What on earth did it all mean 1 Only that Moody had been addressing them that afternoon. * What manner of man is this V thought I j but still [ did not give him my hand. . . . Many of the clergy were so opposed to the movement that they turned their backs upon our poor innocent Voung Men's Christian Association, for the part we I \ tS .i'^ftJ 4^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. took in the work ; but afterward when the floodgates of Divine grace were opened, Sunderland was taken by storm. "I cannot describe Moody's great meeting ; I can only say that the people of Sunderland warmly supported the movement, in spite of their spiritual advisers ; that there was a tremendous work of grace, when measured by its im- mediate effects, but far greater in its consequences, after the evangelists were away. All honor to these two brother- soldiers of the cross, who, like Jonathan and his armor- bearer, stormed this fortress of British unbelief alone !" ' The second Sunday evening, three thousand people crowded Victoria Hall, and after the sermon, many followed them to a neighboring church, for an inquiry meeting. Among the inquirers, a young man came up the aisle, and threw his arms about his father's neck and kissed him, asking his forgiveness with many tears j then kissing his mother and asking her forgiveness, afterward tenderly embracing and kissing his younger brother. The little lire kindled in York flamed so high in Sunder, land, that Newcastle on the Tyne saw it. The ministers came over, and their hearts were warmed. The evangelists were invited to go back with them, and went. Their fame had preceded them, and ministers and people were ready to welcome them. The meetings were so multiplied that as many as thirty-four were held in a single week. They continued through two months, the attendance and interest increasing to the close. Crowds came from all the surround- ing towns, caught the fire, and kindled it through all the neighboring counties. . ' .\.f ■ • Mr. Moody said : " We have not done much in York and Sunderland, because the ministers opposed us ; but we are going to stay ln.*aR 'iftrrying on a noble work for Jesus, was opened each night, and hundreds attended there to hear the preaching of the word ; and many were born again by the regenerating power of the Spirit of God. In connection with these services, Mr. Moody, with that indefatigable zeal and fervor which so eminently characterize him, announced that he intended to have an * all-day ' meet- ing on Wednesday, September 10th, and earnestly invited all who could possibly come to attend. An all-day meeting was something so novel in the history of religious people in Newcastle, that much wonder was excited as to what would be the result of so bold an undertaking. Many anticipated a failure, others thought that it might be a success ; but those who felt the reviving power of God'n love, and had made this meeting a matter of earnest prayer, knew that it would not, could not fail. According to their faith it was done unto them. Wednesday morning broke clear and beautiful. It was a day when uU nature seemed to be rejoicing in the glad sunshine of the great Father's bcuoticencc. BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 51 At ton o'clock, the hour for the service to begin, the wide area of Rye-hill Chapel was about ha)f filled, and the people coming in quickly. By eleven o'clock the friends from Sunderland, Shields, Jarrow, and neighboring towns, had come in by train, and. had occupied nearly the whole of the area. At twelve o'clock the message came, " Ifo more room in the area ; we must throw the galleries open." By two o'clock the galleries were well filled, and before the closing hour came round the spacious and beautiful chapel was filled with those who had left business, home cares and work, pleasure and idleness, to come and worship God and hear his word. Never was the faith of God's people more abunffantly satisfied. They asked and it was given, they sought and found, they knocked and the door was opened unto them. According to the programme which Mr. Moody had «lis- tributed largely over the town, the first hour of the services was to be devoted entirely to prayer and Bible reading. After the singing of that beautiful hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer," Mr. Moody led the devotions of God's people at the throne of grace, and then read and commented on Nehe- miah viii., 1-12, where it is stated that "all the people gathered themselves together as one man . . . and they PI)ake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel." Mr. Moody clearly brought out the appropriateness of this Scripture to the services of that day, and concluded by unfolding and pressing honie to the hearts of the people the joyous truth contained in the tenth verso, where Ezra said to the people, "Go your way, eat the fat, and driidi the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our Lord : neither be ye sorry ; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Mr. Iloyle, Mr. Swinburne, and ' overal of the brethren i, , }, in li i i ifr, 11,1 52 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. spoke from the Word of God on the s'.ibject of Christian joy, and the hour of prayer and Biljle-rsading was gone before we had well begun to open the Scriptures. This hour was felt to be exceedingly precious, and was received by all as an earnest of what was to come. ^ The second hour was devoted to the promises, Mr. Moody being the leader. He said he wished the friends that day to try to see how rich they were. He thought that very few of us had ever fully considered how much our loving Father really had promised to us. These promises, like precious gems, were to be found in every book of the Bible, and that day we might get into the company of all God's great men who had passed away, and hear what things they had to tell us about our Father's love. We could summon the patriarchs — the prophets — the kings ; we could listen to the historians — the biographers — the poets of the Bible ; and they would all give to us some of the precious promises spoken by God, through their lives to- the ears of the whole world. The meeting was to be quite open and free ; not for speeches about ])romises, but for the reading forth of these good words of God to our souls. The audience at once seemed to catch up the spirit and intention of these words, and from every part of the chapel — from young and'old, from male and female — came passage after passage of the Holy Word, declarative of what in the boundless fulness of His love the Father has promised to all. ' ' The interest of the meeting had been steadily rising, as one Scripture topic after another had been most delightfully unfolded, when the last hour was reached, and appropriately given to the subject of Heaven. The address was given by Mr. Moody. Having selectetl numerous passages of Scripture to prove his points, Mr, Moody asked some of the brethren present to read them out BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 53 as he called for them. This was a delightful picture — a crowded chi^pel, hundreds of open Bihles ready to be maiked when the passage should be announced, and the subject uppermost in each mind heaven. The first thought which the speaker called attention to was the locality of heaven. He said that his -mind had once been much distressed by an infidel asking him " why he always looked upv)ard when he was addressing God ? God was everywhere, and His home was just as likely to be below as above." This set Mr. Moody back to his Bible to see what it had to say about the matter. He was soon quite satisfied that God's home was above. The Word said that God, when communing with Abraham, came down to see whether the people living in the cities of the plain had done altogether according to the cry that had come to him ; the angels asked the disciples on the morning of the ascension why they stood gazing up into Heaven ; the sime Jesus that had been taken vp) from them into Heaven would come again in like manner. These and similar passages were sufficient proof to his mind that the home of God was above, and that we obeyed a divine instinct when we " lifted up " our hearts to Him there. The locality having been spoken of, the next thought was the company gathered together there. Whom have we there that heaven should be so dear to us 1 (1) The Father is there. Hevven is the home, the dwell- ing-place of God. No home is complete without the father ; and no family is complete unless they can inchule the father among them. Our Father is in heaven. How delightful the thought of one day being with Him amidst all the joy and splendor of home ! Then (2) Jesna is there. He about whom we have read, whose Spirit has created us anew in Him, whose blood bought us. and whose love saved us ; Jesus is there; and we look to our home in heaven with 54 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. fiii 1'!.' : ,1 : I i ' i longing eyes, because there, if not before, we shall see Hhn who is crowned with glory and honor. Then (3) the angels are there. The pure and spotless creations of God, who have known nothing of sin and sorrow and travail, who have ever lived their life of bright intelligence and holy service in the sunshine of God's presence. These are there, and we shall meet them, and tell them of something they have never felt — the compassion and love of Jesus for sinful men. Then (4) there will be the saints, the spirits of just men made per- fect. All the old heroes of God, the warriors and the kings, the prophets and the poets, the apostles and the early martyrs, all will be there, and we shall be able to hold sweet com- munion with them all ; and our own loved ones, the father and mother, sisters and brothers, the babes, and the young and old, they will be among this shining band, who swell the ranks of the redeemed before the throne of God. what a company is there ! Father, Jesus, angels, saints — all who have fallen asleep in Jesus — all there ! Waiting for us to come. Another point to which Mr. Moody called attention was that it is our treasure-house. The only things we have or can have, as saints, will be found there. All else must be left. Death strips of everything but heavenly treasure. How this should lead us more and more to obey the Master's in" junction, and seek " to lay up treasure in heaven." It will be there all safe when we want it ; for there neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and thieves do not break through and steal. Not only is Heaven our treasure-house — it is our reward. There we meet with the full fruition of all our labour ; there we receive every man his own reward for his own work. No mixing up, no confusion ; to each is given his full due. The Christian need not expect full compensa- tion below ; he will not get it. Heaven — and iu Heaven he BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 55 will receive all that he expects. Mr. Moody next spoke very beautifully about Heaven being the place where our names are written. The disciples of Christ came back to Him from one of their journeys flushed with victory, because even the devils had been subject unto them ; but the Master said they had to rejoice because their names were written in Heaven. Oar names have gone on before us. Just as a man sends his goods often before him when he is travelling, and he himself folbws after, just so our names have gone on before, and we are journeying after them. We are known in Heaven before we get there. The name of each saint is in the book of life, and it cannot be blotted out. Then, again, Heaven is to be our rest. The time to toil and suffer is now. "We ought not to want to rest here. Mr. Moody, on this p'oint, quoted the example which the life of Paul gives us of a man who con- ceived of the present being a life of service, and not of rest. The speaker's soul seemed to be S3t on fire with the thought of Paul's labours and consecrated ambition to serve the Master ; with words of true eloquence he described the sacred passioi which Paul had for his Master's work, and wound up a sploudid panegyric on Paul's character, by wishing that moderi Christianity could be imbued with some of Paul's fervor. The last point of this noble address was^ '^ How to* get to Heavea." And here Mr. Moody found an opportunity for doing that which is so dear to his heart, namely, preaching the Gospel of Christ to sinful men. The address which throu^out had been interspersed with touching and beautiful illustrations, and now and again by Mr. Sankey singing, was brouglt to a close with an earnest appeal to all "to become as litUe children, and so enter the kingdom of Heaven." Once uore, as it had been many times that day, was our dear brother Sankey's voice heard giving his beautiful rendering 56 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. of one of his choice solos, and when the benediction had been pronounced, and the six hours' service had come to a close, all present felt that the time had gone too quickly. The place of meeting had been none other than the house of God and the gate of Heaven. Thus ended the ** all-day " meet- ing, but, thank God, not thus ended the memory of it; that will live till the last year of our lives, and many a soul travelling home to God will think of it as one of the d«ep pools by the way dug by the hand of a loving God for the refreshment of His children. In the evening a Gospel service was held, Messrs. Moody and Moorhouse speaking ; the chapel was filled to overflow ing, and many souls went away having found peace in Jesus. Let the following incident, reported by Henry Moor- house, illustrate the feeling among the poor and needy : A gentleman passing down a street in Gateshead heard some one knocking at the window of a cottage. He stopped, and a respectable woman came to the door, and said : "Come in ! " He said he could not then, as he was going to a meeting. " Oh, sir, for God's sake come in, and tell me something about Jesus, for I am wretched." " What is the matter 1 " said my friend. " I ■ She said, " I am lost ; oh, tell me what I must do to be saved. I have been standing at my window all the day to see if a Christian would come along, and if it had been a beggar who loved the Saviour I would have called hkn in.' She had been at a meeting a week before, and hai been in a miserable state ever since. A Christian lady called to see her and told her about the love of Jesus. She tiusted, and was saved. " I saw her to-day," said the speaker, " as happy and bright as possible." The Rev, Thomas Boyd, Presbyterian minister of the BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 57 M place, after describing the meetings in the Wesleyan Chapel, says, after the evangelists had gone : " Such has been the number of cases, and such many of the parties, that had it been told to any Christian friend a ^-Hnight ago, he would not believe it. Even with all this jre us, so wonderful is it, that we almost feel as if we dreamt. God's Spirit still works powerfully. Every night souls are aroused, and, under the guidance of Christian friends, led to Jesus." At Stockton-on-Tees, in which the early part of November was spent, the result is thus described by an intelligent observer on the spot ; and once for all we call attention to the union of prayer and Catholic feeling before and in the work : " This work has been very great ; and in examining, for our own future guidance and the guidance of others, into the anoarent causes of success, we are struck with the following : *;, tJie prejiaration of united, believing vi'ayer. Mr. uy said, that on coming into the first meeting, he and Mr. Sankey felt that they were among a praying people ; and to this and the next cause, viz. : the united action of the ministers of the town, he mainly attributed the fact, that in no place which they had visited had they witnessed such evident results in so short a time. -^^It was very delightful to see, at each of the services, eight or ten of these devoted pastors, most of them in the vigor of young manhood, strong- souled, intelligent men, lepresenting various shades of denomi- national belief, but merging all differences in mutual affection* and the common desire to aid in the glorious work ; and many hearts were constrained by the sight to give thanks for such a ministry in Stockton. Another very important feature was the absence of noise in the meetings. The experience of the past few days will, we think, have convinced them that the b^st and most successful prayer-meetings ever hejd in 58 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Stockton have been the quietest, reminding us of the old lady's description, 'God Almighty was so near that nobody had to shout to Him.' " Nothing is so remarkable in this revival as the uttei demolishing of the old fashioned prayer-meeting. Enter solemn, minister and solemn people, scattered — six, — eight, — ten, — over a great area. A long, slow hymn. Long portion of the Word. Two elders pray two long prayers, in which they go from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, and a great deal farther. " Now we have crammed meetings. All sit close together. The singing is lively — new songs, new tunes. A few words from the minister give the key-note. Prayers are short. A few texts from the Word of God are frequently interspersed. Brief exhortations. . . . All this comes from our brethren from America. Why have we not found out how to conduct a prayer-meeting before? We in this country have been bound hand and foot by traditions. In the far West of America, at Chicago, for instance, there were no traditions. The only people that had traditions there, were the Indians. The brethren have thoroughly solved this question of prayer- meetings for us. We thank them. " The border-town of Carlisle was next approached. The evangelists are nearing Scotland. The place where in former days Englishman and Scotsman used to meet in desperate feud, becomes the scene of victories of another kind. The truth is the weapon, and the Victor is Jesus Christ. This none would more readily own than the instruments He employed. " This is the Lord's doings : it is marvellous in our eyes. As in other places, the meetings have been crowded to excess the United Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Christie is th3 pastor, proved altogether inadequate tu accommodate tho BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 59 thrones, and the large Wesleyan Chapel close at hand was also thrown open, both buildings being completely filled. The power of God was present in a most marked degree ; the solemn and magnificent songs, seeming now to bring Jesiis of ' Nazareth right down into the streets of our own city, or, again, to take us right up to the gates of Heaven, prepared the way for the word of life from the lips of Mr. Moody ; that word was with power, and many were the anxious souls pressing forward to know the way of life. Jesus has become precious to many ; souls have been born of God, and tears of contrition have given place to tears of joy. "This much as to the blessing bestowed on the uncor- verted ; but what shall be said as to that which has rested upon the Christians 1 It has been a time of drawing together such as we have not known anything of before, ;^[inistels of the different denominations have thrown themselves heart and soul into the work, and the close of the week finds us recognizing, not in theory but in fact, that we are all one in Christ Jesus, and banded together, that by our union in Iliiu we may honour His blessed name. " Never shall we forget Mr. Moody's farewell address. He would not say ' Good-bye ! ' No ! ' Good-n';;ht ' rather, and meet them all in the morning, in the dawn of eterniil day. Then strong men bowed and wept out tlieir manly ' sorrow like children, blessed children as they were of the same great Father ; and one of our brothers lifted our American friends up in the arras of love in prayer to our heavenly Father, the Jubilee Singers singing thereupon, * Shall we meet beyond the River 1 ' Then canie the bene- diction. The business was over, and the grimd occasion past, the memory thereof to die no more. " Although our friends took leave thus of the country brethren, they tavned with us, the people of Newcastle, yet a •sH 60 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. wliile. Oti that Wednesday night, Thursday night, aT d Friday, were immense meetings, attended by thousands, overflowing into neighboring churches, although Brunswick Place Chapel would itself hold two thousand. At these Messrs. Moody and Sankey were present. Scores were converted. They were present at the noonday meetings of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at the last of which between two and tlireo thousand people met from eleven to half-past one o'clock. On Friday there was a midnight meeting, and four were rescued from sin and shame. The Saturday meet- ing was the last attended by Mr. Moody. Hundreds had private conversation with him afterward, and crowds went with him to the station, en route for Carlisle." ii ' ^ ^4 1 CHAPTER III. THE WORD IN EDINBURGH. EPORTS of the wonderful interest reached Scotland, and Edinburgh lieard the story. " Rev. Mr. Kel- man went twice to Newcastle to see if the reports of what they heard were true. He returned over- Uif flowing with joy, and full of glowing expectations for Scotland." He spread the tidings ; his report was believed, and ministers and laymen united in inviting the evangelists to Edinburgh. On Sunday, the 23rd of November, they began their work in the Music Hall, with two thousand present, and other thousands seeking admission in vain. The next day tivo Imndred met at noon to pray, and soon the attendance at the daily prayer-meeting exceeded a thousand. An all-day meet- ing was held. A meeting for students was announced in the Free Assembly Hall. So great was the eagerness to obtain admittance, that the doors were besieged by an immense crowd after it had become apparent that the hall was full. Ml. Moody wont out and addressed the thousands in the open air, and returned and spoke to two thousand within, tlio most eminent professors in Scotland sitting around him on the platform. A service was advertised for the lower classes, and three thousand attended. Every evening there ^^ *' I Ml f'" til 'mmmm ./ 1 1 l':!li 62 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. were around the pulpit ministers of all denominations, from all parts of the country, while among the audience there were members of the nobility, professors from the University, and distinguished lawyers from the Parliament House. At this time many abusive pamphlets were put forth against the methods and the men, and reports were circulated representing that Mr. Moody had not the confidence of his brethren at home. Measures were taken to sift this evil rumour to the bottom. Accordingly in response to inquiries from abroad, the following endorsement was proposed antl sent to Scotland : Chicago, May 21st, 1874. We, the undersigned. Pastors of the City of Chicago, learning that the Christian character of D. L. Moody has been attacked, for the purpose of destroying his influence as an Evangelist in Scotland, hereby certify that his labours in the Young Men's Christian Association, and as an Evangelist in this City and elsewhere, according to the best information we can get, have been Evangelical and Christian in the highest sense of those terms ; and we do not hesitate to com- mend him as an earnest Christian worker, worthy of the con- fidence of our Scotch and English brethren, with whom he is now laboring ; believing that the Master will bo honored by them in so receiving him among them as a co-laboier in the vineyard of the Lord. A. J. Jutkins, Presiding Elder of Chicago Dist. C. II. Fowler, President North-western University. Arthur Edwards, Editor North-western Christian Advocate (Methodist organ), Chicago. M. C. Briggs. S. McChesney, Pastor of the Trinity M. E. Church. W. II. Daniels, Pastor Park Avenue M. E Church. THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 63 Sanfom Washburn, Pastor Halsted Street Church, Metho- dist Episc. . ..'■ -,-';.; ^' ■ x:..-.-, '--Mi^i, "..„■,./•.:=.■, , C. G. Trusdell, General Supt. Chicago Relief and Aid Society. Wm. F. Stewart, Secretary Preachers' Aid Society. G. L. S. Stuff, Pastor Fulton Street M. E. Church. T. P. Marsh, Pastor Austin M. E. Church. Lewis Meredith, Pastor Oakland M. E. Church. Arthur Mitchell, Pastor First Presbyterian Church. Glen Wood, Western Secretary American Tract Society. C. D. Helmer, Pastor Union Park Congregational Church. Aithur Swazey, Pastor Ashland Avenue Presbyterian Church. Rev, K F. Ravlin, Pastor Temple Church. A. G. Eberhart, Assistant Pastor. David J. Burrel, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church. David Swing, Fourth Presbyterian Church. Edward P. Goodwin, Pastor of First Congregational Church. L. T. Chamberlain, Pastor of New England Congrega- tional Church. Edward F. Williams, Edward N. Packard, John Kimball, W. A. Lloyd, C. A. Sowle, John Bradshaw, C. F. Reed, S. F. Dickinson, A. Wesley Bill, Albert Bushnell, Congregational Ministers. T. W. Goodspoed, Second Baptist Church. . . W. A. Bartlott, Plymouth Congregational Church. R. W. Patterson, Second Presbyterian Church. W. W. Everts, First liaptist Church. .;:i ' ll State op Illinou?. Cook County, ) Cifi/ "/ Ohicaijo. I W. W. Vanau«dali5, being first duly sworn upon oath, i; I 64 moodV Ai^n sa!so oxcoUont nu>n. They have como among uU not an unknown advonturors without "letters of commendation," but m long tried and honored laborers in the fields of evangeli.sni in their own country, ami more recently in Newcastle; and other towns in tho n ,rth of Kngland, where there appears to have been a IVutecostal bK>s' jtnwMiictl wiUi mlmiraMo (liHtiFictiinHS and (IdoiHi'oti, It \h H)M>lu)ii will) impiN'Haivo dinH'tnwR, not (w by a infin bftlf- (Ktiiviiiccul and who HJMiniM iilwiiys to f«!«l tlmt ft Hocptif! jh loolcinf,' over \m Rliouldtir, 1)ut with a d«u3p conviction of tlicj truth of whiit \w wiyw, mm if, liko onr own Amlrow KnUor, ho (Mudd " vonturo his (itcinity on it," and with .i tiMMiHindotiH oftrncHtnrsH, hh if \w felt that " if ho did not Hpenk the very Htones would cry niit." 'Y\w ilhmtnitionH fingan Home wcMiks ago in an upp(!r room in t,)u«!en Street Hall. I'liat was lilhid alter a few dayn. N(!xt it was tranHJerred to C^ueen Stretst Hall, which i.s caj)ahle of holding 1,200 perHuns. It was not long ere this became over- crowded, and now there are full meetings every day in the Free AHSombly Hall, whiut cold criticism that is in search of faults, of ultra-prudence that at- tempts nothing from fear of making mistakes, is not the tem- per in which to regard such events. I w M not dare to take either of these positions, *' lest haply I should be found to bo fighting against God." I have already exj)ressed my high appreciation of Mr. Moody's manner of addressing. If some thiidc that it wants tlie polished ehigance of certain of our home orators, it has (qualities that are far more valuable ; and even were it other- wise, the great thing is to have the go8[)el of the grace of God clearly and earnestly preached to the multitudes who are I . > ta ^6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. crowding every night to listen to him. When the year of the jubilee came in ancient times among the Jews, I suspect the weary bond-slave or the poor «lebtor cared little whether it was proclaimed tr him with silver trumpets or rams' horns, if he could only be assured that he was free. The following paper was issued, and sent to every denomi- nation in Scotland : " Edinburgh is now enjoying signal manifestations of grace. Many of the Lord's people are not surprised at this. In October and November last, they met from time to time to pray for it. They hoped that they might have a visit from ]\Iessrs. Moody and Sankey of America ; but they very earn- estly besought the Lord that He would deliver them from depending upun them, or on any instrumentality, and that He himself would come with them, or come before them. He has graciously answered that prayer, u.id His own presence is now wonderfully manifested, and is felt to be among them. God is so affecting the hearts of men, that the Free Church Assembly Hull, the largest public building in Edinburgh, is crowded every day at noon with a meeting for prayer j and that building, along with the Established Church Assembly Hall, overflows every evening when the Gospel is preached. But the numbers that attend are not the most remarkable feature. It is the presence of the power of the Holy Ghost, the solemn awe, the prayerful, believing, expectant spirit, the anxious inquiry of unsaved souls, and the longing of believers to grow more like Christ, — the hungering and thirsting after holiness. The hall of the Tolbooth Church, and the Free High Church are nightly attended by anxious inquirers. All denominational and social distinctions are entirely merged. All this is of the God of Grace. ** Anutluu- i)roof of the Holy S[)irit'8 presence is, that a de- sire bus been felt and expressed in these meetings, that all Scotia enjoyi (( shoulc been u willinf; waitin affectio to be in miss all "Th affords a town an ing that Edinbur hour suil in faith formal, u entreaties exortatio God's wi among a knees, an wonders strongest Call unt and migl This inations. Mr. Aesemblj On g I young m( THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 17 Scotland should share the blessing that the capital is now enjoying. " It is impossible that our beloved friends from America should visit every place, or even all those to which they have been urged to go. But this is not necessary. The Lord is willing Himself to go wherever Ho is truly invited. He is Wiiiting. The Lord's people in Edinburgh, therefore, would affectionately entreat all their brethren throughout the land to be importunate in invoking Hira to come to them, and dis- miss all doubt as to his being willing to do so. " The week of prayer, from the 4th to 11th January next, affords a favorable opportunity for combined action. In e^^ry town and hamlet let there be a daily meeting for prayer dur- ing that week, and also as often as may be before it. In Edinburgh the hour is from 12 to 1, and where the same hour suits other places, it would bo pleasing to meet together in faith at the throne of grace. But let the prayers not be formal, unbelieving, unexpecting : but short, fervent, earnest entreaties, mingled with abounding praise and freciuent short exortations; and let them embrace the whole world, that God's way may be known upon earth. His saving health among all nations. If the country will thus fall on their knees, and God who has fdled our national history witli the wonders of His love, will come again and surprise even the strongest believers by the unprecedented tokens of His gi'ace. Call unto me and I will answer theo an I sliow tliee graat and mighty things which thou knowest not.' " This was signed by thirty -eight ministers of all deiioui- inations. Mr. Moody addressed some special meetings in Free Assembly Hall. On Sabbath morning, December 14, he p.ddrossed the .young men of the Sabbath morning Fellowship Union. i m y8 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. On Friday, December 19, ho preached to young men on being born again. On Sabbath morning, December 21, he addressed Sabbath school teachers. The same evening he preaclied to the students of Edin- burgh University and the New College, on ** There is no ditFerence." This was one of the most magnificent sights I have ever witnessed. On the platform with him were num- bers of professors of both colleges, and I believe, the majority of the students. The hall was densely crowded, and I ques- tion whether he ever addressed a more intelligent audience, or one that gave him more profound and riveted attention. Had they not had confidence in him, and felt his power, and, we trust, the higher power of God's Spirit and truth, they would not have sat for more than two hours with such quiet- ness. He commanded that immense meeting of about two thousand men, as no n\ifi on that platforui, save Dr. Duff, could have done. The living power of God's Holy Spirit was felt giving the word, ami laying conviction on the conscience. The Gospel given at the end was most touchingly illustrated; and the very appropriate hymn sung by Mr. Sankey, " I am sweeping through the gates," gave a spiritual finish to the whole that had been spoken. It was an opportunity such as no man over before enjoyed here ; and we cannot doubt but that God has given and used it for the conversion of souls and the glory of Christ. At half-past eight o'clock, December 29, there was a meet- ing held in the Corn Exchange, Grassmarket, which was at- tended by about 3,000 ])ersons belonging to the poorer classes. The Rev. Mr. Morgan opened this meeting with prayer. Mr. Moody began his address by telling the well-known gtory about Rowland Hill and Lady Erskine. Her ladyship was TIIK REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 79 was driving p?sit a crowd of people to whom Hill was preaching. She asked who the preacher was, and, on being informed, told her coachman to drive nearer, llowland Hill, seeing her approach, asked who she was, and when he was told, he said there was a soul tliero for sale. Who would bid, he asked, for Lady Erskine's soul 1 Theie was Satan's offer. He would give pleasure, honor, posiiion, and, in fact, the whole world. There was also, he said, the offer of the Lord Jesus, who would give pardon, peace, joy, rest, and at last, heaven and glory. He then asked Lady Erskine which of these bids she would accept. Ordering her coachman to open her carriage-door, she pressed her way through the crowd to where the preacher was, and said, " Lord Jesus, I give my soul to Thee ; accept of it." Mr. Moody went on to urge on his hearers to give them- selves there and then to the same Saviour who was that day preached in the hearing of Lady Easkine, and accepted by her. He brought out the freeness of the gospel offer, and the importance of immediately closing with it. He mentioned several instances of conversion — one of them concerning a soldier, who had been at the meeting of the previous night in that same hall, and who had afterward gone up to the Assem- bly Hall, had received Christ there, and was now professing himself a Christian man. Mr. Sankey sang several of his hymns — "The Lifeboat," " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," and " The Prodigal Child," being among them. The meeting on Sunday night, Dec. 28, seems to have been the most extraordinary of all these meetings. Though there were about 5,000 persons present, the most perfect order was observed, aud the deepest interest manifested in the pro- ceedings. After this meeting was over, hundreds pressed up to the Free Assembly Hall, and when the question was put if i '* if 1 ^1 f '■' i! If .'At ' 'i I L h I i 80 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. there were any there anxious ahout their souls and desiring to be saved, the whole body rose to their feet in answei: to the question. The interest shown was such as many of those present had never before seen in the course of a long ministry among the people. Mr. Moody expressed himself as more impressed by it than he had been by anything he had ever before seen. Mr. Moody preached on Sabbath forenoon in Free St. George's Church, his subject being, " What Christ has done for man." This he treated very generally. In the afternoon Messrs. Moody and Sankey conducted evangelistic services in the Free Assembly Hall, and the Free High Church at five o'clock, and in the Established Assembly Hall and Free St. John's Church at six o'clock — these meetings being for females only. The Jubilee Singers sang at each of these meetings. There was an immense meeting in the Corn Exchange, Grass- market, at seven o'clock. The great hall was filled with people, who stood closely packed together in every part of it. There must have been between 6,000 and 7,000 persons present. Short addresses were delivered by several ministers and laymen, frequent prayer engaged in, and a great number of hymns sung by Mr. Sankey and the Jubilee Singers. These hymns had each of them a bearing on the thoughts or senti raents that formed the themes of the addresses by which they were preceded. There was the most perfect quiet observed by the vast assemblage, and both addresses and hymns were listened to with the utmost attention. In his address Mr. Moody pointed out that though it was because of Adam's sin man was condemned, it was not because of it that any one would be lost, but because they neglected to lay hold of the remedy. Mr. Moody preached to about fifteen thousand this first Lord's day of 1874, at seven different times. His passion for THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. fit saving souls is self-consuming. Let all Christians pray that he may be upheld by God, in body and soul, and blessed more and more. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children of all classes of the community, have crowded the halls and churches where they have preached, and sung of Christ and the Gospel. Multitudes of men assembled in the Corn Exchange, and multitudes of women in the Assembly Halls and adjoining churches on the Lord's day, to hear words whereby they might be saved ; and on the week days the daily prayer meeting, noon and night, was crowded with eager, anxious throngs of Christians or anxious ones ; while in the Newington U. P. Church and the Canongate Parish Church, fully three thou- sand came together nightly to listen to the singing and preaching of the glorious Gospel of Christ. Bible lectures have been held in the Free Assembly Hall, Viewforth Church, West Coates Church, and Free St. Mary's, and thereby have received clearer light on the Gospel, more stable standing on the sure foundation, and blessed freedom from bondage. Mr. Moody's excellent plan of making the Bible speak for itself by quoting text after text and commenting on them, and enforcing them by striking illustrations, has been of eminent use among Christians who had life but no liberty. Christ has said through him to many a young and groaning one, " Loose him, and let him go." Mr. Moody's clear preaching of grace reigning through righteousness and salvation by grace without the works of the law, and the believer's place in Christ where there is now no condemnation, and sin shall not have dominion over us, because we are not under law, but under grace, is fitted to give immediate relief to burdened, unclear, and legal Chris- tians, of whom we have crowds. 6 ■I. 1 f a 1^1 I :l i-^--r~i 82 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. His mind has evidently been in contact with clear Scripture teachings, such as one seldom meets with in our day ; for he has learned to draw his words of grace and truth from the clear crystal river of divine revelation, and not from the muddy streams of human theology ; and if we, ministers of Christ, are still to get a hearing from the people who have hung as if spell-bound on the ministry of Mr. Moody, we must preach in the same simple, scriptural, loving, and direct manner. He has lifted up a crucified and glorified Christ, honored the Holy Ghost by believing in His constant presence and grace, and his (liospel has been made the power of God unto salvation to unnumbered souls. We calculate that as many as 30,000 have listened to his beseeching voice. ' The work of grace is no doubt deep, wide-spread and extraordinary, as compared with the state of things spiritually previous to the coming of those earnest men ; but it is only the ordinary and normal result of prayer and preaching, which the model of the Acts of the Apostles warrants us in expect- ing when all the disciples of Christ are continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, and in dependence on the Holy Ghost are bending all their energies to the one work of getting the Christ of God magnified by the conversion of perishing souls. When we consider that the great bulk of the ministers and Christian people of Edinburgh have been doing almost nothing else for nearly two months but giving themselves to receive blessing, and to co-operate with our excellent friends to make the Gospel triumphant in the city ; and when we consider that there has been this concerted, continued and concentrated efibrt towards this one thing, we have hardly seen so much fruit as we might reasonably have expected ; and we are very sure if there had not been much grieving and quenching of the holy Spirit of God among us in connection with this work, both secretly and openly, He THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 83 would have "wrought with mightier power, and the harvest of souls would have been much more abundant. There has never been, as in. other days, thousands Pente- costally smitten simultaneously : whole meetings arrested, as in the years of the right hand of the Most High in times past, and made to stand still and see the salvation of God. Might the Lord not have given such power as would have left hundreds instead of tens, anxiously inquiring what must wo do, if there had been an entire exclusion of " the flesh " and a total self-surrender on the part of Christians, more regard for the glory of Christ, less grieving and quenching and more honoring of the Holy Ghost ? "We do not quite sympathize with some things which have been said about Mr. Moody's preaching, and especially that he is not eloquent. What, we would ask, makes the mcet^ ings flat when he is absent but the want of a quality he possesses 1 and what makes • them full of life and spiritual emotion when he is present, but just the superior divine eloquence which flows in his burning words, as if an electric current were passing through every heart 1 He is the most powerful speaker — the most eloquent preacher — who most fully carries an audience with him and produces the greatest results ; and if Mr. Moody is judged by such a rule, he is one of the most eloquent of living men, for none of us here who are ministers feel the least desire to speak if he is present, for with all our university training we acknowledge his superior power as a Heaven-commissioned evangelist. He has the all-powerful eloquence of a man full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and fired with indomitable zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls. Ho may be devoid of rhetoric (and that, we suppose, is meant), and he may use his freedom in extemporizing grammar to suit himself) but withal Moody is the most eloquent, as he is the ill, iS '1 < -I -n '!■ 11 '! ti-i n Utl^ ' *li| 84 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT fiRITAlN. most successful preacher among us. The Lord be praised for giving such gifts to men, and for the thousands of souls He has converted by him in this city, or set into the liberty of grace by a fuller knowledge of Christ and His finished work. What masses of young people from the schools crowded the meetings during the holidays ! And so great has been the attraction of the singing of the one and the eloquence of the other, that hundreds of young persons, especially of the higher classes, who were formerly accustomed Lo go to the theatre, opera, and pantomime, gave them up deliberately* and from choice and the force of conviction attended the gospel and prayer-meetings. Men who can draw away our educated children by the hundred in this city that boasts of its education, from these haunts of pleasure and amusement, to hear of Christ in preaching and songs, and embrace Him as their Saviour, and cling to them as their friends, have that spiritual education which ennobles the character, implants delicate feelings, generous sentiments, tender emotions, and gracious affections, which the young very quickly discover and reciprocate. ^ ■ But we have no doubt that a very great part of Mr. Moody's superiority over most ministers as a preacher of the gospel, arises from his superior knowledge and grasp of the Holy Scriptures. ^ Messrs. Moody and Sankey's principle for gospel work is the recognition of the divine unity of the one body of Christ; and accordingly wherever they go they say, in effect, A truce to all sectarianism that the Lord alone may be exalted : let all denominations for the time being be obliterated and forgotten, and let us bring our united Christian effort to bear upon the one great work of saving perishing souls. It is a charming eight to look back over the past eight weeks and think of men THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 85 who, it appeared, were for all time to come in religious antag- onism because of their controversial differences on the Union question, sitting side by side on the same platform lovingly co-operating with those American brethren and with one another for the conversion of souls. All old things seemed to have passed away, and all things had become new, and all re- joiced together in the blessing which has been so richly vouchsafed by the God of all grace. There has been such a commingling of ministers and Christians of all the churches — all sectarian thoughts and feelings being buried — as has never been witnessed in thig city since the first breaking up of the Church of Scotland, more than 140 years ago. What all the ministers and people of Scotland were unable to achieve — a union of Christians on a doctrinal basis — God has effected, as it were at once, on the basis of the inner life by the singing of a few simple hymns and the simple preaching of the gospel : for as the unity of the nation was secured by the one purpose to make David king over all Israel : — "All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel ; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king, and there was great joy in Israel " (1 Chron. xii. 37) — so the one purpose to have the Lord Jesus exalted and made supreme, and His glory in the triumph of His gospel and the salvation of sinners made manifest, has united the ministers and Christian people of every name in the metropolis of Scotland : " and there was great joy in that city" (Acts viii. 8). " Be it known unto you all, that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him " hath been "shed forth this which ye now see and hear." "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is Ih , ,^m i -4 ^B^ 1 ^^^^ '- '^ jyt. HjH mmmmim 86 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN, become the Head of the Corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must bo saved" (Acta iv. 10-12). " This is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in our eyes. This IS THE DAY WHICH THE LoRD HATH MADE. We wiU be glad and rejoice in it " (Ps. cxviii. 23, 24). Mr. Moody is overpoweringly in earnest, and he brings in the direct, straightforward, decided methods of a thorough- going, energetic man of business into his addresses, in conduct- ing meetings, and his dealing with souls, and, as a preacher generally stamps his own image upon h'.s converts, we may hope to see a brood of decided Christian witnesses and testifiers arising out of this time of awakenir.cr, that will let it be known that the glory of the Lord Jesus la the uppermost pur* pose in their hearts. This witness-bearing has already begun in colleges and schools, in families and work-rooms, in drawing-rooms and kitchens. There are discussions going on everywhere regard- ing both the men and the movement. In ladies' schools there are young converts testifying for Jesus, and boldly confessing Him as their Saviour ; evening parties, through the influence of the young believers in the household, are being converted into Christian assemblies to talk over the preaching of Mr. Moody, and to sing in concerted worship the hymns and solos which have been introduced by the inimitable singing of Mr. Sankey. These two quiet and humble Americans have all but turned society in Edinburgh upside down, and by the grace of God, have given its citizens the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year that they have ever enjoyed, by gathering them around the Lord Jesus. It seems as if a voice from heaven had been saying, " clap your hands, all ye people : shout It THE REVTVAL IN SCOTLAND. 87 unto God with tho voice of triumph. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises ; sing praises to our King, sing praises ; sing ye praises with understanding." .?<^:J1 it n WHAT GOOD HAVE MESSRS. MOODY AND SANKEY DOXE IN EDINBURGH 1 This is a question which, in its inward aspect, can bo answered only by Him who knows tho hearts of men ; but that which is visible and apparent can be set down in writing. For one thing, Mr. Moody has given tho Biblo its due place of prominence, and has made it to be looked upon aa the most interesting book in the world. This is honoring tho Holy Ghost more than all the prayers for His outpouring that have been offered ; for it is getting into the mind of God as the Psalmist got, when he said : " Thou hast magnified Thy WORD above all Thy name." His addresses on such themes as " How to study the Holy Scriptures," and " Tho Scriptures cannot be broken ; " his own Bible lectures, which were so full of Scripture, and helpful to hundreds of Chris- tians; his constant reference to the Bible, and quotations from it in his preaching; his moving about among tho anxious with the open Biblo in his hands, that he might get them to rest their souls on the " true sayings of God ; " and his earnest exhortations to young Christians to read the Word, and to older and well-taught Christians to get up " Bible readings," and invite young Christians to come to them, that they might bo made acquainted with tlio mind of Christ, all showed how much in earnest ho is to givo due prominence to the Holy Scriptures. Mr. Moody has also given us a thorough specimen of good Gospel preaching, both as to matter and manner of If ill ';- m 8S MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT liRITAIN. communication. It is not a mixture of law and Gospel : his Gospel is "the Gospel of the Grace of God," "without the works of the law," the "Gospel of God" coming in righteously and saving the lost, not by a more judicial manipulation and theoretically, hut by grace, power, and life coming in when men were dead, so that wo have not only sins blotted out by the blood of Christ, but deliverance from sin in the nature by death and resurrection, and life beyond death, so that a risen Christ is before us, and wo in Him, when it is said, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." There is "justification of life " in his preaching, immediately that wo are "justified by His blood." Ho has also distinguished vith much decision and pre- cision between the Adam nature and the new creation in Christ, and made it as clear as noonday that salvation is not the mere setting right of man's existing faculties, but the impartation of new life in Christ, a new nature, a new creation, so that there exist two utterly opposed natures in the one responsible Christian man, and that " these are contrary the one to the other : "* and the knowledge of this gives young Christians immense relief, and a solid foundation for holiness at the very commencement of their Christian course. New creation in Christ — not tho mending of the old 3reation — is Mr. Moody's idea of Christianity : and it is the divine reality which many are now enjoying. This also leads to the Pauline theory of holiness, as preached by him. He has imbibed very fully the theology of the Epistle to tho Romans on tliis point, and insisted with much earnestness that Scripture has it that Christians are not under the law in any shape or form, and that this is essential to holiness : — " For sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. vi. 14) ; " Iht now we are delivered from tho law, that we should servl the and justil in u^ after! ing THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 89 serve in newness of spirit " (liom. vii. G) His doctrine is that the law never made a bad man good or a good man better, and that we are under grace for sanctification as well as for justification ; and yet the riglitcousness of thp law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh (that is, under law) " but after the spirit " (liom. viii. 4). Ilis clearness in distinguish- ing between law and grace has been the lever of life to many Bouls. Our American brethren have also been of great use in showing us what may bo accomplished in the conversion of souls, if the heart is only fully set upon it, and there is a de- termination to have it. They came to us with that distinct aim and object in viCw ; and the Lord gave them the desires of their hearts ; and as the result hundreds of souls have pro- fessed salvation. They gave themselves to " this one thing," and they s ■ k \d it, brushing aside all other things: even the conventioutu courtesies of life were made short work of by Mr. Moody if he spied an anxious soul likely to escape. His friends might introdujce some notable stranger at the close of a meeting, and feel rather annoyed that, instead of con- versing with him or her, he darted off in a moment to awakened souls ; but ho made that his work, and everything else had to be subordinate to it. "This one thing I do," seems to be his life-motto j and in sticking to this all- absorbing object, he has read us a noble lesson of holy resoluteness and decision. If we who are ministers have similar faith and expectancy, and work like our American friends for the conversion of souls, the conversion of souls wo shall l^ave. Our Lord said to those who were to be the first preachers of His Gospel, " I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John xv. IG); and when they were endued with the Holy Ghost and with power, they did 90 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. "bring forth fruit" in the conversion of souls (Acts ii. 41 ; iv. 4) ; and their fruit remained (Acts ii. 42), and has done 80, in the millions of souls saved in all ages down to the pre- sent day. Our friends have been the means of rescuing hundreds of souls in this city from impending and everlasting damnation. Their labors have been especially fruitful in the conversion of young women and girls, who in course of time will be in the important position of wives and mothers ; and if the thousand of them that appear at the young converts' meeting, to receive Mr. Moody's farewell address, should all hold out, it will be an unspeakable blessing that has been conferred by God on this community through their instrumentality. Persons at a distance have wondered at us having so many ladies among the anxious, and the question has repeatedly come to us, " Where are the men 1 Your anxious inquirers are nearly all women, as we read of them in your reports." If such persons had been present on Friday, Jan. 16, and run their eyes over the young converts in the Free Assembly Hall, between eight and nine o'clock, and counted, as was done, the 1,150 that were present, and failed to find 150 of them men, they would no longer have been at a loss to see why the greater proportion of the cases of awakening men- tioned are women. But we believe also that any one who would affirm, from the excessive preponderance of women over men on Friday at the young converts' meeting, that the movement had only laid hold of women, would be very wide of the truth ; for, although the meetings went on for three weeks almost with- out men, towards the close there were many young men who were brought under the power of the truth. It is, however, well known that many young Scotsmen, from a variety of influencoa and motives, even though converted, would rather THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAlfTD. 91 be excluded from the meeting than face the ordeal through which those had to pass who received tickets ; and had there been a converts' meeting for men to come to without any examination or receiving of tickets, hundreds would have attended it. In a time of awakening it is also well known that women who are religiously impressed will go through fire and water to comply with the wishes of those who have been made use- ful to their souls. They will do anything they are asked to do ; hence the mass-meeting of women on Friday, the 16th. But not so with men — especially Scotsmen — hence the ab- sence, notwithstanding that many are known to have been converted. Before that meeting was held we had given it as our calcu- lation, based on the facts that had come under our own observation daily in the inquiry meeting, that there might be 1,600 souls converted, or who had professed to be converted, behoving themselves to be so. We are still of the same judgment, and that very many more of them are men than that converts' farewell meeting revealed. Twelve hundred women and three hundred men and boys seem to be the proportion and sum total who have professed conversion. Hundreds of them may go on flourishingly, and bring forth thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. Hundreds may go back, die out, or be choked with the world, and many who have divine life in their souls may collapse, and the work may hava to be done over again, and they revived and set at liberty because of the lack of teaching. This has been our obser- vation of the results of past revivals, having been in nearly all that have taken place in this country for the last six-and- twenty years. But we see no necessity for this sad outcome of a blessed work of grace, if the professed converts were fully taught in ail the precious truth of God with regard to 1 . n 'liK'il ii; I '111 i 'M U i 1 ^)' 92 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. their place in a risen and glorified Christ, as Eomans, Ephe- sians, and Colossians, spiritually and competently expounded, would teach them. Good milk, and plenty of it, makes an infant thrive and grow. " As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." The only way not to fall is to grow, and growth and strength are by the truth, I CHAPTER IV. ON TO GLASGOW. 'IVE meetings in one day, at Berwick-on-Tweed, drew thousands together, and the arrows from God's quiver pierced hundreds of hearts. A few days in Dundee awakened such interest that the evangelists returned five months later, when the enthusiasm far exceeded that of the previous visit. Every evening for a week from 10,000 to 16,000 people assembled in the open air to listen to the Gospel. Hundreds yielded to Christ, and a might)- impulse was given to religion. On their leaving Dundee evangelistic services wore held in various churches with many tokens of blessing. The number of inquirers was very considerable. Many cases were charac- terized by deep conviction of sin, and there were several remark- able conversions. Of the many hundreds, doubtless some were only slightly impressed, while others are bearing about their trouble to this day. For, whatever may be the explana- tion, there are always some who very gradually arrive at settled trust and peace in Christ. As the result of tlie awaken- ing, there have been large additions to the membership of the churches — in some congregations as many as one hundred and .'i 94 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 1^: upward. Groat care has been taken in watching over the young Christians, and we do not know of any who have gone- back. On tlio occasion of the second visit of the evangelists to Dundee, in June, wlicn great open-air meetings were held in Barrack Park, Mr. Moody organized and eet going special means and efforts for reaching young men. With the aid of a large staff of earnest Christian men, who volunteered their services at the call of Mr. Moody, the Young Men's Associa- tion carried out the scheme with energy and success. In the course of two weeks, upward of one hundred and thirty young men were individually conversed with, almost the whole of whom ultimately professed faith in Christ. The work has been carried on throughout the year by the Association, as well as by the direct instrumentality of the churches, with much prayer and pains, and many have been added to the Lord. In the Post and Telegraph offices alone there are some twenty young men and lads who have come over to the Lord's side, and are zealous in His service. As Andrew found his brother Simon, and brought him to Jesus, so in many a pleasing instance, brothers have been bringing brothers, and young men have been bringing their companions, to the Saviour. The seal of God's blessing has been clearly stamped on the efforts of the Christian young men. And although, to the eye of an observer looking only on the surface, nothing may be apparent save the ordinary ripple of Christian work, to those who look more closely, a powerful under-current of spiritual influence is plainly seen to be ai work among the youth of our town. In many quarters the tide is fairly turned and is setting in steadily in the right direction ; and we ex- pect still greater and better thirgs. In regard to the work among the children, we have never before seen so much precious fruit in the same space of time. I IB THE REVr IN SCOTLAND. 95 All tho year round there has been groat joy in many a family and in many a Sabbath-school. Nor has this joy proved to be evanescent or fruitless, "o this fact parents and teachers bear decided testimony. Running parallel with the work of the Holy Ghost, there has been a remarkable dispensation of Providence in the removal of many little ones to the spirit- world. Beautiful and instructive in many instances have been the last solemn scenes of life. To the clear eye of a child's faith there is almost no darkness in the valley. To the ear of the little Christian, quick to catch tho voices from above, the solemn sound of Jordan's waters has no terrors. With mar- vellous wisdom and force, these dying children gave forth their testimony to Jesus and His grace. While tho immediate results of the work are exceedingly precious, the value of its full outcome can scarcely be over estimated : believers are refreshed and lifted higher — Christian workers of every class have renewed their strength, and are tilled with fresh hope and zeal. The whole body of the living Church has made an advance ; her forces are increased, her methods are improved. So mighty an impulse cannot fail of great and lasting results. But there remains much land to be possessed, and from tho recent movement there comes to us a loud and stirring call to go forward. Thanking God for the past, and taking courage, wo look into the future with a heart of good cheer ; and wo feel assured, ** 'Tis better on before ! " But the great meeting in Scotland was in Glasgow. On Sunday morning, February 8, 1874, at nine o'clock, Mr. Moody addressed 3,000 Sabbath school teachers and Christian workers, in tho City Hall. At half-past five in the evening, an hour before the time for services to begin, the hall was crowded in every corner. The crowds became so great that it was necessary to hold separate meetings for men and I I t f' *i* I 96 MOODV and SANKEY in great BRITAIN. \h in 1,1 m if. it's women, and even then no building in Glasgow could be found large enough to hold the congregations. The interest among the impenitont was beyond precedent. It was another Pen- tecost. Again and again 1,000 inquirers remained after the sermon to be pointed to Christ. During the six days beginning with Tuesday of last week, the suburb of Billhead was nine times flooded with crowds hur- rying to the Crystal Palace. This unique glass house is the lar- gest place of public assembly in Scotland, and can seat about four thousand, while a thousand or two more may be crowded into it. Tuesday evening was for the young women. Hun- dreds appealed in vain for tickets after seven thousand five hundred had been distributed, and hundreds who had them struggled in vain for admission. The building was crowded up to the fainting point, and the meeting was partly spoiled by its numerical success. On Wednesday the young men who were ticket-holders darkened the Great Western road more than an hour before the time of meeting. All comers were welcome on Thursday, so long as there was any room. In spite of the rain the Palace was filled by seven o'clock, and about one-half of the audience seemed to be young men of the middle classes. On Friday the noon prayer meeting was transferred to the Palace, which was comfortably filled with the better, or better-off, classes. Friday evening's meeting was the most significant of the series. Tickets for it were given only to those who, on applying for them in person, declared that they believed themselves to have been converted since January 1st, and gave their names, addresses, and church connection, which information, we are told, is to be forwarded to their several pastors. It was publicly stated that about three thou- sand five hundred had received tickets on these conditions. As the Americans did not arrive till six weeks after New Year, and as the tickets were not exclusively for the fre- qu coi tic Sa Su anc THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 97 quenters of their meetings, it was hardly fair in one of our contemporaries to insinuate that the object was to number and ticket Moody's converts. The children had their turn on Saturday at noon, and the working people at night. On Sunday morning the young women were admitted by ticket, and at six o'clock p.m. the Palace was filled both inside and outside, as an Irishman would say. While several ministers, along with Mr. Sankey, conducted the service inside, Mr. Moody addressed a crowd in the open air that filled the whole apace between the Palace and the gate of the Botanic Gar- dens. Many hundreds did not even get the length of the garden gate. The estimates of the vast throng — mere guess- work, of course — range from fifteen to thirty thousand. A month ago, in the same place and under the same auspices, another meeting was held for six and a half hours. We refer to the " Christian Convention," which Dr. Cairns declared to be "unparalleled in the history of the Scotch, perhaps of British Christianity." It was reported that about five thou- sand were present, of whom some two thousand were min- isters and office-bearers from Scotland and the North of England. Now these are conspicuous facts, and challenge the re- spectful attention and sympathy of all, whatever their religious views may be, were it on no higher principle than that of the ancient poet, " I am a man, and deem nothing human unin- teresting to me." Some have already photographed the humorous side of these religious assemblies, and proved what we dare say nobody will deny, that some blemishes cleave to them. We are persuaded, however, that many of our readers will not be disinclined to look at the higher aspects of " these wondrous gatherings day by day j" for we are not av/are that so many large and representative meetings have been drawn together in Glasgow by any cause or interest whatever during 6 ■(« ;'i;iH 'i •I I' ■'Si '« m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 I^IM 112 lis 1^ 1^ 2.0 i-4 IIIIII.6 ^^^ ^ /a /, VI M «"V^ °>w Photographic Sciences Corooration 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716) 872-4503 ^ f/i ^^if 114 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Mr. Moody stayed in the hall conversing with anxious inquirers until about ten o'clock, when he drove to a men's meeting in Trinity Free Church, which had gathered at nine o'clock in tho expectation that Mr. Moody would give them a farewell address. In tho course of tho few sentences he spoke to them, Mr. Moody said thoy could have no idea of the influence the Aberdeen men's meetings had had in other places he had visited. In all of the towns the example of Aberdeen had been followed, and large bands of young men were enlisted in evangelistic work. A number of the young men then retired with Mr. Moody into an ante-room to hold private conversation with him, and he continued to converse with them until it was time to go and prepare for his journey to Wick by steamer. On Sunday afternoon an open air evangelistic service was held on Craig Castle lawn, conducted by Mr. Moody. The weather in tho early part of the day was yary unpropitious, heavy showers dosceuding, with brief intervals, until 4 p.m., when the raiti ceased, and it continued fair during the evening. The wet detained not a few at their homes, no doubt, but most of those who came seemed to have determined to be present in any case ; and by live o'clock a very large company — espe- cially taking into account tho thinly -peopled districts from which thoy had galliered — hud assembled on the beautiful lawn in front of the ciUitle. Every valley and hamlet within a radius of ten miles sent its company in gig, cart or afoot, until at five o'clock about 2,500 people stood on the lawn. The gathering resembled somewhat one of the Covenanter hill side meetings, save that while the Bibles were still present the broadswords were altogether absent ; and the rendezvous, instead of being a wild, rocky pass, was a hospitable castle, with its fairy dell and leaping linn, celebrated in song, and known cs one of tho loveliest spots in Scotland. THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 115 The beauty of the scene seemed specially to move Mr. Moody, who referred to it in his discourse, which was one of peculiar beauty, power, and pathos. Standing in an open carrit^e placed near a towering tree, the preacher spoke for nearly an hour from the parable of the marriage feast. A very marked impression wtis produced, and many retired at the close of the service for conversation with the preacher and other ministers and friends. The Craig gathering of August, 1874, will, wo bolievo, bo ever memorable to not a few as " the beginning of days " to them. " I must say," said Dr. H. Bonar, " that I have not seen or heard any impropriety or extravagance. I have heard sound doctrine, sober, though sometimes fervent and tearful speech, the utterance of full hearts yearning over the wretch- ed, and beseeching men to be reconciled to God. That I should accord with every statement and fall entirely in with every part of their proceeding need not be expected. Yet I will say that I have not witnessed anything sensational or repulsive. During the spiritual movement which took place in Scotland about thirty years ago, in most of which I had part, I saw more of what was extreme, both in statement and pro- ceeding, than I have done of late. There was far more of excitement then than there is now. The former movements depended far more upon veliemont appeals, and were carried along more by the sympathetic current of human feeling than the present. When the present movement began, 1 feared lest there should be a repetition of some of the scenes which I had witnessed in other days, and I did not hesitate to express my fear to brethren. My fears have not been realized. I have been as regular in my attendance at the meetings as I could, though I will not ssy that there was nothing which I might not have wished different, yet I have been struck with the Il6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. exceeding calmness at all times — the absence of excitement — the peaceful solemnity prevading these immense gatherings of two or three thousand people, day by day — the strange still- ness that at times so overawed us ; and I felt greatly relieved at the absence of those audible manifestations of feeling common in former days. Rowland Hill was once asked the question, * When do you intend to stop 1 ' 'Not till we have carried all before us.' So say our brethren from Chicago. We say, Amen. This needy world says. Amen. Human wickedness and evil say. Amen. Heaven and earth say, Amen. The work is great and the time is short. But the strength is not of man but of God." And after more than two years have passed by, the great results continue to appear, and the wave of holy influence has swept with purifying energy over all that land. ■7 ■"Si ■""^ „ $.*-=. -■' •-rT-t'i'i^^r^*^ ^i-^^^f-s *>- .^ww^ II f> ^^^t r ' ^ * • -'a .... 'S.. . £^> V\^l^*% w^ r" X35?if-;-^?^ «',»v ■/ ' CHAPTER V. THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. *R. MOODY said at his last Bible-reading, that in considering what should be the subject, he thought, What was it he wanted most himself? When nine months ago he came to Scotland, a perfect stranger, he felt utterly powerless, and • ^ ' could only have been sustained by the Holy Spirit's help; now, when he was going to Ireland, he felt just the same ; and if he attempted to go there resting upon the grace given for Scotland he should fail. He needed a fresh anointing for this new service. In this spirit of entire reliance upon the Lord, Mr. Moody contemplated the Irish field. God honors those who honor Him. We shall see how much this confidence in the Lord was justified by the results of efforts in Ireland. It would seem that after fourteen months of such toil, they might well have taken a little rest. But Ireland was calling them; and bidding ff»rewell to Scotland, they pro- ceeded to Belfast, where tboy held their first meetings on Sunday, Sept. 6, 1874. The work had a good commencement in Belfast. Num- bers thronged and crushed to the churches, so much so that the happy plan was adopted of dividing the meetings, and IT ! 1 «! i! Il8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. holding gatherings for women only at two o'clock, and for men only at eight o'clock. Consequently, the large churches ure all well filled, without any unseemly disorder. On Friday Mr. Moody addressed hoth meetings, taking for his text, " The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. " "With great power and aptitude he proclaimed the Lord Jesus as the " Seeker ; " and very touch- ingly he convinced the people that ho was now seeking each individually, seeking to save and to bless them. Mighty Faith^ then, appears to be the secret of Mr. Moody's power. On the hearers he urges decision, now to believe, instant sal- vation on faith in Jesus only. His address was interspersed with telling illustrations, which came right home to every heart. He rapidly referred to the parable of the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, and graphically narrated the sudden conversion of Zaccheus, unmistakably evidenced by the imme- diate fruit of the Spirit in his change from an extortioner tf) a restitutor. Mr. Sankey's very sweet solos and touching Ijymns, accompanied on the American harmonium, seemed to exercise a powerful effect in, as it were, deepening the im- pression of the Word. The large church, which holds 2,000, was filled with women of all classes; and the one which holds 1,500 had every seat occupied with men. They were mostly shop- Iceopers and mechanics, and a large proportion such as do not rogularly attend churches. After the evening meeting the Cliristians were invited to remain and pray for the speakers to the anxious, and the inquirers were directed to side apart- ments, of which several were filled with those whom the Holy •Spirit was convincing of sin and of the need of the seeking Saviour. Thus, while such a glorious work as has been witnessed in Scotland has not yet taken place in Belfast, a sweet and encouraging^ comraoncoment has been made.. THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 119 The interest in the meeting in the evening is increasing. From fifty to a hundred remain each evening, under anxiety of soul, desiring to be pointed to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. These are found of all classes, and of all shades of moral and religious character — backsliders, notorious sinners, moral young men, whose con- sciences are yet tender, and sceptics, whose hearts have been blasted as by an east wind. The majority of the inquirers are young men. This is a special, and I may add a most hopeful, feature of the work. Many seem clearly to have embraced the offered gift, and to be rejoicing in God. On Sabbath Mr. Moody held a meeting for Christian workers at the early hour of eight, and notwithstanding the hour the place was crowded, so much so that the overflow filled an adjoining room. The address was touching entire consecration to God, and more whole-hearted activity in His service. An opon-air meeting was advertised for half-past two o'clock. It was held in an open space, in the midst of the mill-workers of our town. Few, if any, of the thousands who attended that meeting will ever forget it. Very many, I believe, will remember it with joy in the Father's home on high. The attendance was great, estimated variously at from ten to twenty thousand ! The weather was exceedingly fa- vorable. Mr. Sankey sang " Jesus of Nazarath passeth by." While he did so I could observe in the glistening eye, and the deep sighs of many around where I stood, that it was oven so. As time advances, this gracious work of God seems to 3xtend and deepen rapidly. On Tuesday the experiment was tried of holding a meeting in the evening exclusively for women, in order to reach the case of workers in mills and warehouses. More than an hour before the time of meeting, tlie strotits around were packed with a dense mass of women ; 120 MOODY AND SANKEY. IN GREAT BRITAIN. and when the gates were opened the place was filled almost in a moment ; and after that, with the overflow, three large churches. In all these meetings the anxious, willing to lie spoken to, were more than could be overtaken. We have reached a blessed difficulty — our inability to find Christian workers in sufficient number, who are able and willing to point the seeking sinner to the Lamb of God. The number of strangers who from long distances visit Belfast to attend the mid-day meetings is daily increasing. In this way the work is already extending, and, I trust, will cover the whole island. At its present stage of progress, the most marked features are desire to hear the Word of God, willingness to be spoken to upon the state of the soul, frank confession on the part of many that they do not savingly know Jesus ; and, most blessed of all, the equally frank con- fession on the part of many that they have " found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth. " To-day the mid-day meeting is solely for professing Chris- tians — the subject, "Assurance. " In the evening the meeting is intended for such only as are seeking Jesus. Mr. Moody has adopted these expedients because of the want of any hall or building sufficient to contain the crowds seeking admission. Intense calm and deep earnestness characterized all the meetings. The Holy Spirit was poured out, not with a rush- ing wind, but in a still, small voice. An unusual proportion of fine young men waited to be conversed with in the inquiry- rooms. All seemed to feel there are but the two classes, the saved and the lost. Various were the difficulties felt by inquirers, but all such as anxious souls have expressed from time to time. Some could not understand what " coming to Christ " is; others had previously come, but were staggered because they had not tho THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 121 oomplote mastery of sin ; others, again, had not felt a sufficient sense of danger. Warm-hearted and experienced Christians listened to the difficulties of each and all, and were in most cases enahled by the Holy Spirit to speak the suited word and remove the stumbling-blocks. The open-air meeting was attended by numbers variously estimated at from 10,000 to 20,000. The fundamental truths of the gospel were forcibly put and ably illustrated. Many were bathed in tears. Multitudes of careless men and women have been awakened. Singing bears a most important part in the work of God. Deeply efifective are Mr. Sankey's solos, not only in touching the heart's affections, but in deepening the impressions made by the Word. The solo " Too Late," following on Mr. Moody's address on the despair of the lost in hell, had the most solemn effect. The wail " Oh I let us in ; oh ! let us in, " and the awful response, " Too late ! too late ! you cannot enter now, " are enough to wring the inmost soul of every wavering and undecided sinner. A meeting for inquirers only was arranged to be held in the evening of the same day, in the Ulster Hall, the largest public building we have. Admission to this meeting was strictly limited to those professing anxiety to find Jesus. Christian workers were admitted by ticket, a method adopted to avoid the mistake too often made at such meetings of allowing incompetent or improper persons to engage in such work. There is not one Christian in a hundred fitted for this most delicate and difficult service, requiring, as it does, close communion with Jesus, much knowledge of the human heart, and very clear views of gospel truth, and not less a desire to know nothing, and to speak of nothing, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. While e^]\ this is true, it is equally true that none are I .-".Pi HI 122 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. oftener blessed in this work than young converts, while their virgin love is yet fresh, and their faith clear and simple. There was at the meeting for inquirers an attendance of some 500 — this in addition, it may bo noticed, to many meetings of like kind held in various churches at the close of the evening service. It was very touching and stimulating, when an opportunity was given by Mr. Moody at the^ close of the meeting, to hoar many young men read out, in trem- bling tones and yet with beaming countenances, some previ- ous promise of the Word of God. It seemed like throwing out a life-buoy to the struggling ones around, who were swimming for life in the waters of death — like the letting down of a cord to the prisoners in the pit in which there is no water. Subsequent information in the young men's meeting proved that these truths were laid hold of savingly by not a few that Sabbath night in the Ulster Hall. On Sabbath night we had our first meeting for young men, from nine till ten o'clock. To the surprise of all of us, there were about 1,500 present. The beginning is a special work, which, I trust, will spread as in Glasgow. There had been during the spring a very marked work among the young men in Belfast, in conn'fection with the Young Men's Chris- tian Association. Now '' has been deepened and greatly extended. • . During the week the tide of spiritual life seemed to in- crease each day. The Bible-readings at two o'clock have been full of interest, specially stimulating to many whose spiritual life had hitherto been very dormant. , The manifestations of the Spirit's presence and power were very marked. In the earlier days of the movement, of the many who were deeply convinced of sin, comparatively few seemed to come to rest and peace and faith in Jesus. It seen^ed as if a higher tide of the S[)irit'8 power were needed^ to th( THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 123 to guide them through the quicksands of difficulty, and over the bar of doubt and distrust, into the haven of rest. This week, we thank God, it is otherwise. We can say with thanksgiving concerning many, " They which have be- lieved do enter into rest." The meeting for the young was very striking. Mr. Moody presided. The truth seemed to reach, in the Spirit's power, many young hearts. A meeting for boys under fifteen has been organized. Some of the cases in it are exceedingly touching, affording, I conceive, illustrations c jUp work of God upon the human heart in its simplest and deepest form. This meeting for boys assembles every evening now at half- past seven. On Monday we had no meeting — rather, one of the most remarkable meetings, I shall venture to say, ever held in Belfast. Fisherwick Place Church was open for inquirers from two till ten o'clock. Mr. Moody and other Christian workers were occupied all that time in pointing sinners to the Lamb of God. It is impossible to say how many wounded spirits were conversed with during the day. Many very experienced Christians, who have seen much of the Lord's work in other years, declare they never saw a meeting like it. . It was a sight which would, I think, have drawn tears of joy from any heart, to see upward of 200 young men, the very flower of our youth, one after another acknowledging the yoke of Jesus. Passing j ust across the street, I entered May Street Church, where more than 1,000 men were assembled to hear the glad tidings of great joy. In order that as many as possible might have an oppor- tunity of hearing the gospel at these special services, admission on Tuesday night was by tickets, given only to such as had not hitherto heard Mr. Moody. About 3,000 tickets were 124 MonOY AND SANKKY IN CRKAT lUUTAlN. M I m • 5|;i given on poisonivl appli(MvU(»n. It wiw ft RonHon to ])o rnmom- bonxl. Tlu^ H(ul, no to Bpoiik, was virgin ; thn iittontion no nmrkcd as to 1)(^ iilnioHt piiinful in its silonco ; thn proHonno of (lOil vory poworfiil in tho conHoiouRnoHs of ovory Rpiritual nnml. 'J'ho intpiin^ra ut tlm oIoho of tho moisting worn Hpoken to, i\8 far ns thoy couM ho ovortrtk«Mi, in adjiictnit cliurohoR, to wliioli tho nion and womtMi woro Ront roRpnctivoly. It is worthy of rtMuark, tlio }^n>at (iontraRt in outward n\«nifo,sintion hotwoon tlu> pntwotit work and tliat of 185U. I hftvo not hoard of or notiood any pliysicjal oxcitoniont — not i>von an outcry, niudi h»sa what worn thon known m " pros- traiions." lloro U>t mo say, it has hoon nioRt notowortliy that during tho last wo(»ks, whiU> wo liavo liad nioRt incUunont woathor, oyory Sahhaih day, atul at tho hour of our groat gatliorings, it liiis boon all that oould ho doairod. Tlio nnnihor in attondanco was fully ocpuU to any preced- ing Sahhath. It may givo yt)u Ronu) idoa of tho multitude if I st^vto that tho liold on which the mooting was hold contains about six acres, and that tho people stood densely packed fiY.m one end to the other. There was profound solemnity. The imprt>ssion upon the hearts of tho people by tho truth in tho power of the iSpirit was very deep, as tho setjuol will show. I^lr. Moody held his usual meeting ou Sabbath evening for those in deep distress about salvation, and for those who had iound eternal life during the past weeks through faith in Je^^ust. The meeting was exclusively for men, and admission solely by ticket. Tho hall in which it was hold was com- plet^^ly filled. Mr. Moody stated in the noonday prayer- meeting on Monday that, in his judgment, it was the most remarkable meeting he has had yet in Europe. To God be nil tho praise ! One after another of these young men — and they comprise tho very flower of our youth — rose, and, with THE KVAN(;i';i,l,S'rS in llS(Uuo six hundred nuju did ho. Mr Moody again sifted them, by refjuesting that those Duly who were deeply anxious to be saved should adjourn to another room. Probably nearly throe hundred did so. In breathless stillness Mr. Moody addressed them, very briefly stating that he could do no more for them - that they had heard the goKpel, and that it was for themselves to decide. He called upon thom to kneel and pray for themselves. They bowed Ir hearts to Christ." We have never before seen such sights in Dublin as we have seen this last week, night after night, at the Exhibition THE GLORY OF GOD IK DUBLIN. One feela that tie spirit of GodT ■"" "'^'^ '» -^O-f"^ I^ni's people. "^ ^ * "P '° ">« throne from the building which has yet, Sir T """' "<'°"»'«''''- ''■"Posal. On Sunday las" fhe Ch; f """"'^ "' ^'- ^<->^y^ "aft to gladden theirhearts Tt T' f "*"•"'" ''"™-e-l at the first service at four o'clock f ' "^ f" ''""""'"» """ meeting and the Bible meeMn!i^ *"S to the pmyer- -"ices in the great eS^ Pa aT t '' " ""' ''"^'"^ the heart of the child of God wi^T ! " " "'«'»' ^ «" upon the platfo™ erected in tit w,T' """""" *» ^'«»<' Moody preaches, and to cast lit '"^' ^""^ ''''ich Mr. of people, hanging on thTs^ aWsC" ''" ^ '""""'^ he dKcourees on life and death h. ^ ' '" ''"™»8 "°«1« f love," and one can! t,' asHh ""' '""' "-^"^^ """ the magic power which draws f„.. '''"""'"' '"""hat is tudeaand holds then, sp JS^d r ! ''T """""'^ -"«■ or wealth, or learning, or ora^. o' th! '1"°"'"^ ™»'--' he .8 possessed of but little of th.l / ^'""'^'' ' ^o ; for » "ohly endowed with them ,1 ' J''''?r'^' '"'''< ''« "P of the cross of Christ .). k ,. " "" '™P''' «fti»" Jesus before the eyes of tL ?"'"« ^°'"' "f the lord fio^head. in aU thrsij i rof^.'" «" 'hegloiy of H' perfection of His nature fo h., ,, ' """"''"O'i, in all the «on, „d for their accep£'"" '^'»'"'"'"'. ^o' their ado J f ■H 132 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. For some time, notwithstanding the huge crowds, our brethren felt that they were not reaping heavj sheaves as they had done elsewhere. But the conviction grows upon us that the " set time " to favor us has come. The work is deepening and widening every day. In many families with which I am intimately acquainted one or more of the members have hopefully turned unto the Lord. I know cases in which I may say the whole family has been brought to seek salvation as the one thing needful. It is very observable, too, how previously existing prejudice has abated, or entirely disap- peared, at least in the case of those who manifest any resp^t for religion. There are, of course, scoffers not a few. But it is truly a matter of astonishment in a city like this, that there is so little of open resistance or even of ridicule. Our Roman Catholic brethren, as a rule, have acted a noble part. They have been respectful, and, to a certain extent, sympathizing. In this week's number of the Nation — an organ at once of national (as it is called) and Ultra- montane principles — an article has appeared entitled " Fair Play ! " which is exceedingly creditable, and which indicates the advent of a new day in Ireland. The editor informs his constituents that " the deadly danger of the age comes upon us from the direction of Huxley, and Darwin, and Tyndall, rather than from Moody and Sankoy. Irish Catholics desire to see Protestants deeply imbued with religious feeling, rather than tinged with rationalism and infidelity ; and as long as the religious services of our Protestant neighbors are honestly directed to quickening religious thought in their own body, without offering aggressive or intentional insult to us, it is our duty to pay the homage of our respect to their conscientious convictions ; in a word, to do as we would be done by." (The italics are the Nation's.) It would surely be a bright and blessed day for our country if this spirit of mutual respect mi )U8 :he )ect THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. ^33 and toleration were every wliere honestly acted out amongst us. Mr. Moody never makes controversial reference to others. His success in attracting the favorable attention of our brethren of a different faith has been unexampled in the history of our city. One very marked feature in the movement is the number of men that are influenced. Many people have remarked the large proportion of them tliat are inquiring. A few nights ago an old gentleman, more than seventy years of age, threw himself down on his knees and sobbed like a child. He said, " I was utterly careless about my soul till last night, but I have been so unhappy since, I could not sleep. I seemed to hear ringing in my ears, ' Jesus of Naza- reth is passing by,* and if I don't get saved now I never shall be." Already the influence of this work has begun to tell upon the most remote districts of the country. Parties of thirty, fifty, sixty, etc., are being organized from the most distant parts to Dublin. Many of these carry back with them much blessing. We hear of the young converts witnessing for Christ fearlessly in the trains on their way home from their meetings. "The Lord hath done groat things for us, whereof we are glad. " But we expect greater things still. I am fully confident, from all the indications I see, that next week will be likely greatly to surpass the previous delightful weeks we have had. The memory of these blessed meetings in the Metropolitan Hall and the Exhibition building, will long, yea, will ever be fragrant in our hearts. I do not think we had ever such an antepast of heaven. The Public Breakfast given to Messrs. Moody and Sankey yesterday morning was, in every way, a wonderful meeting. I heard nearly all to whom I spoke on the subject say it was the happiest reunion they ever attended. It was a truly .1 'k 134 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. catholic gathering. Eminent men among us, under the in- fluence of deep emotion, bore testimony to the spiritual good they had received at the meetings. Ministers testitied of the instruction and quickening that had come to them. No men — ministers, evangelists or others — ever before brought a more interested assembly around them in Dublin than these honored servants of the Lord did yesterday morn- ing in the Shelbourne Hotel. And yet it is not Messrs. Moody and Sankey, but the Christ they preach and sing. It is Christ lifted up that draws all men unto Him. Oh that we might all learn that we have here the true and only uniting power for Ireland ! I can confidently say that the work here intensifies and spreads every day, I might say every hour. Some of our more timid and cautious friends who had almost never come ill contact with a great religious awakening, were fearful, while we were making our preliminary arrangements, that it would be next to impossible to keep up the interest of the people for a month or more ; but the fact is, the interest was never nearly so great as it is this moment ; and as the time of our brethren's departure draws near, the eagerness to hear their every word and catch their every song is something wonderful to see As I remarked before, this eagerness does not now proceed from curiosity. At all the meetings yesterday, the attendance was enor- mous. It is a very healthful sign of this work that the daily prayer-meeting continues to be so largely attended, although neither Mr. Moody nor Mr. Sankey usually takes a very prominent part in it. The requests for prayer have become so numerous, that it has been found impossible to read even a brief classification of them. The letters have for some days been " spread before, the Lord," after the example of good King Hezekiah, the meeting uniting in silent entreaty for the special cases sent in. THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN 135 Hundreds were obliged yesterday to go away disappointed irf their efforts to get into the Bible-reading in the Metro- politan Hall. Mr. Moody reserved his best wine to the last. A more suggestive Bible-lecture it was never our privilege to hear. We had a compendium of some half a dozen Bible- readings. The great bulk of the people, ministers included, were taking notes. It is given to few preachers to have so many reporters. Many a good sermon will be got out of yesterday's addresses. One minister remarked that it was as good as an addition of many a good book to his library. It is calculated that m the evening there were not less than 12,000 persons assembled in the Exhibition building. There is not a Sabbath service in any congregation in Britain in which there is a greater solemnity and decorum than there was in that vast assembly. The sight from the platform of these earnest, and, in many cases, awe-stricken thousands, is one that it will be impossible for us ever to forget. Some one remarked to me, a daj' or two ago, how significant it was that during the severe weather of last week, even a cough was scarcely heard in that great-crowded glass building. When Mr. Sankey sings the silence is sometimes even oppressive. We are now engaged in giving out tickets for the Thanksgiving meeting to bo held on Wednesday evening, the last night Mr. Moody has promised to be with us. The tickets are given only to those who profess to have been brought to Christ during the special service. Wo are very careful in giving these tickets, though I doubt not there may be many stony-ground hearers. We have had the help in this work of some of the most experienced ministers of the gospel in our city j and the general impression made on the minds of the brethren who have taken part in it, is of deep and intense gratitude for the many indubitable tokens of the presence and power 0^ 136 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. k I 1 the regenerating Spirit of God. About a thousand tickets have been already given out ; but many of the converts have not yet applied. Arrangements have been made for the carrying on of special prayer and evangelistic meetings, after our brethren have left. Leading ministers of all our evangelical churches have thrown themselves heartily into these arrangements. We have felt that it is a good thing — good for ourselves, and good for that cause which, with all our imperfections, is dearer to us than life — for brethren to dwell together, and work together, in unity. The labors of the Evangelists closed with a three days* convention, which was attended by 800 ministers from all parts of Ireland, besides thousands of the general public. The first day was devoted to discussions on the following topics : " Praise and Thanksgiving ; " " How are the masses to bo reached 1" " What can be done to promote the Lord's work tliroughout Ireland V &c. The second day was signalized by a gathering of over 2,000 converts, to whom Mr. Moody addressed loving counsels, and on the third day there was another gathering of the ministers in the Exhibition Palace. And thus terminated one of the most remarkable gatherings ever held in Dublin. Mutual love and courtesy marked all the proceedings. Strangers could not tell to what body of Christians many of the speakers belonged. The labors of the Evangelists in Ireland were ended ; and on Sunday, the 29th of November, at Manchester, they began their new work in England. W The happy visit of Messrs. Moody and Sankey to Dublin is now a thing of the past. These men of God are gone from us, but the work remains. That work consists : 1. In a great general aioakening throughout Dublin and its neighborhood. This is a fact which is patent to all, and cannot be gainsaid or denied. It is a fact that from 12,000 us. THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. ^17 in Im Id id )0 to 20,000 persons have been attracted to the Exhii-iiion Palace every Sunday afternoon since the work began ; that the attendance at the services held each evening in the same place, beginning with some 5,000 people, increased each evening till it became as great as on the Sundays ; and this notwithstanding an audience of from 2,000 to 2,500 had been in daily attendance at the noon prayer-meeting in the Metropolitan Hall, and on three days in each week at the Bible readings at two o'clock in the same place. What has been the great attractive power which has drawn together such vast multitudes 1 Thank God, it was the simple statement of gospel truth — the old, old story of Jesus and His love, plainly and lovingly told. 2. The bringing in of some 3,000 converts to the fold of Christ. Nearly 2,000 tickets wore issued to those who pro- fessed to have found the Lord Jesus as their Saviour since these services began. To these must be added the many hundreds who came up from all parts of the country to attend the services, and who found "joy and peace in believing," some of whom are known to myself, besides all those who are still day by day being added to the Lord. 3. The quickening and refreshing of many hundreds of ministers, in connection with the convention held this week. It was a happy thought to bring so many ministers of the various evangelical denominations together at this time. It afforded them an opportunity of seeing with their own eyes the reality o|/this great work of God which is going on around us, getting their own hearts warmed up afresh, and thus of becoming, when they return homo, more than ever centres of spiritual light and heat in their own parishes and districts. • Says a well-informed writer : " The finances of the Dublin revival are worthy of special attention. Some days before Messrs. Moody and Sankey arrived, three or four gentlemen >. 'I It 5 < % 'M nl I' -HI WMWI ^smammm I3S MOODV AND SANKI.V IN CKKAT nKlTAIN. mot ut tlu< olVn'«> of Mr. David Prununoiul ; and, iiflor mn- »\\\U\i\o\\ juul pmyor, dooidrd to h(muI out a cinMdar, HiiyiiiK that tlio AuuMicau Kvan{^«>li>(Mi (mi^u;^(vI lor Utom ; und that moiu\v woidvl ho wautt^l to moot tht^ hirgo oxpj'UHOrt attoiuhmt upon tlio sorviooM. It was (h'tonniiuMl to ask lor tlio huih of ^l,MU) ; ami oircular.s for tins imrpoKo woro Hont out to livo or six thousand of tho loadiui; oiti/,(MiH of Duhlin. Only two instanoos of ]>orsonal soiioilttion aro nuMitionod, hut th(j luonoy oamo in so last that Mr. Ihinuniond, who was tl»o troasuror, WJVi« ohhgod to omploy a cK>rk to k»M'p tho rooonl. Ohl hidioH would oojuo in Hath ohairs to hrin^^ half a crown. IVjoplo in high lifo canio in oarriai,'os, hringin^ oho(|uoa or gold. Mvon tho j)oor dosirod to hav(> sonu> sharo in tho work, and gavo thoir ponniov^ ami halt-poiic , By soiuo moans tho suhaoription hooamo known to tho pii-^ouors iu a cortain jail in tho south of livlanil, and thov, vojj;rotting thoir iiuihility to ho prosont, sent thoir good wishos and a littlo colloction which had boon raisod among tluMu, to tho amount of twonty-livo shillingg. From Pwtost^vnts and Papists, masters ami servants, tho con- tributions poured in. >«o sum larger than ,£30 was received. A largo part of tho money was in silver and copper, but the full amount required was raised. " Having now oomo so near to tho question of tho support of ^lessrs. Moody and Sankoy, tho readers of this work will naturally desii^e to know something on that interesting topic. Fere let it be said, once for all, that these brethren do not work for pay. They have never sought an invitation ; never stipulated for any sum of money to bo given them, either for their services or expenses. In every instance Mr. Moody determined the question of going to or passing by a place under the direction, as he believed, of the Spirit of God. The committees • hich have invited him have h6ld t^^e matter of VWV. (;i,()UY OF (U)\) IN hIJIU-IN, 'v; nnanoo mitimly iii Hkmi' own IiiuuIh. 'I'lioy have tiuhcA tlio nionoy ah Um^y plmiHixl, and ^ivoii Iiitn hiic.Ii hiikih iih tli(;y ji)(Iko(1 HuiUlilo ; tliimo ho Iiuh Hlianxi with Mr. Saiikc.y, ftnd thuH ilu^y hdVd hihfir(Ml toi^clhor, ifikin^ what, (ioil Hv<' Mr. Moody a Huni of rnonoy, whicdi thoy ftl'tt)rwardn woro f■ m 4iiL>> 150 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT liRlTAIN. in a couple of days part of the building, giving accommo- dation to about 500 persons, was seated, lighted with gas, and heated ; so that on Wednesday night Mr. Moody used it as an inquiry -room after the meeting in the Free Trade Hall, and we had the joy of seeing it full of anxious souls. This was a blessed consecration of the building for a higher and nobler object than ever it had been used for before. The scheme for the visitation of every house in Manches- ter is working well and with the happiest results. The fol- lowing is the plan adopted : A Christian architect, who has entered most heartily into the service, has cut up the large scale Ordinance Map of Manchester into about fifty districts, each of which is under the charge of a superintendent, who is supplied with a sufficient number of visitors to reach every house within the limits of his district. A leaflet, containing the hymn " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by " and a short address by Mr. Moody, is left at each house ; but it is understood by the visitors that this paper is only to be used as an introduc- tion for the purpose of gaining admission to the houses, so as to have personal conversation about eternal things with each individual, as far as possible. Some of the visitors have already given in most cheering reports of the marvellous way in which the hearts of the people seemed open to receive their visits, showing that the Lord is in this movement, and is pre- paring many hearts for the reception of His own blessed message of salvation. ' The meetings came to an end the last day of 1874. They have been blessed to vast numbers. In the inquiry-room I have met with many who stated that they had never had the way of salvation so plainly put before them as by !Mr. Moody. In not a few instances, too, Mr. Sankey's beautiful and touch- ing solos, especially " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," " Al- most persuaded," and " Prodigal child," have proved to be All. THE HAkVEST m ENGLAND. t5t IS arrows of conviction, entering the heart in the most unex- pected manner and leading to conversion. And what shall I more say 1 for the t . ould fail me to toll of all the blessed fruits, already apparent, of the extraordinary efforts of these dear men of God. Suffice it to say, in a sentence, that all classes of the community — old and young, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, ministers and laymen, masters and ser- vants, teachers and scholars — have received a large blessing from the religious services conducted by the American breth- ren, and are deeply sensible, I trust, of the mighty debt of gratitude under which they have been laid. The Lord bless them, and make them blessings wherever they go ! The closing week has been the most joyful of all. The tide of blessing whi' has been steadily rising has this Week reached its flood ; arnestness of the preacher and the eagerness of the people have seemed alike to intensify, and the unconverted have been called to take refuge in Christ with a vehemence of entreaty which has exerted a mighty influence on the assemblies. During these five weeks God has answered the prayers of many years, and we cannot but feel that what has been going on in the city has made Man- chester peculiarly interesting to the dwellers in heaven. At nine on Wednesday evening, abou" 2,000 men reas- sembled in the hall, to hear what Mr. Moody had to say on the subject of the Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Herbert Spencer occupied the chair, and gave a brief address, intimating that it was in contemplation to buy the Museum for the Young Men's Christian Association, for £30,000. Mr. Moody delivered an inspiriting address, in which he enlarged on the spiritual advantages of the Association, and urged the straining of every effort to reach the young men of Manchester, and to secure the building in question for the Association. A collection toward the object, made at the close, realized if 1 m ■ i 4 - 1 ; '■mvm^^'m mmnw »9ff.i,'>f'fi'j*.i iHi 1^2 MOODY AND SANKKY IN GREAT HRITAIN. $0,000, J|fr>,000 of which was givoti, I holi(!V.\ hy tho chnir- man. Tliis amount, with what hns hoc^n rccoivnd before, inchuling $2,500 givon last wot^k hy Mr. J. Stuart, makes a total, at present rocoiv(nl or j)r()n)iHO(I, of iif 10,000. On Thursday morniiif,', Mr. Moody a(Mros.sod a crowded mooting in tho Higher Hrougliton TMoHhyterian Church, ond then caino on to tho noon pniyor-nu'etin^ in tho Oxford Hall, whoro ho read and comnientod on tho earlier part of the 10.3rd Psnlm. Ho said ho had to hless tho Tcc who are different, it does not matter much, because salvation does not depend upon us, but upon Him. And the Bible tells us all about it in one little golden sentence, which we must all ask God to burn into our hearts, and then we shall never be troubled any more about our feel- ings. In Heb. xiii. 8, He says, ' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.' Yes I the same ; no matter how changed we are, no matter how dull, how joyless, He is \ '■tl »c'. TIMES OF r.I-KSSiNC; IX SIIEFFIKLD. 1^3 just as He was yetitciday, just as He was tlie niglit when wo yot our tirst glimpse of His dying love for us. " Oil, dear friends, let us keep looking to Hiii), anii\ ,11 1 ill I li! CHAPTER IX. THE "world's toy-shop" WELCOMES THEM. IQiRMrXGHAM, with its 400,000 people, the con- stituency of John Bright, the EngUsh reformer, now looks up to God for a shower of grace upon the seed- sowing of the Evangelists, who hegan there January 17, and closed on the 29th. Never before in Birmingham have any preachers drawn such vast numbers of people as these brethren are doing at this time. Thousands are flocking daily to hear them from the districts around. The whole community seems stirred up. That which seems to be uppermost in men's minds, is the present marvellous gatherings that are daily taking place. There is no lack of opportunity for the Christian to put in a word fc r the Master, for wherever you go — whether in the counting-house, shop, refreshment-room, train, omnibus, and even as you walk along the street — the one topic is the doings of these wonderful men of God. If you want to get a seat at their meetings, you must be there fully one hour before the time, and a stranger entering the town must be struck with the determination of those who daily seek these gatherings. Every day this week hundreds have been turned away from the noonday meetings held in the Town Hall. Meet- THE "world's toy-shop" WELCOMES THEM. 16$ ings are now being held in Can's Lane Chapel every after- noon at three o'clock, and here again it is necessary to be there some time before the service commences. In fact, yes- terday I was there at two o'clock, and tlie body of the chapel was then filled. It is estimated that three thousand people are in this building every afternoon. To convey to the mind of the reader the sight which pre- sents itself on entering Bingley Hall is impossible. Sloping down from the galleries which run round the building, other galleries have been erected, and the whole building, from the speaker's platform, looks like one vast amphitheatre. The crimson cloth which drapes the galleries adds to the general effect, and makes the hall look very comfortable. The im- mense sea of faces is singularly impressive, especially when from 12,000 to 15,000 people are listening eagerly to catch the words that fall from the speaker's lips. The question may be asked, What ell'ect is this movement having upon the people in general 1 I reply, Good every way. The .stirring addresses given by Mr. Moody to Christians from the very first morning, aie bearing fruit. They are beginning to look about, and realize that thousands around them are living without Christ. Many Christians have spoken to me of the fresh energy with which they have been stimu- lated, through att('n(''rif' the meetings. As for those who nightly throng I' .ngley Hull, the best test of the work I can give IS, t^ ereas at fii ' the after-meetings were held in a neighbori church, the anxious ones have now become so numerous tin' th v are obliged to remain in the hall, while earnest Christian workers, with Bib^ in hand, pass from one to another, and open to inquirers the way of life. All this proves to us the great power of God, and what He can do by two men who give themselves wholly up to Him. The work " is marvellous in our ey^ ," but iUis not less m^r- 'f I, ,ir it . 1 1.! n ^v 1 f < ' 1 i 1 '{ B [ ;>f f i I W^ i * 1 t . Sl ' Q - ,t 1 . Mj \n M 1 ^J^ l66 MOODY AND SANKEY IN flREAT RUTTAIN. -; volloiia that their physical stroiigtli does not p;ivo way under their unceasing lahors. While Mr. Sankoy is j,'reatly gifted witli power to use his voice in singing tl»e Gospel, Mr. Moody Ims a way of marvellously picturing, in the most vivid manner, Bible truths. From the humorous he can come down ^o the pathetic, and so move his hearers to tears, and withal there is a " holy boldness" which is seldom to bo met witli in the preachers of the present day. The MornliKj Nows says : "Never before in the history of Birmingham, I believe, have two men drawn such large num- bers of people together as Messrs. Moody and Sankey have done, time after time, during the whole of last week and yes- terday. The Town Hall, Carr's Lane Chapel, and Bingley» Hall, have beeri entirely lilled at most of their meetings uncomfortably crowded at some, and all but full at one or two others. Since commencing their labors here, they have held twenty-two servicer, namely, four in Carr's Lane Chapel, six in the Town Hall, and twelve in Bingley Hall. No doubt in many cases the same persons presented themselves at the meetings again and again ; but it is probable that the t.adiences were, for the most part, different on each occasion. At the four meetings in Carr's Lane Chapel, somr 12,000; at the six in the Town \L\\, about 24,000, and at ae tv^olve in Biiigley Hall at least 120,000 persons must have been pre- sent, making a total of 150,000 men, women, and cliildien, to whom, during the last eight days, they have preached and sung the Gospel. Nor does the interest in the men a id their work as yet know any abatetuent, it being likely that the services to be held this week will be as numerously attended as those of last week " Amidst all the cavQ of unbelief, and other opponents, tliousandfj can testify, day by day, to the nudiij and power widely spreading and def:^)etun.(f blessing upon their souls* uff^if.«lWujf^!;||Jiiyiip(iVfiJWi(iiftJ.»«!i^p»fT?v^ iiiK "world's iov-siioi'" wki.comes i'hkm. 167 M ►Siuiuir.s have beuii converted to God, and believevH cdilicul. Whole congn^gations, both in churches and ch;;pela, have felt its animating power. The clergy and ministers of various denominations have rejoiced together in this blesKod work of the Lord, and felt its (luickening inlluence. Many of the Lord's servants have met toj,'ether for the first time, and felt their hearts drawn out in brotherly love and sympathy, enabling tliem to overlook various minor differences of creed and church government. The noonday prayer meeting was first held in the Tov7n Hall, which large building was filled long before the appointed hour. A very solemn and prayeri'ul spirit seemed to pervade the masses — the stillness was (juite impressive, and the great bulk of the people seemed to enter most deeply into the im- portance and solemnity of the occasion. The numbers at the noonday prayer meeting were probably quite 3,000. After- ward it was changed to IJingley Hall, where thousands more might be accommodated. The afternoon Bible-reading is also well attended, aiul greatly enjoyed by many. The evening meetings have gone on steadily increasing, until at le,»gth, E suppose, some 15,000 must have been congregated together. The attention of these great masses (assembled an hour before the time) was well sustained by singing — and, as a brither clergyman said to me on the platform, *' Wo never heard such singing of the yood Old Hundredth Psalm before, and probably may never hear the like again " — as it burst forth from the hearts and lips of this vast assemblage. Oh ! it was a touching sight and a telling sound — ^such as Jjirminghani itself had never witnessed before — 15,000 met together, night after night, to listen to the loving, sympathizing, fervent preaching of Jiwus Christ, the Saviour of sinners ! And the audience felt it ! The Holy Spirit of God seemed working in our midst — alike 1 1 ih 4 ii, i ■p,i m 1 68 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. alike on preacher and hearers — and many were the hearts moved. At 7.30 Messrs. Moody and Sankey entered the building. The service began by singing, then prayer was offered, another hymn or two were sung, a portion of Holy Scripture read, another hymn, and then followed the address. Numerous anecdotes were related, as if not only to illustrate certain points, but also to rivet the attention, and then, as the preacher's heart and tongue seemed set on fire, all these little adjuncts were submerged in the one glowing, burning theme — salva- tion for lost sinners — yea, a present and immediate salvation, for every one that believeth in Jesus ! As I sat near the preacher, I could read the meaning of the big drops upon his brow, and how his whole frame was moved, not with selfish passions, seeking personal admiration, but steeped in the love and spirit of hie Master. One great object was kept steadily in view — the glory of God in the salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ, and the intense longing that thousands might share with him the blessings and the joys of this great sal- vation ! Almost breathless stillness chained the audience. Numbers stayed for the after-meetings ; the females in the side-galleries, the males in the Scotch church adjoining. On the first Monday evening Mr. Moody himself undertook the men, but finding the numbers so large, he sent up to the platform for assistance. Undoubtedly personal interviews are the best. We have reason to believe that many found pardon and peace in Jesus, and are spreading their happy and holy influ- ences around. The singing appeared to be improving night after night, as Die vast masses gradually learned the tunes and hymns. Mr. Stmkoy's solos were powerfully and sweetly sung, and his clear utterance and distinct enunciation of syllable after syllable gave a great effect and pathos to the whole. THE "WORLD'S TOY-SHOP " WELCOMES THEM. 1 69 ire And on Tuesday, January 26, the day of the convention, it was supposed that from one to two thousand ministers of various denominations attended the gathering, which began that day at ten o'clock and continued till four p.m. Truly it was a great evidence of the Divine blessing, as the delegates from Edinburgh, and Dublin, and other cities, told how the work was still progressing in their respective cities after Messrs. Moody and Sankey had left, and in some places ripening in a raoet marvellous manner. Indeed a letter reached me only yesterday, telling me of a brother clergyman in Dublin who had a list of sixty persons in his congregation who had appar- ently been brought to Christ through attending the meetings of Messrs. Moody and Sankey. Verily, the Lord is blessing the evangelistic labors of our dear brothers in Christ — Moody and Sankey. I do not pre- tend to endorse every utterance, or to see with them exactly, eye to eye, on every point. But I do see, and I do greatly rejoice in their being raised up by God to proclaim, so touch- ingly and so successfully, the utter ruin of sinful, fallen man, and his recovery solely through faith in Jesus Christ ! The all-day convention on Tuesday was in every way a successful meeting. It was att^ded by immense crowds, throughout the day, and many well-known ministers and others were present from London and various towns in the provinces, as well as Scotland and Ireland. Mr. Moody presided through- out the day, with his usual tact and energy. The first hour was fitly devoted to praise, and Mr. Sankey's opening address was followed by powerful testimony to the value of the services by our brethren in Scotland and Ireland. All the speakers concurred in saying that a new song had been put into their mouths. Mr. Moody occupied the next hour with an address on *' Work ; " and his trenchant words, uttered in the presencij of m I/O MOODV AND SANKRY IN GREAT JiRlTATN. so many Christian workers, were potent with blessing in stirn':- lating them to do more than ever for the Master in their widely separated vineyards. "How to conduct prayer-meetings " was the next topic, and a most important one it is. We cannot better describe many of the prayer-meetings we have been accustomed to attend in past years than by comparing them to " wet blankets." They have been characterized by so much frigidity and routine that we do not wonder the attendance has mostly been small. Mr. Moody will have done us British Christians a great and lasting service if he has been enabled to show how our prayer-meetings may be made broad and deep channels of blessing and happi- ness, both to Christians and the careless world round about us. We look for this result. More important, perhaps, was the subject of the next hour, " How to reach the masses." Whoever will solve that prob- lem will earn the unspeakable gratitude of all who sigh for the conversion of the nations to Christ. The rousing addresses of Mr. Chown, of Bradford ; Mr. Newman Hall, of London j Mr. R. W. Dale, of Birmingham ; Mr Fletcher, of Dublin, and others, all men of large experience, will, wo trust, have con- tributed somewhat to this desired end. Mr. Moody was as practical as ever in his answers to the questions sent in ; and if those who sent them will only apply those answers, we are inclined to think the hour devoted to the " Question Drawer " will be the most fruitful of any. In the evening a public service was held in the same place ; hundreds were unable to gain admission. The Kev. Newman Hall, of London, delivered an address, earnestly entreating all present to forsake sin and come to Christ. Mr. Moody, in his discourse, urged on his hearers immediate decision for (Jhrist. Mr. Sankey's singing of sacred songs seems to make a deep impression upon the great congregation, . ^ ■ THE "world's TOV-SIIOP" WfCLCOMFIS THEM. 171 to tho apply ited to y- place ; jwnuvu ^ng all in lii« phrist. la iloep At the meeting in JUngley Hall on Friday evening, Mr. Moody said : I was very dejected last night. Our meetings have been so much blessed that an effort was put forth to get Bingley Hall for another week. When we got home last even- ing, we fouiid a «lespatch from a gentleman, saying we could not have the hall. I was greatly depressed all day. Now, however, I have just been told we may yet obtain the hall for another week. But the committee are v/avering a little, as they have some fears the people will not come out to the meet- ings next week. We have had good committees wherever we have been ; but we have never had a better committee than the Birmingham one, and I know they will come to a wise decision. But if you are anxious about your souls, you'll attend the meetings. We'll get several gentlemen to speak, and we hope you'll rally rcund them and the committee. We have had great blessings in other towns; but I think we never met with anything that came up to this — to our meetings in Birmingham. I must say I've never enjoyed preaching the gospel more than I have done since we came to Birmingham. We've reached so many people. I only wish we could have such a hall wherever we go. 1 think if we could only take up Bingley Hall, we would carry it round the world with us, as a place in which to preach tho gospel to all men. But I would like you Birmingham people to go with us. Well, then, il we do our best to get speakers for another week, will you do your best to get hearers for the speakers] (Many cries of '•Yes," " yes.") Well, keep your promise. Why, almost any man could speak in this luiU to such a meeting as this. The very sight of you is enough to make a dumb dog bark. I'll telegraph off to Liverpool and London to send us all tho help they can. There will be a service on Sunday afternoon, when one of your own ministers will preach. On Monday night j'ou'U have a thanksgiving service. Come to it to thank God I -11 %■ t '- M 1/2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. for having answered our prayers to bless these meetings. Has God not answered your prayers 1 (Cries of " Yes," " yes.") Then on Tuesday we'll get some one else to speak. On Wednesday there will be the usual services in the churches and chapels. On Thursday night there will be another speaker. On Friday I will come back, on my way to Liverpool, and we'll have a meeting for all the converts, Now, let all rise who will support the committee and attend the different meet- ings. (Almost the entire audience stood up in response to this appeal.) Yes ; the committee are quite satisfied. We'll go on then. Pray there may be hundreds and thousands con- verted next week. If things do not always please you, don't complain ; just pray. Pray for a great blessing next week. Services were held in Bingley Hall, from 5,000 to 7,000 persons having been present at each. At Messrs. Moody and Sankey's farewell service, Bingley Hall was once more crowded to its utmost, nearly 1,600 con- verts* tickets being applied for. It would be manifestly prema- ture to assert that this number of people have been converted during the previous three weeks' services. As Mr. Moody said at the Conference in London, on the same day, they did not desire to reckon up the number of converts, because they could not judge of the reality of the cases. At the same time we think it very probable that many have been brought sav- ingly to believe in Christ who did not apply for converts' tickets. In any case, the progress of the movement in Bir- mingham has been such as greatly to encourage and cheer our American brethren and those who helped them in their labors; and we respond to Mr. Moody's hope that it may " continue for a year." Mr. Moody's address to the converts was, as usual, most fitting. His parting sentences were the expression of aflfec- tionate regard, and it was plain, from the demeanor of the audi one. THE "world's TOY-SHCr" WELCOMES THEM. 1 73 m rl audience, that the parting on their side was a most reluctant one. Mr. Sankey sang the farewell hymn with great pathos and feeling ; and an leaving the hall both he and Mr. Moody were besieged with friends anxicus to receive a parting shake -" the hand. They proceeded to Liverpool on Saturday. A correspondent writes concerning this meeting : " "We shall never forget that address." Such was the almost invol- untary exclamation of a well-dressed mechanic who was stand- ing by us in the aisle of Bingley Hall. And truly the work of the Lord in this town is such as has never before been seen here. We were praying and expecting great things, but the blessing has exceeded our expectations ; never before have the people of every class been so moved and such glorious results followed. A week having elapsed since Mr. Moody left us, we are enabled to speak in a measure of results. First, the life of the ministers who have taken part has been largely increased, so that the testimony of many of the hearers last Sunday was, " Our minister preaches like a new man ;" then the renewed life of the churches is already manifesting itself in the desire to work either in Sunday schools or tract districts ; and besides this, the people outside are more dis- posed to hear the gospel, many coming into our churches last Sunday, and in more cases than one when notice was given out after the service that inquirers would be spoken to, num- bers varying from twenty to sixty passed into the vestry, and many rejoiced in a new-found Saviour. Our hearts are indeed full of praise ; should we be silent, the stones might well cry out, "But we will bless the Lord from this time forth, and for evermore." 1 know of no one of the many blessed hymns which has more struck the heart and arrested attention than that sweet oue whose chorus begins, " Oh, 'twas love, 'twas wondrous 1 •M i I '■:{ ^ h.m.\ il ^:i\: •'tt -I m 174 MOOin' ANJ) SANREV IN CiREAT BRITAIN. love, the love of God to me." This love and its manifesta- tion is the theme of every sermon, and, of course, God owns it. Ministers wonder at failure, and try to discover the cause 3 a week of services such as Birmingham has had for the last fortnight, I think must answer the question, " What is the cause of failure V* for we have seen in the crowded meetings, in the overwhelming number of anxious ones, in the utter breaking down of strong men, the secret of success. The wondrous love of God has been the weapon which has been used ; failure in using this weapon has been the cause of failure in result. Never has Birmingham been so mightily moved ; in the workshops Sankey's songs are sung, and men who cared for none of these things are anxiously inquiring after the good news. Oh, may our God carry on the work begun with mighty power. i : CHAPTER X. LIVERPOOL S MONTH OF iMERCV. UK bretlireu revisited this great city by the sea on the 7th of February, and remained till March 7, Uli Jl 1875. Twenty thousand dollars had been expended yi/'J^i for a building capable of seating eight thousand per- sons, and, when crowded, several thousand more were accommodated. It was named Victoria Hall. The Friday preceding the arrival was observed as a day of preparation on the part of many of the churches, and the first meeting of the Evangelists was on Sunday morning, at eight o'clock, for Christian workers. This was followed by the afternoon and evening meetings. All Liverpool was moved by them ; but not with the most desirable feelings. Some were actuated by a spirit of embit- tered hostility, and did not hesitate to write and speak of these servants of Christ what had not the shadow of truth. This very opposition, however, did good. Cod makes ** the wrath of men to praise Him." I have known of some who entered Victoria Hall bitter enemies, and left it attached friends to the movement. ]\Iany flock to the meetings ap- parently from idle curiosity, and thousands under spiritual anxiety, whilst God's people rally round the Iwangelists with i 176 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. an enthusiasm and hearty good-will which is cheering to observe. * At last Mondaj' evening's meeting, an intelligent young man informed me he came into that hall to scoff at all he heard. " I believed only in God and the devil ; the latter I served well, and, as sitting laughing at the fools (as I then thought) about me, that beautiful hymn, * Safe in the arms of Jesus,' was sung. A sudden thrill passed through my whole frame, and then like a dart ran through my very heart. My feelings were awful, but I listened to the next verse, and felt there is a Saviour. "Who is He 1 "Where is He ? In- stantly ' realized the truth, Jesus is the Saviour. I threw myself into His loving arms, and here I am now, rejoicing in Him." " Blessed be God," I said, "for such news. IS'ow, brother, go home and tell your friends what great things God hath done for your soul." "Will you pray?" he said. We went together to the throne, and then he said, " God bless you. I will now live and work for Jesus." The devil lays his plans, and no doubt thinks they are well arranged, but whilst he proposes certain events, God dis- poses of them in a very different way than Satan expected. Of» this I have had an instance. " I am under a dreadful temptation," said a young man to me. "What is it?" I asked. " I was given drink by a man professing to be a Chris- tian, and whom I have heard preaching the truth to me and others, but who is opposed to Moody and Sankey, and I was sent here by him to give annoyance. Now I am brought to Christ, in place of dishonoring Christ in this meeting, what am I to do to this man V . - LIVERPOOL'S MONTH OF MERCY. 177 " Pray for him," I said, " and God will give him to you as a star for your crown. Tell him plainly his state, and bring him here with you next night. " I knew a lady who went to a religious meeting an avowed infidel, sent there by two sisters-in-law for a similar purpose to that which brought you this night here. She was brought to Christ, and sent back to them full of Jesus, and was the means of their saving conversion ; and now all three are rejoicing in the great salvation effected by Jesus, the Son of God, for every penitent, believing child of Adam." Truly the Lor.l is doing great things for us, " whereof we are glad." It may emphatically be said of them, "They came, they spoke, they conquered." For twenty years I have been more or less mixed up with the evangelistic work of the town, but never have I met with more opposition and scorn to any movement than the present. The erection of the vast hall to hold 10,000 persons, was looked on as monstrous folly. As it was being built, the talk was. To what purpose is this waste 1 But now what was called Moody's folly, is seen to be God's wisdom. Men who wrote, spoke against, and laughed at it, now speak with bated breath, come and hear, and go with changed thoughts. " Nothing succeeds like success," is an old world's adage, and in this is proved to be true ; — G,000 at a midday prayer meeting ; 6,000 at the afternoon Bible lecture ; 10,000 at the evening meeting, with the inquiry rooms full, are something that even the Exchange has to admit. But beyond this, there is the mighty working power of God's Spirit working and acting, which no tables can register or numbers record. "'Tis not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," was the key-note of the preparatory meetings, which has been steadily kept before a^U the workers, U 'Ms. '•'l.lt'l I > 2, ' .f i >.'SS T ii :| ■ 178 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GKIvVT JiKITATN. Tlie part allotteil to mo in the rrren.t work has enabled mo to see and test much that is ^oing on. And this I can say — there is wheat; there is chaf!'. The wheat is sound, and will he a glorious, bountiful harvest. The chaff will be blown avvay. Wheat and chalF always grow together. Never have wo been privileged to see so much real, genuine work — anxious faces, tearful eyes, aching hearts. Mr. bloody, after a telling address, went into the inquiry room, and his place was occupied by a layman, who wielded the sword of the Spirit with amazing power right and left. His words, powerful and well chosen, fell with force, and told on the vast audience, that seemed spellbound. Many seemed to be convicted of sin, and hurried into the inquiry room. Mr. ISIoody remarked that many people thought the Vic- toria Hall was a bad investment, but that, if souls wer6 born there, perhaps some of them would like to have a little stock in it. Mr. Moody's earnest invitation to those who were anxious about their salvation to stand up, and afterward to meet him in the inquiry room, was responded to by hundreds, who were not deterred from showing their anxiety by the curious gaze of many thousand spectators. Many striking instances of conversion have occurred, and other cases have come under my own observation in which backsliders have been led to return to their first love. One day at the noon prayer-meeting, Mr. Moody told of an in- teresting case of conversion he had met the night before. A young, stalwart man, who was to sail for America next day, had come into the meeting. He had been pricked to the heart by Mr. Moody's pointed appeals, and found his way to the inquiry room, and here, as he believed, to lay his hitherto unforgiven sins on Jesus. Later in the evening he called on Mr. Moody at bis hotel, aud received a letter of ■^ LIVERPOOL'S MONTH OF MERCY. 179 introduction to any of the Christian friends in America ho might meet. Ho was accompanied to tlie hotel hy his brother, who had come from the country witli liim to see him sail, and who seemed overjoyed to think thfit one ho nearly related to him was taking Christ with him ere he left his native shores. At the evening meetings the hall is always crowded with something like 10,000 people, and if it were not that the committee kept a great part of the passages clear to allow of access to the inquiry room, every inch of standing ground would be occupied. The attendance at tlie noon prayer- meeting averages 4,000 to 5,000, the audience, of course, not being so mixed as those in the evening. One gratifying cir- cumstance, however, in connection with the noon meeting should be noted, and that is, the presence of so many of the Liverpool merchants and business men. I have heard it stated that between twelve and one, when the noon prayer- meeting is held, 'Change is half deserted, and it has been remarked that no other source of attraction has ever drawn so many of these busy men away from their money-making for an hour in the middle of the day. ^lay they carry away some truth that will cling to tlieni when they are tempted to forget God in their haste to get rich ! A very happy feature of tlie work here, as elsewhere, is the sympathetic co-operation of many clergymen and ministers of various denominations. They appear on the platform and take part in the services, as well as in the personal dealing with the anxious. "This is glorious work; this is reality" Such was the remark that reached my ears one evening last week, as I was passing through the inquiry room adjoining Victoria Hall. There, I thought, is the whole movement in a nut shell. The more I see it, and the more I ponder over it, I am impressed i I r t i 1 ■ 5 'A U1 f , 1 n. h'r I iiiJi'' 180 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. I'v with the feeling of realiii/ that pervades this work, as it is now going on in Liverpool. Endless are the surmises, and very ludicrous some of thf3 guesses, as to the secret of its wonderful success. The Liverpool critics (and their nama is legion) are fairly puzzled. I sura it all up in the one word reaUty. Mr. Moody has often been described, and criticised, and dissected, both by friends and foes, but I think sufficient stress has been laid on his predominating characteri3tic of reaHty. As he said the other day, he pulls up his Tiot anon to see what he lias caught. This is the highest t(;st of his reality, and the one that has evoked the greatest criticism. ]^jut it is the one that has all along contributed most to the success of the movement. During the past week the slain of the Lord have been many. Every evening has seen fresh groups scattered over the inquiry room, with tearful eyes and troubled hearts, drinking in the affectionate words of invitation, or the plain words of appeal, addressed to theia by Mr, Moody and his co-workers. People who know least about it may affect to shrug the shoulder at the inquiry room, but one or two visits there would do them good, and probably convince them how indispensable it is to success in this work. I hope one result of this awakening in our land will be that every minister of the gospel, and every one who seeks to speak to liis fellow- men about salvation, will not only cast out the net, but will draw it up every time. The leading attraction of the meetings last week was'Mr. Moody's Bible lectures. On each occasion the hall was crowded ; so that on a moderate computation, the seed of the Word of God relating to these two most important subjects WHS sown in the hearts of some 60,000 or 70,000 persons, many of them from a long distance. i LiVERrOOL'S MONTH OF MERCY. I8l Mr. was the jects ■ Ions, I "^f LL The lectures are a treat of no onlinary kind. A.s exposi- tory discourses tliey are most valuabh, and reveal, to some extent, how Mr, ^NFoody has got, to use a common phrase, " the Bible at his finger ends." liut these lectures havo a wonderful horiatory as well as expository value. It is a gratifying fact thai, the attendance at the evenin;,' meetings chiefly continues to increase. During the first week of the services the Victoria Hall was almost sufficient to hold the crowds of eager listeners ; at any rate, the overflow was not considered so great as to necessitate the opening of other places. Last week, however, overflow meetings were held sometimes in two and sometimes in three JifFerent j)laces. One evening I went to St. John's Church, where I found W. H. M. Aiken and the vicar of the church conducting the service after the model of the services in Victoria llall. 'J'he body of the church was fllled partly with the overflow from the hall, and partly with those who had been induced to enter by personal solicitation, and by hearing a group of young men singing hymns in the churchyard. It was a motley company, and a great majority consisted of tliose who, from their dress and appearance, do not often And their way to God's house. There were numbers of men such as one sees lounging at street corners and about publicdiouscs, many young girls in work- ing attire and without bonnets, and a nuuiber of rougli neglecteddooking street Arabs. Their behavior, with one or two exceptions, was most orderly and attentive. A good sprinkling remained at the close to be conversed with, and many of them were enabled to lay their sins on Jesus, or, as the speaker said, to accept the fact that God had laid them there nearly nineteen hundred years ago. It is interesting and refreshing to notice how all grades of society and all ages are represented among the anxious who throng the inquiry room at the close of Mr. Moody's s 1 'I . 1 i . I. 11 ;! \ « Ik, l82 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. \m addresses. From the riclily-drcssed lady to the poor waif of the street, with scarce enou^di of clothing to cover his naked- ness; from tlie boy and girl of eight or ton years to the horny-handed, gray-headed working-man, with all the inter- vening stages of life — there you fin7rf ■7~^ ' =7^ ■»T''^.?'7- -J^' "^f in- of ted ch, mg iat by low CHAPTER XI. MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. ^HE scale of magnitude by wliich the work was car- ried on in tlio metropolis may be measured in our thoughts by one fact — over one lumdred and fifty thousand dollars weie expended in the prosecution during the four months from its commencement — Marcli 9th to July 11th, 1875. During the first month the meetings were held in North London, and in the Agricultural Hall, the largest building in that quarter. It is said that once, at the Agricultural Hall, Mr. Spurgeon preached to twenty-two thousand people. But for the different style of the arrangements in the vast interior, that would probably have been the number present on Tuesday night, when the Chicago Evangelists entered on their London campaign. As it was, the audience could not bo less than eighteen thousand; in all likelihood it reached twenty thousand. Tiie chairs numbered fourteen thousand according to some authorities, fifteen thousand say others ; and not one of these, nor scarcely an inch of standing-ground, was loft unoccupied, while the doors had to be closed in the face of many hundreds for whom there was no room. The anxiety to procure admission was indicated by the fact that fully two hours before the time advertised for the beginning of the service crowds began I'll M ■i m Mf ■^^ni -■f IK •'M ' '* v'S ft i; l88 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. to assemble. We were there a few minutes after six, and already the building seemed to be more than half full, while the stream of people entering was in full flood, arid required not many minutes to crowd every vacant spot, excepting only the reserved seats near the platform, for which tickets ^\ ere required. At half-past six the singing of a hymn was began in a distant part of the hall ; but the Eev. Thain Davidson, from his seat on the platform, requested the stewards to repress volunteer attempts of this sort, and in a moment his wish was obeyed. The arrangements were indeed admirable. Ushers, each invested with an official rod, were scattered all over the building. Those near roe were young mercliants and professional men ; and they did their work with quiet, effec- tive energy. There seems to have been no screw loose any- where. The silent seating of so many thousands was a masterpiece of administrative care and skill. The appearance of the vast throng was in itself a sight worth going many miles to see, No architectural features of the building came between the eye and the great sea of humanity that seemed to stretch as far as thevision could go. There was abundance of light shed from thousands of gas- burners beading the walls — these at times running in straight lines, and at regular intervals assuming a. semicircular form. A broad strip of red cloth running round beneath the lines and arches of light bore appropriate passages in white letter- ing. The first of these, on the right of the platform,, was, " Repent ye, and believe the Gospel ; " and the first on the left, " The gift of God is eternal life." At the centre of the platform there is a small dais, covered with red cloth, and having a slight rail round it, and a littlej book-board at one corner. This is for the president of the meetings. On his right are the seats for the choir, and Mr. Sankey's American organ. The seats on the left are for the committee and MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED, 89 others taking part in the service. On and arou id the plat- form were hundreds of leading men of all the evangelical communions, ministers and laymen ; and it struck me that the Congregational and Presbyterian churches were repre- sented in special strength, especially the former body. The Earl of Cavan and Lord Eadstock occupied seats on the platform. At seven o'clock the Rev. Thain Davidson gave out the hymn, " I hear Thy welcome voice," and the volume of sound which rose from the audience indicated that it was a familiar strain to most of the people present. Then, after a brief interval, the hymn, '' Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love," was finely sung by the choir, which was composed of two hundred voices. At half-past seven to a moment, Mr. Moody stepped on to the dais, while Mr. Sankey took his place at the organ ; and the former, in the least conventional of voices, said, " Let us rise and sing to the praise of God. Let us praise Him for what He is going to do in London." The response, as the people sung the familiar Doxology, was thrilling ; and no sooner had the strain ceased than the Rev. Mr. Billing, the incumbent of the nearest church, offered prayer. " We bless Thee, that we have seen this day and this hour," he said ; and hundreds gave audible vent to a thanksgiving that was uttered with deep fervour. Very hearty, too, > -ere the " Aniens " M'hich followed the request that God might bo pleased to " speak to all London " by the mouth of His servants from the other side of the sea. Mr. Moody gave out the Scotch version of the hundredth Psalm, Mr. Sankey saying, " Let us rise and sing. Let all the people sing." To all, but more especially to the Scottish friends, that was a soul-stirring strain. Mr. Moody then stated that he had that day received despatches from all the great cities in Britain, letting him ff-i I a ! it i*^" 1 '■ ' jmM m IQO MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. know that the people were praying for London. All their expectations must be in vain unless they were depending upon God. He therefore asked them to spend a few moments in silent prayer. Hereupon a great calm fell upon the as- sembly, and every head was bowed. In a minute or two the hush was broken by the voice of Mr. Moody, who prayed that God's blessing might rest upon the work on which they were now entering, and that many might be encouraged to go out and labor in this dark city. " It is a great city," he said, " but Thou art a great God. May we ask great things, and expect them." He gave special thanks for the many min- isters present, and prayed that there might be "no strife among the herdnien," Mr. Sankey then sang the solo, "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," explaining before he did so that it was simply a Christian song. " May the Lord bless the singing of this song here, as He has blessed it elsewhere," said Mr. Sankey, and he requested the people to keep very still. The first stanza, and especially the line, " What means this strange commotion 1" was thrilling in its effect ; but a slight disturbance in a distant part of the hall some- what marred the closing verses. At the end of the piece some present began to applaud ; but they were instantly rebuked into silence by a murmured " Hush ! " from thou- sands of lips. On Wednesday evening the second meeting was held in tTie Agricultural Hall. The attendance was not nearly so large as on the first evening, resulting from the fact that Mr. Moody requested the doors to be closed at half-past seven, thus preventing many thousands who were unable to attend so early from gaining admission. It was speedily apparent that great blessing from on high was present in that meeting. The address was full of power ; anecdote, illustrtition, Scripture entreaty, persuasion, suq- m .;f| MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 191 ceeded each other again and again, with lightning speed and force, while the vast audience listened intently. As the interest heightened, and story after story was told, many could be seen wiping the tears openly, apparently uncon- scious of what they were doing. The graphic picture of the meeting of Bartimeus and Zaccheus, after the former had been healed, was thoroughly enjoyed ; and the quiet hit at those " who don't believe in sudden conversions," in the statement that Zaccheus " was converted between the branches and the ground," was greatly enjoyed. The story that fol- lowed, of " the young man converted on his mother's grave," gave occasion for an impassioned appeal to turn to Jesus then and there. Silent prayer followed the conclusion of the address ; and, amid a hush that was almost awful, the sound of music floated on the air, and Mr. Sankey sang softly, " Come home, come home." Every head bowed, thousands earnestly praying, while the soft music seemed to enter into the very souls of that mass of humanity, bowing and swaying even the hardest to thoughts of repentance and prayer. Then Lord Radstock concluded with prayer, and the hymn, " I hear Thy welcome voice," was sung as Mr. Moody went from the Hall to the first inquiry meeting in London. Many hundreds followed him, but whether workers or inquirers did not at the time appear, and it is far too early yet to speak of results. On Thursday Mr. Moody presided for the second time at the noon prayer-meeting. There was also a falling off in the attendance here compared with the day before ; but the great Hall was nearly filled, and would doubtlessly have been filled to overflowing during the service htfd the doors remained open. Mr. Moody was just a very little bitter in saying, " I don't know what some men would do at a Pentecost," or his earnestness seemed intensified to bitterness ; but this diaap- fiil"^^ \:i ^^P I ! !•; Hi 'ij IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 9 1.0 I.I -JO "^ - Ii£ IIIIIIO 2.5 11^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 .4 6" — ► P^ ^i <^ /a /y •'cM "3 ^? ^"^ *^ 7^ '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STRHT WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 r o 4> Jf^^ f/'iT i,.. ilGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 195 ^tony ground ! Our Father, hear and answer Thy children's heart-cry, for Jesus' sake ! On Sunday morning, March 14, the usual unbroken quiet of Islington experienced a striking chango. From every direc- tion solitaries, couples, and bands of well-dressed people were hastening to the Agricultural Hall. Many parties of singers had arranged to meet in their different localities, and marched with songs to their destination. Sunday-school teachers resi- dent in the lino of march near to the hail had invited their fellow-laborers to breakfast at a very unusual hour; while the vendors of hymns and papers round the hall took their usual week-day positions, and transacted a large amount of buying and selling, to which multitudes made strong and indignant objection. Pouring in at all the entrances to the hall, there was speedily convened such a gathering of its Christian workers as London had never seen. It was a complete re-union. Friends, whom the exigencies of work had separated for years, met and clasped hands once more ; young men grown old in service met with others in like condition, whom they had labored with in years of strengtii ; and comely matrons' faces were recognised as those of former girls in Sunday schools. Long before all old friends could be recognized and greeted, the time for the service arrived, and the Evangelists stood face to face with many thousands ot the Christian workers of the great metropolis for the first time. Cool, prompt, and business-like as ever, Mr. Moody an- nounced the first song would be " Hold the fort," which was sung with a vigor that left nothing to be desired. Mr. Moody narrated a striking instance of a Sunday school superintendent who was not converted, but finding this to be so, went honestly to his minister and offered to resign. The minister suggested a more excellent way — that the superintend- ent should first turn to the Lord at once and then continue 196 MOOUY AND SANK£Y IN GREAT BRITAIN. his labors. This was done ; he turned to the willing Saviour, and then became the moans of the conversion of the teachers and a great revival in the school. It was the duty of each Christian — not duty, but privilege (away with mere dutt/ / we did not talk of duti/ to wives and mothers, and why in religion 1) — to speak to some person daily. For twelve years there liad scarcely been a day in which he had not done this. Seek out friends, and bring them into the current, that they might get a blessing and pass it on. We must also get into sympathy with the unsaved. When he was laboring in the school at Chicago, a teacher, who was going away to die, came to him in bitter trouble about his unconverted class. He felt his strength too far gone to visit them ; they were unsaved, and 1)0 was leaving them — going away for ever. Mr. Moody procured a carriage, and they went together day after day for ten days, until the teacher had seen all, pleaded with all, and won them all for Jesus. The tearful eyes, the pale face, and the deep sympathy had triumphed for Christ ! Then they all met him on the platform, and the wave of his hand from the carriage was a last, long farewell. The effect produced by this narration was very deep. Sobs and tears were almost univer- sal. The ministers on the platform were wiping both eyes and glasses, and some were literally scooping away the tears with their hands. Strong mgn were weeping like children, and the speaker himself wept abundantly as he remembered and depicted the touching scene. Yes, he continued, we must get in sympathy — make their case burs, their troubles and sor- rows ours, and then we shall have prevailing power. He spoke of a poor mother, whose child had been drowned in procuring drift-wood from the river, and whom he visited along with his little daughter. " If that was me," said my child, " wouldn't you feel had, father] Don't you feel bad for the poor mother ?" This unlocked the springs of sympathy, and I did feel bad for MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 197 her. I found a grave for the poor child, and afterward bought ground for a Sunday-school lot to bury a hundred of our poor little scholars. In the midst of a most striking scene of weep, ing, such as that hall had never seen before, the address con- cluded, and Mr. Moody attempted to pray. So deeply was he moved, that he was compelled to pau«ie in his prayer, amid dead silence, to recover himself, and be able to proceed. Then we sang " Work, for the night is coming," and the benediction ended the first workers* meeting. On Sunday afternoon, at three, the first special meeting for women was held. There were, at the lowest computation, about 17,000 present ; and the power bf >he Spirit was clearly there : tears, and sobs, and repressed cries, anxious faces, low, earnest words and entreaties for mercy W3re all around, as the discourse proceeded from point to point. God was the preacher of this sermon, said Mr. Moody ; and though the first audience •vas small, the sermon has come rolling down the ages, and many, I hope, are asking themselves this question now. I am speaking to professors, to backsliders, and to those who never made profession, but all equally lost. Then all sang the hymn, " Lord, I hear of showers of blessing," and the meeting closed to allow inquirers to gather. Such a number accepted the invitation that the large inquiry room could not contain them, and many were spoken to in the bitter cold without the room. The evening service was simply a repetition of the after- noon, but for men .only, instead of women. Thousands of women, nevertheless, accompanied their male friends in hope of admission, but were disappointed — they could not be admitted. Nevertheless, the building was filled to its utmost capacity, and the doors were closed nearly an hour before the service commenced. The would-be infidel orator of London is in the habit of saying that '' Religion is an affair of priests and women." Nevei again will he bo able to repeat that M 198 MOODY AND SANKtY IN GREAT BRITAIN. taunt, after the meeting on Sunday evening last, wJwn nearly 15,000 men of London were held breathless by the simple preaching and singing of the Oospel of Christ. Before the address was delivered, Mr. Sankey sang " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by;" himself singing the verses, and the vast multi- tude joining in singing the last line in each verse, thus pro- ducing the effect of one of the mightiest choruses ever sung on earth. After the address the inquiry room was opened, while the meeting in the hall continued with praise and prayer. 80 great had been the effect produced, so large was the number of inquirers who were not " priests " or " women," that there were not enough workers present to deal with them. Nor can this be wondered at. Christians had been entreated and enjoined to stay away, that the unconverted might have all the room ; and this request was too literally obeyed. iSt. Mary's Hall is a large concert room, with chairs on the floor fronting the platform, and a deep gallery round the sides and end of the hall. Mr. Moody divided the inquirers, leaving the women on the basement, and sending the men into the gallery, and directed the workers to divide in the same way. All round the gallery were men in twos and threes, to the number of two or three hundred — each couple or three separated from their neighbors, and earnestly engaged in their own work, without taking any notice of those near and around. Here was a couple discussing a difficulty in the way. There another couple earnestly reading passages of God's Word. Next was one pleading earnestly with another. Next one whose work was done, as the close, loving hand- clasp showed. Many were striving together in prayer, two by two. Here a worker earnestly asking for the light to CQme J there another pressing the inquirer to pray for him.- MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 199 self ; and others praying eameritly together. The writer hEwi the pleasure of speaking with three in succession. The first was a young man who had made long, wearying endeavor to work out salvation ; he had been trying hard to come to Jesus, but neither work nor trial had brought the assurance of faith. To one so much iu earnest it was most pleasant to show sal- vation as the gift of God, and a little patience was richly re- warded by the dawning of the light. Then said he, "/«ee it nolo ; please to leave me alone with God ! " Most reverently and willingly this was done, and the second was spoken to ; he also promised to accept the gift, and left to kneel before the Lord in seeking, as he was compelled to go. The third had long had a form of godliness, but neither its power nor hope- he was just a sleeping nominal church member, who did not wish to be disturbed. He had wandered into the inquiry room, thinking it was public, and he should hear an address. Unable to deal satisfactorily with him, the attention of another brother was called to liim, and we passed on round the gal- ler3^ On returning, this one was praying earnestly, the second was gone, and the face of the first showed better than any words that he had lost his burden. Passing below to leave, a lady who was talking to tliree working girls claimed help, as help had been claimed in the case above. We held conversa- tion, and speedily all three declared themselves on the Lord's side; and the bright, earnest young faces glowed with the thought of the gift received, and the "covenant unto death" with Jesus. As we saw, so we heard of many to whom light and peace came ; nor was it the least impressive to mark how willingly help was given and received, how entirely absent were evidences of self and self-seeking. Conversions all around, an atmosphere of prayer and the Word of God, the subdued hum of conversation with each other, and converse V[ith the ;^^ather through the Son, gave a seuse of "nearness. 200 MOODY AND SANKEV IN GREAT BRITAIN. of ftccosR," of personal presence, of a very present and loving help, that was as sweet as it was solemn. Verily it " was good to be tliore !" It was just eleven o'clock when, after three hours of delightful service, " the labor was done, and the laborers gone home." The Christian World thus suninmrizes the first month's work : To-day the American Evangelists, whoso names are on every lip, enter upon the second month of their London campaign. They have uU but completed the series of meetings at the Agricultural Hall, iu Islington, designed more especially for the benefit of the people dwelling in the great northern region of the metropolis ; and now thoy are about to enter on the daily occupation of a building specially erected for their accommo- dation at the Eust End. From week to week we have fur- nished our readers with full reports of the proceedings. In this way the public have been enabled to obtain a compre- hensive, and we believe accurate, view of a series of meetings that certainly stand witliout a parallel in the religious annals of England. 'Wq may not bo able to say, with a respected cOnteniporaiy, that Mr. Moody is the modern Wyclifie — a name wo should .ather assign, if we used it at all, to a great English preacher whu has been proclaiming the gospel to multi- tudes in London every week for more than twenty-one years. Neither are wo prepared to coincide with the magnanimous assertion of a Wesleyan Methodist journal, that this movement puts the revival which was wrought by Whitfield and Wesley into the shade, in respect, at least, to the numbers brought under the sound of the Gospel. Tiiose are statements, as it seems to us, Avhich would require to be greatly qualified before they could be accepted by thoughtful men. Yet, without going the length of our too exuberant friends, we can testify that the success of the gatherings over which Mr. Moody pre- MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 201 sides has be^n simply marvellous, and in its way quite unex- ampled, cither within the memory of living men or in all that has been recorded by the pen of the English historian of the Christian Church. Whatever may be the view he takes of the work, as to its true .spiritual significance and value, every candid on-lookcr must acknowledge that the present is a phe- nomenon which cannot be too carefully scanned, or too fully described by the contemporary journalist. It will unques- tionably claim for itself a chapter of no inconsiderable magni- tude in the book that deals with the religious history of England in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Some little service to the future, as well as to the present day reader, may therefore be rendered by an attempt to gather up the salient points in the story of the first month spent by Messrs. Moody and Sankey in London. And first of all we have to note the sustained, and it would even seem growing, interest which the public take in the meet- ings. Every day at noon Exeter Hall has been well filled ; often it has been crowded, and there is no symptom of any falling off in the attendance, while it may be confidently ex- pected that when the prayer-meeting is transferred, as it will be on Moiiday next, to Her Majesty's Opera House, the audi- ence will be as great as that building is able to contain. That the interest in the primary purpose of the noon-gathering has not declined is made manifest by many pleasing tokens. Not the least eloquent of these was the statement" made by Mr. Moody on Wednesday last, that the requests for prayer received that morning numbered no fewer than 180. The reports of spiritual work achieved in connection with the movement, not only in London, but also in the provinces, have been multi- plying daily; and these form a feature of the proceedings at Exeter Hall which does much to keep alive the interest and t;o intensify the fervor of the ^ssembl^, 'Vhen there has been 202 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. the appearance of new speakers from day to day — witnesses to the reality of the revival in Scotland, Ireland, and pro- vincial towns of England. When the meeting is thrown open to volunteers, the result has not always been edifying ; but Mr. Moody, as a shrewd and ready-witted president, keeps the most of the time well occupied with a swift and flowing suc- cession of song, pmyer, and exhortation, so that the hour seems to all present tc be only too short, and is obviously most refreshing to their spirits. Mr. Moody is, perhaps, seen at his best in Exeter Hall. Some of his short addresses there have been gems of pithy exposition ; and his occasional quaint bits of self-defence, and frequent touches of mingled humor and pathos, have been remarkably effective. People from the country have formed a distinctly perceptible element in the congregation ; and we cannot doubt that these, along with the city brethren, have derived useful hints from Mr. Moody's method for the conduct of prayer-meetings in their own places of worship. In this way we think it likely that a great deal of good may be done. The three afternoon meetings held at Sanger's (formerly Astley's) Amphitheatre were among the most successful of all the gatherings, and are said to have been the most fruitful in spiritual results. The place could not hold all the people who flocked to them ; and a proportionately larger number of the ** lapsed masses " were to be seen in these south-aide gather- ings than in the assemblies at the Agricultural Hall. The two afternoon Bible readings — the first held in the Conference Hall at Mildmay Park and the second at Exeter, and to botli of which admission was procured only by ticket — were crammed, and they seemed to be greatly enjoyed. As for the great meetings, those held every night (with the exception of Saturday) at the Agricultural Hall, and tjbirice on Sunday in the same enormqus edifice, they have MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 203 continued to attract an average attendance of at least eleven or twelve thousand down to the very last. On the two nights when the address was not given by Mr. Moody there was a great falling ofi' in the congregation. On Good Friday the Times " felt bound " to express its " strong conviction that the interest of the meetings was rapidly falling off ; " but the facts do not sustain this view. The largest congregations have assembled within the last ten days ; and these have included all ranks and classes of society. Eoyalty itself, in the person of Her Royal Highness the Princess Teck, has expressed its intention to come since the leading journal pro- claimed the turning of the tide. On one evening there wert at least sixty clergymen of the Establishment present, with Dean Stanley occupying a cousi-il uous soat on the phtform ; and on the night of T-'od Friday the evangelical Earl of Shaftesbury sat on the same chair which a few evenings before had been occupied by the Broad Church Dean. Lord Shaf- tesbury, at the close of the service, paid a visit, along with his daughters, to the inquiry room. In respect to the numbers of the Agricultural Hall congregation, the floor of the buUding is capable of seating 9,000 persons ; the raised platform for the choir and ministers, 250 ; the eastern side gallery, 900 ; the western side gallery, 1,000; the upper raised gallery in front of the platform, 1,350 ; the balcony in front, 850; and the upper western balcony, 350. Even on moderate compu- tation, it would seea: that about 350,000 must have been the total of the numbers present at the Agricultural Hall services during the month ; though it must be borne in mind that very many persons were frequent, and not a few constant, attenders. It would probably be a liberal allowance if we were to say that 200,000 separate individuals were present. The arrangements made by the committee for the comfort of the congregation and the preservation of order have, hom, ^^rst tQi, last, beei;i admirable. . 204 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. With respect to the inquiry rooms, they have been largely attended every night by Christian friends, clerical and lay ; and the penitents pressing in for spiritual advice have, on many occasions, numbered several hundreds. But there has been no more excitement there than in the public service ; indeed, the proceedings have been more subdued, and a quiet solemn earnestness has characterized all that has been done in connection with this part of the work. Several gentlemen taking part in it have testified to the good accomplished ; and Mr. Sankey in particular, who is active in the inquiry room, describes the work of which ho was witness on Sunday week, and on every succeeding night, as being in the highest degree encouraging. Many Christian workers, though not so many as Mr. Moody desires to see, have scattered themselves among the great audience at the ordinary services, for the purpose of speaking a word to their unconverted neighbors ; and a case has been mentioned in which the young ladies of a certain seminary have, in this way, been instrumental in leading twenty individuals to the Saviour. With this we may bracket the case of a lady who took her ten servants to one of the services, and who reports that seven of these have been, in consequence, couverted to God. Mr. Moody has detailed instances of persons brought to a knowledge of God in the in- quiry room one night, and appearing on the next with friends whom they desired to see sharing the peace which they had secured. Since the second Sunday a young men's meeting has been held every night in St. Mary's Hall, immediately after the public service ; and latterly this feature has come more conspicuously into view, and been more pressingly urged upon the attention of the class referred to by Mr. Moody, who is ambitious of securing a band of at least a thousand to assist him in his work. The meetings in the East End of London were held in the Bow lloed Hall and a tent pitched close hy. Here the MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 205 rich and poor congregated, and God graciously poured out His Spirit. In the West End, the Royal Opera House in the Haymarket was obtained. In South London, Camberwell Hall was specially provided for the immense multitudes sure to gather. During the greater part of April services had been con- ducted daily in each of the four divisions of the metropolis. Messrs. Moody and Sankey have divided their labors almost equally between the East and the West Ends — officiating at Her Majesty's Opera House, in the Haymarket, at the daily noon prayer-meeting, and also at an afternoon Bible-reading, while in the evening they have generally been present at the service in the Bow Road Hall. On two evenings of each week they have returned to the Agricultural Hall in Islington. The first week after their departure from that hall the services there were conducted by Rev. William Taylor, of California ; but the attendance instantly dropped from 12,000 to 2,000, and sank to as low as 1,000 before the week was done. In the second week Mr. Taylor was succeeded by the Rev. W. H. M. Aitken (Episcopalian) of Liverpool, who secured much larger congregations, there being occasionally as many as 5,000 and 6,000 present to hear him ; and at the Victoria Theatre, on the south side, Mr. Taylor held daily meetings, where his labors would appear to be better appreciated than they were at Islington. The prayer-meeting at the Opera House has not been so well attended, on the whole, as that at Exeter Hall ; but the Bible readings have attracted great congregations, these including many members of fashionable society, led by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, who was present on Thursday, April 15. In an article on " The American Re- vivalists in England," the New York Independent says : " We presume that the aristocracy and the literati will scarce hear of the movement that is about them. It is an after-generation r n 2o6 Moody and sankey in great isRiTAlfl. that builds the monuments of tho prophets. Bunyan got no words of honor from tho Duke of Bedford, whoso descendant has lately set up his statue." Several months before these words were written, "Mr. Moody had sojourned as a guest within the walls of Uunrobin Castle, the northern teat of the Duke of Sutherland ; and weeks before, he had dined with the Lord Chancellor of England at Bournemouth. At his first meeting in the Agricultural Hall he was assisted by a peer of the realm, and other noblemen took part in subsequent gather- ings, while Lord Cairns, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and many other members of the aristocracy, formed part of his audience. The favor with which his labors are regarded by a large section of the nobility has been still more conspicuously displayed since the opening of tho services in the llaymarket, and especially since the visit paid by the Princess of Wales. Standing somewhat in the same relation to Mr. Moody that the Countess of Huntingdon did to Whitfield, her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland has been well nigh a daily attender, accompanied sometimes by her daughter and Lady Constance Leveson-Gowcr. Twice last week the Duke and Duchess of St. Albans were seen in the royal box ; the Prince Teck has also been present, and so have the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, the Countess of Gainsboro'.igh, Lady Dudley, Lord and I^ady Kendolsham (tho latter a daughter of the late popular Earl of Eglington), and many more of the " upper ten thousand." To crown all, it is alleged, not only that Lord Dudley interested himself in securing the Opera House for the American Evangelists, but that his lordship was encouraged to do this by no less a personage than the heir apparent. The following is given as the number of meetings and aggre- gate attendance during the four months that Mr. Moody has been in London : In Camberwell, sixty meetings, attended by 480,000 peo- MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 507 pie ; in Victoria, fovty-five meetings, attended by 400,000 ; in the Opera Honsp, sixty meetings, attended by 330,000 ; in Bow, sixty meetings, att. nded by 600,000 ; and in the Agri- cultural Hall, sixty meetings, attended by 720,000. The amount of money expended for buildings, printing, stewards, &c., is $140,000. Messrs. Moody and Sankey have declined to receive any compensation from the committee. It is stated that a prominent business man has bought the Victoria Theatre, and intends to lit it up for religious work. Inquirers multiplied ; young men's meetings were held j thousands of children were gatliered. A great array of workers wont out, two by two, to visit every house in London with the Gospel, Every text Mr. Moody (juoted was an arrow from God's bow which went straight to the heart ; every song from Mr. Sankey won some soul ; every appeal persuaded some heart t<» yield to Christ ; every meeting swelled the throng of converts. The mighty movement swept from one end of Lon- don to the other. As the Evangelists left one quarter of the city for anotl.'er, the meetings were continued in the localities left, until, when Mr. Moody, during the last month, was at Camberwell Green Hall in the South, ^fajor Cole was at the Victoria Theatre in the West, Henry Varley at the Low lload Hall in the East, while Henry Drunimond was holding his young men's meet- ings with great success. Notwithstanding all these great meet- ings, numbering often many thousands, the central meetings under our two brethren moved on with wonderful power and success. As the last week drew to a close, the interest became in- tense. On the last night Mr. Moody became very earnest and urgent in his appeals to the vast and intensely interested audi, ence to accept Christ. "Just let me pause here," he said. " Ask yourselves whether you ought not to receive the Lord 'LtA :\ .1 m Ml 208 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Jesus Christ now ? Who is there in this assembly who will receive the gift of God and be saved 1 " After a brief pause, a voice came from the left-hand gallery, somewhat faintly, " I will." It was speedily followed by others from all parts of the house. " Well," continued Mr. Moody, " thank God for that. I am just passing around the cup of salvation. Who else will take it?" "I will," " I will," " I will," " I will," came re- sounding on every hand. " That's right, my boy," replied he, speaking to a little fellow down in front of him, whose " I will " came up to the platform witli the rest. " Will the Christians keep on praying? Men do not speak out like this unless God is at work. Who else will accept the gift of God?" Again came a perfect volume of " I will's." ** Would it not be a glorious thing if every man here would take it to-nigiit ? Is there another ? " " I will." "Another?" "I will." "How many are to-night willing to stand up before God and man and say by that act that they will join us in our journey to heaven ? You that are willing to take Christ nosv, would you just rise?" A mighty army of men rose to their feet at once. " Why not three thousand ? The God of Pentecost still lives." Numbers more stood up, until one could scarce distinguish between those sitting and those standing. Mi*. Moody prayed and said, " And now we will sing, ' Safe in the arms of Jesus.' " Mul- titudes flocked into the inquiry room, where there was a scene of ingathering never to be forgotten by those who were pre- sent. A fitting close to the labors of our brethren in Great Britain. Their work had continued without interruption through two years and three weeks. They had held meetings in perhaps a hundred cities and villages. They had person- ally attended between two and three thousand services. Mr. Roberts, of New York, writing from JLondon, eays : " The places of most interest for over two months are those where the meetings of Moody and Sankey, the American MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 209 can Evangelists, are held. I bad heard of them before leaving home, but I was not prepared for what I heard and saw at these vast assemblages, which I attended several days twice, and sometimes thrice a day. I was present at the Agiicultural Hall, when there were from twelve to fifteen thousand persons present. Last Sunday evening the room was crammed ful), and I had to stand an hour and a half. Though there were so many inside, thousands went away. The Lord Chancellor (Cairns), with his wife, was present. They are both, I was told, devoutly pious, attending several of the meetings, with a number of the nobility and eminent men, including Glad- stone. " It is a grand sight to see such a vast audience ; and when they unite in singing, it is thrilling beyond anything 1 have ever heard. " The text was, * Come thou and all thj'- house into the ark. ' (Genesis vii.) He handled it remarkably well, and I was told the discourse was more effective than in the morn- ing, which was based on the story of Naaman. (2 Kings v.) " He usually preached from thirty to forty minutes, in a very clear voice, enunciating distinctly, presenting the truth very plainly, earnestly, and pungently appealing to the heart and conscience, without any effort to excite animal feeling ; and at all these meetings there was an entire absence of fanati- cism. The people are absorbed by what is said, and there is nothing noisy or demonstrative, though nearly all join in the singing of hymns full of Gospel truth, to simple melo- dious airs. " Sankey leads the singing usually, and generally sings a solo at every service, * Jesus of Nazareth passeth by,' or the ' Ninety and nine,' based on the parable of the lost sheep. His voice is so powerful as to be heard easily by such large 13 'mm 1 'H m r 1':^ ! m .M < .- *ti4UilUiUu^ 210 MOODY AND SAM KEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. assemblages, for he enunciates every word in a remarkably sweet voice. " The music is, no doubt, a great help to the preaching, the main element of which is Christ as set forth in the Bible, sent home to the souls of rich and poor, high and low, the educated and the ignorant, by the Spirit of God ; for, in my opinion, there is no other way of accounting for the assem- bling of such vast multitudes three or four times daily for weeks and months. " While I was in London, Moody held a noon prayer- meeting at the Queen's Opera House, Hay market, at which, I think, fifteen hundred attended — preaching there at three and seven p.m., when the house was tilled from top to bottom. At eight and a half he preached at East London in a large hall, accommodating some twelve thousand. How he endures such great and constant mental and physical labors I cannot understand. " Thus, substantially, he has worked for over two months in London, and in about like manner for nearly two years in various places in Gisat Britain. He appears very robust — I think larger around the chest than any man I ever saw, and every time T heard him, ■'.vhat ho said was fresh. " At the large meetings hundreds stood up for prayers, and entered the inquiry room, where Christians conversed with them. "This was a large hall, nearly filled with groups of in- quirers, two to four attending to the instruction of men and women, each of their own sex ; and while some were con- versing, other groups were kneeling and praying in a low tone. Thousands remained in the audience room praying and singing, where every Christian was requested, in their places, to speak to his or her neighbor suitable words, if they had MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 2lt no hope in Christ. I spoke to two young persons near me, and found they were both indulging hope. " It reminded me of the efl'orts of this kind in the early days of Brainerd Church. "Sometimes the scenes of 1831 were brought vividly before me, and I have a conviction that the means used by Moody and Sankey, and the preaching, are very like those so much blessed in our country for eight or ten years subsequent to 1825, of which probably Mr. Nettleton was the most prominent author. The same pungent, direct manner of pre- senting truth, enforced by apposite illustrations, which all could understand, accompanied by singing of hymns contain- ing fundamental truths, in melodious and simple tunes, nearly the whole congregation joining. No doubt you will recall the Village Hymn Book compiled by Mr. Nettleton. " I cannot but hope this is the beginning of a new era, showing our ministers that, as Spurgeon said the other day at Exeter Hall (referring to these meetings), he had no fear at them, for the 'Bible was l-ept in the front.' " I do not undervalue learning, but it must be kept second- ary to the Bible, the sword of the Spirit, which is almost the only weapon Moody uses with so much effect. " But I must close, though I have not said half I might on this subject." It must be conceded that this was the most wonderful series of revival meetings ever held in the world. In the union of all God's people ; in the mighty but perfectly quiet workings of God's Spirit ; m the honor put upon God's simple word ; in the dependence; put upon prayer and the simplest agencies; in the earnaetuess with which Christians labored, and the liberality vitli which they gave their money ; in the multitudes which everywhere flocked to the services ; in the wide extent of the work, in the readiness with which men received the '•,' ^1 1 ' '.1 1 If ' ( 11 t h\ 5l5 MOODV AKt) SANKEV in GREAT feRlTAtN. Gospel ; in the number of conversions ; in every aspect of it, the movement is without a parallel in the history of Christi- anity. It seems to betoken a world-wide revival of religion. Sunday, July 11. — Last Day. — How shall we write of it? Fresh from the meeting in the evening, we feel how inadeqliate are human words to portray that most marvellous close of a no less marvellous season of revival throughout our land. The doors for the morning service were opened at half-past six, and by seven o'clock the hall was comfortably full. An hour yet intervened before the commencement of the service, and the time was profitably and pleasantly occupied with a service of song from the familiar book. About half-past seven it was announced that there were thousands outside, some of them from a great distance, and if the audience would kindly sit more closely, a few hundreds more might be got in. The request was good-naturedly omplied with at once, and room made for a few more. For the great numbers who were unable to get admission, an overflow meeting was held in the Presby- terian church close by, and was addressed by Dr. A. Bonar, of Glasgow. 1 Shortly before eight o'clock Mr. Sankey appeared, and delighted the audience with a few solos. Before singing " I am praying for you," he said he hoped in the days to come they would not forget to pray for Mr. Moody ai^d himself when they were gone. In consequence of the crowd at the gates, Mr. Moody could not gain an entrance, and had to be conveyed through a priv- ate house opening from the back upon the site of the building. This delayed the opening of the service till about ten minutes past eight o'clock — a thing altogether unusual at these gather- ings, as one of the most noticeable features of them has been the punctuality observed by our brethren. Mr. Sankey having sung " Only an armor-bearer," the MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 213 audience swelling out in the chorus, very earnest prayer was offered, making special reference to the occasion. " Mr. Moody then delivered his well-known address on " Daniel," beginning with the secret of his wonderful success, which he attributed to his being able to say " No" at the right moment. He sketched the eventful career of this man, " be- loved of God," through the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Bel- shazzar, and Darius, showing how he was delivered from all the many snares laid for him by his enemies, because he was faithful to God and His commandments. The history of Daniel in the telling of it rouses Mr. Moody's enthusiasm, which he succeeds in a largo degree in imparting to the audi- ence, and many thousands of hearts were stirred by this closing address to Christian workers. Before parting, we sang with Mr. Sankey " Dare to be a Daniel." The afternoon service for women was a deeply interesting one, both in itself and from the fact of its being the last of them. The hall was crammed in every corner. The opening hymn was " Yet there is room," — very appropriate to the oc- casion. All through his mission in Great Britain, Mr. Moody has striven to make the Gospel so plain as to be understood by the meanest comprehension. He has avoided collateral issues and eschewed theological discussions, and held to the procla- mation of the good news of salvation through faith in a crucified and risen Saviour. One of his favorite texts has been the question of the jailer, " What must I do to be saved V and this he chose for his final gospel addresses to London audiences. Many people, he said, still disbelieved in sudden conversion, and he proceeded to draw from the treasury of Holy Scripture numerous illustrations to sliow that the new birth is, of necessity, an instantaneous act, and not a gradual change. He quoted the ark, the salvation of 4.'- , 214 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Lot from Sodom, the preservation of the children of Israel in Egypt by sprinkling the blood on their doors, the cities of refuge, and others, as well as illustrations from history and from daily life. At the close he spoke with much emotion of how he had tried in all possible ways to allure sinners to Christ, and entreated those present not to go out of the build- ing without receiving Christ as their Saviour. They might never hear his and Mr. Sankey's voice again on earth, but he hoped there would not be one missing at the last great meet- ing. Many rose in response to his pressing appeal at the close, and the inquiry rooms were afterwards the scene of much earnest conversation and prayer with the crowds of anxious sisters. The evening meeting for men was almost filled before the last of the inquirers and workers had left the building. The last meeting of all will, we think, be reckoned, by those who have attended the London meetings throughout, the best of all. It was as closely packed with men as could be ; how many were left outside we cannot tell. A meeting for them was held in the Camber well Green Hall. Mr. Sankey took his seat at the instrument about half an hour before the time, and while he was singing for Jesus to the eager crowd of listeners, Mr. Moody and a few friends were in the little waiting-room below, supplicating God for a Pentecostal bless- ing on this parting service. And their prayer was answered of a truth. We have not witnessed such a wondrous scene during any of the many gatherings these last four months ; the only approach to it was one Sunday afternoon at a women's meeting in the Opera House. ' Several of Mr. Moody's American friends were present to witness the crowning service of this mission, before described. At the farewell meeting at London, of the 700 and odd mtnisteys who were present at this memorable gathering, there MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 215 were 188 belonging to the Church of England, 154 Congre- gationalists, 85 Baptists, 81 Wesleyan Methodists, 39 Pres- byterians, 8 foreign pastors, 8 United Methodists, 7 Primitive Methodists, 3 Plymouth Brethren, 2 Countess of Hunting- don's Connection, 2 Society of Friends, 3 Free Church of England, 1 Bibl6 Christian, and upward of 20 not known. These figures we take from the official statement supplied at the meeting, and they significantly show the catholic and unsectarian character of Messrs. Moody and Sankey's services as well as the universal esteem with which our evangelist brethren are regarded by all sections of the Church of Christ in this country. A large number of influential laymen and Christian workers were present, among the best known of them being Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Cavan, Mr. Cowper- Temple, M.P., Mr. Alderman Mc Arthur, M.P., Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P., etc. "We only give those of the addresses containing interesting facts and statistics relating to the movement. Rev. R. D. Wilson, of Craven Chapel, said a new spiritual glow had come into tne hearts of many during the last four months. They had learned, too, that their cherished traditions had no more sanctity or authority about them than the new things, which startled some of them at first, but with which they had now become most blessedly familiar. It was too soon to speak of the results as a whole, but within the last three days he had met no less than twelve or thirteen distinct cases of conversion in consequence of the ministrations of the Evangelists. He tead the following extract from a letter he had received : " I feel it my duty and inexpressible pleasure to tell you that I and one of my brothers were converted at one of Mr. Moody's meetings last week. Could you know my inner life for the past ten years, you would indeed say I have been plucked like a brand from the burning. I cannot 2l6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. I cease to marvel at the greatness of my salvation." The mother of that young lady, said the speaker, had come to him yesterday, and stated that for twenty-five years, with few exceptions, she had regularly attended the service of the sanctuary, but the happiest day in her Christian experience r was the previous Sunday, when she sat with her converted daughter on her right hand and a converted son on her left. As the speaker told this affecting little story, wo felt certain that the tear of joy gathered in many an eye, only we could not see for the mist that came across our own. He went on to say that we had never known what it was to " sing the Gospel " of Jesus Christ till our two brethren came. Wo could now understand how the sweetest tones could become the highest sort of Christian eloquence, in declaring to men the Way of liife. He would so far disobey the rule that no reference was to be made to the two Evangelists, as to assure them that they would carry home to their American country the warmest love and heartiest esteem of the ministers and Christian people of this country. At tjjjs remark the pent-up feelings of the audience could no longer be restrained, and thej'' burst out into loud and prolonged applause. We were exiremely glad that the natural emotions of the congregation for once refused to be smothered by that false and frigid idea of decorum vhich obtains too much in our religious assem- blies,, and prevents the legitimate expression of the deepest feelings of the heart. But this is a digression. Mr. Wilson continued : " We shall not forget, when the Atlantic lies be- tween their home and ours, at our family altar, at the place of secret meeting with our God, in our prayer-meetings, and in our Sabbath assemblies, to pray that God's richest blessing may rest upon them there. And it will be a glad day for us all, if ever that day comes, when we shall hear from the other side of the Western Main the intelligence that they are coming MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 217 again. Until then we shall continue to pray that, when God sees meet that they should come, they may come in the full- ness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ." Rev. Thomas Richardson, of St. Benet's, Stepney, said the effect of the meetings in the East End had been to make his church and congregation " enlarge the place of their tent, and stretch forth the curtains of their habitation." He would rather wait for a year before he gave his testimony as to re- sults, as there were many reasons why they should not now begin to count. But he had no doubt that thousands of souls would be recorded in their v i i;i3 chapels and churches all over London by next year. His district visitors had sent in to him formal returns, showing that of 1 ,008 families in his parish, 672, or two families out of every three, had attended the services at Bow Road Hall. Further, he had two direct testimonies that the attendances at the theatres of East Lon- don had sensibly diminished. Some of the officials of these theatres had given up the profession, and he had only to-day had an interview with one who was starting a different course. He had something too to say about the influence of the move- ment on the dock laborers. Ho had received testimony from several of the large docks that the men did not swear so much since Messrs. Moody and Sankey came ; praise God for that. Besides, drinking was not so prevalent among the dockmen, and that was the kind of work that the world believed in. He had been privileged to attend every service in Bow Road Hall, and he would thank God to all eternity for it. He had seen the power of sympathy — that sympathy which brought Christ down to die for sinners. Sinners had felt its power* so they had stood up and declared they wanted to be saved. He had had the privilege of conversing personally with 450 anxious souls ; his wife had spoken to 150, and his curate had spoken to 100. There were thus 700 souls whose names and li r'l ^ ■ It i^ T I 2l8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. addresses they knew, and to whom they had written. For- merly, he had an after-meeting once a month ; now he had one every Sunday eveninpj, and not a Sunday passed without some souls being gathered in. The direct results of the meet- ings were seen in his church, his wife's Bible class, his young men's meetings, and among his district visitors. He urged the general adoption of the after-meeting, as being the key to the success of the services, and added that if the Spirit led him to adopt Mr. Moody's style of preaching he was going to do it. Rev. Robert Taylor, of Norwood, gave some intensely in- teresting facts respecting what had transpired in the inquiry room at Camberwell Green Hall. He had to do what Mr. Moody called " police work " there, and in this capacity he was able to take a general view of the inquirers who, night after night, thronged the rooms. One or two things had struck him. First, the large number of old people who came as inquirers, and who went away as very young Christians. He was afraid that, in their anxiety to shut up and shut in the young, they had been in danger of shutting out the old. They had fallen into the unbelief of Nicodemus, who said, " How can a man be born when he is old ? " But many blessed births of the old had been seen in the inquiry room at Camberwell. He was also struck with the amazing variety of opinion — religious opinion and no opinion — represented. One evening he gave up his seat in the hall to a distinguished literary man, who lately wrote that " there was a Power above us that, at least, we know to be working for righteousness." One evening in the inquiry room, he met a young woman, and asked if she was anxious. Yes, to know if there was a God. Did she not believe it 1 Well, the sum of htr belief was, that " there was something above us." He could tell of a wife, deserted by her husband, who had b^en in such utter misery and agony that MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 219 she had twice contemplated going to London Bridge to commit suicide. In that inquiry room she was brought to faith in Jesus Christ and peace with God through the preaching and singing. Afterward she prayed so beautifully for her husband that the lady who conversed with her was deeply touched as she listened. She did not pray that he might be restored to her — now she did not care so much about that — but that God would bring him to Himself, and that they may be reunited in heaven. He could tell of several Roman Catholics brought to simple faith and sweet peace in Jesus. He could tell of a man who f )r twenty minutes hid his face from the lady who spuke to him, so deep was his distress and shame. He after- ward told her how he was standing at St. Giles's, and tossed up whether he should go to the theatre or the meeting. It was " Heads the theatre, tails Moody and Sankey." It was taUs. He went to the meeting, was led to go into the inquiry room, and, as he described it in a letter to the lady who was the means of bringing him into light, " She fought manfully with him for the Lord Jesus," and he went home a rejoicing be- liever. These were but a few specimens of hundreds of cases he could quote, and when friends said to him the night before, with sad hearts, they were so sorry the meetings were over, he could only reply, " Yes, and I am so glad the work is so gloriously begun." Rev. G. Flindt, of Denmark Hill, also spoke of the work in the inquiry room at Camberwell. He said that one result of the services had been to increase the local congregations. In his own church they had, on several occasions, not had standing room during the visit of the Evangelists. He had learned this lesson : that if the ministry is to be useful, a per- sonal Christ must be lifted up. A man in the inquiry room had said to him, " It seems as if that man (referring to Mr. Moody) had his Friend quite close to him, and he was talking I' Hi i ' nr 220 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. , about Him." Only eternity would reveal the good that had been done in the south of London. The night before, at the closing service, there were scores of anxious ones who came asking if it was possible to get a grip of the hands of the Evangelists, and thank them for what had been 1;old them about the Lord Jesus Christ; and tears of gladness flowed down many a furrowed cheek when they were asked to go home and tell God all about it, and thank Him for the messengers He had sent. One remarkable circumstance in connection with the Camberwell services had been in the attendance of a number of medical students from the various hospitals. Some of the medical men in the neighborhood had found time and oppor- tunity to invite them to their houses to dine, and afterward had spoken to them about salvation. If only half a dozen young students were brought to Christ, what might not be the result when they were attending the sick beds of those who should be committed to their care ? The South London Com- mittee were one hundred strong, and they were going, by God's grace, to work shoulder to shoulder and hand to hand in this blessed work. Eev. Marcus Rainsford said he felt we were living in days which many had looked and longed for, but had not seen. He thought that God had been working much more with the masses than the ministers. For his own part, he had learned much since Messrs. Moody and Sankey came to London, Many prejudices had been broken down, many difficulties removed, and many a lesson learned that he would never forget. He had been taught by a costermonger hov; co preach the Gospel. He was talking to a costermonger one evening, and trying to show him the great salvation, when a bright-looking young fellow came up and quietly put him aside, saying, " Sir, I found Christ last week ; I think I can talk to this man better than you," " Well, let us hear what you have to say," " I MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 221 never heard such lingo," said Mr. Rainsford. " Now, Joe, s'pose it was all up wi' yor ; mother starvin', wife starvin', children starvin*, and the mackerel nowhere. IS'pose I see yer lookin' very pale and sad and miserable ; and, says I, * Joe, here's a fat half for you.' " (I wondered what that was, but the other seemed to know all about it.) " I give it yer with all my heart. Away you go to Billingsgate and spend the fat half." (It means half a sovereign, and a sixpence means a " thin half.") " You get the mackerel, and bring it home ; you get the money, and you bring home some bread ; yes, therfi it be at home ; now what would you say ? " "I would say Thank you ; God bless you ! ' " " Well, say that to Christ, for he didn't give you the fat half, but the whole." And that was the Gospel as ably and spiritually preached, and as blessedly preached, as the Archbishop of Canterbury could preach it. After some further striking experiences, he expressed a hope that the work would go on after our brethren had left, and that many would be found to imitate their example in telling of Jesus to all around. The Earl of Shaftesbury said, nothing but the positive command of Mr. Moody would have induced him to come for- ward on the present occasion, and say but a few words in the presence of so many ministers of the Gospel. But as Mr. Moody had asked him to speak of what had occurred during the past four months, he did so with the deepest sense of grati- tude to Almighty God, that he had raised up a man with such a message and to be delivered in such a manner. And though Mr. Moody said they were not to praise him or his friend Mr. Sankey, yet if they praised God for sending them such men as these, they did no more than express their admiration of the instruments that He had raised up, while they gave Him all the glory. He had been conversant for many years with the people of this metropolis, and he might tell them that ^mm i1 i ||ffl ' ' 'if 1 ■'f i."^ «» 222 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. wherever lie wont he found the traces of these men, of the impression they had made, of the feeling they had produced, and of the stamp that he hoped would be indelible on many of the people. He could speak that as the truth as to many parts of London, and the lowest parts of London. Only a few days ago he received a letter from a friend of his, a man whose whole life was given to going among the most wretched and the most abandoned of tho populous city of Manchester, and who spoke of the good that had been effected there by the preaching of Moody and Sankey. A correspondent in Shef- field had also written him that he could not satisfy in any degree the wants of the people ; that they wore calling out for tracts, and something that should keep up the appetite that had been created. He said, " For God's sake, send me tracts by thousands and millions ! " Even if Messrs. Moody and Sankey had done nothing more than to teach the people to sing as they did, with energy and expression, such hymns as *' Hold the fort, for I am coming," they would have conferred an inestimable blessing. Mr. Sankey then sang the hymn commencing, "There were ninety and nine that safely lay," after which he said that when they got to their own country they would often sing this hymn again, and they trusted that God's blessing would accompany the singing of it. They asked their friends here to pray for them, a.»d that the Lord would continue to bless them. They would be glad to hear from their friends here, and they trusted to hear that the work was going on. Mr. Moody said he would ask them to spend a few mo- ments in silent prayer, but before they did so, he begged to thank the ministers for the sympathy they had shown them in the past two years. They had had nothing but kindness shown them. He also wished publicly to thank the commit- tee, and also the stewards, who had manifested toward them MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 223 nothing but kindness. Ho had also to thank the reporters for the press. Ho knew that lie had made mistakes, but they had not reported his mistakes or his failings. In fact, they had all been kind. He also wished to thank the police for the considerate manner in which they had performed their duty. He had one favor to ask of them — he would not ask them to pass a resolution, for their hearts were worth more than a resolution — he asked them to pray for them, and to continue to pray for them as they had done for the last two years. He now asked them to pray for a short time in silence. The congregation then bowed their heads, and, after the lapse of two or three minutes, audible prayer was offered, after which Messrs. Moody and Sankey hastily retired, in order to escape the painful ordeal of bidding so many of their friends a formal good-bye. *9 CHAPTER XII. FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 'URNING reluctantly away from Luulon, where they had triumphed gloriously under the Great Captain, Christ, they were received at the place of final depar- ture from Great Britain, in the following manner : About a quarter to three o'clock, Messrs. Moody and Sankey, with many well-known friends, were greeted by an audience that crowded every nook and corner of the Victoria Hall. The heartiness of the welcome found vent in a universal clapping of hands, which, however, Mr. Moody speedily stopped by a wave of his hand. Some kind friends had placed very beautiful bouquets of flowers on Mr. Sankey's organ. The Rev. Mr. Aitken said he thought they could not meet in that hall without feeling that the departure of their dear friends for America very greatly enhanced the personal re- sponsibility of all who called themselves Christians. The blessing which God had been pleased to shower upon His work .. •?? narts of the land had put them on a vantage- gf ' . • V occupied a better position now than they ever occ: .' •" •• I this land. He did not believe that the ChuXih jl Ui ^ had ever occupied a better position in this land than it did at the present moment ; and if that was so, FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. leet lage- lever the Ithih so, 225 their responsibility must be proportionately heavy. And if they allowed themselves to lose their vantage-ground and slip back into the dull routine of the past, they would have themselves to blame. The question before them was a very practical one, and it was. How were they to push on the advantage 1 If they were really to avail themselves of the opportunity, they must expect further successes. He was apprehensive of Christian people allowing themselves to think the period of reaction had come — that they had been having such great encouragement that for a little time they must rest on their oars. If they placed themselves in this attitude, they would have themselves to thank for it, if God turned the heavens above into brass and made the earth as iron beneath their feet ; therefore he felt it incumbent upon him to sound this note of warning. He thought that theb attitude should be this : That they should thank God, and then rush on against the foe with fresh determination, believing that the victory was only commencing, and that inasmuch as God had given them a position of advantage, they must push it on and fight the battle out, until God in his own good time placed the crown of victory on their brow. How was this to be done 1 God expected every one of them to come forward with the gospel of grace in their heaits ; and if they realized their personal responsibility, and went into the battle fully determined to win souls for Christ, Eng- land would very soon feel the results of their efforts. He desired to warn them against this season of revival being fol- lowed by a period of reaction. Before the present work closed, he thought that ministers of Christ, and also lay people, especi- ally those who occupied influential positions, should ask them- selves solemnly what were the permanent lessons which had been brought before them in this great movement. Mr. Moody had given himself up to the work of evangelization, and he 14 \lp ML '•mP ■I! ! f I 5- tt 1;: lil I .■♦+1 ■\\ iJi 226 MOODY AND SANKE\ IN GREAT BRITAIN. (Mr. Aitken) could not help believing that the Church of Christ from a very remote period had practically ignored the evangeliBt's office. They had their local pastors, but he thought that the evangelist was more likely to be powerful in a locality where he was not permanently fixed than in his own country. If they were desirous to see God's work still carried on on a large scale, those whom God had in a large measure gifted with the power of the evangelist should consider whether they could give themselves entirely to the work. He had done so, but he utterly disclaimed all credit on that score. He did not think he should have had the courage to take that step, but domestic circumstances had rendered it imperatively necessary that he should leave his flock in Liverpool. He had, how- ever, long been convinced of this truth, that if a man was to be a practical evangelist, he must give himself over to the work ; and he called upon God's people to take this matter into serious consideration, and say that the greift work which had been undertaken must be followed up in all our towns and villages, for he believed that even the villages needed it more than the towns. A great responsibility rested on the ministers of Christ. In almost all the places where the wave of blessing had passed, there would be a large number of young converts who had given themselves over to God and wanted something to do. Their duty at this moment was to set all those young Christians to work. A great many ministers fell into the mistake of trying to do all the work themselves. What was wanted to be done was to find specific spiritual work for those who had given themselves to God, and encourage them ; and he wished to point out that unless this was done they must be the last persons to find fault with those extravagances which otherwise must develop themselves. If, instead of young converts being taken by the hand, they were left in the re^r FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 227 fung the and not given any kind of encouragement, the result would be that they would either draw themselves up in their shells altogether or rush into the opposite extreme. It seemed to him that now was the golden opportunity ; and unless they got their young Christians to work, they would have to regret it to the end of their days. If, after the de- parture of their American brethren, they resolved to have a holiday time of it, then good-bye to their usefulness, and God's blight would rest upon them instead of God's blessing ; whereas if they put themselves into God's hands, depend upon it this wave of blessing which had swept over the land was but the beginning of good things. He closed his stirring and practical address in the words of Wesley, which, he said, used to be sung at the close of his conferences : *' A rill, a stream, a torrent flows, But send the mighty flood ; Awake the nations, shake the earth, Till all proclaim Thee God." The Rev. A. N. Somerville spoke next, and it is not too much to say that the meeting was fairly electrified as " the old man eloquent " poured out the wealth of his declamation and illustration in a perfect torrent of burning words, accompanied by highly dramatic and expressive gestures. He said Messrs. Moody and Sankey did not want them to occupy time by throw- ing their arms around their necks and kissing them, but they had given them the motto, and that was " Advance." What, he asked, is our great encouragement 1 " All power is given unto me in heaven and earth ; go ye therefore and teach (or disciple) all nations." Just before Christ ascended. He said, " Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Judea and Jeru- salem, and unto the uttermost ends of the earth." Why did the Lord Jesus tell us He had received all power 1 That He pi i*4 J 228 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. might confer power upon us. Mr. Sonierville recounted the exploits of the mighty men in the days of the Judges, upon whom the power of God fell, and proceeded : The «lay has come when it will not do for us to remain within this little isle. Larger efforts must be made to proclaim Christ's name through- out the world. We read that Alexander the Great, while a young man (he died before he was thirty-two), crossed the Hellespont with only 35,000 infantry and $5,000 horsemen, He had provisions and money to last them only one month, yet they went forth and took possession of the world. What 1 Is Alexander the Great to be always spoken of as the only man who can do the like of this 1 Is Jesus Christ not strong 1 Why should we not gather round Him, and in the power of His Spirit take possession of the world. We must not only send out men to engage in this blessed work, but the whole Church must, by prayer and sympathy, by the voice of encour- agement, and by liberal support, work together as one man for this great end. When I was in India, I felt that wherever I went I was borne up by the sympathy and prayers of many dear friends in my own city uf Glasgow, in Edinburgh, in London, and in many parts of the world besides, and I was strong through their sympathy. If a man is sympathized with and encouraged in that way, he will do twice as much as he would do otherwise. Mr. Somerville illustrated the power of sympathy by telling how Alexander the Great was traversing a desert with his followers, who were suffering greatly from thirst. Some one brought him a little water in a helmet ; as he was about to partake of the precious refreshment, he looked toward his followers, and seeing their sufferings, he refused to drink. His men were roused to action by the sympathy thus shown by their leader ; they put their spurs to their horses and sped on to a place where relief could be found. Speaking of the necessity of humility in Qhristiein work, he quoted a FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 229 ihus irsGS beautifully apt simile, in the use of which he seems to excel. He said the Rhine, before it reached BasI'^, received no fewer than 1,200 tributaries. How was thisi It was by keeping at its lowest level. If it had not, these streams would have flowed somewhere else. He roused the audience to such a pitch of excitement, that when he sat down they burst into applause, which no altempt was made to suppress. Mr. Sankey then sang " My prayer," a beautiful hymn of consecration. He prefaced it by saying that he would be able to go out and work better if we had the blessing of which the hymn told. Dr. Barnardo than gave an address, in the course of which he said the question was frequently asked, '* How shall we reach the masses 1 " He knew only of one answer : " Go and preach Christ to them." That must be the bait ; but there must be something more than that. Not only must they preach Christ in His boundless love to a dying world, but there must be the hook — such an application of the truth as should enter men's hearts and draw them to the Saviour. What was the great prerequisite to success ] It was given in the two words of our Saviour, " Follow me." That was the secret of success- ful service : there was no royal road ; their brother Mr. Moody had no knack in it. God help them to follow Christ, that they may be truly fishers of men. Mr. Stalker, of Edinburgh, said he felt that the pvOst two years had been years of great importance to the whole coun- try, and would be remembered for many years to come as great years. One thing that had made them interesting and memorable was that religion had been made respected among the young men of the country. Young men had been apt to look down upon evangelical religion ; but in the part he came from they dared not do that now, because, in all classes of the community, the very backbone of these young men had been ii-wii >v 230 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. won to Christ, and they were bearing themselves so in the ordinary business of life that it was impossible for those around them not to respect them. He never thought of this move- ment without his mind wandering away into the future ; and he thought not only of the number of men who had been saved, but of the young men who were devoted to Christ going on in their various spheres — in the family, in social in- tercourse, in business, at the university, in their shops, as clerks, and in all the different walks of life — distinguishing themselves, and showing that their Christianity, instead of keeping them back, was helping them on ; that their spiritual regeneration had been at the same time moral and intellectual regeneration ; and that they were determined to be men in all the departments of life. He read often with pity the remarks made by some, of the weakness of those who took part in this movement. At the University of Edinburgh last April, there w^ere only six or seven men who secured first-class honors, and three of these were head and shoulders in this work. Only one man got what was called a " double first," and that man he had heard addressing these revival meetings. That was the kind of revival of religion they were having now ; and he thanked God for it with all his heart, for their preaching to young men was far more effective if they could show them that their religion was making them get on well ir, business, and do their business well, and come to the front in Ihu ordi- nary walks of life. Let them seek to serve God by doing their work thoroughly, and at the same time, standing on that vantage ground, exhort all their brethren to get that which had made men of them. At the evening meeting, Mr. Moody spoke of Thanks- giving Day in America, the observance of which brings all the scattered members of the household together. We were strongly reminded of this by the great gathering of friends FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 231 ks- all ere ids who had come from far-off parts of the country to be present at the farewell services and departure next day. Many who had taken an active part in the London v^rvices came down expressly to say good-bye to their evangelist brethren, and not a few had come from across the border, as well as the other English towns. We have seldom had to record anything else but crowded meetings in connection with Messrs. Moody and Sankey's ser- vices, but this last evening meeting of all must have been — if that were possible — more crowded than any. As one of the local papers of next day puts it : " Every inch of space where a person could sit, or stand, or crouch, was occupied." Mr. Sankey sang "I am praying for you," and before doing so he said : "When we are gone from among you, we hope that you will remember to pray for us, as we will surely remember to pray for you. Pray God that He may use us in our own dear land as He has used us here, and even more abundantly. May the blessing of God rest upon the singin3 of this hymn to-night." Mr. Moody then commenced his address, and spoke for more than an hour, but to the very last there was the most rapt attention. By some means the gas could not be lit, and as the fading twilight deepened into darkness the scene became intensely solemn, as Mr. Moody's earnest and sometimes fal- tering words fell on the hushed and eagerly attentive multi- tude. At the close of his address he offered fervent prayer. He besought God's blessing on England and America, on the work among the young men, and on the ministers, his utter- ances anon being stayed by his evident emotion. . . • ■ Mr. Sankey's voice found expression for the last time in the farewell hymn which he has sung at many of the towns visited, though not in London. As Mr. Sankey sang it, by the light of a candle, to the justly popular tune of "Home, ' ii- 1 \ ^32 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. I li i ■I 11 I sweet home," the audience was much moved. It was the last time many of them will probably hear Mr. Sankey's voice, and we are sure none of those present will be able to forget it. On Tuesday evening, after the general meeting, a few friends gathered at the Compton Hotel, and two or three hours were spent in an informal conversation on the subject always uppermost in Mr. Moody's thoughts — the best way to benefit young men — to conserve and utilize in the way of righteous- ness, for the glory of God and the good of men, the young manhood of Great Britain, America, and the world. We believe that if one thing more than another will induce Mr. Moody to return to Great Britain, it will be the desire to weld together its Christian young men into a band of fellow- laborers, that, by the operation of the Spirit of God, shall be in the midst of many peoples as a dew from the Lord, and as a lion among the beasts of the forest. And to tell the truth, we expect that it will not bo years before we see our brethren again among us. The last service in England was held by Mr. Moody on the morning of their departure, so that we may say they left our shores " with their harness on their backs." Mr. Sankey was not present. The hall was opened at seven o'clock, by which time con- siderable crowds had gathered at all the doors, and before Mr. Moody made his appearance at twenty minutes past seven there were some 5,000 or 6,000 persons in the hall. After praise and prayer, Mr. Moody read part of the first chapter of Joshua and twenty-sixth chapter of L' viticus. He proceeded to give a shoii address to the young men, the first part of which was an earnest plea for a systematic study of the Bible and Bible characters, and for union with some organized body of Christians. He also urg3d on them the neceBsity of having some definite work to do, and not to FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 233 ikey attempt too many things at one time. " I have been won derfuUy cheered," he continued, *' during the past months by the tidings coming from Liverpool. # I want to say from the depths of my heart, God bless you, young men. The eyes of Christendom are upon you. Perhaps there has not been a place where the work has been so deep and thorough as the work here among the young men. I believe it was in answer to the prayers that went up for it when we were here six months ago. And now, as we cross the Atlantic, it will cheer us as tidings come that the young men are still advanc- ing. Do not fold your arms and say, * We will have a good time next fall.' God is just as ready to work in August as in July. If some have gone out of town on their holidays, the work should not stop ; I think it is the best time to work when many are away. Every man ought to be worth the live or six that are away. Then the work will go on. The great revival at Pentecost was in the hot weather, and also in a very hot country. People think there cannot be any interest in the warm months ; but if the prpyer goes up to the throne, God does not look to see what month it is. He is as ready to bless in one month as in another. Let me give you the watchword we had yesterday afternoon — 'Advance.' I hope there will be a fresh interest awakened in Liverpool as there has been in Manchester. I do iiot know of anything that has encouraged me more than to hear of the work going on in Manchester for the last six weeks. I hope Liverpool and Manchester will shake hands in carrying on the work, and let the lies of those sceptics who say it is only *a nine days' won- der ' be driven back. I cannot talk longer. I say from the depths of my heart, I love you ; God bless you, and may the power of God come upon you this morning afresh." After the hymn, " Free from the law," had been sung, Mr. Alexander Balfour said, " I do not know whether I am the I'.t rtu if-' 'i'i 234 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. proper person on behalf of this audience to say good-bye to our dear friend, Mr. Moody, and our absent friend, Mr. San- key ; but I feel that there must be some mouthpiece to say to them what we really do feel. We thank them from the bot- tom of our hearts and souls for what they have come here and done. Unless Mr. Moody had been a man like a cannon-ball for hardness of material, for directness of aim, and for strength of w?ll, he could never have done what he has been privileged by God to do. His wisdom has been conspicuous in discov- ering this — that our young men in Liverpool and elsewhere in this country have been greatly neglected, and in choosing them to be, for the future, not merely the recipients of God's grace, but the distributors of it. I do feel that Mr. Moody, in having given so much attention to our young men, has really done the right thing. Many know that Liverpool has been a curse to young men. They have come here and been led astray into all kinds of mischief and wickedness. How many broken hearts are there in this country because of the mischief done to young men in Liverpool ! On behalf of the mothers and sisters of this country, I want to give Mr. Moody the most heartfelt vote of thanks that it is in my power to convey ; and on behalf of thousands who shall be influenced by the young men in Liverpool, I want to convey to him the tribute of gratitude for what he has done. As President of the Young Men's Christian Association, I want to say this : That it is our purpose as young men to go on with the work ; and, by God's grace, we shall not go back, but advance in our endeavor to do our dutv before God and men." Mr. Moody, in reply, simply said, " I will now shake hands with you all in the person of the President of the Asso- ciation ; " and the meeting having been closed, he returned to the Compton Hotel, surrounded by a large crowd, which sang " Hold the fort " and the " Doxology " in the street in front FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 235 of the hotel. Many of them lingered there during the hour and a half that elapsed before Mr. Moody, Mrs. Moody, and family, accompanied by a large number of friends, drove away to the landing stage. They were followed 'by the enthusiastic cheers of the assembled multitude. Mr. Sankey stayed at the residence of a friend, and so escaped much of the popular attention that Mr. Moody had to undergo. A special tender was provided for the conveyance of the Evangelists and their party to the " Spain ; " and Mr. Sankey, who spent the night at Edge Lane, and most of the friends, went on board of it shortly before Mr. Moody. As Mr. Sankey passed across the landing stage, upon which a large number of people had assembled, he was warmly cheered. As Mr. Moody emerged from the hotel a hearty cheer arose from the crowd, and people rushed to the door of the cab on each side to shake hands with him and bid him good-bye. The cab was, however, immediately driven away to the stage amidst renewed and warm cheering. For some time prior to the hour at which the special tender was to leave for the " Spain," people began to assemble on the Prince's pier and the landing stage, and when Mr. Moody arrived there were several thousands present. A wide strip of the stage was kept clear by the police for the party to walk to the tender, and as Mr. Moody went on board he was heartily cheered, which he acknowledged by bowing. When the company were all on board, the tender steamed away. As it passed down the river, the po^ople upon the pier and landing stage cheered with increased heartiness, and waved their hats and handker- chiefs. Their example was imitated by the people on the ferry boats moored at the stage or crossing the river ; and when the cheering had subsided, the people on the stage struck up cue of the well-known hymns. The sorrowful countenances of many of the people showed that it was with no ordinary feelings of regret that they saw the Evangelists going away. (■ ■ I 1' r J : < * I Ci ^ 236 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. -^ The tender reached the " Spain " about an hour before the time for the ship to weigh anchor, and the interval was fully occupied in taking leave of the Evangelists, and in receiving from them or conveying to them parting words of comfort and encouragement. Mr. Moody again urged those who have been his fellow-laborers in this and other districts to remain united, and to carry on the work with courage and determi- nation; whilst on the other hand, there were very numer- ous expressions of the hope that a success equal to that of the last two years may attend the Evangelists' labors wherever and whenever they may be resumed. Many of the leave-takings, from their intense earnestness, were very affecting. Only when the " Spain's " anchor was being raised, and the tender was upon the point of starting, could many of the friends tear themselves away. As the last of the people " for the shore " were leaving the ship, those who were already on board the tender sang the hymn, ** Safe in the arms of Jesus." As the ** Spain " moved slowly down the river, the people in the tender, which was still alongside, cheered heartily, and the passengers on board the " Spain " replied with another cheer, and the waving of handkerchiefs and hats. As the "Spain" passed on ahead, the people in the tender sang the hymn, " Hold the fort," and afterwards the hymn, " Work, for the night is coming." Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey stood at the bulwarks of the " Spain " and bowed and waved their hand- kerchiefs until the two ships were out of sight of each other. Shortly before the tender reached Liverpool, prayer was offered up on board by Mr. R. Radclitf and other gentlemen, for the Bafe arrival of the Evangelists at their destination, and for the %ubeequent success of their labors, whether carried on in Eng- land or America. >•» MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. CHAPTER XIII. MOODY AND SANKEY IN BROOKLYN. > HEN their wonderful career was over in the Old Country, and they returned to their native land, these laborers felt the need of rest, and desired to greet once more their kindred from whom they had so long been separated. Mr. Moody proceeded at once to Northfield, Massachusetts, to the home of his mother, where he could rest, or gather strength for the work already marked out for him and his associate in America. For great expectations had been raised by their success abroad, and eager multitudes awaited their coming. "While in North- field, delegations visited Mr. Moody, requesting his services in various cities of the Union, whenever he felt able to resume the service temporarily laid aside. While reposing among the quiet scenes of his early days, the wants of the community pressed heavily on his heart, and his old neighbors were anxious to hear him preach again. . He came among them as a con- quering hero, bearing rich trophies and bright laurels. The pent-up fires of religious earnestness and fervor burst forth again, and he poured out his soul to the thronging multitudes, n '^ I* I'' 'I '1, if i »;' % ■i if 238 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. who gathered from far and near to hear the Gospel from his burning lips. The Unitarian pastor attempted to controvert and hinder him in his work, but was cast aside as a leaf before the whirlwind. The tidings flashed over the land that God was with his servants at Northfield, and raised expectation higher than ever. But there were some who doubted. They said, and with plausibility, that the songs were familiar here, and the direct address was characteristically American, and these men could scarcely interest and hold people as they had done abroad. The answer will be found stated in the compend we have made of the reports and 'editorials of the press, for the benefit of our readers who r ay d: .. re a record of these glorious events, that shall stir their hearts and show what God hath wrought. Mr. Moody, aftar l-. '^ a . » jareful consultation, resolved to visit Philadelphia first ; but, upon urgent appeals from the City of Churches, he commenced there October 24, 1875. Money was freely subscribed and a perfect Union of Christians obtained. The services were arranged to be held in the Rink on Clermont Avenue, and prayer-meetings in Talmage's Tabernacle. Preaching on Sundays began at half- past eight, so as not to interfere with the regular church raeet- ir"<<. An afternoon preaching service occurred at four, and a n. jting at nine p.m., for young men. From the journals we gather the events of the course of revival efforts, and arrange them in such order as may convey the best general view of the whole marvellous series, without stopping to quote the several sources of information. ' All calculations with regard to the coming of the Evange- lists, Moody and Sankey, have been at fault. The numbers in- terested, the assistance at hand, the religious feeling awakened, have all been underestimated. This was not a result of mis- management, — on the contrary, the management has been singularly good, — but a misconception of the depth and earnest- MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 239 ness of the religious feeling which awaited the coming of the Evangelists, and stood ready at once to aid and respond to their efforts. This religious spirit had been lately aroused in this country by various causes, chief among which we reckon the general trade and business depression which now, as always in the past, tends, while multiplying men's troubles, to quicken their sympathetic and religious feelings. The demonstration yesterday in Brooklyn was expected to be noticeable and earnest, but in its magnitude it has proved a surprise. The reputation won by Moody and Sankey abroad specially adapted them to lead in a general revival, and led all to anticipate a great following to hear them, but that three or four times the numbers in attendance would have to be turned away was wholly unexpected. And instead of an effort being required to awaken interest and arouse dormant feelings, it was soon discovered that the audience was as intensely earnest and sympathetic as the leaders themselves. Some of the indications of this spirit, as betrayed at yes- terday's meetings, are curious. The morning services were begun at half-past eight o'clock. Before six in the morning the crowd began to gather at the doors ; at eight o'clock over five thousand persons were seated in the building, and three thousand or more had been turned away for lack of standing room. In the afternoon twelve — possibly twenty — thousand were unable to gain admittance ; meetings had to be organized in neighboring churches (Mr. Sankey going from place to place singing his songs), while the sidewalks and house-stoops for blocks around were black with the constantly increasing crowd. Additional car-tracks had been laid by the street railroad com- panies to the doors of the building, and though cars were run at intervals of only one minute, many thousands had to wend their ways homeward on foot. The prayer with which the gervlQes were be^un, though delivered b^ a minister whos9 Hm\\ ' '»; ft ■ --\ ^n ■'I ■ ■■ I :« 240 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. manner ia never impassioned and whose style is purely argu- mentative, was interrupted by frequent and fervent ejacula- tions from the audience, indicating the intense sympathy with the movement which existed. The songs of Mr. Sankey re- newed and heightened these demonstrations, and the utter- ances of Mr. Moody raised the excitement, enthusiasm, — religious fervor, as one may choose to call it, — to the highest pitch. These comments are founded on the reports of the first meetings, of which we have most glowing accounts, like the following. It was early evident to the coldest and most sceptical per- son present at yesterday's services that the revival spirit was thoroughly aroused, and the people ripe for a great and enthu- siastic religious demonstration. This feeling was manifested at the very beginning of the services, during the prayer of the Rev. Dr. Budington. Many familiar with the gentleman's manner thought that his selection for this duty was an error of judgment on the part of the managers. Dr. Budington has never made any claims to being a magnetic speaker. He is logical in style, and his manner of delivery is polished but cold. His words would, probably, by their logical force, al ways keep for him the close attention of an intellectual assemblage, but they would not on any ordinary occasion arouse deep feeling or enthusiasm. Yesterday, before he had uttered half a dozen sentences of the prayer, fervent "amens" came from many lips, and there were other signs of profound emotion in the great throng. The next opportunity which was offered for the display of this fervent and reverential enthusiasm was during the singing of the 120th Hymn by Mr. Sankey. Mr. Moody had said, immediately after reading from the Bible, " I am going to ask Mr. Sankey to sing the 120th Hymn alone" — with a sharp MOObY AI^D SAN KEY iN AMERICA. 24 1 emphasis on the last word. The instant hush of expectation as the great audience settled back, prepared to hear something that should appeal to their hearts, was very marked, but as Mr. Sankey^s magnetic voice and wonderfully expressive sing- ing filled the great auditorium, the sympathy among his hear- ers grew and increased until it seemed as if, had he continued the sweet melody and earnest supplication, every person in the whole audience would have risen and joined with him in a grand musical prayer of mingled appeal and thanksgiving. The effect he produced was simply marvellous. Many re- sponses, such as "Amen" and "Glory to God," were heard from all parts of the vast assembly, and at the close a great many men as well as women were in tears. Mr. Sankey's voice is a marvel of sweetness, flexibility, and strength. There is a simplicity about his vocalism which disarms the criticism that would apply to it any of the rules of art. It has a charm purely its own, which attracts and holds one with a power that is gentle but irresistible. Mr. Moody's appearance during the delivery of his sermon was as one man standing in a sea of men and women. On all sides, and even in rear of him, were the assembled 5,000 per- sons, nearly all on a slightly lower plane than himself. Every one's attention was closely directed to him, and, in moments of intense utterance or emphasis of some religious truth, fer- vent responses came from every part of the room. And when, toward the close of his sermon, he told his hearers that they must lay aside the world, its vanities, pleasures, parties, festi- vals, and its other gayeties, if they would "go up at once and take the land," the responsive "Aniens," " Yes, yes," "Glory to God," and " Ay, ay," were very numerous, and came from every quarter of the auditorium. Mr. Moody's manner in the pulpit was not such as a trained elocutionist would use. He is evidently a man who in his diligent search for truths has 15 1 1 ^1 i H H M : 11 M 1 1 ^^^1 m H ^'K III ^' nl ^ m ■KH ^ ' BB ^ kMI i'^ 1 1'" •^ m III H 1 Mi ' '^- M 1 fl ' ^ 1 Vm 1 ^p \\ WK J a ffy - 'ill \ rm . 'Bil * M ' ■' '^ 1 m ' ' ^ K ' ' i m[ !r ' • tm Jf'* *?1 242 MOODY AND SANKlY IN AMERICA. . made little study of forms. He is quick in his movements, and so rapid in speech that the swiftest stenographer present yesterday could not reproduce his language literally. He is earnest and vigorous in enunciation and gesture, and wholly without studied art. But as one listens, he becomes irresisti- bly convinced that an intense earnestness and unquestioning faith in the saving power of Christianity inspire the rugged, sinewy oratory of the speaker. Often neglecting a syllable and sacrificing a sound, not always correct in grammar or fluent in speech, he appears to the amazed listener a man who feels more than he can express, whose brain is big with great thoughts which speech —earnest and eager as Mr. Moody's language is — is incapable of expressiag, and which, in their rapid delivery, tread so fast on each other's heels as to more or less mar each other's form. The music is under the direct charge of Mr. Sankey. In accordance with his request the choir is composed of singers who are themselves Christians, and recommended by their pastors as such. It numbers 250 voices. There have been 500 names entered, so that there will always be a reserve f jrce of as many more as are requisite from which to keep the ranks full. The singers have been undergoing several rehear- sals, with a view to adapting themselves in various points of expression to the spirit of the words they utter. The last of these was conducted on Saturday night by Mr. Sankey. There wjU be one large organ to assist the choir and audience, and a smaller one upon which Mr. Sankey accompanies him- self in his solos. One of the papers said, near the close of the campaign, Moody and Sankey will advance upon Philadelphia, after their Brooklyn experience, as conquerors. There was great anxiety about their success when they made their advent in Brooklyn a month ago. They had stirred up England and MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 243 Scotlana just before their arrival in this country; but still there were doubts whether the conditions here were as favor- able as they had been there. The " Evangelist " Varley and his assistants had carried on revival operations here last year, in the Hippodrome and elsewhere ; but they were failures. Moody himself had worked among us with very slight results before he went abroad. Other revivalists had tried their powers in various places, and met with discouragement. But the very first meeting held by Moody and Sankey, on the 24th of last month, was a triumph, so far as it could be made 80 by the multitudes in attendance and the number of anxious inquirers. From then until now, the pripular interest has not only been sustained, but has increased ; and the meetings of the last two evenings, especially that of last evening, show that the revival is yet at its flood tide. It is from such scenes that Moody and Sankey go to Philadelphia. We are not sur- prised that the pious Philadelphians now look for great tilings, or that they expect a Pentecostal season without precedent in their city. We hope that, if they enjoy it, they will be the better for it, and that the fruits of it will be apparent to all ob^rvers. Mr. Moody himself was not surprised at what was wit- nessed, for he said to the reporters : *' I have nowhere found more impressionable audiences than in Brooklyn. In Eng- land, where I Wiis successful, my friends counselled me against going into Scotland, saying that I could not move the cool, calculating spirit of the Scotchman ; and when I started for Ireland, they told me that the volatile Irish were the last people in the world among whom I could labor with good re- sults. But in both these countries there was as great awaken- ings as any I have ever seen. It made me think that hearts are the same all over the world." M r ^^ 244 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. iH ! I *' What has been the most encouraging feature of your reception in Brooklyn ? " " The union of the churches. All the clergy seera to be working zealously and harmoniously and intelligently to carry on the work." " And the most discouraging 1" " My inability to reach the great masses who ought to be saved. Still, they may be yet approached through the churches, for this movement has not stopped." " Have you any estimate of the number of converts madel" asked the reporter, for Mr. Moody volunteers nothing to an interviewer. " I have not one, and cannot make one. Many go to their own pastors and do not come near the inquiry room, and many more of the wounded will be won if the work is carried on as it should be." He said that he as yet felt no fatigue, and that he had been able to carry on four meetings a-day in England, Scotland and Ireland for over two years without breaking down. He ex- pressed great satisfaction with the opening meetings, saying that he had never had a more encouraging outlook. Every- thing had been planned after the very best manner, and the indications of success were as satisfactory as any he had found abroad. The prayer-meeting yesterday morning was more suc- cessful than he could have expected. In Great Britain these meetings were held at noon, but at no time was there a larger attendance than yesterday. Many of^the meetings there had been overestimated in the numbers in attendance. He had yet to learn of a circumstance in this country that was un- favorable. In Brooklyn he had found a universal feeling of cordiality and support, and in all he had known of the other cities to which he and Mr. Sankey had been invited, there wag MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 245 n the same unvarying encouragement. Some of the newspapers had stated that in New York there were some ministers who disapproved of their coming, but he had found the feelings there fully as universal and sympathetic as anywhere else. Am :!iffered in this respect from Great Britain. In the latter country he and Mr. Sankoy were strangers, and many people regarded them at first from aloof, and it wa.s only after they became better known and their work was understood that the sentiments became cordial and the interest general. Ho therefore believed that a still greater work would be accom- plished- in the United states than on the other side of the Atlantic. Said Mr. Moody : " T am the most over-estimated man in this country. By some means the people look upon me as a great man, but I am only a lay preacher, and have little learn- ing, ^on't know what will become of me if the newspapers cont to print all of my sermons. My stock will be exhausted by and by, and I must repeat the old ideas and teachings. Brooklyn every Sunday hears a score of better sermons than I can preach. I can't get up such sermons as Drs. Budington, and Cuyler, and Talmage, and many others who preach here week after week. I don't know what I shall do." It is interesting to note the interest excited by Mr. Moody in such men as Mr. Beecher, 'he prince of preachers, who said at one of his lectures, the impression he had gained in conver- sation with Mr. Moody was that the number of persons who had been converted from the outside world, while not incon- siderable, has not yet been large. This leaves the comforting thought, he added, that the greatest benefit of the meetings is yet to accrue. He spoke further, suggesting different methods to prolong the Christian meetings. He could not see how the^ could carry on the central meetings with continued suc- i4 246 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. cess. If every church tried to be a little Rink, and everybody a little Moody and Sankey, they would fail, because imitations were very inferior. Moody was no careless worker ; no man had a more detinite conception of the end he aimed at. " On last Saturday," said Mr. Beecher, " I had the pleasure of two or three hours' conference with Mr. Moody in my own house. I thought I saw the secret of his working and plans. He is a believer in the second advent of Christ, and in our own time. He thinks it is no use to attempt to work for this world. In his opinion it is blasted — a wreck bound to sink — and the only thing that is worth doing is to get as many of tlie crew off as you can, and let her go. All that is worth doing is to work and wait for the appearance of the Master, and not to attempt a thorough regeneration of a complicated state of society. He thinks that Christ may come even to-morrow. I should be a burning fire all the time if I believed like that, but I do not say that I must believe like that to be a burning fire." Mr. l^ordhoff, an accomplished literary gentleman, wrote of the Evangelists a capital review for the "Herald," from which we copy : Mr. Moody is a short and somewhat stout man, with a full, dank beard, rather small eyes and an active, energetic, but not nervous habit. His manner is alert and prompt, but not grace- ful ; his voice is unmusical, and indeed harsh j his enunciation is very clear, but somewhat too rapid, and can be heard and understood in every part of the Tabernacle or the Rink. In the latter place he has spcken to 7,000 people. He gesticulates but little, and his gestures are evidently extremely unstudied. His style of speaking is entirely conversational, and hearing him perhaps a dozen times, I have never detected him in any attempt at eloquence. He is evidently, by his pronunciation, % Yankoe, clipping some of the n^inoy woyds in l^is sentences^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. as the farmers in the interior of Massachusetts do ; but he has no " Yankee drawl." He speaks the language of the peo- ple, and has the merit of using always the commonest words ; and that he had no early educational advantages is plain from his frequent use of " done " for " did " and other uugrararaat- ical colloquialisms. In short, his appearance is not imposing ; his figure is not graceful, but that of a farmer or hard-working laborer ; his voice is not melodious, nor has it a great range ; his language is not choice. His externals, therefore, are all against him. In spite of all these disadvantages he has succeeded in at- tracting in England and here vast crowds day after day, which, at some of the Brooklyn meetings at least, are composed largely of cultivated people ; he has, evidently, succseded in interest- ing these crowds in what ho has had to say ; for nothing is more remarkable at the meetings than the absolute quiet and order, the attitude of interested listeners, which prevails among the audience. He has so entirely controlled his audiences that all noisy manifestations of religious feeling have been entirely suppressed ; and at the same time no one who has sat in the meetings at the Rink or the Tabernacle can have failed to see that Mr. Moody's manner of presenting his subject is to an extraordinary degree effoctivo in moving the hearts of his hearers, in stirring devotional feelings, in producing a pro- found impression upon them of the importance of the message he has to deliver. Indeed, it has been a common remark that the audiences were even more remarkable than Mr. Moody, for not only aro they spontaneous gatherings ; to some of the meetings admit- tance can be secured only by the presentation of a ticKet, and these ticket meetings, where each person must be supposed at least to have ha i a desire to attend strong enough to induce him to take the trouble of securing a ticket, are as crowded 248 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. as any others. Nor are convenient hours selected for the meetings. There is one from eight to nine in the morning, which yet has seen the Tabernacle filled with an audience, at least a third of whom were men. There is another at four o'clock in the afternoon, and again not less than a third of those present have been men. After the Rink meeting in the evening there has been held a meeting in the Tabernacle for young men exclusively, beginning at nine o'clock, and this too I have seen crowded, the large auditorium being on several occasions incapable of holding all who came. Nor is this all. Not the least remarkable evidence of the real and profound interest excited by Mr. Moody's exhortations is seen in what are happily called the "overflow meetings," composed of persons who could not gain admission to the regular meet- ings where Mr. Moody exhorts and Mr. Sankey sings, and who adjourn to a neighboring church to listen to some other preacher and to sing the songs which Mr. Sankey has made familiar to them. If any considerable part of the crowds who go to the meetings were composed of the merely curious these " overflow meetings " could not exist. '■ Nor is even this all. Mr. Moody does not hesitate to advise people to stay away 'rom his meetings. He has re- peatedly urged that his labors are for non-church goers ; that he desires room left for this class, and he has taken special means to exclude from some of his meetings all who regularly attend a church — tliat is to say, he does not court his audi- ences, but the contrary. If you go to hear him it must be because you want to ; if you go the second time it must be because he interested you the first. I have heard him a number of times, and always with in- terest and gratification ; and it seems to me that this arose mainly — aside from the interest which any thoughtful man may have in this subject — because he gives the impression of P n MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 249 possessing remarkable common sense, the clear head of a busi- ness man, and a habit of attending to the one thing which he has on hand and making all parts of the audience do the same. The meetings are opened and closed promptly at the preappointed hour ; there is not even a minute of time lost during the meeting by delays ; his own prayers are brief, very earnest, and directly to the point ; and his exhortations are a running commentary on passages of Scripture which he reads rapidly, always asking the audience to turn to the passage. Indeed, so far as Mr. Moody is concerned, there is little or no " machinery." He opens a meeting 3S though the audience were the stockholders of a bank to whom he was about to make a report. He has the air of a business man to whom time is extremely valuable, and slow and tedious people are evidently a trial to him. In some of the prayer-meetings persons in the audience take an active part ; and it happened not seldom in those that I attended that some earnest but indiscreet soul made a long and rambling prayer. Mr. Moody knew how to bring back the assembly to the strict object of the hour. In one of the morning meetings a clergyman made a very long, loud, and rambling prayer, full of set and stale phraseology. The moment be ceased Mr. Moody said, " Let us now have a few minutes of silent prayer; that will bring us back to ourselves, and that's where we need to get." After a brief but impressive silence Mr. Sankey spoke a few words — pertinent, pointed, and forcible — of prayer, and the meeting proceeded. I hope I shall not be thought disrespectful to the clergy if I say that the prayers some of them speak at these meetings contrast unfavorably with the brief and pertinent petitions of Messrs. Moody and Sankey. The formal and threadbare phraseology of the former is strikingly inappro- priate in such meetings as these, and seem to me often to jar painfully on the feelings of the people around me^ ( ' • Tir h ' ! rV t 250 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. Again, in one of the morning meetings prayers were asked by various individuals in the audience for people in whom they were interested. One asked the prayers of the assembly foT* his sister ; another for her brother ; one for her mother ; sons for fathers; fathers for sons and daughters; wives for husbands ; one for a church out of town ; another for a church in New York. Finally a man shyly asked the prayers of the congregation for himself. Instantly Mr. Moody said, " That's right. I like that. I like to hear people ask prayers for themselves. That's where they are often most needed." Such an incident seems to me to show that he is not an enthusiast who has lost his self-possession ; and indeed this is evident at every meeting. He is, of course, enthusiastic in his work, but with the sobriety of a business man or of a general in battle. Again, he is never in the least afraid of his audience. In- deed, no one can hear him without feeling that he is entirely unconscious, as much so as a child. His own personality does not trouble him. Thus at the Rink one evening, while im- pressing upon the assemblage the importance of immediate conversion, he said : " I wish that friend over there would just wake up, and I'll tell him something which is important to him." And again, at another meeting, ho said : " Salva- ' tion is offered to every man in this Rink, now, to-night, at this very moment,; to that man there, who is laughing and jeering — the Son of Man comes to him to-night and oflfera salvation." Though he aims to reach more particularly the non-church- , going population, he concerns himself also about church goers. " The churches," he said on one occasion, " need awakening ; it is too easy now to be a church member. If you pay your debts and keep out of jp' , that seems to be enough." At a meeting for young men, held at nine o'clock p.m, in theTabeT- I MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 25! nacle, he said, " You don't need that I should preach to you. There is too much preaching. It's preach, preach, preach, all the time ; and you, young men, have heard sermons enough here in Brooklyn to convert every one of you. What you need is to work among yourselves. Let the converted speak personally with the unconverted — friend to friend. Then you'll see results." He has a good deal of dramatic power, and sometimes is very eflfective in a natural but strong appeal or statement. " When the prisoners at Philippi with Paul cried Amen," he Siud, " God himself answered them Amen ! " Speaking of th'} probability that we forget none of the events of our lives, and that this is, perhaps, to be a means of punishment in a future state, he pictured an unrepentant sinner awakening in the other world, and his misdeeds coming back upon him. " Tramp ! tramp ! tramp ! tramp ! " he said, suiting the action to the word. "I>o you think that Judas, after nearly 1,900 years, has forgotten that he betrayed his Saviour for thirty pieces of silver 1 Do you think that Cain, after 5,000 years, has forgotten the pleading look of his brother Abel when ha slew him 1 " he continued. In speaking of Bible incidents or parables he usually brings them in a dramatic form — as when ho remarked, " If I want to know about some man in Brook- lyn I don't ask only his enemies, nor only his friends, but both. Let us ask about Christ in this way. I call first Pilate's wife " — and relating her warning to Pilate, went on to call other witnesses to the character and works of Jesus. He has made an extremely close study of the Bible, and is evidently that formidable being, a man of one book, and thus he is able to give often a novel view of a Bible passage. Thus, speaking of Jacob, he remarked that his life was a failure ; pointed out that Jacob himself had complained of it, and enumerated his tribulations, which followed his niisdeeda, )■ t i l 1 r ! " ■ I h Hi '1 •i J .^1 M V 252 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. He enforced upon the audience the necessity of reading the 3ible biographies not as though they were the lives of saints, but the truthfully written lives of mortal men, in which their bad as well as their good deeds were set forth for our instruction. : . He has in perfection that faculty of epigrammatic state- ment which one often finds among the farmers and laboring people of New England, and this has sometimes the effect of ' humor. Thus, preaching at the Rink from the text, " Where the treasure is, there the heart will be also," he remarked, "If you find " man's household goods on a freight train, you may be pretty sure to find him on the next passenger train." On J another occasion he told of a woman who came to him saying that she had sought Christ without avail. " I told her there must be some mistake about this, because an anxious sinner and an anxious Saviour could not need three years to find each other." Speaking of persons who were ambitious to make themselves prominent, he remarked, " It does .iot say, make your light shine, but let your light shine. You can't make a light shine. If it is really a light it will shine in spite of you — only don't hide it under a bushel. Let it shine. Confess Christ everywhere." " Satan got his match when he came across John Bunyan," he remarked. " He thought he had done a shrewd thing when he got the poor tinker stuck into Bedford Jail, but that was one of his blunders. It was there that Bunyan wrote the * Pilgrim's Progress,' and no doubt he was more thankful for the imprisonment than for anything else in his life." Speaking of the goodness of God and of " grace abound- ing," he told a striking storj of a rich man who sent to a poor friend in distress $25 in an envelope, on which he wrote, " More to follow." " Now," said he, " which was the more welcome — the money or the gracious promise of further help ? So it is with God's grace ; there is always more to follow. MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 253 Let us thank God, not only for what he gives us, but for what he promises — more to follow." Contrasting the law and the Gospel, he said, " Moses, in Egypt, turned water into blood, which is death. Christ turned water into wine, which is life, joy, and gladness." Speaking of future punishment in one of his Rink sermons, he said, " God will not punish us. We shall punish ourselves. When we come before God He will turu us over to ourselves. Go and read the book of your memory. He will say." Urging the duty of immediate repentance and the joy in heaven over a repentant sinner, he said, " It' the President should die to-night, or if the Governor of the state should be shot, that would make an outcry here. But perhaps even so great an event would not be mentioned in heaven at all. But," said he, raising his voice a little, " if some sinner in this assembly were just now converted, thare would be a great shout of joy in heaven." Dwelling upon the certainty of future punishment, he remarked, " Some peo- ple doubt it ; they think God is so loving that He will make no distinctions in another world. But do you imagine that when men had become so wicked that God sent a ilood to ex- terminate them because they were not fit to live on earth — do you suppose that when the waters came and drowned them. He took all this wicked generation into His bosom and left poor righteous Noaii to drift about in his ark 1 Do you sup- pose that when His chosen people crossed the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's host were drowned, God took those idolatrous Egyptians directly to heaven and let the children of Israel wander miserably over the desert for forty years 1 " Speaking of the real objects to be attained by prayer, he said ; " If you have a thorn in your foot, you are to pray, not that God shall relieve you of the physical pain — He can do that, too — but what you are to ask him for is grace and strength to bear the pain patiently. We should thank God m ■s -: ri m ■Mi 1 3 IP I I i ! t 1 *■ 254 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. for our tribulations ; they are sent to us as blessings : they bring us to Him." Again, " Many things wo want God knows are not good for us ; if He gives them it is that we may learn through suffering ; if He withholds them it is because He loves us." Again he said, " Suppose a man going from here to Chicago, who knows me and ray wife. When he gets there he goes to see her, and he says, * I saw Mr. Moody in Brook- lyn.* And then, when she is naturally anxious to hear all about me, suppose he goes on to speak about himself, to tell her how he felt on the cars and where he stopped, and what he said and did and ate, would not she presently tell him that it was not him she wanted to hear about, but me 1 " Nor is he backward in impressing upon those who listen to him their own responsibility. " People attending these meetings during these two weeks," ho said, " will be either better or worse. They will not go away the same men and women. If I did not want to be a Christain, do you think I would ever go whore the Gospel is preached 1 If any of you have made up your minds not to be Christians, 1 advise you to get up and go out at once. It is not safe for you to be here." I do not know whether these passages which I have given from Mr. Moody's exhortations will seem to those who read them as forcible as they were to me who heard them. I took down at the time what appeared to me his most striking utter- ances, as the best way of showing wherein his power over his audiences consists. That he is a man of genuine power there can be no doubt. He has gathered, and held in silent atten- tion, and deeply moved, some of the largest assemblies that any speaker has addressed in America; at least in our day. For my part I do not doubt that his words have left a lasting impression on a great many men and women. And he has done this without frantic or passionate appeals ; without the least of what we commonly call eloquence. He has none of Moody and sankey m america. 255 the vehemence of Peter Cartwright or Elder Knapp, and he possesses none of the personal advantages or culture of an orator. Instead of all these he has a profound conviction of the reality of the future life; a just idea of its importance compared with this life and of the relations of the two, and an unhesitating belief in the literal truth of the Bible. It is, of course, his own deep and earnest conviction which enables him to impress others. ' ■" Mr. Sankey has an eifective voice, a clear pronunciation, and, I should think, a quick ear to catch simple and tender melodies. His singing was, I suspect, more effective and affecting in England than here, because the hymns he sings were not so familiar to his English hearers as they are to Americans, most of "'hom have been brought up in Sunday schools, or have heard their chiMren sing their Sunday school hymns at home. He is evidently a favorite with the Eink and Tabernacle audiences, and he has a pathetic and sym- pathetic voice. But to me the main figure is Mr. Moody. Of course a daily paper is not the place in which to discuss his theology, even if I desired to do so. Those to whom his creed is false or offensive need not go to hear him. But as to the general tendency and usefulness of his work, it seems to me clear thttt if there is a future life, it is useful to have it and its relations to the present life sometimes brought vividly before men and women actively and anxiously engaged in the daily struggle for bread. Mr. Moody addresses himself to a multitude thus absorbed ; his exhortations raise them for a time out of themselves, out of sordid cares and engross- ing pursuits, and present to them in a vivid, epigrammatic, often pathetic, always simple and natural way, the greatest questions and interests which can be brought to the consider- ation of a being gifted with immortal life. It is surely a great merit to do this, and to do it as these " Evangelists" do it — 5, IP "If ■if < 2 ■|!5 256 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. calmly, without mere passionate appeals, without efforts to capture the imagination of their hearers, and without noisy or disorderly demonstrations among their hearers. Turning now from this thorough and just estimate of these men to the results of their labors, we find many incidents of thrilling interest. The requests for prayer at the morning prayer-meetings revealed the universal awakening that has seized upon the whole people ; and they also exposed the piti- fulness of our human condition, by unveiling the vast variety of needs pressing on the hearts of myriads of sufferers. Says one report : The requests for prayers exceeded in number those of any previous day. There were twenty-five for cities and towns, twenty-seven for revivals in churches ; one for the Evangelists now laboring in Minnesota, one for the Oswego State Normal School, one for a young ladies' boarding school ; eight for Sunday school classes ; six for Sunday schools ; four clergy- men for themselves ; seventeen for drunkards ; and four hundred and forty-seven for different persons, many being from parents for wayward sons and daughters, and from wives for their husbands. Mr. Moody then offered prayer. Mr. E. W. Hawley then read requests as follows, all heads being bowed in silent prayer during the readifig. Requests for a sceptic 88 years of age, who will not hear of Jesus ; for a father, three sons and a daughter ; for a daughter, father and mother sixty years of age ; for four sons and one daugh- ter j for two young men yesterday in the meeting in the church ; for a young lady who is a backslider ; for a mother who is sick ; for a daughter and son ; for a wife, husband and three daughters ; for a sister and three brothers ; for a person sick, that he may be kept from temptation and doubt ; for a young man, an only son ; for a sick mother ; for a bro- ther that he may be restored to health ; two requests for back' 1 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 257 riiders; for a person very sick, that he may be kept from temptation and doubt ; for a young man, an only son ; for an organized band of praying young men ; a father for him- self and six of his family ; a wife for a husband given to strong drink ; four requests for church members who have an appe- tite for strong drink ; three requests for an aged mother ; for a friend in danger through strong drink ; three requests for husbands and wives ; four requests for unconverted hus- bands ; two requests of mothers for health of their sons ; for one who feels if she delays longer she will be shut out from God's grace ; a widow for six children ; for a husband and father bitterly opposed to attending church ; for sixteen young men by class-leader; a request for wives given up to the intoxicating cup; four requests for fathers from sons; one for a nephew ; a father and mother for seven sons, two of them intemperate. The reports brought into the morning meetings indicated the immediate results of the work : A woman came into the inquiry meetings broken-hearted. She was a wife and a mother. After she had laid hold on Christ herself, she wanted us to pray for her husband and children. Last evening she came in, leading that husband by the hand. That man got up and said he would accept Christ. This mother, six months ago, received a letter from her mother in England, asking that when our American friends (Messrs. Moody and Sankey) came to America, they would come to their meetings. Another letter was received from Scotland by an infidel from his mother. He last night came to the inquiry meeting. I talked with him. He had a fearful struggle. He was a civil engineer. For a good many years he had roamed around the world, preaching against Christ. He did not believe that he preached. It was the devil in him. He was on a vessel in a storm, and (U3 they thought the ship was going down, he, like a poof ' M' m 258 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. [i coward, fell on his knees in prayer. But after the storm he forgot it. For the last two days this man has heen in terrible agony. He said : " I am in terror ; my heart is broken. I'll lay down the weu|jons of my rebellion. I'll write to my mother in Scotland about it to morrow." Keep on praying. At the inquiry meeting there were two or three hundred seekers, many of them youths of from twelve to sixteen years of age. A curious scene was observed at the entrance of the chapel of the Simpson M. E. Church. A man and woman of middle age and well dressed, coming down Willoughby Avenue with the throng after the services in the Rink, stopped at the gateway in front of the chapel. After a moment of hurried, earnest conversation, the man stepped backward away from the woman toward the chapel steps, all the time looking re- proachfully at her. He mounted the steps and was about to cross the threshold when the woman stepped quickly forward and, putting her face between the iron bars of the fence, said, in troubled tones, " I will not go in that place ; you shall not ; come away at once." She walked hurriedly away and the man followed. Yesterday, at our Sunday school, in place of the usual closing exercises, we invited the scholars to remain for a prayer-meeting. Five hundred remained. Twenty rose and asked for prayers, and seven, we think, found peace in believ- ing. Last evening at the Rink very many souls were brought • to Christ. In the inquiry room it seemed as if all on each side of me were anxious to find Christ. Going home last night, as I walked down the street, I talked with three young men ; one of them was anxious, but hesitated. I said to him, " You can be converted before you reach yonder lamp-post, if i you will." When within twelve feet of it he stopped still, ftnd nfter a struggle said, " I will," with intense feeling. I ( MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 259 turned to his companion, and after a struggle he said, " Yes, I too." The third companion still remained. We knelt down with him around the lamp-post, and after a prayer he accepted Christ. The presence of (jrod was felt in this city yesterday. Thanks be to His holy name. A man in the gallery said he wanted to say a word of en- couragement. In the Rink a man sat before him, singing with a strong voice — a fine-looking gentleman. Something said to me, "I must speak to that man." It was an effort. "With trembling voice I said, " Are you a Christian 1 " " No ; I can't say I am." I asked him to go to the inquiry room. He said, " No ; it is too conspicuous." I said, " I'll go with you ; people won't know which of us is a sinner." He said, "Perhaps, presently." I said, a few moments after, "Pres- ently has come." He went with me, sat down and talked with me, and in one half-hour had given himself definitely to Christ. Last night at the Rink I went to get a lady to come to the inquiry room. I sent a lady to go for her daughter. She said, •* I can't leave here at present." The lady who went for the daughter said, at the close of the Rink meeting, she felt so impressed that she must pray for some one who would not come to the inquiry meeting. She rose up and prayed in the body of that church. Pretty soon the daughter came running into the church, almost out of breath, and said, " Your prayer has reached me. Nothing had ever reached me before your prayer." The mother also said, "Your prayer saved me;" and th \t down there and all were blessed together. A man rose and related the conversion of a soldier with an empt; leeve and a badge on his breast, revealing the sh 'tered remnant of a noble man. His parents were mem- b rs of the Reformed Church of Kinderhook. He came out of the army a drur ard. His wife and children returned from Sunday school one day, and his little girl said to him, m m 2f)0 MtHinV AND SANKKV IN AMKHirA. i "♦loHtjH lovoH yoii." Il»< imnhod lu>r awny In luijjror, iiiitl umlioil out to li <|ii)\Ui)i^ Hitlooii to (IriiiK. .Iiinl, ;(» hn wmm |inMiii^ Mm mliiHM (o luH lipH. I) liltio |7irl nwo, um il" in li iiiiinir, hturorc liim, Ai)(i ho »0(>m«Ml lo ]\oi\v vin^iiif^ in Ium oium, " l''nl,lior, ,l(|1(mI Iho f;In»M, and ruHlitnl «miI, and widkod tlx^ Mtivot^ idl night itt agony. \\{\ woni homo and nuid to hin \\\\\\ " Holsy, 1 want yon to pray for nn^." This nnm Im now hihoviii^ ONMM-y day in Walov MlriM^t, Now York, trying to nave Iho h»«t drindianls lh(>ro withonf pay lor \\'\h Horvioo. Mr. Moody \\\o\\ n^hitcd, in idoMing, a vory all'niting inni d»>i\i of (ho vo«MU>;Mliati(tn of a p;odigal won and Htoth(M', whoMo hint aot in oxpirin^ was lo plivoo thoir hands in oaoh foolingly l«>ld thrd a spoil of .mipproHsiMl oniotion H(»onuMl to vsway th«> vasi aiidionto ; and whon Mr. Moody said, " Lot uh prny/'whilo th(> pooplo woro silontly oonnnnning, Mr. Sankoy'n voico phuntivtdy hroatlnvi forth, " Conio homo, proiligal child." Tlio spoil was hrok«>n, and thor(> was ;•. wail of passionato woop- ing ; tho griof of tho youug n»an partimlarly, who sat noar tho platfovn\, hoooming almost nnomitrollahlo. Mr. Moody i\otiood this at onoo, atid oh(>('kt\d tho «>xiMt(Mn(M»t hy stopping Mr. 8rtukoy at tho oud »>f tho lirst vorsj% asking tln^ audiiuico to riso and sing, " Thoro is u fot ,(ain lillod with blood." Tho solf ivstraiut antl tho gonninonoss of Mr. Moody'H work wftj» iiovor n\oiv signally liisplayod th/in in this slight oircum- stAUOO. Ho might havo allowod tho oxoitomont to havo swept on till it booamo a roligions Iron/.y, whioh wonld havo boon the oaj«o in a fow mintitof, and maiij mistakon roligioiis loudors would havo doiio so for tho \\\oro gratilication of thoir own lovo of oxoilomont. But Mr. Moody, roalizing that moro oxcito- ment is not lioalthy, ohockod it whilo that was possiblo, leav- ing t<> tho intlucneos of tho Holy Spirit tho completion of the work which had evidently oommencod in many hoarta, 'H work •ircum- awopt loatlora vu lovo oxcito- .0, loav- of tho NfoohV AMI) SANKKV IN AMKKICA. 26 t iCnv. Mr. i)ixMit up (unl run liomn l.o liiw (;lrMt)l,, (irid lin wum ohli^cd W to link IpIk^ L'M'd to ntay IiIh Inirid, lin wtiM ho i'till oi' th?»^7,.Viiv>vkiW,lli)l,ui|ij^l>tuj ^66 MOODY AND SANKEV IN AMERICA. S t ii counted ; while in some instances every space in the margin is filled, and hardly a sentence has escaped the Evangelist's pen. In combating men's trivial objections he said : One of the worst excuses is the Old Bible. Of all the sceptics that I have ever heard talk against the Bible, I have yet to find the first one that has ever read it from back to back. They read a chapter here and there, and lay it down and say it is dark and mysterious to them, and they don't understand it, and they never will understand it until they are spiritually minded, for its truths are spiritually discerned. No unrenewed man can understand it. What he can know is that he has sinned. Everything telk you that in your experience in life. Your restless spirit and anxious soul, whether you acknowledge it or not, prove it. You can know from the Bible that Jesus Christ came to save you, a sinner, and prove it by trying it. The Bible ouglit to be read right through. It is only then you can know the n:udic, tne swell, the cadence, the rapture and sorrow, the triumph and the tears, of God's Word. What would you know of your boy's letter, if you were to read the superscription on Monday, to look at the signature on Friday, and read a little in the middle of it three months afterwards 1 I get tired toward the end of July and I go away to the mountains. I take the Bible with me ; I read it through, and I feel as if I had never seen the book before. I have spent most of my life in reading and expounding it, yet it seems as if I had never seen it. It, is so new, so rich, so varied, the truth flashing from a thousand unexpected and undiscovered points, with a light above the brightness of the sun. And that summer reading of the Bible is what I. call tuning the instrument. If anybody does not believe the Bible, he has never read it through ; he may have read a little here and there, with general commentaries and criticisms between, but he haa not Moody and sankey in America. 367 read the whole. Once two men said, " We will disprove the conversion of Paul." They read it through, and wrote a book in proof of it. So will God deal with all destructive critics who really make themselves masters of the situation they in- tended to overthrow. It is wonderful, if you read the whole, how it gets hold of yoL somewhere. I have tried it ^ and I appeal to you who know it best, whether you will willingly let it drop out of your fingers, when it has once got into the movement and necessity of your being. One secret of his power is well described by himself : Mr. Moody chose his subject, " The Holy Ghost," and related an incident in hid early life as an Evangelist, when an old gentle- man had said to him, " Young man, when you apeak again, honor the Holy Ghost." Mr. Moody said he had never for- gotten the advice, and had profited much from it. "The Holy Spirit is a person. We get life through the Holy Ghost. We can have no revival save through Him. He gives hope. When he arrives we lean upon something more than human supports. Men often utter the prayers which they spoke twenty years ago. We only know how to pray when we have the Holy Spirit. There are two kinds of Christians. The one class are as an ordinary well, from which you must pump all their religion. The other are artesian, and send forth the waters of love continually. If we are full of the Spirit to-day it is no assurance for to-morrow. We must keep at the foun- tain all the time. Think of Elislia, how he followed Elijah, and at last received his robe and a double portion of his grace. That old farmer made the mightiest prophet the world ever saw. The Church is living too much upon old manna. They think one supply enough for their life." When Mr. Moody had finished the whole congregation sang the 128th hymn, " Come, Holy Spirit." IU'li » m- ■\m^ VK 'T-'~ I 1 -^ f [ 268 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERldA. Another element of influence has been forcibly stated. Here is our view of the case : Unselfishness is the greatest power in the world. The man who gladly makes sacrifices for the honor of God and the wellbeing of mankind wields an immense power. When the Holy Spirit is allowed to enter and occupy the hearts of men, selfishness disappears. Selfish- ness and the Holy Spirit cannot dwell together. It is because of the absolute unselfishness of these Evangelists now working in Brooklyn that multitudes hoar them gladly. They are earnest and enthusiastic, not seeking their own, but Christ's glory. They themselves are nothing — Christ is everything. Persistent effort has been made by the enemies of pure and undefiled religion to discover flaws in the character and methods of these men. The world itself, which generally delights in truthfulness and fair play, has frowned down the effort as dishonorable. Honest Christians know well the falsity of the accusation. These self-denying men have no stain of Caesar's gold about them. They are after souls, not money. They are engaged in heaven's mission, working to lift society from the debasing bondage of Satan to the blessed service of Christ. In self-sacrifice they are strong. Consistent and self denying lives are yet largely an undeveloped power within the Church. Unworthy membership breeds much mischief. It was at this citadel of sin that Moody and Sankey directed their first shot. The sacred fort has in too many cases been betrayed into the hands of the enemy through the foes within it. The world is not reading God's Word, but scanning closely the lives of Christian professors, and they find many grievous blemishes. It is because Moody and Sankey are like Enoch, walking daily with God, that they are honored and successful. They have learned that most difficult lesson that we cannot serve God and mammon. They are fully persuaded that they are their brother's keeper ; and men flock after them to hear the truths MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 269 of the Gospel in all their grand simplicity ; to leam from men who in their lives and labors present glorious examples of the blessed influence of the Gospel message. They are bold, yet most unassuming soldi^^ers of the cross ; not afraid of the war- fare, but rejoicing in the conflict. It is upon such that the blessing of heaven descends. There is no difficulty in under- standing the power of these men. It is of God. They are living obedient lives. If we fail to perceive the connection, the fault is our own. The scales have not yet fallen from our eyes. Mr. Sankey's singing has caused almost as great an awak- ening as his associate's preaching. Choristers have probably as seldom adopted Sankey's songs as ministers have used Moody's sermons, but the power of song has been realized as never be- fore; the artistic quartette with its soulless music is going out of favor, and congregations are being lectured, with good effect, about their neglect of one of the most effective means of worship. A pervading sentiment of vigor of soul and the deepest sincerity animates him. He is possessed of all the enthusiasm which fills the speech of Mr. Moody, and brands his words on the minds and in the hearts of men as by fire. But it is enthu- siasm subdued to the rhythm and melody of his songs, and stirs the souls of his hearers by the feeling it awakens of genuine and whole-souled praise, such as the devout heart in momenta of religious exaltation m-^y long for but seldom attains fully. This is the impression left by a first hearing of Mr. Sankey, as stated by many, and confirmed by the almost breathless silence during the execution of his solos, and the fervor with which the vast body of the audience join their voices to swell the chorus of praise, i^.nother source of power to Mr. Sankey '9 the manner in which he subordinates and modulates the organ in the reinforcen^ent of his voice. The effect producecl ^ Pi i » 1: l< ,! i 'i n !ft I lljll i ii II I I 1 i; 270 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. is something which would hardly seem attainable were Mr. Sankey to sing to the accompaniment of some other person. Mr. Sankey sings and plays with his whole soul and body. He is, however, entirely free from anything which might be called a mannerism, and his passages of greatest force are exe- cuted with great vigor and animation of body, wholly natural, and suggested by the sentiment and stirring feeling of the hymn. In explanation of the chorus, "Hold the fort, for I am coming," he said that during the rebellion one of the Union officers in command of a fort closely invested by General Hood, was almost persuaded, by the distress of his men, to surrender the position, when he received a despatch from Gen. Sherman to this effect : "Huld the fort, for I am coming — W. T. Sher- man." It filled the soldiers with confidence, they kept up their courage, and were saved. He exhorted those present to show an equally abiding faith in Christ and they would be saved. Mr. Sankey produced a remarkable effect by the manner in which he rendered the last line, " Victory is nigh," and dwelt with redoubled force upon the word " Hold," until the vast chorus had caught the spirit and action of the leader. Mr. Sankey also sang the verses of the 18th hymn, "Rescue the perishing," but the audience did not respond as enthusias- tically as usual in the chorus. After the services Mr. Sankey said that this hymn was new, at least he had not had it very long, and that a large portion of the audience was unacquainted with the tune. He was confident they would sing it with the usual force after hearing it a few more times. He expressed himself highly pleased with the interest the audiences had shown in the singing throughout the week, and said that feature of the meetings was very similar to their experience in London. One of the most celebrated of Mr. Sankey's collection of 1i'ii MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 271 hymns is " The ninety and nine." It was a favorite in Eng- land, and is much admired here. Several statements concern- ing its origin have been published which conflict with each other, and no one of them, Mr. Sankoy said yesterday, is cor- rect. The true facts in the case are these : Some time in 1873, Mr. Sankey being then in England with Mr. Moody for the first time, bought a copy of The Christian Age^ a London religious paper publishing Dr. Talmage's sermons, and in one corner found this hymn. He had never seen nor heard of it before. It pleased him, and seemed adapted to religious work. He cut it out of the paper, and three days afterward he sung it at a meeting in Free Assembly Hall in Edinburgh, having composed the music himself. A short time after, he received a letter from a lady thanking him for having sung the hymn, and stating that the author was her sister. Miss Eliza C. Cla- phane, of Melrose, Scotland. She had written the hymn in 1868, and shortly after died. She and her whole family were members of the Church of Scotland, and were not Unitarians, as stated in this country. Mr. Sankey replied to the lady's letter, asking if her sister had ever written any other hymns, and was told that she had written several others, which were sent to The Family Treasury, a religious paper of which the late Dr. Arnot was the editor, but only " The ninety and nine" was ever published. Mr. Sankey communicated with him, and received several pieces of manuscript. The only other hymn by the same author in Mr. Sankey's collection is the 43d, ** Beneath the Cross of Jesus." He has been gather- ing hymns for the past eight years, keeping a scrap-book for that purpose. Many of them are found in the common Sun- day school collections, and were not known in England before Moody and Sankey introduced them. Since that time they have become the most popular hymns in Great Britain. While the li^yangelists were in Scotland they at first found difficulty r» W ! J !| I 272 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. in inducing people to sing their hymns, as the Presbyterians preferred their version of the Psahns. The Evangelists were accustomed to sing the lOOdth, 23d, and 40th Psalms, or the Ist, 107th, and 125th Hymns of the collection, and then ask the Presbyterians to sing " Hold the fort," which they usually did, and at length sang any of the hymns. The record of God's gracious dealings by the agency of His honored servants in Brooklyn promises to be eclipsed by the brilliant display of divine mercy on' their work in Phila- delphia ; and we may bring our review to a close by giving the keynote as struck by Mr. Moody the morning of his advent in the city of churches. " Ah ! Lord God ! behold Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." " And there is nothing too hard for Thee." During the past two years, into every town and city that Mr. Sankey and I have gone, we always took this verse as the keynote to our work. We generally commence every prayer-meeting by reading this verse — nothing is too hard for God — and it was a wonderful help to us. Sometimes our ways seemed hard ways. Then we came back to the old text, and these ways were freed from all darkness. It sometimes seemed as if some men could not be converted. But we came back to the old text, and flinty hearts would break. At Edinburgh I was told that a young man who was pointed out to me was the chairman of an infidel club. I went and stood beside him, and asked him if he was thinking of his soul. He turned to me and said, " How do you know I've got one 1 " I thought it was no use trying, but then I thought nothing is too hard for God. I asked him if I might pray for him. He said, " You may pray if you like. Try your hand on me." I got tlown on my knees and prayed for him. His head was belcl MOODY AND SAXKEV IX AMERICA. 273 up and his eyes did not notice me, and ho seemed to say to the people that my prayers did not aflect him at all. For six long months prayers were daily offered in prayer-meetings for the infidel. This was in January or tlie latter part of Decem- ber, and a year afterward, or a little over a year, when we were at work in Liverpool, I got a letter from a person in Edinburgh, who said that the infidel was at tlie foot of the cross, crying for mercy ; and just as we were leaving England we heard that he w^s loading a meeting every night. I was to give you this as our keynote- nothing is too hard for Gorl. It is just as easy for God to save the most abandoned man as for me to turn my hand over. If this is God's work, we had better cling to it ; if this is Christ's work, it is as lasting as eternity itself. I have a good deal more hope of this prayer- meeting than the meetings at the Rink. It is not preaching that you want, you have plenty of preaching. You have plenty of men who can preach better than I can. You have plenty of men who can sing bettor than Mr. Sankey can. Let this be your keynote — nothing is too hard for God to do in His great power. I asked my boy how God created the world. He said, " He spoke." That is all ; '* He said, let there be light, and there was light." He can convert the thief, the harlot, the most abandoned, and another class still harder, that is the self-righteous Pharisee. God can do it. Xothing is too hard for Him. Let us every morning keep this text in our hearts, " Nothing is too hard for Thee." Our God can do it. They tell us that the sun is thirteen hundred thousand times larger than the world, and our God created it. There have been eighty millions of other suns discovered, but these are only a fringe on the garments of God. Our God did it all. If, then, God is so great, shall we not ask Him for great things ? "We honor God by asking for great things. Alexander had a 17 il:U »f^l 274 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. \mb: m I li ill' ill I general who accomplished a great victory ; and it pleased him greatly. He bold the general to draw on his treasurer for any amount ho wished, and directed his treasurer to honor the draft. The draft was so large that the treasurer was afraid to pay it. The emperor said, " Didn't I tell you to honor his draft ] Don't you know he honors me by making so large a draft ? " Don't you know we honor God by asking for great things] The Church has been asking for little things too long. Let us go now to the 20th verse. " Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me 1 " Just as if it pleased Him. He says to Jeremiah, " Is there anything too hard for me 1 I am the Lord, the God of all flesh." God has shown us great things, but when we ac- cept His truth we will see still greater things. The next chrpter, 3rd verse : " Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou kiiowest not." Now, my friends, let us this morning call upon God, and when wo pray let us ask Him for some- thing. Tliere are a great many who come for nothing, and therefore they get nothing. Let us come with some great burden upon our hearts — some great petition. Let us bring it before God. Let us try it. When a man was one time making a long prayer, and asking for nothing in particular, an old woman says, " Ask God for something, and see if Ho don't give it you." Let us ask for something, and we will get it. Let every mother ask for the salvation of her sons and daughters. Nothing is too hard for Him. We may not see the answers to our prayers, but God does answer the prayers of the faithful. Between thirty and forty years -^^o, at a prayer-mooting which I held, there was a mother who had a very bad son. lie was a very bad man ; he was very profane, and was one Hi; MOODY ANt) SANKEY IN AMERICA. 275 jd him or any Lor the ■raid to nor his large a )r great ngs too am the lard for lah, " Is , God of a we ac- a I will p, which morning )r some- ing, and le great IS oring bne time Lrticular, lee if Ho I will get 3ns and not see I prayers of the noted men of the town for his sin. And when the church was struck with lightning he said he would have given $25 if it had burned it down. During the past few weeks the Lord God has found him. He has resolved to stop swear- ing and come back to church. I asked him to go down on his knees and pray. He answered that he had been on his knees all day. AVe may not see the answers to our prayers, but God answers the prayer of faith. Let us pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this "Sweet hour of prayer." We thank Thee for the privilege we have this morning of coming to this place and worshipping, and we pray that Thou wouldst give us the spirit of prayer. Teach us how to pray. May we come and ask Thee great things. Nothing is too hard for Thee. 80 wo pray that Thou would take the whole country to Thyself and lay it at Thy feet. Do a work in this country that shall make all men embrace salva- tion. In answer to prayer may there go up a cry, " What shall I do to be saved V Teach Thy servant to preach. Send him a message from the upper world to-night, and may his words come from the heart and go to the hearts of many. We pray for these mothers that are here this morning. May they pray for their sons and daughters, that they may be saved. We pray for these Sunday school teachers who have uncon- verted scholars ; may they labor and pray much. Wo pray that the children may be gathered into the fold of Christ. May the harvest be ripe, and may we come to tliis place carry- ing our sheaves, and Christ will have all the praise and glory. Amen. !|1 'V if '^i> .•■lift M ■; '1 L . M; 1 uootmg lad son. Ivus one ill I CHAPTER XIV THE EVANGELISTS IN PHILADELPHIA. Hi 'HEIK advanco on Philadelphia had heen carefully prepared for by earnest, wise, and strong men, who arranged for a gigantic campaign corresponding with the greatnes'-' of their city, iMid the popularity of the men wiio had carried Brocklyn by storm. The freight depot, corner Thirteenth and Market Streets, was titted up for the accommodation of twelve thousand per- sons, as many as it was probable the preacher's voice could reach. A grand choir of live hundred trained and superior singers was drilled to act as a choir to aid Mr. Sankey, and a union of churches eliected, by which all the ablest and most efficient Christians were combined in solid phalanx. Unworn by the immense labors undergone in Brooklyn, the brethren tore themselves away from their friends there, and tped to the City of Brotherly Love, there to preach and sing of that Divine love which is the theme of sermon and song by day and by night, wherever the E^angelists set up their standard. Never had men equal advantages, and never was more ex* pected of human beings. There was a feeling of need in the churches of something more than .hey had, and they were looking to the men whom God had so greatly honored, and MOODY AND SANKF.Y IN AMERICA. 277 stood ready to co-operate with them. In one branch of the church this was the testimony : Rev. W. P. Corbit spoke with much earnestness. Tlio Methodist Church, he said, was in a deplorable condition. The chief causes were a laxity of discipline and a want of praying bands. A speedy remedy for this state of things was needed. No new agencies were wanted. The Methodist Episcopal Church, worked by its own machinery, would take the world, if it were allowed to work. It is the pioneer church in this country. The remedy is in union of elfort and activity. Preachers had been preach- ing their heads oil' nearly, and yet were effecting nothing. There was a disintegration and selfishness about the Church. Each one of the Church organizations thought of itself only. There was a jealousy among the preachers and lay brethren that ought not to exist. The only remedy is union. There must be a cotuing together, and a return to the old circuit system. Let the preachers and people gather together as Moody and Sankey have got them together. He did not depreciate Moody and Sankey, but they had many men in their own body who were just as gifted as they, or more so. It was not Moody, and it was not Sankey, but the power which they possess of bringing good people together to work for God. In another quarter it was said, and we may understand the language as confession : The Church was never more aggressive than now. ^lachinery was never better \nanaged. There never was so much of it. The display of strength was never liner. But all this may be only equipped and organized werknes.s. The Church is nothing if not pious. More than this, it is very little if not consistently pious. To be zealously affected in a good cause, is good only on condition that it be " ahmtjfs" A church is an ckkJi'sia — a company called out from the world. Its strength, therefore, lies in its divergence ■,» i. a ; I'i I HI' 'I 1 [in 278 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. I from the world. To be in it, yet not of it, is the double problem which our machinery and our spirit must combine to solve. Christians themselves were ready to be touched with an electric shock by these surcharged Evangelists. And this was early seen to be a source of weakness as well as of strength to the work. Sinners were to be reached by these fiery apostles, and the church members filled all the seats before them. So * that the cry has been raised by one of the papers, and may be repeated throughout the land, that Christians may stand in the way of the fullest success of the monster meetings likely to be held all over the country. The Brooklyn revival has been in certain features a sad disappointment to us who have taken an interest and part in it. Mr. Moody failed, it must be confessed, in his evening meetings at the llink to reach that outside class which he sought. The reason for his failure is so discreditable that we almost hesitate to give it. But it must be confessed i\ukt it was the dishonesty, the selfishness of excitement-seeking pro- fessed Christians, that made these meetings a partial failure. Mr. Moody tried his best to open the door into his meetings to those who are not church goers, and to shut it against church members. He begged these latter to stay at home. He pled with them ; but they still would come. He then issued tickets, that were offered only to the non-church goers ; but the conscience-hardened professors would rob their uncon- verted neighbors of their tickets and lie their way into the Kink, and then have the face to stand up when all Christiana were requested to rise, and thus flaunt their hypocrisy in the face of the Evangelist, Our words are strong, but the respon- sibility of souls is on the head of these " Christians," who have yet to learn that Christianity means honor and truthful- * neaa. We do not like to say thcae words • but we commend 1 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 279 them now to the memhers of the Philadelphia churches. In a famine, that man, or crowd of men, were beneath all con- tempt who, with cellars stored with grain and their cheeks standing out for fatness, should crowd the bureaus of public charity, and prevent the poor from receiving the dole that should save them from starvation. But nothing better, nay, worse, has been the conduct of these greedy professors, very many of them from our cities, who have pushed the Brooklyn hungry, starving poor away from the Gospel feast. May the Lord not have mercy on their souls until they repent. It is an unusual spectacle to behold Christians so eager to be fed or taught, and it is probable that the blessed results wiU appear in thousands of churches. A Scottish Sunday school teacher says: "I venture to send you the following letter from Loudon, because of the re- ference to young women's meetings, which are already proving so useful to the many girls in our country who consider them- eelves too grown up and too dignified to attend Sunday school. The letter tells its own story, but I may just add, in thankful acknowledgment of our loving Father's willingness to bless the feeblest attempt of the weakest beginner, that that young lady was the very first stranger I ever spoke to about coming to Jesus. It was only the night before, while Mr. Moody was preaching, that I myself got into the sunshine ; and when that next night she sat beside me looking so sad, I could not help saying to her, * Jesus has made me so happy, won't you let him make you happy tool' She seemed just waiting to be taken by the hand, and went with mc! almost ut once to the inquiry room. " I write now in testimony of the fact that I am one ot the many, many ' church members ' who will thank God through all eternity for sending Messrs. Moody and Sankey to our country ; fo^. through their means, wo have been led to ik "^m . : I! ! i 1. i ! II i 280 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. exchange our hopes and fears for a glad certainty, and we can now say, ' / know whom I have believed, and am persuadetl that he is able to h>ep that which I have committed unto him.' " ' On his word I am resting, assurance divine, I am " hoping " no longer, 1 kno\o he is mine.' " The following is tlxe letter to which I have referred : " ' London, October 3, 1875. " * Dear Miss : I feel that I have neglected this duty too long. I ought to have written to you before. You were the means in God's hands of making me one of his own children. Oh, how happy I have been since the night you won me for our blessed Eedeemer ! You do not know who I am, but possibly you may remember me when I tell you that you gave me a red hymn-book of Mr. Sankey's with your ad- dress in it. It was at the Agricultural Hall I met you, and you took me into the inquiry room. After talking to me for some time you brought me to Mr. Moody, and Mr. Moody •handed me over, with several other young women, to a gen- tleman from Newcastle, and before I left the inquiry room I had found Jesus as my Saviour. How precious he has been to me since that night ! I went to hear Mr. Moody that evening out of mere curiosity, and had you not taken me into the inquiry room, possibly I should have gone away unim- pressed. Afterward I went several times to hear Mr. Moody at the Opera House. I heard the address to the converts there, and may the burning zeal I felt created in my breast that night continue. How T wish I had more leisure to work for Jesus, and more boldness. I became a member of a little chapel close to home soon after, and, as ^tr. Moody advised, I went to the pastor first, and asked him for work. He found me something to do among the aged. One of my old people cannot read, and others are so old thoy cannot see, One poor ly MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 281 old body is bed-ridden. It is very pleasant work, but I always felt I was not actually winning souls for Jesus, they being nioatij' Christ.' ans. I have been asking God for some time to open dp a waj for me, and now my prayer has been answered in a 'vay I hrrdly expected. Our dear pastor has planned a young woman's meeting, which is to be held one night in the week fron; half-past eight till half -past nine ; rather late, but that is the most convenient hour for business girls, whom it is principally for. The plan is that each worker is to give out not less than one dozen invitations ; these are to be given in the streets, as the girls leave their different business houses. There never has been anything of the kind done in this part of the vineyard. The invitations are very neat, and not like common circulars or bills. Outside there is printed an invita- tion and a warm welcome for Wednesday next. Inside there is a small address telling tlv m how pleased we will be to see them ; also, that if they are strangers from home in London, they will meet many who can sympathize with them, being also far from home. 'We had a large meeting of workers. I do not doubt success. It has been made a great subject of prayer, and God has promised that where two or three are agreed on one subject he will grant their reouest. Will you pray for us ? " ' Etc., etc. C W .' " In this way the seed sown may yield bountiful harvests year by year. Mr. Moody, in his first sermon at Philadel- phia, said : *' Letters come in from all parts saying that the prayer-meetings are four or live times larger than ever before; the prayer-meeting connected with one of the largest churches in New York, at which before only a few people attended, has, during the last few weeks, crowded the lecture room ; all this shows that the spirit of prayer is coming on the nation. God is ready to give us a blessing. I never had such large ][\ i hi i 1m,; 'ii' ii -t- ■t. '■, UWm 282 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. I I HI 1' -lin u int prayer-meetings in any of the cities in Great [Britain as we had in Brooklyn. Some say this is all sensational. If you can get three or four thousand people to meet together ard pray, not to hear some man, but to meet God and call on God, it shows God is in the movement. This is no sensationalism or false excitement. If we can but stir up the people to pray, the blessing is ours. I would rather know how to pray like Daniel than to preach like Gabriel." It was amazing to note how the subject of religion was handled by the secular presS; whose readers numbered mil- lions J and their utterances deserve to be gathered and re-per- used and studied, for their corroborative testimony to the importance and thoroughness of the movement. They used language like this, which deserves the consideration of pro- fessed Christians as well as worldly people : " With all this we are quite well aware that there is a large class of thin- brained, vacant-minded persons for whom life has nothing serious except personal discomfort, and who are most flippant over the weightiest problems of existence ; and that these stand ready upon the slightest pretext to make the whole business a jest and turn it into ridicule. But however lightly they may treat the matter, however much they may burlesque the actors in it, and make of their zeal and devotion a mock- ery and a jest, one thing is certain, that no man or set of men can make a religious movement of the importance of this one ridiculous unless it be the men themselves who are engaged in it. So long as they are sincere and earnest, and can forget themselves in the greatness of their work, nothing can with- stand them, and certainly nothing can detract from their dignity or belittle their efforts. But the emotions lie close together. High religious sentiment is of a brittle edge, and easily crumbles into silly sentimentality. Faith lies very ^ose to superstition ; it is but a step from trustfulness to MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 283 blind credulity. There a: 3 well-marked metes and bounds which cannot be disregarded in the presentation of religious truths and the expression of religious sentiments and emo- tions. Within these limits th» advocate or exhorter is invested with a grandeur of personal dignity which belongs to the man who is saturated with his belief, and who, in utter uncon- sciousness of self, is rapt in the contemplation of what he conceives to be the absolute and awful truth. These limits overstepped for an instant or by a word, and his power is gone. Between pathos and bathos the difference is less than of a letter ; the step is that ' one ' from the sublime. " It should not be forgotten by the leaders in this revival movement that religion is by no means all emotional ; that it rests on reason and common sense, which its ministers and missionaries must not affront by lack of logic, or shock by shallow illustrations and weak appeals. " The attitude and act of prayer are beyond all other things in life invested with solemnity and clothed in mystery. It is the supreme act of faith ; approached by the penitent with doubts and questions and infinite wondering ; only slowly apprehended, and so immeasurably vast in its meaning to the helpless soul struggling upward on it, that man at his very best can only throw himself upon it in utter self-distrust and leave the rest to God. The questioning men and women, longing to learn the truth and to lead true lives, get no light nor comfort from any flippant illustrations of the power of prayer. They excite doubts instead of removing them ; they confirm scepticism and awaken no conviction ; they do not attract but repel the sincere seeker after truth. The work in hand is of too great moment to be handled without the pro- foundest care and the most thoughtful consideration of every word spoken and every act done. " It cannot be denied that a * revival of religion,* as U is m 1 1 1 3 I ■■\ I ., ■ 1 1 B 1: ui ■r m 284 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. called, adds largely to the merely moral strength of society and increases the number of those who honestly mean to do right. Every reader has known within his personal expe- rience more than one instance of a bad nature made better, of a degrai ^ed character elevated, of an unwise life made true and rational, by the acquisition of religious motives. Hypoc- risy, humbug, conceit, vanity, fanaticism — these are words which fall easily from our tongues ; but the fact remains that hundreds and thousands are really in earnest. These acces- sions to the right-doing side of the population cannot be otherwise than of good import. It is unfair to weigh ordi- nary spiritual experience against that of larger natures — of F^nelon or of Pascal, of Wesley or of Channing. The real question is. Have wo here a man who has resolved to walk uprightly in this world for the rest of his days 1 If so, then society gains a good man in the place of a bad one, or one who might at any moment have become bad ; a good citizen instead of a possible felon ; a faithful mechanic or tradesman instead of a cheat ; an honest merchant instead of a fraudulent bank- rupt ; a devoted instead of a neglectful parent ; a good Sama- ritan instead of a liver for self alone. These surely are acquisitions which even the world need not despise. " Apart from the more solemn profession of the religious convert, is his promise that he will be honest and kindly ; that he will neither lie, nor cheat, nor steal ; that whatsoever of good his hands may find to do, he will do it ; that he will refrain from the vices which degrade, and impoverish, and kill ; that he will no longer be selfish and ungenerous, and that his works shall prove the vitality of his faith. There has been so much loose talk lately about religion, and churches, and preachers, that we are in danger of forgetting that all our lives we have been surrounded by thousands of excellent men and women made gentlemen and ladies by grace, full-hearted Moody and sankey in America. ;8S and full-handed helpers of the sick, the needy, and the suffer- ing, doers of the work wlienever and wlierever opportunity has offered, lovely in their lives and credible because involun- tary witnesses of the reality of their faith. To the number of these a season of marked religious interest unquestionably must make large additions ; for though the weak may fall away, though the most vociferous may grow silent and the warmest cold, there will always be a remnant of stronger natures abid- ing to the end." The chief purpose of ^lessrs. Moody and Sankey is the conversion of souls to Christ. What sort of men and women they expect their converts to become, their preach- ing and exhortations abundantly proclaim. Let us now look in upon them, the first Sunday in Philadelphia, ISov. 2l8t, 1875. While the heavens wept over the departure of the Evan- gelists from naughty Brooklyn, the driving rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of thousands who were anxious to attend the initial services of the expected revival. From every part of the city the worshippers came, and for almost an hour hurrying streams of humanity converged to a focus at the old Exhibition building. The police arrangements, as indeed all the arrangements for the accommodation of visitors and the maintenance of good order, were perfect. By eight o'clock the grand auditorium was about two-thirds full, while the stage was occupied by over eight hundred persons, a large proportion of whom were ministers. Among the more prominent clergy- men present were Rev. Richard JS'ewton, D.D., of the Episcopal Church j Rev. R. M. Hatfield, D.D., of the Methodist Epis- copal Church ; Rev. W. P. Reed, D.D., of the Presbyterian Church ; Rev. J. Wheaton Smith, D.D., of the Baptist Church, the committee who have been training a class of three hun- dred for services in the inquiry rooms. Also on the stage were ^ i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) 1.0 I.I '- III 2-8 " m 11^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ — 6" — ► v: ff /2 VI (? / Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (7)6) 872-4503 %^ W^ 286 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 500 singers selected from all the choirs in the city, and thoroughly drilled in Mr. Sankey's songs by Prof. Fischer. In the middle and close to the front of the platform sat the Evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, and the "sweet singer," Ira D. Sankey, surrounded by the gentlemen who were mainly instrumental in persuading the revivalists to come to Phila- delphia. Messrs. George H. Stuart and John Wanamaker, who have had almost all the great work directly under their charge, were seated on the right of Rev. Dr. Newton, who presided over the opening services. At precisely eight o'clock the doors of the vast auditorium were closed, and the hymn, "All bail the power of Jesus' name," was sung with fine effect by the choir. Dr. Newton then made a fervent prayer for the success of the movement so well be- gun, and asked for the blessing of the Holy Spirit on all workers in the cause. The 24th hymn, " Rejoice, and be glad ! The Redeemer lias come ! Go look on His cradle, His cross, and His tomb, " was next given out, and hundreds of voices in the congrega- tion soon joined in to swell the harmonies of the great choir on the stage. Then upon the little platform or pulpit in front ascended the leading spirit of all this congregation of wor- shippers, Mr. Dwight L. Moody. His appearance created a momentary stir of sensation throughout the hall. Mr. Moody is a short and somewhat stout man, with a full, dark beard, rather small eyes, and an active, energetic, but not nervous habit. His manner is alert and prompt, but not graceful ; his voice is unmusical, and indeed harsh ; his enunciation is very MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 287 clear, but somewhat too rapid, yet can be heard and under- stood in every part of the building. He gesticulates but little, and his motions are evidently unstudied. His style of speak- ing is entirely conversational, but, though he seldom makes any attempt at rhetorical display, he possesses and uses with marvellous eft'ect a dramatic power which clothes the most trite sayings with the thrilling beauty of fervid eloquence. But, after all, the great secret of his power over a vast assembly seems to lie less in what he says or his manner of saying it than in his personal magnetism, which adects those who are too far off to hear aln ost as strongly as those who crowd about his leet. Before Mr. Moody spoke the first word he glanced quietly about him for a moment, and almost instantly every whispered tone was hushed, every breath bated, and through* out the congregation of six or eight thousand persons not a sound disturbed the strange stillness which seemed to have been produced by some mighty strength of will possessed by the very unevangelical-looking gentleman standing on the platform. " Now," said Mr. Moody, after announcing his text, " what is the use of these special meetings 1 I have been asked this question often. Are there not churches enough 1 Are there not ministers enough, and services enough, and ser- mons enough 1 Yes, if sermons could save sinners, there have been enough preached to convert the whole of Christendom. "We have only come to help you. In time of harvest extra help is always needed, and, my friends, the harvest is here now." He closed an earnest sermon on work as follows : " While at Brooklyn, one teacher worked night and day with her class, and one evening told me with heartfelt joy that she had twenty -seven young ladies in the inquiry room. In less than two weeks the whole twenty-seven experienced a A ; r I K Vii 288 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. change of heart. Don't think because your children are little or young that they can't share the blessings of this revival. Bring them here, and we will save them. The power of Almighty God," added Mr. Moody, suddenly elevating his voice, " is in this hall this morning. Do you doubt it J " he asked, turning to the clergy upon the stage. " No," " No," " No," Wu_ answered. " Some time ago," continued the speaker, " a lady where we were stopping remained away from her Sunday school, saying that there were only five little boys in her class, and one day could make no difference. Did you ever stop to think what there may be to save in five little boys 1 In one little tow-headed boy may sleep the Reforma- tion. In another may be a Wesley, a "Whitfield, a Bunyan. Little did Andrew know what he was doing when he brought Peter to Christ. May each one of you hunt up some Simon Peter and bring him to Christ ; find some persecuting Saul and bring him to Christ. One lady in London, by tireless and prayerful labor, succeeded, by the assistance of her husband, a wealthy barrister of the metropolis, in converting one hun- dred and fifty of their friends and acquaintances. In speak- ing of it with grateful joy, she said, * Wo did not work ; we just laid ourselves out for Christ.' That's the way to do it. Don't count your strokes ; just lay yourselves out. God help you to lay yourselves out for work. Go ye all into the vine- yard ! Don't wait for the harvest, for — hark ! " At this exclamation a thrill of indescribable anticipation seemed to pass through the breathless assembly, and then, after a pause, during which only the patter of the rain-drops on the roof could be heard, the speaker concluded with : "Hark! the voice of Jesus crying, , ' . Who will go and work to-day ? " The tones of Mr. Moody's voice had hardly ceased before MOODY AND SANKEY IN AME^LICA. 289 help the same words were repeated by Mr. Sankey's musical voice in a beautiful hymn : « •' Hark ! the voice of Jesus crying, Wlio will go and work to-day ? Fields are white and harvest waiting, Wlio will bear the sheaves away ? " In the afternoon the throng was immense. For a con- siderable time before the hour for the commencement of the service the hall was crowded, and the number anxious and clamorous to obtain admission was greater than that within. Thirteenth, Juniper, and Market Streets were filled with people, and the doors were guarded by an efficient police force, who kept the multitude back. Such a sight has not been witnessed for many a day, and such a congregation, largely made up of earnest Christian men and women, has never as- sembled in this city. There were, according to estimates made by competent parties, fully thirteen thousand persons present, and the calculation does not seem to be at all out of the way when it is remembered that there are over one thou- sand chairs in the audience room, all of which were occupied. The order throughout the services was unexceptionable, and prior to their commencement there was a stillness that is rarely observed. There was neither buzz nor hum, no one seemed inclined to even whisper, and while doubtless many were drawn to the place out of curiosity, the larger portion, by their demeanor, seemed to have but one object, that of promot- ing the work of the great revivalists. The ladies and gentle- men of the choir were promptly in their places ; and, punc- tual to time, the Evangelists, Messrs. Moody and Sankey, made their appearance. The latter immediately took his seat at the melodeon, while the first-named took position at the stand, and never throughout the afternoon did he sit down, but kept his eye upon the audience the entire time. The ■f ■M 2QO MOODV AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. services were opened by Mr. Qeorge H. Stuart, who gave out a hymn, and after it had been sung by the choir, Rev. J. Wheaton 8mith, D.D., of the Beth-Eden Baptist Church, stepped forward and led in prayer. Mr. Sankey then gave out the 116th hymn, " Come, thou fount of every blessing." At the conclusion of the singing, Mr. Sankey said : " "We will now sing, ' Here T raine my Ebenezer.' The audience will all join in the singing." The hymn was evidently popular with the masses, for it was sung with a hearty good- will. Mr. Moody then announced that he would read a por- tion of the first chapter of Joshua, which was subsequently made the text of his discourse. Mr. Moody spoke about twenty minutes. The two points of his remarks, upon which he enlarged and elaborated, were moral courage and enthusi- asm, both of which, he held, were essential elements for suc- cess in the religious work. The address was stirring, earnest and effective, the speaker appearing to be anxious to reach the hearts of his hearers, and in this he was eminently suc- cessful, as more than one individual seemed to be touched by the powerful appeal made to take up the cross and enlist under the banner of the Saviour of mankind. The hymns, " Hear ye the battle cry 1 " " Forward the call," and " Hold the fort," were sung by Mr. Sankey, the choir joining in the chorus. No such singing has been heard in any of the churches, and the effect produced was all that the revivalists could have wished. The revival movement gives promise of complete success. It is now the talk of all classes. On 'Change, in business circles, in social gatherings, on the street-cars and the trains, and in the greeting of friends in the street, the names of Moody and Sankey are on every tongue. The Evangelists and their work are literally the town talk. " Have you been fiO h©»T Moody?" " Sankey's pinging is better than a ser- MOODV AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 291 mon ; " " Did you hear the * Ninety and nine 1' " " Wasn't that hymn, 'Nothing but leaves,' impressive?" "It's Moody's earnestness that tells ; " " What a team they are ! " — these are a few of the thousand-and-one expressions you hear every day. There are plenty of sharp criticisms on the methods of the revivalists, and doubts enough are expressed as to the permanency of their work ; but no one denies that they possess real power, unique in kind and degree, and won- derfully effective in awakening a new interest in the old doctrines of religion. A common complaint among the more thoughtful people is that Mr. Moody's sermons have no direct application to the relations and duties of everyday life — that they do not aim to mike men less selfish and cold-hearted, and more charitable, genial, generous, and kind — that their sole purpose is to induce people to accept a certain form of faith, and to lead devoutly religious rather than moral lives. It should be remembered by those who make this criticism, that the great preacher is a firm believer in the immediate second coming of Christ. He is looking for the end of the world and the appearance of the Saviour every day and hour. No wonder, then, that he does not think it worth while to talk about business and social morality. He is perfectly consistent. Why should he try to tell people how to live, when the important thing is to prepare them for death and the last judgment 1 Why trouble himself about the affairs of the household, the street, and the mart, when he expects every momont to see the world rolled up like a scroll 1 With few exceptions the clergy of the city are taking a hearty interest in the revival. Probably the Methodists are more active in assisting it than the other sects ; but Presby- terians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Lutherans, and, in short, ministers of all the Protestant denominations, attend the meetings in the Depot Church, and participate in the mom* 9? !v'> ii( i : 292 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. ing assemblies for prayer. The general feeling among the clergy is one of gratified disappointment at the character of Moody and Sankey's effort. They had expected to hear something much more sensational — they feared, indeed, that it would be objectionably sensational — and they are delighted to find that Mr. Moody preaches only the soundest doctrine, and makes use of none of the theatrical devices of oratory employed by many professional revivalists. His earnest, direct, and humble appeals, his apt and familiar illustrations, and his way of preaching on a level with the hearts and heads of his hearers, is like a new revelation of the possibilities of pulpit oratory to many clergymen, whose well-turned periods and fine theological points have proved powerless to stimulate the faith of their congregations. A Presbyterian minister, speaking to a friend after the meeting was over last night, said, " Moody's verbs don't always agree with his nouns, but I imagine that Peter the fisherman didn't talk very good grammar either. Moody's language, if not always elegant, never fails to convey the exact idea that he wants it to. Nobody can get a wrong or a doubtful mean ing from it." " I have been trying to get at the secret of his power," said a Baptist, " and I think it lies, first, in his own profound conviction, and second, in his constant repetition of the same idea, with just variation enough to keep it monotonous. By tireless reiteration he wears the truth of the Gospel into the stoniest heart. Faith in Christ is his simple and never-end- ing theme. Most ministers scatter too much. They seek to interest people's heads by a variety of topics. Mr. Moody hammers away at the heart with sublime persistence." Just after the prayer-meeting this morning a Methodist minister, talking to a knot of brother clergymen, praised the revivalists warmly. " I declare it gives me new courage," he 4 ill MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 293 said, *' to see people flocking to hear the Gospel in crowds larger than went to Barnum's Hippodrome last summer. Since the war it has often seemed to me that faith was dying out in the hearts of men. Any kind of a show or parade would draw a crowd, while we talked about the soul's salvation and eternal life to half-filled churches. I believe we are going to see a great awakening in this country. Moody and Sankey are the Lord's instruments to begin the work. We have had hundreds of better preachers than Mr. Moody, but they made no impression on the masses. Why do thousands rush to hear him ? Because the Spirit of God is moving the hearts of men, and he has been chosen to lead a great movement for the salvation of souls." It would seem that the hold obtained by the Evangelists on the unconverted masses is greater in Philadelphia than in Brooklyn. The attendance from this class is larger, and the impression produced in those who attend seems deep and in- fluential. Mr. Moody pronounced the gatherings of the second Sunday more successful, in view of the attendance of the un- converted so early in the series of meetings, than at any other place in this country or in England. The week following showed an increase rather than a diminution of interest, and the third week opens more auspiciously than either which it follows. The meetings of Sunday last were remarkably effective* The day was cold and wet ; just such a day as would ordina- rily give smallest attendance at religious meetings ; such a day as would suggest to many a faint-hearted country superintend- ent the thought that it was about time to close the Sunday school for the winter. But at eight o'clock on that dreary morning the Depot Church showed a gathering of some six thousand Christian workers ; enough it would seem to cheer the heart of any doubting Elijah as to the faith and zeal of 'M i m j;, m sis I I'M I'll 294 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. very many amid all the coldness and unbelief in this great city. When, at the close of his appeal to these workers to be " a peculiar people, zealous of good works," in their service in God's vineyard, Mr. Moody asked those who during the com- ing week wduld endeavor to lead at least one soul to the Saviour to rise to their feet, nearly one-half of all present rose in indication of this purpose. ; At the Sunday afternoon meeting for women, at least ten thousand were present. As nearly five thousand tickets of admission had been given to women who expressed a desire to find salvation, while many other tickets were distributed without question, Mr. Moody thought there were more than seven thousand unconverted persons in the audience ; certainly a hopeful gathering at such a time and place. The appeal of the preacher was most earnest. As he told of the love of the Saviour for the lost, and of the full salvation offered freely to all, all hearts seemed to throb as one in gratitude to such a Saviour for such a salvation. When he asked those who de- sired an interest in this salvation to rise and stand during his prayer, hundreds rose to their feet, and afterwards repaired to the inquiry rooms for personal converse and counsel. It can hardly be doubted that that evening hour was the birth-hour of many precious souls, then brought by God's Spirit into the life of Christian love and trust. At the evening meeting, which was for men, while the attendance was not quite as large as in the afternoon, there was great seriousness, and many rose for prayers and remained at the inquiry meeting. For one whole week Mr. Moody labored, not for the sal- vation of sinners, but for the regeneration of professed Chris- tians. At every service hundreds of long-acknowledged church members listened with bowed heads and tearful eyes to the fervent exhortations of the Evangelist, who, casting aside all preconceived notions of church work, and preaching only love MOODV AND SANKEV IN AMKRICA. 295 to God and devotiou to the Saviour, brought to their awak- enin;; souls a vision of the blessings of true holiness more beautiful than even in their most unselfish moods they had ever before conceived. He did not preach, " Repent in order to ajfdid the wrath of an angry God," and thus wring an epKemtral obeisarco from weak knees but cold hearts; he preached Christ crucified ; drew for his hearers convincing il- lustraticns of the perfect love of the Father, and urged them, with tevs in his eyes, not to kneel from a sense of duty, but to cast tbmselves at the feet of the Saviour, and, with a heart overflowng with love, there seek to learn how to win others to the strait and narrow, but pleasant path of joy and peace. Rev. Dr. Breed said there was a wonderful power in self- cvnsecration ; the ungodly man had at all times a traitor in tie citadel of his wickedness — ^a conscience which would com- pel him to yield when assaulted by a truly consecrated heart. He once heard of a young man who had been notoriously bad, but had suddenly been converted, and was moved by the Spirit to go and pray with every one in the village. He started, and knocking at every door, was, in spite of his past reputation, admitted and permitted to pray. The man truly consecrated to God could always have the entree into any house or by the Holy Spirit into every heart. Mr. Sankey said : " Will you please turn to the 90th hymn. In that we will find a verse which should give us great com- fort if we do what that verse says. But before we begin, I wish to bear testimony to the fact that we can do no good without a broken and a contrite heart. Shortly after the Chicago fire, seven men, finding that their labors were appar- ently fruitless, determined to seek counsel of God, and assem- bled one afternoon in a gentleman's office, and there humbled themselves before their Maker. I saw these men lying on their faces on the floor, praying to be emptied of self and filled M ■ I '. Hi! a ;!. .3: .■lil 296 M00t)Y AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. !"■! with the Holy Spirit. These aeven men have since been greatly blessed and greatly honored by God in their labors. Two are in the West, one in Europe, and two in ihis city. Now let us sing." Mr. Moody, at the conclusion of the singing, said : ' Send thanksgiving, but praise to God is bettor. What we ^rant to do to-night is to praise God for all his mercies, for all that we enjoy, and for all the glorious promises of an immortality. There is a great deal said at our meetings about pnyer, but nothing about praise. In the Bible there are more passages referring to praise than to prayer. We want Chriit, and if we are heard to praise him, then will we be able to get to him. What we want to-day is a praising Church. We can be praising God every day, even when in sorrow. If we |o through the world all the time with a long face, we will driv5 men away from Christ. There are so many people alwayt borrowing trouble and looking on the dark side of the picture instead of praising God, that they are only in the way of men coming to Jesus. A man once severely cut his hand, and said, ' Praise God,' and," said Mr. Moody, " I thought that it was a strange thing to praise God for. On asking the man why he praised God, he said he did it because his hand was not cut off. You can see, then, that in the midst of affliction one can praise the Lord because it might have been worse. What we want is more sunny Christian men, who always have happy countenances ; they go far toward making religion attractive and drawing sinners to a knowledge of their condi- tion and the necessity of seeking the Lord. If men praise God and are happy in the Church, the fire will be caught by others and spread until the whole Church becomes alive, and all are happy in the knowledge that Jesus is their Master. If there are any who should be happy, it is those \iho are sincere Christians, those who have come to Christ. The first thing a MOODY AND SANKfeV IN AMERICA. 297 young convert always does is to pray, and when, in praising God, he sings, ' ha})py day ! ' how happy ho is ! If the ten thousand persons present could he induced to take Christ as their only friend and sing praises to Him, there M'ould bo such a shout as to almost raise the roof. We want to see the time when the streets are hlled ' Ml words, " For you I am praying," were repeated in the softest of echoes. The 87th hymn, " Lord, I hear of showers of blessing Thou art scattering full and free — Showers the thirsty land refreshing ; * t Let some droppings fall on mc. Chorus — Even me, even me, Let Thy blessing fall on me," was next sung by the choir, led by Mr. Sankey, whose sweet voice r-ng c *■ pure and clear above the multitudinous har- monies, iiKC the notes of a silver flute amid the fortissimo tones •' r a powerful orchestra. Wm. B. Dodge, of New York* then madt) t> pra.) «i-, asking that, in the spirit of the hymn just sung, all might move forward through the day, and that the Lord might grant to each and all a Sabbath day's bless- ing. He prayed that all might be quickened in their efforts for the advancement of His glory, and that clearer views of the beauty of salvation, as well as of the pains of eternal death, might be given. He prayed that His servant, Mr. Moody, should be strengthened and be able to speak like a dying man to dying men. The 79th hymn, ** Sowing the seed by the daylight fair, Sowing the seed by the noonday glare, Sowing the seed by the fading light, Sowing the seed in the solemn night, Oh ! what shall the harvest be ? " was next announced. This, whether regarded from a Scrip- tural, poetical, or musical standpoint, is one of the most beautiful hymns in the collection ; and it has become such a favorite that nearly all singers have learned it, and now as the familiar notes of the chorus are touched by F... Sankey, the sweet melody, rich harmony, and rather intricate move- •the WORk IN PHiLADELPHiA. ^35 ment are perfectly followed by thousands of voices. The last verse, " Sowing the seed with an aching heart," was sung with affecting expression by Mr. Sankey, and as the echoes of the solo died away the choir could be heard repeating the chorus in whispers of melody. Mr. Moody then arose and read a part of the twelfth chapter of Eomans. After which the 170th hymn, * " Hark ! the voice of Jesus crying, * Who will go and work to-day ? ' " was sung by Mr. Sankey to the beautiful tune of "Your mission," which became such a favorite with the martyred President Lincoln. The theme and spirit of the two compositions are very similar, the latter being religious, while the original, though far from irreligious, was still better adapted to secular than purely d6votional occasions. Mr. Moody made a fei-vent prayer, thanking the Father for the success of the past three weeks, and asking for blessings on the week to come. He prayed that all the workers in the harvest-field might be strengthened and filled with zeal for the work. The congre- gation, with Mr. Sankey, sang with inspiring earnestness the 110th hymn to the familiar tune of " Antioch." As the stanzas were concluded, Mr. Moody arose and preached an eloquent sermon from the text, " Ocupy tiU I come," Luke xix. 1 3. He said the Church had been divided by some one into four very familiar classes. First, there were the destroyers, who found their way into almost every congregation and proved destruc- tive to prosperity, as well as peace and harmony. Then there were the obstructors, who continually opposed every move- ment, whether good or ill. Next came the idlers, and finally the workers. V Now, whic^ of these four classes do you belong tor continued Mr. Moody. " I shall judge no man ; take your places as you pleatiie ; but if you have faith in Christ 334 MOObY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. you must desire and occupy till He comes. The Church seems to have gone into camp and become demoralized. Some of its members have gone in simply to sleep and rest. I heard of one man who left one church where he had been a hard worker, and wanted to enter another, but said he did not want to do any work. * Oh !' said the minister, * you have made a mistake ; you should apply to my neighbor, who is pastor of the Church of the Heavenly Rest.* I think very many more churches could appropriately be named the Heavenly Rest. Some people think because they can do but little their efforts are of no use. "When Moses told Pharaoh that his God could remove the plague of the frogs, Pharaoh said, ' Oh ! I don't think much of your God if He is the God of such an insignificant little thing as a frog.* * Yes,' replied Moses, * but there are a great many of them.' Let us remem- ber that we may be little, but if there are only a great many of us we can do a great work. We must remember that each one of us has talent peculiar to himself. I can't sing like Mr. Sankey, or carry on business like Mr. Stuart ; I am not an orgahiser like Mr. Wannamaker, yet if I use my half a talent as such a man as Rev. Dr. Dodge uses his ten, I will receive the same reward." Mr. Moody here spoke of a num- ber of interesting instances of men using for the Lord such talents as he had given them, referring particularly to a Quaker in London, who, being unable to talk, sing, or other- wise labor, had expended his fortune in printing and circulat- ing tracts. " This man," said Mr. Moody, " has already sent out more tracts than all the American and London publication societies combined, and he is now in daily receipt of piles of letters from people who have been converted all over the world." # The speaker also told of a gentleman of fortune in England who had spent the past nine years in searching through the TrtE Work tN ?HtLAt>ELt>MtA. m slums of London and educating the gamins whom he rescued. Referring to the responsibility which all Sunday school teach- ers assumed, he told of a little girl who was converted by her teacher (who probably afterwards forgot all about the child) ; that child grew up, became the mother of ten sons, all of whom were led into " paths of peace," and six of whom be- came ministers of the Gospel. Mr. Moody continued at some length exhorting those who had already received the Saviour to do all in their power to save others. At the conclusion of this sermon, those who were willing to try to save even one soul during the week were called upon to stand up, and fully two-thirds of those present rose to their feet. The persons who desired to become Christians were next requested to rise, and one-half of the remainder stood up. The women's meeting in the afternoon was thronged with worshippers, every available space being occupied, and thou- sands being compelled to turn sadly away from closed doors. Mr. Moody opened the meeting by announcing the 37th hymn, ••Tell me the old, old story." I This was sung by the ten thousand voices with an eifect hardly to be described. Wave upon wave of the richest harmony swept in great billows of musical sound from one end of the jmighty structure to the other, and finally seemed to die away among the sunbeams which rested gently upon the windowed ^oof. The last verse was so inspiringly rendered that at Mr. Moody's request the lines were repeated. After a few mo- Qents spent in silent prayer. Bishop Simpson offered up a [application imploring the Father to send on every one of ii6 vast assembly the blessings of His grace, that all might b1 that Christ had made them whole. He thanked the )rd for th>3 wonderful effusion of His Spirit which had ac- bmpanied the labors of His servants, and prayed that they 33^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. might see the multitude turning from worldly ways to paths of holiness and peace. A new hymn, " Let us gather up the sunbeams Lying all around our path," was next sung as a solo by Mr. Sankey, the choir joining in the chorus : " Then scatter seeds of kindness, Then scatter seeds of kindness. Then scatter seeds of kindness, . . For our reaping by and by. " Mr. Moody then read the parable of the ten virgins, from the 12th chapter of St. Matthew, and as he concluded Mr. Sankey exquisitely sang the new hymn, " The wise and fool- ish virgins." The latter part of this hymn is an adaptation of Balfe's " Too Late," and was rendered by Mr. Sankey with rare beauty of expression. •Mr. Moody next read a few verses in the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, in which the parable of the marriage supper is written, " I wish," said Mr. Moody, " to call your attention to the words, * I pray thee, have me ex- cused.* Though 1,800 years have rolled away, we find people still with one consent praying to be excused. It was not a pestilential hospital to which they were called, but to a mar- riage supper. To-day the King of kings sends an invitation to every human being to be at the marriage supper, and yet how many want to be excused. Suppose the Lord should take you all at your word and then lay the hand of death upon you? What a wail would go up from this city of Philadel- phia ! Suppose He should cease trying to compel you to come in, and just quietly shut the door upon you, have you ever tried to think of the anguish which such a change would bring? If all who wanted tp be excused should be taken away, the grass would soon be growing in the streets of Phila- paths ingin lapter of (leoftbe .dy, " to ine ex- id people as not a ,0 a mar- Invitation ', and yet id should lath upon Philadel' you to [have you ige would be taken of Phila- •THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 337 delphia. There would be a good many shops shut up, there would be no saloon-keepers left, and I would have a very small audience here to-morrow night. Now, look at the excuses which these three men gave. The first said he had bought some land, and must needs go and see it. Now, when men buy land they go and see it before buying it, and even then would not start off at supper-time. The answer bears on its face the fact that it was a downright lie. The excuse was manufactured. The second man had a more absurd excuse than the first. He said, ' I have bought a yoke of oxen and must needs go and prove them.' That excuse was manufac- tured also. Men don't buy oxen and then prove them ; they prove them first and buy them afterwards. More than that, the morning, not the evening, is the time to prove oxen. That excuse shows in itself that it's a lie. Then the third man could not come to the supper because he had married a wife. Why, if he had a wife, this fine banquet was just the place she would most like to attend. That excuse also was manufactured. Just notice how miserable all these excuses are. Now, I want to ask this audience just one question, Have you got a better one ? Can any one get up here and say, * Mr. Moody, I have a good excuse ? * I never saw any one in my life who had a better excuse, and few have as good ones, yet even these, poor as they are, are manufactured. Look at some of the excuses we hear in the inquiry rooms. Some say, * Oh ! it's so hard to serve the Master.* This is a mis- take, Christ is an easy Master. ' The way of the transgreaiyr is hard! I stand here as a witness that my God and my Saviour is not a hard Master. Another excuse is that the in- quirer don't understand the Bible. Now, I don't believe that excuse will stand the light of eternity. I never met sceptical people that have read the Bible from back to back, and I know there is no book more misjudged. Ptople will seldom judge 1 33'^ MOODY AND SANKKY IN AMERICA. of a now book uutU they have read it, but they willingly judge God's book before looking into it. More than that, the Bible was not made to understand. Don't give up the good old Bible until you can get a better book. You won't want to stand up before God and say : ' Lord, I was not save< cause I did not understand the Bible.' Others excuse them- selves on the plea that there are so many hypocrites in the Church, and they don't like such company. Now, I admit that there have always been hypocrites in the Church, but is that a good excuse 1 If every man on the face of the earth is a black-hearted hypocrite, is that any reason why you should be 1 But if you don't like hypocrites you had better go to Christ, for not one of them shall sit dov/n at the marriage sup- per of the Lamb. Stay away, and you'll go with the hypo- crites through eternity. Again, 1 fancy that there is one in the audience who says, ' I am so vile that Christ won't rr e me.' I know there is not one of you who can show place in the Bible where it says any one is so wicked that for- giveness is impossible. There is not a mother in the congre- gation who would not forgive a wayward child, and there is not a sinner in this assembly who cannot obtain forgiveness of the heavenly Father." Mr. Moody concluded with a touching incident in his own experience, relating in affecting tones the simple story of a brother lost for years and years, but at last found and clasped in a forgiving mother's arms. All who desired to be prayed for were then requested to rise, and about 3,000 stood up, and afterwards, while the congre- gation united in singing the 91st hymn, ''There is a fountain filled with blood," passed into the inquiry rooms. These rooms soon became filled, and the overflow were provided with seats in the large hall on the north-west comer of the building, Athere Mr. Moody himself prayed and talked with those who hftd been affected by the services, THE WOKK IN PHILADELPHIA. 339 lat, th« LO good t -want kve( \e them- J in the 1 admit a, but ia 3 earth is )U should tter go to ■riage 8up- the hypo- , is one in >n't x*' e [how ,d that for- ihe congre- td there ia forgivenefls )d with a LXi affecting and yeara, ilier's anna, ited to riae, the congre- a fountain These ►vided with Le building, tboB© who The DCpot Tabernacle was crowded to repletion at the ser- vices held in the evening, and the most encouraging part of it was that the 1 1 ,000 persons assembled were all men. It has frequently been asserted that while Mr. Moody's touching prayers and simple addresses, combined with Mr. Sankey's singing, might easily attract large audiences of ladies, it would be impossible to fill the structure with representatives of the masculine gender. It has been proved by Mr. Moody, be- yond doubt, that the consciences of men can be easily reached by honest, earnest endeavor and manly argument, when showy bat soulless phrases would hardly penetrate beyond the ear. " Jesus, lover of my soul," , . was sung by the united tones of at least teu thousand male voices, led by the clear sopranos of the choir, with an effect as grandly beautiful as surprising. Rev. Dr. McCook then offered up an opening prayer, beseeching the Father to hear the supplications of his servants as they asked for mercy and forgiveness. He prayed that His Holy Spirit might descend and fill the great multitudes as in the days of Pentecost, so that all could be won in sweet and holy subjection to Jesus Christ. He asked for faith to lay the petition from all before the Lord in the name of Jesus ; and blessings were particu- larly asked for those who were seeking Jesus. At the conclu- sion of the piayer Mr. Sankey took his seat at the organ, and with marvellous power of expression, sung the 6th hymn : *' There were ninety and nine that safely lay In the shelter of the fold." Mr. Moody then called attention to the 14th chapter of Luke, beginning at the 16th verse. After the parable of the nuurriage supper had been read, Mr, Sankey sang the 8Ut hymn m ■■$ 340 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. iriii. ' ♦' The Lamb's bright hall of song, H With its fair glory, Beckons thee on. Jlif. — Room, room, still room, ' - Enter now. Day is declining and the sun is low, ' The shadows lengthen, Light makes haste to go." The refrain was sung by the choir in the softest of musical whispers, having the effect of the distant melody of heavenly choristers. Mr. Moody then rose and repeated the sermon of the afternoon, on the subject of the " Supper of the Lamb." While the leader spoke of the three excuses, and showed how absurd they all were, the attention of the vast audience be- came more and more intense, until, as he began to exhort his hearers to come to Christ, to forget self and seek the forgive- ness of a loving Master, the vast sea of faces, as if by some irresistible fascination, turned fixedly toward the speaker, and every glance became fastened on the lips from which Christ crucified was preached. Then, as he concluded and called upon those who desired prayers to stand up, several hundred strong men arose and, trembling with emotion, waited with bowed heads while Mr. Sankey exquisitely sang the 38th hymn : " Come home, come home You are weary at heart ; For the way has been dark, And so lonely and wild, O prodigal child ! Come home, oh ! come home ! " ,' J' . ' ' .' 1, ,u As the echoes of the song of invitation died away, Mr. Moody lifted up his hands in prayer, saying : " Our heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this invitation to be at the marriagt supper, and we pray that we all may accept it. As these who THErfWORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 341 f musical heavenly sermon of e Lamb." )wed how dience be- jxhort his le forgive- f by some saker, and [ich Christ ind called |l hundred ,ited with the 38tli , away, Mr. iv heavenly le marriagt these who stand up pray to God, * Bo merciful to me, a sinner,' may Thy Holy Spirit search them out. May these young men have courage given them, and let them not be ashamed of the Word of God. If there is a prodigal child here, oh ! help the wan- derer in his efforts to return." At the conclusion of the prayer over 1,000 men accepted the invitation to go into the inquiry rooms, and as the throng were pressing forward the vast as- semblage sang the 86th hymn : " Rock of Ages, cleft for lue. " This hymn was repeated, and with each stanza hundreds more arose and joined the throngs pouring into the rooms where the Christian workers waited to receive and comfort them. Never was the Gospel truth presented to erring man with greater force, and at no time since the inauguration of the meetings have such great results been seen. Hundreds flocked to the inquiry rooms, all anxious to know more of the love, mercy, and tenderness of the Saviour, and very many more left for their homes for the first time giving any heed to the warning words of Him who came upon earth to call men to repentance, and who died that sinners might be saved. At the Monday morning roll-call Mr. Moody said that, as usual on Monday, the early meeting would be dev^ed to reports of progress from all sources. Ho began by reading an affecting letter from a convert, who was spoken to only a week before. In the note the writer said he had not been in church ten times in as many years. But when he listened to the sermon his heart broko, and returning home, after being spoken to by Mr. Moody, he wept for his sins, and finally surren- dered unconditionally to Jesus. A man iu the audience next arose, and told of two brothers who started out one Saturday morning, became intoxicated, and continued in that state until ■*'4' 342 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMJiRICA. Sunday afternoon, when their mother requcb^ prayers for her wayward boys. Both afterwards went separately and ac- cidentally to the revival meetings, and, to the surprise of both, they met each other in the evening converted men. Mr. Cree spoke of a young man who, after many struggles, rose for prayers, and was finally converted. Rev. Mr. Culver spoke of the work at the Grace Mission, where fifty persons went into the inquiry room, and thirty declared they had found peace. Many more cases had been noted in the cor Ration. A clergyman in the press-box said that at a previous service he spoke to a man who happened to be seated at his side. The man acknowledged that he had come to scoff. He went to the inquiry room and was converted. Mr. Sankey referred to three men who had spent the whole of the morning meet- ing scoffing at the services, but who, upon being spoken to in a kindly manner, were easily led into the inquiry room and soon afterwards led to the foot of the cross. A number of clergymen gave the most encouraging accounts of the progress and effect of the revival in their churches. Several young converts present related their experiences in their journey from darkness to light. ■■ A young man in the back part of the audience arose, and in a trembling voice thanked the congregation for prayers and work which had helped to bring him, broken-hearted and repentant, to the foot of the cross. Rev. Dr. Newton next called attention to the total absorp- tion of the vvoman, in the chapter just read, to the will of God. She had a submission and a sublimity of confidence which all Christians should endeavor to emulate. When she was asked if all was well, she answered, though she knew the child was lying cold and lifeless on his bed, " It is well." "Let us, too, remember," continued the speaker, " that even if our prayers should not be answered, even if our dearest joyi should THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 343 be fltrickea from our lives, we should be able to say, * It is well.* The great principle of this movement should be ontiro submission to God and unfaltering confidence in His love." Mr. Geo. H. Stuart next rose and related an affecting incident of a man who came into the inquiry room on the pi-evious night, and after long years of infidelity at last was tible to return to his wife, who had been so long praying for him, a Christian man. Mr. Sankey also spoke of two cases for which he desired special prayers: One was a man who came to him the night before last and said he was one of eleven children, who all had become Christians but himself. He said he had once come to the meting in hopes of finding Jesus, but could not. Ko came again on Sunday. '* And then," continued the man, " when I heard Mr. Moody toll of that little child beckoning from the other side of the dark river T thought my heart would break, for I had lost my only child only throe weeks before. Oh ! cannot you help me ? " "I prayed with him there on the street where v/e met," added Mr. Sankey, " and he went home with a changed heart." Another case men- tioned was that of a young girl who was converted on the previous evening and afterwards informed Mr. Sankey that she was the niece of an eminent clergyman in Belfast, Ireland, with whom the speaker had long been acquainted. " I told her to write to him at once," said the speaker, *•' and to tell the uncle who had so often prayed for her while ho has been car- rying on the good work that his loved one had found Jeans clear across the sea." Love to Christ will enable us to make sacrifices for Him without feeling it to be a hardship. In illustration of this, Mr. Moody related a touching story of the wife of an Indian missionary giving up her children to the care of Christian friends in this country so as to go back to the mission field • ./■n! ■i^m 'i 344 MOODV AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. where her own and her husband's labors had been befoie greatly blessed, and saying, just before she parted from them, " I want to say good-by without a tear, for I would not like my children to think that it cost me tears to servo Christ." Then besides working from love, let us also put ourselves in sympathy with the people we want to influence for good. A man who had just come out of the penitentiary and had no friends, was won and his hard heart broken by just the kiss of my little girl. Let us put ourselves in the place of those who are in trouble and distress ; get in sym- pathy with them ; then the Lord will bless our efforts. We must have a heart to weep with those who weep. I heard a beautiful story told by Mr. Mingins, in New York. He said a lady came into the office of the City Mission and wanted a few tracts. She didn't feel as if she could do very much of active work for the Lord, but felt like giving away a few tracts. One day she saw a policeman taking a poor drunken woman to jail, a miserable object, ragged, dirty, with hair disordered, but the lady's heart went out in sympathy toward her. She found the woman after she came out of jail, and just went and folded her arms around her, and kissed her. The woman exclaimed, " My God, what did you do that for? " and she replied, " I don't know, but I think Jesus sent me to do it." The woman said, " Oh, don't kiss me any more, you'll break my heart. Why, nobody hasn't kissed me since my mother died." But that kiss brought the woman to the feet of the Saviour, and for the last three years she has been living a godly Christian life, won to God by a kiss. There were those who were affected to tears, so pathetic and yet so strikingly truthful wore the words of the revival- ist. All who heard him could not but have been convinced that the speaker was in earnest, and that he felt that the ob- ligation that rested upon him was so great that unless he THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 345 presented the truth in a manner not to be mistaken or misun- derstood he would be coming short of his duty. The meeting was beyond question the most effective yet held, and showed the great power possessed by the Evangelist. The singing- of Mr. Sankey was in keeping with the preaching by his co-la- borer, and very many were visibly affected by it. A spirit that can scarcely be understood, and may be ascribed to the Most High, seemed to pervade the place. At a meeting presided over by Mr. Wannamaker, he said : " These are golden days for Philadelphia. But a little while and we were all under a shadow. The traveller who has been to Interlachen will remember a feeling coming over him as of some impending shadow of gloom. It was in some such shadow that we were until now ; like a mantle covering us come these days of brightness. To-night let this vast congre- gation join in the solemn prayer, he continued, to the Lord for the great and glorious work that is now progressing amongst us." The hymn, " Rejoice and be jjlad ! The Redeemer has coiue, Go look on His cross and His tomb," was sung in such a beautiful and touching manner that an old gentleman sprang up at its conclusion from his seat in the platform and exclaimed : " I have frequently heard it said that Jesus loved a musical heart more than a musical voice. If that is so I can tell you that here we have learnt how both can be united?" The old gentleman's remark appeared to intensify the quiet feeling felt by every one present as the musical sounds in waves of melody rolled along the peaked roof of the immense structure. Mr. "Wannamaker at this moment requested the choir to sing . , ., ** 1 am so glad that our Father in heaven." " I want to utter a word of thanksgiving," said Mr. Sankey, l?'*G 346 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. " for having been permitted to witness in this dear land this glorious spectacle. Often in the British Islands have Mr. Moody and I wondered, and hoped and prayed that we might be able to spread the old story amongst you all. When your chairman came to us in England and told us that a wave of prayer was going through this city, we were encouraged. We now praise the Lord in our hearts that we have come, and that our efforts have been beneficial in their results." A gentleman rose and said that although he had attended every communion in his church for the last thirty-two years, he never knew what it was to carry Christ in his heart until two weeks ago. A city missionary, who has been holding meetings along the wharves, said that within the last week he had been more than ever successful. Degraded men and women had fallen on their faces before the throne and cried for mercy, and every day the good fruits of the present revi- val were becoming more and more manifest, even among the outcasts who would never enter a church or any building where Christian people would be willing to congregate. Mr. Wannamaker acknowledged that in all his experience he had never seen so encouraging a revival among the young men. Every service had been crowded, and there never had been sufficient time to accommodate all who desired to speak or pray. " This depot," continued the speaker, " may be from this day forth the starting-point of many trains to heaven. Only keep on praying, and before spring comes to us again five thousand young men will welcome it as Christians." Said a gentleman : " Among the most conspicuous persons at the llink in Brooklyn was a man of over fifty years, by profession a reporter, apparently of the sensational sort. Entering into conversation with him the second evening, we ■ found him partly intoxicated, ribald, sneering, and professing infidel principles. Inquiring further concerning him, we THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 347 found that he had been several times in the city jail, for mis- demeanors committed while under the influence of liquor, although originally a man of culture and polish. "Time passed, and at one Friday evening meeting the same man, conspicuous by his commanding figure, sat in a back seat at the Simpson Church. I accosted him once more, and this was the answer : " * I am waiting to thank Mr. Moody, who under God has been the greatest blessing of life to me. I have given up my engagement, the temptations of which are such as no Christian can face. And I am a Christian, a new creature — not re- formed ; you can't reform a drunkard ; I tried that a hundred times — but regenerated, born again by the grace and power of God. I have reported sermons many a time, simply to ridi- cule them, but never had the least idea what true religion meant till I heard Mr. Moody's address on " Love and Sym- pathy " ten days ago, and I would not have believed there could be so much sweetness in a lifetime as had been con- densed into those ten days. My children know the change ; my wife knows it ; I have set up the family altar, and tho appetite for liquor has been so utterly taken away, that I only loathe what I used to love.' " The most interesting part of the meeting was the story told by Mrs. Keen, of the way in which she was led, when 19 years of age, to give herself entirely to God ; of how many times she felt that she must give up everything to God before she could work for Him, and how at a ladies' meeting she was afraid to rise and say that she would give up her will to God because the ladies would say she was such a young giddy girl. It would be all gone to-morrow, " and," said Mrs. Keen, "they did say so. But I felt from that hour a different being — that it was all between God and myself, and it mattered not if I was thought singular, so long as I had this sweet feeling of rest I • S f I; 348 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. and peace in my own soul. The thought cauie, Can I give my will to Him 1 but T said, Lord, I take Thy will to be mine, so mine must be Thino." At the close of the morning service an inquiry meeting was opened in Rev. Dr. McCook's church, and was continued all the afternoon. The attendance at tliis meeting was very large and the converts many. Mr. Moody rose and said : "I will open the meeting with a very few remarks about the inquiry room. "We have a great d^al of trouble with people coming into the inquiry room on outside business. One man pressed past the ushers yesterday and wanted to shako ham Is with mo just because I was born in New England ; another wanted to see me because I once lived in Chicago ; others want to present requests for friends ; others want to talk on all sorts of subjects, and, because I can- not attend to them, think I am very rude. Now I don't want that impression to get abroad, and therefore ask all who desire to talk with mo on purely personal or general sub- jects, to try and find some other time for seeing me." The leader next read from the 5 th chapter of Romans, beginning at the 7th verse. Continuing, he said in all cases where per- sons had been blessed in the Bible they were asked to go home and tell their friends, and when they did this, either then or now, many more souls were at once led to Christ. He hoped that all young converts would confess Christ before the world, and thus be the means of leading hundreds and thou- sands of souls to the Saviour. " After a man is a Christian I would work him day and night. I believe that for one man killed by overwork in the cause of Christ ten thousand die from laziness." Mr. Moody, at the conclusion of his address, read a letter which he had just received from Manchester, in which a lady stated that all on behalf of whom she had requested prayer THK WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 349 during the services in that city had been converted, except one, her brother, who had left his wife and family after bring- ing disgrace upon the family, and whose misconduct was breaking his father':, heart. " This is really a story of grace," said Mr. Moody; "for this lady says in her letter: 'If ho would but come home there will bo no re[)roach. Nothing hut love.' Perhaps this man may have wandered in here this afternoon, or he may be in this country. Let us pray that he may be brought back, and that his family may rejoice over the return of the wanderer." After preaching his famous discourses on " Heaven," Mr. Moody turned the tide of men's thoughts very sharply, and preached on " Hell," taking as his text two words from the parable of Dives and Lazarus, " Son, remember." " I can well imagine," said he, " that if you had known what I was going to preach about to-night many would have stayed away ; hut I cannot afford to have it said that I held services in Philadelphia for four weeks and never once spoke about hell. * Son, remember.' These are the words of the Lord himself. If any one of you has a servant, and you send him with a message, if he keeps back a part of your message because he thinks- it too harsh you would dismiss that servant at once. I must deliver the message that the Lord has given me as I find it ; and if you have any quarrel about these words it must be with God, and not with me. The thought that we take memory with us into the other world is very solemn. We talk about forgetting things, but the fact is we never forget. Twice I have been very near to death ; and all my past life came rushing back upon me ; everything that I had done crowded upon my memory. My whole life came up before me, tramp, tramp, tramp. When God says, ' Son, remember,' ail the past will be recalled. We talk about God's book of record ; but we will need no one to tell us what we have done, for He ■.; , mn 350 MOODY AND SANKEV IN AMERICA. it makM eyery man keep his record. Talk about God condemn- ing us ; why, we shall condemn ourselves ; we won't want any one to condemn us. Memory will come up against us, and there will be no need of any witnesses to prove our guilt. " A man who had charge of a swing-bridge opened it just to oblige a friend who said there was plenty of time for his boat to pass through before the train of cars came along. But a moment after the lightning express came thundering on and dashed into the dark waters below. The bridge-keeper, whose neglect had caused the disaster, lost his reason, and his life since has been spent in a mad-house. The first and only words he uttered when the train leaped into the open chasm were, * If I only had ! ' and he has gone constantly repeating the vain regret. That will be the cry in the lost world, * If I only had ! * That is the cry of men who were living in Phila- delphia a year ago. Ask the man in prison what it is that makes his life so wearisome, and he will tell you, < Memory, memory.' And in the prison-house of hell it is memory that makes the place so awful — to think what they might have been if they had but accepted Christ when He was offered to them. A young man met the deacon of a church one Sab- bath morning and asked him the terrible question : * How far is it to helir 'Youiig man,* was the reply, 'don't mock such a serious reality, you may be nearer to heU than you think.' They had only just turned the comer of the road, and ridden a few yards, when his horse threw him, and he was picked up dead. Some of you went out of this building last night laughing and making merry ; you mocked at the idea of heaven, and when its joys were offered you, you kicked them away like a foot-ball ; but the time will come when you will remember that service. Some may go out to-night and drown the memory of this text in drink, but it will come up J^ tlie other world and then you can't drown it in drink. No THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 351 doubt all the six thousand years Cain has remembered the terrible sin he committed, and has heard the voice of that loving brother whom he murdered. Has Judas ever forgotten how he betrayed the Son of God with a kiss) How that word has gnawed away at his conscience these eighteen hun- dred yeai-s ! I tell you there is coming a time when you can't forget. Memory is the worm that dieth not. It is the same Bible which speaks of heaven that tells us of hell. There is no place in heaven for unprepared men — for those who are unredeemed. Besides, what are such men going to do if they get there 1 Do you think that these rumsellors, who are de- stroying so many souls, bodies too as well as souls, and making so many widows and orphans — are they going to heaven without repenting and turning to God for salvation ? Or these men that are cursing and blaspheming God — can they join in the songs of heaven 1 Your own reason tells you no. Now mercy and salvation are offered, but in the lost world there will be no * Jesus passing by,* no praying mother, no praying wife there ; they will be in another world, and be- tween these is a great gulf fixed. Remember, you have got a praying wife to-night, perhaps she is sitting by your side. You can be saved to-night. God offers you salvation and mercy, and warns you, and pleads with you to be saved. " It is but one step out of yourself into Christ. Perhaps a loved minister has been pleading with you for many years — there will be no ministers there. You may laugh and scoff at these meetings — but there will be no special meetings in hdH. And this service to-night will come to you by and by ; you will remember how the preacher pled with you from this pulpit, and how Mr. Sankey sang. There will be no younjp' man there putting his hand on your shoulder and asking you to be saved ; no Sabbath school teacher to lead you to Chxiat, Why not say now, ' I will turn to the God of my J : 1 ) 1 i ■!! \'" \ y I i 't .f' I "m 1 ' 352 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. mother ; I will this night seek salvation ; ' for God says : * Then shall ye find rae, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.* • » . " I have heard people say, * These meetings make men worse instead of better.' That is true — no one can pass through these special meetings without becoming either better or worse. When people have been stricken down by your side, and you still go on living in sin, you will soon get more and more hardened. The sermons that now move you will make no impression." Mr. Moody related an incident of a man in Chicago who twice determined to give his heart to God, but never had the courage to acknowledge Christ before his ungodly companions. When recovering from a long sickness, he still refused to come out boldly on the side of Christ, saying : " Not yet ; I have got a fresh lease of life. I can't be a Christian in Chicago. I am going to take a farm in Michigan, and then I will pro- fess Christ." " I asked him," said Mr. Moody, " How dare you take the risk 1 " He said, " I will risk it ; don't you trouble yourself any more about my soul, Mr. Moody. I have made up my mind." I never left a man with a sadder heart in my life. The very next week he was stricken down with the same disease. His wife sent for me, and she said, " He don't want to see you, but I can't bear that he should die in such an awful state of mind." He says, " My damnation is sealed, and I shall be in hell in a week." I tried to talk nrid pray with him, but it was no use ; he said his hear was an hard as a stone. "Pray for my wife and r Uren, but don't waste your time praying for me." His . words were . "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, unl I tm not saved," and then the angels bore him away to judgmeut. Dr. J. Wheaton Smith offered the closing prayer, and from two to three hundred persons entered the in(juiry rooms, while SI THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 353 the congregation sang : " Jesus, lover of my souL" The number of workers in the inquiry rooms is gradually increas- ing ; frequently upwards of forty clergymen, with many other Christian men and women, were engaged in conversation with those who are anxious to find salvation. Prayer for the intemperate was again the theme of the noonday meeting, as on the two previous Fridays. There were not less than five thousand persons in attendance. Mr. Moody said he would again call attention to the new birtli. " I don't know," said he, " of any other refuge for a man addicted to strong drink. Unless Christ give him a new nature, all his good resolutions and his efforts to reform him- self will be of no avail. You can't find anything in Scripture which will justify a man in the belief that ho can reform the flesh. It is only when the new life is given by God that he can resist temptation. Flesh is flesh, and you cannot improve it. Some one has said, * God never mends anything ; He creates anew.' It is of no use to go and tell a man ho ought to reform ; just tell him to give up trying and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. God does not put a new piece into an old garment. "When God saves a drunkard he takes away all the appetite. Then a man does not have to give up the drink ; he does not want it any more, has no desire for it. Why I would just as soon go and eat mud as go into a saloon and drink. I have got something better. " Some say, * Oh, but I want something as a stimulant. Suppose you do, you can get bettor stimulants than drink. When the Spirit of God fills a man's heart, and he gets a thorough acquaintance with his lUble, he has the best kind of stimulant. God wants every poor drunkard to become a partaker of the divine nature. Of course the natural man don't know what we are talking about ; we must be bom of God before we receive spiritual strength ; with God's life in 22 • ■' :' h\i 'V-it'. 354 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. m us we shall overcome. A man who has been intemperate for thirty years, and who ^ould drink five glasses before break- fast, has just been reclaimed; he says that all the appetite has been taken away. God can do this for every poor drunk- ard in Philadelphia, and he has done it for many during the last week or two." Mr. Moody then read a letter from an inquirer who, while trying to do right, knew his love for Christ was not the motive. He had come to a meeting hoping some word might be spoken which would help him to decide the ques- tion, What should he do to be saved 1 Mr. Moody continued : " It is better to have love for Christ than to lead a blameless life without love. Now, the subject for to-day will be back- sliding; but I wish to say, first, that very few who call themselves backsliders ever slid forward ; they entered the Church for some personal, social, political, or business reaeons, and whe^ they left it they were no worse than when they went in. Now, I want to speak to those who have really once been born of God. Such men may have slid back- wards, but tliey are never satisfied, for any man who was once converted finds the world spoiled for him. In the 2d chap ter of Jeremiah you will find the question, * What iniquity have your father found in me V What iniquity have you found in God thuo you should leave Him 1 That's what the question means. A backslider don't leave a congregation or a people ; ho leaves God. In the 19ih verso you will find the words, * Thine own wickedness shall ccrre''/t thee, and thy backslid ings shall •eprove thee,' Do not think God can let such faults escape. The backslire break- ) appetite or drunk- luring the vho, while 5 not the jme word a the ques- continued ; a blameless lU be back- 5V who call antered the less reasone, when they have really slid back- was once 16 2d chap at iniquity have you I'a what th« ;regation or ill find the (6, and thy od can let .ppiest mer- it's a very inish them, you; I ata IwUl forgive you. Turn, backsliding children ! saith the Lord, for I am married unto you.* What words can be more beautiful than these ? Why is i* ihat these men have left such a Father 1 If you will only come back now you will have a warm wel- come. But I believe many backsliders are still Christians outwardly, but they have beun moving away in heart. They naglect secret prayer and bacome very formal in public devo- tion. Now, one very great comfort is to treat Christ and think of Christ as a personal friend. If I should go from here to Chicago, I should bid good-by to my friends here before 1 started : but did you evei* hear of a Christian going to Christ and saying : * Oh, Christ ! you have been a dear friend to me, but I must bid you good-by now. I am going away from you, and never expect to call again. Good-by, for I am going back to the world ? Did you ever hear of any one backsHHing in that way ? I never did. You do not bid farewell to Christ ; you just run away from him without say- ing a word. All you need do now is to come back, and Christ will receive you." Sunday, the coldest day of the winlrr, seemed most for- bidding for an early service. Neverthelass, at the eight o'clocl. service a congregation of seven thousand gathered to listen to Mr. Moody's addrcs'3 on " Daniel." Anticipation of a rich feast seemed written on many faces, for a goodly num- ber had Leard of the remarkable impression made by the delivery of this address in Brooklyp and in the cities across the Atlantic. Mr. bloody had an r .aience more sympathetic and thoroughly earnest than perhaps any that has gathered on previous Sunday mornings. All had gathered expecting to obtain a blessing and to learn some groat lessons from the life of one of the greatest Bible characters ; and we venture to ^y no one went away disappointed. The meeting had been advertised as specially for young men, and probably three V \ v|» 1 I 35^ MOODY AND SANKEV IN AMERICA. Vli fourths of those present were of that class. The address was a rapid review of the life of Daniel ; and great emphasis was laid upon the fact that at the age of seventeen he and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not afraid to come boldly as God's servants. When ordered to eat meat and drink wine from the king's table, which had been offered to idols, and therefore was forbidden to the Jews, they refused. That is often the turning-point in a young man's history to be able to say " No," when the first temptation of city life is presented to him. During an address which lasted three-quarters of an hour the most rapt attention was given throughout. ' ' Mr. Moody spoke in the afternoon in continuation of hia last Sabbath afternoon's subject, which was on the text, " I pray thee, have me excused." Many people, he said, made the doctrine of election an excuse why they cannot accept salvation. He believed that the world had nothing to do with that word election ; it was only intended for the Church, not for the unconverted ; the only word that the unconverted had to do with is " whosoever : " Christ settled the question by telling John to write, " Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely." " Do you think that God oflFers the cup of salvation to all men, and then, just as you are going to drink, he snatches it away, and says, ' Oh, but you are not one of the elect.' God doesn't do anything of the kind. 8ome young people say that religion is going to make them gloomy, and they want to enjoy life before they accept salvation. Who told you that lie? Pardon for the con- demned, bread for the hungry, a feast in the wilderness — are these likely to make men gloomy ? None are too young, and Q, marriage feast is just the thing likely to make the young happy. Some people stumble over their intellect, and say they can't understand religion. There are hundreds of things THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 35; we believe that we cannot understand. Many parts of the Bible I don't understand ; but I am not going to fight against njy Lord with my puny reason. " That excuse will not serve us on the last day. We can't say then that we didn't come because God gave us too much reason and intellect. Some make the excuse that they are too bad. We preach a Gospel for the very worst ; but you can't clothe yourselves with your own righteousness ; you must have the righteousness of Christ. Many think they must prepare themselves. God wants you just as you are in all your guilt and rags. If you come as princes he sends you away as beg- gars ; if you come as beggars he sends you away as princes. Just because our hearts are so bad is the reason we need a Saviour; the harder the heart, the more need you have of Christ. Nobody tells us we must weep over our sins so many hours ; it ain't necessary to shed tears to get into the kingdom of God. Feeling is the last plank the devil throws out just when a man is almost ready to step on the Rock of Ages. All you have to do is to believe — not believe yourselves, but be- lieve in Christ. You can't give a reason for not accepting the invitation. All your excuses are a tissue of lies. Do you say you have not time 1 Make time. Say, as a lady did last week, ' I won't leave this room until I have found salvation ;' and she went out soon after r< icing in sins pardoned." At the close of the sermon no less than five hundred rose for prayer, and a very solemn feeling was prevalent through- out the vast assembly. In the evening the same sermon was preached by Mr. Moody to a crowded audience, of which the greater portion were men. The afternoon service was the most effective in results of any that has yet been held. Three inquiry rooms were thronged. Those who sought religious conversation were for I? t 358 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. the most part such as were evidently under divine influence. It not unfrequently happens that persons embrace the invita- tion to the inquiry room just for the purpose of airing their religious crotchets, or seeking the Evangelist's opinion upon some peculiar tenet to which they mi> y be attached. Some are anxious to have an argumentative encounter on a doctrinal point, or an intellectual set-to as to the reasonableness of some plain statement of Scripture. All such receive the cold shoulder from both Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey, as well as from most of their fellow-workers ; and the cavillers and questioners are beginning to learn that the inquiry room is no place for them, unless they come prepared humbly and honestly to seek direc- tion from the Holy Spirit through conversation with Christian men and women. Eev. Dr. C. D. Cooper said : " Probably no man has ever addressed a more distinguished congregation in this city than that to which Mr. Moody preached last night. While we are asking blessings for others, do not let us forget to pray that the words spoken in the ears of the President, his Cabinet, the Judges of the Supreme Court, and many members of the Con- gress of the United States, might prove to each one of them words of salvation. What an influence would go out through the distant parts of our beloved land, if truth and righteousness should prevail in the hearts of all who fill important ofhces at the seat of government." Kev. J. Wheaton Smith then prayed very fervently for the distinguished men who were in the congregation last evening. "We pray," said he, " for the Chief Magistrate of these United States. We thank Thee, God, for what Thou hast wrought by him in the past, and for the honor given him amongst men ! We pray for a still greater glory to rest upon him — the crown of a forgiven sinner. Help him to feel in the dischaige of his important duties that there is a duty which he owes to himself in regard to his own salvation," THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 359 Auence. invita- ig their Q upon ome are octrinal of some boulder im most ners are )r them, tk direc- Ihristian has ever ity than le we are that the net, the he Con- of them through Bousnees offices at for the evening. United (brought st men 1 e crown e of his himself The occasion of these remarks and this prayer was this : A large party of gentlemen from "Washington, who were in- vited to visit and inspect the Centennial preparations, took occasion to hear the Evangelists, and on Sunday evening, the 19th, the following distinguished persons were upon the plat- forin : President Grant ; Hon. George! M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy ; ex-Gov. Jewell, Postmaster-General ; ex-Secre- taiy Borie ; Hon. Geo. Bancroft ; Judge Strong, of the United States Supreme Court ; Governor Hartranft ; ex-Governor Joel Parker, of Naw Jersey ; ex-Governor Bigler ; Hon. Thomas A. Scott ; Col. Fred Grant and lady ; Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; Judge Buell, of New Yoik ; ex-Speaker Blaine ; Hon. Morton McMichael ; General Pat- terson ; General Garfield ; Senator Christiancy, of Michigan ; Senator Wallace and wife ; ex-Senator Cattell ; Congressmen WeUs, of Mississippi ; Thompson, of Massachusetts ; Purham, of Florida ; Judge Pierce ; Messrs. Geo. H. Stewart, G. W. Childs, and John C. Bulli. When these prominent and well-known men appeared on the platform there was quite a commotion in the congregation, and many evinced a disposition to applaud. Bishop Simpson made the opening prayer, and pleaded very earnestly for a blessing upon the President and his Cabinet, for the governors of states, and all in authority. It was with great difficulty that Mr. Moody preached on Sunday night. He had contracted a severe cold, and the exer- tion of speaking during the early services of the day, and con- versing with the inquirers for an hour besides, had rendered him very hoarse. As he warmed up in his discourse, however, his voice became, for the time at least, stronger and clearer, and he spoke with almost his wonted earnestness — at fully his usual rapidity. Governor Hartranft, on leaving the building, said that he had heard so much of Mr. Moody's power to in- fluence a great popular assembly, that he had in advance formed it jt' :i; "Ki;H 36o MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. a very high estimate of his ability as a public speaker. After listening to him he had come to the conclusion that all his friends had told him of Mr. Moody was by no means exagger- ated. President Grant expressed himself as greatly pleased with the entire service, being especially gratified with the singing of Mr. Sankey. Ex-Speaker Blaine thought Mr. Moody was a wonderful man, and others of the distinguished visitors who occupied seats on the platform expressed themselves in similar terms of gratification. ' During the progress of the revival, the question often re- curs as to the results achieved by such vast expenditures and labors. These are well summed up in the' following paragraphs : Thousands of men and women gather every day in the week out of the busy masses of this great city to hear the goppel of Christ preached in simplicity and directness. Tery many of these hearers are not in the habit of church attend- ance. They are told plainly of their need of salvation, and urged to yield themselves to the service of the Lord Jesus. Many others of them are professed followers of Christ, who have been cold and inactive in his service. They are called on to be up and doing for their Master, and are told just how and where to work for Him. Each dav hundreds of the un- converted from among these hearers ask the prayers of Chris- tians in their behalf, and enter the inquiry rooms for personal conversation with God's children as to their needs and duty. IMany of the church members also are beginning Christian work with new zeal and new efficiency. Many of those who have not been avowed disciples of the Lord Jesus declare their readiness to trust and serve Him heartily. Moreover, hundreds of requests from those outside come up daily for special prayer, and on these calls God's children plead with Him for answers of peace accordingly. There are meetings THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 361 fl- 'or particular classes from time to time. Christian workers are appealed to as such. Sunday school teachers receive special instruction. The unconverted are invited and addressed by themselves. Young men are brought together and counselled religiously. Drunkards are talked to plainly and prayed for earnestly. Women and raen meet by themselves, and ser- mons are preached for olieir exclusive benefit. All this in itself is a great matter. No ordinary curiosity would bring together such audiences day after day for weeks together. Mr. Moody is now well known, and most who cared merely to see and hear him have been gratified. His style of preaching is so simple that many who hear him won- der at its power ; but there is no diminishing of the crowds in attendance week by week. No undue excitement gathers and holds these hearers. All is quiet and calm at the meet, ings. The preacher makes no effort to sway his audiences by strong appeak to their passions. The choice he sets before them is simply that which the gospel offers wherever it is faithfully proclaimed. The interest in the meetings is a healthy interest in the cause and truth which they represent. The fact that it is exceptional — or unusual — only makes it the more important. Men of marked influence in the community, who have been known in almost every sphere but that of per- sonal religion, are from time to time seen in attendance at these meetings, on the platform or in the body of the house. Even if they come from curiosity alone, there is reason for re- joicing that they are at last curious in this direction. It is well for them to turn aside from their usual occupations and hear the gospel preached. If many who are accustomed to follow their lead in other things imitate them in this, there will be a gain thereby. It is a good thing to have it fashion- able for sinners to listen to straightforward earnest appeals to repent and be converted. t ' lit ' h Wii i H Iff I 3^2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. The record of these meetings is givea day by day in the daily papers. The words of the preacher are repeated by the press throughout the country, so that hundreds of thousands have the gospel preached to them morning and evening from one week's end to another, through this agency alone. Edi- torial comments in the secular papers on this theme are fre- quent and pointed. Indeed, both Christians and the uncon- verted have been wisely counselled and cautioned by many a secular paper '' leader. " This in addition to all that the religious papers have to say on the same important subject ; and it can hardly be doubted that the tone of the religious press as a whole has been elevated and bettered through the influences of which these meetings are an outgrowth. It can aafely be asserted that never before was so much prominence given by the secular press of the United States to religious matters and to the direct presentation of Christian truth. The revival of 1858 bore no comparison with the present revival in this particular. In the churches of Philadelphia there is more than a com- mon interest in Christ and His salvation. This is true almost without exception, even if in any instance the pastor himself fails as yet to perceive it ; for the churches are not so shut out from the prevailing current of popular feeling that they can be excluded from an influence as general as that which now pervades this community. Those pastors who participate most heartily in the special revival meetings naturally share most richly in the attendant blessings ; yet all have new opportu- nities of hopeful work in their fields of church labor. If there is no considerable gain in any of these churches, it will not be because there is no special interest in religious things in that church and in the community about it. On all sides un- saved men and women are unusually ready to be conversed with, prayed for, taken by the hand and led to a waiting THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 363 r in the I by the ousands ng from B. Edi- I are fre- et uncon- - many a that the subject ; religious ough the . It can eminence religious ath. The it revival an a com- ue almost r himself shut out they can hich now te most are most opportu- If there It will not things in sides un- conversed la waiting Saviour. All who make the experiment of introducing the subject of personal religion, in conversation with those whom they meet in business or in social intercourse, find signs of this peculiar readiness — one of the most hopeful signs in any season of revival. These results are in themselves great results. If they are to be counted unimportant, then may also the ordinary preach- ing of the Gospel in our sanctuaries, and the attendance thereat of Christians and of unconverted hearers, be looked at as of little worth, because so few new converts are made each week, so little progress is marked in Christian attainment, and so many days of attention to the world and its interests follow each day of pausing to consider the things of God. The be- ginning is good. " The end is not yet." How much more is to come out of this revival work cannot now be known. Up to this time there is every reason to rejoice in what God is accomplishing through this agency. A weighty responsibility rests now on the Churches, and on all Christian workers in this city, and elsewhere as widely 88 the knowledge of these revival meetings extends. God is doing great things before us all. He has called the attention of the community to the theme of personal religion. Multi- tudes who were thoughtless ou this subject a little time ago are now thinking about it earnestly. They are easy of ap- proach. They would like to be talked with. They are not yet ready to go to any pastor's study and ask the way of salvation ; not yet, perhaps, to go into the inquiry rooms at the Depot Church. But they are thinking of themselves as sinners in need of a Saviour, and the one thing lacking to turn their steps thitherward may be a word from a Christian believer of their acquaintance. If this harvest-time passes and they are still unsaved, others than Mr. Moody and his imme- diate co-workers in the present series of meetings will have a .1 M 364 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. share in the hlame. Systematic, earnest, untiring work on the part of Christians far and near, in the line of direct personal visitation and appeal, to induce those who are now without a trust in Christ as their Saviour to come to Him in penitence and faith, is the urgent demand of the hour. " Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Isyael ; there- fore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked. Thou shalt surely die ; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life ; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine hand." Mr. Moody says truly, that the test of a revival is the prominence it gives to Bible study, the power it has in turn- ing men to the examination of God's Word, that they may learn therefrom of their danger, their need, their duties, their encouragements, their helps, and their hopes. From the days of Nehemiah down to the present time, every true revival of pure religion has shown itself in a new interest in God's law and testimonies on the part of leaders and people. Hence it is that the present great revival is a blessed and hopeful revival ; for it secures a prominence to God's Word beyond anything which has been known since "all the people" of the Jewish nation " gathered themselves together as one man into the street," to hear and study " the book of the law of God," " day by day, from the first day unto the last day " of the protracted meeting which followed their return from captivity. Never in the best days of olden time was there anything like the present interest in Bible study, in the home, in the Sunday school, in the social religious meeting. More people are studying the Bible than ever before. A larger proportion of all the people are engaged in this study. Jhe study is THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 36s more systematic, more intelligent, more thorough, and more fruitful than at nny former time. This interest in Bible study is not by any means exclusively a result of the meetings led by Mr. Moody. It is a result of the work of God in which the Moody meetings are a single element, and of which they are an evidence rather than a cause. But Mr. Moody works in the line of God's providence in this particular. He values Bible study. He urges it on all. He leads many to it. Through his labors and appeal Bible study increases, and its methods improve. It was a remarkable and a most gratifying fact, that at the early morning meeting last Sunday, at the Depot Church, on a dark, damp, chilly day, from six to eight thousand persons came together expressly to be told how to study the Bible to best advantage. Mr. Moody said that he counted it the most encouraging meeting he had ever attended in America. If he had been told five years ago that that number of persons would come together for such a purpose, on such a day, in the city of Philadelphia, he would have said that the man was crazy who suggested it. A very large proportion of all present at that meeting had their Bibles, and used them freely, and very many in the audience were taking notes freely, as Mr. Moody told of the methods he valued in the effort to search out, and to profit by, the truths of the Bible. It was pleasant to hear that building " rustle wi' religion," as the thousands of Bible leaves were turned together at the leader's call. If Mr. Moody's work in Philadelphia had no other result than the bringing of disciples, old and new, to the more intel- ligent and systematic study of the Bible, it would prove a rich blessing to the entire community. The entrance of God's words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple, God's word's are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. The believer is to be sanctified by God'e truth. God's Word is truth. ih i66 Moody ANb sankey in AMEfetcA. , ' HOW TO USE TOUR filBLE. ' -^ , I have been wonderfully cheered, said Mr. Moody, in going to the young men's meeting, to hear so much scripture quoted. Any revival that don't bring people to their Bible is a sham, and will last only for a few weeks; but if the people are brought to love the Word of God, there will be a revival that will last 365 days in the year. In Nehemiah viii. 2, we read that Ezra, the priest, brought the law before the congregation of both men and women in the street, and he read therein from morning until midday ; and in the eighth verse, it is said, " they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." I can imagine the priest reading the passage over twenty times until the people under- stood it. Bible Christians are all the time rejoicing in the Lord, for the Lord is their strength, but the people who neglect their Bibles are in a backsliding state. Mr. Moody quoted Jeremiah xx. 9, to show that Chris- tian men are constrained to open their lips and speak for the Lord. He said : If the Holy Ghost is our teacher, we will understand the Word of God. The best thing to interpret the Bible is the Bible itself. There are three books every Christian ought to have : the Bible, Cruden's Concordance, and the " Bible Text-Book," published by the Tract Society. Newspapers only tell you what has taken place ; this book tells you what, is going to take place. Take up one subject at a time. Take up " Love," and spend a month upon it. Take a concordance and go through the Bible with it upon this sab* ject, and then you will be full of love, and there will be no room for molico aud hatred in your heart. After that take up " Faith ;" it is better to go to the Word of God and get faith THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 3«7 than to pray for it. Then take up " Blood ; " it shows the way to heaven. Now take up " Heaven," and spend months upon it. Then " Prayer." We do not know how to pray as we ought to. Nine-tenths of us read the Bible just to ease our conscience. You do not get the whole Bible by reading it in that way. In family worship people often put a mark in their Bible to know where they left off. I hoed com when a boy, and I used to put down a stick to know where I left off ; so it is with reading the Bible. The only way for us to study the Bible is to take up one subject and try to master that subject. A man said to me, " Can you recommend the best Life of Christ 1" I said I could recom- mend four — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. A man had better spend a year over these four Gospels than to run over the whole Bible. If a man studies Genesis ho has a key to the whole Bible. It is the beginning of everything, and then the other parts of the Bible will unfold themselves to us. Let us take the Bible up with some object in view — to get at some truth. In California the best^ gold is found at the greatest depth ; and so with the Word of God, the best part is deepest. Here is some law document ; it is uninteresting. Now suppose it is the will of some man, giving you a great inheritance, you will become interested. This Book tells me of this inheritance. "What can the geologist tell you about the Rock of Ages 1 He can tell you about the rocks of this world. What does the astronomer know about the bright and morning star ? He can tell you about other stars. God did not tell Joshua how to use the sword and fight in the pro- mised land, but he told him to meditate upon the law day and night, and no one could stand before him. These words apply to every one here. This sword cuts right and left, and with it a man can cut his enemies right up to the throne of God. A man filled with the Spirit dwells much with the Scrip' ill t V- ■■ 368 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. ture. Peter quoted Scripture at the day of Pentecost, when he was full of the Holy Ghost. This is the sword of the Spirit. What is a man good for if he has no weapon 1 We don't know how to use this sword ; we should get into the habit of using it. David says, " Tny Word have I hid in my heart." A good thing in a good place for a good purpose. If you lose your health, you lie upon your bed and feed lipon the Word of God. When you meet together to dine it is better to bring out the Bible than to bring on wine. I was glad in England at seeing that done in a great many of the houses of the ui)per classes. An Englishman said to me, ** Moody, did you ever study the life of i ob V I said, " No, T never did." He said, " If you get a key to Job you get a key to the whole Bible." " What has Job to do with the Bible V l^e said, " I will tell you. I will divide the subject into seven heads. First, Job, before he was tried, was a perfect man untried. He was like Adam in Eden until Satan came in. Second, he was tried by adversity. Third, the wisdom of the world is repre- sented by Job's friends trying to restore him. See what lan- guage they used. They were wonderfully wise men, but they Gould not help Job out of his difficulties. Men are miserable comforters when they do not understand the grace of God. Job could stand his scolding wife and his boils better than these men's arguments ; they made him worse instead of bet- ter. Fifth, God speaks, and Job humbles himself in the dust. God, before He saves a man, brings him down into the dust. He does not talk about how he has fed the hungry and clothed the naked, but he says, ' I am vile.' Seventh, God restores him, and the last end of Job was better than the hrst. So the last state of man is better than the first. It is bettor than the state of Adam, because Adam might have lived ten thousand years and then fallen ; therefore it is better for us -s THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 369 jt, when i of the n^ We into the lid ir my •pose. If 'eed T*poii bring out England at the upper you ever He said, ole Bible." d, " I ^^ill ds. First, l. He was nd, he was Id is reprc- 3 what lan- D, but they 3 miserable :e of God. better than iead of bet- ^n the dust. JO the dust, ^ungry and enth, God in the tirst. lit is bettor re lived ten >tter for us to be outside of Eden with Christ than that we should be in Eden without Him. God gave Job double as much wealth as he had before, but He only gave him ten children. Ho had ten before his calamity came upon him. That is worthy of notice. God would not admit that Job had lost any children. He gave him ten here and ten in heaven." "We want the Word of God so hidden in our hearts that we will be constrained to speak of Him. Many flinty hearts and scoflfers have come to the meetings, but before they left they have been converted to God. A man while in a saloon picked up a newspaper containing a report of one of the meet- ings, the first line of which was, " Where art thoul" The man was struck with it, and said to himself, " I am not in the right place," and left. He came to the meetings and was converted, . and is now, said the speaker, leading a Christian life. We must take the Bible without prejudice, and not as Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, or Episcopalians. He advised all to have a Bible which they could call their own, and to get the best that could be procured. It might be said that it cost too much money ; but so much the better, it would be valued all the more, and would stand usage longer. He had carried the Bible he now used to California and to Europe and back, and nothing would induce him to part with it. It had been a great comfort to him, and he had found much pleasure in it. It might be argued that the kind he recommended is too large for a man to put in his pocket. Then carry it under your arm ; you should always be willing to show your coloic. In studying it, it would be well to have a copy of Cruden's Con- cordance and a " Bible Text-Book." These three books make a very good library. There is no better book to study the Bible with than the Bible itself. It is the best news-book that there is. The newspaper only tells of the news of the day, while the Sacred Volume tells of what wiU take place. 39 ■v. i ■ y»ri' v^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. i The Book should be taken up topically ; that is, take "Love" HB a topic, and see how much the Bible has to say upon that subject. By that means you learn all about it, and can readily answer any question that may arise upon that subject. After that the v/ord "blood " can be taken up, in order to find out how often that word occurs in the blessed Book, and how it is used. So other topics might be studied, such as " Faith," " Heaven," " Charity," and very many others. By this means a very good knowledge will be obtained of the Bible. Those who do it in that manner will be surprised at the amount of iniormation that they obtain and the interest they will take in it. "".e Book will become very precious to them, and they will never wan*- to be without it. A man once asked the speaker what was the best life of Christ. He replied that he did not know, Matthew wrote a very good account, so did Mark and Luke, but ^he speaker liked John's account the best. Some people read the Bible as though they did it merely to ease their conscience. Thoy take it up, perhaps, and read a chapter without reflection, and then lay it aside with a mark indicating where they left otf, just as they would do with any other book. If you ever expect to understand the Word of God you must study it ; you must, as it were, dig and delve through it. A great many people carry the Bible in their hands instead of their hearts. The speaker then illustrated how the Book should be used. He said that if he were to go and hear Dr. Newton preach a sermon he would turn to his Bible, which he always carries with him, and on the margin mark down some of the heads of the discourse, with the date, and five years after these heads would frashen his mind upou the sermon. He said that every one in studying the Bible should make notes on the margin of any matter bearing upon particular passages. It impresses the subject upon the mind, and in after yearv, if the necessity occur for a r«DCun'ence to .•^ m THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 3;i it, an explanation can be given at once. The speaker gave flome further illustrations showing how he had impressed ser- mons upon his mind at the time of their delivery by making notes upon the margin of the leaves of his Bible, and how he had studied up the subject. In connection with these valuable instructions, as to how to study God's Word, the following letter from Mr. Moody to " the recent converts in Great Britain " will have an interest to many in this country ; not only to " recent converts," but to some who have long been counted as believers. Dear Christian Friends : Since returning to America, in losponse to my invitation, I have received precious com- munications from many of you. Were it possible, I would gladly reply to each ; but, as I have not opportunity for this, shall avail myself of the columns of The Christian to send ij you all a few words of greeting. I praise God continually for what he has done for you in saving your souls through the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son. You are much on my heart, and in my prayers. But most glad am I to know, that when I cease to remember, Jesus himself bears each one of you in continual remembrance before his Father. You are graven upon the palms of His hands, (Isa. xlix. 16), and written upon the heart of His affec- tions (Ex. xxviii. 29) ; and of you He has said, ** My sheep shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand " (John x. 28). You have taken the Lord Jesus for your Kedeemer, and it has become eternal salvation unto you. Now, Jesus is some- thing more unto you. He has become your High Priest. His great business in heaven to-day is to represent you — your needs, your infirmities, and your trials. I want you to know this very fully ; for no other truth can give you more daily comfort, or more firmly establish you in a coastant holy walk. 372 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. Having died to save you, Jesus lives to keep you. At the cross he washed you from the coudemnation of sin ; at the mercy seat ho will cleanse you from daily defilement. Some of you have written me how old besetting sins are annoying you. Take them straight to Jesus, Don't rely too much on yourselves in overcoming them ; don't follow human advice too much, or copy the example of other people too much in gaining the victory. Spare yourselves this weari- ness. Cast it all before your blessed A«iv()cate, and let him bear you and your burdens too. And do net, above all, forsake your Bibles. You can never separate Jesus the Word made flesh from tho written Word. He who proclaimed himself the. Wny, declared also that He was the Truth. Pack your memory full of passages of Scrip- ture, with which to meet Satan when he comes to tempt or accuse you ; and be not content to simply know, but strive to ohtiy the Word of God. Never think thnt Jesm has com- manded a trifle, nor dare to trifle loith auifthing he has com- manded. I exhort the young men to bo sober. Exercise yourselves unto godliness ; run tlie race acf'ording to Paul's motto, " Looking unto Jesus ; " draw your inspiration and power directly from himself. I exhort the young women to groat moderation. Your sphere of testimony may not be public ; your place of useful- ness may not be large ; in your own homes " adorn the doc- trine of God your Saviour." Keep one little thought in mind — "I have none but Jesus to please." And so make your dress as simple as you know will please your Lord ; make your deportment as modest as you know will commend itself to Him. .. • And for you all, " among whom we have gone laboring," our prayer is, '* That your love may abound yet more and Ml THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 373 ' i SM more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere, and with- out offence, till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jeens Christ, unto the glory and praise of God " (Phil. i. 9, 10, 11). Mr. Sankoy joins me in Christian love. Your brother in Christ, D. L. MooDV. Brooklyn, November 12, 1875. Among the most effective presentations of truth made by the Evangelist are the discourses on Noah. Mr. Moody preached from Genesis, chapter vii., verso 1 : ** And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." He said it was a loving invitation from a personal God. This communication came to Noah, that God would destroy the world, that His Spirit would not always strive with man. This was one hundred and twenty years before the flood that he told Noah to build the ark. Grace always precedes judg- ment. You find that when Christ carae into the world He came in grace, and then judgment followed. Mr. Moody's description of the entry of the animals into the ark was very touching. God shut the door of the ark. As in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the last days. He told an affecting incident of a mother who told Mr. Moody that her daughter wanted her to go into the inquiry room. She went into the room with her daughter, and they wore both blessed. He mentioned a young womtvT who was converted at Edinburgh, and was killed by an accident on a railroad. At the conclu- sion of the sermon some five hundred rose for prayers. This was one of the most solemn meetings ever held. In his second sermon he said : Some persons say that they io not believe that there was a flood, and others say that they believe in the New Testament but cannot accept y k> 374 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. I the Old Testament. It won't do to reject any portion ; for if you do, you will have to reject it entirely. The speaker said that ho firmly believed that there was a flood, and there is abundant testimony to prove it. He was not present to defead the Bible, for it defends itself. He had a message to delive", and he would do it to the best of his ability. He then went on to describe the ark built by Noah, and said that the old man was ridiculed and made fun of, but he had faith in God and obeyed His commands. The speaker had been hooted at after leaving the meeting in the afternoon, but he did not care for it, for he knew that every man who stands up for Christ or endeavors to serve Him must expect to be jeered at and ridiculed. The people thought Noah mad ; but did you ever notice that the man who is mad thinks every- body else mad 1 There are many who think that the men who serve the Lord and preaon his word are mad. What about the man who deals out death and damnation, and robs his fellow-men of their brains and money, and robs their families of support ] Is that man who brings about so much wretchedness insane? Oh, no ! no one calls him insane. The man who goes home and beats his wife and cruelly treats his children is not called mad. But the one who works for Christ and cares for his family is mad. The speaker then went on to describe the gathering together of every living thing in the ark, the closing of the door by God, and the great flood that followed, which lasted forty days and forty nights- This portion of the discourse was the same as that given in the afternoon. He said : Thank God the door of mercy is now open. He begged all who would be wise, while God is offering mercy, to step within the door ere it be too late and the door is closed. The speaker said the past year had been the best of his life, and he has prayed that the last Sunday of the year would be the best that he has yet experi< m THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 375 M%\ eiiced by the conversion of luinJruds and thousands ol' souls. When God shuts the door it vf ill be too late — the day of grace will have passed. The last day and the last hour is coming; and don't you think of it ] Oh ! it may be that you will never again have the opportunity of coming to Christ. The time is coming again when God will judge the world. It will be consumed, as the Lord has said, by fire. "Come thou and all thy family into the ark." You may go away from the hall and laugh at and scorn Christ. Oh ! but you may be called away without being able to see Him. Come to Him, now that Ho is offered, or you may never again receive the message. In 1857 there was a great revival, and all over the country people were flocking into the churches. There were men who then tried to write it down, but it was of no avail. The same eflbrt is being made to write it down now, but they arc not able to do so, because it is God's work. Oh, men ! come into the ark while the invitation is yet being made. He then related an incident of a young lady who at- tended the meeting without any concern for herself, but before the service was over vshe said she would be in the ark before the afternoon was over. The young lady went to tht; inquiry room and there sought Ji^sus. He then related another incident of a mother and daughter who attended one cf ihe meetings last Monday night. The latter was a convert, but the other was not. He noticed them, and talked to the mother. Afterward he observed the two in close conversa- tion, and, on going up to her, she said that she had not been induced to come to Christ by anything he had said, but through what her daughter had told her. He inquired how many fathers present were out of the ark. " Oh !" said he, " don't stand in the way of your children ; come in and bring your whole family before the door is closed." He then re- ferred to a man who, on being converted, told how he had /i I LJ| 5 37^ MOODV ANt) SANKEY IN AMERICA. treated his mother ; that while she was praying for him, he left home because he could not stand it. Finally he heard that his mother was sick, and he thought that he would go home, but he again thought that if he did, he would have to become a Christian to live under the same roof, and he decided not to go. Subsequently he heard that she was very sick, and he started for home, and on reaching there he found that his mother was dead. He then visited her grave, and ho cried to God for help. He was thus left without father and mother, and he then cried to God for help and found Christ. The man told his hearers in Chicago that he would give all in the world to have his mother and father back, and he besought those who had mothers not to treat them unkindly. Said Mr. Moody, " Won't you now come in the ark and be saved, for the door may be closed when it is too late for you ?" An invitation was then extended to all who desired prayers to stand up. A large number of men re- sponded to the requeafc. Ex-Mayor Story of Boston then most fervently prayed in behalf of those who had risen. So clear and unmistakable is the plan of salvation presented that the most illiterate can readily understand it. There is no chance for the slightest excuse ; no one can plead ignor- ance after hearing the warning words of the Evangelists, or say that the opportunity was not offered them of coming to the Saviour. Some of the most remaikable instances of con- version have taken place, and many who attended the meet- ings with no thought of becoming Christians have, under the preaching of Mr. Moody and the singing of Mr. Sankey, been induced to enter the inquiry rooms and make an unconditional surrender of their hearts to the Master. Every day the num- ber of converts is being largely increased, which shows con- clusively that the power of the revivalists is not of themselvcB, t)ut of Him who has called ttiem to do His work. ^: WORK IN PrtlLADELPMlA. 377 OLD 1875 SHROUDED WITH PRAYER. — THE GREAT WATCH MEETINGS. No outside attractions of holiday week drew away from the meetings at the Depot Church. Indeed, at no time be" fore was the attendance uniformly so large, day by day, and the seriousness of the hearers so general. The interest of the week culminated in the watch meetings of Priday night. The building was packed to overflowing, and crowds outside vainly sought admission. There were three meetings during the evening, one beginning at nine, one at ten, and one at eleven o'clock. Mr. Moody preached earnestly at each service. " Should any people faint," said Mr. Moody, " I hope the ushers will carry them right out, and don't let me see three or four thousand people straining their necks just because some one has swooned away." After a general chorus of the hymn, " Eejoice and be glad," Mr. Moody read the thirteenth chapter of the First Corinthians. " Grant, God," prayed Mr. Moody, " that if there be any here who have made reso- lutions to do better during the coming year than they did in the blessed year that is closing, that their resolves may be taken away from them, and cause them instead to put their trust in Thee." " For the last time in this old year," said Mr. Sankey, " I will sing you the ' Ninety and nine.' Let us ask a blessing upon its singing." The popular hymn was weU rendered, and the Evangelist smiled a heavenly smile of satisfact'^n. " A man cannot serve two masters," said Mr. Moody. " I couldn't belong to the Democrats and to the Re- publicans at the same time. You remember the border men in the late war when our army got among them. Oh ! they were all Union men, red-hot ; and when the Confederates came, then they were all Southerners, and the result was that both parties hated and plundered them. None of you, except infidels, would say that you wouldn't want to become Chris- m v t '4\ n- ■ ., J..;, 378 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. tians some time. Why not decide to-night, in the closing momenta of the old year 1 All the good men named in the Bible were men of decision, and the others, Pilate, Agrippa, and the rest, wavering — 'almost persuaded.' When Egypt was 80 troubled with frogs that the king couldn't stand it any longer — it was frogs, frogs, nothing but frogs everywhere ; he couldn't move his foot without treading on a frog — he called Moses, and says he : ' Moses, I want you to get rid of these frogs for me.' Moses says : * When 1 ' * Why — a — a — to-morrow,' says the king. He had no decision, and wanted to keep the frogs for another night. You must come down with the * I will !' If there's no God to punish sin — if there's no hereafter, let's turn our churches into theatres; if the Bible is a tissue of lies, let's build monuments to Voltaire and Payne ; if there's no hell, * let's eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die.' I believe that the hand of God is upon this nation, and that things are going to be worse if there's not more repentance. I know what keeps men from deciding; it's some darling sin. * I like to play cards, and I can't give it up;' * I love my rum- bottle — oh, my darling nim-bottle, how can I part with you !' Sinners, this may be your last chance to decide. Oh, for Christ's sake — for your own sake — trust, believe ! throw yourself into the arms of the Saviour, who alone can bless you with a happy new year." '^ : Ten o'clock was announced, the first service closed, and several thousand departed, their seats being taken by new- comers. At eleven o'clock occurred a repetition of this egress and ingress, and the last portion of the watch began. ■ A little after ten o'clock, Mr. Moody called the Hev. Dr. Plumer, an aged minister, to what he called the " witness- stand," and interrogated him as to his Christian experience. It was a novel way of doing things. Mr. Moody asked ques- tions as if doubting the Word which he so often preaches, and EVf I I' THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 379 the venerable doctor answered. The following is Mr. Moody's own account of this original episode : In response to a request for an account of the watch night inquiry meeting, when the Rev. Dr. Plumer was questioned by me as to the great truths of salvation, I give the questions and answers, as I recall them, aided by notes taken by others at the time : Dr. Plumer. — I wish to give a year-text to this assembly. It is from the 73rd Psalm ; " Whom have I in heaven but Thee 1 And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." Mr. Moody. — Dr. Plumer, we speak of the duty of " con- viction." What is conviction 1 Dr. Plumer. — Conviction is a clear persuasion that a thing is true. Religious conviction is a clear, settled pursuasion of five things. First, That I am ignorant, and need instruction. Second, That I am guilty and deserve wrath and not pardon. Third, That my heart is vile, and must be renewed. Fourth, That my condition is miserable ; I am " wretched, and miser- able, and poor." Fifth, That I am helpless ; I am without strength ; I cannot save myself; I cannot think a good thought without divine grace. Mr. Moody. — What is the use of conviction 1 Dr. Plumer. — The use of conviction is not to punish a man for his sins; nor is it to make him any better. The devils in hell have been under an awful conviction for a long time, and not one of them is any better.' The sole object of convic- tion is to light up the soul to the faith of Jesus. The solo object of conviction is to bring the sinner to accept salvation by atoning blood. Mr. Moody. — Is any given amount of distress necessary to genuine conversion 1 Dr. Plumer. — Lydia had no dlBtresa — we read of none. :'li ^^1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) fe 1.0 I.I 1.25 'Z IIIIM •" IIIIM " m 12.5 !2.0 11111= 1.4 .6 -^ ^% - ^ » >-m 01 ^a v^ .> Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ,V ^Ktf via'''' £^r (A '^ i 38o MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. God opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken by Paul ; but the jailer at Philippi would not have accepted Christ without some alarm. If you will accept the Son of God, you need have no trouble ; there is nothing in trouble that sanctifies the soul. Mr. Moody. — Well, Doctor, what is conversion? Dr. PLUMBR.-rr-Glory be to God, there is such a thing as conversion ! If there was not, everlasting chains and dark- ness would be our doom. To be converted is to turn from self, self-will, self-righteousness, all self-confidence, and from sin itself, and to be turned to Christ. The turning-point in a man's conversion is his acceptance of Jesus Christ ; that he closes in with Christ and give.s him all his confidence. Mr. Moody. — Why must a sinner come to Christ for sal- vation 1 Dr. Plumer. — Because Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. All the angels in heaveu and all the saints in heaven and earth cannot save one Riuner. He must come to the Saviour. I will tell you why. Here are quintillions of tons of atmos- pheric air, why does not that support life without your re- spiring 1 You must breathe it, or you die. For the same reason you must make Christ yours, or you perish, notwith- standing what he has done. The sight of a river will never quench thirst, and the sight of food will never satisfy hunger. You must come to Christ and make his salvation yours. Mr. Moody. — Can a man be saved here to-night before 12 o'clock — saved all at once? Dr. Pldmbr. — Why not 1 In my Bible I read of three thousand men gathered together one morning — all of them murderers — their hands stained with the blood of th^ Son of God. They met in the morning, and before night they were all baptised members of Christ. God added to the Church in those days such as should be saved. If you are ever saved THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 381 there must be a moment when you accept Christ and renounce the world. Mr. Moody. — What is repentance 1 Dr. Plumer. — It is turning to God with abhorrence of sin, and cleaving to Christ with promise of obedience. A man truly repents of his sins who doe.a not commit the sins he has repented of ; therefore saving repentance always terminates in parity of life and reformation. A thorough change of heart is followed by a thorough change of character. - - Mr. Moody. — How can I know that I am saved 1 Dr. Pldmer. — Tne fact that God is true. " Let God be tnie, but every man a liar." If I accept Jesus Christ it is not Mr. Moody's word, nor Mr. Sankey's, nor Dr. Newton's ; it is the Word of the living God whose name is Amen. " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Mr. Moody. — What if I havn't got faith enough 1 Dr. Tlumer. — Glory be to God, if I can touch the hem of my Saviour's garment I shall be saved. A little faith is as truly faith as a great deal of faith. A little coal of fire in th* * ashes is as truly fire as the glowing heat of a furnace. Jesus . says not, if you have great faith you will be saved, but "he that believeth shall be saved." Oh, come and trust Him fully. Give Him all your eonfidence, and if your faith is not as strong ■ as it ought to be, cry, as did the disciples, " Lord, increase our faith." Mr. Moody. — But I don't know that I have the right kind of faith. Dr. Flumbr. — Are you able to analyze your faith and say whether it is exactly of the right kind 1 The thief upon the cross did not say, if I had a little more faith I would ask you to remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom. H* offered his prayer with the faith he had, and Christ aocspttd '* 1 1 ni r^' 1 - r "1 3^2 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. him. Yon must have faith in God through grace, and then your faith must have works, to be of the right kind. Mr. Moodt. — I don't feel that I love Christ enough. Dr. Plumbb. — And you never will. To all eternity you never will love Him as much as He deserves to be loved. ** Had I t n thousand thousand tongiiei, Not one should silent be ; Had I ten thousand thousand hearts, I'd give them all to Thee." Mr. Moodt. — When the temptation comes, it is so much stronger than my resolution that I yield. What shall I do 1 Dr. Plumbr. — Look to Jesus. He was in all pointR tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Christ can give us the strength of giants'. Jesus is the best Master and the best Friend in the universe. Glory be to His name for ever. The questions and answers are worthy of preservation. It would be indeed well if the scene, on the occasion of this con- ference between the two men of God, could be faithfully pic- tured to our readers. It was near midnight. The close of the year was at hand. The Depot Church was crowded. Twelve thousand persona sat listening intently to the words of the earnest Evangelist. Mr. Moody had concluded a sermon from the text, " How long halt ye betvveen two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, then follow him." The appeal had come home with power to many who now longed for words of per- sonal counsel, or who were burdened with anxious doubt. An ordinary inquiry meeting, such as usually follows Mr. Moody's ■eormons, was not practicable then and there ; for the services in the main room were to continue until the new year opened. Said Mr. Moody : "You always show an interest in the inquiry m0etings. I often see some of you who are outside looking THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 383 in at the doors to see what is going on in there. Some of you have been in there. Some of you would like to go there to- QJght ; bat we've no chance for such a meeting now. So I propose to turn this whole meeting into an inquiry meeting. Here is the Rev. Dr. Flumer, of South Carolina. He is seventy- four years old. He has been living on borrowed time for four years. For fifty-five years he has been sitting at the feet of Jesus. I'm going to put him on to the witness stand, and question him before you all. Dr. Plumer, will you take the pulpit." The venerable clergyman, with his commanding form and patriarchal presence, arose, and with tremulous movements took the stand before the vast congregation. He gave his Bible greeting from the seventy-third Psalm to the waiting hearers. Every word was spoken with distinctness and with deep feeling, as if under a sense of weighty responsibility in thus witnessing for the Lord. It was a most impressive ser- vice. Many a soul present seemed to feel himself the ques- tioner, and to listen as for his life to the answer. In that solemn hour it was as if God's prophecy for the latter days was fulfilled : " And I will give power unto my two witnesses." Their speech and their "preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." : ^ ii.r THB MIDNIGHT WATCH. At eleven o'clock the doors wer^ again thrown open whiU the big audience sang " Oh, for a thousand tongues, to sing." This was the commencement of the watch-meeting proper — watching for the first stroke of the hour which marked the end of the old and the beginning of the new year. Though bat a fdw more penoos got in through the briefly opened I'm/- ■■ JfifsT 384 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. doors, it was because those who had come to stay the meeting out held on to their seats, unwilling tu give up an opportunity of once a yeai's happening. Another solemn hymn, "A charge to keep I have," and one of a joyful character, "The Lord of earth and sky," were sung, Mr. Sankey standing by the organ, while Prof. Fisher played, beating time by gently clapping his hands, and the Hev. Dr. March, formerly of the Clinton Presbyterian, prayed. He entreated God that all the meditations of the night should draw the congregation to a contemplation of their great blessing in Christ. The twenty- eighth hymn, " One more day's work for Jesus," was sung, the solo by Mr. Sankey and the chorus by the choir, Mr. Sankey substituting the word " year " for "day" and asking the choris- ters to do the same. The change fitted the hymn very well. Mr. Moody then began his third sermon of the evening by the sudden utterance of the words, " There are thirty-five minutes left for you to take Jesus." He resumed the theme " Decision," which he had treated two hours before, taking for his text the words in Matthew, " What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ 1" ' If Pilate, said the preacher, had decided to follow Christ he would have been walking with Peter, John and the disciples in heaven ; he would now be in the fold of Christ ; but he liked popularity, and he listened to the call of ambition, and he gave Jesus up to be crucified. Every one in the depot had to go out to-night with or without Jesus ; there was no more serious question to be settled in the last few minutes of the year. The Jews had* said, Crucify Him ! crucify Him ! when the words of the text were asked of them. Would thqse present do the same. Let Christians in " these last minutes of 1875 " lift up their voices in prayer for the sal- vation of sinners. Mr. Moody pictured Pilate's supposed re- morse on the morning after he had refused to save Christ from th* orooB, He followed the footsteps of Judaa — this nan THE WORK IN PlIILADELrHIA. 385 ' Pilate, who would be popular with Casar — and put an end to his life. The man of pleasure and the woman of the world were then exhorted to come to J esus. " How about you blas- phemers who have come in here to-night ? Wliat are you going to do ? Many are here to-night who have made resolu - tions to commence the new year with, but they can do nothing without Jesus." At 15 minutes to 12 Mr. Moody asked them all to join in a silent prayer. Heads ware bowed all over the building, and silence reigned, Mr. Sankey breaking it by play- ing the soft strains of " Almost persuaded," which he sang, or rather recited, in a broken voice. ^Ir. Moody asked those Christians to rise who wished other Christians to pray for them. Almost the entire audience rose to their feet. Then the unconverted wore invited to stand ap and ask Christians for their prayer. Rev. ^Ir. Johns led in prayer, remembering both classes — the converted in need of help and the uncon- verted in need of a Saviour. Dr. Newton, after this, recited the Lord's Prayer, and all the congregation followed. The doxology, " Praise (rod, from whom all blessings flow," was sung, and Mr. Moody said that there were about four minutes of the old year left, which he wanted spent in silent prayer. It was an awful solemn four minutes. It was so silent inside that the sudden clang of the bells and shriek of the whistles on the stroke of twelve on all sides of tlic building broke with startling distinctness on the ear. A few words of prayer were uttered in the meanwhile by Messr.<. Moody, Sankey and George H. Stuart, the multitude still bowing their heads. The benediction was impressively pronounced by Kev. l>r. Plunier, and Mr. Moody, wisliing all a " Happy now year," closed the meeting. Dr. Plumer said, " I wish you all a happy eternity," and with this solemn greeting tliu vast multitude parsed out. idd ;iil' '■M m -,*! ■1*6 m .'^, 21 I «•• 3^6 MOOt)V ANi) SAKKEV IK A>tERlCA. THE MID DAY SEKVIGE. At the noon service, which was specially for the reclama- tion of inebi-iatcs, more than a hundred requests for prayer were read for unfortunates of all aj?es and sexes of that class. Mr. ^foody's text wa«, " All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth." He told of a man who, in his drunken mo- ments, came into one of these meetings, declaring: "John Wannamaker's catchpenny won't have any effect on me." But the question, "Where art thou 1" so affected that drunkard that he was led to the Saviour. Dr. Plumer, President of C/olumbia College, exhorted the people, saying : " Oh, believe! Be saved I Come, ye opium-eatei*s and smokers, ye drunkards and ye chloral drinkers, come all and be saved ! " The hymn " Sowing the seed " was announced. Mr. S;inkey said : Before we sing this song, I will tell you one reaton why we should sing these hymns, and that is, God is blessing *them to many a poor wanderer who comes to this building niglit after night. Last week a man who had once occu})icd a high pf)8ition in life came into this hall and sat down. While I was singing this hymn he took out his pass- book and wrote down these words : » ' • " Sowing tlie beetl of a lingering paiu, .Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, • • ■• Sowing the seed of eternal shame. Oh, what sliall the harvest be ?" Last night that man in the inquiry room went on his knees and Hsked God to break the chain that had dragged him down from such a high position to the lowest of the low. He said he had resolved when he went out of that praise meeting that he would cease to indulge in the intoxicating cup, but before TrtE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. S^7 jd. Mr. you ono 8, God is (S to this lad oncA and sat his pass- he reached home he went into a saloon and broke his resolu- tion*. We prayed for him last night. He ia now praying that God may break his chain. I want you to pray that this brand may be plucked from the burning, and that God may use these gospel hymns to turn the hearts of sinful men. Rev. Dr. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, said the question was asked : " Are there any permanent results following the labors of these two brothers, Moody and Saiikey, in the only two cities they have visited in this country ? " We had no sulwtantial results in Brooklyn until the froth of novelty had blown away. In Philadelphia the froth of novelty has now blown away, and you have pjot to the blessed work. Every Church in Brook- lyn that followed up the labors of Moody and Sankey with personal eflbit is to-day in the midst of a greater or more limited revival of religion, and every case that has been fol- lowed up by an effort has been succeeded by a permanent conversion. Our chief difficulty was from the self-indulgence of church members who were greedy to get enjoyment for themselves and not pass it to a dying soul. Sabbath school teachers were quickened in their work, but the greatest results of the work have been in regard to young men. Two union prayer-meetings have grown out of the work — one in Brooklyn and the other in New York. God has blessed the labors of these brothers in reaching that class of men who are addicted to strong drink. The most significant example I have yet met with in Brooklyn is that of a man given up by everybody. That man was picked up in the mud before ray church door many a time, and he has stood before that church and damned it. He is now sitting at the feet of Jesus, humble and in his right mind. If God will save him, He will save any man in thiidty. Mr. Moody said he had received a note on Sunday night, asking him if a person could come to the Saviour if he wanted, 388 MOODY AND SAKKEV IN AMERICA. or, in other woixla, has one power in himself to come 1 To answer this lie read from Matthew xi, 27, and from other por- tions of Scripture. If a man wants to come, no power on earth or hell could hinder him ; but God will not receive any one who is not willing to give up his sins. The only sorrowful meeting of the week is the prayer- meeting for drunkards on Frirlay. The glimpse that is given in these meetings into many of the homes of the great city is an appalling one. Wivey, sistei-s, daughtei-s, send up a bitter cry for intercessions in behalf of those who are walking in the sure way to death, and wrecking the happiness of others in tlie work of their owji destruction. And darker still was the revelation when the requests for prayer mentioned wives, mothers, and daughters hastening to a shameless end through strong drink. One note was in behalf of a wife in a home of wealth, of social position, the slave to strong drink, " whose husband would gladly give all his wealth for the restoration of his partner and their home." Another for an only daughter given to the use of intoxicating liquors. The prayers in be- half of these cases are most urgent and beseeching, and it is a relief to these dark unvcilings to know that some of the poor slaves of drink have been rescued from their bondage, and brought in humility and penitence to the feet of Chiist. A SUNDAY SCHOOL DAY AT Till: DEPOT 6hUKCH. • Thursday, January 6, the noonday service at the Depot Church was specially in the interest of the Sunday schools. The platform A/as crowded, as was also the space in front of the separating curtain, which was finally lifted and a large number of persons occupied the space beyond. Mr. Moody conducted the services, which began by singing, under Mr. Sankey's leadership, the hymn beginning, " There.is a land of THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 389 pure delight." After reading a few verses from Matthew iviii., Mr. Moody said : We have been having such a tender time in these noonday meetings for a few days back, that we want to keep on to-day in the same line. And so our topic is, " How to lead our children to Christ." Now my experience in the Sabbath school has been some- thing like this : that wherever I could find a teacher who was willing to work personally with the children, and get them to learn one by one, and talk with them, and pray with them, and pray for them ; and then, after they had succeeded — be- cause that kind of work always succeeds — in bringing them to Christ, if they just nursed them, and fed them with the sincere milk of the Word — instructed them, and taught them how Christians ought to live, how Christians ought to walk — that teacher has always been successful. I never knew such a teacher to fail. But those teachers who never speak to their scholars, except in the class and when they are all together* are about as successful as the ministers who never have any inquiry meetings, and who always meet their people in the pulpit, and preach to them in a body. If we are to be suc- cessful in le iding children to Christ it must be done personally. A friend of raine_. who has been a teacher some time, said to me that he had never seen a soul converted. He had in his class five young ladies of position and influence in the town in which he lived. He had tried to teach them the Bible, and had talked to them about Christ, but had never spoken to them personally about their going to Christ. Some remarks were at length made to him about working personally with the children. He went homo and thought over the matter, and the next Sunday he said to one of the five young ladies that he would like to see her and have a little talk with her after the school had broken up. The young lady stayed when the ill ftvi t ^,- * : «.i I it 390 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. rest wont out, and he then spoke to her personally about her goul's salvation ; told her how anxious he was for her conver- sion. The tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and he found that she was ready to be taught the way. The next time the others met that young lady they asked her what he wanted of her, and she told them. The next Sunday he asked another one to stay, and in five Sundays these five young ladies were led to Christ, and all of them have been BUCoe8sf\il teachers now for five years. Kemember that this was done in five short weeks, by exhorting them personally, and praying for them. I remember once going out with two of my teacher's class, calling upon some scholars. Wo went into one house and met three young ladies who had grown up in our mission Sunday school. They had been there from childhood up. As 1 went out I said, " Now let us go to work and see if we can't win those three t© Christ. You take Margaret, you take Sarah, and I will take Henrietta, and we will give them books, write to them, visit and pray for them — work personally with them." Within a month two of them have been led to Christ, and since I have been in Philadelphia a young man has come to me from Chicago and told me that Margaret has been con- verted. Prayer has prevailed, and those three have been saved, and two ot them have been co-workers with me in the Sabbath school for a long time. If teachers here will hold their classes next Sabbath with a determination, God helping them, that they will try to lead one soul to Christ, and pick out one member of their class and earnestly endeavor to work with that one member, you don't know what you may do for Christ. And if you can't see them on Sunday, make a point of meeting them through the week, invite them to some of your meetings, and then pray to God to convert them. THE WORK IN PIIILAnEI.rillA. 39 » My friends, when you turn one of these little children to Christ, you don't know and you cau'i tell what God may do with them; you don't know how they may be raised to bo a great blessing to the honor of the Lord, or how they may hereafter turn hundreds and thousands to Christ. If we don't get into this personal work of dealing with souls I don't think we are going to be very successful. It is my experience, after having superintended schools for twelve or thirteen years, that the people who deal personally with the scholars make the successes. And not only that. How very few mothers take their children o£f into a room, talk with them, pray with them, tell them the way to Christ ! I know if that were done we would have fewer requests here from i, others for drunken sons ; but the fact is, that hundreds of mother," do not believe in the conversion of their xiGtle children, and the result is that soon those children wander into billiard halls and drinking saloons, and at twenty many of them have become confirmed drunkards, and then, and then oidy, the mothers begin to wake up and cry to God that He must save their sons. We ought to commence earlier. In Cincinnati, at a Sunday school meeting, the little chil- dren were repeating verses, and one of them, a little child only four years of age, got up. She was so small she had to be put up on a seat. She got scared at the people, and was afraid to repeat the verses her mother had been teaching her through the week — " Suffer little children." With trembling lip and heart, she said, " Suffer little children," and then broke down. She commenced again, " Suffer little children to come," and broke down the second time. She attempted it the third time, " Suffer little children to come, and doiit any of you »top them from one and all to come." She had got the meaning of the phrase. She could not have given a better one, V)7 MDOnV AND SAN'-KV IN AMKUICA hon'i m»\ >»< yon Mtnp (litMn, lor (Iml wiihIh IIumh hII to «»o«H>, nui' it \» tln« intHprnltlc tnihi'liol' in Ihn (Ihnroli tlmf, in kt^oping ImoU lht» cluMrou. Hnw niiiny i*<»ul(l )m bronglit tt> (MiriKl in tl»«» morniij^r ol' lIuMrilnys if wo luhorcd fiu* ilmir MiUviition iiM wo nhtMild. (iod iiolp um Io lio wjho wliiln wo liiivn our ohildnMi with m yoim^j; tli.>ir Iioiu-Im toiulor. Lot un pmy to mako on intpivsKJon upon Miont Tor otornity, tliivt tlioy miiy j^> to I /hvist in tho niovniu^ of tlioir dny. Mr. S(U\koy m\\\ luivny ii piirout luul nuuiy ii toaohor, it Ih t;0 l>o ioartMl. i\R tlu> roHtilt ol' all Imh oiullily niroor, will nt Iftwt ho aMo («> my nolliiu}: l>ollor Himu tluit ho \\m Kuihorod •• nothing hut loiwos." Pardon nu\ tlu'U, wliih> I Hin^ timt hymn, and h^t oMoh ono pniy lIuU. \m hurvoHtinj^ will ho fur InUtor. vMlor winijing, tho l\ov. II. ('. McCook Hpoko iih followH : Kftith is niituvul lo ii ohild. Thoro jh noiuvoly luiythiuf^ thiiiii ohild doos not tvooivo hy taith. In tho family cirolo, whcui ho oomos to loarn tlu> lirst prinoiph»n of rigl»t and wrong, ho h«.s nothitig lor it hut tl\o won! of tho fathor, " ThiH ih right my ohild." or tho wiuxl of tho uiothor, " TIuh '\h wnuig, my ohild ; you must do t1n.>< ; y(U» must not {\o that," and tho child holiovo*. You t'oarooly ovor lind a d»>uhtor among oliildnui, Now, liod has alroady i>ropar«Ml tho childron for tluH. AVhen you como hol\u'(» tluuu porsuadod tiuit tho diild can ho lod to l^hrist sis( Ih'othor Mooiiy lia.s .> you to do '? You do not nood to stop and explain what faith is, or what rog(»noration i.«i, or to outer into ;uiy other of those quostiiuis ahout roligioua doctrines and life, TIIK WORK IN I'lm ADKI.rillA, 393 s liui Uin }4rnnt iliinj^ i» to hold up tlm olijmjt of fnilh. If ymi iMin )>tli ('liiJHt'n ci-pnil linforn Uim rliild, Mliowifi^ wlifti •ff'iiun in to the nliild mid in nil ilio woild, in >ill liin lovnly niir\)mln», Ihnohild will follow you, niid Mm Holy Hpiril will hriii^j Uint (ibild io nndimcn (!|iriHi liy CfiiMi, Now, ilioii, poiiii io Hod m I.Imi Knllinr of Uin child in J«*MUH (!lit'iHi. Lnl, him liM ifui^hl. to hnli<)Vn through nil hift diiyH ihiit IhiH liMiivnnly i<'iil.linr Ik liin own ffiilMtr hin Knthnr ill hcMiviMi iinij \]\i\l lui niiiy ^o to him for i^vcry hlMHnin^. Hnvin'nl ynniM u^o I wm \Any'i\\^ witii my own liitif) ^irl and a i!oiupanion who hud couui to ilu) Iioiiho, wli'iri i]n^ children wnro both vnry Hiiidll. 'i'hf-y w»ir« Imipirij^ down from the Htairway, and aw I Hiood hnhtw, my littln child Maid, " I'apfl, lot mo jump into your arriiH." " Vnry W(»ll," I waid, " j^o up a Hiop or two IiiKlinr," ami I nvu.hod out fny arnm, Thn litthi ono Htoppod up and thmi H|)run^ down tho H\Ai\m without any hoHitation, and I rauj^ht hor Haloly. " Now," Haid I, "Ornoie, you try it," and litlln (Jracin wrut up a Htop or two, and hUxkI an though hIio waH K'>i»K ^'^ mako tho Junip, hut nho, didn't do it. Onc.o, twi('((, Hovorid timoH, hIio triod to rriako tho jump and oouldii'tdo it, and I had to roaoh up and lift hordownin my arum. Now, what waH tho dilforonco K How can you uocuunt for the? dill'orouco in thoHo two children '( Why, rny own littlo girl had tint Hpirit of u child in her. I wa^ her fatlior, and ho with an urujuoHtioning faith Hho leapo^l right (lown-HtairH, knowing that 1 would catch hor, liut the other child was not of my family, Hho waw only in there oh a play- mate for a HiuiHon, and wlion hIio camo to attempt Ut repeat the action hor little heart failed her, becauHO who didn't «ee her father down below witJi outHtretchod arms. Kov. C. A. Dickey, D.D., next addressed tho meeting. He said: *' God has laid on me many reHponsibilitiea, under which I tremble, but there is none that I carry like my two ■ f 394 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. children, because I feel that for those I am wholly responsible before God. I believe that in regard to every other soul on God's earth somebody must share the responsibility with me — some other father or some other mother must divide it with me — but before Goa I feel that for two souls I am wholly re- sponsible. And I say that nothing bears upon me like the weight that God has put upon me for those two little children. And if I have one word to say to you, knowing that most of you are parents here to-day, it is this one thought, that the responsibility is yours and not the child's. P therefore wish that this question had been otherwise presented. Instead of how to bring the children to Christ, we ought to be consider- ing on our knees how we are liable to hinder the children from coming to Christ, for I believe that there is nothing which can possibly interpret the promise of God and the pre- cepts of God but this thought, that so far as God and his plans of mercy are concerned, they embrace the children, and God is exhausting everything to save them all, even those who are hindered by others. It is to me the most humiliating thing that falls from the Word of God that the disciples are presented in the most beautiful picture of God's "Word as the obstacles in the way of the children. There is no picture that God has painted upon the Word so beautiful as that where Christ beseechingly says, " Suflfjr them to come." And I say that the dark line on that bright picture is the fact that the disciples must be rebuked and be gotten out of the way before Christ can be gratified in the possession of the chil- dren. It is not said, " Suffer little children to be brought unto me," but " suffer them to come," as though the little ones were themselves eager to come ; as though their hearts were full of the desire to come ; as though they, by the plans and purposes of God, would come ; as though everything that was essential was provided but one thing, and that was the removal \. THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 395 of the obstacle, the taking away of the hindrance. " Suffer them to come." " I am ready," says Jesus. The children are ready. The trouble is that something is in the way, somebody is violating some pledge, somebody is violating gome promise, somebody has thrown himself in the way of the child, and it is prevented from coming to me. Kev. Dr. J. Wheaton Smith, of the Beth Eden Baptist Church, related an interesting incident. He said that they organized some years ago a mission on South Street, and among the scholars was a little boy who was a rider in Dan Bice's circus, and whoso mother kept a peanut stand at the Arch Street Tlioatre. The little boy was a great trouble in the school, and none of the male teachers could do anything with him. Finally a lady said she would take the boy, and soon after he noticed the little fellow looking earnestly into his teacher's face, and intently listening to her. Through her he was led to the Saviour. He finally left the school, and some time after they heard that he was a drummer boy in the Union army, and was mortally wounded. He sent a letter to his old teacher, full of love, thanking her for leading his soul to Zion. Some persons say that they are not sufficiently educated for teachers, but, said the speaker, all that is required is to have the love of Christ in our hearts, and He will do the rest. Mr. Moody gave his experience. He said where he found a teacher willing to work personally with the children — get them alone one by one and talk with them, and pray with and for them, teaching them how a Christian ought to live and walk — that teacher has always been successful. Teachers that never speak to their scholars only in the class are about as successful as preachers who never have any inquiry meet- ings. If we are going to be successful in leading children to Christ it must be by personal teaching. Mr. Moody related several instftncos of the si^ccassful result of personal teaehinj^, ,- • ■■,- M, ^ 39<5 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. I both by Sunday school teachers and mothers with their chil- dren. If mothers would take their children alone in a room and teach them, there would not be so many requests by mothers for us to pray for sons who are drunkards. The Rev. Dr. E. P. Rogers said : I want to give a single illustration of what my friend Mr. Moody said in his opening address. One fact is worth a thousand arguments. He said we didn't know what our children might be the instruments of accomplishing in God's hands if they were early converted, I want to state one single fact to him and to you. The scene occurred about twenty-five years ago, and I shall never forget it. One beautiful Sunday morning word came to me that a little girl, six years old, a member of my Sunday school, was lying on her dying bed. She was a child of un-Christian parents, the highest people in the state, her father the Gover- nor of the State, a former Judge of the Supreme Court, a gentleman of the highest standing, but out of Christ. The little girl, as I stood by her bedside, said to her father, "Father, come here." She took him by the coat, drew him down to her so that his head almost touched her cheek, and said, " Father, I am going up, I am going up, I am going to Jesus ; and now, dear father, I want you to promise me one thing." " What is it, my child 1 " said he, broken down in agonizing sorrow. " I want you to promise me," said she, " that you will be a Christian and follow me to where I am going, up to Jesus ; " and turning to her grandfather, an old gray -headed man, nearly eighty years of age, she said, " Grandpa, your head is very white, and your time is very short ; but, grandpa, follow me to Jesus." So she passed away, saying to me,* " Give ray love to my Sunday school teacher, and thank her for all she did for me." The next day we laid little Sallie in her grave under the tall pine trees of the Southern forest, and after the funeral thiA tall, stately, dignified man, always attentive to my voice THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 397 leir chil- i a room tests by a single opening He said ;ruments inverted, he scene er forget le that a tool, was Christian e Gover- Court, a 5t. The "Father, m to her * Father, nd now, " What ; sorrow, ill be a Jesus ; " n, nearly I is very )llow me my love 3 did for vet under ) funeral ny voice as a preacher but never allowing me to get near him out of the pulpit, said to me with tears in his eyes, " Mr. Rogers, come and see us every day, and talk to us about Jesus, for we want to remember the little preacher aud follow her to Christ." You don't know what your children could accomplish if they were brought to Jesus. One of the sweetest pictures of the latter-day glory closes with this climax, " A little child shall lead them." And there are children in your household who may yet lead men and women to the Saviour, if we suffer them to come to Him now. After silent prayer, the Kev. George A. Peltz said : How can we reach that very point 1 How can we see in the chil- dren of our homes and our classes that work of the Lord God so that they will lead others to righteousness 1 In theory I have long held that they may be Christ's very early, but I had to wait for a little girl in my own home to teach me that the thing was a great reality. That little girl, five years old at the time of which I speak, was singing around the room, " I love Jesus." We thought it was to her only a matter of amusement, and one of us said, " Do you really love Jesus 1 " " Why, I can't toll the time when I didn't love Jesus," said she. Love to Jesus appeared to have sprung up in that little heart, eo far as she was conscious of it, as early as love to father or love to mother. It taught me this : First, none can tell how early God's Holy Spirit may take hold on a heart aud mould it savingly. It taught me, secondly, that very little ones may intelligently receive the blessed Jesus ; and it taught me, thirdly, never to doubt a child's experience where there is a sweet trust and a loving faith in the Saviour. As parents and as teachers, let us hold to this. One other lesson we may learn from children. A hoy in my own Sunday school was convicted of sin. He came to the u\ i9^ MOObY AND SANKEY IN AMfeRICA. school hoping his teacher would say something to help him, but the teacher did not. He went home with his heart all crushed because he felt that nobody cared for his soul. He sat down alone to brood over his terrible condition. His little sister came running into the room, and as she came in she repeated the words, " Let not your heart be troubled," and away she went. He thought about it. Thought he, " Who sent me that message 1 " He supposed an older sister had sent it, and he felt so grateful that he went to thank her. She said, " I didn't send it." He called the little girl and asked who told her to say those words. " Nobody told me," said she. " Where did you get them 1 " said he. She answered, " Why, I was learning my text for next Sunday." He asked where the text was. She showed it to him, and for the first time the fact dawned on him, there is a Saviour who said, " Let not your heart be troubled." He thought, " My teacher had no such word for me, but Jesus had it, and I have it from the lips of Jesus." And just there and then he felt that Jesus had personally suffered with and sympathized with him, and was ready to bear his burden and take away his sins. Let us hold up a personal Saviour such as that. That is the Saviour the children need. Mr. Moody read a letter from an English correspondent, in which a very touching account was given of the call up higher of two Christian boys. " Precious jewels" was then sung, and the meeting closed, the mothers tarrying to pray in one anteroom, and many of the men retiring for the same purpose to another. Teacher^ in the Sabbath school might well take some hints from Mr. Moody. He preaches for a purpose. He does not merely do it to interest, but to convert. He would not preach at all, we may be sure, unless he did interest and instruct, "but wo may be equally certain that ho would cease to preach THE WORK TN PHILADELPHIA. 399 if he did uo more than this. His great aim is so to interest and instruct that his hearers shall decide for Christ. When a teacher spends all his time on that which will secure the attention and give instruction, he may find that after all he has accomplished nothing. He has taken the easily-captured outworks, while the citadel remains untouched. The heart, and not the mind or the fancy, is the real object of attack. Mr. Moody in one of his sermons said : " Suppose I go to find a poor beggar-woman wliom I have seen standing on the street clothed in rags. I find her all nicely clothed, and ask, * What does this mean V She says, * Why, Mr. Moody a man came and put into my hand, as I stood here, a ten- pound note.' * How was that ? Did you know how to put mt the right kind of hand ? Was your hand all right ?' Why, sir, you don't understand. The stranger put the money, a ten-pound note, into my liand ; laid it here on this very palm. Why, I got the money ; isn't that enough V Now many come to me and say, * I am afraid I haven't'got the right kind of faith.' Faith is only the hand held out to God. Don't look at your hand, look up to God. You don't feel joyful 1 Take Jesus at His word, and let feelings alone." Mr. Marsh, who has been on ^Mr. Moody's track, writes : I have not once heard the complaint, so often made after revival excitement has cooled, that converts did not " hold out." It was a common thing for people to come into his meetings indiflerent and go away converted. Indeed, the emphasis with which he preached to all alike the duty of im- mediate surrender was a stumbling-block to some good people. Who could not see that a man who decides promptly when an issue is fully before him, is (piite as much to be depended on as one who dallies a long while over a decision 1 There are no more steadfast soldiers of Christ in the British churches lo-day than those who '^nlisted under Mr. Moody. Perhaps •s 400 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. no other minister in Edinburgh has had to do with so many of the converts in that city as Mr. Wilson, of the Barclay Church. He recently stated that he had known of but two declensions. But I am sure that the most important result of this two years* work is not measured by the number of hope- ful conversions in connection with it, many thousands though they were. The breaking down of denominational prejudices is most marked. The spirital life of the churches has been greatly c^uickened. Ministers confess that they have preached since as they never knew how to preach before. " He used to be a very different man, but he got a blessing when Moody was here," was a remark made about an earnest Christian worker in Edinburgh, the like of which one often hears in Scotland. It was something marvellous how he inoculated those whom he met with his zeal for souls. A business man in an English town went to hear him in another city. They had a five minutes talk together. A new fire was kindled in his heart, and since then ho has had no greater joy than to preach in the evening on the street to those who never go te church ; adjourning to some convenient room for a prayer and inquiry meeting with such as may be entangled in his net. In Aberdeen I found the theatres filled every Sunday evening to listen to the simple, pleading presentation of Gos- pel truth from a lawyer ; and a police magistrate holding meetings in the Infirmary with the old people who are too feeble to get out to any other service. The results that followed his flying visits to some of the smaller cities were sometimes quite remarkable. At Berwick- on-Tweed I asked whether he held meetings there. " Yes, he was here for one day." I suggested that such a short visit did not leave much of a mark, probably. " Indeed it did," was the answer. "It was the beginning of a great revival. Berwick has never been the same town siiipe." In many THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 401 placas the special revival interest — if it may be called special in sueh a case — which began with his meetings, still con- tinues. " Evangelistic meetings " are a common form which this quickened interest in Christian work takes, — meetings with the special aim of leading sinners to Christ. They are held in halls, in churches, in tents ; on week-day evenings and on Sundays, conducted sometimes by ministers and sometimes by laymen. Edinburgh seemed to be full of them. The noon prayer-meeting is one of the notable results of the work in the latter city. It is held in the Free Assembly Hall, and attended by hundreds every day. The ministers and mem- bers of all denominations seem to be most thoroughly and delightfully united in it. It flows on full to the banks with a current of its own. No one comes for the sake of " keep- ing it up." The specific requests for prayers that are sent into it sometimes reach a hundred in one day, a goodly num- ber being accompanied by thanksgiving for answers received to prayers previously solicited. On Saturdays it takes the form of a crowded children's meeting similar to those held in Dundee and other cities on Saturday afternoons. It is with sincere pleasure that we present the views of the Rev. Dr. Richard Newton as to the work of Messrs. Moody and Sankey in Philadelphia. Dr. Newton is so widely known, both in this country and abroad, from his prominence as a preacher to children, as a representative clergyman in one school of thought in the Episcopal Church, and as editor of The Sunday School World, that a communication from him will always command attention. Moreover, as chairman of the Committee of Arrangements for the meetings of the Evan- gelists in Philadelphia, he has had unequalled opportunities of learning the truth as to the subject on which he now writes. I write, by re(^uest, a few lines expressive of my own im- 25 • H : 402 MOODY AND SANKF.Y IN AMKRICA. pressions of those doar brothren, M'oaara. Moody and Sankey, and of tho work which they are carrying on in this great city. Tho dotaila of tlieir work arc reported in tho papers every day. I need not dwell upon them. The striking pecu- liarities which mark tho men themselves have been spoken of again and again. We are all familiar with these. There are three points of view from which these men and their work have most strikingly impressed me ; and on each of these I wish to say a few words. Tho first of these is the Ulustrntifin afforded in the work of them men of the essential, practical union existing between Protestant Christians. Many instances of this might be re- ferred to in connection with this movement. A single one may hero bo adduced. This occurred rather in the preparation for the work than in the work itself. A part of this prepara- tion was to have a class of Christian workers trained and ready to go into the inquiry rooms and render service there in guid- ing anxious souls to Jesus. The class was composed of between three and four hundred Christian men and women. Theae ■were gathered from the different churches of the city known to be in sympathy with tho Evangelists and their work. They were the best specimens of Christian knowledge and experi- ence that those churches could furnish. And when convened together this body of " Christian Workers " made up a deeply interesting assembly. The preparation of these workers was intrusted to a com- mittee of four ministers, representing tho leading Protestant denominatii^ns. The Rev. Dr. Breed represented the Presby- terian Church; the Rev. Dr. J. Wheaton Smith, the Baptist; the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, the Methodist ; and the present writer the Episcopal Church. This committee met tho workers several times for general counsel and directions in view of the golen^H and responsible work ir^ which they were to engage. \] TUK WORK IN PITILADELPHIA. 403 At these meetings each member of the ministerial committee addressed the workers in turn. There was no concert or agree- ment beforehand as to the points to bo discussed, and yet the most delightful harmony prevailed through all the exercises. Not one jarring or discordant note was struck from the begin- ning to the end. If a stranger had been present he might have listened most attentively to the teachings of these men repre- senting the leading branches of the Protestant Church ; and for the life of him ho could not have detected the slightest shade of difference in their teaching. From anything he saw or heard there, he could not have told who was the Presby- terian, the Baptist, the Methodist, or the Episcopalian. The watchmen on the walls of Zion were seeing eye to eye. They had approached so near to Jesus that they no longer saw things in the decomposed rays of their separate dunomination- alism. The pure white light that shines eternally from the Sun of Righteousness was shedding down its beams upon them ; and, on that grandest of all questions, " How shall a man be just with Godl" they wore made "one in Christ Jesus." And whatever helps to bring us thus together in such a way is a blessed work, and one on which God's blessing must certainly rest. Another interesting point of view from which to contem- plate the work of these men is in its influence for good on the churches. We see several things from which this influence must spring. One of these is the marked characteristic of these men. If asked to put my finger on this peculiarity, I ?5hould say it was great singleness of aim, a remarkable earnestness and in- tensity of purpose. And to bo brought into contact with such men, especially when, as in the present case, they ara pos- sessed of great magnetic power, cannot fail of having a good effect on all about them. We hear the song of life pitched to J -- i? 5f ; 404 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. a higher key than we have been wont to sing it ; and before we know it we find that our own hearts and spirits have been attuned to harmony with this loftier strain. ^ Then, again, the Church in general is receiving good from the effect of Mr. Moody's style of preaching on the clergy. The most striking peculiarity that marks his preaching is its simple, direct, practical, unceasing, and intensely earnest ap- peals to the Word of God. And greater conformity to a style of preaching, so truly primitive and apostolic, in the pulpits of our land, would be an unspeakable blessing to the Church. It would be to put aside what the Apostle Paul calls " the enticing words of man's wisdom," and substituting for them " the demonstration of the Spirit and of power." This is a great want of the Church in the present day. Still further, these Evangelists are doing good to the Church by promoting, on the part of Christian people, a more careful and diligent study of the Word of God. All the services in which they engage lead to this result. This is especially the case with the Sunday morning services for Christian workers. I wished, while at these last-named meetings, that every mem- ber of my church could have been present, for I was satisfied that it would have done them all great good. I never went to my Lord's day work in a better frame of mind for doing it than on the mornings when I had the privilege of attending those meetings. What we need among our church members in these days, above everything else, is greater acquaintance with the Scriptures. And these men are blessing the Church by help- ing to lead Christian people on to just this result. The other point of interest from which to contemplate these Evangelists and their work, is, in their power to reach and bless multitudes of men not reached or blessed by the ordinary ministrations of the Gospel. This is seen in the character of the assemblies they are addressing all the time. It is seen in f The work in piui-adklpiiia. 40$ the open acknowledgment of numbers converted at these meet- ings ; and especially in the numerous cases of those lost to their families, or to society, and given up to the body-and-soul- destroying tyranny of strong drink ; but who, through God's blessing on their instrumontjility, have been " plucked as brands from the burning," and restored to health and hope — to peace, to comfort, and to usefulness. The recovery of one such would bo a sufficient recompense for all the time, and money, and labor expondo I in this work since these brethren came to our city. Bit when this one comes to be multiplied by dozens of scores of rescued men of this most hopeless class of all who go astray ; ami when to this one class are added large numbers of tlio=«e in every .'ior class of transgressors, brought back to God through the labors of these Evangelists, I feel, for myself — whatever others nny say or do — that I can do nothing else than thank God for sending them here ; and pray Him to bless them more and more while they tarry among us ; and then to follow them with His blessing where- over else it may please Him to lead them. MR. MOODY S WINSOMENESS. Gentlemen thus write from Philadelphia : For once we have an Evangelist who is an evangelist. As such no fault can be found in him, except by some scurrilous papers, rum-dealers and infidels. Many thanks to Him who has raised up and sent to us Mr. Moody. No crotchets, or hobbies, or eccentricities, or taint of heresy, or anything ob- jectionable to earnest Christians — what a comfort in this, to begin with. But in expounding the Book he is mighty, be- cause he has made it his study, is full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and has strong common sense. In all these seven weeks of labor no heresy-hunter has even smelled any un- soundness. Plain, pointed, all-sided, tender, and intensely 4o6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. Wi m earnest, he reaches every case. In the power of illustration he has no equal known to us — though he is not conscious of any scholastic rules or professional technicalities. For once we have an evangelist who has solved that question of minis- terial conferences and Sunday school institutes, " How shall we reach the masses ? " Over eleven thousand people, of all classes, crowd the great tabernacle, all eager to get near the stand, and all hang uJDon his thrilling words. Mr. Moody is an organizer and a manager in the best sense. Classifying Christian workers by age and sex, for greater efficiency, by meeting at different hours and places adjoining, and all under his direction, his way of doing things wins the co-operation of all. And if, as rarely is the case, anything falls out of lino, or is likely to disturb the harmony, he has the happy faculty of shutting it off without offence. Hence what a work has been done in seven weeks ! No exact estimate can be made, of course, but inquirers have gone up to thousands. And the good gained to the church members in attendance, and to the ministry, cannot be told. At this point the interest is steadily rising and extending, and it seems vastly important that Messrs. Moody and Sankey continue here a long while yet. The sweet gospel-singer has also won the hearts of the people by his unequalled singing, and his loving labors in the inquiry room. • In the churches that are enjoying the influence of these great meetings, the good will long be felt, and the fruits seen. :> God never has a work to be done but he finds a worker to do it. Commonly, too, his choice is just what man's would not be. Samuel blundered as to Israel's first king, and the last thought of David, the chosen one, prefigured the mis- choices of the kingly ones by men, and their rectifications by the Loid of the kingdom ever since. John, the shaggy rustic of the wilderness, with loathsome '* locusts and wild honey " tHE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 407 for " hia meat," grimy fishermen, and a hot-headed youngster fiercely " haling men and women to prison," who of the " wise men " would have picked fhcsc as the men to tell the world the great redemption story ? They were chosen and did it. Seventy years of Sunday school work has drawn Christians into the general use of what are called the International lessons, which are simply a plan by which Christians agree to open to the same chapter and study it together, each Sabbath of the year. The Chris- tian world never before by their own choice hit upon such a doing together of anything, ilt has pleased Jesus the king, and throughout the world he has drawn the heart of man to the divine Word in a wonderful manner. He has anointed ones in the service. This humbly born, illiterate Mr. Moody is a " chosen vessel," or witness to the treasures hidden in the book of grace. He didn't set out to do this work. He doesn't claim to be doing it beyond all other men. I think he is doing it, though he may not know it, for while aiming at and attaining other wonderful work — using this as a means only — he is eduCi\ting millions in a icay of study , which will go on after all his other work ends, and outgo it in real value. Look at this assembly, seven or eight thousand, at early morning of Sabbath, or at 4 p.m. of a week day ; sitting around him in far more reverent intensity of hoed than the disciples of Socrates or Plato on the banks of the Illyftsus ever showed ; than any group of pupils in any " Divinity School " I have seen ; no trifling, no fun-making, no daw- dling, as in class-rooms ; but the eager, diligent thousands hearken and turn to chapter and verse, and make notes of his words, as of no professors of exegesis and sacred literature I have yet seen. The value of the work is not alone, not mainly, in what he does himself, but more in what he is training thum to do. These may show what that is. . ' " •\.v- W^ I'M ,'. 4o3 MOODV and SANkEY IN AMERtCA. (a.) A supreme aim to push the divine Word up to the souls of men ; to touch all men with God's thought in the Word, whatever that is. Face to face with God, his friend or his foe, is the practical fact in this way of using the Bible. The narrative ; the text ; the setting is second ; how to get at the soul through it, is first. No matter for the story, or the style, or the commentaries on it. Does it stop you from sinning and stir you up to do what God would have you do ] The persons in the narrative wijro good or ba.) Vivid personation marks these readings. Take Lot anV AND SANKKV IN AMKUK'A. t«VPninjjM mv Irtv^oly rtl.l.«Miilf>il, nnil ilmi iltnro Ih aw iivorngn of t\v»>nty ytMmjx lurn who «1. ovory in«'«>iing ri«n lor pmynr ntiil t»x|MV«H iv «loHih» l(» i'juho In ChiiHl.. Tliorn Imvn Imrn tM-niily- w»v»Mv ilrlnkin^i nu-n ronvpHnl, Mti'lin^H liuVn)»iM'n Inaiinur ftlml l»y llm younjjf ooiivorlw rtHUMi^ tlin woikiiirii at \\u\ (Inn Workf* mul tho foainoii on lioanl of IIm> rn'oiviiig p|»ip. Hn ttlKO"ta(o(l Ihal n i^ooil wotk jm Immii^^iIoik' l»y llio Vokn I'VIIomh, <\\\\\ lltal. Imiuln of woikoir. woro going out, holding ini*ol.ii)gi«, ftml hringing www to (ho Saviour. riMloHHor William .loluiHlon rollowcti hy Hlatiiig ihaiagrrat nwakoning \va» }:oing on in a fniall niinnion near Umnianiown, and thai on la^t Turmlay ovoning sonjo Iwolvo or lillrrn nrona for prayor, an«l hrloiv loavinj^ Iho |»1ium> gavo llu'ir h«'«rlR lo Christ, (hi Sun»lay a ninMing wan hrltl at tho ilonwo of Cor- riM'tion, tho \vm\\i of \vhiol» \va» nioHt tMU-ouraging. Ovor otia hinuhvd port^onH arono tor jmiyor. Al. the llolliany ProNhytiMinii Chmvli, at. tho ivquoHt ol' tho pu.Mlor, lio roporlod t.h« inn«t. happy jvsult^s. At. tho lawt ooiunmnion I.W(»n|y nino parnona Hrvvso for prayor. !Mr. Wanuaniukor n\ado a vory oiiconraging ropori of what tho 1am\I is iloing at tho young nion's nirotingH. llo «ai«l that thoy niv largoly attvndoil, aiul that i\ightly a worn or juurn inon riso for prayoi-s ami aro lotl to Christ. Tln^ nioolingH aro r»Mn«rkahU> t\>r thoir length, aiul though it haw h('( oloso thoni at 1 1 o\look. it is ofttn mitlnight hoforo sonin of tho young inon aro ahlo to got away. Ho also said that many had boon turootl to (lOtI thrtnigh tho singing of Mr. Sankoy, «nd ot^ou whon Mr. Moody foarod that ho had failod in his oirorts to n»aoh tho hoarts of tho pooplo, a iinnihor have tcsti- fiod that the si-nuons haii induced thorn to tuko a stand for Christs Rev. Pr. Hattiold followed, and eaid that ho had been greatly encouraged with the meetings, and had given them very TIIK WnkK IN I'llllAhKM'lf lA, 421 tininh of \m Miiin. I In npukn of IIim ^i'«nt, Work ilmf. In bf<)ii)< (lotin ntiioii^ IliM wotiiMM, iukI Mfiid tlin rnHultH nnr anioninhin^, Ifn tilioii roJ'tM'i'Md lo Mim yiiii^ iih'm'h niM««tiiij^rt, aiKi HinUul iliiii tin liiitl H)MUi liM tiiiitiy fiH Dlly iJMfi for ptiiycr. TIki niiirihnr of iMMivnrnioiiH urn Ntir|irifliii^, iiikI, do wliiit lin would, Iim riovnr (uxdd ^ot, uwiiy until ii very lain iiotir, Mr. Moody mu\ iliiit lio liiid rnccivnd i yoiin^ noiivnrt, a rnHidoiii of ( !ndiirvilln, Now .U^rwiy, who, Hovornl wonkn n^t), wliilt^ on a viMit to iliiH cMy, aUondfMl a friooiin^ in tlio depot, and wan converted. I In vftml liotnn and opnrin'iM roMult«. A Hfdiool toachnr Ironi iho orMintry during iho ('hriHtinan li(didayH wa^i oonvnrt( thai al'tor hn ^oi homo ho ^athornd ihn hoyn to^othor and had a prayor nin(!ting. Hnvoral havo Hiiic.o hoon hold, all of whirh havo hoon m'*^al\y hloHMod, ( )n Monday la«t a lady oanio to tho wonion'n i»rayorrnn(>tiii^ and wan oonvorto*!, Hho naid that the ovoning boforo Imr hiptband hud attondod tho niootin;{ in the Dopot and givnn Iuh h(!art to Ohriit, Tho convorMion wan brought about in thJH niunnor : Tho two had (wigagod in a ([uarrol, during whioli thoir littlo girl, unobnorvod by thoni, on tho pondi knolt aront«i. Tho ipiurrol couHod, and that nig)»t tho futhor wont to tho mooting at tho dopot, and thoro wfw convorUid. Ho retumod home and not up tho family ultar. Tho roHult woh that the wife and mothor tho n(!xt day attondcHl tho mooting and wa8 also convorted. The family are now rojoicing in the Saviour. Mr. John Wannamaker, who has bo efhciently presided over tho young men's meotings, made a very encouraging re- I 4 w •m^ ■«'* 422 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. port of the work that has been done and is being done for the conversion of souls to Christ. He said that it was difficult for him to know just where to commence, and what to say in the limited time afforded him to speak. The churches in which the meetings have been held have been crowded, and very many interesting incidents have taken place. On Sunday night, in Rev. Dr. McCook's church, between four hundred and five hundred young men on their knees consecrated them- selves afresh to the Master's work, and nearly all of those young men were converted during the past eight weeks. He had never witnessed such meetings, and on earth he never expected to be closer to God than he has been while in attendance upon them. Every night men have stood up and given their hparts to Christ, and are now laboring hard for the conversion of all out of the fold. A recent convert who once had been a Chrif. tian, but who had fallen through the power of strong drink^ related his experience. He hacl lost two fortunes, and all his friends had left him, but through the efforts of Mr. Moody he had been again brought into the fold. Mr. Wannamaker said he did not know how he could get into words the report he desired to make of the young men's meeting. He wished he could put it in like the beggar who came to the door and said : " Please ma'am, give me a drink of water ; I am so hungry, I don't know where to sleep to- night." It has been high tide all the week at these meetings, and they have been crowded as they have never been before. He never expected on earth to get as near heaven as he had been when at some of these meetings, when in some portions of the house young men were finding the Saviour, others weeping over their sins, others singing joyous songs : and such was the spirit of the hour that, for the time at least, we were all Methodists. It was impossible to enter into details, and, indeed, he would rather not mention names or special cases 1 THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 423 except to say that among those who are coming to take their places on the Lord's side, it seemed to him that we have the promise of many Moodys and Sankeys, of grand men to stand in the front and preach for the Lord Jesus Christ. In all our city the shining host of heaven last night did not look down upon a more beautiful scene than when between four and live hundred young men in Dr. McCook'a church vam upon their knees consecrating themselves afresh to the service of the Lord. These men, so far as he had observed, were new recruits in the ranks of the Master's army. The most beautiful thing about it was that they came from all classes of society. Some of the first men in Philadelphia are nobly confessing Christ, and are ready to work for him. He believed the time was coming again when, like Joseph, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel, the young men are to bo noble witnesses for Christ. May God speed the day when every young man in this city shall feel that it is the greatei^t privilege and highest honor to be on the side of Christ and working for him. At the final monster farewell services the Depot was filled with upwards of 1 2,000 persons. The doors were closed, and within twenty minutes from this time there were over 7,000 more around the several entrances striving in vain to gain ad- mittance. At the close of this meeting thret thousand persons went into the inquiry room. A gentleman, whose son had found rest in a Saviour's love through the instrumentality of their meetings now closing, sent to Mr. Moody a diamond ring, which had been so long worn that it seemed a part of himself, as a thank-offering to the Lord for this great bless- ing, with instructions to dispose of it as the Holy Spirit should direct. This ring was afterward sold for $1,000, and the money given to the Y.M.C.A. Over $100,000 were raised at the collection. 424 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. Mr, Moody concluded the services by thanking the minis- ters of Philadelphia for thoir support and sympathy, and asked their prayers as he went to Kew York. He then prayed most fervently for all the young converts, that they may be kept true to the faith. After singing " Blest be the tie that binds," the happy throng dispersed, and the glorious record of the Evangelists in Philadelphia was closed. CHAPTER XV. i THEIR WORK IN NEW YORK, AND SELECT SERMONS BY MR. MOODY. ESSR3. MOODY & SANKEY, and their Christian helpers, after a short respite from the tremendous labors necessary to the successful conduct of their work, attacked sin and un- ' belief in its stronghold in the metropolis of the western world. The long awaited campaign was commenced on Monday night, Feb. 7th, at the Hippodrome, and continued ^ ^S for sixty-four days. Into the Hippodrome gathered day by day the largest audiences ever collected in New York. Lawyers, bankers, merchants, some of whom scarcely ever enter a church, were just as much a part |of the congregation as the lowly. All classes and condi- tions of men have been i-epresented at these meetiugs. Such an anxious seeking for the truth has never been witnessed, and it is a question whether the same amount of good has been accdu^pjlshed any- where in so short a time. All classes have been benefitajTby these special religious services — ministers, Christian workers, and sinners. All who attended the meetings have reason to look back upon the period with great pleasure, for they have witnessed wonderful manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and the blessings of the labors of the good and faithful ambassadors of Christ. Mr. Moody's first discourse at the Hippodrome was upon human weak- nest and almighty power. Loiig before the hour advertised immense crowds had gathered on Madi- •on Avenue, and when at last tlie large doors at the entrance on that side of the building were thrown open, the crash became considerable. Men and women appeared to forget every other consideration in the all-f,V sorbing effort to get in early in order to obtain advantageous seats. Some were a ^ood denl er'?shed in this endeavor, but uo one ^as much injured. The M 426 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. policemen around the building, only fifty in number, had no difSeulty in keeping order. When once the imtnen^e throng began to surge in, it took a f ery short time to fill the large hall to its utmost capacity, the body, gal- leries, and every available seat in the building being brought into requisi- tion. The smaller hall was then thrown open, it being found that there were still large numbers waiting for admission. Too much cannot be said in comm endation of the arrangements inside the building. Notwithstanding the rush of such a number of people into the hall, there was not the slight- est confusion. The ushers were here, there, and everywhere, and performed their duties most efficiently; so much so that the immense crowd was seated in a very few minutes, and in as quiet and orderly a manner as an ordinary church congregation would be. For some time before the entrance for the general public had been thrown open, the platform had been gradually fill- ing up from the Twenty-seventh Street entrance, which had been reserved for ministers, reporters, and the holders of compliment.ary tickets. Among those on the platfcrsu were Rev. Drs, Ludlow, Adams, Hast Ings, Tucker, S. H. Tyng, ' . T . Marling, Newell, Hall, ex-Gov. Mor gan. Rev. Dr. H. B. Chapiu, Hon. William E. Dodge, Rev. Dr. R. D. Hitch cock, J. B, Cornell, Mr. Kniph Wells, Ravs. W. McAlister, H. Moore, Rev Drs. A. M. Clapp, G, H. ilep-y >i, T ; . , 'ien. C. B. Fisk, Bishop Janes The platform to the left of the speakers was set apart for the choir, the men of which had also assembled and taken their seats before the entrance on Madison Avenue had been thrown open. The first meeting of the great revival in New York, was a decided success. Tlie audience was very quiet. It was only when Mr. Sankey led the choir in some of his well-known hymns that they showed their enthusiasm by the way in which they joined in the chorus. Mr. Moody's address appeared to deeply interest the assem- blage. As usual with him, it was simple, but he showed his deep earnest- ness throughout the whole of it, and these are th« qualites that make his sermons so effective. \:"'^' ner. HUMAN WEAKNESS AND ALMIQUTY POWER. Mr. Moody took for his text " Biit Ood hath chosen the foolish things of tiie world to confound the wise, and Ood hath chosen the \oeak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty." " That no flesh shiked them to pray for him, and right there at that meeting the work broke out. There have been about fifty brought back who had wan- dered from Christ. About fifty have been converted, and it looks now as though all Princeton would be brought into the fold. Oh, that it may commence here and quicken us, and then the Lord will use us. If you want to introduce two men to each other, you want to be near them. If you want to introduce sinners to God, you must be near to God as well as near to the sinner. If a man is near God he will have a love for the sin- ner, and his heart will be near him. Until we are near to God ourselves we cannot introduce men to God. Some one has said God always uses the vessels nearest at hand, and if we are near to God He will use us, and If we are not God cannot use us. Now we want to be in a position to give God all the glory. There are some things that make me tremhle for fear our work will come to nought. There is so much man-worship. We must sink ourselves. We must get " I " down in the dust. We must lay aside our dignity and say : " Here am I, use me." I must decrease, but He must increase. I want to urge you Christian people of New York, not to buy anything on the streets. I am told that sixty-five men have come over from Phila- delphia to sell photographs and medals, and they are hawking them on the streets. It is a wonder people come to the meeting, they are so beset with people having these* photographs to sell. People who patronize these men are doing the work a great injury. I would like to urge the people not to buy even the hymn-books on the street. Go into the book-stores and buy them. Those photographs are no more photographs of us than they are of you. I have not had a photograph taken these eight years. Many men will not come into the meeting, because they say, "these men are specu- lating." That impression has got abroad on account of these men on the strc^tF. Let me urge and beg you to do anything to keep down this man- worship. Let us get behind the cross, and let Christ be fiill in view, and then we will have men come into the kingdom of God, Let us go back to the text. It is the weak things that God wants to use. The world does not want the foolish things ; it wants the mighty. But God takes the fool- ish things of the world to confound the wise. Next, God takes the wea^ things to gonfound the things which are migL.y. Then He takes the ba^ I'Mi 428 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. things, and the despised things, and the things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are, that no Hesh may glory in His sight. That was written that we may learn the lesson that God must have all tlie glory, that we must not take any glory to ourselves, that no Hesh may glory in His sight. Just the moment we are ready to take our places in the dust and let God have His glory, then the work will he begun. If we get lifted up and say, "That is a great meeting," and get our minds off from God and are not in communion with Him, this work will be a stupendous failure. >iow you will find in all ages that God has l)een trying to teach His children this lesson — that He works with the weak things of the world. When He wanted an ark built He called one man to build it, and the world looked upon it with contempt. God's ways are not our ways, anti God's thoughts are not our thoughts. God called one man to build the ark, and though it was thought by the world to be contemptible, yet when thedelugu came it was worth more than all the world. When God wanted to deliver Israel out of the hand of the King of Egypt, He did not send an army. If we had that work to do, we would have sent an army ; or if we were going to send a man, we would have sent an orator, and laid the matter out Before the king in grand style. The Lord called this man Moses, that had been in the desert forty j'ears, that had an impediment in his speech. Down goes Moses to the King of Egypt, who looks upon him with scorn and con- tempt, and says, "Who is God, that I should obey Him ? " He finds out who He is. Look and see how God works with that king. He uses the little frog. Pharaoh looks upon thd frogs with scorn and contempt. Moses said that there were many of them, that their God was a mighty God, who delighted to take the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. We are not weak enough. It is weakness God wants. If we lay our weakness upon the altar God will take that and use it. One depending upon God's strength is worth all the strength of the world. He has power and He wants us to learn the lesson that power comes from Him. Look at that giant coming out to defy Israel. Down in the valley came the giant of Gatli every morning, and the whole army was afraid to nieet that giant. When' Israel was trusting in (iod whole armies came against them and they were not afraid, but now they have their eyes upon that giant and are afraid. When we get our eyes away from God how easily we are made afraid. At last a stripling came up, and when this uncircumcised Philistine came out the young boy in- ? aires, " Who is this man that defies the army of God ? " They tell him. Te wants to go right out at once and meet him. He was the very last per- son we would have chosen. We would want to have some other giant to meet the giant of Gath. God will have the glory. That is the point. If some great giant had slain the giant of Gath the people would have given him all the glory. God takes that youth from the country, and he goes out not with Saul's armor. He has no armor of Saul upon him. l-Te takes a few smooth stones out of the brook, and with his sling goes forth to meet the giant. He says : " You have your spear, but I come in the name of my God." He leaned upon the strength of his God. And now look at him as he puts that little stone in his sling. He takes one aim, God directs it, and the giant of Gath falls. That boy was the very last man we would have chosen, but he was chosen of God. God takes the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. We want to learn the lesson that we are weak. We do not want our own strength. God called Sampson, and with thci jawbone of an ass he slew a thousand men. Look at Jonathan and his armor-bearer. God can save by few as well as by many. It is not by might or power, but by the Spirit of God, If we will learn that lesson to-night we THE WORK IN NEW YORK. 429 nan be of use at once ; we can be used as chosen vessels to carry the Gospel to others. Then the work can coinnience in New York at once. Let me im- press this upon you, that it is weakness tliat God wants. There was weej- tng once in heaven. John wept when he got there, and some one handed hira a book, and it was sealed, and there was no one there that could open the book. Abel was not worthy. Uc might have looked upon Enoch ; he was not worthy. He might have looked upon Al)raham, the man who had such mighty faith in Cod ; yet the fatlier ot the faitliful was not worthy to npen the book. He might have looked \\\wn Elijah or upon Daniel, hut they were fiot worthy. He might have looked upon the New Testament saints, but tliey were not worthy. Stephen was not worthy. John began to cry as he looked into heaven and down upon earth, an iiud struck Him on the face. Oh ! my friends, let us make this scene real to-day ! He was bruised for our transgressions. He is your substitute and mediator. After tlicy had mocked Him they dressed Him up in His own garments and brought Him before Pilate. You can see the crowd around the judg- ment hall. They are ready to put Him to death. Pilate wanted to chastise Christ and release Him, and then deliver a prisoner to them. And they cried, "Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas." They opened the prison door and let the prisoner out. Then Pilate thought of a way to save Him. He remembered that it was a custom among the Jews that on a certain day ojie prisoner was to be released to them, and go unpunished. So he said to the Jew.s, "Which of these two prisoners shall I release, Jesus or Barabbas ?" And when the Chief Priest found out v,hat was going on he went through the crowtl and asked that Barabbas might be released. Tlie Governor was disap^iointed, and when he put the flu«stiou to the crowd, " Wliich shall I release unto you, Jesus or Barab- bas ?" Je' • who raised the dead, or Barabbas who took the lives of men, whose Y were dripping with the blood of his fellow-men ? No sooner was it p he crowd than they lifted up their voices, shouting, "Barabbas, Barabbas . Then he said, " What shall I do with Jesus !" And the cry rang through the streets, "Let Hira be crucified." But a few days before the crowd were crying, " Hosanna to the Sou of David !" Then wheu the Governor heard it he turned and wrung his hands, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just man." Oh, until I came to read all about what Christ suffered, I never before realized what He had done for us. I never knew until I came to read all about the Roman custom of scourging what it meant by Christ being scourged for me. When 1 first read about that>e great hall of the old circus building where it was held, and eaw men tal" ing to other men here aud there. I said to the Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association who got up the meeting, "Who are these men ? " He said, "They are a band of workers." They were all scattered through the hall, and preaching and watching for souls. Out of the titty of them, forty-one of their number had got a soul each and were talking and preaching with them. We have been asleep long enough. When the laity wake up and try and help the minister the minister will preach better. If the minister finds he has not beeu drawing the net right, THE WORK IN NEW YORK. 447 ! doea uiry and ced, lere I and ry of are all it of were ugh. wiU gbt, If a good many in his church fto to work and help him he will do better ; he wUl prepare the Hermouo with that one thing in view. Will this draw men to Christ ? I do not see how men can preach without inquiry meetings. I like to see the converts. One minister in Scotland saiil he dil not believe in dis- turbing the impression. If he hftd made an impression he did not want any one to say anything. He said, "After you sow the seed you don't want to go and dig it up to see whether it has sprouted." But I told him, " The farmers all harrow it in after it is sowed." [Applause.] Addrkss to CHRisirANS.— One thing liaa been laid upon my mind in the last hour, and that is, that we should pray to God to fill us with the Spirit. We have had a good many questions asked us by the young con- verts about how they should go to work. There is a great deal of work done by people who have not the power of the Spirit ; and to work without the power is like beating ag.iinst the air. I would call your attention to one thought : the gift of the Spirit for service. We may be sons anrl daughters of God ; but we may be sons and daughters without power. God has a great many chiblren tliat have not got any power. Their words ore idle words ; they might just as well speak in an unlcnown tongue ; their speech is "as sounding brass and a tinkling cvmbal." 1 suppose many of us have felt what it is to be preaching as though we were preaching to the air, our own hearts not moved, n»r any one else's. When you go home, take your Bible an hour or two, studying up this one subject, the gift of the Holy Ghost for service. In the 4th chapter of Luke, the 18th verse, we read : "The Spirit of the niK)n me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel." after the Spirit came upon Him that He commenced His ministry. He went back to Nazareth, and His work was blessed. We find in the 20th chapter of John, tliese words : "And when He had said this He breathed on them and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost." Of course His disciples had been converted before tiiis. BacK in the 7th chapter of John we find him saying on that great day of the feast, " If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath sail,— out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (Greater works than I have done you sLall do, because I come of the Father, and the Holy Ghost shall be upon you which also comes of Him." If we are only imbue(k«ith power from on High, it will then be ours to work for God. You caimot get water out of a dry well. You may pump and pump and pump, and the old machine will squeak, but there won t any water come. Sometimes pumps are dry and you can't make any water come until you pour in a little at the top. So we have got to have water poured on us, or we cannot get any more power than a drj* pump. What we want is this water of the Spirit poured upon ourselves. Oh, may He pour it upon us this afternoon. In the •20th chapter of Luke and the 22d verse, it says had said Miu He breathed on them and saith unto them receive, H y Gh Of course the disciples received the Spirit there. Some people think because they have had the Holy Ghost resting upon .»eni at one t Tie in power, it is going to remain. But I tell you many a man that g< onverted and received the Holy Ghost, and was used ten J ears ago loi ihe service of the Lord, has not got the power that he once ad He may be a good Christian, but he has lost the power. The people In s church know it. They say to each other, "What has come over our Lord is It was Then " When He ye the '-0-' m 448 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. pastor ? " He has not got the unction, he has not got the Holy Ohost. Oh, shall we not seek and pray for it 1: it", to-day ? May the God of heaven breathe upon us one breath from the upper world before we go hence ! To see that we are not to be satisfied with being filled once, turn over into the 2nd chapter of Acts. He told His disciples to go back to Jerusalem and tarry there until they were imbued from on High. Those men had already been converted before. My friends, I think we do not tarry at Jerusalem until we get the power. We forget about the Holy Ghost, and about the necessity of our being anointed for service. These very men that He breathed upon then were afterwards filled with the Holy Ghost, as we read in the 4th chapter of Acts. Peter and James and John had not remained full. We are greatly mistaken in thinking that we may remain satisfied with past mercies of grace tliat God gave us away back these ten years ago. We do not love the frei.h manna. In the 3rd chapter of John comes Nicodemr". In the 4th chapter of John He holds out the cup of salvation, and it . ecoines a well of water. The water always runs to one level as it comes down. The 4th cliapter of John is a better Christian than the 3rd chapter. The best glories of a Christian are mentioned in the 7th chapter, where it says : "Out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water." In Luke we find it mentioned as a well, in John, a river. You know there are two ways of digging wells now. In one process, they do not stop as scon as they have come to water; but they dig on down carefully through the rock and sand, until they come to a lower strata, and a stream of the clearest crystal water starts and gushes to the top, like a fountain. You do not have to pump the water up from such a well. It comes of itself. While I was in England I mat a minister whose health had become so poor that he had to get an assistant to help him preach. He could only preach once a week, and not always that. One day, in meeting, the Spirit of God came upon him anew, and he got freshly anointed. He came down to London a year afterwards and told me that during the past year he had preached eight sermons a week. He said he had never been so well in all his life. I believe it is not work that breaks down our health ; it is pump- ing without the water ! What we want to do is just to wait on God until He gives it to us. I know a minister who toM me he felt that he was preach- ing without this anointing, and he felt that his sermons had not been blessed for a long, long time. I know it was my own experience. I never like to talk about myself ; it always makes me feel like a fool, but this may do some of you some good. About four years ago I got into a co^d state. It did not aeem as if there was any unction resting upon my linistry. For four long months God seemed to be just showing me mys iJ". I found I was ambitious ; I was not p/eaching lor Christ ; I was preaching for ambition. 1 found every- thing in my heart that ought not to be there. For four months a wrestling went on within me, and I was a miserable man. But after four months the anointing came. It canm upon aie as I was talking in the streets of New York. Many a time I have thought of it since I have been hore. At last I had returned to God again, and I was wretched no longer. I almost prayed, in my joy, "0, stay Thy hand !" I tliought this earthen vessel would break, He filled me so full of the Spirit. If I hava not been a different man uince, T do not know myself. I think 1 have accom- {)li8hed more in the kit four years than in all the rest of my life. But oh, t was preceded by a wrestling and a hard struggle I I think I have never got out of this miserable selfishness. There was a time when I wanted THE WORK IN NEW YORK. 449 ), like well. as if onths ;i ivery- stling IS the New laot most essel 3en a com- t oh, ever mted to see my littUi viuej'ard hlessetl, ami I couMnot get out of it ; but I could work for the whole world now. I would like to go round the world and tell the perishing millions of a Saviour's love. If in these clo.'ing months here we couhl get baptized by the Holy lihost, would it not be blessed ? Is there not a hungering and a thirsting to be filled to-day ? " Blessed are they that hunger ami thirst after righteous- ness, for they sliall be fdled." There is the word of the Lord Jesus. Is He not here to day ? Is not He able to lill ns ' If He would iml ue us all, ami expel all jealousy and sectarianism, would it not be blessed ? lie can contjuer this earthly will and till us with the Holy Ghost as were the early Cliristians. Your (congregations will find your new anointing out, if you take tilt; grace and the anointing away with you. Thay will say to each otlier directly, " What does it mean ? What has come over our minister ? " O, (xod grant that self may lose its interest for us to-day, and that Jesus may burst upon us v, ith a new view ; that we may behold Him to-day as we never yet behc'i tlim ; and may He give us fre.sh anointing ! Christ thk (loou Hamakitan.— Luke x. 25.--In this picture we get the whole Gosjiel. Jerusalem was the city of i>eace. Jericho was a city le young man told his tale, and came to know his Saviour. Now we come to-day to call upon the Lord for a great blessing to rest upon this mighty city. A Kainy Day Phaykh-mkkting.— Ps. ciii. — There are four precio\ s clauses in this Psalm, viz. : " He forgiveth all thine iniquities ;" "He heal- eth all thy diseases ;" " He rerleemcth thy life from destruction," and "He crowneth thee with loving kindness." Christianity is better than anything that the world can give. It satisfies us. This is what wealth cannot do. The crowns of Europe cannot give the peace and contentment that come from the Crown of Life, i like these rainy day pnaycr-meetings. It cosfcj us something to get here. ADDRESS TO YOUNG CONVERTS. Farewell Services at the Neto York Hippodrome^ held Wednesday Evening, April 19, 1874- In the fourteenth chapter of Koraana, and fourth verse, yon will find these words : " God ii able to vuike him stand." I have no doubt that there are many sceptics, and even hikewarm Christians, that are saying in their hearts that these young converts will not stand long. They say, "Wait three months, or at the most six months, and see where all the con- Terts are at the end of that time." " They won't stand ; they won't stand" — I have heard that said all my life. Our fathers and our forefathers heard it. " Ah," they say, "they won't liold out," but look at the thousands and thousands of Christians that have held out notwithstanding all these pro- phecies. If you young converts, now in the morning of your Christian ex- perience, will leani the lesson of this one word " able," it may save you many a painful experience. You cannot stand of yourselves, but it is God that is going to make you stand. He was able to make Josepli stand down there in Egypt, and to maki Elijah stand before Ahab, and to make Daniel stand in Babylon, and John Bun van to stand in Bedford. ProbaV)ly he had as mean a nature as any one, and yet God was al)le to make him stand and to enalde him to •overcome that mean nature. The moment we lean on an arm of flesh, that moment wo fall ; then we are on dangerous ground ; wo v,-alk on the eusiiiess at a store where several others had failed. He had not much cai>ital, not as much as some other men who preceded him, and every one expected that he would very soon fail. But he did not, and i)eoi>le couhln't understand the reason, until one day it was discovered tliat he had a rich brother down East who kept furnishing lum with money. We have a rich brother in heaven, and He is able to keep 4 THE WORK IN NEW YORK. 455 that which we have coTriniitted to Him, .iml to ,sup]>ly all our neeil. Let the young converts boar in inimi that Christ is thoir keepi-r, ;in your part and God will do His. Take God at His word, and when He tells you to, jump. I think the sweetest text in the whole Bible is that verse ni .lude : "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and t) present you faultless l)efore the presence of His glory with exceedin;r Joy." How precious, how sweet those words, " Gnto Him who is aiile." Some jKOple have an idea that every one must of necessity wander otl" into thti world. Dr. Bonar, speaking at a meeting of young converts in Glasgow, said : " I am an old man now, Init I have never lost sighf of f^Jhrist since the ilay I first saw Him." You have not got to fall; don't believe such a thing for a minute, for " He is able to keep you and to present you faultless." What a beautiful thought for every one in this assembly, that we arc to be pre- 454 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. . Rented hy the Son of Christ pure and spotless, for the Bible says we shall bo " without spot or wrinkle, and clothed with the garments of salvation." " The blood of Jesus Christ deanseth from all sin." But don't forget where (rod found yon. There is an institution in London wliich receives poor little vagabond hoys from the streets and pives them a home and edu- cation and teaches them a trade. Wlien they enter, a photograph is taken of each boy, just in his rags and tilth as he was picked from the street ; and then in aft,t;r years, when tho lad is leaving to till a situation, another photo- graph i«i taken, and the two pictures are given him — the first to rcnind him of what he was when found by the institution. Let us uol. forget where it was that the Lord Jesus Christ found us. In Deuteronomy xxxii. and 10th verse, we read : " He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, howl- ing wilderness ; He led him about ; He instructed him ; He kept hira as the apple of His eye." True things are here taught. He found him ; He kept him ; He led him about ; and He kept him as the apple of his eye. Uememijcr that it was Christ first found you. He sought you before you sought Him ; but it does not take long for an anxious soul and a seeking Saviour to meet. I fancy some one here is saying, " 1 wish Mr. Moody would give us something practical." And you are asking, " Is it ri'^ht to go to the theatre ? Is it right to drink moderately ? Is it right lo read novels ? " Well, I can't carry your conscience. Christ does not lay down rules for our lives ; he lays down jirinciples ; and wherever there seems a room for any doubt as to whicli is right, I give Christ the benefit of it rather than seek to live up to the very outside limit. I could not go to the theatre myself because I would not like my cliildren to go. I could not smoke be- ^•ause I do not want my boy tosmoke. I do not read those miserable flashy novels because 1 have no desire to do so ; but then 1 can't carry your con- science. Just be men of the Bible and live near to God, and these things will regulate themselves. Then if you have any doubt, ask for direction. *' If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of (ioil." Carry the whole matter to God ; i»ray over it, and don't do anything about which you cannot ask God's blessing. I remember cnce being asked to attend the opening of a, billiai'd hall. The i.iviiation was sent to me, and I went to the proprietor und asked hirn if he really wanted mo to come. He said he did, and I promised to come. 1 asked him if he would have any objection to my bringing a friend along with me. He said I could do so if I would promise nothing should be said about religion. 1 said, " I never go anywhere that I can't pray, and 1 mean to read a ])assage of scripture and ofi'er prayer at your billiard hall." "Then," said he, "you shan't come." "But," I replied, " you invited me, and I am coming. But look here, my friend ; we will compromise this matter. 1 will let you ofT on one condition, that you allow mo to pray with you now." And tliere and then we went on our knees, and I prayed God to save his soul but curse his business. The billiard hall was opened, but in two months the l)usiness failed and the place was shut up again. Don't go where you cannot take God with you. At a place in Europe some one got up in one of the meetings, and asked if I didn't think it was possible for a man to be a Cliristian an(l an honest distiller. 1 said, " My rule is, do everything for the glory of God ; and if, v/heu you go into the distillery to-morrow, you can ask the blessing of God upon every <;ask of liquor, then you can carry on your business and be a Christian ; but if you can't, then you are not living to the glory of God. My counsel in this matter is : be out and out on the Lord's side, and the Lord will help und deliver you. Never touch strong drink as long as you live. Nearly all the young convertg who have fallen bock in Europe have fallen through THE WORK IN NEW YORK. 455 stron? drink. Even thongh certain classes of people may drink it modcratehv don't you touch it. There are .some people of strong will that drink and do not suffer thereby ; but niuety-uiue out of every hundred men have not this strength, and they need the strength of your examjde. Give it up for Christ's sake ; give it up for tlie sake of those who have become the slaveii of drink, but who now would rather lose their right hand than touch a droj) of liquor. One word more to the young converts : Be sure that you don't disgrace "the old family nauie," as T)r. Bouar puts it. Some of the people of New York are very proud of their old family name ; and let us remember tliat the family to'wliich you now belong has a history reaciiiug back eighteen hundred years. You are culled the sons and daughters of God ; a high calling— a wonderful calling. Walk circumspectly; walk as daughters of b*aven, as the sons of a king. Walk so that the world may take knowledge of you, by your walk and conversation, that you have l>een with Christ. And mw, brethren, I would, in the farewell words of Panl to the Ephesian.>-, commend you to God and to the Word of 'lis grace, whitih is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. He is able to build you up, and to make you builders in Christ's kingdom, if you know your Bibles well. The Word is the .sword of the Spirit, and until the Word is hid in our hearts we can be of little service. There are two dangers ahead. The moment a young convert l>ecomcs an active worker there is danger of spiritual pride. Satan^comes and tells him what a great work he is doing, or some foolish man or woman in the church pats him on the back. The other danger is tliu'. young converts should get discouraged and not work a,t all, because some think ail they do is not judicious and proper. In regard to what has been accoiiipli.slied during the last few weeks we have no chance to boast. Instead of a few thousand being con- verted there might have been tenfold as many had we done our duty. Lft us be ashanjed of ourselves, but not ashametl of Christ. Bear in mind that we are only channels ; the work is (Mirist's, anil all the glory shall be His. In conclusion Mr. Moody said: And now, dear friends, I must say good-by ; but I do not like tlie word— rather let it be good-night ; for the night will be but sliort, and the morning will soon come when we shall meet the other side of the river, where there is no parting. We have received nothing but kindness since we came hei'e, and the Lord has abundantly blessed our work. May God bless all the policemen, and the reporters, and the choir, and the ushers, and all who have aided the Lord's cause, since we came here ten weeks ago. God bless all the ministers who have worked so nobly with us for Christ, and may the good work go ou when we are far from heie. Mr. Moody then prayed long and fervently, and a.*ked that the Holy Ghost might abound with all present. He wound uj) by again calling down a blessing on all concerned in the work, and wa.s greatly affected at the rlose. Mr. Sankey sang a farewell hymn to the air of " H»me, sweet home," and the .services tiiushed with the singing of "Praise God from whom all blessings How," and the benediction, pronounced by the llev. .1. Cotton Smith, D.l). Messrs. Moody and Sankey at once left the platform and retired to the private rooms, but it was a considerable time before the va.st congregation had dispensed, many lingering to give tlie parting hand-shake to those with whom, in various relations, they had been associated during the past two or throe weeks. It i^ estimated that o,C>00 new converts were preaent the remainder uf i;;vii_„a!i-«.J iii*m 456 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. the audience being comiwsed of Christian workers, clergymen, and the choir. The words of the farewell hymn sung by Mr. Sankey are as follows ; " Farewell, faithful friends ; we nmst now bid adieu To those joysi and those pleasures we tasted with you. We labored together, united in heart. But now we must close and soon we nmst part. ' Our labors are over and we must be gone, We leave you not friendless to struggle alone. Be watchful and prayerful, and Jesus will stay — Cling close to the Saviour, let Him lead the way. farewell, dear young converts, we leave you likewise : And hope we shall meet you with Christ in the skies. Oh ! who will turn back, and the Saviour deny, Like Judas the traitor, deny him and die ? Farewel.', trembling sinner, sad timfi now with you : Our hearts sink within us to bid you adi-u. One step back or forward may settle your doom — 'Mid the glories of heaven or eternity's gloom. Farewell, every hearer, we now turn away : No more may we meet, 'till the great judgment day. Though absent in body, we'll be with you in prayer, And we'll meet you in heaven — there's no parting there. Home, home, sweet, sweet home. Prepare us, dear Saviour, for yonder blest home." Wf Printcd by Bkix & Co., 13 Adelaidm St. East, Toronto. and the follows :