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 WONDERFUL CAREER 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY, 
 
 IN GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA. 
 
 EMBRACING, ALSO, MR. MOODY'S SERMONS, AS PREACHED IN THIS 
 COUNTRY AND ABROAD, MR. SANKEY'S SONGS, AND EVERY- 
 THING OF INTEREST CONNECTED WITH THE WORK. 
 
 K^ 
 
 By Rev. K. ^. c GOODSPEED, D.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF U THE LIFE OF JESUS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE," ETC., ETC. EDITOR OF " COBBIN' 
 COMMENTARY." 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH 
 
 STEEL PLATE PORTRAIT OF Mr. MOODY, 
 
 AND 
 
 TWELVE OTHER ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS. 
 
 S.l/7.9. '" 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HENRY S. GOODSPEED & COMPANY, 
 
 14 BARCLAY STREET. 
 

 COP-VRIGHT, 1876, 
 
 Edgar J. Goodspeed. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES make men, and men shape circum- 
 stances. There is a reciprocal influence between the 
 times and the leaders. In the course of events certain con- 
 ditions arise, of which persons take advantage to make them- 
 selves useful and famous. There was a " fulness of the time " 
 when Jesus Christ made His advent upon earth. The world 
 
 was ripe for it. 
 
 " No war nor battle's sound 
 Was heard the world around." 
 
 In the Lord's kingdom law prevails, and men know how to labor 
 effectively ; but -there are also set times to favor Zion, critical 
 epochs, a combination of occurrences which the right men see 
 and' take advantage of, always under the guidance of Divine 
 Providence and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and thus 
 bring to pass notable results which fill the world with wonder, 
 and extend the Redeemer's sway over human hearts. In the 
 case of Mr. Moody there existed an opportunity in the new city 
 of Chicago, and among the neglected foreigners and abandoned 
 classes, where he began his mission enterprise ; a necessity for 
 such service as he was able to render and procure. He saw and 
 seized the opportunity, and achieved a magnificent triumph, and 
 a preparation for higher and wider fields. Thus God emphasizes 
 again the importance of doing well the duty that lies next to 
 one's hand, if a call is expected to loftier heights and more 
 conspicuous victories. 
 
 When the Y. M. Christian Association's position began to be 
 assured, and Moody linked his fortunes with it, and used all his 
 energies in its promotion, there was in the churches and society 
 a yearning after some common ground of action — some oppor- 
 tunity to express the feeling of essential brotherhood that was 
 growing. The iron was hot, and the valiant young enthusiast 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 smote it with telling effect, and welded the hearts of thousands 
 into an effective instrument for the Lord's work. 
 
 Again, when he and his singing co-laborer went abroad, there 
 was a lack of such music as Mr. Sankey furnished. The people 
 were eager for the rich and soul-subduing melodies which he 
 poured out upon them in floods. His soul inundated his words 
 with pathos and fire, and these elements reached a multitude 
 who were weary of the stupid, drawling hymns and tunes so 
 common before the evangelists appeared on British soil. The 
 formal style of preaching, and the neglect of the masses, made 
 a sort of readiness for the zealous, business-like, soul-stirring, 
 direct, and simple gospeling which has rolled a wave of salvation 
 over England, Ireland, and Scotland. Even the educated shared 
 in the gracious movement equally with the common masses. 
 
 In our own land, the brethren found a depressed state of feel- 
 ing, the result of commercial disaster and universal "hard times," 
 together with a want of provision for the non-church-going multi- 
 tude. They at once met with enthusiastic greetings, and felt 
 themselves to be supplying a lack of that which is ever most 
 vital to man as related to God and eternity. Accordingly, they 
 have carried along a series of meetings more vast and effective 
 than any ever before held in this country. They have apparently 
 created little prejudice, have won the good wishes of all classes, 
 and knit the sects into closer unity as brethren. The interest 
 has increased the longer they have tarried in a town, and we 
 may reasonably hope that still greater blessings are in store for 
 our people through their gospel-preaching and singing. 
 
 We cannot but record with gratitude and surprise the amazing 
 unanimity of the secular press in favoring and promoting their 
 evangelical labors. It is a good omen for our country when these 
 organs publish such full and able reports of these monster-meet- 
 ings, and spread broadcast the truths or germs of doctrine which 
 are proclaimed in sermon and song. These we gather, arrange, 
 and" condense, that what otherwise may be ephemeral shall 
 become the property of the people for use and reference, not 
 only to-day, but when the evangelists are looking upon the 
 unveiled glories of the Lord they love. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Introduction, 3 
 
 List of Illustrations, 7 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EARLY LIFE OF DWIGHT LYMAN MOODY. 
 
 CHAPTER. 
 
 I. Old Paths and New Converge, . . . .11 
 II. The Boy at Home, 13 
 
 III. Out in the World, 18 
 
 IV. Mission Work, 22 
 
 V. The Field Widens, 28 
 
 VI. Daily Bread, 31 
 
 VII. Personal Growth, - . .34 
 
 THE EARLY LIFE OF IRA DAVID SANKEY. 
 
 VIII. The Boy is Father to the Man, ... 45 
 
 IX. In Training for his Work, .... 49 
 
 X. Two are Better than One, .... 52 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Messrs. MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 XI. Beginning Abroad, 60 
 
 XII. The Word in Edinburgh, . . . .73 
 
 XIII. On to Glasgow, . 100 
 
 XIV. The Evangelists in Ireland, . . . .121 
 XV. The Glory of God in Dublin, . . . .132 
 
 XVI. The Harvest in England, 141 
 
 XVII. Times of Blessing in Sheffield, . . .153 
 
 XVIII. " The Toy Shop of the World " Welcomes them, 163 
 
 XIX. Liverpool's Month of Mercy, . . . .172 
 
 XX. Mighty London is Blessed, .... 182 
 
 XXI. Farewell in Liverpool, 214 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 THE EVANGELISTS IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 XXII. Moody and Sankey in Brooklyn, . . . 227 
 
 XXIII. The Work in Philadelphia, . . . .261 
 
 XXIV. The Princeton Revival, 407 
 
 XXV. The Word of Grace at the Hippodrome in 
 
 New York, 407 to6i 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Frontispiece. Steel Plate Portrait of Dwight L. 
 Moody , 
 
 The Moody Homestead at Northfield, Mass., . . 12 
 
 "The Tabernacle," Erected by Mr. Moody after the 
 
 Chicago Fire, 32 
 
 Portrait of Ira D. Sankey, 44 
 
 The Free Church Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, . . 72 
 
 The " Farewell" given the Evangelists at Glasgow, 120 
 
 Mr. Moody Preaching in the Haymarket Theatre, 
 
 London, 182 
 
 The People gathering at the Rink in Brooklyn, . 226 
 
 The Opening Services at the Brooklyn Rink, . . 240 
 
 Mr. Moody's First Sunday at the Depot Church, 
 
 Philadelphia, 260 
 
 Exterior view of the "Hippodrome," New York, from 
 
 Madison Avenue, 408 
 
 Mr. Moody Preaching to the People in the " Hip- 
 podrome,'' 456 
 
 Mr, Moody Laboring in the Inquiry-Room at the 
 
 "Hippodrome," 504 
 
PART I. 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY 
 
 HISTORY OF THEIR EARLY LIFE. 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE WONDERFUL CAREER 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY, 
 
 GREA T BRITAIN. 
 
Part III 
 
 A COMPLETE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CAREER AND WORK 
 
 OF 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY, 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
THE WONDERFUL CAREER 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA. 
 
 THE EAELY LIFE OF D. L. MOODY. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OLD PATHS AND NEW CONVERGE. 
 
 The Lord Jesus, when He sent out the seventy to propagate 
 the new faith, sent them two by two. There was in all His 
 actions a Divine wisdom : and so in this arrangement there was 
 some wise purpose which we do not now seek to fathom. We 
 read that Paul the Great Apostle to the Gentiles associated a 
 brother with him in his missionary journeys. At one time 
 Barnabas was his companion, at another Mark attended him. 
 We have no reason to believe that one cause for this lay in 
 Paul's lack of ability to sing, or in his associates' musical 
 talents. And yet we cannot be sure that some division of 
 service may not have been secured by this habit of going out in 
 pairs to evangelize. Doubtless there were some things which 
 one could do better than the other, and a twofold evangelism 
 was found advantageous. At all events, we find in our own 
 time and under our eyes a repetition of this primitive order 
 blessed with glorious success. 
 
 They heralded Paul and his attendant as they entered one of 
 the ancient cities, with the extravagant remark " these fellows 
 
12 MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 that have turned the world upside down have come hither 
 also." And subsequent events justified the alarm and excite- 
 ment caused by their coming. Two Americans, now famous the 
 world over as evangelists, have created a tremendous interest in 
 behalf of religion, and the promise of their continued power is 
 as fair as anything human can be. It is natural to ask who 
 these men are, and how they came into this mighty work. Is 
 their gift a genius, a rare marvellous talent, or are they common 
 men with no special endowments ? How then were they trained 
 and prepared for the exercise of such influence for good ? We 
 want to know somewhat of their early life, that we may learn 
 the secret of their power. Did they grow into their present 
 agency from humble beginnings, and by the use of common op- 
 portunities, or is there a miracle about their history and career? 
 What qualities have they in their constitution that have made 
 them capable of extraordinary achievements and what advan- 
 tages have they possessed superior to those of other men ? 
 From the facts that have crept out here and there from the 
 obscurity that envelopes their lives, we gather enough to show 
 us all we need to know for the answer of our inquiries and the 
 settlement of every problem presented by their wonderful 
 career of evangelism. 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 1 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BOY AT HOME. 
 
 Dwight Lyman Moody was bom in Northfield, Massachu- 
 setts, Feb. 5th, 1837. These rugged hills and plains have borne 
 many noble men and nourished in them a vigorous life, whose 
 forces have been given to the world in vast streams of useful- 
 ness. And this lad, born in a lowly spot, of humble parentage, 
 will rank as a harvester of souls, among the names that men 
 will not let die, and God will wreathe with everlasting honor. 
 It was apparently a misfortune that the father should die, and 
 leave the widow to struggle against poverty with her brood of 
 youngsters. But He who sitteth on the circle of the heavens 
 ordered a great blessing to spring out of apparent ruin. It was 
 needful for every member of the family to bear the yoke, and 
 to feel the necessity of personal self-denial and exertion. They 
 were living on a farm which was mortgaged, and had to toil for 
 bread in a land where nature yields scanty nourishment even 
 to hard workers. But on her rugged breast she nurtures 
 strength and self-reliance. The boy Dwight there learned how 
 to labor with his body, obtained physical vigor, and stored up 
 nervous energy, which have served him well in the gigantic 
 labors he has since performed, and is now cheerfully sustaining 
 in his evangelistic enterprises. 
 
 He was not deprived of opportunities for schooling, but his 
 intense activity of body led him to seek out-of-door employments 
 and sports rather than the privileges and pleasures of study in 
 the school-room. This was not an unmixed evil, because it 
 assured his corporal vigor which makes his present work possi- 
 ble. But it caused him bitter mortification and many poignant 
 regrets, when he came upon the stage of life, and discovered 
 his great deficiencies. These he has faithfully sought to remove 
 
14 MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 by constant reading, observation, and self-improvement There 
 is also an indirect advantage in this want of culture which is 
 not to be overlooked. Many an educated man is timid by 
 reason of his knowledge, while ignorance is bold. " They that 
 know nothing fear nothing." " Fools rush in where angels fear 
 to tread." A mistake in grammar or rhetoric, in chronology or 
 exegesis would crush a sensitive scholar ; while the ignorant 
 man may go on over a thousand of" the king's English " slain, 
 and be confident and unconscious, and hence strong and vic- 
 torious. Too much knowledge or education may be as fatal as 
 too little. Self-made men often owe their success to their igno- 
 rance, and reach their goal because they pay no attention to 
 the old beaten paths, but mark out a course for themselves 
 more direct and practical than that which others pursue because 
 it is respectable and ancient. To Mr. Moody blunders are 
 nothing, provided he gains the end of his ministry and wins 
 souls. Efficiency is the only thing he cares about. Let others 
 make fine finished sentences to tickle men's ears and satisfy the 
 learned, he hurls plain truths in strong simple forms at men to 
 hit them, casts his net to catch their souls, and stops not to 
 amuse them, but with tears seeks to save the lost. His want of 
 learning and culture has given him boldness and effectiveness, 
 while his strong sense and native refinement save him from vul- 
 garity or fatal mistakes. 
 
 It sometimes happens that rich men's sons are put at a dis- 
 advantage in the race of life by the clogs and fetters of riches. 
 They are too heavily weighted to run well. One of these young 
 men who feels this, wrote his mother earnestly as follows: 
 il How about those ' friends ' I spoke of? they probably think 
 themselves very kind but the ones you name are the very 
 ' friends ' who. would have seen me stagnate, or petrify, without 
 doing a thing to prevent it. I was A. B. there with a fortune 
 left me and therefore bound to go to the devil ; and if I had not 
 determined to go west instead they would only have sighed over 
 my sad fate and said, ' I told you so.' The most unfortunate 
 man in the world is one whom everybody considers 'provided 
 for.' A poor boy is encouraged, praised, helped. One who 
 
MOODYS EARLY LIFE. 15 
 
 has money or a prospect of any must shift for himself, and al- 
 though he needs assistance and encouragement as much as any- 
 one, although he is exposed to temptations which the poorer 
 fellow knows nothing about, although he is exposed above all to 
 the temptation of idleness, he has nothing but his own manliness 
 to pull him through. Lucky for him, if he has some manliness 
 left. But this is not a sermon, though I should like to preach 
 one from this text." 
 
 Such a sigh from the depths of a boy's heart is a revelation 
 of things unseen, which is full of instruction. It ought to stop 
 the growling and murmuring of those who are born in poverty 
 or amidst lowly conditions, and teach them that those whom 
 they envy are by no means as happy and fortunate in their own 
 eyes as they seem to be. The great principle of compensation 
 appears in all the relations and situations of human life, bal- 
 ancing circumstances that are not under our control and giving 
 us all equal chances in the conflict. 
 
 Now young Moody on the bleak hills of Northfield, in the 
 farm-house of a widowed mother, and destitute of learning, 
 seems not to have been, humanly speaking, well situated to 
 carve out a useful and wide-reaching destiny. But the very 
 meagreness of opportunities there, and the necessities of strug- 
 gle urged him out of the home-nest, and made him stretch his 
 wings for a higher flight. He has no reason to quarrel with the 
 ways of Providence. God was girding him when he knew it 
 not. An elder son left home, and was not heard of for. many 
 years. Perhaps this made the lad at home restless and un- 
 easy. 
 
 Did it not nourish the pathetic element, so strong in his na- 
 ture, to see his mother suffering under the double bereavement, 
 and mourning over her dead husband and her absent boy? 
 How tenderly he tells the sad story of his brother's de- 
 parture, long silence, and final return in manhood. He 
 stands at his mother's door unkno.wn, and is invited to come in 
 by her, while he says, " No, not till my mother forgives me." 
 When she hears these words, she melts and with tears and ca- 
 resses forgives and welcomes the prodigal. And thus, he tells 
 
1 6 Moody's early life. 
 
 the sinner, does God forgive and receive those who seek Him. 
 The domestic affections are strong and susceptible in him, and 
 they afford him powerful sources of appeal. He was a kind 
 and loving son, and amidst all his wild boisterous plays, and 
 his passionate outbreaks, his fondness for his mother acted as a 
 conservative influence. She was a Unitarian in doctrine, and 
 reared her children to fear the Lord. Dwight was not specially 
 religious in his youth. He had a will that did not easily yield, 
 and a nature that did not express dependence. In a hard 
 place at one time, he used every means in his power to extricate 
 himself, and when no one would hear, he thought of asking God, 
 and no sooner had he made one prayer, something like Peter's 
 "Lord save or I perish," than he felt new energy throbbing in 
 his whole frame and he lifted the burden and was free. How 
 often since has he been pressed almost to death, and obtained 
 help from God by prayer ! 
 
 Take a single example. In the great convention at the 
 Hippodrome in New York, where several thousand ministers 
 were present, "the topic," says a leading editor, "was how to 
 reach the non-churchgoers. Heart-stirring words had been 
 spoken by several ministers and laymen, when Mr. Moody felt 
 constrained, against all his habits, to communicate a personal 
 experience he had passed through about four years before. He 
 had been preaching day after day, and the fruits were small and 
 few. In his distress he walked the streets of a great city by 
 night, and the cry of his soul was for the anointing of the 
 Spirit. God heard his cry, and gave him then and there what 
 he had begged for. Words could not express its influence upon 
 him. He had been trying to pump water out of a well that 
 seemed dry. He had pumped with all his might, and little 
 water came. Now it seemed that God had made his soul like 
 an artesian well, that could never fail of water: He preached 
 again. The power of the Spirit was upon him and the people. 
 Many were converted. He then, with a tenderness begotten 
 of God, urged upon every Christian the present duty of being 
 himself as a never-failing artesian well — always filled with the 
 Spirit. Those who earnestly desired to be thus filled were re- 
 
Moody's early life. 17 
 
 quested to arise. The whole vast congregation seemed to do 
 so. Now stand, said Mr. Moody, while we pray. He prayed, 
 but his feelings were too profound for anything but broken ut- 
 terances. Every heart was deeply moved, and when the prayer 
 ended, the Hippodrome was literally a place of tears. It was 
 an hour never to be forgotten." 
 
 His prayers are always the pleadings of a man in earnest, 
 and while he prays for himself and others as if he were engaged 
 in no make-believe performance, he also loves to enlist others 
 in prayer for him and his work. It was the grand hero of 
 faith and works, the chief champion of Christianity, Paul the 
 great apostle, who said, " Brethren, pray for us." And so Mr. 
 Moody feels strong only when he knows that the prayers of 
 godly people are sustaining his labors. He has the boldness 
 of simplicity, sincerity, and conscious need. When he called 
 on the Roman Catholic bishop of Chicago to request him to 
 prevent the children from breaking the windows of his mission 
 school, he asked the aged prelate to pray for him. And when 
 he had done so, Mr. Moody, before they rose, prayed for the 
 bishop. There was friendship between them and no more 
 damage was done nor hindrance to his work from that quarter. 
 
i8 Moody's early life. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OUT IN THE WORLD. 
 
 The vitality that wrought in the boy's being and made him 
 sturdy, eager, and a leader in his little circle, pushed him out 
 into the great world where he might win fortune like other men. 
 He had uncles in Boston who were merchants, and who could 
 help him make a start if they would. Hither unheralded he 
 went with a settled purpose to become connected with some 
 house where he might learn business and acquire the means of 
 success. Too proud to ask his relatives to aid him at first, he 
 soon however availed himself of their kind offices, and entered 
 into his uncle's employ. This man was an orthodox christian, 
 a member of the Mt. Vernon church, of the Congregationalist 
 order, and his pastor was Rev. E. N. Kirk, D. D., a man after 
 God's own heart. To this place of worship young Moody was, 
 as it were, indentured, by his employer, and its services he was 
 obligated to attend — a circumstance of great importance and 
 value to the country boy. 
 
 It was remarked, at a meeting in New York held in honor 
 of one of its leading merchants, by the gentleman thus compli- 
 mented, that when he came to the city he at once was offered a 
 seat in church by a wealthy man, which he accepted. He also 
 made it a rule from the beginning not to have any associate 
 who would do him any harm, or of whom he would be likely to 
 be ashamed. The two points thus established were cardinal — 
 they determined his course and gave him standing and influence 
 as a young man. The church was a source of cultivation, and 
 its associations were ennobling, while he allowed no evil com- 
 panion to undo the good work there wrought in him or 
 drag him down to infamy. At the age of seventeen this new 
 force began to operate upon the intellect and conscience, and 
 
 
Moody's early life. 19 
 
 to form the character of young Moody. It was a hard trial for 
 him to mingle with persons more refined and better educated 
 than himself, but he bravely persisted in his attendance at 
 church and the Bible Class. His teacher, Mr. Kimball, labored 
 for him assiduously and patiently, and lodged the truth so ef- 
 fectually in his heart that he became a believer ; but such was 
 his dulness and ignorance of truth that the church felt con- 
 strained to keep him as a learner outside the fold for many 
 months, till he could give an intelligent account of his new life 
 of faith. There was no precocity of any sort, nothing startling 
 or promising in his early course. He had a courage that car- 
 ried him forward in spite of his defects, and an aspiration that 
 led him to rise above circumstances and strive after excellence. 
 He seldom spoke in the meetings, and his zeal lay as a smoul- 
 dering fire within him. The revival-spirit of this church and 
 its earnest pastor was infused into his veins ; and he was receiv- 
 ing an education that influenced his whole career. No work 
 was laid out for him into which he could throw his rugged en- 
 ergies, and he was not contented. Meanwhile he had con- 
 tinued his business life with characteristic spirit, and he sighed 
 for a broader field and grander opportunities. Chicago was the 
 star in the West which led thousands of aspiring and ambitious 
 youth to forsake the old fields overcrowded and less promising, 
 for the broad and boundless land of the setting sun. Eager for 
 work, and ready for anything that offered honorable success, the 
 Yankee boy, now nearly twenty years old, in September, 1856, 
 lands in the metropolis of the Northwest. That city, like all 
 large towns, has absorbed vas f numbers of young men, some of 
 whom have found a short road to ruin, and others have gallantly 
 earned victory and its rewards. The majority thus cast into 
 the whirlpool aft* drawn into its fatal depths beyond the reach 
 of light and hope. Our hero had two safeguards, a recommen- 
 dation to an honorable house where he was employed for sev- 
 eral years, and a church letter which at once opened to him an 
 acquaintance with christian people and opportunities for doing 
 good. In his secular business he proved himself " a workman 
 that needeth not to be ashamed," and in religious work he con- 
 
20 Moody's early life. 
 
 secrated his energies, doing with his might whatsoever his hand 
 found to do. When he could not be and do what he desired in 
 one church, he allied his fortunes with another ; and reaching 
 forth with the cry of Xavier, " Yet more, oh my God ! yet more," 
 he plunged into the dark places, heathenish regions such as all 
 cities contain, and there literally fought his way through with 
 all-conquering persistence, till he saw them renovated by the 
 Gospel of the grace of God. 
 
 There were others doing the same kind of work, and gradu- 
 ally these congenial spirits clustered under Moody in a mission 
 in the North Market Hall, which proved a vast power for good. 
 To this mighty undertaking he pushed, through countless ob- 
 stacles, with no church to back him. The ignorant rude boy 
 had developed into manhood and found use for every idea he 
 had ever got, and every pound of physical strength he had ac- 
 cumulated j because the audiences be addressed, whether small 
 or large, were in great need of enlightenment, and some of them 
 resisted instruction even unto blood. In other words he had 
 literally to subdue with blows the precious pupils who came un- 
 der his tuition, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was pleased 
 with the results of his efforts ; for these conquered boys often 
 proved his true friends and helpers, and were sometimes led 
 thus to submit to a higher will and become servants of God. 
 What he underwent can never be fitly told except by him, and 
 he only now and then ventures on the narration of his exploits. 
 The following incident is characteristic. Mr. Moody was illus- 
 trating the way to get people to work for the souls of others 
 when he said : The most precious hours I ever spent were em- 
 ployed going from house to house preaching Christ. There is 
 plenty of work, the fields are already white for the harvest. I re- 
 member one time in Chicago I was asked to ta^e an interest in 
 the children of a saloon-keeper who was a notorious infidel. I 
 took the man's address. Iwent down and found the old fellow 
 behind the bar. I told him my errand, but I had to get out a 
 good deal quicker than I got in. I thought I would try him the 
 second time, when he would be a little less under the influence 
 of drink, but he made me get out again. I went back then the 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 21 
 
 third time. " Well," said he, " look here, young man, you were 
 talking about the Bible : I will read the New Testament if you 
 will read Paine's "Age of Reason." " Agreed," said I, but he 
 had the best of the bargain. (Laughter.) I had a hard job to 
 read it through. I went down to the saloon to find out how he 
 was getting on. All the time he would talk about Paine's 
 " Age of Reason." One Saturday I tried to get him to go to 
 church Sunday. " Now," he says, " if you want church, you 
 must have it in my saloon. This is as good a church as any in 
 Chicago. You can have preaching here if you want to." 
 " Well," says I, " to-morrow morning at n o'clock I'll be here." 
 "Look here, young man, I want to do part of it myself." I 
 said, "Now let us distinctly understand how much you and I 
 will have. Now suppose you and your friends take the first 
 forty-five minutes and I take the last fifteen." He agreed to 
 this. That Sunday 'morning I took a little boy with me that 
 God had taught how to pray. That is some years ago and I 
 remember how weak I felt as I went down to that infidel 
 saloon. I found when I got around he had gone to a neighbor- 
 ing saloon where he engaged two rooms with folding doors, and 
 had them filled with infidels and deists and all shades of belief. 
 They first began to ask me questions, but I said : " Now you 
 go on for your forty-five minutes and I shall listen." So they 
 got to wrangling among themselves. (Laughter.) Some 
 thought there was a Jesus and some not. When the time was 
 up, I said : " Now look here, my friends, your time is up ; we 
 always open our meetings with prayer." After I had prayed, 
 the little boy cried to God to have mercy on these men. They 
 got up one by one, one going out by this door and one by an- 
 other. They were all gone very soon. The old infidel put his 
 hand on my shoulder, and said I might have his children. He 
 has since been one of the best friends I had in Chicago. So 
 you see it must be personal work with us all. 
 
 
22 Moody's early life. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MISSION WORK. 
 
 His work for Christ, special religious duty and service, after 
 he came to Chicago, was begun almost simultaneously with his 
 secular business. He had to gain a foothold for personal sup- 
 port, and then he struck out for work for the Master. Says 
 one of his biographers : 
 
 " 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 as- 
 signed him for his new 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 Mis- 
 sion-school.' The old market hall was used on Saturday nights 
 for dancing ; and after the motley crowd had dispersed, 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 putting the room in 
 order for their Christian work. The repetition of this kind of 
 labor 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 mem- 
 bers. Many were brought to Jesus ; and the work was carried 
 forward amidst marked encouragements and discouragements. 
 
 " Finding it extremely difficult to hold piayer-meetings or 
 Sabbath-evening services in this hall, Mr. Moody rented a 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 23 
 
 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, un ventilated 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 prayers, 
 to lead hardened sinners to abandon their evil courses, and 
 accept the offers of salvation." 
 
 Says another: "The man who maybe called, par excellence, 
 the Lightning Christian of the Lightning City is Mr. Moody, 
 the President of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a 
 man whose name is a household word in connection with mis- 
 sionary 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 breathing 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 every body was at work, throwing in a word where 
 he thought it necessary, and inspiring 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 manner 
 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 al- 
 lowed 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 American tendency to co- 
 pious flowery oratory. Every man had to dash in medias 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 im- 
 
24 
 
 portance. One or two of Moody's remarks were, ' Services are 
 not made interesting enough, so 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 abomi- 
 nate ruts. There are few things that I dread more.' 
 
 " Though earnest in his piety, and full of religious conversa- 
 tion, Moody has no patience with mere cant, and wants every 
 body 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 sum 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 any thing 
 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 suc- 
 ceeds in bringing under Christian influences 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 some- 
 times takes a choir of young people, well trained in singing, 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, gentle- 
 men ? ' No objection was offered, and the children sung a pa- 
 triotic song in fine style, eliciting great applause. Mr. Moody 
 then had a hymn sung by them, and meanwhile went round 
 giving tracts to those present. When 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 minute, gentlemen,' he said, and 
 proceeded to offer up a few earnest petitions. Some of the 
 men were touched ; and when he invited them to go with nim 
 to his meeting and hear more about salvation, half of them rose 
 and went. It is believed that if Pandemonium were accessible, 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 2$ 
 
 Mr. Moody would have a mission started there within a week." 
 Mr. Reynolds of Peoria said recently, as if in illustration of this 
 last remark : 
 
 " The first meeting I ever saw 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 Prodigal 
 Son ; and a great many of the w r ords he could not make out, 
 and had to skip. I thought, If the Lord can ever use such an 
 instrument as that for his honor 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 as- 
 tounds me when I look back and see what Mr. Moody was 
 thirteen years ago, and then what he is under God to-day — 
 shaking Scotland to its very centre, and reaching now over to 
 Ireland. 
 
 "The last time I heard from him, his injunction was, l Pray 
 for me 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 railway 
 train one day, when a stout, cheery-looking strange: came in 
 and sat down in the 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 ; upon which he earnestly 
 inquired, — 
 
 " ' Are you a Christian ? ' 
 
 " I answered, ' No.' 
 
26 Moody's early life. 
 
 " ' Then,' said he, c 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 rilled 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. 
 
 " Suddenly 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 ! ' 
 
 " 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 join- 
 ing others in his Christian enterprises he would thus vastly 
 multiply his usefulness. He accordingly made himself a re- 
 cruiting agent for his school, and brought the neglected multi- 
 tudes of the North side into classes taught by such helpers as 
 he could yoke up with himself. The population of his district 
 was largely made up of Germans and other foreigners, who are 
 accustomed to a Sabbath not of the Puritanic but rather the 
 Satanic sort. 
 
 With wonted shrewdness, he took advantage of the love of. 
 music, and got a singer to entertain those who gathered. His 
 great object was never for a moment forgotten, and soon there 
 were' converts, and prayer meetings, and all the materials for a 
 church, which was duly formed and folded and shepherded by 
 " Deacon Moody " as he is familiarly called by the young peo- 
 ple, who are very fond of him. This was the natural order of 
 extraordinary devotion and ability on the part of him who was 
 the soul of the enterprise. For years he let no day pass with- 
 out speaking to some one personally about the welfare of his 
 soul. He also addressed large numbers of people, old and 
 
MOODY'S EARLY LIFE. 27 
 
 young, and always pressed them with Bible truth. He could 
 not but see fruit from such whole-hearted consecration and 
 scriptural methods. Fruit he would have. The same eager- 
 ness throbbed in his soul, which John Knox felt, when he said: 
 " Give me Scotland or I die." He had a mission, and it was 
 no dreamer's idle wish, but God's call to the salvation of lost 
 men. So he toiled on with his Bible, with inquirers, with the 
 hardened, desperate and wretched, whom he followed to their 
 dens, garrets, cellars, homes, places of amusement and labor, 
 ever holding forth the word of life as a light in a dark place. 
 
28 Moody's early life. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIELD WIDENS. 
 
 Mr. Moody early became a member of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of Chicago, and punctually attended the 
 daily noon meetings. Nor did he feel it to be his duty to come 
 alone or keep silent. He worked valiantly to engage others in 
 the labors of the association, to draw in people to the meetings, 
 and to give attractiveness to the exercises. His zeal flamed 
 up and was fanned into a consuming fire, which burned the 
 cords that bound him to business and made him a holocaust on 
 God's altar. He gave himself wholly to work for the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and was greatly honored by Him. For he was 
 chosen president of the association after holding other offices, 
 and obtained the means necessary to build a hall, which was 
 named from the chief contributor to the building fund " Farwell 
 Hall." This became the centre of attraction for public gather- 
 ings, but was burned, not in the great fire that desolated the 
 city in October 187 1, but in the winter of 1868. A second 
 edifice was projected and completed under the practical leader- 
 ship of Moody, which stood longer than the first, and was a 
 glorious arena for the servants of Christ. These were triumphs 
 of sagacity and perseverance which might well have exacted 
 the whole time and care of the young apostle. But he was car- 
 rying on during these years his own vast mission and church 
 work, besides giving much time to conventions and evangeliz- 
 ing tours, and to the service of the Christian Commission. 
 Such was the largeness of his heart, and his evident sincerity, 
 that he could share with any true Christian in the work of the 
 Lord, and not provoke jealousy or create a breach of confidence. 
 Men of all sects and churches honored and trusted him, and 
 were ready to do his bidding. He had one controlling purpose 
 
Moody's early life. 29 
 
 in common with all believers who were aggressive, and he was 
 so thoroughly independent that nobody claimed him. He 
 labored for the benefit of the church universal, and men gave 
 him credit for unselfishness, and a single eye. 
 
 In all these dark days of war, he threw himself into the 
 camps near home, and there preached the Gospel and won 
 souls. He was president of the Chicago branch of the Chris- 
 tian Commission of which George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, 
 was president in chief, and whose name is fragrant in all lands. 
 He went out half a score of times to the front, with supplies 
 and with the healing mercies of the blessed Gospel. 
 
 When the confederate prisoners were in Camp Douglas, near 
 Chicago, Mr. Moody visited them with all the tender love of a 
 brother, and under his preaching large numbers were converted 
 and confirmed in the faith, and they hailed his coming to cheer 
 and comfort, to instruct and evangelize them, with unspeakable 
 delight. Afterward when he had opportunities to minister to 
 them as they lay on the gory and stricken fields, where their 
 bodies were commingled with the federal soldiers, he showed 
 himself the friend of all alike as men having souls equally dear 
 to Jesus, and suffering pains that the friend of humanity should 
 strive to assuage. 
 
 In his sermons he occasionally draws on his army experi- 
 ence for illustrations. On one occasion, describing the office 
 of Jesus as a Deliverer of captives, he said : 
 
 It was my privilege to go into Richmond with General 
 Grant's army. There I saw the captives who were in Libby 
 prison. Many a time I wept for hours to hear what they en- 
 dured. Sometimes they got letters or messages that loved ones 
 were dying, and of course they could not ,go home to see them 
 in their dying hour. There they were in the prison one beauti- 
 ful day in spring; the news had been kept from them ; they 
 hadn't heard what was going on around Richmond. One says 
 while they were listening, " I hear a band of music ; they are 
 playing the old battle tune of the Republic ; I think I hear the 
 ' Star Spangled Banner.' I say, boys, I believe Richmond is 
 taken." By-and-by they all listen and say, " It is so." Soon 
 
3© Moody's early life. 
 
 the Northern army unlocked the gates and these thousand men 
 are set free. Was not that good news ? they were free men 
 and could now go to their wives and their children and their 
 homes. Oh, my friends, you could not find happier men than 
 these were. They had liberty ; then the captives were set free. 
 That is what Christ has come to do. 
 
 Such was not his usual experience on the trips he made 
 among the soldiers. There were darker days, and sadder 
 hours, when his heart was torn, and his eyes were weary, and 
 his hands heavy, and his whole frame worn out with the vast 
 and terrible labors incident to the hospital, the battle-field, and 
 the camp. All this time he was not in the pay of any person, 
 nor supported by any society. He was fed by ravens. Many 
 hardships he endured in his lonely situation, but God gave him 
 friends who apprehended his needs, and supplied them as the 
 Spirit moved. Railroad men furnished passes for free travel, 
 merchants quietly paid his board, friends saw that his ward- 
 robe was kept intact, although he never solicited a dollar for 
 himself. It was Miiller's Life of Trust over again. 
 
Moody's early life. 31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DAILY BREAD. 
 
 When Mr. Moody threw up his situation as a salesman, he 
 had a little means which his economical habits had enabled 
 him to accumulate. He was exceedingly temperate and puri- 
 tanical in his ideas of a mode of life suited to a Christian. 
 The vain and frivolous pleasures, as well as the more costly 
 and extravagant amusements, which absorb the energies and 
 funds of multitudes of young men, he conscientiously avoided. 
 He knew not the name of a card, drank no spirits or beer, 
 visited no theatres or operas, nor smoked away his money and 
 health. He thus kept health, piety, and his earnings, except 
 what was given to the Lord's work. Soon after he left all 
 secular pursuits, he became really needy, and almost suffered. 
 Certain events in God's providence confirmed his waning con- 
 fidence, and help came through various friends ; and he has 
 always been made comfortable, though he has had no salary in 
 any department of his service. He has maintained a conscience 
 void of offence towards God and man as respects money. He 
 has no itching palm. Nobody ever made any accusation stick 
 to him respecting the love of money. He is an honest man. 
 
 He has been peculiarly favored by reason of the friendship 
 of able men and large-hearted associates. In all his stupen- 
 dous labors in the army work he received no pay. It was as 
 free as air. His services he lavishly gave to his fellow men in 
 camp, and hospital, by flood and field. All his convention 
 work has been unpaid, except, by the unsolicited gifts of any 
 who felt disposed to private liberality. He uses no artifices to 
 get money for himself, although he knows well how to raise 
 funds for great public enterprises. After his marriage, he was 
 made the occupant of an elegant home near the scenes of his 
 
32 MOODY'S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 hard efforts to get dominion over ignorance and wickedness. 
 It was a surprise to himself and his excellent wife to be led in- 
 to this home all furnished and prepared for their use and 
 shown a perpetual lease conveyed to them by appreciative 
 friends. It was a noble deed kindly done, and the worthy 
 couple were only made stronger for their holy mission. 
 
 Mr. Moody's confidence in God led him to seek alliance with 
 the amiable lady to whom he was married on the 28th of 
 August, 1862. He believed they would be provided for, and 
 she shared his faith. Miss Emma C. Revell is of a sterling 
 Baptist family of English extraction. She is lovely in person 
 and manners and decidedly christian. Her influence over 
 Mr. Moody has been of the most helpful kind, and a happier 
 family than this father and mother, son and daughter, can no- 
 where be found. She is a capital worker in the inquiry meet- 
 ing, and hardly inferior to the evangelist himself. It is proba- 
 bly owing to her English relationships that he was early in- 
 clined to visit the mother country, where he has gained so 
 much power and left so great a blessing. They were happy in 
 their lowly cottage, but gracefully assumed the proprietorship 
 of their beautiful house where they entertained strangers from 
 abroad with true western hospitality. 
 
 But as the terrible fire which devastated Chicago burned 
 thousands of homes, it also swept away their nest, and drove 
 them out into the company of the homeless. This occurred 
 October 9th, 187 1. The ruin was complete, scarcely anything 
 was saved. 
 
 Mr. Moody's financial condition after the Great Fire w r as 
 well shown by an incident that occurred the following Sunday 
 night. He had been invited by Mr. Goodspeed, the pastor of 
 the Second Baptist church, to preach for him. This invitation 
 was conveyed 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 re- 
 mark, " this is all I have." " Then," said Mr. Moody, " I 
 won't take but half of it, though I have not one cent." An 
 immense congregation greeted the preacher, and Dr. Robert 
 
MOODY'S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 33 
 
 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 few of the 
 world's heroes and saints have ever had. 
 
 In all his evangelizing abroad he has not sought filthy lucre, 
 but repelled every suggestion of money-making. Nor has he 
 used the splendid gifts pressed upon him as others have done. 
 He has requested the donors to apply them to other uses, lest 
 they might become a snare to him. His hands must be clean, 
 and his motives seem as pure as they really are. His mighty 
 work he will not defile nor belittle by selfishness and greed. 
 
 When about to go to England the last time, he knew not 
 where he should get money to pay his passage, but trusted in 
 God and made ready. The evening before his departure, a 
 princely supporter and fellow-laborer, hearing of his journey, 
 placed in his hands the sum of five hundred dollars, saying that 
 he would probably need something after he got to England. 
 Thus he has been fed and nourished by God's people in mar- 
 vellous ways. In this country no collections are ever taken for 
 him or his associate, Mr. Sankey, and they discourage public 
 presentations. Their object is not to get gain. In this 
 respect they follow Paul, the great apostle, as he followed the 
 Divine Exemplar. They know they are serving for One who is 
 rich. 
 
34 Moody's early life. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PERSONAL GROWTH. 
 
 The Scriptures frequently employ the charming figure of a 
 growing tree to represent the progress of the servant of God. 
 " Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope 
 the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, 
 and that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not see 
 when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be 
 careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding 
 fruit." The grace of God in the heart usually creates mental 
 hunger and intellectual thirst It stimulates the whole man to 
 newness of life. A youth converted at sixteen, an apprentice 
 to a shoemaker, very poor and ignorant, felt the stimulus of re- 
 generation in a desire to know more. He was not content with 
 the ignorance he had groped in so long, and began a course of 
 private study in connection with his work. Among other means 
 of self-culture he used a spelling book and dictionary in the 
 following manner, — When men came into the shop and uttered 
 words he did not know the meaning of, he noted them in his 
 memory, and after they had gone out he drew forth his books 
 and studied them till he had mastered their orthography and 
 significance. He became a leading merchant in a large city 
 and the founder of a seminary for the education of ministers. 
 And when he died thousands mourned and followed him to 
 his burial. 
 
 Mr. Moody, as we have seen, early felt the aspiration for 
 knowledge that he might serve Christ better ; but his intense 
 activity led him out of the seclusion of schools and libraries, 
 and compelled him to depend on his powers of observation as a 
 man among men. He was rough, unskilful, and ignorant, and 
 naturally gathered the same class about him. But he would 
 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE.- 35 
 
 mingle with the best workers and draw from them all the 
 material he could. Spurgeon once said to a friend who apolo- 
 gized for calling and taking up his time ; "Never mind, I shall 
 suck a sermon out of you before you get away." This sponge 
 process was exceedingly useful to Mr. Moody, and Mr. Spur- 
 geon's sermons were a great delight and arsenal to the young 
 preacher, who needed ideas and illustrations. He appropriated 
 and adopted from every side, and so frequently employed cer- 
 tain powerful truths and anecdotes, that he could launch them 
 with ease and effectiveness. His friends often suggested courses 
 of study, and certain books, which he might profitably read, 
 but before he could really get at it, he was hurried away by the 
 urgency of work in his own field, by Association business, by 
 conventions, by evangelizing trips into the country or to distant 
 cities, or by the necessities and horrors of the war. He could 
 not do his work in which he was yoked up, and be a student of 
 many books. His position and wide-spread service gave him 
 the acquaintance of men highly educated, and this he made the 
 utmost possible use of to store and cultivate his mind. 
 
 But as his outside cares increased it became needful to study 
 the Bible alone. This he could carry with him everywhere and 
 read at any time, and it was really the source of his doctrine. 
 He however was taught to value the Book by a young English- 
 man, Harry Moorhouse, of Manchester, who had been a prize- 
 fighter till God conquered his rebellious heart by love. He 
 came to Chicago, preached for Moody, of whom he had heard 
 in England, and led the American evangelist to adopt his 
 methods of Bible study, to carry on Bible readings, and espe- 
 cially to dwell greatly on the love of Christ. 
 
 The Great Fire that made two hundred thousand people 
 homeless was itself a school for Mr. Moody, because he reared 
 a humble shed or tabernacle on the ruins of his mission, and 
 there gathered the scattered flock, fed and clothed and com- 
 forted them and all who came, and held constant religious 
 services in connection with his benevolent work. He and Mr. 
 Sankey were there trained and educated for their future suc- 
 cess. He had previously discovered the sweet singer's power 
 
36 Moody's early life. 
 
 and drawn him into their holy partnership which has proved 
 under God so great a blessing to the world. It was heaven 
 and hell side by side in that tabernacle, among the ruins. The 
 cries and sighs of the hungry and wretched were only curtained 
 off from the prayers and songs of those godly men, who made 
 many souls taste of Jesus' love and clothed them with sacred 
 garments. His school and church needed permanent premises, 
 and these were provided for in part when Mr. Moody resolved 
 on his third visit to England. He had gone the last time to 
 learn more of the Bible from men who had made its study the 
 one business of their lives. Henry Varley, the butcher preach- 
 er, a power in London, and Harry Moorhouse, were chosen 
 friends, and they welcomed him to their own country with 
 hearty enthusiasm. 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 with 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 wonderful 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." 
 
 Thus his whole nature was constantly expanding under a 
 variety of influences, and the incessant study of One Book en- 
 larged his views and fortified his will. He was eager to do the 
 Lord's will and to be greatly useful at any cost of personal 
 effort and sacrifice. Thus he grew under all circumstances, 
 extracted sources of power from all experiences and associa- 
 tions, till the boy that could only bring in mission scholars 
 came to be in demand in the best circles in America, and was 
 able to gain unequaled ascendency among the best people in 
 Europe. This personal growth is one of the most interesting 
 
MOODY'S EARLY LIFE. 37 
 
 and charming of all phenomena, and thus invests life with per- 
 petual fascination. 
 
 His whole manhood has risen up into symmetrical propor- 
 tions, and grace has permeated the character with sweetness 
 and light. His marvellous success hereafter to be related does 
 not seem to have puffed him up with vanity and pride. He 
 has acquired a habit of trusting God, but he does not fail in 
 any case to prepare the way of the Lord just as carefully as if 
 all depended on himself and his co-laborer. The grand organ- 
 izing faculty he possesses has been developed into a tremen- 
 dous force, and by means of this he unites the sects and combines 
 the energies of all the live christians he can enlist in every 
 church. Men bow humbly and cheerfully to his leadership, 
 and throw the whole weight of their influence and personal 
 strength into his movement. 
 
 This was not like Jonah in Nineveh, who stood alone for God 
 with a terrible message that set the king and all his subjects 
 trembling before him. Paul had no such resource at first, 
 because he had to build his own foundation and make a foot- 
 hold for himself. Those were days of miracle. But now the 
 freshness is gone, and all the organized energies of the churches 
 can scarcely rouse slumbering sinners or dead professors. 
 Hence the wisdom of Mr. Moody. It is not necessary for him 
 to bear the exhausting labors of preparing new discourses, since 
 he has new hearers all the time, to whom his old utterances are 
 fresh as a new-blown rose. There is also something in what 
 has been written about his ability to work : 
 
 It has pleased God to give Mr. Moody a grand body ; and 
 he has been wise enough to take good care of it. He is a 
 standing protest against those ministers who knock their nerves 
 into a cocked hat by smoking and chewing, who sit up half the 
 night, and all of Saturday night, who are Mondayish and Tues- 
 dayish, who have neither stomach nor liver, and who are old at 
 fifty. No less he is a protest against those men who, without a 
 vice or a fault, yet from mistaken notions of duty, allow the 
 body to be run down by want of exercise, want of recreation, 
 want of sleep, want of suitable, nourishing, digestible, palatable 
 
38 Moody's ., ~:^e. 
 
 food. A large heart, a generous soul, a gigantic mind in a frail 
 body, is like a powerful engine in a crank, shattered hull. The 
 body is not to be despised or ignored. Mr. Moody owes every- 
 thing to the grace of God ; but that grace was shown in part in 
 giving him a broad chest, sound lungs, a good digestion. 
 
 Nor must we forget that he speaks in a natural tone. He 
 has no holy tone. True, he has to speak loud, and strain his 
 voice, in order to reach so large a number. But apart from this, 
 his voice is natural. He talks about religion as he would talk 
 about temperance, or politics, or railroads. And as the result 
 he speaks twice a day on five days in a week, and three times 
 on the Sabbath, with less fatigue than many of our ministers 
 experience from a couple of sermons and a prayer-meeting 
 weekly. If the voice is kept all the time on one key, and that 
 an unnatural one, it must give way like a violin played cease- 
 lessly on one string. 
 
 Nor must we lose sight of an humble, often ignored, quality, 
 that uncommon thing, common sense. His common" sense 
 amounts to genius. It is shown in a thousand ways ; it appears 
 in the uniform brevity of his sermons and prayers ; in the free- 
 dom from all bombast or pretence ; in the avoidance of need- 
 less offence to those from whom he most differs in doctrine; he 
 says nothing that would close the heart of Catholic or Unitarian 
 against him. It appears no less in the absence of all peculiar- 
 ities of doctrine. He preaches the gospel, clearly, broadly, 
 pointedly ; but there is no Moody type of doctrine, except in so 
 far as the attentive and loving study of the Bible is a Moodyism. 
 
 We earnestly pray, and we are sure that thousands will unite 
 in the prayer, that the good Master will continue richly to en- 
 dow Brother Moody with bodily health, with common sense, 
 and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The following brief mention of some of his points is also 
 practical : It is evident that Brother Moody is a shrewd and 
 practical man ; that he is an extraordinary worker ; that he is 
 a skilful organizer ; that he knows how to control and affect 
 multitudes of people ; that he is very much in earnest ; that he 
 confines himself to a few of the leading ideas of Christianity ; 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 39 
 
 that he understands the art of putting his religion into plain 
 language for the common mind ; and that he fully appreciates 
 the value of his co-laborer Brother Sankey. Again : Nothing 
 is more remarkable in Moody's discourses than the simple di- 
 rectness with which he brings his hearers face to face with the 
 central truths. Being without any noticeable peculiarities of 
 manner, making nothing of the way in which to say what needs 
 to be said, he gives no one chance to regard anything but 
 the truth spoken. As an object of the hearer's attention his per- 
 sonality is out of view. He might be " a wandering voice " for 
 any appearance of himself between his audience and the truth 
 he wishes them to look at. But as a force to be felt, the 
 speaker's personality is not absent. The words that are heard 
 are the utterance of an earnest, praying, believing soul, intent 
 on one object. In proportion as Christians generally can gain 
 fqr themselves that undistracted view of the gospel, and with a 
 self-emptying earnestness pray for and labor with their fellow- 
 men, they will find themselves blessed, and a blessing to others. 
 Rev. John A. Broadus, D. D., one of the first of living theolo- 
 gians and preachers, thus describes him : 
 
 i. Mr. Moody sweeps away the conventionalities which have 
 cobwebbed themselves around our public worship and our 
 preaching. Some of us have long been striving to do this, to 
 bring eternal things and gospel truths right home to people as 
 naked reality, but we could not go beyond a certain point with- 
 out shocking the sense of propriety in many hearers. But here 
 comes one from whom the fastidious cannot demand " ministe- 
 rial dignity," for he is a layman, a business man, and he can 
 tell about religion right straight along, can modernize the Scrip- 
 ture narratives, and speak of things unseen as real and near, 
 and mightily wake up the people from that slumberous decorum 
 with which they usually attend upon preaching. No daintiness 
 here. A spade is a spade. You are going to hell, but Jesus 
 Christ can save you right now. Cut loose from your sins, and 
 come to him this very night. For this directness, and homeli- 
 ness, and realness, we are heartily thankful. What though Mr. 
 Moody sometimes mispronounces a word, or gets a singular 
 
40 Moody's early life. 
 
 verb for a plural nominative, if he makes men feel that religion 
 is business ? 
 
 2. He preaches the doctrines of grace, the old-fashioned 
 gospel, square, without rounding the corners. In salvation by 
 grace there is real power, and nowhere else. And we rejoice 
 to see a man who can gather vast thousands to hear this old, 
 old story. A few years ago we remember to have come home 
 from New York and Brooklyn with the painful impression that 
 some young ministers of various denominations there were 
 being led by the specious plausibilities and apparent success of 
 a celebrated Brooklyn pastor, to think that the old gospel is 
 antiquated, and that the men of to-day must needs preach hu- 
 manitarianism, semi-universalism, rose-water doctrine in every 
 respect. All the world knows the strange and sad way in 
 which the hurtful influence of that preacher has been checked ; 
 for if he be deemed a man innocent of grave crimes, he can no 
 longer be reckoned an example of that manhood which had be- 
 come the central idea of his ministry. But the Providence that 
 so often and wonderfully brings good out of evil, has not 
 stopped with the destruction of his supremacy. Here comes a 
 man who gives the prestige of immense attendance and great 
 success to the old gospel. This will affect the minds of thou- 
 sands, restraining them from the notion that new doctrine is ne- 
 cessary for our age. Not generals alone, as poor Sidney John- 
 son remarked, are popularly judged by their success ; but 
 preachers and doctrines are so judged by the unreflecting masses. 
 
 3. Mr. Moody has great force of character, invincible deter- 
 mination, and means to influence people. What a difference 
 between men who go into battle intending to conquer if they 
 can, and those who go into battle intending to conquer ! Now 
 few can equal him in native endowment as to will, and the 
 power of impressing himself upon others ; but all may be bene- 
 fited by observing the value of this. At the same time he 
 simply, humbly leans upon God's support and blessing. This 
 combination of strong self-reliance and humble reliance on 
 God, makes a great Christian worker, whether in preaching or 
 in other religious work. 
 
 
MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 41 
 
 4. He applies practical sense and business-like skill and tact 
 to the management of religious services. Many good people 
 sadly neglect this. They arrange nothing, or with little care 
 and no tact, as to drawing people together, and as to order, 
 comfort, and the opportunity of undisturbed attention. But it 
 is pleasant to see a number of leading business men bringing to 
 bear their native and practical administrative powers upon the 
 organization and conduct of a grand series of religious meet- 
 ings. Then the exercises of the inquiry-room are conducted 
 with great system and good sense. Workers specially suited to 
 this delicate and difficult task of conversing with inquirers have 
 been selected beforehand from many churches, with the aid of 
 the pastors, and a certain group are to be there on an ap- 
 pointed evening. All of them have been gathered by Mr. 
 Moody in a private meeting, and received from him suggestions 
 marked (as repeated to us) by a singular good sense, knowl- 
 edge of human nature, and Christian simplicity. When in- 
 quirers enter the room, persons quietly take down the name 
 and address of each one, and the church he commonly attends. 
 The next morning every pastor concerned in New York and 
 Brooklyn receives a notice that such a person of his congrega- 
 tion (address given, etc.) attended the inquiry-meeting the 
 evening before, and an earnest request to visit that person im- 
 mediately. Ours is the day of organization, of combined and 
 systematic exertion ; let us have more of it in religious work. 
 
 The question is often asked, What are the elements of Mr. 
 Moody's power? They are certainly not his natural gifts. 
 They flow directly from Christ. Filled with the Spirit, he seems 
 to lose sight of every thing 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 
 lothing else. The love of the Saviour pervades and quickens 
 all his sensibilities, and is the atmosphere through which he sees 
 his fellow-men. He can say with the apostle Paul, " I live ; 
 yet not I, but Christ Hveth in me." 
 
 Dr. Van Doren, of Chicago, says, " An incident, some twelve 
 
42 MOODY S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 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, etc., and repelled the charge. Poor 
 Marsyas did not come out of the hands of Apollo more thor- 
 oughly flayed alive than did Brother Moody from the hands 
 of that trenchant speaker. Instead^ of 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. 3 Every heart was melted : and when 
 that prayer was ended, not one, we believe, in that vast audi- 
 ence but was willing to welcome and embrace Brother Moody 
 from that moment to this. 
 
 " Secondly : Our Brother Moody is a man of inextinguisha- 
 ble 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 ? ' 
 At one time walking in the crowded South Water street with a 
 friend, he met a knot of worldly acquaintances. Pausing a 
 moment — ' Friends, we may never meet again. Here is 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 beaming with tears, he passed on in silence. 
 
 " Brother Moody is a firm believer in God's words. It is a mar- 
 vel 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 noth- 
 ing else. But like Dr. Johnson, who was said c to take the 
 heart out of a book,' he grasps an author's plan and illustrations 
 with an intuitive glance. 
 
Moody's early life. 43 
 
 "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 spent the whole previ- 
 ous night in prayer 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." 
 
 " Mr. Moody is a good talker, has great executive ability ; 
 has power to move masses of people, is a great general to direct 
 and control them. He is an intensely earnest, practical 
 worker. His prompt, earnest, systematic management of affairs 
 impresses you, not that he is a contemplative devotee, but that 
 he is a thorough business man in matters of religion. His 
 forces are thoroughly organized, and he has them under perfect 
 control. Everything is done decently and in order, and with 
 great propriety, and in good taste ; but it is business, emphati- 
 cally. There is nothing pretentious about him, nothing arro- 
 gant or boastful. His plain, earnest Bible talks go right to the 
 hearts and consciences of all classes. It is interesting to notice 
 how his associates fall into line at his word of command. Ven- 
 erable doctors of divinity, sedate professors, pulpit orators, — 
 who have a leadership of their own, — all obey Mr. Moody, 
 when he tells them to pray, or speak, and how much time to 
 occupy. He has the power to control men, effectually, but not 
 offensively." 
 
 These estimates may be fitly closed with this eloquent 
 thought : When Mr. Moody speaks, it is not hirrfself alone to 
 whom the audience listens, but the whole voice and power of 
 Christianity itself behind him, offering the hope whose beauty 
 time never obscures, the forgiveness which humanity never 
 ceases to desire, the ideals of moral and religious life whose 
 force and excellence the succession of ages only strengthens. 
 
44 Moody's early life. 
 
 It is not so much what the preacher says, as what the audience 
 feels. The people lose sight of the plain speaker, and even of 
 his conceptions, and hear the echo of the voice, still sounding 
 through the centuries, of Him who spake as never man spoke. 
 Under that voice they rise to a new life. 
 
 Before we accompany this beloved brother to England, we 
 must give some account of his famous coadjutor, the sweet 
 singer, Ira D. Sankey. 
 
IRA D. SANKEY. 
 
THE EARLY LIFE OF IRA DAVID SANKEY. 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BOY IS FATHER TO THE MAN. 
 
 He was born and reared amidst surroundings quite unlike Mr. 
 Moody's. His father and mother were natives of Mercer 
 county, Penn., now Lawrence county, where the famous gospel 
 singer also first saw the light, on the 28th of August, 1840. 
 This event has made the town of Edenburg famous, and mil- 
 lions will hear of it, because of their interest in him as Mr. 
 Moody's associate whose songs of grace and salvation are ring- 
 ing round the world. 
 
 Mr. Sankey's father was a man of considerable importance in 
 the place where he lived, having held offices of trust and honor 
 for many years. He was in good circumstances, and gave 
 his son ample opportunities to obtain education. He knew 
 little of the severe trials of poverty and was not compelled to 
 endure any of its hardships, although he was by no means 
 brought up in luxury. 
 
 His parents were Methodists, who knew how to make home 
 happy for their children, and also to seek their highest welfare 
 as immortal beings. There was a Scotchman named Fraser, 
 who used to lead the children to Sunday school while they were 
 yet very young. 
 
 In a speech at a children's meeting, Mr. Sankey says of this 
 good man Fraser, " The very first recollections I have of any- 
 thing 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 
 
46 sankey's early life. 
 
 children all loved him. It was years after that when I was con- 
 verted, but my impressions were received when I was very 
 young from that man." 
 
 This is a beautiful and suggestive tribute to the kind layman, 
 who followed the Great Teacher in taking in his arms little chil- 
 dren to bless them. There is no age too early for the incul- 
 cation of spiritual truth into the hearts and minds of the young. 
 And when we consider an instance like this, we readily perceive 
 how wide a field may be under cultivation by a humble person, 
 who is only conscious of doing the duty that lies next to him. 
 Thus from the beginning he was in a religious atmosphere, 
 while Mr. Moody had no instruction in religion till he grew up 
 to the age of seventeen years. The testimony of his teacher is 
 of great interest, and he writes as follows: 
 
 I can truly say (and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace 
 of God as bestowed upon Mr. Moody) that I have seen few 
 persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when 
 he came into my Sunday school class, and I think the committee 
 of the Mt. Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for mem- 
 bership who seemed more unlikely ever to. become a Christian 
 of clear and decided views of gospel truth, still less to fill any 
 sphere of public or extended usefulness. Mr. Moody remained 
 in my class nearly two years till he bade me " good-bye," on 
 leaving Boston for Chicago. 
 
 No weak and hesitating young Sabbath-school teacher can 
 call upon a more unpromising scholar than was Dwight L. Moody, 
 to tell of a Saviour's love ; and I can only say with humility 
 and gratitude, as I think of my humble, ignorant Sabbath-school 
 scholar of twenty years ago, " What hath God wrought ! " 
 
 Conscientious work done for the young is bread cast upon 
 the waters, sure to return in blessing, but how vast the blessing 
 God only can tell. In these instances it is too large to be 
 accurately measured. Eternity alone will reveal the immensity 
 of the sacred influence of Edward Kimball, and Mr. Fraser, 
 in consequence of their fidelity to the youth they .instructed. 
 He who labors to mould children for God, is engaged with 
 material more enduring than brass. *or marble. 
 
 
SANKEY S EARLY LIFE. 47 
 
 The boy David had a happy home, and this gave hi'm a 
 cheerful spirit, which he now pours forth in songs of the heart, 
 and hymns of love and praise. The bright, genial boy is devel- 
 oped into the joyous magnetic man. He who was known 
 among his playmates and in his home, as a truthful, honorable 
 youth, is a noble-minded unselfish character. Recognized as a 
 leader among his boyish associates, he goes forward now in the 
 management of large choirs, and the control of thronging assem- 
 blies, like a general. 
 
 His conversion to Christ did not occur under his first 
 impressions. He was arrived at the age of sixteen, when God 
 again had compassion on the soul that once refused His grace, 
 and he was brought into deep conviction, which he strove to 
 throw off by making light of these things. An earnest man 
 again followed up the youth and brought him to decision. 
 Thus we see human instrumentality honored in the successive 
 steps of his progress. As a beginner in the new life, he found 
 himself soon among strangers, for his father removed to New- 
 castle. Here he was received into the church, became a 
 teacher, and was ere long made superintendent in the Sunday- 
 school. 
 
 His talents for singing early manifested themselves at home, 
 and were delightful to the family. When he could, he led in 
 the exercises of school and conference meetings, and acquired 
 considerable reputation as a singer. At his new home, he took 
 charge of the music, and soon called around him a larger num- 
 ber of attendants than the room would hold. In due course of 
 time his popularity placed him at the head of the school, and 
 its power for good was such that a constant revival was going 
 on within it. He was also a beloved class-leader, where he 
 gave the exercises a Biblical character, by encouraging the use 
 of the words of Scripture as far as possible by every speaker. 
 He added a profound charm to the services by his singing, so 
 that his class kept constantly full. When he led the choir, he 
 insisted on Christian character and deportment, and also on the 
 clear enunciation of the words sung. 
 
 Thus he seemed from the first to have common-sense ideas 
 
48 sankey's early life. 
 
 respecting the service of song in the house of the Lord, as well 
 as a natural gift for music. God nurtured him in a pious home 
 and amid godly people to fit him for that holy partnership 
 which has proved divinely fruitful in winning souls and uniting 
 Christians for stupendous assaults on the kingdom of darkness. 
 
SANKEY S EARLY LIFE. 49 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN TRAINING FOR HIS WORK. 
 
 While he was in the army this irrepressible love of singing 
 endeared him to his companions. He soon became the leader 
 of a company of musical soldiers, and made excursions into the 
 country, as well as gave efficient help in the camp prayer- 
 meetings. This gift undoubtedly assured him good society 
 and preserved him from low associations and contaminating 
 influences. 
 
 Returning home when his term of enlistment expired, he 
 resumed his church duties, and labored with abounding success. 
 He held for nearly ten years a position in the civil service of 
 the government, and a gentleman who sat at the desk beside 
 him bears glowing testimony to his excellent qualities. 
 
 " In the civil service, as in other departments of labor, he 
 was noted for conscientiousness, and patient, faithful attention 
 to duty. In his rank he stood first in the district, and had the 
 entire confidence of all the officers and tax-payers with whom 
 he had official dealings. His superiors in office regarded him 
 as one of the most prompt, correct, and reliable officers they 
 had, and they were always ready to accord to him the honors 
 of a faithful public servant. In his long connection with the 
 service, there were never known any irregularities in his 
 accounts or any loss to the government. He never took 
 advantage of his office to his own gain or preferment, but faith- 
 fully and honestly cared for the interests of the government. 
 On this account he left the service with honor, and with the 
 regret of those who were associated with him. 
 
 " He also found favor with the people of the district whose 
 business demanded his official supervision. He proposed at 
 
jjO SAN KEY'S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 one time to reenter the army, and give his services to his coun- 
 try ; but from every quarter all the tax-payers who had official 
 relations with him sent in urgent remonstrances against his 
 retirement from the civil service, and he was constrained to 
 remain in this department of the government, where his ser- 
 vices were so greatly in demand." 
 
 Soon after he had obtained his position and saw his way clear, 
 he was married to Miss Edwards, on the 9th of September, 1863. 
 It often happens that singers marry those who cannot sing ; 
 but Mr. Sankey chose an attractive member of his choir and a 
 teacher in his school. They were happily mated and she proved 
 herself to be equally self-denying with her husband. They have 
 three sons, to whom she proves herself an affectionate and intel- 
 ligent mother, while she is the cheerful, bright companion and 
 helper of the evangelist. 
 
 In the course of years Mr. Sankey trained his choir and his 
 school so as to give them the greatest efficiency as witnesses for 
 Christ. He believes that song should minister as well as preach- 
 ing. And this constant use of melody, superabounding sing- 
 ing, has been an element of great power in the progress of 
 Methodism. 
 
 When the Young Men's Christian Association established a 
 branch in Newcastle, Mr. Sankey entered into its enterprises 
 most heartily, and was chosen President. In June, 1870, he 
 went to Indianapolis as a delegate to an International Conven- 
 tion, and there he first met Mr. Moody. It was in an early 
 morning prayer-meeting. His religious fervor had called him 
 out very early to worship God. Mr. Moody was leading, and 
 inwardly chafing over the slow formalism of the occasion, and 
 especially was annoyed by the dull singing. When an oppor- 
 tunity came Mr. Sankey started a grand hymn and poured out 
 voice and heart and soul through the words, and caused a thrill 
 of enthusiasm to run over the assembly. There was no more 
 dulness in that meeting, and. when it was over, Mr. Moody 
 rushed up to the stranger and eagerly inquired about him, and 
 announced peremptorily that he had been looking for him eight 
 years to help him in his Chicago work, and he must give up all 
 
SANKEYS EARLY LIFE. 51 
 
 and come with him. Every hour they were together only 
 strengthened Mr. Moody's purpose to yoke up with him. 
 
 Without at once recognizing the Divine call through Mr. 
 Moody, he kept on his round of Convention visitation, and en- 
 gaged in some evangelistic work with others, and everywhere 
 received marked favor. He was thus preparing to loose the 
 bonds that tied him to his home, and gaining confidence and 
 experience to meet the tremendous responsibilities soon to be 
 rolled upon him. His voice only once gave out, and after a 
 brief respite it returned and has grown stronger with incessant 
 use. 
 
52 SANKEY S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE. 
 
 Reluctantly Mr. Sankey dissolved the associations whicn 
 years had created, and went forth to the work which Mr. 
 Moody had called him to perform. For six months they worked 
 on harmoniously together in Chicago, till the wave of fire rolled 
 over the city and laid it in ruins. The alarm struck as he closed 
 the striking hymn, 
 
 " To-day the Saviour calls, etc." 
 
 which he was singing at a meeting in Farwell Hall on that fatal 
 Sunday evening. The next day, after untold sufferings and the 
 loss of all things, he found himself at the depot of an Eastern 
 R. R., where he at once took passage for home. Meanwhile 
 he telegraphed Mr. Moody to send for him when he needed 
 him, and began to sing for churches and other organizations 
 wherever he could do good. They had taken sweet counsel 
 together, and accomplished much in their united labors in 
 Chicago. Now all seemed lost and each must shift for himself. 
 In three months Moody telegraphed, "Come at once," and 
 Sankey came, and entered with him into the philanthropic, and 
 religious work, which was done in the New Tabernacle, for the 
 physical and spiritual welfare of the homelesss thousands who 
 flocked about them as doves to their windows. 
 
 In the fall of that year Mr. Sankey brought his family to 
 Chicago. While his fellow-laborer went to England, the work 
 devolved on him, and God poured out blessings on the Taber- 
 nacle. After Mr. Moody's . return, the two held meetings in 
 other places, and in one instance so greatly were they favored of 
 God in reviving Christians and saving the lost, that the promise 
 of a great harvest in America seemed flattering. 
 
SAN KEY'S EARLY LIFE. 53 
 
 An otfer of a partnership with Philip Phillips in giving con- 
 certs on the Pacific coast, was baited with golden inducements, 
 but he could not be persuaded to break up the relations now 
 strongly cemented. He resolved to accompany the evangelist 
 in his proposed voyage to Europe to win ten thousand souls for 
 Christ. He told an incident at Dundee, in Scotland, which 
 shows how early God gave him evidence that he was called to 
 evangelize by song. 
 
 " 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, when 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 ? ' I asked. With a beauti- 
 ful smile on her face, she said, ' It is all well wit-h 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 one?' 
 '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 testi- 
 mony 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 bedridden and dying ones, 
 and sing to them of Jesus, for they can not enjoy these meet- 
 ings as you do. You will get a great blessing to your own 
 soul" 
 
 Very often men say they were convicted by the singing, or sur- 
 
 17* 
 
54 
 
 rendered during the rendering of a certain hymn. His songs 
 and solos became exceedingly popular abroad, in a brief space 
 of time, and soon millions of copies of cheap editions were sold. 
 He gets no pecuniary returns from these publications ; and like 
 Mr. Moody he depends on the unsolicited offerings of friends. 
 The testimonies to his usefulness and attractiveness are numer- 
 ous and discriminating. For while his singing is extraordinary, 
 his life, his spirit, his exhortations and prayers are sources of 
 power which God honors. 
 
 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. Possessed 
 of a voice of great volume and richness, he expresses with 
 exquisite skill and pathos the Gospel message, 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 effective 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 the need of my 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 and 
 then.' ' 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 singing these words' (pointing to 
 
SANKEY S EARLY LIFE. 55 
 
 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 yielding 
 such results as these ? It is mere scoffing # to say that Mr. 
 Moody's touching stories and Mr. Sankey's sweet singing are 
 the secret of the power exercised by these men. The 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 fol- 
 low." 
 
 " Not a few have been, not unnaturally, offended by the 
 phrase, ' Singing the Gospel,' which was at first used in adver- 
 tisements ; and some have, unfortunately, never taken the 
 trouble to inquire what was meant. But every one 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 articulation, unaffected 
 feeling, and magnificent voice will linger in our ears and hearts 
 till our dying day. A few weeks have made his favorite 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 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 
 
56 sankey's early life. 
 
 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 sings 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 
 over the earth. Nor will they be confined to that language, for 
 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 coun- 
 try and I care not who makes its laws.' " 
 
 Mrs. Barbour says : " Mr. Sankey sings with the conviction 
 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 awakening, none 
 more than 'Jesus of Nazareth passethby.' When you hear the 
 'Ninety and Nine ' sung, you know of a truth that down in this 
 corner, up in that gallery, behind that 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 do rather sing 
 "Jesus of Nazareth." An old man told me to-day that he had 
 
SANKEYS EARLY LIFE. 57 
 
 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 hap- 
 pened to linger in a pew after the noon-meeting. The choir had 
 remained to practice, and began 'Free from the Law, O happy 
 Condition,' etc. 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 tnem he seems to become unconscious of every 
 thing but the 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. 
 
 " In a Highland parish, a young man who bad 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 consequence 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 unwill- 
 ing 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 had 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 
 3* 
 
58 SAN KEY'S EARLY LIFE. 
 
 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 may forget the singer, 
 But will ne'er forget the sons: 
 
 
 "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 denominations." 
 The Harp of David was the prototype of the Harmonium of 
 Sankey. 
 
 The following pages will contain many glowing proofs of the 
 gracious influence which has accompanied this gospel singer in 
 his own land. 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE WONDERFUL CAREER 
 
 OF 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY, 
 
 GREA T BRITAIN. 
 
6o MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 
 
 In the spring of 1873, Messrs. Moody and Sankey left 
 Chicago for England. They had been invited by three gentle- 
 men 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 arrangements 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 they 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 had 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 held their meetings, con- 
 versed with sinners, prayed to God; and men and women began 
 to ask what they must do to be saved. They labored in York 
 a month, and it is believed that two hundred persons were con- 
 verted to Christ. 
 
 On Sunday, July 27th, they went to Sunderland, a consider- 
 able 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 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 6 1 
 
 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 parlor 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 ? He did not show 
 us a seat ; he did not offer us his hand : altogether an 
 auctioneer-like reception. 
 
 " ' We 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,' replied 
 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 misunder- 
 stand the reason of their not joining you earlier in your work. 
 It is not for want of sympathy ; but because you came to us in 
 a sectarian connection, and have allied yourself with Mr. Rees ; 
 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 signifi- 
 cance, 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 ? ' asked my com- 
 panion, as we walked off from this strange interview. 
 
 " ' Think ! It is money : that is what it is, James.' 
 
 " 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." 
 
62 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 " 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 Men's Christian Association, I found the meeting 
 on fire. The young men were speaking with tongues, prophesy- 
 ing. What on earth did it all mean ? Only that Moody had 
 been addressing them that afternoon. 'What manner of man 
 is this ? ' thought I ; but still I 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 Young Men's 
 Christian Association, for the part we 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 immediate 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 ;,then kissing his mother and asking her for- 
 giveness, afterward tenderly embracing and kissing his younger 
 brother. 
 
 The little fire kindled in York flamed so high in Sunderland, 
 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. 
 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 6$ 
 
 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 surrounding towns, caught the fire, and 
 kindled it through all the neighboring counties. 
 
 Mr. Moody said : 
 
 "We have not done much in York and Sunderland, because 
 the ministers opposed us ; but we are going to stay in New- 
 castle till we make an impression, and live down the prejudices 
 of good people who do not understand us. 
 
 " I am always glad to see a minister come to our meetings, 
 for he always brings a large reinforcement with him." 
 
 Among the ministers prominent in connection with these 
 services have been several of the Protestant Episcopal pastors, 
 most of them of the Low Church party. The Rev. Dr. Stewart, 
 of St. Clement's Church, a leading High Churchman has, how- 
 ever, given utterance to the following sentiments from his pul- 
 pit, which will be read with a good deal of interest : 
 
 " It is probably well that I should say something respecting 
 the work of certain evangelists who commenced their labors in 
 this city to-day. I have heard that they are regarded with 
 unkindly feelings by several ministers ; how far this extends I 
 know not, but it certainly does not reach the clergy of this parish. 
 The right and duty of every layman is by precept and example 
 to bring erring souls to Christ, and in the exercise of this plain 
 right I bid these evangelists God-speed in their good work of 
 awakening souls who, when awakened, will seek the church and 
 its sacraments. These men do not come to make proselytes, 
 but Christians, and should be aided rather than hindered in the 
 effort to bring lost souls to their Saviour." 
 
 From the interesting narratives of the glorious dealings of 
 God with his people we compile such as will most graphically 
 portray them to our readers. After three weeks at Newcastle, 
 great blessings were poured out on their work, which began at 
 the Rye Hill Baptist chapel and thence overflowed on every side. 
 
 Every morning at twelve o'clock, in the Music-hall, there 
 was a meeting for prayer, praise, and exhortation., at which were 
 
6± MOODY AXD SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 gathered from two to three hundred people, all earnestly desir- 
 ing the revival of God's work in that irreligious town, and daily 
 bearing before God numerous written requests from believers, 
 for their unconverted relatives and friends. These prayer-meet- 
 ings have been felt by all to be true means of grace to the 
 hearts of God's children, and numerous and striking have been 
 the answers to prayer for the unconverted. Every evening, in the 
 Music-hall and Rye-hill Chapel, Gospel services were held, Mr. 
 Moody and Mr. Moorhouse preaching the Gospel, and Mr. 
 Sankey singing his sweet spiritual songs. At the commence- 
 ment of this glorious work, Rye-hill Chapel, which will accom- 
 modate from sixteen to seventeen hundred people, was used ; 
 but, as many had to go away, not being able to get in, Jt was 
 thought advisable to have two services on the same evening; 
 hence the Music-hall, where Mr. Hoyle was carrying 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 ' meeting 
 on Wednesday, September ioth, and earnestly invited all who 
 could possibly come to attend. An all-day meeting was some- 
 thing 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 reviv- 
 ing power of God's love, and had made this meeting a matter 
 of earnest prayer, knew that it would not, could not fail. Ac- 
 cording to their faith it was done unto them. Wednesday 
 morning broke clear and beautiful. It was a day when all 
 nature seemed to be rejoicing in the glad sunshine of the great 
 Father's beneficence. 
 
 At ten o'clock, the hour for the service to commence, the 
 wide area of Rye-hill Chapel was about half filled, and the peo- 
 ple coming in quickly. By eleven o'clock the friends from 
 Sunderland, Shields, Jarrow, and neighboring towns, had come 
 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 63 
 
 in by train, and had occupied nearly the whole of the area. At 
 twelve o'clock the message came, " No 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 abundantly 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 dis- 
 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 Nehemiah 
 viii., 1-12, where it is stated that ' ; all the people gathered them- 
 selves together as one man. . . . and they spake 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 home to the hearts 
 of the people the joyous truth contained in the tenth verse, 
 where Ezra said to the people, " Go your way. eat the 
 fat, and drink 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. Hoyle, Mr. Swinburne, and several of the brethren 
 spoke from the Word of God on the subject of Christian joy, 
 and the hour of prayer and Bible-reading 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 
 
66 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 biogra- 
 phers — 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 promises, 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 fullness of his love 
 the Father has promised to all. 
 
 The interest of the meeting had been steadily rising, as one 
 Scriptural topic after another had been most delightfully un- 
 folded, when the last hour was reached, and appropriately given 
 to the subject of Heaven. 
 
 The address was given by Mr. Moody. Having selected 
 numerous passages of Scripture to prove his points, Mr. Moody 
 asked some of the brethren present to read them out as he 
 called for them. This was a delightful picture — a crowded 
 chapel — hundreds of open Bibles ready to be marked 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 upward when he was addressing God ? God 
 was everywhere, and his home was just as likely to be below as 
 above." This set Mr. Moo.dy 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 com- 
 muning 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 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 6j 
 
 on the morning of the ascension why they stood gazing up into 
 heaven ; the same Jesus that had been taken up 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 ? 
 
 (i) The Father is there. Heaven is the home, the dwelling- 
 place of God. No home is complete without the father ; and 
 no family is complete unless they can include the father amcng 
 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) Jesus 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 longing eyes, because there, if 
 not before, we shall see him 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 perfect. 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 
 communion 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. O 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 
 
63 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 injunction, 
 and seek "to lay up treasure in heaven." It will be there all 
 safe when we want it ; for there neither moth nor rust cloth 
 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 labor ; 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 compensation below ; he will not get it. 
 Heaven — and in heaven he 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. Our names have gone on 
 before us. Just as a man sends his goods often before him 
 when he is traveling, and he himself follows 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 point, quoted the example which the life of- 
 Paul gives us of a man who conceived of the present being a 
 life of service, and not of rest. The speaker's soul seemed to 
 be set on fire with the thought of Paul's labors and consecrated 
 ambition to serve the Master ; with words of true eloquence he 
 described the sacred passion which Paul had for his Master's 
 work, and wound up a splendid panegyric on Paul's character, 
 by wishing that modern Christianity could be imbued with 
 some of Paul's fervor. 
 
 The last point of this noble address was, " How to get to 
 heaven." And here Mr. Moody found an opportunity for doing 
 that which is so dear to his heart, namely, preaching the Gospel 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 69 
 
 of Christ to sinful men. The address which throughout had 
 been interspersed with touching and beautiful illustrations, and 
 now and again by Mr. Sankey singing, was brought to a close 
 with an earnest appeal to all " to become as little children, and so 
 enter the kingdom of heaven." Once more, as it had been many 
 times that day, was our dear brother Sankey's voice heard giv- 
 ing his beautiful rendering 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 " meeting, but, thank God, not thus ended the 
 memory of it ; that will live till the last year of our lives, and 
 many a soul traveling home to God will think of it as one of 
 the deep 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 overflowing, 
 and many souls went away having found peace in Jesus. 
 
 Let the following incident, reported by Henry Moorhouse, 
 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 ? " said my friend. 
 
 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 him in." 
 
 She had been at a meeting a week before, and had been in 
 a miserable state ever since. A Christian lady called to see 
 her and told her about the love of Jesus. She trusted, and was 
 saved. " I saw her to-day," said the speaker, " as happy and 
 bright as possible." 
 
70 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Boyd, Presbyterian minister of the 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 fort- 
 night ago, he would not have believed it. Even with all this 
 before 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 
 apparent causes of success, we are struck with the following : 
 First, the preparation of united, believing prayer. Mr. Moody 
 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 actio?i 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, representing 
 various shades of denominational belief, but merging all differ- 
 ences 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 best and most successful prayer-meetings ever 
 held in 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 utter 
 
BEGINNINGS ABROAD. 7 I 
 
 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-meet- 
 ings 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 the 
 pastor, proved altogether inadequate to accommodate the 
 throngs, 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 Jesus 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 ; 
 
72 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 uncon- 
 verted • but what shall be said as to that which has rested upon 
 the Christians ? It has been a time of drawing together such 
 as we have not known anything of before. Ministers 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 Him we may honor 
 His blessed name. 
 
 " Never shall we forget Mr. Moody's farewell address. He 
 would not say ' Good-bye ! ' No ! ' Good-night ' rather, and 
 meet them all in the morning, in the dawn of eternal day. 
 Then strong men bowed and wept out their 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 arms of love in prayer to our heavenly Father, the 
 Jubilee Singers singing thereupon, ' Shall we meet beyond the 
 River ? ' Then came the benediction. The business was 
 over, and the grand occasion past, the memory thereof to die 
 no more. 
 
 '? Although our friends took leave thus of the country 
 brethren, they tarried with us, the people of Newcastle, yet a 
 while. On that Wednesday night, Thursday night, and 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 three 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 meeting 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." 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 73 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE WORD IN EDINBURGH. 
 
 Reports of the wonderful interest reached Scotland, and 
 Edinburgh heard the story. " Rev. Mr. Kelman went twice to 
 Newcastle to see if' the reports of what they heard were true. 
 He returned overflowing with joy, and full of glowing expecta- 
 tions for Scotland." He spread the tidings ; his report was 
 believed, and ministers and laymen united in inviting the evan- 
 gelists to Edinburgh. 
 
 On Sunday, the 23d of November, they began their work in 
 the Music Hall, with two thousand present, and other thousands 
 seeking admission in vain. The next day five hundred met at 
 noon to pray, and soon the attendance at the daily prayer- 
 meeting exceeded a thousand. An all-day meeting 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. Mr. Moody went out 
 and addressed the thousands in the open air, and returned and 
 spoke to two thousand within, the 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 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 repre- 
 senting that Mr. Moody had not the confidence of his brethren 
 at home. Measures were taken to sift this evil rumor to the 
 4 
 
74 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BPvITAIN. 
 
 bottom. Accordingly in response to inquiries from abroad, 
 the following endorsement was proposed and sent to Scotland : 
 
 Chicago, May 21st, 1874. 
 
 We, the undersigned, Pastors of the City of Chicago, learn- 
 ing that the Christian character of D. L. Moody has been 
 attacked, for the purpose of destroying his influence as an Evan- 
 gelist in Scotland, hereby certify that his labors 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 commend him as an 
 earnest Christian worker, worthy of the confidence of our Scotch 
 and English brethren, with whom he is now laboring; believing 
 that the Master will be honored by them in so receiving him 
 among them as a co-laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. 
 
 A. J. Jutkins, Presiding Elder of Chicago Dist. 
 
 C. H. 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. H. Daniels, Pastor Park Avenue M. E. Church. 
 
 Sanford Washburn, Pastor Halsted St. Ch., Methodist 
 Episc. 
 
 C. G. Trusdell, Gen. Supt Chicago Relief and Aid Society. 
 
 Wm. F. Stewart, Sec. Preachers' Aid Society. 
 
 G. L. S. Stuff, Pastor Fulton St. M. E. Church. 
 
 T. P. Marsh, Pastor Austin M. E. Church. 
 
 Lewis Meredith, Pastor Oakland M. E. Church. 
 
 Arthur Mitchell, Pastor First Presb. Ch. 
 
 Glen Wood, Western Sec. American Tract Society. 
 
 C. D. Helmer, Pastor Union Park Congregational Church. 
 
 Arthur . Swazey, Pastor Ashland Avenue Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 Rev. N. F. Ravlin. Pastor Temple Ch. 
 
 A. G. Eberhart, Asst. Pastor. 
 
 

 THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 75 
 
 David J. Burrel, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church. 
 
 David Swing, Fourth Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Edward P. Goodwin, Pastor of First Cong. Church. 
 
 L. T. Chamberlain, Pastor of New England Cong. 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. Goodspeed, Second Baptist Ch. 
 
 W. A. Bartlett, Plymouth Cong. Ch. 
 
 R. W. Patterson, Second Presbyterian Ch. 
 
 W. W. Everts, First Baptist Ch. 
 
 State of Illinois, Cook County, ) 
 City of Chicago. ) 
 
 W. W. Vanarsdale, being first duly sworn upon oath, says 
 that he is the Superintendent of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association of the city of Chicago, Illinois, and that he knows 
 the foregoing signatures to be genuine. 
 
 W. W. VANARSDALE. 
 Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
 this 26th day of May, 1874. 
 
 Isaac H. Pedrick, JVbfary Public. 
 
 Thus the temporary aspersion was removed, and he was 
 nobly vindicated as a true, honest, earnest man of God. 
 
 The Tide Rising. 
 
 We are- having a very good time here just now, under the 
 preaching of Mr. Moody and the singing of Mr. Sankey. 
 
 We" are all delighted with them; ministers of all denomina- 
 tions are joining cordially in the work, and God is indeed work- 
 ing graciously. About 2,000 are out every night hearing; 
 many more come and cannot get into the church. Two 
 churches are to be opened. simultaneously each night next week. 
 
 The singing of Mr. Sankey lays the gospel message and 
 invitation very distinctly and powerfully on the consciences of 
 
J 6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 the people ; and Mr. Moody's gospel is clear, earnest, distinct, 
 and well illustrated — telling of death and resurrection — the 
 " Gospel of God." He is a first-rate workman, and very prac- 
 tical, and God has been blessing his preaching. 
 
 Every evening there have been a number of souls coming 
 .into the inquiry rooms ; but last night, when preaching on " the 
 Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost," the 
 Spirit seemed to be working in special power, and old Formal- 
 ity got his neck broken, and the wounded and weeping souls 
 came into the inquiry meeting in droves. I had to speak at 
 one time to seven all at once, because there was more corn than 
 reapers; and others were similarly circumstanced. I saw Mr. 
 Moody all the evening with generally more than one. Three 
 rooms were open for inquirers, and I don't know what they had 
 in the others, but we had about forty names on the paper at the 
 close, of those we conversed with in our room. ■ Mr. Moody 
 keeps with us in the elders' vestry. Others, who are less sus- 
 ceptible and can stand at doors, do so, and lay hold of the peo- 
 ple as they retire. About one hundred, I should think, were 
 spoken with privately last night, and numbers of them decided 
 for Christ. About ten did so (or professed to do so), in con- 
 versation with myself. May the Divine Spirit make it a grand 
 reality to their souls that Christ is theirs ! On Tuesday night 
 I had seven who professed conversion. 
 
 On Wednesday I fought away with two only, both chronic 
 cases, deep in the mire of their own thoughts, and feelings, and 
 reasonings, and I left them very much the same as I found 
 them. (One of them has been saved.) This was, I suppose, 
 to teach me this lesson, that it is altogether God's work to save, 
 and man is powerless. 
 
 This experience made me go out next night with Jesus' word 
 on my lips, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fast- 
 lug;" prayer is the symbol of our dependence upon God, and 
 fasting is the symbol of " no confidence in the flesh " — or self- 
 renunciation. No devil has so powerful a hold of an anxious 
 soul but that prayer and fasting will cast him out in the name 
 of Jesus. 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 77 
 
 Our noon prayer-meeting is welt attended ; about 700 are 
 out daily, and there is a remarkable quickening and earnestness 
 among ministers and Christians generally. I know Edinburgh 
 well, and I am safe to say that I never knew a time when there 
 was a greater appearance of harmony among Christians ; unity 
 among the Lord's workers ; and humble, prayerful waiting upon 
 God for blessing. 
 
 On Friday there was much blessing to Christians, and num- 
 bers of souls were also brought in. On that evening we had 
 delightful work in the inquiry meeting, and, I think, I had about 
 half-a-dozen I had good hope of. One was specially interest- 
 ing, a stranger from beyond Stirling. She was passing through, 
 came to the meeting, heard, was awakened, came into the 
 inquiry meeting, and into my hands, along with a girl of twelve, 
 and both professed to see the way of salvation. This woman 
 was astonished to hear that she had just to believe what she 
 read there to be saved. She said, " Is that all ? have I only to 
 believe?" " Just to believe that forgiveness is yours as a gift 
 from God." "Then I do believe." "Then God says you are 
 justified from all things." 
 
 Large numbers were out again last night, and we had a 
 meeting for inquirers at the Free Assembly Hall. About forty 
 confessed that they were new converts, and about forty stood 
 up as anxious to be saved, and were asked to go to the other 
 side of the hall, where they were conversed with. 
 
 I got down beside a young lady whom I saw anxious in the 
 inquiry meeting, but did not have the opportunity of speaking 
 to her, and kept at work for an hour with her over the Word of 
 God. I could not tell you at length the deep interest of this 
 case ; but at the close I had some hope that she has divine life 
 and will yet get liberty. 
 
 A beautiful incident happened as I was speaking to her. A 
 young girl bounded up to us and said, with an overflowing joy, 
 " I am the girl you spoke to at the Barclay Church and gave the 
 book to ; now I am just going, but could not leave without 
 coming to tell you that I have found Jesus." 
 
 We had a very sweet meeting at noon to-day. Mr. Moody 
 
7 8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 gave us the prayers that God does not answer — Moses, Elijah, 
 Paul. I pointed out to him afterward, to his great delight, that 
 Moses' prayer was answered, to see the land 1483 years after- 
 ward, but not as in the midst of Israel, but in better company, 
 with Jesus in the midst, on the mount of transfiguration ; and 
 he saw the land in the light of the glory of Christ. And when 
 he returned he did not care a bit for the land. He was all 
 taken up with Christ, and instead of speaking of it or the goodly 
 mountain and Lebanon, he and Elias spake to Him of His 
 decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem, the thing 
 nearest his heart. That is the sight we, too, shall get of it (if 
 we do not see it now) when 'He comes in his glory, and all his 
 saints with Him. 
 
 We have had a most impressive address from Mr. Moody 
 this evening on the text, " Where art thou f " He spoke very 
 solemnly to Christians, and said if they were to wake up, Edin- 
 burgh would be filled with awakening from one end to the other, 
 inside of forty-eight hours. Then he spoke to sinners, and it 
 was most alarming. The three steps to hell, he said, were — 
 
 1. Neglect ; 2. Refuse ; 3. Despise. 
 
 He told them, even weeping, of their danger, and besought 
 them to get the question settled now. Ah, it is that tender, 
 weeping power in dear Mr. Moody, that is so overwhelming to 
 sinners. He is now preaching in one of the best and largest 
 churches of the New Town, and yet he has been quite as faith- 
 ful as when among the poor last week in the Old Town ; and 
 there have been some marked cases of awakening. Mr. San- 
 key's singing of " Jesus of Nazareth" had a fine effect upon 
 them. I saw it striking in upon the hearts of many ; and many 
 weeping eyes told of its power. A widow in front of me, with 
 her little boy by her side, was moved deeply, and publicly 
 addressed by Mr. Moody, listened with very wistful eyes; and 
 both of them came to the second meeting. I was anxious about 
 the result of the inquiry meeting in that church, and they were 
 rather long in coming in, but it turned out nearly as good as 
 before. About fifty were conversed with this first night, and 
 there seemed to be quite a number that believed. 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 79 
 
 The first I got hold of was a working man ; and after show- 
 ing him in the Word the way of life and peace, and getting him 
 to decide, he said : 
 
 "My wife's here." 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " Sitting there by herself." 
 
 " Please bring her here." 
 
 She, too, professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they 
 went home together believing. 
 
 Then I got a youth about eighteen in a terrible state of 
 anxiety, and wrought with him a long time, and though hopeful, 
 I do not know that he sees clearly ; but he lives near me, and 
 I hope to see him again to-morrow. The life is in, I believe, 
 but he wants liberty. 
 
 Then I got a word with about a dozen besides, and gave 
 them books. 
 
 I saw three all at once profess Christ in Mr. Moody's hands. 
 
 But there were chronic cases that baffled the whole of us, 
 and after ten o'clock there was a man in a corner to whom Mr. 
 Gall had spoken all night, who was all but desperate with con- 
 viction, Mr. Moody prayed with him, and he was bowed dovyn 
 and weeping, but he had to leave him still in bondage, showing 
 how entirely it is God's work to set a soul free. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang " Jesas of Nazareth pass eth by" There 
 was a power in it ; many wept. At the close I had three or 
 four anxious sinners, and about as many anxious saints. Mr. 
 Moody had a goodly number professing faith in his hands. 
 Others also were busy. I had some interesting cases of saints 
 in darkness who again got light. Just as I was leaving, Mr. 
 Moody put into my hands a young lady who had been conversed 
 with by one and another all the evening ; and just as I spoke the 
 very last word I intended to speak to her, her face was lighted up 
 with joy, and she said, " I now trust in the Lord Jesus." Dr. 
 Thomson remarked as we were coming out, that he thought 
 it had been a night of more solid work than any we have yet 
 had. One good thing in being in one of the New Town 
 churches is, that " the poor rich," as a noble worker calls them, 
 
80 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 have got a chance for their souls. The most respectable men 
 and women have been plentiful in the meeting, and not absent 
 from the inquiry rooms. The poor have far more privileges 
 and opportunities of being saved than the better classes. But 
 they, too, are getting a chance now ; and we have seen some 
 marked instances of salvation among them. We returned home, 
 praising God for his grace and blessing. 3 
 
 I have observed that Mr. Moody speaks to inquirers with 
 an open Bible in his hands, fixing them down to the Word 
 of God, and anchoring their souls on the living rock of the Holy 
 Scriptures. He also gets them to their knees in prayer ; and 
 I have seen them rising from his side by twos and threes, wiping 
 their eyes, and smiling through their tears, confessing Christ. 
 
 Dr. Thomson said, " I think there could not have been 
 fewer than one hundred inquirers here to-night, and I think 
 more have professed faith in Christ than any night" It was 
 very cheering to see the great heartiness with which Dr. Thom- 
 son entered into the work of the inquirers' meeting : and also to 
 see other ministers there, in considerable force, from his own 
 church and other churches engaged in pointing sinners to Christ. 
 Having been every night at work for an hour and a half in the 
 inquiry meeting, and judging of the work from seeing about 
 forty come to Christ in my own hands, I judge that the Lord is 
 doing marvellous things among us, whereof we are glad. 
 
 Seven professed faith in Christ all at one time in one com- 
 pany, and we had a conviction that it was reality in at least 
 four of them. On Friday night, after Mr. Moody's solemn 
 word, there seemed to be a great smashing up of souls (as Mr. 
 RadclirTe used to call it), and among others, a lady came into 
 my hands from San Francisco, California, here for the healing 
 of her body ; and her trouble was that the Spirit, she thought, 
 had left her. We showed that her anxiety to be saved and her 
 clinging to Christ were evidences to the contrary; and she 
 left after ten minutes' conversation in a state of blessed eman- 
 cipation and comfort. She was brought to me by one who got 
 out of bondage the night before ; and I said, " Perhaps you will, 
 be bringing two each on Sunday night." 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. gj 
 
 The last case we dealt with on Friday night was the most 
 solemn we have seen, except that man who was specially prayed 
 for in the noon-day meeting the other day, and saved that night. 
 This was a young woman weeping floods of tears. She com- 
 plained of a hard heart, and -feared the scorn of the ungodly 
 when she went home ; she faintly professed faith in Christ. 
 
 I felt such an interest in this girl that I could not sleep 
 without sending her a line by post, inviting her to come next 
 day that my wife might read the Scriptures with her, and tell 
 her more about the Lord Jesus. She came : I was at a meet- 
 ing I have on Saturday evening. We made special prayer for 
 her, and the person who led us seemed to get near to God, and 
 we had a conviction that we were heard. It was so ; for on 
 my return home, I was met with the cheering intelligence, 
 " The girl has been here : I have read with her for nearly two 
 hours ; and she has just left, saved and happy. She said she 
 faintly believed last night, as you said, but she is now at 
 liberty, and says she never saw the fullness and freeness of 
 salvation as she sees it now. Her eyes were red and swollen 
 with weeping last night ; but she was looking bright and smi- 
 ling ; and the only tears she wept were tears of expressed 
 gratitude that Jesus had received her, and that we had been so 
 interested in her as to care for her for Jesus' sake as we had 
 done." We have seen her since, and she is looking unto Jesus ; 
 but her demeanor is quiet and subdued, and she looks as one 
 would do who had just escaped from drowning, or from a terri- 
 ble railway collision. 
 
 We have had a meeting to-day for parents and children. It 
 assembled — about 2,000 were present ; the parents got a good 
 word. Our dear brother Sankey's singing happily gave the 
 Gospel to the children in a number of gospel. hymns. 
 
 Mr. Moody addressed parents from Deut. iv. 5-1 1 ; v. 29 ; 
 vi. 7. Some young people think they hear too much about 
 Christ and salvation from their parents, but here they have 
 authority from God to speak of them, morning, noon, and 
 night ; when lying down and rising up ; when sitting in the 
 house and walking by the way. There should be the most 
 
82 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 diligent instruction of the young by parents, storing their minds 
 with the Word of God. 
 
 Then from Mark x. 13-17 he addressed the children, and 
 said that this is the only time when Christ was said to be 
 much displeased. He told of the daughter of an infidel dying 
 in peace, after being only five weeks at the Sunday school. 
 Also, of a boy of twelve, who heard Dr. Chalmers preach, and 
 came, at the close of the service, and said he had nothing to 
 give, but he would give himself to Christ. He did so, and has 
 been the means in our country of establishing many Sabbath- 
 schools, with tens of thousands of scholars, and out of them 
 have grown as many as thirty-eight churches, in which are 
 many precious souls saved and happy, all through this boy 
 coming to Christ and giving himself to Him. 
 
 Dr. Thomson said : I should consider it a very superflu- 
 ous work to say anything of the trustworthiness of these excel- 
 lent men. They have come among us not as unknown adven- 
 turers without " letters of commendation," but as long-tried and 
 honored laborers in the fields of evangelism in their own 
 country, and more recently in Newcastle and other towns in the 
 north of England, where there appears to have been a pente- 
 costal blessing in which every denomination of Christians has 
 shared. And the ministers, and elders, and deacons of our 
 different churches that have gathered around them every even- 
 ing, and shared with them in their blessed work, prove the 
 confidence in which they are held by those in whom the Christian 
 people of Edinburgh are accustomed to place confidence. 
 
 The service of song conducted by Mr. Sankey, in which 
 music is used as the handmaid of a Gospel ministry, has 
 already been described in your columns. I have never found 
 it objected to except by those who have not witnessed it. 
 Those who have come and heard, have departed with their 
 prejudices vanquished and their hearts impressed. We might 
 quote, in commendation of this somewhat novel manner of 
 preaching the Gospel, the words of good George Herbert : 
 
 " A verse may win him who the Gospel flies, 
 And turn delight into a sacrifice." 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 83 
 
 There is nothing of novelty in the doctrine which Mr. 
 Moody proclaims. It is the old Gospel — old, yet always fresh 
 and young, too, as the living fountain or the morning sun — in 
 which the substitution of Christ is placed in the centre and pre- 
 sented with admirable distinctness and decision. It is spoken 
 with impressive directness, not as by a man half convinced and 
 who seems always to feel that a skeptic is looking over his 
 shoulder, but with a deep conviction of the truth of what he 
 says, as if, like our own Andrew Fuller, he could " venture his 
 eternity on it," and with a tremendous earnestness, as if he felt 
 that " if he did not speak the very stones would cry out.'' The 
 illustrations and anecdotes, drawn principally from his strangely- 
 varied life, are so wisely chosen, so graphically told, and so 
 well applied as never to fail in hitting the mark. 
 
 I wish once more to call attention to one essential feature 
 in the action of these good men — the daily noon-day meeting 
 for prayer. It began some weeks ago in an upper room in 
 Queen Street Hall. That was filled after a few days. Next it 
 was transferred to Queen Street Hall, which is capable of hold- 
 ing 1,200 persons. It was not long ere this became over- 
 crowded, and now there are full meetings every day in the Free 
 Assembly Hall, which is capable of holding some hundreds 
 more. It is a fact with a meaning in it, that simultaneously 
 with the increase in the noon-day meeting for prayer has been 
 the increase in attendance in Broughton Place Church at the 
 evening addresses, and also in the number of inquirers after- 
 wards. Before the end of last week every inch of standing- 
 ground in our large place of worship was occupied with eager 
 listeners, and hundreds were obliged to depart without being 
 able to obtain so much as a sight, of the speaker. The number 
 of inquirers gradually rose from fifty to a hundred per night, 
 and on Monday evening this week, when the awakened and 
 those who professed to have undergone the " great change " 
 were gathered together in our church hall, to be addressed by 
 Mr. Moody no other persons being admitted, there were nearly 
 three hundred present, and even these were only a part of the 
 fruits of one week. I wish to give prominence to the state- 
 
84 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 ment that the persons who conversed with the perplexed and in- 
 quiring were ministers, elders, and deacons, and qualified pri- 
 vate members of our various churches ; and also Christian 
 matrons and Bible-women, as far as their valuable services 
 could be secured. 
 
 And now, at the close of the week of special services in 
 Broughton Place Church, I wish to repeat the statement in your 
 paper which I made on Monday in the Assembly Hall, that 
 there is no week in my lengthened ministry upon which I look 
 back with such grateful joy. I would not for the wealth of a 
 world have the recollection of what I have seen and heard during 
 the past week blotted out from my memory. When Howe was 
 Chaplain to Cromwell at Whitehall, he became weary of the 
 turmoil and pomp of the palace, and wrote to his " dear and 
 honored brother," Richard Baxter, telling him how much he 
 longed to be back again to his beloved work at Torrington. 
 " I have devoted myself," he said, " to serve God in the work 
 of the ministry, and how can I want the pleasure of hearing 
 their cryings and complaints who have come to me under con- 
 victions." I have shared with many beloved brethren during 
 the past week in this sacred pleasure, and it is like eating of 
 angels' bread, first to hear the cry of conviction, and yet more to 
 hear at length the utterance of the joy of reconciliation and peace ! 
 
 I was much struck by the variety among the inquirers. 
 There were present from the old man of seventy-five to the 
 youth of eleven, soldiers from the Castle, students from the Uni- 
 versity, the backsliding, the intemperate, the skeptical, the rich 
 and the poor, the educated and the uneducated ; and in how 
 many instances were the wounded healed and the burdened 
 released ! 
 
 It may be encouraging to Christian parents and teachers to 
 be told that very much of this marvellous blessing, when once 
 begun in a house, has spread through the whole family, and 
 those who already had the knowledge of divine truth in their 
 minds by early Christian education, formed by far the largest 
 proportion of the converts. The seed was there sleeping in the 
 soil, which the influence from above quickened into life. 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 8$ 
 
 There was a considerable number of skeptics among the 
 inquirers, but their speculative doubts and difficulties very 
 soon became of no account when they came to have a proper 
 view of their sins. Some have already come to tell me of 
 their renunciation of unbelief, and their discipleship to Christ. 
 One has publicly announced that he can no longer live in the 
 ice-house of cold negations, and has asked Mr. Moody to pub- 
 lish the address which brought light to his heart, and to circu- 
 late it far and wide over the land. 
 
 I witnessed no excesses in the inquiry rooms, but there was 
 often deep and melting solemnity, sometimes the sob of sorrow, 
 and the whispered prayer of contrition or gratitude. There 
 must, however, occur at times imprudent things and excesses 
 in connection with even the best works that have imperfect 
 though good men employed about them. But cold criticism 
 that is in search of faults, or ultra-prudence that attempts noth- 
 ing from fear of making mistakes, is not the temper in which to 
 regard such events. I would not dare to take either of these 
 positions, " lest haply I should be found to be fighting against 
 God." 
 
 I have already expressed my high appreciation of Mr. 
 Moody's manner of addressing. If some think that it wants 
 the polished elegance of certain of our home orators, it has 
 qualities that are far more valuable ; and even were it otherwise, 
 the great thing is to have the gospel of the grace of God clearly 
 and earnestly preached to the multitudes who are crowding 
 every night to listen to him. When the year of jubilee came in 
 ancient times among the Jews, I suspect the weary bond-slave 
 or the poor debtor cared little whether it was proclaimed to 
 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 
 
86 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey of America, but they very earnestly 
 besought the Lord that He would deliver them from depending 
 upon them, or on any instrumentality, and that He himself 
 would come with them, or come before them. He has gra- 
 ciously answered that prayer, and 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 
 Hall, the largest public building in Edinburgh, is crowded every 
 day at noon with a meeting for prayer ; 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 
 and the power of the Holy Ghost, the solemn awe, the prayer- 
 ful, believing, expectant spirit, the anxious inquiry of unsaved 
 souls, and the longing of believers to grow more like Christ, — 
 their 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. 
 
 " Another proof of the Holy Spirit's presence is, that a 
 desire has been felt and expressed in these meetings, that all 
 Scotland should share the blessing that the capital is now 
 enjoying. 
 
 " It is impossible that our beloved friends from America 
 should visjt 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 He is truly invited. He is 
 waiting. The Lord's people in Edinburgh, therefore, would 
 affectionately entreat all their brethren throughout the land to 
 be importunate in invoking Him to come to them, and dismiss 
 all doubt as to His being willing to do so. 
 
 "The week of prayer, from 4th to nth January next, affords 
 a favorable opportunity for combined action. In every town 
 and hamlet let there be a daily meeting for prayer during 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 be pleasing to meet together in faith at the 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 8j 
 
 throne of grace. But let the prayers not be formal, unbelieving, 
 unexpecting, but short, fervent, earnest entreaties, mingled with 
 abounding praise and frequent short exhortations ; 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, the God who has filled our national 
 history with the wonders of His love, will come again and sur- 
 prise even the strongest believers by the unprecedented tokens 
 of His grace. ' Call unto me and I will answer thee and show 
 thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not' " 
 
 This was signed by thirty-eight ministers of all denom- 
 inations. 
 
 Mr. Moody addressed some special meetings in Free 
 Assembly Hall. 
 
 On Sabbath morning, December 14, he addressed the 
 young men of the Sabbath-morning Fellowship Union. 
 
 On Friday, December 19, he preached to young men on 
 being born again. 
 
 On Sabbath morning, December 21, he addressed Sabbath- 
 school teachers. 
 
 The same evening he preached to the students of Edinburgh 
 University and the New College, on " There is no difference." 
 This was one of the most magnificent sights I have ever wit- 
 nessed. On the platform with him were numbers of professors 
 of both colleges, and I believe, the majority of the students. 
 The hall was densely crowded, and I question 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 quietness. He commanded that immense 
 meeting of about two thousand men, as no man on that plat- 
 form, save Dr. Duff, could have done. The living power of 
 God's Holy Spirit was felt giving the word, and laying convic- 
 tion 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 gales,' gave a spirit- 
 
88 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 ual finish to the whole that had been spoken. It was an oppor- 
 tunity such as no man ever before enjoyed here ; and we can- 
 not 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 persons belonging to the poorer classes. 
 The Rev. Mr. Morgan opened this meeting with prayer. 
 
 Mr. Moody began his address by telling the well-known 
 story about Rowland Hill and Lady Erskine. Her ladyship 
 was driving past 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. Rowland Hill, seeing her ap- 
 proach, asked who she was, and when he was told, he said 
 there was a soul there for sale. Who would bid, he asked, for 
 Lady Erskine's soul ? There was Satan's offer. He would give 
 pleasure, honor, position, 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. 
 Orde^ng 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 Erskine, and accepted by her. 
 He brought out the freeness of the gospel offer, and the im- 
 portance 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 Assembly Hall, had 
 received Christ there, and was now professing himself a Chris- 
 tian 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 REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 89 
 
 the most extraordinary of all these meetings. Though there 
 were about 5,000 persons present, the most perfect order was 
 observed, and the deepest interest manifested in the proceedings. 
 After this meeting was over, hundreds pressed up to the Free 
 Assembly Hall, and when the question was put if there were 
 any there anxious about their souls and desiring to be saved, 
 the whole body rose to their feet in answer 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 sentiments that 
 formed the themes of the addresses by which they were pre- 
 ceded. 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 
 
90 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 thousand 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 imme- 
 diate relief to burdened, unclear, and legal Christians, of whom 
 we have crowds. 
 
 His mind has evidently been in contact with clear Scrip- 
 ture 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 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 9 1 
 
 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 Gospel 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 ex- 
 traordinary, 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 expecting 
 when all the disciples of Christ are continuing with one accord 
 in prayer and supplications, and in dependence in 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 
 effort 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 se- 
 cretly and openly, He 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 pentecos- 
 tally 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 we do, if there 
 had been an entire exclusion of " the flesh " and a total self- 
 
 i 
 
92 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 meetings flat 
 when he is absent but the want of a quality he possesses ? 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 ? 
 
 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 acknowl- 
 edge 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. He may be devoid of rhet 
 oric (and that, we suppose, is meant), and he may use his free 
 dom in extemporizing grammar to suit himself, but withal 
 Moody is the most eloquent, as he is the 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 at- 
 traction 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 to 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 chil- 
 dren by the hundred in this city that boasts of its education, from 
 
 : 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND, 
 
 93 
 
 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, gener- 
 ous 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 
 sight to look back over the past eight weeks and think of men 
 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 rejoiced 
 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 Chris- 
 tians of all the churches — all sectarian thoughts and feelings 
 being buried — as has never been witnessed in this 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 preach- 
 ing 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 
 
94 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 '*(i Chron. xii. 38) ; 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 cru- 
 cified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him " hath 
 been " shed forth this which ye now see and hear." " This was 
 the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is 
 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 be saved" (Acts iv. 10-12). 
 "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This 
 
 IS THE DAY WHICH THE LORD HATH MADE. We will be glad 
 
 and rejoice in it " (Ps. viii. 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 conducting 
 meetings, and his dealing with souls, and, as a preacher gene- 
 rally stamps his own image upon his converts, we may hope to 
 see a brood of decided Christian witnesses and testifiers arising 
 out of this time of awakening, that will let it be known that the 
 glory of the Lord Jesus is the uppermost purpose 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 regarding 
 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. 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 95 
 
 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, " O clap your hands, all ye people : shout unto 
 God with the 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." 
 
 WHAT GOOD HAVE MESSRS. MOODY AND SANKEY DONE IN 
 EDINBURGH ? 
 
 This is a question which, in its inward aspect, can be 
 answered only by Him who knows the hearts of men ; but that 
 which is visible and apparent can be set down in writing. 
 
 For one thing, Mr. Moody has given the Bible its due 
 place of prominence, and has made it to be looked upon as the 
 most interesting book in the world. This is honoring the 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 " The Scriptures 
 cannot be broken ; " his own Bible lectures, which were so full 
 of Scripture, and helpful to hundreds of Christians ; his con- 
 stant reference to the Bible, and quotations from it in his 
 preaching; his moving about among the anxious with the open 
 Bible 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 be made ac- 
 quainted with the mind of Christ, all showed how much in 
 earnest he is to give due prominence to the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Mr. Moody has also given us a thorough specimen of good 
 
g6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Gospel preaching, both as to matter and manner of communica- 
 tion. 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 mere judicial manipulation and theoretically, but by 
 grace, power, and life coming in when men were dead, so that we 
 have not only sins blotted out by the blood of Christ, but deliv- 
 erance from sin in the nature by death and resurrection, and 
 life beyond death, so that a risen Christ is before us, and we in 
 Him. when it is said, " There is therefore, now no condemna- 
 tion to them which are in Christ Jesus." There is "justifica- 
 tion^/"/^" in his preaching, immediately that we are "justified 
 by His bloods 
 
 He has also distinguished with much decision and precision 
 between the Adam nature and the new creation in Christ, and 
 made it as clear as noon-day that salvation is not the mere set- 
 ting 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 the 
 mending of the old creation — is Mr. Moody's idea of Chris- 
 tianity : and it is the divine reality which many are now en- 
 joying. 
 
 This also leads to the Pauline theory of holiness, as preach- 
 ed by' him. He has imbibed very fully the theology of the 
 Epistle to the Romans on this 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 holi- 
 ness : — " For sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are 
 not under law, but under grace " (Rom. vi. 14) ; " But now we 
 are delivered from the law, that we should serve in newness of 
 spirit " (Rom. vii.). 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 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 97 
 
 righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the 
 flesh (that is, under law) " but after the Spirit " (Rom. viii. 4). 
 Kis clearness in distinguishing between law and grace has been 
 the lever of life to many souls. 
 
 " Our American brethren have also been of great use in show- 
 ing us what may be accomplished in the conversion of souls, if 
 the heart is only fully set upon it, and there is a determination 
 to have it. They came to us with that distinct aim and object 
 in view ; and the Lord gave them the desires of their hearts ; 
 and as the result hundreds of souls have professed salvation. 
 They gave themselves to " this one thing," and they stuck to it, 
 brushing aside all other things : even the conventional courte- 
 sies of life were made short work of by Mr. Moody if he spied 
 an anxious soul likely to escape. His friends might introduce 
 some notable stranger at the close of a meeting, and feel rather 
 annoyed that, instead of conversing with him or her, he darted 
 off in a moment to awakened souls ; but he made that his work, 
 and everything else had to be subordinate to it. " This one 
 thing I do," seems to be his life-motto ; 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 we shall have. 
 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. 16) ; a??d when they were endued with the 
 Holy Ghost and with power, they did " bring forth fruit " in the 
 conversion of souls (Acts ii. 41 ; iv. 4) ; and their fruit remained 
 (Acts ii. 42), and has done so, in the millions of souls saved 
 in all ages down to the present 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 
 
 5 
 
98 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 ? 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 mentioned 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 without men, 
 towards the close there were many young men who were 
 brought under the power of the truth. It is however, well 
 known that most young Scotsmen, from a variety of influences 
 and motives, even though converted, would rather 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 receiv- 
 ing 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 useful 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 absence, 
 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 obser- 
 vation daily in the inquiry-meeting, that there might be 1,500 
 souls converted, or who had professed to be converted, believ- 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 99 
 
 ing 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 col- 
 lapse, and the work may have to be done over again, and they 
 revived and set at liberty, because of the lack of teaching. 
 This has been our observation 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 all the precious truth of God with 
 regard to their place in a risen and glorified Christ, as Romans, 
 Ephesians, and Colossians, spiritually and competently ex- 
 pounded, 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. 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ON TO GLASGOW. 
 
 Five meetings in one day, at Berwick-on-Tweed, drew thou 
 sands 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 mighty 
 impulse was given to religion. 
 
 On their leaving Dundee, evangelistic services were 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 explanation, 
 there are always some who very gradually arrive at settled trust 
 and peace in Christ. As the result of the awakening, there have 
 been large additions to the membership of the churches — in 
 some congregations as many as one hundred and upward. 
 Great care has been taken in watching over the young Chris- 
 tians, and we do not know of any who have gone back. 
 
 On the occasion of the second visit of the evangelists to 
 Dundee, in June, when great open-air meetings were held in the 
 Barrack Park, Mr. Moody organized and set 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 Association carried out 
 the scheme with energy and success. In the course of two 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. IOI 
 
 weeks, upward of one hundred and thirty young men were indi- 
 vidually 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 Tele- 
 graph 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 com- 
 panions, 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 at 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 
 expect still greater and better things. 
 
 In regard to the work among the children, we have never 
 before seen so much precious fruit in the same space of time. 
 All the year round there has been great joy in many a family, 
 and in many a Sabbath-school. Nor has this joy proved to be 
 evanescent or fruitless. To this fact parents and teachers bear 
 decided testimony. Running parallel with the work of the 
 Holy Ghost, there has been a remarkable dispensation of Prov- 
 idence 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 the voices from above, the solemn 
 sound of Jordan's waters has no terrors. With marvellous 
 wisdom and force, these dying children gave forth their testi- 
 mony to Jesus and his grace. 
 
 While the immediate results of the work are exceedingly 
 precious, the value of its full outcome can scarcely be over- 
 
102 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 estimated : believers are refreshed and lifted higher — Christian 
 workers of every class having renewed their strength, and are 
 filled 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 the recent movement there comes to us a 
 loud and stirring call to go forward. Thanking God for the 
 past, and taking courage, we look into the future with heart of 
 good cheer ; for we 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 3000 Sabbath-school teachers and Christian workers 
 in the 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 neces- 
 sary to hold separate meetings for men and women, and even 
 then no building in Glasgow could be found large enough to 
 hold the congregations. The interest among the impenitent 
 was beyond precedent. It was another Pentecost. Again and 
 again 1000 inquirers remained after the sermon to be pointed 
 to Christ 
 
 During the six days beginning with Tuesday of last week, 
 the suburb of Hillhead 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 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. IO3 
 
 of the audience seemed to be young men of the middle classes. 
 On Friday the noon prayer-meeting was transferred to the Pal- 
 ace, 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 them- 
 selves to have been converted since January ist, 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 thousand five hundred had 
 received tickets on these conditions. As the Americans did 
 not arrive till six weeks after New Years, and as the tickets 
 were not exclusively for the frequenters 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 space between the Palace and the gate of the Botanic 
 Gardens. 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 
 * k Christian Convention," which Dr. Cairns declared to be "un- 
 paralleled in the history of the Scotch, perhaps of British 
 Christianity." It was reported that about five thousand were 
 present, of whom some two thousand were ministers and office- 
 bearers from Scotland and the North of England. 
 
 Now these are conspicuous facts, and challenge the respect- 
 ful 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 uninteresting to 
 me." Some have already photographed the humorous side of 
 
104 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 these religious assemblies, and proved what we dare say nobody 
 will deny, that some blemishes cleave to them. We are per- 
 suaded, however, that many of our readers will not be disinclined 
 to look at the higher aspects of "these wondrous gatherings day 
 by day ; " for we are not aware that so many large and represent- 
 ative" meetings have been drawn together in Glasgow by any 
 cause or interest whatever during the past century. Here is a 
 novel addition to the " May meetings " — a new General Assem- 
 bly, with representatives of almost every class of society and 
 every Protestant Church in the land. 
 
 The religious movement, of which these meetings are the 
 most outstanding manifestation, dates, so far as it met the pub- 
 lic eye from "the week of prayer " in the beginning of January. 
 The ministers and office-bearers of almost all the churches then 
 met, and formed a committee to arrange for united prayer- 
 meetings, and also for the expected visit of the American Evan- 
 gelists. The record of what was going on in the North of Eng- 
 land, and especially in Edinburgh, had previously inflamed, as 
 well as informed, many of the more receptive and sympathetic 
 souls. Tokens of growing interest had also been appearing in 
 many quarters ; and evangelistic services, such as those con- 
 ducted by Mr. Brownlow North and others, had indicated that 
 the spiritual thermometer was steadily rising. During the first 
 week of January St. George's Church was crowded at noon, 
 while the overflow was accommodated in Hope Street Free 
 Gaelic Church. After the first fortnight Wellington Street 
 United Presbyterian Church was made the centre, where, on 
 an average, about a thousand met daily for prayer. In the 
 second week of February, Messrs. Moody and Sankey began 
 their work among us ; and for the last three months they have 
 conducted meetings every day, with a few exceptions. The 
 mind experiences a sense of fatigue in detailing their efforts. 
 They certainly have not spared themselves. Here is something 
 like an average week-day's work : twelve to one o'clock, prayer- 
 meeting ; one to two o'clock, conversation with individuals ; 
 four to five o'clock, Bible lecture, attended by some twelve or 
 fifteen hundred ; seven to half-past eight o'clock, evangelistic 
 

 THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 105 
 
 meeting, with inquiry meeting at close ; nine to ten o'clock, 
 young men's meeting. The tale of some Sabbath-day's work 
 is even heavier : nine to ten o'clock, City Hall ; eleven to half- 
 past twelve o'clock, a church service ; five to seven o'clock, 
 women's ; seven to nine o'clock, men's meetings in City Hall. 
 Very few men possess, or at least exercise, such powers of ser- 
 vice ; though in addition to the aid from the realm beyond on 
 which true workers rely, we doubt not that congenial and suc- 
 cessful Christian work may sustain a man beyond any other 
 form of human effort. Admission to these meetings was usually 
 by ticket, a necessary precaution against perilous overcrowding. 
 The animated scenes of last week in the Botanic Gardens prove 
 that the interest has not waned, even after three months' use 
 and wont had worn off the edge of novelty. 
 
 Accepting this as a genuine Christian work, it may be worth 
 while to fix attention on some of its leading characteristics and 
 results. We would say here, in passing, that we cannot well 
 understand why some educated minds, without granting a hear- 
 ing, condemn religious revivals out-and-out on philosophical 
 grounds. Viewed on the human side, the philosophy of 
 revivals, as they term it, is just a department of the philoso- 
 phy of history. In no region has progress been uniformly 
 steady and gradual ; but it has been now and then by great 
 strides, by fits and starts, and such events as the Germans call 
 epoch-making. In all the affairs of men there have been tides 
 with full floods. Every channel along which human energies 
 pour themselves has had its "freshet." We are familiar with 
 revivals in trade, science, literature, arts, and politics. Times 
 of refreshing and visitation are not much more frequent in sacred 
 than in secular history ; and they indicate the most interesting 
 and fruitful periods in both. 
 
 To say that the work betrays some imperfections, and that 
 there have been many objectors, is only to say what has been just- 
 ly said of every great enterprise, civil and religious. But this 
 revival seems to be distinguished from all previous revivals by 
 the circumstance that it has been indorsed by something like 
 the catholic consent of the churches. From the outset, nearly 
 
I06 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 all our leading ministers, and not a few of our foremost laymen, 
 identified themselves with it. They sat and sang together on 
 the pulpit stairs and platform at the daily prayer-meeting. A 
 Highland member of the Free Church Presbytery lately pro- 
 tested against some of the accompaniments ; and in a court that 
 numbers about one hundred and fifty members, there was not 
 one to second his lament. One of our most conservative 
 churches— the Reformed Presbyterian — gave its unanimous and 
 cordial approval the other day at its Synod. 
 
 The unfriendly letter-writers fall into two classes. Some 
 sign themselves clergymen, and are much exercised about their 
 clerical status. If any in these days will make it their chief 
 concern to stand upon their official dignity, they shall find by- 
 and-by that they have not much ground to stand upon. No 
 evangelists, however, have come among us who have more 
 respected the position and influence of the ministers. Mr. 
 Moody's first statement at his first meeting in the City Hall was, 
 that he met with the Sabbath-school teachers first, because he 
 knew that no class would welcome him more heartily, with the 
 single exception of the ministers, and that it would be pre- 
 sumption in him to lecture them. The other class of unfriendly 
 critics write in the interest of intellectualism and culture in its 
 " broadest " sense. We suspect that the " sages," whose pro- 
 fession is. as one of themselves has said, that they are neither 
 great sinners nor great saints, are the enemies of revivals only 
 because they are the enemies of the things revived. Would 
 they object, for instance, to a revival that gave body and 
 popular attractions to the worn-out ideas which they commend 
 as the ne plus ultra of attainable truth ? At all events, it will 
 not do for them to say that only the women and the children 
 have been attracted, for there has been nightly a most impos- 
 ing muster of the vigorous manhood of our city, and the City 
 Hall has, been often found too small to accommodate the men 
 who flocked to some of the special services. 
 
 Mr. Moody is very fortunate in having such a colleague as 
 Mr. Sankey. He has enriched evangelistic work by something 
 approaching the discovery of a new power. He spoils the 
 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 I07 
 
 Egyptians of their finest music, and consecrates it to the ser- 
 vice of the tabernacle. Music in his hands is, more than it has 
 yet been, the handmaid of the Gospel, and the voice of the 
 heart. We have seen many stirred and melted by his singing 
 before a word had been spoken. Indeed, his singing is just a 
 powerful, distinct, and heart- toned way of speaking, that seems 
 often to reach the heart by a short cut, when mere speaking 
 might lose the road. Most people admit that the work has 
 been conducted in a very calm and sober-minded fashion. 
 Mr. Moody is credited with a large share of shrewdness and 
 common sense. He has not yielded to the temptations that 
 powerfully assail his class. He does not give himself out to be 
 coddled and petted by well-meaning but injudicious admirers. 
 We have not noticed in him that offensive affectation of supe- 
 rior piety that provoked a sarcastic acquaintance of ours to say 
 that some revivalists seemed to begin their story as Virgil 
 makes JEneas begin his, " I am the pious ^Eneas." He keeps 
 close to the essentials, and is free from such crotchets as often 
 narrow the sphere and destroy the influence of evangelists. It 
 is not irritation but balm, that he tries to bring to our religious 
 divisions. It must be owned that a premium has not been set 
 on the hysterical, the convulsive, and the sensational forms of 
 religious excitement. The proverbial weakness for numbers 
 has been more apparent in some of his sympathizers than in 
 himself. Nor does he make himself responsible for the reality 
 of every apparent conversion. He has set his face sternly 
 against the religious dissipation in which some of his most inde- 
 fatigable hearers rejoice. Novelty-hunters and marvel-mongers 
 have not been gratified. Sight-seers have been usually ex- 
 cluded from the meetings for inqi#ers, and only "workers" 
 have been admitted. That there has been nothing necessarily 
 repellant to thoughtful and educated people is proved by the 
 number of middle-class young men in sympathy, and by the fair 
 proportion of them at the " Converts' Meeting," and also by the 
 crowds of genteel people at the quiet afternoon Bible lectures. 
 Though he has introduced some novel methods, he has stuck 
 to the simple old truths, and his convictions are in entire 
 
jo8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 accord with Scottish orthodoxy. His straightforward, business- 
 like, slap-dash style gives a fascinating air of reality to all he 
 says, while his humor, capital hits, vivid and homely illustra- 
 tions, and now and again his deep feeling, seldom fail to rivet 
 the attention of his hearers. He has not a roundabout and far- 
 off way of handling divine things, and hence many accuse him 
 of abruptness, brusqueness, and undue familiarity. The 
 Christian life he commends is manly and genial, intense, and 
 yet not strained or twisted. These features go far to explain 
 what would be called in America his personal magnetism. 
 
 Many ask, " But will it last ? What is to come out of all 
 this ? " In Edinburgh, they say that since the Americans left, the 
 impression has been steadily increasing, and that it has entered 
 influential spheres almost untouched before. The summer 
 scatterings will severely test the reality of the movement, but 
 perhaps they may also scatter a share of the stimulus along 
 both sides of the Clyde. The avowed end from the first has 
 be§n that the ordinary congregational channels might be flushed 
 and flooded with fresh energy. Such extraordinary efforts are 
 most successful, though their success is less apparent when they 
 add new power to ordinary agencies. If this be the result, the 
 friends of the movement will have no cause for disappointment, 
 while its enemies will point to the absence of demonstrative ac- 
 companiments as a proof that it has entirely collapsed. 
 
 We may expect that something will be gained from the 
 experience of the past months. New methods of conduct- 
 ing meetings are already finding favor. Some may be in danger 
 of surrendering hastily their individuality, and adopting modes 
 of speech and action foreign to them. We may easily ascribe 
 too much to the new methods of the American evangelists. 
 Their success is due larger} 7 to the fact that they approach the 
 Scottish churches on the side on which they are weakest. It 
 would seem that Scottish styles are about as popular in America, 
 as American styles have proved in Scotland, and for the very 
 same reason. At the Evangelical Alliance in New York, the 
 speakers from our country were most appreciated, because they 
 were strong where Americans felt themselves to be weak. The 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. I09 
 
 career of Dr. Hall in New York is also a notable case in point. 
 By all means let us have more elasticity, and a greater readiness 
 to adopt and adapt whatever is serviceable. But, after all, new 
 methods will not help the churches a great deal. The surprise 
 and force of contrast soon wear off; and if men go too far for a 
 little in any direction, they take their revenge in abandoning 
 what formerly they overpraised. Age and repetition by-and-by 
 make the most skillful methods dull and conventional. The 
 grand need is far deeper — an inward vitality that makes men 
 and churches fresh, vigorous, and fruitful. If, as we are told, 
 multitudes in all the churches have been recently quickened, 
 new bottles should be made, as well as borrowed, for the new 
 wine. 
 
 Some confidently expect a more general co-operation of 
 Christians than has hitherto prevailed. Dr. James Hamilton's 
 quaint illustration has been so far verified. When the tide is 
 out, each shrimp has a little pool of salt water, which is to him 
 atl the ocean for the time being. But when the rising ocean 
 begins to lip over the margin of his lurking-place, one pool joins 
 another, their various tenants meet and mingle, and soon they 
 have ocean's boundless fields to roam in. It will be a pity if an 
 ebbing tide carries each back to his little narrow pool. 
 
 The relation of this work to the masses has been much 
 discussed. Those who blame Mr. Moody for not working 
 among them should remember that the tickets for all the meet- 
 ings were distributed by the ministers of each district, and that 
 in some cases the non-church-going had the preference. Recent 
 speeches in presbyteries and synods show that many are anx- 
 ious to give a home-mission direction to the movement. Quick- 
 ened life in presence of neglected multitudes must approve its 
 sincerity by zealous mission work. We hear that the committee 
 have already purchased a monster tent, capable of holding two 
 thousand, and that it will soon be one of their chief rallying- 
 points. The young ladies of the choir, who give invaluable aid, 
 are likely, it is said, to continue at their post. This would be 
 a very graceful and telling way of bringing together the East 
 and West Ends. Hundreds of young ladies with splendid 
 
IIO MOODY AND SAXKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 voices and an expensive musical education might thus find a 
 grateful relief from ennui, and a healthful substitute for other 
 excitements. The work among the masses gives them a fine 
 opportunity of gaining a recompense for all the trouble and 
 cost by which they have become gifted musicians. It will be 
 a new power to them, and to many preachers who can appreciate 
 such co-operation." 
 
 Says one : It seems to be generally admitted that the young 
 men have had the largest share of the blessing. Their case 
 from the very first was especially laid upon the hearts and con- 
 sciences of the praying people. Our spiritual dead among the 
 young men were carried forth like the dead son of the widow 
 of Nain. A widowed Church carried them forth with affection- 
 ate sorrow ; but not in despair, as Jesus of Nazareth was pass- 
 ing by, and His fame was in the land. At His bidding she 
 stood still, expecting His aid ; and many of our spiritual dead 
 heard His life-giving word, and were restored to the crown and 
 joy of the Church. I do not think that I have ever seen better 
 religious meetings than some of those young men's meetings." 
 
 Among the laborers at Glasgow was Brownlow North, Esq., 
 one of the wonderful men whom God has lately raised up to 
 propagate the Gospel outside the ordinary channels. We give 
 the following obituary notice : 
 
 The death of this distinguished lay preacher and evangelist 
 took place at Tillichewan, Dumbartonshire, on the 9th of No- 
 vember. " All that was interesting in his life to the Christian 
 community," says the Daily News, "began exactly twenty-one 
 years ago in November, 1854, when he was suddenly and over- 
 whelmingly arrested by the fear of death when playing at cards. 
 He was then forty-four years of age, and his previous life had 
 been such as to make him tremble at the prospect of death and 
 judgment. His talents were of a very high order, with the athletic 
 frame and vast energy he was fitted to take a foremost position 
 in any line of life he might have chosen. But, not requiring to 
 engage in professional pursuits, he gave himself to what seemed 
 to him a life of pleasure, and, in the highest sense of the word, 
 became a man of the world. But the cold hand of death, as 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. Ill 
 
 he took it to be, came upon him with a terrible arrest, he earn- 
 estly cried for mercy that night, next day he announced to his 
 family and friends that for the future he was a changed man, 
 and he immediately owned God in his house by daily prayer 
 and reading of the Scriptures. After many months he found 
 peace of conscience through our Lord Jesus Christ, set himself 
 to distribute tracts, and visit the sick and dying in his neigh- 
 borhood. Gradually this led to larger meetings, and then to 
 preaching in country churches, for which his Oxford studies 
 fitted him ; for he had been educated in the Church of England 
 but his conscience kept him from taking orders. After two or 
 three years he preached in Edinburgh to great crowds, and with 
 a very singular power. He had been carefully taught the grand 
 Bible truths regarding sin, redemption, and regeneration ; he 
 always stated them with great clearness and force. But at that 
 time his peculiar power above other preachers lay in his marvel- 
 lous unfolding of those two truths — the existence and presence of 
 the Living God, and the great eternity that is before every man. 
 These truths he did not hold, but was held by them, and was 
 borne onward with an irrepressible enthusiasm to communicate 
 them to every living man whom his words could reach. 
 
 After three months pf toil and conquest almost unparalleled 
 in the history of evangelization, the brethren turned their faces 
 to the North, having closed their campaign in the following way : 
 
 The last week has been a most impressive one. The 
 interest may be said to have culminated in the assemblages in 
 the Kibble palace. On Tuesday evening a fresh meeting of 
 women took place there; all classes and ages were largely 
 represented, and the bearing of the majority was most devout. 
 Although upward of five thousand were accommodated within the 
 building, the issue of tickets had been so liberal that nearly two 
 thousand more could not gain admittance, and were addressed 
 on the green outside by various clergymen. Even among those 
 who could hear nothing the greatest good humor prevailed. 
 
 On Wednesday night upward of seven thousand men man- 
 aged to find sitting and standing room within the Palace, 
 packing exceedingly close. The vast assemblage was most 
 
112 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 decorous, and obeyed orders implicitly. The full, strong 
 singing of the hymns was a sound to be remembered. Num- 
 bers of inquirers gathered afterward in the opposite church 
 and many could state that there was a good result of that 
 night's work. 
 
 Admission to these two meetings had been exclusively by 
 ticket. On Thursday night the Palace was open to all ; but 
 soon the doors had to be shut, leaving large numbers outside. 
 The meetings throughout were conducted in the usual vigor- 
 ous style, Mr. Moody being present, and delivering pointed 
 addresses, clergymen and laymen relating their own experi- 
 ences, and bringing forward instances and reports of the work 
 elsewhere. 
 
 On Friday evening came the meeting for those who pro- 
 fessed to have been converted during the last few months. 
 The tickets for this had only been given to those who placed 
 their names and addresses, and the names of their ministers, 
 on a register, opened for the purpose ; and of which, they were 
 informed, extracts would be forwarded to the clergymen to 
 whose churches they belonged, thus to prevent thoughtless 
 application for converts' tickets, an ultimate check being es- 
 tablished. The Palace was comfortably filled, and the utmost 
 order prevailed. In looking over the assemblage, it was 
 apparent that the great proportion consisted of young people, 
 probably under twenty-five years of age. All were well- 
 dressed, clear-eyed people, in the ring of whose voices, when 
 singing the opening hymn of praise, more than the common 
 sound was heard. It was a glorious sight. Some, no doubt, 
 may have joined that throng without due warrant ; but with 
 such exceptions, each individual had found his title clearly 
 written in the Word of his Lord and Master. One instance 
 came within our knowledge of two ladies who, receiving tickets 
 under a misapprehension, personally came to deliver them up. 
 This was the more honorable, as many would have entered by 
 any means in their power, had the register not stood in the 
 way. An instance, indeed, occurred of one old lady, who, 
 having made up her mind to enter, would take no denial, and 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. II3 
 
 indignantly gave the peculiar reason for insistence, that she 
 was well known to the best people of the West End, and to the 
 magistrates of the city and county. 
 
 On Saturday came the meeting for children, and in the 
 evening another for grown people ; but the greatest gathering 
 of the week took place on the Sabbath, when, after a meeting 
 in the morning for women who had not obtained admittance on 
 the previous Tuesday, the gates were thrown open in the after- 
 noon to all comers. Such a crowd as had never been seen in 
 these parts before. Many a time during the week the Great 
 Western road had been darkened for an hour and a half with 
 the living stream, but that night for three hours the stream was 
 incessant. Vehicles were not easily to be had on Sunday, so 
 nearly all came on foot — all classes, " gentle and simple," 
 young and old, blind and lame. The Palace was immediately 
 filled, but the afternoon sun was so hot there that soon the 
 whole had to turn out on the green ; there a crowd, variously 
 estimated at from twenty to thirty thousand, was soon gathered. 
 Some apprehension was entertained that mishaps might ensue 
 inside or outside the building ; but by the exercise of consider- 
 able firmness, and compliance with orders on the part of the 
 people, the danger was happily averted. Mr. . Moody ad- 
 dressed the crowd, standing on the box of a private carriage, 
 and by those within comfortable ear-shot he was considered to 
 have surpassed himself in earnestness and force. The sing- 
 ing of the sweet hymns by such a strength of voices, sounded 
 upon that quiet sunny Sabbath evening from amidst the fresh 
 foliage of the gardens, was deeply impressive. Such a sight, 
 too, had probably never before been seen within the limits of 
 the land. While the main body dispersed, filling all the ap- 
 proaches and the public roads, about five thousand christians, 
 and those professedly anxious about their own state, gathered 
 inside the Palace, and for the last time heard the voice of the 
 man for whom such an affection has sprung up in the hearts 
 of many. The scene was impressive when an English speaker, 
 with rapid and energetic utterance, reminded the assemblage, 
 many of whom had the greatest cause to thank God for all he 
 
114. MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 had lecently done for and by them, that that man (Mr. Moody) 
 ought to be constantly remembered in the prayers of all, to 
 whom he had proved an instrument of grace. Many were 
 much moved. Mr. Moody then took a farewell of the people, 
 most of whom he could never hope to see again in the body, and, 
 as a final message, declared that many christian friends in that 
 place and elsewhere had agreed to unite in prayer that night 
 for those then gathered together who might be anxious about 
 their own state, conscious they were not saved. The twilight 
 was rapidly deepening when he asked those in such a case to 
 rise to their feet in sign of their desire. The solemnity of 
 feeling was indeed deep, when from four to five hundred 
 persons quietly rose all over the house, and as quietly resumed 
 their places, actuated evidently by something outside their 
 ordinary lives. 
 
 Was not that something like the Spirit of God? We shall, 
 perhaps, never know here ; but when from among the ranks of 
 those who have felt his power we find men and women quietly 
 affirming to friends and strangers the inner change which has 
 been wrought in them, and then going out to work for him ; 
 when we find this wide-spread, and representatives of all classes 
 among the believers, have we any right further to question that 
 God has been working, and will continue to work, in men's 
 hearts powerfully ? Be the instruments who they may, are they 
 not of God's choosing ? Some of his own servants may have 
 been kept from joining in the work of promoting the awakening ; 
 but now that the first instruments of this general awakening 
 have left us, it must be, it is, the sacred duty of all the stated 
 ministers in the field to take up the work where it now stands, 
 and to carry it on, thankful and joyful in the fresh vigor infused 
 into the spiritual life of many, and jealous only for the extension 
 of the Master's kingdom." 
 
 The Summer Blessing. 
 
 Another brief visit to Edinburgh and Dundee was followed 
 by a tour of great interest in the Scottish Highland country. 
 Many of their meetings were held in the open air, and attended 
 
1\1E REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. II5 
 
 by vast multitudes. As a specimen of what transpired at these 
 places we take the account of a visit to Elgin, Aberdeen, and 
 Graig Castle. 
 
 It was a strange contrast last Thursday ; at five o'clock, in 
 the busy Show at Inverness, at seven in the streets of Elgin 
 quiet at all times, but that night altogether passengerless and 
 deserted. Surely something unusual was going on — the streets 
 abandoned, the house-doors fast, the shops closed. Through 
 half a mile of the empty streets ours were the only footsteps that 
 echoed on the pavement, and everything was silent and desolate 
 as a plague-stricken city ! At last, just on the verge of the 
 town, the stillness was broken by the distant sound of a voice, 
 and the turn of a lane revealed a sight which time can never 
 efface from the memory. There stood the inhabitants, motion- 
 less, breathless, plague-stricken indeed — plague-stricken with the 
 plague of sin. The sermon was evidently half over, and the 
 preacher, with folded arms, leaned over the wooden rail of the 
 rude platform. Oh, the sin upon these faces round him ! How 
 God was searching the heart that night ! I cannot tell you who 
 were there, or how many, or what a good choir there was, or 
 what Mr. Sankey sang, or which dignitary prayed. I cannot 
 tell you how beautifully the sun was setting, or how fresh the 
 background of woods looked, or how azure the sky was. But 
 these old men penitent, these drunkards petrified, these strong 
 men's tears, these drooping heads of women, these groups of 
 gutter children, with their wondering eyes ! Oh, that multitude 
 of thirsty ones — what a sight it was ! What could the preacher 
 do but preach his best ? And long after the time for stopping 
 was it a marvel to hear the persuasive voice still pleading with 
 these Christless thousands ? 
 
 One often hears doubts as to the possibility of producing an 
 impression in the open air, but there is no mistake this time. 
 No, there is no mistaking these long concentric arcs of wistful 
 faces curving around the speaker, and these reluctant tears, 
 which conscious guilt has wrung from eyes unused to weep. 
 Oh, the power of the living Spirit of God ! Oh, the fascination 
 of the Gospel of Christ ! Oh, the gladness of the old, old story 
 
Il6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 of these men and women hurrying graveward ! The hundred- 
 and-one nights in Glasgow excepted, never have we seen the 
 Holy Spirit's nearness more keenly realized. These thousands 
 just hung spell-bound on the speaker's lips. It seemed as if he 
 daren't stop, so many hungry ones were there to feed. At 
 last he seemed about to close, and the audience strained to 
 catch the last solemn words ; when the preacher, casting his 
 eye on a little boy, seemed moved with an overpowering desire 
 to tell the little ones of a children's Christ. Then followed for 
 fifteen minutes more the most beautiful and pathetic children's 
 sermon we have ever heard • and then, turning to the weeping 
 mothers and fathers, concluded with a last tender appeal, which 
 must have sunk far into many a parent's heart. 
 
 Long before the close of the address it was evident to all 
 that the Lord of the harvest was going to give us a glorious 
 reaping-time that night. We had not, indeed, been ten minutes 
 on the ground, when a stranger whispered, in the very middle 
 of the address, " Will you come and speak to a woman about 
 her soul?" at the same time pointing out a drooping figure 
 standing near, with face buried in her shawl. We were not sur- 
 prised, therefore, at the great crowds which entered the inquiry- 
 meetings — in one church for women, another in a large hall for 
 men, while the Christians went apart by themselves to another 
 church to pray. The arrangements connected with these after- 
 meetings were all beautifully managed, and shortly after nine 
 o'clock the whole three were well under way. The women's 
 inquiry-meeting was supplied with relays of workers from the 
 prayer-meeting. The work was on a very large scale, and the 
 workers' report was, that the cases were of a very hopeful char- 
 acter. But the work among the men — and this is a splendid 
 testimony to the depth and reality of the impressions — was 
 even on a larger scale still ; and the sight in the Evangelistic 
 Hall, where the men's inquiry-meeting was held, is not soon to 
 be forgotten. The whole hall was filled with men, broken up 
 into little groups of twos and threes, talking in hushed yet 
 earnest voices on the great subject of the one thing needful ; 
 while behind, in the committee-room, half a hundred young men 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. U7 
 
 were gathered in prayer for their groping brothers. Many of 
 these had themselves but newly decided for Christ, and were 
 the fruit of the week's meetings for men, which have been 
 blessed by God far above all expectation. 
 
 It is useless to attempt to give even an approximate idea of 
 the extent of the blessing which fell upon Elgin on Thursday 
 night. The whole of Morayshire has shared it, and a powerful 
 hold has been gained in nearly every farm house and village 
 throughout the country side. 
 
 At the pressing request of a large number of those who had 
 taken part in the evangelistic work set going in Aberdeen 
 some months ago, Mr. Moody paid a farewell visit to Aberdeen 
 in August, and addressed several meetings, at the same time 
 taking occasion to urge on to greater zeal those who were en- 
 gaged in the good work. Mr. Sankey has been obliged to go 
 south to a more genial temperature to recruit his health, but 
 Mr. Moody has wrought on since he left Aberdeen, in different 
 districts in the north, almost without ceasing; the same remark- 
 able results always attending his labors. 
 
 At seven o'clock, Mr. Moody met with a large body of young 
 converts in the Free South Church, and addressed to them a 
 few parting words. He spoke on his favorite topic of " con- 
 fessing Christ," pleading hard with those who had lately come to 
 Christ to come boldly forward and confess Him. 
 
 The Music Hall was crowded to excess long before eight 
 o'clock, the hour at which Mr. Moody was announced to give 
 an address, the passages, orchestra, and galleries being quite 
 packed. " Except a man be born again he cannot enter the 
 kingdom of heaven," was the text on which Mr. Moody based 
 his discourse. Christ did not say these words to a drunkard, 
 to a thief, to a harlot, but to a man who in our days would be 
 made a D.D. or an LL.D. 
 
 After referring to the often-doubted possibility of sudden 
 conversions by those who could not understand it, even although 
 there were living evidences of it before them, he bade the meet- 
 ing farewell, with the hope that they would all meet on the 
 shores of eternity. 
 
Il8 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 the expectation that Mr. Moody would give them a 
 farewell address. In the course of the few sentences he spoke 
 to them, Mr. Moody said they could have no idea of the influ- 
 ence 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 }'oung 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 the early part of the day was very unpropitious, 
 heavy showers descending, with brief intervals, until four p.m., 
 when the rain 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 five o'clock a very large company — especially 
 taking into account the thinly-peopled districts from which they 
 had gathered — had assembled on the beautiful lawn in front of 
 the castle. 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 alto- 
 gether absent ; and the rendezvous, instead of being a wild, 
 rocky pass, was a hospitable castle, with its fairy dell and leap- 
 ing linn, celebrated in song, and known as one of the loveliest 
 spots in Scotland. 
 
 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 carriage placed 
 near a towering tree, the preacher spoke for nearly an hour from 
 
THE REVIVAL IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 II 9 
 
 the parable of the marriage feast. A very marked impression 
 was 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, we believe, be 
 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 wretched, 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. Du- 
 ring the spiritual movement which took place in Scotland about 
 thirity years ago, in most of which I had part, I saw more of 
 what was extreme, both in statement and proceeding, than I 
 have done of late. There was far more of excitement then than 
 there is now. The former movements depended far more upon 
 vehement appeals, and were carried along more by the sympa- 
 thetic current of human feeling than the present. When the 
 present movement began, I 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 say that there was nothing which I might not have 
 wished, different, yet I have been struck with the exceeding 
 calmness at all times — the absence of excitement — the peaceful 
 solemnity pervading these immense gatherings of two or three 
 thousand people, day by day — the strange stillness 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 ? ' ' Not till we have carried all 
 before us.' So say our brethren from Chicago. We say 
 Amen. This needy world says Amen. Human wickedness 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Evangelists in Ireland. 
 
 At his last Bible-reading Mr. Moody said 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 con- 
 templated 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 farewell to Scotland, they proceeded to Belfast, where 
 they held their first meetings on Sunday, Sept. 6, 1874. 
 
 The work had a good commencement in Belfast. Numbers 
 thronged and crushed to the churches, so much so that the happy 
 plan was adopted of dividing the meetings, and holding gatherings 
 for women only at two o'clock, and for men only at eight o'clock. 
 Consequently, the large churches are well filled, without any 
 unseemly disorder. 
 
 On Friday Mr. Moody addressed both meetings, taking for 
 his text, " The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that 
 6 121 
 
122 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 which was lost." With great power and aptitude he proclaimed 
 the Lord Jesus as the " Seeker ; " and very touchingly he con- 
 vinced the people that He 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 salvation on faith in Jesus only. 
 His address was interspersed with telling illustrations, which 
 came right home to every heart. He rapidly referred to the par- 
 able of the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, and graphically 
 narrated the sudden conversion of Zaccheus, unmistakably evi- 
 denced by the immediate fruit of the Spirit in his change from an 
 extortioner to a restitutor. M*. Sankey's very sweet solos and 
 touching hymns, accompanied on the American harmonium, 
 seemed to exercise a powerful effect in, as it were, deepening the 
 impression 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 occu- 
 pied with men. They were mostly shopkeepers and mechanics, 
 and a large proportion such as do not regularly attend churches. 
 After the evening meeting the Christians were invited to remain 
 and pray for the speakers to the anxious, and the inquirers were 
 directed to side apartments, 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 commencement has been 
 made. 
 
 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 consciences are yet tender, and 
 skeptics, 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 
 
THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 
 
 123 
 
 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 adjoin- 
 ing room. The address was touching entire consecration to God, 
 and more whole-hearted activity in His service. An open-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 favorable. Mr. Sankey sang "Jesus of Nazareth 
 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 even so. 
 
 As time advances, this gracious work of God seems to extend 
 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, the streets around were 
 packed with a dense mass of women; 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 be 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 fea- 
 tures 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 knew Jesus ; and, most blessed of all. 
 
124 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 the equally frank confession 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 Christians 
 — 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 meet- 
 ings. The Holy Spirit was poured out, not with a rushing 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 previ- 
 ously come, but were staggered because they had not the com- 
 plete 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 enabled 
 by the Holy Spirit to speak the suited word and remove the 
 stumbling-blocks. 
 
 The open-air meeting was attended by numbers variously esti- 
 mated 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 effective 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 ! 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 everv wavering and undecided sinner. 
 
 
THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 1 25 
 
 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 lim- 
 ited 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 im- 
 proper persons to engage in such work. There is not one Chris- 
 tian in a hundred fitted for this most delicate and difficult service, 
 requiring, as it does, close communion with Jesus, much knowl- 
 edge 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 all this is true, it is equally true that none are 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 be noticed, to many meetings of like kind held in various 
 churches at the close of the evening service. It was very touch- 
 ing and stimulating, when an opportunity was given by Mr. Moody 
 at the close of the meeting, to hear many young men read out, in 
 trembling tones, and yet with beaming countenances, some pre- 
 vious 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 
 connection with the Young Men's Christian Association. Now it 
 has been deepened and greatly extended. 
 
 During the week the tide of spiritual life seemed to increase 
 
126 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 seemed as if a 
 higher tide of the Spirit's power were needed 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 believed do 
 enter into rest." 
 
 The meeting for the young was very striking. Mr. Moody pre- 
 sided. The truth seemed to reach, in the Spirit's power, many 
 young hearts. A meeting for boys under fifteen has been organ- 
 ized. Some of the cases in it are exceedingly touching, affording, 
 I conceive, illustrations of the 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 im- 
 possible 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 just 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 opportunity 
 
THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 127 
 
 of hearing the gospel at these special services, admission on Tues- 
 day night was by tickets, given only to such as had not hitherto 
 heard Mr. Moody. About 3,000 tickets were given on personal 
 application. It was a season to be remembered. The soil, so to 
 speak, was virgin ; the attention so marked as to be almost pain- 
 ful in its silence ; the presence of God very powerful in the con- 
 sciousness of every spiritual mind. The inquirers at the close of 
 the meeting were spoken to, as far as they could be overtaken, 
 in adjacent churches, to which the men and women were sent 
 respectively. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, the great contrast in outward manifes- 
 tation between the present work and that of 1859. I have not 
 heard of or noticed any physical excitement — not even an outcry, 
 much less what were then known as " prostrations." 
 
 Here let me say, it has been most noteworthy that during the 
 last weeks, while we have had most inclement weather, every 
 Sabbath-day, and at the hour of our great gatherings, it has been 
 all that could be desired. 
 
 The number in attendance was fully equal to any preceding 
 Sabbath. It may give you some idea of the multitude if I state 
 that the field on which the meeting was held contains about six 
 acres, and that the people stood densely packed from one end to 
 the other. There was profound solemnity. The impression upon 
 the hearts of the people by the truth in the power of the Spirit 
 was very deep, as the sequel will show. 
 
 Mr. Moody held his usual meeting on Sabbath evening for 
 those in deep distress about salvation, and for those who had 
 found eternal life during the past weeks through faith in Jesus. 
 The meeting was exclusively for men, and admission solely by 
 ticket. The hall in which it was held was completely filled. Mr. 
 Moody stated in the noon-day prayer-meeting on Monday that, 
 in his judgment, it was the most remarkable meeting he has had yet 
 in Europe. To God be all the praise ! One after another of 
 these young men — and they comprise the very flower of our 
 youth — rose, and, with clearness and wonderful felicity of expres- 
 sion, in burning words, declared what God had done for his soul. 
 At length, at nine o'clock, the meeting was closed. 
 
128 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Meanwhile another meeting of men was assembling in a church. 
 It was already very nearly filled when we heard the tread of a 
 large company approaching. It was a phalanx of these redeemed 
 youths. They sang the new song. In a spontaneous burst of 
 praise they were telling forth the wonders of redeeming love. No 
 language can describe the scene. The heavenly echoes of that 
 burst of praise, I think, will never be forgotten by any who heard 
 it. The meeting that followed, consisting of some two thousand 
 men, I need not say, was one of profound interest — Jesus in the 
 midst, and the marching glorious. 
 
 During each day of this week, and at every gathering, more 
 and more of the presence of the God of salvation has been mani- 
 fested. Let me in a sentence or two describe one which, in sober 
 language, was most wonderful. Mr. Moody addressed on Mon- 
 day evening in Fisherwick Place Church, a meeting of men. At 
 the close of his address all who had recently been found by the 
 Good Shepherd, and also all who were seeking Him, were 
 requested to retire to the adjoining lecture-room. Some six 
 hundred men did so. Mr. Moody again sifted them, by request- 
 ing that those only who were deeply anxious to be saved should 
 adjourn to another room. Probably nearly three 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 gospel, and that it was for themselves to decide. He called 
 upon them to kneel and pray for themselves. They bowed as 
 one man, and now here and now there might be heard the short 
 cry for mercy — a few earnest words of supplication ■ probably 
 about thirty or forty so cried to God one after the other. Surely 
 the Lord is in this place ! was the thought which rose in holy 
 fear in the hearts of all. 
 
 After a short prayer by Mr. Moody, he addressed them very 
 faithfully. He again held forth Christ, and invited all to rise 
 who felt that they could there and then accept Jesus. All of that 
 large company, save twenty or thirty, stood up, and solemnly 
 avouched the Lord to be their God. This wonderful sight cannot 
 be described. The glory of it cannot be realized, even by those 
 
THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 1 29 
 
 best acquainted with divine things. If there is joy in heaven 
 over one sinner that repenteth, what shall we say of the gladness 
 in the Father's house when the prodigals in companies of some 
 two hundred enter, as it were, at once? 
 
 Thursday, October 8, we had fixed for a gathering of the 
 masses in the open air. Many had fears for the weather, but 
 much prayer in many places over the three kingdoms was offered 
 to God for the success of the meeting. God did for us above 
 what we asked. The weather was splendid ; everything as re- 
 gards order and decorum all that any of us could wish. It was 
 the largest open-air meeting I ever attended. I cannot pretend 
 to fix a limit to the numbers. He who counts the stars knew the 
 history of each present, and what were the dealings of his heart 
 with Christ and the free offer of His salvation. The only regret 
 that seemed to be expressed by any was, that the services were 
 so short. 
 
 Mr. Moody addressed the vast multitude from the words, " I 
 pray thee, have me excused." With graphic felicity, great clear- 
 ness, and soul-piercing power, he exposed the miserable pre- 
 tences by which .sinners impose upon themselves in refusing a 
 present offer of present blessedness. The address seemed to 
 strike with convicting power many consciences, and, from many 
 instances coming under my own observation at the inquiry-meet- 
 ing in Fisherwick Place Church, I have reason to believe in sal- 
 vation power. 
 
 The great gathering in the Botanic Gardens on October 8 has 
 been our crowning mercy in this season of blessing. We feel as 
 if every prayer had been heard and every heart gratified by our 
 gracious God. As the days pass, and as tidings reach us from 
 the country districts all around, we continually hear of rich 
 blessings bestowed and of precious fruits following. Many car- 
 ried with them to their homes the spark of renewed life. That 
 spark has, in some cases, already burnt into a blaze. We receive 
 the good news from many places of great readiness to hear the 
 Word of God, and the cry, "Come over and help us," reaches 
 us from many quarters. 
 
13° 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Our dear American brethren left us on Saturday for Derry. 
 Tidings have reached us that a great and effectual door was 
 opened unto them in that city. 
 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey returned from Derry this morning 
 (October 15) to hold their final meeting ere passing on to Dub- 
 lin. Mr. Moody presided at the noon-day prayer-meeting. The 
 subject was, "Lessons from the Life of Jacob." The meeting- 
 was one of great interest. The meeting in the evening was held 
 in St. Enoch's Church. It was exclusively for sinners under 
 anxiety of soul, who professed to be earnestly seeking Jesus. 
 Admission was by tickets, and that, moreover, on personal appli- 
 cation. 
 
 Readers may judge of the depth of the movement and the 
 measure of awakening power upon the souls of men by the Spirit 
 of God, when I state that upward of 2,400 persons were so ad- 
 mitted ! It was Mr. Moody's last appeal in Belfast to the Christ- 
 less. I may not attempt to describe the scene ! He set before 
 the anxious, sin-stricken multitude, Jesus in all the glory of His 
 sufficiency — in all the attractions of His dying love. He showed 
 Him, as with one foot upon the threshold of the heart He sought 
 admission. Now in faithful and firm words he warned them of 
 the dangers of delay ; and now he gently moved them, in tender- 
 ness, as one whom his mother comforteth. At length he ceased 
 speaking, that each might hear, in the silence, the voice of Jesus 
 pleading directly. And in the awful stillness of that moment 
 many of that great company of seeking sinners, I trust, were able 
 to say in words expressive of soul-submission, " Speak, Lord, for 
 thy servant heareth." 
 
 I think it must have been the most notable meeting in the 
 experience of Mr. Moody. I do not at present remember to 
 have read of any such meeting, as regards the number of the 
 awakened, in modern times. Does it not seem like a return of 
 Pentecostal power, when 3,000 were similarly smitten with soul- 
 concern? 
 
 The meeting in the evening was for the young converts— for 
 all who have reason to believe that they had found Jesus since 
 
THE EVANGELISTS IN IRELAND. 
 
 131 
 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey came to Belfast. Admission was 
 strictly by ticket. These tickets were only given on personal 
 application. About two thousand one hundred and fifty tickets 
 were given! What a rich harvest! How soon gathered! The 
 result of some five weeks' work ! I have good reason to believe 
 that even this number fell very far short of the whole number who 
 profess to have received Jesus as the gift of God. 
 
 It was a soul-stirring sight to see that vast multitude, including 
 the Christian workers and ministers, numbering more than 3,000. 
 It was like the sound of many waters to hear this multitude sing 
 the new song. As all stood and sung in one burst of praise — 
 
 " O happy day that fixed my choice 
 On Thee, my Saviour and my God," 
 
 the effect was overpowering, filling the soul with a sweet fore- 
 taste of the praises of heaven. 
 
 Mr. Moody's last word of comfort and encouragement was 
 founded on Rom. xiv. 4, " God is able to make him stand." He 
 closed his address by commending all the new-born souls " to 
 Him who is able to keep you from falling." Hundreds of men 
 not used to a melting mood, with weeping eyes and heaving 
 bosoms, heard him say, as he concluded, " Good-night ; we shall 
 meet in the morning when the shadows flee away." 
 
 A very touching incident in the service was the singing, by 
 Mr. Sankey, of a hymn composed by a dying youth in Belfast, 
 " Is there room ? they say there is room ! " 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Glory of God in Dublin. 
 
 The brethren began in this beautiful capital where only about 
 40,000, or one-sixth of the population, are Protestant, on the 26th 
 of October, and continued there till November 29. Says one : 
 
 "It was not found necessary to preach those sermons which 
 are generally used as a preparation for revival, The revival 
 commenced immediately. Dublin had been waiting to hear the 
 Gospel preached ; and its people, by crowds, when they heard 
 it, eagerly pressed into the kingdom of Christ. From all over 
 the island, multitudes came up to attend the meetings ; many of 
 whom went home happy in the love of Christ. One woman came 
 a hundred miles to hear Mr. Moody preach, but was too late to 
 obtain admission. The next day, however, she read a report 
 of his sermon in a morning paper, and it was blessed to her sal- 
 vation. One new convert wrote a letter to a lady friend, and 
 this letter was the means of her conversion. Then she read it to 
 her mother, who also was led to the Saviour : and afterwards her 
 father and her brothers, all by reading the same letter, were 
 induced to give their 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 Palace. 
 It is estimated to hold 10,000 persons. Every night it is filled, 
 and the attention and silence is wonderful. One feels that the 
 Spirit of God is present, and that " a wave of prayer " is contin- 
 ually going up to the throne from the Lord's people. 
 
 The committee of management procured the Exhibition Pal- 
 132 , 
 
 
THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. 1 33 
 
 ace for holding these services, the largest and most commodious 
 building which has yet, in Europe, been placed at Mr. Moody's 
 disposal. On Sunday last, the Christians of Dublin wit- 
 nessed a sight to gladden their hearts. It has been estimated 
 that, at the first service at four o'clock, from twelve to fifteen thou- 
 sand persons were gathered there. Never before was it put to so 
 blessed a use. 
 
 Such a sight has never before been witnessed here as may now 
 be seen every day — thousands flocking to the prayer-meeting 
 and the Bible-meeting, and most of all to the evening services in 
 the great Exhibition Palace. It is a sight to fill the heart of the 
 child of God with deepest emotion to stand upon the platform 
 erected in that building, from which Mr. Moody preaches, and 
 to cast one's eye over the vast concourse of people, hanging on 
 .the speaker's lips, as in burning words he discourses on life and 
 death, heaven and hell, "Jesus and His love," and one cannot 
 but ask the question, "What is the magic power which draws 
 together those mighty multitudes, and holds them spell-bound ? " 
 Is it the worldly rank, or wealth, or learning, or oratory of the 
 preacher ? No ; for he is possessed of but little of these (spirit- 
 ually, indeed, he is richly endowed with them all). It is the sim- 
 ple lifting up of the cross of Christ — the holding forth of the Lord 
 Jesus before the eyes of the people in all the glory of His God- 
 head, in all the simplicity of His manhood, in all the perfection 
 of His nature, for their admiration, for their adoration, and for 
 their acceptance. 
 
 For some time, notwithstanding the huge crowds, our brethren 
 felt that they were not reaping heavy 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 fam- 
 ily has been brought to seek salvation as the one thing needful. 
 It is very observable, too, how previously existing prejudice has 
 abated, or entirely disappeared, at least in the case of those who 
 
134 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 manifest any respect 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, sym- 
 pathizing. In this week's number of the Nation — an organ at 
 once of National (as it is called) and Ultramontane principles — 
 an article has appeared entitled " Fair Play ! " which is exceed- 
 ingly 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 Sankey. 
 Irish Catholics desire to see Protestants deeply imbued with 
 religious feeling, rather than tinged with rationalism and infidel- 
 ity ; and as long as the religious services of our Protestant neigh- 
 bors are honestly directed to quickening religious thought in 
 their own bod) T , without offering aggressive or intentional insult 
 to us, it is our duty to pay the homage of our respect to their con- 
 scientious 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 and 
 toleration were everywhere honestly acted out amongst us. Mr. 
 Moody never makes controversial reference to others. His suc- 
 cess 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 that 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 Nazareth is passing by,' and if I don't 
 get saved now, I never shall be." 
 
 
THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. 
 
 135 
 
 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 great things for us, whereof we are glad." But we ex- 
 pect greater things still. I am fully confident, from all the indi- 
 cations 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 Exhibi- 
 tion 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 catholic 
 gathering. Eminent men among us, under the influence of 
 deep emotion, bore testimony to the spiritual good they had 
 received at the meetings. Ministers testified 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 morning in the Shel- 
 bourne 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 in 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 
 
136 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 eagerness to hear their every word and catch their every song is 
 something wonderful to see. As I remarked before, this eager- 
 ness does not now proceed from curiosity. 
 
 At all the meetings yesterday, the attendance was enormous. 
 It is a very healthful sign of this work, that the daily prayer-meet- 
 ing 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. 
 
 Hundreds were obliged yesterday to go away disappointed in 
 their efforts to get into the Bible-reading in the Metropolitan 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 com- 
 pendium 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 eager 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 in 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 
 day 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 be 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 
 
THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. 137 
 
 special services. We 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 experi- 
 enced ministers of the gospel in our city ; and the general impres- 
 sion 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 of 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' con- 
 vention, 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 be reached ? " 
 " What can be done to promote the Lord's work throughout Ire- 
 land ? " etc. The second day was signalized by a gathering of 
 over 2,000 converts, to whom Mr. Moody addressed loving coun- 
 sels, and on the third day there was another gathering of the min- 
 isters in 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. 
 
 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 awakening throughout Dublin and its 
 
I38 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 neighborhood. This is a fact which is patent to all, and cannot 
 be gainsayed or denied. It is a fact that from 12,000 to 20,000 
 persons have been attracted to the Exhibition Palace every Sun- 
 day 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? 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 were issued to those who professed 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 oppor- 
 tunity of seeing with their own eyes the reality of 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 home, 
 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 met 
 at the office of Mr. David Drummond ; and, after consultation 
 and prayer, decided to send out a circular, saying that the Amer- 
 ican evangelists were coming ; that the Great Exhibition Palace 
 
THE GLORY OF GOD IN DUBLIN. 
 
 139 
 
 had been engaged for them ; and tha£ money would be wanted to 
 meet the large expenses attendant upon the services. It was 
 determined to ask for the sum of ^"1,500; and circulars for this 
 purpose were sent out to five or six thousand of the leading citi- 
 zens of Dublin. Only two instances of personal solicitation are 
 mentioned ; but the money came in so fast, that Mr. Dfummond, 
 who was the treasurer, was obliged to employ a clerk to keep the 
 record. Old ladies would come in Bath-chairs to bring half a 
 crown. People in high life came in carriages, bringing cheques 
 or gold. Even the poor desired to have some share in the work, 
 and gave their pennies and half-pence. By some means the sub- 
 scription became known to the prisoners in a certain jail in the 
 south of Ireland ; and they, regretting their inability to be 
 present, sent their good wishes, and a little collection which had 
 been raised among them, to the amount of twenty-five shillings. 
 From Protestants and Papists, masters and servants, the contri- 
 butions poured in. No sum larger than ^"30 was received. A 
 large part of the money was in silver and copper ; but the full 
 amount required was raised. 
 
 " Having now come so near to the question of the support of 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey, the readers of this work will natu- 
 rally desire to know something on that interesting topic. Here 
 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 be given them, either for their services or 
 expenses. In every instance, Mr. Moody determined the ques- 
 tion of going to, or passing by, a place, under the direction, as he 
 believed, of the Spirit of God. The committees which invited 
 him have held the matter of finance entirely in their own hands. 
 They have raised the money as they pleased, and given him such 
 sums as they judged suitable; these he has shared with Mr. San- 
 key ; and thus they have labored together, taking what God sent 
 them — which in many instances has been very little, and in no 
 case very much. At Dublin the committee consulted together, 
 and determined to give Mr. Moody a sum of money which, they 
 afterwards were glad to learn, was in excess of what he had 
 
140 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 received hitherto ; but even upon the proportion of this generous 
 gift, the American evangelists will never become rich out of their 
 present employment. Still, in the secular press, and in the gossip 
 of the streets and offices, these men are accused, by those who 
 know nothing of them, of mercenary motives in their great work 
 for Christ; 
 
 " Only a little while ago a certain newspaper suggested that they 
 were an advance-guard sent over by Barnum ; and that the adver- 
 tising scheme, no doubt, would presently appear. Another equally 
 discerning party had heard of Mr. Moody's little device for setting 
 children to study the Bible, which he calls ' the Gospel clock/ It 
 consists of the grouping of twelve texts of Scripture in a circle, 
 containing respectively the same number of words as those which 
 mark the hours upon a dial. A great many of these Gospel clock- 
 faces have been arranged by the little people to their no small 
 profit and delight. But the individual referred to saw in it a sug- 
 gestion of a different character. 'I have it at last,' said he, 
 • Moody is a clock-maker in America, and this is the beginning 
 of a system of advertising, by which he means to sell his wares.' 
 
 "In like manner Mr. Sankeyhas been assailed as an agent for 
 the sale of that peculiar make of harmoniums which he uses to 
 accompany his singing. But it is scarcely needful to say that no 
 such charge can be properly made against him." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Harvest in England. 
 
 They were no longer the strangers who first struggled for a 
 hearing in York, but brethren " beloved and longed for " by thou- 
 sands who had not yet seen their faces in the flesh. Preparations 
 at Manchester, whither they first went, were intelligently made 
 for the successful conduct of their work, and we soon hear the 
 tidings through the press that " Manchester is now on fire." 
 
 The most difficult of all English cities, perhaps, to be set on 
 fire by anything but politics, is now fairly ablaze, and the flames 
 are breaking out in all directions. 
 
 Free Trade Hall, within whose walls scenes of no common 
 interest and excitement have often been witnessed, presented a 
 spectacle such as those who beheld it will not easily forget. Dr. 
 McKerrow assured me that he had seen no such sight, even in 
 the most excited political times, during the forty-seven years of 
 his life in Manchester, as that which he saw there on Sunday 
 afternoon. 
 
 The building was densely crowded. Not an inch of standing- 
 room was unoccupied. Long before the appointed hour, hun- 
 dreds found it impossible to gain admission. And Mr. Moody 
 —in what terms shall I describe his address ? Theological critics 
 might have said there was nothing in it ; but only eternity will 
 reveal how much there came out of it. I should not be surprised 
 if hundreds of conversions should result from that single mighty 
 appeal. Taking for his text the first question addressed to them, 
 
 141 
 
I42 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 " Where art thou ? " he brought it home to the bosom of every 
 hearer with a power and pathos that were simply irresistible. 
 Having referred to the case of a young man who had cried out in 
 the inquiry- room on Friday night, "Oh, mother, I am coming! " 
 the young man himself sprang to his feet, and exclaimed in tones 
 of impassioned earnestness, " That was me ! " The effect was 
 electrical. Not an eye but was suffused with tears. The whole 
 vast assembly was impressed with a profound sense of the pres- 
 ence and power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The meeting for young men in the evening was equally won- 
 derful, no fewer than seventy-one having remained behind as 
 anxious inquirers, not a few of whom went home rejoicing in the 
 peace of God that passeth understanding. 
 
 There is only one sentiment, I feel convinced, in the hearts of 
 all God's children in this vast community in regard to this great 
 work, and that is, a sentiment of devout thankfulness to our 
 heavenly Father that He has sent among us two such men, full 
 of faith and power, and yet eminent for humility and lowliness of 
 mind. "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we 
 are glad." 
 
 The meetings of December n, that memorable Lord's day, 
 gave a tone of solemnity and a character of power to all the meet- 
 ings of the week. The tide rose steadily day by day, until it 
 became full, overflowing the bank in all directions — a very spring- 
 tide of blessing; and only eternity will reveal how many immor- 
 tals are now launching out upon its waters in the bark of a simple 
 trust in the Son of God. 
 
 The evenings of Monday and Tuesday in the Free Trade Hall 
 will long be remembered by the thousands who were present. 
 Mr. Moody delivered his famous discourses on Heaven. Much 
 as we have read and heard of the fervor and unction that charac- 
 terize them, we were not prepared to find these apostolic qualities 
 in so superlative a degree as that which marked them on this | 
 occasion. The second was especially interesting and delightful' 
 treating as it did of the society and the treasure of heaven ; and j 
 the contrast drawn by the preacher between these and the trea- 
 
THE HARVEST IN ENGLAND. 
 
 143 
 
 sures and society of this world, seemed to strike the minds of the 
 vast audience with all the force of a revelation, constraining many 
 a heart, doubtless, to resolve to seek henceforward " the things 
 that are above." The appeal with which it closed, for power 
 and pathos, exceeded, in our judgment, anything that he himself 
 has uttered. 
 
 And then the discourse on Hell, on the evening of Wednesday, 
 coming as it did immediately after the addresses on Heaven, was 
 certainly one of the most solemn and impressive utterances that 
 have been heard within those walls. Every eye was riveted on 
 the speaker. The projected shadow of the great white throne 
 seemed to fall and rest upon every countenance. Even the fer- 
 vent exclamations in which some of our friends indulge at reli- 
 gious meetings, and which had been just a little too fervent the 
 
 : night previous, were hushed, and scarcely a sound broke the 
 
 I awful stillness with which, for nearly an hour, the people listened 
 
 i to the oft-repeated charge, like so many claps of thunder, " Son, 
 remember ! " In bygone revivals such heart-smiting, conscience- 
 
 : stirring, soul-firing words as those which poured from the preach- 
 er's lips would have caused hundreds to start to their feet and 
 
 f cry out with frenzy, " God be merciful to me a sinner ! " But in 
 harmony with the prevailing character of this awakening, the 
 
 [conviction of sin produced on that occasion seemed to be too 
 deep and too sacred to find expression in mere excited exclama- 
 tions or physical prostrations, and were known only to Him who 
 
 ■ seeth in secret ! God was in the midst of us, of a truth. The 
 Holy Spirit came, as of old, with the force, as of a rushing mighty 
 wind, and filled all the place where we were sitting. The powers 
 of the world to come were brought nigh to every conscience in a 
 manner never to be forgotten. We seemed to be looking across 
 the gulf that divides time from eternity, and beholding the tor- 
 ments of the self-destroyed victims of a broken law and a rejected 
 gospel. No wonder that the inquiry-room was full that night of 
 'nquirers of the most anxious description, and that the after-meet- 
 ing, over which we presided, was larger and more earnest than 
 any that has yet taken place. Doubtless the heavens blossomed 
 
144 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 into song overhead, and the angels of God rejoiced over many 
 souls turning from sin and Satan unto the living God ! 
 
 On Saturday evening the Oxford Hall presented a spectacle 
 which those who witnessed it will not soon forget. In response 
 to Mr. Moody's invitation, some 3,000 persons, professedly Chris- 
 tians, and chiefly young men, assembled to hear him counsel 
 them regarding Christian work. The heartiness with which they 
 ever and anon broke forth into song before he made his appear- 
 ance, and the manliness with which they sang, especially " Dare 
 to be a Daniel," indicated that they were ready to receive with 
 gladness the word of command from the lips of the great Organ- 
 izer. He spoke briefly but effectively. He told of the work done 
 by the young converts elsewhere, especially in Glasgow, in con- 
 nection with the evangelization of the masses. He made partic- 
 ular reference to the noble army of volunteers that rose to their 
 feet in that city when the appeal was made to them, "Who will 
 work for Jesus ? " And then, when he made the same appeal to 
 themselves, calling upon all who were ready to work for the Mas- 
 ter to stand up, almost the entire body of young men — a grand 
 and inspiring sight — sprang to their feet. One could not help 
 exclaiming, "God be thanked! there's hope for our city! Man- 
 chester, with such a host, may yet be won for Christ ! " By a 
 special arrangement, as it seemed, of Providence, Mr. Reginald 
 Radcliffe was present, and immediately put before them a definite 
 plan for making a great gospel attack, so to speak, upon the city. 
 He suggested that an ordinance map of Manchester should be 
 cut into small squares, each representing a district, and that two 
 or three young persons should undertake to carry the gospel, in 
 the shape of a tract or otherwise, to every house, great and small, 
 within that district, so that no single dwelling should be omitted. 
 The plan appeared to approve itself to the judgment of the 
 meeting, all the more so that he told us 'how successfully he had 
 carried out a similar one in Edinburgh and Liverpool in years 
 gone by. The Lord grant it abundant success ! 
 
 The workers'' meeting was the largest since Messrs. Moody 
 and Sankey came to Manchester. The address was most power- 
 
THE HARVEST IN ENGLAND. 
 
 145 
 
 ful. A forcible appeal was made to Sabbath-school teachers in 
 this city ; but one conviction seemed to exist in the minds of the 
 vast audience of 5,000, " Let us arise and work." 
 
 Had Mr. Moody come to deliver only this address, his mission 
 had not been in vain. In the afternoon from 15,000 to 17,000 
 struggled for admission. Various meetings had to be held in the 
 Free Trade Hall, Oxford Hall, and Cavendish Chapel; all 
 crowded as they never have been before. As many more halls 
 of the same size could have been filled. From twenty to thirty 
 meetings were held in the streets of the neighborhood, where 
 addresses were delivered by ministers and laymen. At every 
 meeting the Lord was present to heal. Anxious inquirers were 
 very numerous. Great numbers professed to find the Saviour. 
 
 The meeting for young men in Oxford Hall, at eight, was also 
 crowded to excess, hundreds being unable to obtain admission. 
 Mr. Moody spoke as if tongues of fire hovered over his head. 
 
 The spiritual movement in this city is now a fact — a solemn 
 but joyful fact — which must be observed even by those who take 
 their stand outside as mere spectators, with marvel ; and, indeed, 
 skeptics marvel. 
 
 " It is a most strange phenomenon," said one to me, who is a 
 clever journalist, "to see such multitudes brought together by 
 mere curiosity, and this curiosity increasing day by day, when 
 there is nothing to be seen or heard that is fitted to excite curi- 
 osity." So it is. A striking feature of these meetings is the 
 absence of all excitement. The thousands who usually flock to 
 our hall, when once seated, are impressively still ; it is a grand, 
 encouraging sight to watch this sea of human faces eagerly wait- 
 ing for the word of life. Mr. Moody puts no effort forward to 
 attract ; he stands before his audience quiet ; he never introduces 
 himself; you see at once he wants you to listen to his message. 
 His words are most simple and earnest ; there is nothing elabo- 
 rate, or strange, or new, not even his illustrations. But as his 
 words fall from his lips, hearts are moved. If you watch the 
 audience you can see faces changing expression ; you can read 
 there shame, contrition, confession, hope, faith, peace — as the 
 7 
 
I46 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. " 
 
 case may be. The truth comes home ! There is power ! No 
 man could do it ! It is God's power 1 It is the Lord's doing ! 
 
 Christians have been drawn together as we have not known 
 here before ; and though there remains yet much that is to be 
 desired, still we are encouraged and hope for greater things ; we 
 know that we cannot make unity by arrangements and efforts ; 
 the Lord's laborers have learned to realize more than ever that 
 the work is God's, not ours ; that He works mightily with His 
 power, if we do not hinder, and are willing, as Mr. Moody puts it, 
 to be sirriple channels, just as those dusty, rusty, crooked-looking 
 gas-pipes. And many who have been hitherto too ignorant 
 or indifferent, or too cowardly to work, have now come forward 
 and said, " Here am I ; send me." 
 
 A dear friend from Liverpool, who is almost daily with us, has 
 used the opportunity and organized a scheme by which every 
 house in this city shall be visited. I will only add, that hundreds 
 of our visitors are already busy visiting and speaking and singing 
 in the sick chambers of isolated sufferers, in the desolate homes 
 of the godless, of Him who came to seek and to save that which 
 was lost. The reports of the visitors are most cheering. 
 
 The noon prayer-meeting in the Free Trade Hall has steadily 
 kept up its numbers. The large proportion of men who find time 
 in this commercial centre to consecrate an hour to prayer at mid- 
 day, is a striking feature of the meeting. The first twenty minutes 
 are generally spent in reading the requests for prayer, and pre- 
 senting them in silent and audible supplication to God ; a large 
 proportion of these requests bear upon intemperance. This 
 noon gathering affords an opportunity for Christian workers 
 from all parts to give tidings of the progress of the work of God. 
 The other day Mr. Moody read a telegram from the venerable 
 "Mr. Somerville, who has gone on an evangelistic mission to Cal- 
 cutta, reporting the conversion of thirty-one persons at a special 
 service held by him in the theatre there on the previous evening. 
 Last Monday, the Rev. G. Stuart, of Glasgow, told how solidly 
 the work is continuing in that town, and how it is in contempla- 
 tion to purchase Ewing Place Church for £20,000, for evan- 
 
THE HARVEST IN ENGLAND. 147 
 
 gelistic purposes, growing out of Messrs. Moody and Sankey's 
 labors. He also related several remarkable instances of answers 
 to the prayers offered at the Glasgow noon prayer-meeting. On 
 Tuesday, the Rev. A. McLaren followed up Mr. Moody's address 
 by a brief and telling speech, in the course of which he strongly 
 urged prayer for the consolidation of the growing union now 
 observable among the churches of Manchester. 
 
 The meetings for Christian workers in the Free Trade Hall 
 on Sunday mornings at eight o'clock, have imparted a great 
 stimulus to Christian labor. Never shall we forget Mr. Moody's 
 address on "Daniel!" last Sunday morning. The hall was 
 crowded to excess ; between 5,000 and 6,000 persons brought 
 together at that early hour, in the depth of winter, testifies to the 
 power with which the awakening has laid hold of the city. The 
 character of Daniel was exhibited with graphic skill ; the varied 
 scenes of the first six chapters of the book were vividly portrayed ; 
 every actor in the story became instinct with life and humor, and 
 the lessons were rapidly and sharply drawn in a way not likely to 
 •be forgotten. The scene of Belshazzar's feast was powerfully 
 sketched ; and while Daniel read out the mysterious writing on 
 the wall — read it easily, for it was " his Father's handwriting " — 
 the breathless silence which fell upon the vast throng in the hall 
 told with what reality the scene was presented before them. The 
 whole story involved a running satire upon the yielding temper 
 of the present day ; and the address constituted a powerful 
 appeal to young men which we have never known surpassed. At 
 the close Mr. Sankey sung " Standing by a purpose true," and 
 the audience joined with unmistakable enthusiasm in the chorus, 
 "Dare to be a Daniel." 
 
 The gospel-meetings on Sunday afternoons and week even- 
 ings are still as thronged as ever. The numbers at the inquiry- 
 . meetings increase ; many have been led to the Saviour. So 
 permeated with Bible truth is the teaching given in Mr. Moody's 
 addresses, that inquirers perceive the way of salvation with 
 unusual quickness ; Christ is presented to them, and they simply 
 and immediately close with Him. Last Sunday afternoon Mr. 
 
I48 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Moody addressed the great assembly in the Free Trade Hall, from 
 the seven following " Beholds ": " Behold, I was shapen in iniqui- 
 ty "; "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy"; "Behold 
 the Lamb of God "; " Behold, now is the accepted time "; " Be- 
 hold, now is the day of salvation "j "Behold, I stand at the door 
 and knock"; "Behold, he prayeth." It was an address of 
 thrilling solemnity. The crowded meeting which, at the time, 
 filled the Oxford Hall, was addressed by the Rev. J. Rawlinson 
 and W. Hubbard. It may interest readers to learn that a band 
 of workers has been organized to visit every house in Manchester 
 and Salford, with a card bearing on one side the hymn, "Jesus 
 of Nazareth passeth by," and on the other the following address 
 by Mr. Moody : " ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any 
 man hear my voice and open the door, I w T ill come in to him, and 
 sup with him, and he with me ' (Rev. iii. 20). A woman in Glas- 
 gow got into difficulties. Her rent was due, but she had no 
 money for the landlord, and she knew very well that he would turn 
 her out if she did not satisfy his claim. In despair she knew not 
 what to do. A Christian man heard of her distress, and came to 
 her door with money to help her. He knocked, but although he 
 thought he could hear some one inside, yet the door was not 
 opened. He knocked again, but still there was no response. 
 The third time he knocked, but that door still remained locked 
 and barred against him ! 
 
 " Some time after he met this woman in the streets, and told 
 her how he had gone to her house to pay her rent, but could not 
 get in. 'Oh, sir!' she exclaimed, 'was that you? Why, I 
 thought it was the landlord, and I was afraid to open the door.' 
 
 " Dear friends ! Christ is knocking at the door of your heart. 
 He has knocked many times already, and now He knocks again 
 by this message. He is your best Friend, although, like that 
 woman, perhaps you think He comes with the stern voice of 
 justice to demand from you the payment of your great sin-debt. 
 If so, you are sadly mistaken. He comes not to deinand, but to 
 give I < The gift of God is eternal life.' He knows you can never 
 pay the great debt you owe to God. He knows that if that debt 
 
THE HARVEST IN ENGLAND. 149 
 
 is not paid for you, you are forever lost ! He loves you, though 
 He hates your sins ; and in order that you might be saved, He 
 laid down His life a sacrifice for the guilty. And now He comes ! 
 bringing the gift of salvation to the door of your hearts. Will you 
 receive the gift '? D. L. Moody." 
 
 It has been resolved to purchase the museum in Peter Street 
 for the Young Men's Christian Association, for $150,000, which 
 has been raised. The building will then become the home of the 
 noon prayer-meeting, and the centre of the united Christian effort 
 which now appears to be fairly inaugurated in Manchester. 
 
 A few yards from the Free Trade Hall, on the same side of the 
 .street, stands a dingy-looking old public building. It was for- 
 merly used as a natural-history museum, but since the erection 
 of the magnificent Owen's College, and the consequent trans- 
 ference of its contents, the old museum has been unused. The 
 Young Men's Christian Association have long been looking for 
 some suitable building as a centre for their operations in this 
 important city, with its 70,000 young men ; and now the neces- 
 sity is felt for a place to carry on the daily prayer-meeting, and 
 other united evangelistic efforts, after Messrs. Moody and Sankey 
 have left ; so it has been decided to purchase the old museum 
 building, and use it for these purposes. It was secured accord- 
 ingly on Monday last ; and in a couple of days, part of the build- 
 ing, giving accommodation 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 Manchester is 
 working well, and with the happiest results. The following is 
 the plan adopted : A Christian architect, who has entered most 
 heartily into this 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 
 
I50 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 introduction, 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 marvelous 
 way in which the hearts of the people seemed open to receive 
 their visits, showing that the Lord is in this movement, and is 
 preparing 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 touching solos, 
 especially "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," "Almost persuaded," 
 and "Prodigal child," have proved to be arrows of conviction, 
 entering the heart in the most unexpected manner, and leading 
 to conversion. And what shall I more say ? for the time would 
 fail me to tell 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 servants, teachers and scholars — have 
 received a large blessing from the religious services conducted 
 by the American brethren, 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, which has been steadily rising, has this week reached 
 its flood ; the earnestness of the preacher and the eagerness 
 of the people have seemed, alike to intensify, and the uncon- 
 verted have been called to take refuge in Christ with a vehemence 
 
THE HARVEST IN ENGLAND. 
 
 151 
 
 of entreaty which has exerted a mighty influence on the assem- 
 blies. 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 Manchester peculiarly interesting to the 
 dwellers in heaven. 
 
 At nine on Wednesday evening, about 2,000 men reassembled 
 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 advan- 
 tages of the Association, and urged the straining of every effort 
 to reach the young men of Manchester, and to secure the build- 
 ing in question for the Association, A collection toward the 
 object, made at the close, realized $9,000, $5,000 of which was 
 given, I believe, by the chairman. This amount, with what has 
 been received before, including $2,500 given last week by Mr. J. 
 Stuart, makes a total, at present received or promised, of $40,000. 
 
 On Thursday morning, Mr. Moody addressed a crowded meet- 
 ing in the Higher Broughton Presbyterian Church, and then came 
 on to the noon prayer-meeting in the Oxford Hall, where he read 
 and commented on the earlier part of the 103d Psalm. He said 
 he had to bless the Lord for what He had done for him. It had 
 been the best year of his life. He had been more used by God 
 than in all the seventeen preceding years. He did not know of 
 one sermon he had delivered that had not been blessed to the 
 conviction or conversion of some souls. It was a delightful 
 meeting. Every word uttered was set to the tune of " Bless the 
 Lord, O my soul ! " When one minister rose to say, " I have to 
 praise God for the conversion of the brother of dear friends of 
 mine, who have prayed for him twenty-five years; for the con- 
 version of the sister and of the servant of another friend ; for the 
 salvation of three persons in my own congregation, for the dis- 
 pelling of the doubts of a young man who had traveled 150 miles 
 to these meetings — all which blessings have been given in the 
 
152 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 course of the present week "; when another minister rose to say 
 he had never met with so much scriptural teaching concerning 
 the way of salvation, and the clear direction of inquirers to Jesus, 
 as in Mr. Moody's addresses ; and another to say that the last 
 ten days had been the happiest of his life — that he had derived 
 an inspiration, had discovered how to preach Christ, had enjoyed 
 sweeter communion with Jesus, and felt like a man whose chains 
 were broken — they only uttered what many could have endorsed 
 as a description of the blessings they themselves had received. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Times of Blessing in Sheffield. 
 
 This city of a quarter of a million is noted for its workers in 
 iron and steel. Hearts hard as adamant were now to be assailed 
 by sermon and song, and God honored the men who honored 
 His gracious truth. At nine in the evening of December 31, 
 1874, the evangelists first appeared before a Sheffield audience, 
 and for two weeks the power of God was manifested through them 
 in the most delightful manner. 
 
 The work opened here most auspiciously ; the two meetings 
 held on New Year's eve were crowded, and the impressions pro- 
 duced were most solemn. 
 
 The first meeting was held in the Temperance Hall at nine 
 o'clock. Mr. Sankey sang a new hymn written by Dr. H. Bonar 
 expressly for him, "Rejoice, and be glad! the Redeemer has 
 come." 
 
 The impression produced by his singing was very striking; 
 those who had been merely curious or altogether indifferent 
 seemed attracted, and earnest attention and even, in some cases, 
 silent weeping, took the place of carelessness. The watch-night 
 service was particularly solemn. The Albert Hall, where it was 
 held, was crowded, many having stood before the doors an hour 
 before they were opened, in order to make sure of admittance. 
 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey were accompanied on to the plat- 
 form by a large number of ministers of all denominations. The 
 vicar offered up a fervent prayer for the Divine blessing on the 
 work in Sheffield. 
 
 153 
 
154 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 One most interesting feature in this service was Mr. Sankey's 
 singing of "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." It might be the nov- 
 elty of his style, or the associations naturally arising at the near 
 approach of the new year, but I certainly have never seen such 
 an effect produced. I have heard him in all the towns they have 
 visited in Scotland, and also in Manchester ; but I never heard 
 him sing so pathetically, more especially in the last stanzas : 
 
 " Too late ! too late ! will be the cry, 
 Jesus of Nazareth has passed by." 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke from Luke xix. 10, "For the Son of man is 
 come to seek and to save that which was lost." As illustrating 
 this verse, he graphically narrated the two stories immediately 
 preceding his text, that of the opening of the eyes of blind Bar- 
 timeus, and the conversion of Zaccheus. It was only a re-telling 
 of the stories, but given in that way peculiarly Mr. Moody's own, 
 making his listeners part and parcel of the story, as if the whole 
 thing were enacted just in the Targate, and Jesus were just pass- 
 ing the hall-doors. He connected the two stories by throwing 
 out the thought that as Bartimeus was on his way home to tell 
 his wife, Zaccheus met him. "Why, isn't that the poor blind 
 beggar ? it's like him ; but it can't be he, for his eyes are open." 
 
 "Yes, it is I." 
 
 "What has made your eyes open ?" 
 
 "Jesus of Nazareth did it." 
 
 " Where is He ? I must see Him." 
 
 " He's just on the road to Jericho/' 
 
 Away Zaccheus runs ; and because he is a little man, he gets 
 up a tree, to see well. Jesus stops, looks up, calls him, "Zac- 
 cheus, come down." This was one instance of sudden conver- 
 sion. Some don't believe in sudden conversion; but here Zac- 
 cheus was not converted when he went up the tree, yet he came 
 down a converted man. We are told he received Jesus gladly. 
 From these incidents, he proved how willing, how eager Christ 
 is to save all. What have we to do? Nothing, blessed be God ! 
 If we had, we would never do it. Only accept. What had Zac- 
 cheus to do ? Only come clown, only obey. 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING IN SHEFFIELD. 155 
 
 He concluded by drawing the attention of the audience to the 
 fact that the old year was fast dying — only a few minutes — and 
 what if the new year should come and find us where we were — 
 lost ! Oh, let each of us take it, the offer is here; will you have 
 it ? Salvation — ay, even before this year is closed you may be 
 saved. As there are only a few minutes of this year remaining, 
 let us finish the old and begin the new on our knees. 
 
 The whole audience then sank on their knees, and the new 
 year found them bent in silent prayer. Mr. Moody asked that 
 those who were unsaved might stand up, that they might be 
 prayed for. For a time none were willing to do so, but on Mr. 
 Moody's asking a second time "if there were none in the hall 
 wishing salvation," a few stood up, and the Christians were asked 
 to pray for them. 
 
 Just then the bells began to ring in the new year, and the Rev. 
 R. Green engaged in prayer for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost 
 on the town of Sheffield, and most particularly ©n the special 
 meetings to be held. Mr. Moody also engaged in prayer. This 
 was one of the most solemn scenes I have ever been privileged 
 to witness. While the audience were bent in prayer the most 
 intense stillness prevailed, broken only by an occasional sob. 
 After singing the Doxology, the meeting separated. 
 
 The streets were made lively after the meeting with vigorous 
 singing of hymns, as bands of Christians wended their way home. 
 
 Sunday was a day of blessing for Sheffield. The meetings were 
 attended with most blessed results. 
 
 The morning meeting for Christian workers was not, perhaps, 
 so well attended in point of numbers as might have been expected, 
 but the Christians who had come out at this early hour were right- 
 down hearty workers. As Mr. Moody said, " He would rather 
 have a moderately small meeting of such earnest Christians than 
 have it packed with thousands of careless people." 
 
 At the afternoon meeting, the Albert Hall was densely packed 
 half an hour before the time ; the lower Albert Hall was thrown 
 open for the overflow, but even then many had to go away disap- 
 pointed. 
 
!^6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Mr. Moody addressed this large gathering from Rom. if. 23 : 
 "For there is no difference. '' 
 
 Many were evidently struck to the heart; some whom we 
 heard scoffing at the commencement, were in tears at the conclu- 
 sion of his address. 
 
 When Mr. Sankey followed by singing " Free from the law, O 
 happy condition ! " it seemed to produce a deep impression. 
 
 The Sunday evening meeting was glorious. The hall was 
 again densely packed. Mr. Sankey sang his solo, " There were 
 ninety and nine." Mr. Moody then gave his address on " Re 
 generation," from the words, "Ye must be born again." The 
 result of the whole proceedings in Sheffield since the coining of 
 our dear brethren must be considered highly satisfactory, and as 
 affording great cause for thankfulness. 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke no less than four times on Friday, on each 
 occasion with much power, and with signs following. It need 
 scarcely be added that Mr. Sankey's solos, including such favor 
 ites as " Only an armor-bearer," " Dare to be a Daniel," " Whiter 
 than snow," etc., deepened the influences produced by Mr. 
 Moody's impassioned discourses. Indeed, it is made more and 
 more manifest that the special gifts of each evangelist have been 
 most happily wedded together for the common purpose they have 
 in view. 
 
 At the closing service in the evening there was no diminution 
 either in the attendance or the interest. It was chiefly intended 
 for the young converts, who were admitted by ticket, and crowde 
 a large part of the area of the Albert Hall. Both the gallerie 
 were also crammed long before the hour of commencing. It wa 
 a glorious and inspiring sight to look on such a vast sea of huma 
 faces, all lit up with eager expectation, and all assembled to hear 
 the simple story of the Saviour's grace and power. The scene 
 was more impressive still when, at the appointed hour, Mr. 
 Moody and Mr. Sankey having quietly crossed the front of the 
 platform, and taken their seats, the whole assembly rose and 
 joined in singing the hymn, 
 
 Ring the bells of heaven, there is joy to-day, 
 For a soul returning from the wild." 
 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING IN SHEFFIELD. 157 
 
 And afterward, in that jubilant old hymn that used to be sung at 
 revival meetings fifteen years ago, and is ever fresh and new : 
 
 "O happy day! that fixed my choice 
 On Thee, my Saviour and my God ; 
 Well may this glowing heart rejoice, 
 And tell its raptures all abroad." 
 
 After Mr. Sankey had sung " Whiter than snow," Mr. Moody 
 spoke with his accustomed pungency, simplicity, and power, 
 chiefly addressing the young converts. Surely they will never be 
 able to forget his words of affectionate encouragement and cau- 
 tion, as he pointed out the dangers that would inevitably come to 
 them in their Christian life, and the unfailing source of strength 
 amidst them all. Then came his parting words, evidently painful 
 alike to speaker and hearers. " I have learned to love you," said 
 Mr. Moody ; and the earnest gaze and tearful eyes before him 
 testified, more loudly than words, how his love was reciprocated, 
 and his labors and counsels prized. I was forcibly reminded of 
 the scene of Paul's farewell meeting with the elders at Miletum. 
 I verily believe that many hundreds of young converts would, one 
 and all, have fallen on Mr. Moody's neck, and kissed him, sorrow- 
 ing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see 
 his face no more. One little fellow, at the close of the meeting, 
 came to me in great distress when he found that Mr. Moody had 
 left without having given him a shake of his hand. 
 
 Before the meeting was dismissed, Mr. Sankey sang a parting 
 hymn to the tenderly pathetic tune of " Home, sweet home," and 
 the vast crowd lingered long in the hall where Christ had won so 
 many sons and daughters within the past two weeks. 
 
 The work among the young men has been taking root during 
 the week. It has been a " Happy New Year " for Sheffield, and 
 the faith of the Lord's people prompts them to hope that " still 
 there's more to follow." 
 
 Upward of eighty — clergymen of all the evangelical denomina- 
 tions in the town, and the other members of the committee— met 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey at breakfast in the Imperial Hotel, 
 on Saturday morning, to bid them farewell. Reporters were ex- 
 
158 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 eluded, but I understand that the unanimous expression of the 
 company was one of gratitude to the -evangelists for their untiring 
 and successful labors in Sheffield, and for the spirit of cordial co- 
 operation among the various divisions of the Church that their 
 visit had so blessedly generated. Practical as he always is, Mr. 
 Moody used the occasion to urge upon the committee the neces- 
 sity of rearing a central and suitable building in the town, where 
 all those interested in the continued success of the work could 
 meet on neutral ground, and carry on the meetings. 
 
 In summing up the results, and giving general impressions of 
 the value of these special services, the following account may be 
 found useful : 
 
 The crowded meetings, thrice repeated every day, attended by 
 persons who set aside engagements, alike of business, work, and 
 pleasure, have been accompanied with much power from above. 
 Sheffield is usually considered as a population difficult to arouse, 
 sturdy, independent, unimpressionable; like the metal in which 
 we work in these parts, true, but hard as steel. Yet the place 
 has been thoroughly aroused, and proof to demonstration given 
 that God is able to work here, as in Jerusalem of old, and as in 
 other towns of England now ; thus greatly encouraging Christian 
 ministers and laborers to look with faith for greater things. All 
 the meetings have been pervaded by a sense of God's nearness ; 
 believers have been filled with fresh joy, and fired with new zeal ; 
 the anxious have found soul-rest; the careless have been aroused. 
 In fact, we have had at once a revival and an awakening — a re- 
 vival touching the hearts of God's people, and an awakening 
 spreading among the thoughtless. The influence reached its 
 height on the last night of Mr. Moody's presence in the town, 
 when he addressed specially the converts, who were present in 
 goodly numbers, together with a vast crowd of Christian workers. 
 His words seemed to have a thrilling power among us all. When 
 he closed by saying that he did not like "farewell," and "good- 
 bye " was almost as bad ; he would therefore just say " good- 
 night," and meet- us in the morning (pointing to the skies), I 
 think the whole audience deeply felt how much our beloved 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING IN SHEFFIELD. 159 
 
 brother had endeared himself to us. And when Mr. Sankey fol- 
 lowed directly with his touching farewell hymn, so appropriate to 
 such an occasion, and so specially addressing every class of 
 hearers, many were the eyes that were bathed in tears. Had it 
 been possible, we would not have parted with our brethren. But 
 may the Lord go with them in other places, confirming their word 
 with signs and wonders, as He has done here ! 
 
 The verdict of almost all Christian people upon this movement 
 is, that it is the work of God. I am convinced that such an esti- 
 mate is just, on many grounds. 
 
 1. The movement was an answer to prayer. Though we had 
 not waited on the Lord so long as Christians in some other towns 
 have done, a weekly united prayer-meeting had been maintained 
 for nearly a year previously. Many of God's people were also 
 quietly sighing and crying for the abominations of the city, and 
 hungering and thirsting for spiritual blessing. One feature in the 
 prayers previously offered was very noticeable. While all were 
 preparing heartily to welcome Messrs. Moody and Sankey, there 
 was a thorough recognition in the supplications that not they, 
 but their God, must open the flood-gates of grace. The Spirit 
 was honored ; and we have had the answer. 
 
 2. Remarkable unity prevailed. At least in its outward mani- 
 festation this was realized, when ministers of the Established 
 Church and those of the Free Churches sat together on the same 
 platform, and followed each other in prayer. The force of exhor- 
 tation, backed by the united sympathy and supplications of the 
 whole Christian Church, is multiplied tenfold. Doubtless Chris- 
 tian union is of God. When will it genuinely prevail ? Is not 
 the attainment of it worth the surrender of the causes of division ? 
 
 3. The movement had a growing power. Its influence at first 
 was not to be compared with what it became in its progress. In- 
 deed, the feeling of myself and of others with whom I have con- 
 versed was at first one of disappointment. Both Mr. Moody's 
 speaking and Mr. Sankey's singing seemed to fall short of what 
 we had expected ; but it was not long before the impressiveness 
 of both made itself felt to all. To my mind, this is a true test of 
 
l6o MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 excellence. A picture, a piece of music, a landscape — do they 
 grow upon you by repetition ? The work of these evangelists has 
 grown upon us. I apprehend it would have been the other way, 
 had it not been of God. 
 
 4. The stillness was remarkable. The noise and confusion 
 favorable to revivals which are the work of man was altogether 
 absent. The quiet, favorable to the descent and operations of 
 the Holy Ghost, was marked. A man of my acquaintance once 
 observed that " anybody could get up a revival, if he only made 
 enough noise." There was nothing of that kind here. Indeed, 
 I noticed that if any brother threw a needless physical exertion 
 into his entreaties, Mr. Moody would be sure to say, " Let us 
 have a few minutes' silent prayer ; " and this was mostly followed 
 by the subduing strains of Mr. Sankey's harmonium and voice. 
 A solemn quiet reigned at all times, and even Mr. Moody's hu- 
 morous sayings did not destroy the solemnity of it. A work done 
 under conditions such as these, so different- from those which 
 have prevailed in some "revivals," commends itself to me as the 
 work of God. There are many things that I might touch on; but 
 only one thing more will I mention. 
 
 5. The work is evidently one of faith. This quality is very 
 observable in Mr. Moody. He has faith — not a proud self confi- 
 dence engendered by success, but a humble reliance upon God 
 and fearless expectation of blessing. 
 
 Letter of Mr. Moody to the Young Converts. 
 
 A meeting of converts was held on the evening of January 19, 
 presided over by the Rev. R. Staunton. 
 
 During the proceedings the chairman read the following letter : 
 
 "Birmingham, Jan. 19, 1875. 
 
 " My dear Friends : Mr. Sankey and I would have been very 
 
 glad to have seen you all once more to-night, but God has given 
 
 us work in another corner of His vineyard, and we can only join 
 
 you in well-wishes. I am very glad now to have this opportunity 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING IN SHEFFIELD. l6l 
 
 of fulfilling my promise to send you a short message. There are 
 many things I should like to say if I had the time, but I fear I 
 must confine myself to one or two very plain words. Ever since 
 we left Sheffield, every one of us will have changed a little. Some 
 will be merrier, and some will be gloomier. Some will be fuller 
 of God's love, and some may even feel a little emptier • others, 
 again, may not have got over the period of wonder, and still find 
 themselves asking : 'And can it really all be true ? Is it not just 
 some strange dream ? Is it really possible that God loves us, 
 and that we are really saved for evermore ? ' And this is my only 
 one reply to these very common and rational questions : We are 
 changed, but Christ is not. Oh, if He were different, it would be a 
 very, very serious thing. And if we are changed and are fright- 
 ened about it, we must find out at once if He is changed too. If 
 it is only we 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 feelings. In Hebrews xiii. 8, 
 He says, ' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for- 
 ever.' Yes ! the same ; no matter how changed we are, no mat- 
 ter how dull, how joyless, He is just as He was yesterday, just 
 as He was the night when we got our first glimpse of His dying 
 love for us. 
 
 " Oh, dear friends, let us keep looking to Him, and as we look, 
 God will give us the longing to be more and more like Him. 
 Perhaps some of you already feel that longing, and you don't 
 know what it is ! Perhaps you think it is very hard to have this 
 craving after a better heart and a holier life. But Christ says it 
 is 'blessed.' It is not hard; it is not a misfortune; it is not a 
 sign that the health of the soul is gone. No ; appetite is not the 
 symptom of disease, but of health. And the Master Himself has 
 told us that it is blessed to be hungry and thirsty after Him. 
 And some of you may be mourning over your empty hearts, for 
 little love is there ; how little faith, how little zeal for the Mas- 
 ter's service ! Well, it is not hardship to feel like that. If it be 
 
1 62 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 real, it is not sad to be that way, only don't mourn over it. 
 Christ says it is 'blessed' — blessed to be poor in spirit; and the 
 poorer, and weaker, and humbler we feel, the more room is there 
 for Him to perfect strength in our weakness. ' My grace is suffi- 
 cient for thee ; my strength is made perfect in weakness ; # * * 
 for when I am weak, then am I strong.' And now, dear friends, 
 before closing, let me ask you all to do something for Christ, 
 something this very week. I' cannot tell you what to do ; but 
 God will if you ask Him. He has something for everybody to 
 do ; and let us be earnest in doing our best for Him, and let us 
 do it soon. Death will be upon us when our work will be but 
 begun, and 'the night cometh when no man can work.' And for 
 every one of you, that God may bless you, and keep you, and 
 cause the light of His face to shine upon you, and enable you to 
 grow in the knowledge and likeness of His only begotten Son, is 
 the earnest and humble prayer of your affectionate friend, 
 
 "D. L. Moody." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 "The Toy-shop of the World" Welcomes Them. 
 
 Birmingham, with its 400,000 people, the constituency of 
 John Bright, the English reformer, now looks up to God for a 
 shower of grace upon the seed-sowing of the evangelists who 
 began 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 marvelous 
 gatherings that are daily taking place. There is no lack of 
 opportunity for the Christian to put in a word for the Master, for 
 wherever you go, whether in the counting-house, shop, refresh- 
 ment-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 fron\ 
 the noon-day meetings held in the Town Hall. Meetings are 
 now being held an Carr's Lane Chapel every afternoon at three 
 o'clock, and here again it is necessary to be there some time before 
 the service commences. In fact, yesterday I was there at two 
 o'clock, and the body of the chapel was then filled. It is estimated 
 that three thousand people are in this building every afternoon. 
 
 163 
 
164 MOODY AND SAXKEY IX GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 To convey to the mind of the reader the sight which presents 
 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 immense sea of faces is 
 singularly impressive, especially when from 12,000 to 15,000 
 people are listening eagerly to catch the words that fall r rom the 
 speaker's lips. 
 
 The question may be asked, What effect is this movement hav- 
 ing upon the people in general ? I reply, Good every way. The 
 stirring addresses given by Mr. Moody to Christians from the 
 very first morning, are 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 stimulated, through attending the 
 meetings. As for those who nightly throng Bingley Hall, the 
 best test of the work I can give is, that whereas at first the after- 
 meetings were held in a neighboring church, the anxious ones 
 have now become so numerous, that they are obliged to remain 
 in the hall, while earnest Christian workers, with Bible 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 marvelous in our eyes," but it is not less marvelous that their 
 physical strength does not give way under their unceasing labors. 
 While Mr. Sankey is greatly gifted with power to use his voice in 
 singing the Gospel, Mr. Moody has away of marvelously picturing, 
 in the most vivid manner, Bible truths. From the humorous he 
 can come down to the pathetic, and so move his hearers to tears, 
 and withal there is a " holy boldness " which is seldom to be met 
 with in the preachers of the present da} 7 . 
 
 The Morning News says : " Never before in the history of Bir- 
 mingham, I believe, have two men drawn such large numbers of 
 people together as Messrs. Moody and Sankey have done, time 
 
 i 
 
THE TOY-SHOP OF THE WORLD WELCOMES THEM. 1 65 
 
 after time, during the whole of last week an-d yesterday. The 
 Town Hall, Carr's Lane Chapel, and Bingley Hall, have been 
 entirely filled 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 services, 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 pre- 
 sented themselves at the meetings again and again \ but it is 
 probable that the audiences were, for the most part, different on 
 each occasion. At the four meetings in Carr's Lane Chapel 
 some 12,000, at the six in the Town Hall about 24,000, and at the 
 twelve in Bingley Hall at least 120,000 persons must have been 
 present, making a total of 156,000 men, women, and children, to 
 whom, during the last eight days, they have preached and sung 
 the Gospel. Nor does the interest in the men and their work 
 as yet know any abatement, it being likely that the services to be 
 held this week will be as numerously attended as those of last week." 
 
 Amidst all the cavil of unbelief, and other opponents, thou- 
 sands can testify, day by day, to the reality and power, widely 
 spreading and deepening blessing upon their souls. Sinners 
 have been converted to God, and believers edified. Whole con- 
 gregations, both in churches and chapels, have felt its animating 
 power. The clergy and ministers of various denominations 
 have rejoiced together in this blessed work of the Lord, and felt 
 its quickening influence. Many of the Lord's servants have met 
 together for the first time, and felt their hearts drawn out in 
 brotherly love and sympathy, enabling them to overlook various 
 minor differences of creed and church government. 
 
 The noon-day prayer-meeting was first held in the Town Hall, 
 which large building was filled long before the appointed hour. 
 A very solemn and prayerful spirit seemed to pervade the masses 
 —the stillness was quite impressive, and the great bulk of the 
 people seemed to enter most deeply into the importance and 
 solemnity of the occasion. The numbers at the noon-day prayer- 
 meeting were probably quite 3,000. Afterward it was changed 
 to Bingley Hall, where thousands more might be accommodated. 
 
1 66 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 The afternoon Bible-reading is also well attended, and greatly 
 enjoyed by many. The evening meetings have gone on steadily 
 increasing, until at length I 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 sing- 
 ing — and, as a brother clergy man said to me, on the platform, " we 
 never heard such singing of the good 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 Birmingham 
 itself had never witnessed before — 15,000 met together, night 
 after night, to listen to the loving, sympathizing, fervent preach- 
 ing of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners ! And the audience 
 felt it ! The Holy Spirit of God seemed working in our midst — 
 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 sub- 
 merged in the one glowing, burning theme — salvation 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 per- 
 sonal admiration, but steeped in the love and spirit of his 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 salvation ! 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, 
 
"the toy-shop of the world" welcomes them. 167 
 
 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 influences 
 around. The singing appeared to be improving night after 
 night, as the vast masses gradually learned the tunes and hymns. 
 Mr. Sankey'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. 
 
 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 progress- 
 ing in their respective cities, after Messrs. Moody and Sankey 
 had left, and in some places ripening in a most marvelous 
 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 apparently 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 pretend 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 touchingly, 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 suc- 
 cessful meeting. It was attended 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 Scot- 
 land and Ireland. Mr. Moody presided throughout 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 
 
1 68 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 presence of so many 
 Christian workers, were potent with blessing, in stimulating 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 happiness, 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 problem 
 will earn the unspeakable gratitude of all who sigh for the conver- 
 sion of the nations to Christ. The rousing addresses of Mr. 
 Chown, of Bradford; Mr. Newman Hall, of London; Mr. R. W. 
 Dale, of Birmingham ; Mr. Fletcher, of Dublin, and others, all 
 men of large experience, will, we trust, have contributed some- 
 what to this desired end. 
 
 Mr. Moody was as practical as ever in his answers to the ques- 
 tions sent in ; and if those who sent them will only apply those 
 answers, we are inclined to think the hour devoted to the " Ques- 
 tion 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 Rev. 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 Christ. 
 
THE TOY-SHOP OF THE WORLD" WELCOMES THEM. 
 
 169 
 
 Mr. Sankey's singing of sacred songs seems to make a deep 
 impression upon the great congregation. 
 
 At the meeting in Bingley 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 evening, we found a 
 despatch 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 com- 
 mittee are wavering a little, as they have some fears the people 
 will not come out to the meetings 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 round 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 Bir- 
 mingham. 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. I 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 the gospel to all men. But I would like you Birmingham 
 people to go with us. Well, then, if we do our best to get speak- 
 ers 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 hall 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 the help they can. There will be a service on Sunday 
 afternoon, when one of your own ministers will preach. On Mon- 
 day night you'll have a thanksgiving service. Come to it to thank 
 God for having answered our prayers to bless these meetings. 
 Has God not answered your prayers? — (Cries of "Yes," "yes.") 
 Then on Tuesday we'll get some one else to speak. On 
 
I70 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 meetings. [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 converted 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 per- 
 sons 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 converts' 
 tickets being applied for. It would be manifestly premature to 
 assert that this number of people have been converted during the 
 previous three weeks' services. As Mr. Moody said at the Con- 
 ference 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 savingly to believe in Christ who 
 did not apply for converts' tickets. In any case, the progress of 
 the movement in Birmingham has been such as greatly to encour- 
 age and cheer our American brethren and those who helped them 
 in their labors j 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 affectionate regard, 
 and it was plain, from the demeanor of the audience, that the 
 parting on their side was a most reluctant one. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang the farewell hymn with great pathos and feel- 
 ing; and on leaving the hall both he and Mr. Moody were be- 
 sieged with friends anxious to receive a parting shake of the hand. 
 They proceeded to Liverpool on Saturday. 
 
 A correspondent writes concerning this meeting: "We shall 
 never forget that address." Such was the almost involuntary 
 
"the toy-shop of the world" welcomes them. 171 
 
 exclamation of a well-dressed mechanic who was standing 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 hav- 
 ing 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 
 disposed 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, numbers vary- 
 ing 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 forevermore." 
 
 I know of no one of the many blessed hymns which has more 
 struck the heart and arrested attention than that sweet one whose 
 chorus begins, " Oh, 'twas love, 'twas wondrous love, the love of 
 God to me." This love and its manifestation is the theme of every 
 sermon, and, of course, God owns it. Ministers wonder at fail- 
 ure, and try to discover the cause ; a week of services such as 
 Birmingham has had for the lost fortnight, I think must answer 
 the question, " What is the cause of failure ? " 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 suc- 
 cess. 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. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Liverpool's Month of Mercy. 
 
 The brethren revisited this great city by the sea on the 7th of 
 February and remained till March 7, 1875. Twenty thousand 
 dollars had been expended for a building capable of seating 
 eight thousand persons, 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 after- 
 noon and evening meetings. 
 
 All Liverpool was moved by them ; but not with the most 
 desiiable feelings. Some were actuated by a spirit of embittered 
 hostility, and did not hesitate to write and speak of these ser- 
 vants of Christ what had not the shadow of truth. This very 
 opposition, however, did good. God 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 move- 
 ment. Many flock to the meetings, apparently from idle curi- 
 osity, and thousands under spiritual anxiety, whilst God's people 
 rally round the evangelists with an enthusiasm and hearty good- 
 will which is cheering to observe. 
 
 At last Monday 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, 
 
 172 
 
Liverpool's month of mercy. 173 
 
 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 lis- 
 tened to the next verse, and felt there is a Saviour. Who is He ? 
 Where is He ? Instantly I 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. Now, 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 disposes 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 Christian, 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 dis- 
 honoring Christ in this meeting, what am I to do to this man ? " 
 
 " 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 Lord is doing great things for us, "whereof we are 
 glad." 
 
174 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 purpos'e is this waste ? 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 : — 6,000 at a midday prayer-meeting; 
 6,000 at the afternoon Bible-lecture ; 10,000 at the evening meet- 
 ing, with the inquiry-rooms full, are something that even the Ex- 
 change has to admit. But beyond this, there is the mighty work- 
 ing 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 all the workers. j 
 
 The part allotted to me in the great work has enabled me to 
 see and test much that is going on. And this I can say — there is 
 wheat ; there is chaff. The wheat is sound, and will be a glorious, 
 bountiful harvest. The chaff will be blown away. Wheat and 
 chaff always grow together. Never have we been privileged to 
 see so much real, genuine work — anxious faces, tearful eyes, 
 aching hearts. 
 
 Mr. Moody, 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. Moody remarked that many people thought the Victoria 
 Hall was a bad investment, but that, if souls were born there, per- 
 haps some of them would like to have a little stock in it. 
 
LIVERPOOL S MONTH OF MERCY. i ]$ 
 
 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 back- 
 sliders have been led to return to their first love. One day at the, 
 noon prayer-meeting, Mr. Moody told of an interesting 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 his hotel, and received a letter of intro- 
 duction to any of the Christian friends in America he might meet. 
 He was accompanied to the hotel by his brother, who had come 
 from the country with him to see him sail, and who seemed over- 
 joyed to think that one so 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 some- 
 thing like t 0,000 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 the noon prayer-meetings averages 4,000 to 
 5,000, the audience, of course, not being so mixed as those in the 
 evening. One gratifying circumstance, 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. May they carry away some truth 
 that will cling to them when they are tempted to forget God in 
 their haste to get rich ! 
 
176 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 
 Avery happy feature of the work here, as elsewhere, is the sym- 
 pathetic 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 with the feeling 
 of reality that pervades this work, as it is now going on in Liver- 
 pool. Endless are the surmises, and very ludicrous some of the 
 guesses, as to the secret of its wonderful success. The Liver- 
 pool critics (and their name is legion) are fairly puzzled. I sum 
 it all up in the one word reality. 
 
 Mr. Moody has often been described, and criticised, and dis- 
 sected, both by friends and foes, but I think sufficient stress has 
 been laid on his predominating characteristic of reality. As he 
 said the other day, he pulls up his net anon to see what he has 
 caught. This is the highest test of his reality, and the one that 
 has evoked the greatest criticism. But 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 them 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 his 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 
 
LIVERPOOL S MONTH OF MERCY. 
 
 177 
 
 relating to these two most important subjects was sown in the 
 hearts of some 60,000 or 70,000 persons, many of them from a 
 long distance. 
 
 The lectures are a treat of no ordinary kind. As expository 
 discourses they are most valuable, and reveal, to some extent, 
 how Mr. Moody has got, to use a common phrase, " the Bible at 
 his finger-ends." But these lectures have a wonderful hortatory 
 as well as expository value. 
 
 It is a gratifying fact that the attendance at the evening meet- 
 ings 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 con- 
 sidered so great as to necessitate the opening of other places. 
 Last week, however, overflow meetings were held, sometimes in 
 two and sometimes in three different places. 
 
 One evening I went to St. John's Church, where I found W. 
 H. M. Aitken and the vicar of the church conducting the service 
 after the model of the services in Victoria Hall. The body of 
 the church was filled 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 church-yard. It was a motley company, and a great ma- 
 jority consisted of those who, from their dress and appearance, 
 do not often find their way to God's house. There were num- 
 bers of men such as one sees lounging at street-corners and 
 about public-houses, many young girls in working attire and 
 without bonnets, and a number of rough, neglected-looking 
 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 addresses. 
 From the richly-dressed lady to the poor waif of the street, with 
 
178 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 - 
 
 scarce enough of clothing to cover his nakedness ; from the boy 
 and girl of eight or ten years to the horny-handed, gray-headed 
 working-man, with all the intervening stages of life — there you 
 find all, burdened with the same sense of sin, and afterward 
 rejoicing in the same Saviour. 
 
 The special work among the young men, which has been car- 
 ried on in other towns where the evangelists have been, is being 
 organized here also. On Saturday evening there was a meeting 
 for young men, chiefly to make arrangements, at which Mr. 
 Moody was present. In the meantime the meetings will be held 
 in Newsome's Circus, and shortly it is expected that the concert- 
 room of St. George's Hall will be available. 
 
 Sunday last was another day of much sowing of the precious 
 seed of the word, and reaping too. The early meeting for 
 " workers " was some 8,000 strong. 
 
 The afternoon meeting for women was a wonderful sight. The 
 hall was packed to excess, and many hundreds failing to gain 
 entrance, an overflow meeting was held in Newsome's Circus. 
 Mr. Sankey sang the solo " Mary Magdalene " amidst the most 
 profound silence, and the pathetic and beautiful words of the 
 hymn brought tears to many an eye. Mr. Moody spoke on 
 " What Christ is to us," a most pregnant and powerful address 
 on a theme that he said it would take all eternity to- exhaust. 
 As at other times, Mr. Moody asked those who wished to be 
 prayed for to rise up, and hundreds upon hundreds responded in 
 all parts of the house. A more touching or cheering sight I 
 never witnessed. Mr. Sankey sang " Almost persuaded," and 
 Mr. Moody said that there were so many anxious, it would be 
 impossible to speak with them ; so he asked them to go home, 
 and at five o'clock to take God's Word, and kneel down pleading 
 His promise, and commit themselves to Him. All the Christians 
 in the hall would be praying for them at that hour. He prayed, 
 that they might be altogether persuaded. 
 
 Mr. Moody repeated his afternoon address to an immense 
 audience of men in the evening, and in the course of it made 
 strong reference to the great curse of Liverpool, the drink traffic, 
 
 
Liverpool's mon^h of mercy. 179 
 
 amid the approval of the vast congregation. He asked them to 
 show their detestation of it by becoming abstainers. There were 
 hundreds of inquirers at the close. A deeply interesting meeting 
 of about 7,000 young men was held in the Circus from nine to 
 ten o'clock^ conducted by Mr. Henry Drummond. These meet- 
 ings are to be continued every night. 
 
 Valuable testimony was given as to the tangible effects of the 
 work in Liverpool. It was stated that one class reached had 
 been those who, though religiously trained, had, during these 
 special meetings, seen a. new meaning and power in the truths 
 with which they were familiar. Many sailors, and ship captains, 
 too, had come to the meetings and been guided into the true 
 haven of rest and peace. Then there were many workingmen 
 who had plunged into the depths of intemperance, and whose in- 
 sulted and injured wives, after being driven from their homes, 
 had been compelled to support themselves and their children for 
 years together. These wives, in this day of grace, had sent let- 
 ters to their husbands, extending their forgiveness and implor- 
 ing them to come to Victoria Hall and seek forgiveness of the 
 Saviour. Some of them had come and found that forgiveness, 
 and gone back to lighten their homes again with a new lustre and 
 
 joy- 
 Allusion was made by one of the speakers to another class, 
 one much too large and full of strange and painful interest, con- 
 sisting of those who have in past years made a profession of love 
 to Christ, but have wandered * 
 
 " Away on the mountains, wild and bare," 
 
 and have been glad to take of the husks that the swine did eat. 
 It had often been asked whether the converts connected with this 
 revival would stand the test of time, and endure the temptations 
 of the world. When the question is put, as it often is, " Brother, 
 have all your converts stood fast?" I can only confess that, 
 during the forty years but one that I have preached in this town, 
 I have missed a great many from the fold ; but I have found 
 some of them in that inquiry-room. The first night the inquiry- 
 
l8o MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 room was needed, I lingered on the platform, not intending to 
 go into the room, when a message came to me, " You are wanted 
 immediately ; an inquirer wishes to see you." I went, and I had 
 not seen that face — I will not tell you whether it was man or 
 woman — for twenty years ; and I found that soul had wandered 
 away, and had kept out of my sight with perfect success.- The 
 first conviction was to go and tell him by whose hands they had 
 been received into the Christian Church. Many a wanderer has 
 come, and Christ alone knows how many more He will welcome 
 back to His all-forgiving arms, and fill our hearts with a gladness 
 they have never experienced before. 
 
 And so the great work flows steadily on. As the days and 
 weeks roll past, and the same scenes are so often repeated, it is 
 difficult to find fresh terms in which to describe " these wondrous 
 gatherings day by day." The four meetings on Sunday last may 
 briefly be stated as a repetition of those on the Sunday before. 
 All crowded to the utmost capacity of the great hall, and, in some 
 cases, especially at the afternoon and evening meetings, multi- 
 tudes turned away for lack of room. 
 
 The service for " non-church goers " at eleven o'clock was a 
 fresh illustration of the power of Christ's wondrous love, or "com- 
 passion," to melt the hearts of the most supine, and to move the 
 consciences of the most sin-stricken. The arrows of conviction 
 went home right and left, and there was a large ingathering of 
 souls at the close. Mr. Moody used, by way of illustration, a 
 very touching chapter of personal family history that brought 
 tears to many eyes. 
 
 At the three o'clock service for women, the hall was filled to 
 overflowing an hour before the time. The women are quite as de- 
 termined in their efforts to get in as the stronger sex, and some say 
 not quite so well behaved under the trying conditions of a crowd. 
 To my mind, these Sunday afternoon meetings for women have 
 been the most wonderful of all, and certainly not the least impor- 
 tant, when we consider the power for good or evil that must be ex- 
 erted by so many thousands of our mothers and sisters. I must say 
 these meetings have proved that the women are not only quicker 
 
LIVERPOOL S MONTH OF MERCY. 151 
 
 in their apprehension of the truth, but more honest and courageous 
 in avowing their apprehension of it. At the close of Mr. Moody's 
 searching address on " Excuses," a very considerable proportion 
 of the audience promptly stood up to show that they wished to 
 excuse themselves no longer from accepting the gracious invita- 
 tion to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Mr. Moody spoke to 
 the inquirers that filled the inquiry-room, in language and by 
 illustration so beautifully simple and apt, that it is almost impos- 
 sible to conceive any difficulty could have remained in their 
 minds. At the same time Mr. Sankey addressed, in a very art- 
 less, homely, and touching way, a large body of anxious inquirers 
 who remained in the hall. 
 
 Mr. Moody, before leaving Liverpool, addressed an immense 
 meeting in behalf of the Young Men's Christian Association, and 
 laid the corner-stone of the new building, inscribed, " This memo- 
 rial stone was laid by D. L. Moody of Chicago, 2d March, 1875." 
 He used a silver trowel presented to him for the occasion. 
 
 The closing services were held on Sunday, the 7th of March, 
 at eight a. m., for Christian workers ; at eleven a. m. for young 
 converts and inquirers ; at three p. m. for women only ; and at 
 eight p. m. for men only. Each was very largely attended. 
 
 In 1873, not a convert was known to have been made by the 
 meetings held by the evangelists in Liverpool, and now behold 
 the wonderful victories of the Truth ! 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 83 
 
 six- the singing of a hymn was begun in a distant part of the hall ; 
 but the Rev. Thain Davidson, from his seat on the platform, re- 
 quested 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 me were young 
 merchants and professional men ; and they did their work with 
 quiet, effective energy. There seems to have been no screw loose 
 anywhere. The silent seating of so many thousands was a mas- 
 terpiece 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 build- 
 ing came between the eye and the great sea of humanity that 
 seemed to stretch as far as the vision could go. There was abun- 
 dance of light shed from thousands of gas-burners beading the 
 walls — these at times running in straight lines, and at regular in- 
 tervals assuming a semicircular form. A broad strip of red cloth 
 running round beneath the lines and arches of light bore appro- 
 priate passages in white lettering. 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 little 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 others 
 taking part in the service. On and around the platform were 
 hundreds of leading men of all the evangelical communions, min- 
 isters and laymen ; and it struck me that the Congregational and 
 Presbyterian churches were represented in special strength, es- 
 pecially the former body. The Earl of Cavan and Lord Rad- 
 stock occupied seats on the platform. 
 
 At seven o'clock 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 the 
 most of the people present. Then, after a brief interval, the hymn. 
 
184 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 " 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 for- 
 mer, in the least conventional of voices, said, "Let us rise anc 
 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 straii 
 ceased than the Rev. Mr. Billing, the incumbent of the nearest 
 church, offered prayer. " We bless Thee, that we have seen thi< 
 day and this hour," he said ; and hundreds gave audible vent to 
 a thanksgiving that was uttered with deep fervor. Very hearty, 
 too, were the "Amens" which followed the request that God 
 might be 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 know that the peo- 
 ple 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 assembly, 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 encour- 
 aged 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 minis- 
 ters present, and prayed that there might be " no strife among 
 the herdmen." Mr. Sankey then sang the solo, "Jesus of Naza- 
 reth 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 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 85 
 
 especially the line, " What means this strange commotion ? " was 
 thrilling in its effect • but a slight disturbance in a distant part 
 of the hall somewhat 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 
 thousands of lips. 
 
 On Wednesday evening the second meeting was held in the 
 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 ad- 
 mission. 
 
 It was speedily apparent that great blessing from on high was 
 present in that meeting. The address was full of power ; anec- 
 dote, illustration, Scripture entreaty, persuasion, succeeded 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 unconscious 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 followed, 
 of " the young man converted on his mother's grave," gave occa- 
 sion 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 human- 
 ity, bowing and swaying even the hardest to thoughts of repent- 
 ance 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 
 
1 86 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 attend- 
 ance here compared with the day before ; but the great Hall was 
 nearly filled, and would doubtlessly have been filled to overflow- 
 ing during the service had 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 intensi- 
 fied to bitterness ; but this disappeared when he spoke of a boy 
 of fourteen with a Bible under his arm, whom he had met in the 
 inquiry-room the previous night, and asked as to his presence 
 there. The boy replied that he was a Christian, hoped to meet 
 some little boy like himself to tell about Jesus. Afterward the 
 boy was seen kneeling with another in a corner. Mr. Sankey 
 also spoke earnestly in defence of the inquiry-room — asking ob- 
 jectors to visit and see for themselves, instead of finding fault 
 beforehand ; adding, warmly, " It don't take half a man to find 
 fault." The meeting ended as usual ; but after its close there 
 appeared to be an impromptu reunion of nearly all the evangeli- 
 cal workers in London, the resemblance being almost perfect to 
 one of the evening conferences at Mildmay Park. 
 
 The third evening service was much more largely attended 
 than the second. Much better order was observed than at the 
 commencement of the previous evening, the meeting being admi- 
 rably controlled. The address was most solemn and searching 
 in character, concluding with an exhortation to immediate and 
 final decision. Mr. Moody ended his discourse by prayer. Then 
 " Safe in the arms of Jesus " was sung; then silent prayer; next, 
 " Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah ! " then the benediction and 
 the inquiry-meeting. 
 
 On Friday the great hall for the noon prayer-meeting had a glo- 
 rious gathering, and there were quite as many present as on the 
 previous day, but notably men; the ladies could not face the ter- 
 rible cold and sleet. 
 
 After singing, a gentleman spoke earnestly of the way and the 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 87 
 
 need of working for Jesus. He was followed by another, who 
 told a touching story of how the lost are found in London. A 
 tract-distributor offered a man a tract on Waterloo Bridge ; it 
 was declined with the remark, " I shall be in hell before night "; 
 the words were heard and answered, " No, you will not, for Tin 
 going to heaven, and will stick to you all day." They left the 
 bridge together, the hungry man was supplied with food and 
 taken to a place of worship. There he fell asleep. " Perhaps 
 he has been walking all night," said his friend ; " let him sleep ! " 
 Service over, he was conveyed home to supper, inquiring con- 
 cerning all this kindness, "Whaf s up?" He was fed, tended, 
 reasoned with, instructed, and brought to the way of heaven, 
 instead of being in hell, as he had said. 
 
 So ends the first three of Mr. Moody's noon prayer-meetings 
 and the first three nights of work in London. And it is simple 
 truth to state, that such meetings were never held before in Lon- 
 don, if ever they were in the world's history. In three days of 
 noon and evening service, about eighty thousand have listened to 
 the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Well might Mr. Moody 
 express his thankfulness to God — the encouragement he had 
 received and felt, and his deep sense of the sympathy and help 
 extended to him and his colleague in their great work. Well 
 might he dissolve in broken accents and tears of entreaty for a 
 rich blessing on himself and those who, laboring with him, will 
 share his eternal rest and reward. Surely, when bankers and 
 rich merchants, and ministers holding high official positions, 
 are content to be doorkeepers, it must be said, "We never saw 
 it after this fashion," and this was exactly the case at the door of 
 Exeter Hall yesterday. 
 
 Mr. Moody took for his text Isa. lv. 6, stating for two evenings 
 he had dwelt on man seeking God, but now he would speak of 
 God seeking man ; yet recommending earnestness in seeking 
 God by many touching incidents and suggestions. This, among 
 others, he thought "the dying thief might have had a praying 
 mother." He also turned to the ministers around him and asked, 
 " Did they believe that God was present, and willing to save ? " 
 
1 88 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 and was instantly answered by an audible "Yes. ? ' A tearful, 
 impassioned appeal followed to all classes to seek the Lord, and 
 He would assuredly be found. Silent prayer succeeded, and 
 Mr. Sankey sang "Almost persuaded." Then the audience were 
 dismissed, and all anxious, and all workers, were invited to 
 remain, an invitation that was accepted by several thousands 1 
 The whole space under the arched room was occupied by seekers 
 and workers, while the responses to earnest prayers rolled around 
 like the deep tones of the great sea waves at night. The Lord 
 was there. Inquirer after inquirer made themselves manifest, 
 until there were scores in the inquiry-room, and scores remaining 
 in the hall speaking with the workers there. In the inquiry- 
 room were seekers and workers in every direction, and very many 
 found peace in believing. One fine young man fell to the lot of 
 the writer, and it was emphatically good to watch the dawning of 
 divine truth on the mind, as shown in the intelligent face — to see 
 the look of anxiety and fear give place to the knowledge and love 
 of God — to watch the birth of the soul to eternal life bring forth 
 that look of brightness on the face which is never seen from any 
 other cause. One young lady said " she was so happy, she seemed 
 to tread on air "; and in instance after instance the testimony 
 grew and multiplied, till we could only rejoice in believing that 
 numbers were born again — not of corruptible seed, but of the 
 incorruptible, which liveth and abideth for ever. Then the long, 
 happy evening closed by Mr. Moody calling the workers 
 together, and giving some brotherly advice and counsel concern- 
 ing the details of work in the inquiry-room. 
 
 Oh for the time of blessing ! Oh for the rain upon the weary ! 
 Oh for the coming, in mightiest power, of the loving Spirit and the 
 King our Brother, among the ruined and lost — among the weary 
 and burdened laborers on this rough and stony 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 change. From every direction 
 solitaires, couples, and bands of well-dressed people were hasten- 
 ing to the Agricultural Hall. Many parties of singers had 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 
 
 l8 9 
 
 arranged to meet in their different localities, and marched with 
 songs to their destination. Sunday-school teachers resident in 
 the line of march near to the Hall 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 reunion. 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 strength • and comely 
 matrons' faces were recognized 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 of the Christian workers of the 
 great metropolis for the first time. 
 
 Cool, prompt, and business-like as ever, Mr. Moody announced 
 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 superintendent should 
 first turn to the Lord at once and then continue his labors. 
 This was done ; he turned to the willing Saviour, and then became 
 the means of the conversion of the teachers and a great revival in 
 the school. It was the duty of each Christian— «0/ duty, but privi- 
 lege (Away with mere duty ! we did not talk of duty to wives and 
 mothers, and why in religion ?) — to speak to some person daily. 
 For twelve years there had 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 
 
190 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 him in bitter trouble about his unconverted class. He felt his 
 strength too far gone to visit them ; they were unsaved, and he 
 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 plat- 
 form, 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 universal The ministers on the plat- 
 form were wiping both eyes and glasses, and some were literally 
 scooping away the tears with their hands. Strong men were weep- 
 ing like children, and the speaker himself wept abundantly as 
 he remembered and depicted the touching scene. Yes, he con- 
 tinued, we must get in sympathy — make their case ours, their 
 troubles and sorrows 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 bad, father ? Don't you feel bad for the 
 poor mother ? " This unlocked the springs of sympathy, and I 
 did feel bad for her. I found a grave for the poor child, and after- 
 ward 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 w r eeping, such as that hall had never seen before, the address 
 concluded, and Mr. Moody attempted to pray. So deeply was he 
 moved, that he was compelled to pause 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 women present; and the power of the Spirit was clearly 
 there : tears and sobs and repressed cries, anxious faces, low, 
 earnest words and entreaties for mercy were all around, as the 
 discourse proceeded from point to point. God was the preacher 
 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. I9I 
 
 of this sermon, said Mr. Moody ; and though the first audience 
 was 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 pro- 
 fession, 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 afternoon, 
 but for men only, instead of women. Thousands of women, 
 nevertheless, accompanied their male friends in hope of admis- 
 sion, 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 com- 
 menced. The would-be infidel orator of London is in the habit 
 of saying that " Religion is an affair of priests and women." 
 Never again will he be able to repeat that taunt, after the meeting 
 on Sunday evening last, when nearly 15,000 men of London were held 
 breathless by the simple preaching and singing of the Gospel of Christ. 
 Before the address was delivered, Mr. Sankey sang " Jesus of 
 Nazareth passeth by "; himself singing the verses, and the vast 
 multitude 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. 
 
 So 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. 
 
 St. 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 gal- 
 
192 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 lery, 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 tak- 
 ing 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 ear- 
 nestly 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 come. 
 There another pressing the inquirer to pray for himself, and 
 others praying earnestly together. The writer had 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 in earnest 
 it was most pleasant to show salvation as the gift of God, and a 
 little patience was richly rewarded by the dawning of the light. 
 Then said he, " I see it now ; 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 him, and we passed on round the gallery. 
 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 three working-girls claimed help, as help had been claimed in the 
 case above. We held conversation, 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 " cove- 
 nant unto death " with Jesus. As we saw, so we heard of many 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 93 
 
 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 sub- 
 dued hum of conversation with each other, and converse with the 
 Father through the Son, gave a sense of " nearness of access," of 
 personal presence, of a very present and loving help, that was as 
 sweet as it was solemn. Verily it " was good to be there ! " It 
 was just eleven o'clock when, after three hours of delightful ser- 
 vice, "the labor was done, and the laborers gone home." 
 
 The Christian World thus summarizes the first month's 
 work : 
 
 To-day the American evangelists, whose names are on every 
 lip, enter upon the second month of their London campaign. 
 They have all but completed the series of meetings at the Agri- 
 cultural Hall, in Islington, designed more especially for the benefit 
 of the people dwelling in the great northern region of the metrop- 
 olis ; and now they are about to enter on the daily occupation of 
 a building specially erected for their accommodation at the East 
 End. From week to week we have furnished our readers with 
 full reports of the proceedings. In this way the public have been 
 enabled to obtain a comprehensive, and we believe accurate, view 
 of a series of meetings that certainly stand without a parallel in 
 the religious annals of England. We may not be able to say, with 
 a respected contemporary, that Mr. Moody is the modern Wycliffe 
 — a name we should rather assign, if we used it at all, to a great 
 English preacher who has been proclaiming the Gospel to multi- 
 tudes in London every week for more than twenty-one years. 
 Neither are we prepared to coincide with the magnanimous asser- 
 tion 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. These are statements, as it seems to us, 
 which 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 
 9 
 
194 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 gatherings over which Mr. Moody presides has been simply mar- 
 velous, and in its way quite unexampled, either within the mem- 
 ory 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 onlooker must acknowledge that the 
 present is a phenomenon which cannot be too carefully scanned, 
 or too fully described by the contemporary journalist. It will 
 unquestionably claim for itself a chapter of no inconsiderable 
 magnitude 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 expected that when 
 the prayer-meeting is transferred, as it will be on Monday next, 
 to Her Majesty's Opera House, the audience 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 1 80. The reports of spiritual work achieved in connection 
 with the movement, not only in London, but also in the provinces, 
 have been multiplying daily; and these form a feature of the 
 proceedings at Exeter Hall which does much to keep alive the 
 interest and to intensify the fervor of the assembly. Then there 
 has been the appearance of new speakers from day to day — wit- 
 nesses 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. 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 95 
 
 Moody, as a shrewd and ready-witted president, keeps the most 
 of the time well occupied with a swift and flowing succession of 
 song, prayer, and exhortation, so that the hour seems to all pres- 
 ent to be only too short, and is obviously most refreshing to their 
 spirits. Mr. Moody is, perhaps, seen at his best at Exeter Hall. 
 Some of his short addresses there have been gems of pithy expo- 
 sition ; 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 per- 
 ceptible 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 Ast- 
 ley'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-side gatherings 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 both 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 thrice on 
 Sunday in the same enormous edifice, they have continued to 
 attract an average attendance of at least eleven or twelve thou- 
 sand clown to the very last. On the two nights when the address 
 was not given by Mr. Moody there was a great falling off 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. 
 
196 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Royalty itself, in the person of her Royal Highness the Duchess 
 of Teck, has expressed its intention to come since the leading 
 journal proclaimed the turning of the tide. On one evening 
 there were at least sixty clergymen of the Establishment present, 
 with Dean Stanley occupying a conspicuous seat on the platform ; 
 and on the night of Good Friday the evangelical Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury sat on the same chair which a few evenings before had been 
 occupied by the Broad Church Dean. Lord Shaftesbury, 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 building 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 computation, it would seem that about 350,000 
 must have been the total of the numbers present at the Agricul- 
 tural 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, from first to 
 last, been admirable. 
 
 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 occa- 
 sions, numbered several hundreds. But there has been no more 
 excitement there than in the public service ; indeed, the proceed- 
 ings 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 tes- 
 tified to the good accomplished ; and Mr. Sankey in particular, 
 who is active in the inquiry-room, describes the work of which he 
 was witness on Sunday week, and on every succeeding night, as 
 being in the highest degree encouraging. Many Christian work- 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 1 97 
 
 ers, though not so many as Mr. Moody desires to see, have scat- 
 tered themselves among the great audience at the ordinary ser- 
 vices, 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 con- 
 sequence, converted to God. Mr. Moody has detailed instances 
 of persons brought to a knowledge of God in the inquiry-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 at 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- 
 road Hall and a tent pitched close by. Here the rich and- poor 
 congregated, and God graciously poured out His Spirit. In the 
 West End the Royal Opera House, in the Haymarket, was ob- 
 tained. In South London Camberwell Hall was specially pro- 
 vided for the immense multitudes sure to gather. 
 
 During the greater part of April services had been conducted 
 daily in each of the four divisions of the metropolis. Messrs. 
 Moody and Sankey have divided their labors almost equally be- 
 tween the East and the West Ends — officiating at Her Majesty's 
 Opera House, in the Haymarket, at the daily noon pra)^er-meet- 
 ing, 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 Agricul- 
 tural 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 
 
I9 8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 Thea- 
 tre, 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 High- 
 ness the Princess of Wales, who was present on Thursday, April 
 15. In an article on "The American Revivalists in England," 
 the New York Independmt says : " We presume that the aristoc- 
 racy and the literati will scarce hear of the movement that is 
 about them. It is an after-generation that builds the monuments 
 of the prophets. Bunyan got no words of honor from the Duke 
 of Bedford, whose descendant has lately set up his statue." Sev- 
 eral months before these words were written, Mr. Moody had 
 sojourned as a guest within the walls of Dunrobin Castle, the 
 northern seat 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 
 gatherings, 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 the services in the Haymarket, and especially 
 since the visit paid by the Princess of Wales. Standing some- 
 what in the same relation to Mr. Moody that the Countess of 
 Huntingdon did to Whitefield, her Grace the Duchess of Suther- 
 land has been well-nigh a daily attender, accompanied sometimes 
 by her daughter and Lady Constance Leveson-Gower. 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 Gains- 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 
 
 199 
 
 borough, Lady "Dudley, Lord and Lady Rendlesham (the 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 en- 
 couraged 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 people; 
 in Victoria, forty-five meetings, attended by 400,000 ; in the Opera 
 House, sixty meetings, attended by 330,000; in Bow, sixty meet- 
 ings, attended by 600,000 ; and in Agricultural Hall, sixty meet- 
 ings, attended by 720,000. The amount of money expended for 
 buildings, printing, stewards, etc., 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 fit it up for religious 
 work. 
 
 Inquirers multiplied ; young men's meetings were held ; thou- 
 sands of children were gathered. A great array of workers went 
 out, two by two, to visit every house in London with the Gospel. 
 Every text Mr. Moody quoted 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 to yield to 
 Christ ; every meeting swelled the throng of converts. The 
 mighty movement swept from one end of London to the other. 
 
 As the evangelists left one quarter of the city for another, the 
 meetings were continued in the localities left, until, when Mr. 
 Moody, during the last month, was at Camberwell Green Hall in 
 the South, Major Cole was at the Victoria Theatre in the West, 
 Henry Varley at the Bow-road Hall in the East, while Henry 
 Drummond was holding his young men's meetings with great 
 success. Notwithstanding all these great meetings, numbering 
 often many thousands, the central meetings under our two 
 brethren moved on with Wonderful power and success. 
 
200 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 As the last week drew to a close, the interest became intense. 
 On the last night, Mr. Moody became very earnest and urgent 
 in his appeals to the vast and intensely interested audience, to 
 accept Christ. "Just let me pause here," he said. "Ask your- 
 selves whether you ought not to receive the Lord Jesus Christ 
 now? Who is there in this assembly who will receive the gift 
 of God and be saved ? " After a brief pause, a voice came from 
 the left-hand gallery, somewhat faintly, " I will." It was speed- 
 ily followed by others from all parts of the house. " Well," con- 
 tinued 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 resounding 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 
 with 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-night? 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 now, 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. 
 Mr. Moody prayed and said, "and now we will sing ' Safe in the 
 arms of Jesus.' " Multitudes flocked into . the inquiry-room, 
 where there was a scene of ingathering never to be forgotten 
 by those who were present. 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 
 personally attended between two and three thousand services. 
 
 Mr. Roberts, of New York, writing from London, says : " The 
 places of most interest for over two months are those where the 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 201 
 
 meetings of Moody and Sankey, the American evangelists, are 
 held. I had 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 Agricultural Hall, when there were from twelve 
 to fifteen thousand persons present. Last Sunday evening the 
 room was crammed full, 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 meet- 
 ings with a number of the nobility and eminent men, including 
 Gladstone. 
 
 " It is a grand sight to see such a vast audience ; and when 
 they unite in singing, it is thrilling beyond anything I have ever 
 heard. 
 
 " The text was, ' Come thou and all thy house into the ark ' 
 (Genesis vii.). He handled it remarkably well, and I was told 
 the discourse was more effective than in the morning, which was 
 based on the story of Naaman (2 Kings v.). 
 
 " He usually preached from thirty to forty-five minutes, in a 
 very clear voice, enunciating distinctly, presenting the truth very 
 plainly, earnestly, and pungently, appealing to the heart and con- 
 science, without any effort to excite animal feeling ; and at all 
 these meetings there was an entire absence of fanaticism. 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 melodious airs. 
 
 " Sankey leads the singing usually, and generally sings a solo 
 at every service, ' Jesus of Nazareth is passing 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 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 
 
202 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 is no other way of accounting for the assembling 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, Haymarket, at which, I think, 
 fifteen hundred attended — preaching there at three and seven 
 p. m., when the house was filled from top to bottom. At eight 
 and a half he preached at East London in a large hall, accom- 
 modating some twelve thousand. How he endures such great 
 and constant mental and physical labors I cannot understand. 
 
 " Thus, substantial^, he has worked for over two months in 
 London, and in about like manner for nearly two years in various 
 places in Great Britain. He appears very robust — I think larger 
 around the chest than any man I ever saw, and every time I 
 heard him, what he said was fresh. 
 
 "At the large meetings hundreds stood up for prayers, and 
 entered the inquiry-rooms, where Christians conversed with 
 them. 
 
 " This was a large hall, nearly filled with groups of inquirers, 
 two to four attending to the instruction of men and women, each 
 of their own sex ; and while some were conversing, other groups 
 were kneeling and praying in a low tone. Thousands remained 
 in the audience-room praying and singing, where every Chris- 
 tian was requested, in their places, to speak to his or her neigh- 
 bor suitable words, if they had no hope in Christ. I spoke to 
 two young persons near me, and found they were both indulging 
 hope. 
 
 " It reminded me of the efforts 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 presenting truth, enforced by 
 apposite illustrations, which all could understand, accompanied 
 by singing of hymns containing fundamental truths, in melodious 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 
 
 203 
 
 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 of them, for the 
 ''Bible was kept in the front? 
 
 " I do not undervalue learning, but it must be kept secondary 
 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 ; in the honor put upon God's simple word ; in the 
 dependence put upon prayer, and the simplest agencies ; in the 
 earnestness with which Christians labored, and the liberality 
 with 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 Gospel ; in 
 the number of conversions ; in every aspect of it, the movement 
 is without a parallel in the history of Christianity. 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 inadequate 
 are human words to portray that most marvelous close of a no 
 less marvelous 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 
 
204 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 complied 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 Presbyterian church close by, and was 
 addressed by Dr. A. Bonar, of Glasgow. 
 
 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 for- 
 get to pray for Mr. Moody and 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 private 
 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 gatherings, as 
 one of the most noticeable features of them has been the punctu- 
 ality observed by our brethren. 
 
 Mr. Sankey having sung " Only an Armor-bearer," the audi- 
 ence 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 at- 
 tributed to his being able to say " No " at the right moment. He 
 sketched the eventful career of this man, "beloved of God," 
 through the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, 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 com- 
 mandments. The history of Daniel in the telling of it rouses Mr. 
 Moody's enthusiasm, which he succeeds in a large degree in im- 
 parting to the audience, and many thousands of hearts were 
 stirred by this closing address to Christian workers. Before part- 
 ing, 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 occasion. 
 
 All through his mission in Great Britain, Mr. Moody has 
 striven to make the Gospel so plain as to be understood by the 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 205 
 
 meanest comprehension. He has avoided collateral issues and 
 eschewed theological discussions, and held to the proclamation 
 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 ? " 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 show that the new birth is, of necessity, an instantaneous act, 
 and not a gradual change. He quoted the ark, the salvation of 
 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 en- 
 treated those present not to go out of the building without receiv- 
 ing 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 meeting. Many rose in response to 
 his pressing appeal at the close, and the inquiry-rooms were 
 afterward 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 blessing 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 after- 
 noon at a women's meeting in the Opera House. 
 
206 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Several of Mr. Moody's American friends were present to wit- 
 ness the crowning service of this mission, before described. 
 
 At the farewell meeting at London, of the 700 and odd ministers 
 who were present at this memorable gathering, there were 188 be- 
 longing to the Church of England, 154 Congregationalists, 85 
 Baptists, 81 Wesley an Methodists, 39 Presbyterians, 8 foreign pas- 
 tors, 8 United Methodists, 7 Primitive Methodists, 3 Plymouth 
 Brethren, 2 Countess of Huntingdon's Connection, 2 Society of 
 Friends, 3 Free Church of England, 1 Bible 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 v 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 the 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 read the following ex- 
 tract from a letter he had received : " I feel it my duty and inex- 
 pressible 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 
 cease to marvel at the greatness of my salvation." The mother 
 of that young lady, said the speaker, had come to him yesterday, 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 207 
 
 and stated that for twenty-five years, with few exceptions, she 
 had regularly attended the service of the sanctuary, but the hap- 
 piest day in her Christian experience was the previous Sunda} r , 
 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, we 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. 
 We could now understand how the sweetest tones could become 
 the highest sort of Christian eloquence, in declaring to men the 
 Way of Life. 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 this remark the pent-up feelings of the audi- 
 ence could no longer be restrained, and they burst out into loud 
 and prolonged applause. We were extremely glad that the nat- 
 ural emotions of the congregation for once refused to be smoth- 
 ered by that false and frigid idea of decorum which obtains too 
 much in our religious assemblies, 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 between their home and ours, at our family altar, 
 at the place of secret meeting with our God, in our prayer-meet- 
 ings, 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 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 
 
208 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 wait for a year before he gave his testimony as to results, 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 various 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. London 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 influ- 
 ence of the movement on the dock laborers. He 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 addresses they knew, and 
 to whom they had written. Formerly, he had an after-meeting 
 once a month ; now he had one every Sunday evening, and not 
 a Sunday passed without some souls being gathered in. The 
 direct results of the meetings 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 interest- 
 ing facts respecting what had transpired in the inquiry-room at 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 
 
 209 
 
 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 Nico- 
 demus, 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 vari- 
 ety 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? Well, the sum of her belief was that'" there was 
 something above us." He could tell of a wife, deserted by her 
 husband, who had been in such utter misery and agony that she 
 had twice contemplated going to London -bridge to commit sui- 
 cide. 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 might 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 for twenty minutes 
 hid his face from the lady who spoke to him, so deep was his dis- 
 tress and shame. He afterward 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 San- 
 key." It was tails. He went to the meeting, was led to go into 
 the inquiry-room, and, as he described it in a letter to the lady 
 
2IO MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 who was the means of bringing him into light, " She fought man- 
 fully with him for the Lord Jesus," and he went home a rejoicing 
 believer. These were but 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. Fiindt of Denmark-hill also spoke of the work in the 
 inquiry-room at Camberwell. He said that one result of the ser- 
 vices 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 personal 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 about him." Only eternity 
 would reveal the good that had been done in the South of Lon- 
 don. 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 
 told 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 messen- 
 gers 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 stu- 
 dents were brought to Christ, what might not be the result when 
 they were attending the sick-beds of those who should be com- 
 mitted to their care ? The South London committee 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. 
 
 Rev. Marcus Rainsford said he felt we were living in days 
 which many had looked and longed for, but had not seen. He 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 211 
 
 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 pre- 
 judices had been broken down, many difficulties removed, and 
 many a lesson learned that he would never forget. He had been 
 taught by a costermonger how to 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 never heard such lingo," said 
 Mr. Rainsford. " Now, Joe, s'pose it was all up wi' yer ; mother 
 starvin', wife starvin', children starvin', and the mackerel no- 
 where. S'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, 
 there 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 forward 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 gratitude to Almighty God 
 that he had raised up a man with such a message and to be de- 
 
212 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 livered 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 wherever he went 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 the populous city of Manchester, and 
 who spoke of the good that had been effected there by the preach- 
 ing of Moody and Sankey. A correspondent in Sheffield had 
 also written him that he could not satisfy in any degree the wants 
 of the people ; that they were 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 mil- 
 lions ! " 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, 
 and 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 moments 
 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 
 
MIGHTY LONDON IS BLESSED. 213 
 
 also wished publicly to thank the committee, and also the stew- 
 ards, who had manifested toward them nothing but , kindness. 
 He had also to thank the reporters for the press. He knew that 
 he 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. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 Farewell in Liverpool. 
 
 Turning reluctantly away from London where they had tri- 
 umphed gloriously under the Great Captain Christ, they were 
 received at the place of final departure 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 bou- 
 quets of flowers on Mr. Sankey's organ. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Aitken said he thought they oould not meet in 
 that hall without feeling, that the departure of their dear friends 
 for America very greatly enhanced the personal responsibility 
 of all who called themselves Christians. The blessing which 
 God had been pleased to shower upon His work in various parts 
 of the land had put them on a vantage-ground, for they occupied 
 a better position now than they ever occupied before in this land. 
 He did not believe that the Church of Christ had ever occupied 
 a better position in this land than it did at the present moment; 
 and if that was so, 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 
 214 
 
 
^FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 215 
 
 practical one, and it was, How were they to push on the advan- 
 tage ? 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 that 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 them- 
 selves 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 their attitude should be this : That they should 
 thank God, and then rush on against the foe with fresh determi- 
 nation, 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 ? God expected every one of them to 
 come forward with the gospel of grace in their hearts ; and if they 
 realized their personal responsibility and went into the battle 
 fully determined to win souls for Christ, England would very 
 soon feel the results of their efforts. He desired to warn them 
 against this season of revival being followed by a period of reac- 
 tion. Before the present work closed, he thought that minis- 
 ters of Christ, and also lay people, especially those who occupied 
 influential positions, should ask themselves 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 (Mr. Aitken) could not help 
 believing that the Church of Christ from a very remote period 
 had practically ignored the evangelist'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 con- 
 sider whether they could give themselves entirely to the work. 
 
2l6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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, 
 however, 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 great work which had been under- 
 taken 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 also 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. 
 There were a great many ministers who 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 rear and not given any kind of encour- 
 agement, 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 departure 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 them- 
 selves 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 : 
 
FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 217 
 
 " 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 illustra- 
 tion 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 throwing their 
 arms around their necks and kissing them, but they had given 
 them the motto, and that was to " advance." What, he asked, is 
 our great encouragement ? " All power is given unto me in 
 heaven and earth; go ye therefore and teach (or disciple) all na-. 
 tions." 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 Jerusalem, and unto the ut- 
 termost ends of the earth." Why did the Lord Jesus tell us He 
 had received all power ? That He might confer power upon us. 
 Mr. Somerville recounted the exploits of the mighty men in the 
 days of the Judges, upon whom the power of God fell, and pro- 
 ceeded. The day 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 throughout 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 horse- 
 men. He had provisions and money to last them only one month, 
 yet they went forth and took possession of the world. What ! Is 
 Alexander the Great to be always spoken of as the only man who 
 can do the like of this ? Is Jesus Christ not strong ? 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 encouragement, and by lib- 
 eral 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 
 
2l8 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 sympathy and prayers of many dear friends in my own city of 
 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 illus- 
 trated 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, and as he was about to partake of the precious refresh- 
 ment, he looked toward his followers, and seeing their sufferings, 
 he refused to drink. His men were roused to action by the sym- 
 pathy 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 Christian work, he quoted 
 a beautifully apt simile, in the use of which he seems to excel. He 
 said the Rhine, before it reached Basle, received no fewer than 
 1,200 tributaries. How was this ? 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 at- 
 tempt was made to suppress. 
 
 Mr. Sankey then sang " My Prayer," a beautiful hymn of con- 
 secration. 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 then gave an address, in the course of which he 
 said the question was frequently asked, " How shall we reach 
 the masses ? " 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, " Fol- 
 low me." That was the secret of successful service : there was 
 no royal road ; their brother Mr. Moody had no knack .in it. 
 
FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL 
 
 219 
 
 God help them to follow Christ, that they may be truly fishers 
 of men. 
 
 Mr. Stalker, of Edinburgh, said he felt that the past two years 
 had been years of great importance to the whole country, 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 evan- 
 gelical religion ; but in the part he came from they dared not do 
 that now, because, in all classes of the community, the very back- 
 bone of these young men had been 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 movement 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 
 intercourse, in business, at the university, in their shops, as 
 clerks, and in all the different walks in life — distinguishing them- 
 selves, and showing that their Christianity, instead of keeping 
 them back, was helping them on ; that their spiritual regenera- 
 tion had been at the same time moral and intellectual regenera- 
 tion ; and that they were determined to be men in all the depart- 
 ments 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 were 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 address- 
 ing these revival meetings. That was the kind ot revival of reli- 
 gion 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 in business, and do their business well, and come to the 
 front in the ordinary walks of life. Let them seek to serve God 
 by doing their work thoroughly, and at the same time, standing 
 
2 20 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 on that vantage ground, exhort all their brethren to get that 
 which had made men of them. 
 
 At the evening meeting, Mr. Moody sooke of Thanksgiving 
 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 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 services 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 bless- 
 ing of God rest upon the singing 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 atten- 
 tion. By some means the gas could not be lit, and as the fading 
 twilight deepened into darkness the scene became intensely sol- 
 emn, as Mr. Moody's earnest and sometimes faltering words fell 
 on the hushed and eagerly attentive multitude. At the close of 
 his address he offered fervent prayer. He besought God's bless- 
 ing on England and America, on the work among the young men, 
 and on the ministers, his utterances 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 
 
FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 221 
 
 candle, to the justly popular tune of " Home, 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 upper- 
 most in Mr. Moody's thoughts — the best way to benefit young 
 men — to conserve and utilize in the way of righteousness, 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 be 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 consider- 
 able 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 Leviticus. He proceeded to give a short 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 urged on them 
 the necessity of having some definite work to do, and not to at- 
 tempt too many things at one time. " I have been wonderfully 
 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 
 
2 22 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 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 advancing. 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 holi- 
 days, 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 
 five 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 prayer 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 not 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 skeptics who say it is only 
 1 a nine days' wonder ' 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 proper 
 person on behalf of this audience to say good-bye to our dear 
 friend, Mr. Moody, and our absent friend, Mr. Sankey ; but I feel 
 that there must be some mouthpiece to say to them what we 
 really do feel. We thank them from the bottom 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 will, he could never have done 
 what he has been privileged by God to do. His wisdom has been 
 conspicuous in discovering this — that our young men in Liverpool 
 
FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL 223 
 
 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 thou- 
 sands 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 duty 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 Association "; 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 of the hotel. 
 Many of them lingered there during the hour and a half that 
 elapsed before Mr. Moody, Mrs. Moody, and family, accompan- 
 ied 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 evan- 
 gelists 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 
 
2 24 MOODY AND SANKEY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 from the crowd, and people rushed to the door cf 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 li Spain,*' people 
 began to assemble on the Prince's pier and the landing-stage, 
 and when Mr. Moody arrived, there were several thousands pre- 
 sent. 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 people upon the pier and the 
 landing-stage cheered with increased heartiness, and waved 
 their hats and handkerchiefs. 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 one 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. 
 
 The tender reached the " Spain " about an hour before the 
 time for the ship to weigh anchor, and the interval was fully occu- 
 pied in taking leave of the evangelists, and in receiving from 
 them or conveying to them parting words of comfort and encour- 
 agement. Mr. Moody again urged those who have been his fel- 
 low-laborers in this and other districts to remain united, and to 
 carry on the work with courage and determination ; whilst on 
 the other hand, there were very numerous 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 earnest- 
 ness, 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 
 
FAREWELL IN LIVERPOOL. 225 
 
 Jesus." As the " Spain " moved slowly down the river, the peo- 
 ple 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 com- 
 ing." Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey stood at the bulwarks of the 
 " Spain " and bowed and waved their handkerchiefs 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. 
 Radcliff, and other gentlemen, for the safe arrival of the evan- 
 gelists at their destination, and for the subsequent success of 
 their labors, whether carried on in England or America. 
 
Part III 
 
 A COMPLETE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CAREER AND WORK 
 
 OF 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY, 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
X 
 
MOODY AND SANK.EY IN AMERICA. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Moody and Sankey in Brooklyn. 
 
 When 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 kin- 
 dred 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 Northfield, 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 neigh- 
 bors were anxious to hear him preach again. He came among 
 them as a conquering 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, 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 expec- 
 tation 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 
 
228 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 press, for the benefit of our readers who may desire a record 
 of these glorious events, that shall stir their hearts and show 
 what God hath wrought. Mr. Moody, after long and careful 
 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. The preaching on 
 Sundays began at half-past eight, so as not to interfere with 
 the regular church meetings. An afternoon preaching service 
 occurred at four, and a meeting 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 marvelous series, without stopping 
 to quote the several sources of information. 
 
 All calculations with regard to the coming of the evangelists, 
 Moody and Sankey, have been at fault. The numbers inter- 
 ested, 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 earn- 
 estness of the religious feeling which awaited the coming of 
 the evangelists and stood ready at once to aid and to respond 
 to their efforts. This religious spirit has 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 demon- 
 stration 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 antici- 
 pate 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 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 229 
 
 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 
 services were begun, though delivered by a minister whose 
 manner is never impassioned and whose style is purely argu- 
 mentative, was interrupted by frequent and fervent ejaculations 
 from the audience, indicating the intense sympathy with the 
 movement which existed. The songs of Mr. Sankey renewed 
 and heightened these demonstrations, and the utterances 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 veiy 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, 
 
230 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and his manner of delivery is polished but cold. His words 
 would, probably, by their logical force, always 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, im- 
 mediately after reading from the Bible, " I am going to ask Mr. 
 Sankey to sing the 120th Hymn alone " — a sharp 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 singing filled the 
 great auditorium, the sympathy among his hearers grew and in- 
 creased 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 marvelous. Many responses, 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 persons, 
 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, fervent responses 
 came from every part of the room. And when, toward the 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 23 1 
 
 close of his sermon, he told his hearers that they must lay aside 
 the world, its vanities, pleasures, parties, festivals, and its other ' 
 gayeties, if they would " go up at once and take the land," the 
 responsive " Amens," " Yes, yes," "Glory to God," and " Aye, 
 aye," 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 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 irresistibly 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 lis- 
 tener 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 expressing, 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 ac- 
 cordance 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 force of as many 
 more as are requisite from which to keep the ranks full. The 
 singers have been undergoing several rehearsals, 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 will be one large organ 
 to assist the choir and audience, and a smaller one upon which 
 Mr. Sankey accompanies himself 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 
 
232 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 anxiety about their success when they made their advent in 
 Brooklyn a month ago. They had stirred up England and 
 Scotland just before their arrival in this country ; but still there 
 were doubts whether the conditions here were as favorable 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 so by the multitudes in attendance and 
 the number of anxious inquirers. From then until now, the 
 popular 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 surprised that the pious Philadelphians now look for great 
 things, or that they expect a Pentecostal season without prece- 
 dent 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 
 observers. 
 
 Mr. Moody himself was not surprised at what was witnessed, 
 for he said to the reporters : " I have nowhere found more im- 
 pressionable audiences than in Brooklyn. In England, where 
 I was successful, my friends counseled me against going 
 into Scotland, saying that I could not move the cool, calculat- 
 ing 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 results. But in 
 both those countries there were as great awakenings as any I 
 have ever seen. It. made me think that hearts are the same 
 all over the world." 
 
 " What has been the most encouraging feature of your recep- 
 tion in Brooklyn ? " 
 
 " The union of the churches. All the clergy seem to be 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 233 
 
 working zealously and harmoniously and intelligently to carry 
 on the work." 
 
 " And the most discouraging ? " 
 
 " 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 made?" 
 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 
 successful 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 was 
 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 feeling there 
 fully as universal and sympathetic as anywhere else. America 
 differed in this respect from Great Britain. In the latter coun- 
 try he and Mr. Sankey were strangers, and many people 
 regarded them at first from aloof, and it was only after they 
 became better known and their work was understood that the 
 
234 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 sentiments became cordial and the interest general. He there- 
 fore believed that a still greater work would be accomplished 
 in the United States than on the other side of the Atlantic. 
 
 Said Mr. Moody : u I am the most overestimated 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. I don't know what will become of me if the newspapers 
 continue 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, the prince of preachers, who said at 
 one of his lectures, the impression he had gained in conversa- 
 tion with Mr. Moody was that the number of persons who had 
 been converted from the outside world, while not inconsiderable, 
 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 they could carry on 
 the central meetings with continued success. If every church 
 tried to be a little Rink, and everybody a little Moody and San- 
 key, they would fail because imitations were very inferior. Moody 
 was no careless worker ; no man had a more definite 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 the 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 com- 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 2T.j 
 
 plicated 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. NordhofT, 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, 
 dark 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 ; his enun- 
 ciation is very clear, but somewhat too rapid, andean be heard 
 and understood in every part of the Tabernacle or the Rink 
 In the latter place he has spoken to 7000 people. He gesticu- 
 lates but little, and his gestures are evidently extremely un- 
 studied. 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 pronuncia- 
 tion, a Yankee, clipping some of the minor words in his sen- 
 tences, as the farmers in the interior of Massachusetts do ; but 
 he has no " Yankee drawl." He speaks the language of the 
 people, 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 ungrammatical 
 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 attract- 
 ing 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, succeeded m interesting 
 these crowds in what he 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 
 
236 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 effective in moving the hearts of his hear- 
 ers, in stirring devotional feelings, in producing a profound 
 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 are 
 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 had a desire to attend strong enough to induce 
 him to take the trouble of securing a ticket, are as crowded 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 after- 
 noon, 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 remark- 
 able 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 meetings where Mr. Moody 
 exhorts and Mr. Sankey sings, and who adjourn to a neighbor- 
 ing 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 from his meetings. He has repeatedly 
 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 2 37 
 
 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 — that is to say, he does not court his audiences, 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 interest 
 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 possessing 
 remarkable common sense, the clear head of a business 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 meet- 
 ing by delays ; his own prayers are brief, very earnest, and 
 directly to the point ; and his exhortations are a running com- 
 mentary 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 " machin- 
 ery." He opens a meeting as though his 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 he ceased Mr. Moody said, " Let us now have a 
 few minutes of silent prayer ; that will bring us back to our- 
 selves, 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. 
 
238 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 thread-bare 
 phraseology of the former is strikingly inappropriate in such 
 meetings as these, and seemed to me often to jar painfully on 
 the feelings of the people around me. 
 
 Again, in one of the morning meetings prayers were asked 
 by various individuals in the audience for people in whom 
 they are interested. One asked the prayers of the assembly 
 for 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 them- 
 selves. 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 bis 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 impress- 
 ing upon the assemblage the importance of immediate conver- 
 sion, 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, he said : " Salvation 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 offers 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 youi 
 

 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 239 
 
 debts and keep out of jail, that seems to be enough." At a 
 meeting for young men, held at nine o'clock p. m. in the Taber- 
 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 
 effective in a natural but strong appeal or statement. " When 
 the prisoners at Philippi with Paul cried Amen," he said, " God 
 himself answered them Amen ! " Speaking of the 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 pic- 
 tured 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. " Do you 
 think that Judas, after nearly 1,900 years, has forgotten that he 
 betrayed his Saviour for thirty pieces of silver ? Do you think 
 that Cain, after 5,000 years, has forgotten the pleading look of 
 his brother Able when he slew him ? " he continued. In speak- 
 ing of Bible incidents or parables he usually brings them in a 
 dramatic form — as when he remarked, " If I want to know about 
 some man in Brooklyn 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 enu- 
 merated his tribulations, which followed his misdeeds. He 
 enforced upon the audience the necessity of reading the Bible 
 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.^ 
 
240 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 He has in perfection that faculty of epigrammatic statement 
 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 a 
 man's household goods on a freight train, you may be pretty 
 sure to find him on the next passenger train." On 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." Speak- 
 ing of persons who were ambitious to make themselves promi- 
 nent, he remarked : " It does not 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 imprison- 
 ment than for anything else in his life." 
 
 Speaking of the goodness of God and of "grace abounding," 
 he told a striking story 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. 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 turn 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 
 

 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 24 1 
 
 repentant sinner, he said, " If 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 con- 
 verted, there would be a great shout of joy in heaven." Dwell- 
 ing upon the certainty of future punishment, he remarked. 
 " Some people 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 
 flood to exterminate 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 pooi righteous Noah to drift about in his ark ? Do you 
 suppose 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 ? " 
 
 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 for our trib- 
 ulations ; they are sent to us as blessings ; they bring us to 
 Him." Again, " Many things we want God knows are not good 
 for us ; if He gives them it is that we may learn through suffer- 
 ing ; 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 my wife. When he gets there he goes to see her, 
 and he says, ' I saw Mr. Moody in Brooklyn.' 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 ? " Nor is he backward in im- 
 pressing upon those who listen to him their own responsibility. 
 " People attending these meetings during these two weeks," he 
 11 
 
242 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 Christian 
 do you think I would ever go where the Gospel is preached ? 
 If any of you have made up your minds not to be Christians I 
 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 bis 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 attention, 
 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 im- 
 pression upon 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 the vehe- 
 mence of Peter Cartvvright 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 effective 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 as familiar to his English hearers as they are to 
 Americans, most of whom have been brought up in Sunday 
 schools, or have heard their children sing their Sunday-school 
 hymns at home. He is evidently a favorite with the Rink and 
 Tabernacle audiences, and he has a pathetic and sympathetic 
 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, 
 

 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 243 
 
 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 ten- 
 dency and usefulness of his work, it seems to me clear that 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 ab- 
 sorbed ; his exhortations raise them for a time out of themselves, 
 out of sordid cares and engrossing pursuits, and present to them 
 in a vivid, epigrammatic, often pathetic, always simple and nat- 
 ural way, the greatest questions and interests which can be 
 brought to the consideration of a being gifted with immortal life. 
 It is surely a great merit to do this, and to do it as these "evan- 
 gelists " do it — 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 pitifulness 
 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 clergymen 
 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 hus- 
 bands. Mr. Moody then offered prayer. 
 
 Mr. E. W. Hawley then read requests as follows, all heads 
 being bowed in silent prayer during the reading. Requests for a 
 sceptic 88 years of age, who will not hear of Jesus ; for a father, 
 
244 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 three sons and a daughter ; for a daughter, father and mother sixty 
 years of age ; for four sons and one daughter ; 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 tempta- 
 tion and doubt ; for a young man, an only son ; for a sick 
 mother ; for a brother that he may be restored to health'; two 
 requests for backsliders ; 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 
 himself and six of his family ; a wife for a husband given to 
 strong drink ; four requests for church members who have an 
 appetite 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 husbands ; 
 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 bit- 
 terly 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 
 
MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 245 
 
 against Christ. He did not believe that he preached. It was 
 the devil in him. He was on a vessel in a storm, and as they 
 thought the ship was going down, he, like a poor coward, fell 
 on his knees in prayer. But after the storm he forgot it. For 
 the last two days this man has been in terrible agony. He 
 said : " I am in terror ; my heart is broken. I'll lay down 
 the weapons of my rebellion. I'll write to my mother in Scot- 
 land 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 wmoan 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 reproach- 
 fully 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 believing. 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 con- 
 verted before you reach yonder lamp-post, if you will." When 
 within twelve feet of it he stopped still, and after a struggle said, 
 " I will," with intense feeling. I turned to his companion, and 
 after a struggle he said, " Yes, I too." The third companion 
 stiil remained. We knelt down with him around the lamp-post, 
 
246 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and after a prayer he accepted Christ. The presence of God 
 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 ? " " No ; I can't 
 say I am." I asked him to go to the inquiry-room. He said 
 f 'No ; it is to 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, " Presently 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 im- 
 pressed 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 they sat 
 down there and all were blessed together. 
 
 A man rose and related the conversion of a soldier with an 
 empty sleeve, and a badge on his breast, revealing the shat- 
 tered remnant of a noble man. His parents were members of 
 the Reformed Church of Kinderhook. He came out of the 
 army a drunkard. His wife and children returned from 
 Sunday-school one day, and his little girl said to him, "Jesus 
 loves you." He pushed her away in anger, and rushed out to 
 a drinking saloon to drink. Just as he was putting the glass 
 to his lips, a little girl rose, as if in a mirror, before him, and 
 he seemed to hear ringing in his ears, " Father, Jesus loves 
 you." Pie dropped the glass, and rushed out, and walked the 
 streets all night in agony. He went home and said to hu 
 wife, "Betsy, I want you to pray for me." This man is now 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 247 
 
 laboring every day in Water street, New York, trying to save 
 the lost drunkards there, without pay for his-service. 
 
 Mr. Moody then related, in closing, a very affecting incident 
 of the reconciliation of a prodigal son and stern father at the 
 bedside of a dying mother, whose last act in expiring was to 
 place their hands in each other's clasp. The story was so feel- 
 ingly told that a spell of suppressed emotion seemed to sway 
 the vast audience, and when Mr. Moody said, "Let us pray," 
 while the people were silently communing, Mr. Sankey's voice 
 plaintively breathed forth, " Come home, prodigal child." The 
 spell was broken, and there was a wail of passionate weeping ; 
 the grief of the young man particularly, who sat near the plat- 
 form, becoming almost uncontrollable. Mr. Moody noticed 
 this at once, and checked the excitement by stopping Mr. 
 Sankey at the end of the first verse, asking the audience to rise 
 and sing, " There is a fountain filled with blood." 
 
 The self-restraint and the genuineness of Mr. Moody's work 
 was never more signally displayed than in this slight circum- 
 stance. He might have allowed the excitement to have swept 
 on till it became a religious frenzy, which would have been 
 the case in a few minutes, and many mistaken religious leaders 
 would have done so for the mere gratification of their own love 
 of excitement. But Mr. Moody, realizing that mere excite- 
 ment is not healthy, checked it, while that was possible, leav- 
 ing to the influences of the Holy Spirit the completion of the 
 work which had evidently commenced in many hearts. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Dixon, a colored minister, of Concord Street 
 Baptist Church, said Friday morning the Lord touched him in 
 the Rink, while Mr. Moody was preaching about Daniel, and 
 he got up and ran home to his closet, and he was obliged now 
 to ask the Lord to stay his hand, he was so full of the joy of 
 the Lord. 
 
 The brother of Orville Gardner arose and said that Orville 
 said to him, " Though I am a cripple and cannot walk, go and 
 fight for Jesus." God is in Brooklyn and He will shake this 
 place from top to bottom if we only trust in Him. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Murray related the conversion of a man of intellect 
 
248 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and character and a very dear friend, who was addicted to 
 strong drink. The speaker invited him to go to the Rink 
 meeting to hear Mr. Moody. He said : " I'll do it for your 
 sake." He went and God touched his heart. On his way home 
 he resolved he would crush his appetite and curb his profanity, 
 and set up his family altar there for the first time in the history 
 of his family. He met me the next day, and embraced me with 
 tears of thankfulness that I asked him to go to the Rink meet- 
 ing. We don't know what results come from little things. He 
 asked me to come here this morning and ask you to bear him 
 up in your prayers. 
 
 A young man in terrible agony and tears said he wanted to 
 find Jesus. We told him how the best we could. He left the 
 place greatly relieved. The next night he came to the plat- 
 form with his face shining with joy. He went for his younger 
 brother, and he was the next day rejoicing in Christ. Another 
 young man came to the meeting at the Rink, and could not get 
 in. He wandered around and went to the Dutch Church ad- 
 joinings which was empty. About nine o'clock the young man 
 came into the young men's meeting and I prevailed on him to 
 stay. That night God spoke to his conscience. He did not 
 believe in anything. He went away saying that he would pray 
 for himself. The next night he came and said, " Pray for me." 
 Last Thursday morning, you may remember, I made a request 
 for a young lady sick of consumption, asking that her pains 
 might be relieved. God told me to rise that morning and make 
 request, which I did. Friday morning her pains left her. She 
 rose from her bed, made her little bequests of money and gifts 
 to benevolent objects and friends. She sat up on her couch 
 all through the evening, talking, with her mind perfectly clear. 
 Pretty soon her senses left her, one by one. She says. " It is 
 all dark now. I can't see, but it is all bright over there." 
 Pretty soon she said : " I can't hear now. But Christ is here, 
 all here; doubts are gone." At 1.30 a. m., Sunday morning 
 she went to her rest. That prayer last Thursday morning for 
 this sick young lady was answered. All through the last week 
 I was praying for my own son, eighteen years old, my son 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 249 
 
 Walter. He attended meetings at the Rink several times with- 
 out much feeling. He last night carne out of the inquiry room 
 with brother Sankey, relying on Jesus. 
 
 In the Simpson Church occurred a number of singular scenes. 
 Inquirers and all who desired entrance were first directed into 
 the main auditorium. A continuous stream of people poured 
 in from all entrances, front and rear. Mr. Moody took charge 
 of the meeting, and while the throng were crowding in, a num- 
 ber of hymns were sung. When the church was thoroughly full, 
 Mr. Moody asked those who were inquirers and who were really 
 in earnest about their salvation to pass into the inquiry room 
 while the audience sang, "Just as I Am." Immediately the sing- 
 ing commenced, two long processions filed through the two 
 doors into the chapel. They were composed principally of 
 young men. After the inquirers had retired, Mr. Moody asked 
 all who were Christians to rise. Very few were left sitting. 
 While a hymn was sung, he went down an aisle and spoke to a 
 few of these, and then after leaving the meeting, to continue as 
 a prayer meeting, went into the inquiry room. The number 
 of inquirers dealt with was estimated to be from a hundred 
 to a hundred and fifty. A number of Mr. Moody's Christian 
 helpers dealt with many of these. About fifty gathered about 
 Mr. Moody himself, to whom he made plain the way of life. 
 Among his coadjutors at present is Mr. Needham, the well 
 known Irish evangelist. Mr. Needham, as we announced, was 
 to have sailed on the Spain on Saturday for Europe. His 
 family were placed on board, and everything had been prepared 
 for travelling, when about noon Mr. Moody and Mr. McWil- 
 liams came to endeavor to persuade him to remain and assist 
 the Brooklyn work, He took two hours to pray about it, and 
 concluded to stay. His visit abroad is therefore indefinitely 
 postponed, perhaps until next summer. He has now no plans 
 for the future, and will simply follow divine guidance. He will 
 take charge of one of the overflow meetings, and in other ways 
 aid Mr. Moody. 
 
 The Christian workers present last night were jubilant. 
 One word was on many a tongue — " It's grand." An old gen- 
 
250 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 tleman said : " The ice is broken." Dr. Duryea says a young 
 man of his acquaintance, of very fine culture and wide reading, 
 came to him, took his hand, and said: "Doctor, I'm going." 
 He was the first to rise in the main auditorium when Mr. Moody 
 called upon inquirers. He had read German writers on meta- 
 physics, and become befogged and verging on Universalism,but 
 Mr. Moody's sermon went home, and broke sunlight through the 
 vapor and mystification in his mind. Cheering instances like 
 these occur and attest the force of divine truth, while they uplift 
 the courage of Christian laborers. 
 
 Many people ask, " How many people have been converted 
 by the special services that are being held?" and they want to 
 measure the good done by an arithmetical calculation. So 
 many sermons preached, so many prayers offered, so many 
 hymns sung, so many people gathered at the services, and so 
 many converted, is the rule which some who do not understand 
 the nature of religious work seek to apply. The number of 
 conversions will probably never be known ; certainly, it is not 
 important that any accurate statement of this part of the work 
 should now be made. There are, however, some questions 
 which we have a right to ask. Are the Christians of Brooklyn 
 being stirred up to holy enthusiasm and consecrated service ? 
 Is there any general awakening among the church members ? 
 Do they hear the call of the Master to go out into the highways 
 and hedges — into the dark places of the city — to compel by their 
 loving entreaty and earnest counsel the hardened and ignorant 
 and depraved and self-righteous to come and listen to the good 
 tidings of salvation ? These are questions that may be asked, 
 and to which answers in the affirmative can now be given. 
 The churches of Brooklyn were never more alive to their re- 
 sponsibilities than now, and this gives hope that a genuine re- 
 vival has already commenced, the ultimate result of which may 
 not be estimated, and will never be known. 
 
 One of the most hopeful and encouraging features of the 
 Brooklyn special services, conducted by the Messrs Moody and 
 Sankey, has been the united and perfectly harmonious action of 
 the ministers and lavmen of all denominations of Christians. 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 251 
 
 Frequently may be seen thirty or forty of the city pastors gath- 
 ered around the platform in the Tabernacle at the morning 
 prayer-meetings, and all ready to do their utmost towards in- 
 creasing the interest and success of the services. All minor 
 differences have sunk into obscurity in view of the great work 
 which is being carried on ; and there is no thought of sectarian- 
 ism in the heart of any man or woman actively engaged in the 
 work of winning souls. This union spirit was, it will be remem- 
 bered, also a leading characteristic of the revival movement in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Another feature of blessing is an increased use of the Bible 
 by the attendants, who are constantly urged and inspired to its 
 study by the speaker's appeals and example. 
 
 Mr. Moody's habit of Bible study has been for the past five 
 years to rise at five o'clock and give an hour in the early morn- 
 ing to the study of the Bible. This is one secret of his great 
 Bible knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Moody's Bible is an interesting book. It was given him 
 by a friend, and bears on the fly-leaf the words : " D. L. Moody, 
 Dublin, December, 1872.— ' God is love.' W. Fay." The Bible 
 is an 8vo volume, with flexible black morocco covers and turned 
 edges. Though given Moody in the last month of 1872. it 
 appears as if it might have seen ten years' service. Some of 
 the leaves are worn through with handling. But nearly every 
 page gives another and more positive proof of the study Mr. 
 Moody has given the Book. In the Old Testament many por- 
 tions are annotated on nearly every page. Especially is this true 
 of those parts treating of the history of the Israelites, the chosen 
 people of God. But in the New Testament, open the book 
 wherever one may, the pages are marked and annotated in 
 black, red, and blue ink to a wonderful extent. Sometimes 
 certain words are underscored ; again a whole verse is inclosed 
 in black lines, with mysterious numbers or a single letter of the 
 alphabet marked opposite. All around the margins and at the 
 chapter-heads are comments on certain passages — an idea em- 
 bodied in two or three words, with the more important word 
 underscored. Turning to the texts of the sermons Mr. Moody 
 
252 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 has preached in Brooklyn, one finds the burden of his themes 
 often embodied one of those marginal notes. There is scarcely 
 a page in the New Testament where a dozen such annotations 
 could not be 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 tells you that in your experience in life. Your rest- 
 less 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 ought to be read right through. It is only .then you 
 can know the music, the 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 ? 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 has not read the 
 whole. Once two men said, "We will disprove the conversion 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 2 53 
 
 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 intended to overthrow. 
 
 It is wonderful, if you read the whole, how it gets hold of you 
 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 his early life as an evangelist, when an old gentle- 
 man had said to him : " Young man, when you speak 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 ai rives 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 con- 
 tinually. If we are full of the Spirit to-day, it is no assurance 
 for to-morrow. We must keep at the fountain all the time. 
 Think of Elisha, 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 congre- 
 gation sang the 128th hymn, "Come Holy Spirit." 
 
 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 well being of mankind wields an immense power. 
 When the Holy Spirit is allowed to enter and occupy, the hearts 
 of men selfishness disappears. Selfishness and the Holy Spirit 
 cannot dwell together. It is because of the absolute unselfish- 
 
254 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Ulti- 
 
 ,not 
 
 ness of these evangelists now working in Brooklyn that multi 
 tudes hear them gladly. They are earnest and enthusiastic, 
 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 dis- 
 honorable. Honest Christians know well the falsity of the ac- 
 cusation. 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 Chris- 
 tian 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 mam- 
 mon. They are fully persuaded that they are their brother's 
 keeper ; and men flock after them to hear the truths of the 
 Gospel in all their grand simplicity ; to learn from men who in 
 their lives and labors present glorious examples of the blessed 
 influence of the Gospel message. They are bold, yet most un- 
 assuming soldiers of the cross ; not afraid of the warfare, but 
 rejoicing in the conflict. It is upon such that the blessing of 
 heaven descends. There is no difficulty in understanding 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 awaken- 
 ing as his associate's preaching. Choristers have probably as 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 255 
 
 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 sin- 
 cerity 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 moments 
 of religious exaltation may 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 si- 
 lence 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. Another source of power to Mr. Sankey 
 is the manner in which he subordinates and modulates the organ 
 in the reinforcement of his voice. The effect produced is some- 
 thing 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 executed 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 Com- 
 ing," 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 dispatch from General Sherman 
 to this effect : " Hold the fort fori am coming— W. T. Sherman." 
 It filled the soldiers with confidence, they kept up courage and 
 were saved. He exhorted those present to show an equally 
 abiding faith in Christ and they would be saved. 
 
256 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 enthusiastically 
 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 meet- 
 ings was very similar to their experience in London. 
 
 One of the most celebrated of Mr. Sankey's collection of 
 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. Sankey said yesterday, is correct. 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 com- 
 posed 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. Claphane 
 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 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 *57 
 
 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 gathering hymns for the 
 past eight years, keeping a scrap-book for that purpose. Many 
 of them are found in the common Sunday-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 evangelists were 
 in Scotland they at first found difficulty in inducing people to 
 sing their hymns, as the Presbyterians preferred their version 
 of the Psalms. The evangelists were accustomed to sing the 
 100th, 23d, and 40th Psalms, or the 1st, 107th, and 125th 
 Hymns of the collection, and then ask the Presbyterian 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 Philadelphia ; 
 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 
 
258 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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?" 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 down on my knees and prayed for him. 
 His head was held up and his eyes did not notice me, and he 
 seemed to say to the people that my prayers did not affect him 
 at all. For six long months prayers were daily offered in 
 prayer-meetings for the infidel. This was in January or the lat- 
 ter part of December, 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 the foot 
 of the cross, crying for mercy ; and just as we were leaving 
 England we heard that he was leading a meeting every night. 
 I was to give you this as our key-note — nothing is too hard 
 for God. 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 better than Mr. Sankey can. Let this be 
 your key-note — 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-right- 
 eous Pharisee. God can do it. Nothing 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 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 259 
 
 great, shall we not ask him for great things ? We honor God 
 by asking for great things. Alexander had a general who ac- 
 complished a great victory ; and it pleased him greatly. He 
 told the general to draw on his treasurer for any amount he 
 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 foi me ? " 
 Just as if it pleased him. He says to Jeremiah, " Is there 
 anything too hard for me? I am the Lord, the God of all 
 flesh." God has shown us great things, but when we accept 
 his truth we will see still greater things. 
 
 The next chapter, 3d verse : " Call unto Me and I will 
 answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou 
 knowest not." Now, my friends, let us this morning call upon 
 God, and when we pray let us ask him for something. There 
 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 ask- 
 ing for nothing in particular, an old woman says, "Ask God 
 for something, and see if he 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 ago, at a prayer-meeting 
 which I held, there was a mother who had a very bad son. He 
 was a very bad man ; he was very profane and was one 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 swearing and come back 
 
260 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 to church. I asked him to go down on his knees and pray. 
 He answered that he had been on his knees all day. We 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. So we 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 ail men embrace salvation. In 
 answer to prayer may there go up a cry, " What shall I do to 
 be saved ? " Teach thy servant to preach. Send him a mes- 
 sage 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 unconverted schol- 
 ars ; may they labor and pray much. We pray that the chil- 
 dren may be gathered into the fold of Christ. May the harvest 
 be ripe, and may we come to this place carrying our sheaves, 
 and Christ will have all the praise and glory. Amen. 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Evangelists in Philadelphia. 
 
 Their advance on Philadelphia had been carefully prepared 
 for by earnest, wise, and strong men, who arranged for a gigantic 
 campaign corresponding with the greatness of their city, and the 
 popularity of the men who had carried Brooklyn by storm. The 
 freight depot, corner Thirteenth and Market Streets, was fitted up 
 for the accommodation of twelve thousand persons, as many as it 
 was probable the preacher's voice could reach. A grand choir 
 of rive hundred trained and superior singers was drilled to act 
 as a choir to aid Mr. Sankey, and a union of churches effected, 
 by which all the ablest and most efficient Christians were com- 
 bined in solid phalanx. Unworn by the immense labors undergone 
 in Brooklyn, the brethren tore themselves away from their friends 
 there, and sped 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 evangelists set up their 
 standard. Never had men equal advantages, and never was 
 more expected of human beings. There was a feeling of need in 
 the churches of something more than they had, and they were 
 looking to the men whom God had so greatly honored, and 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. The Methodist Church, he said, was in a deplor- 
 able 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 Meth- 
 odist 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 effort and 
 activity. Preachers had been preaching their heads off nearly, 
 
262 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and yet were effecting nothing. There was a disintegration and 
 selfishness about the Church. Each one of the church organiza- 
 tions 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 coming together, and a re- 
 turn 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. Machinery was never better managed. There never 
 was so much of it. The display of strength was never finer. But 
 all this may be only equipped and organized weakness. 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 "always" A church 
 is an ekklesia — a company called out from the world. Its strength, 
 therefore, lies in its divergence 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. Sin- 
 ners 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 through- 
 out 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 disap- 
 pointment to us who have taken an interest and part in it. Mr. 
 Moody failed, it must be confessed, in his evening meetings at the 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 263 
 
 Rink 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 that it was the dishonesty, the self- 
 ishness of excitement-seeking professed 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 plead 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 unconverted neighbors of their tickets and lie their way into 
 the Rink, and then have the face to stand up when all Christians 
 were requested to rise, and thus flaunt their hypocrisy in the face 
 of the evangelist. Our words are strong, but the responsibility 
 of souls is on the head of these " Christians," who have yet to 
 learn that Christianity means honor and truthfulness. We do not 
 like to say these words ; but we commend them now to the mem- 
 bers of the Philadelphia churches. In a famine, that man, or 
 crowd of men, were beneath all contempt 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 receiv- 
 ing the dole that should save them from starvation. But nothing 
 better, nay, worse, has been the conduct of these greedy profess- 
 ors, 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 will ap- 
 pear in thousands of churches. 
 
 A Scottish Sunday-school teacher says : " I venture to send 
 you the following letter from London, because of the reference to 
 young women's meetings, which are already proving so useful to 
 the many girls in our country who consider themselves 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 
 
264 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 too ? ' She 
 seemed just waiting to be taken by the hand, and went with me 
 almost at once to the inquiry-room. 
 
 " I write now in testimony of the fact that I am one of the 
 many, many ' church members ' who will thank God through all 
 eternity for sending Messrs. Moody and Sankey to our country ; 
 for, through their means, we have been led to exchange our 
 hopes and fears for a glad certainty, and we can now say, '/ 
 know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
 keep that which I have committed unto him.' 
 
 " 'On his word I am resting, assurance divine, 
 I am "hoping" no longer, I know he is mine.' 
 
 " The following is the 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 Redeemer ! 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 address in it. It was at 
 the Agricultural Hall I met you, and you took me into the in- 
 quiry-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 gentleman 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 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 265 
 
 
 away unimpressed. Afterward I went several times to hear Mr. 
 Mood}' at the Opera House. I heard the address to the con- 
 verts there, and may the burning zeal I felt created in my breast 
 that night continue. How I 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 Mr. Moody advised, I went to 
 the pastor first, and asked him for work. He found me some- 
 thing to do among the aged. One of my old people cannot read, 
 and others are so old they cannot see. One poor old body is 
 bed-ridden. It is very pleasant work, but I always felt I was not 
 actually winning souls for Jesus, they being mostly Christians. 
 I have been asking God for some time to open up a way for me, 
 and now my prayer has been answered in a way I hardly ex- 
 pected. Our dear pastor has planned a young women's meeting, 
 which is to be held one night in the week from 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 differ- 
 ent 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 invitation and a warm welcome for Wednesday next. Inside 
 there is a small address telling them 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 request. 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 Philadelphia, said : 
 
 " Letters come in from all parts saying that the prayer-meetings 
 
 are four or five times larger than ever before ; the prayer-meet- 
 
 12 
 
266 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ing 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 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 and 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 millions ; and their 
 utterances deserve to be gathered and reperused and studied, for 
 their corroborative testimony to the importance and thoroughness 
 of the movement. They used language like this, which deserves 
 the consideration of professed Christians as well as worldly peo- 
 ple : " 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 mockery 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 withstand them, and cer- 
 tainly 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 sen- 
 timentality. Faith lies very close to superstition ; it is but a step 
 from trustfulness to blind credulity. There are well-marked 
 


 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 267 
 
 metes and bounds which cannot be disregarded in the presenta- 
 tion of religious truths and the expression of religious sentiments 
 and emotions. Within these limits the 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 .un- 
 consciousness 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 mis- 
 sionaries 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 j only slowly apprehended, and 
 so immeasurably vast in its meaning to the helpless soul strug- 
 gling upward on it, that man at his very best can only throw him- 
 self 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 illus- 
 trations of the power of prayer. They excite doubts instead of 
 removing them j they confirm skepticism and awaken no convic- 
 tion ; 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 profoundest care and the most thoughtful consideration of 
 every word spoken and every act done. 
 
 " It cannot be denied that a ' revival of religion,' as it is called, 
 acids 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 experience more than one 
 instance of a bad nature made better, of a degraded character 
 elevated, of an unwise life made true and rational, by the acqui- 
 
268 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 sition of religious motives. Hypocrisy, 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 accessions to the right-doing side of the popula- 
 tion cannot be otherwise than of good import. It is unfair to 
 weigh ordinary spiritual experience against that of larger natures 
 — of Fenelon or of Pascal, of Wesley or of Channing. The real 
 question is, Have we here a man who has resolved to walk 
 uprightly in this world for the rest of his days? 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 bankrupt > 
 a devoted instead of a neglectful parent; a good Samaritan 
 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 con- 
 vert, 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 and full-handed helpers of the sick, 
 the needy, and the suffering, doers of the work whenever and 
 wherever opportunity has offered, lovely in their lives and cred- 
 ible because involuntary 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 abiding to the end." 
 
 The chief purpose of Messrs. Moody and Sankey is the con- 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 269 
 
 version of souls to Christ. What sort of men and women they 
 expect their converts to become, their preaching and exhortations 
 abundantly proclaim. Let us now look in upon them, the first 
 Sunday in Philadelphia, Nov. 21st, 1875. 
 
 While the heavens wept over the departure of the evangelists 
 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 hun- 
 dred persons, a large proportion of whom were ministers. Among 
 the more prominent clergymen present were Rev. Richard New- 
 ton, D.D., of the Episcopal Church ■ Rev. R. M. Hatfield, D.D., 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; Rev. W. P. Breed, 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 hundred for services in the inquiry rooms. Also on the 
 stage were 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 evange- 
 list, 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 Philadelphia. 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 ser- 
 vices. 
 
 At precisely eight o'clock the doors of the vast auditorium 
 were closed, and the hymn, 
 
 " All hail the power of Jesus' name," 
 
 was sung with fine effect by the choir. Dr. Newton then made a 
 
270" MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 fervent prayer for the success of the movement so well begun, 
 and asked for the blessing of the Holy Spirit on all workers in 
 the cause. The 24th hymn, 
 
 " Rejoice, and be glad ! 
 
 The Redeemer has come ! 
 Go look on His cradle, 
 His cross, and His tomb," 
 
 was next given out, and hundreds of voices in the congregation 
 soon joined in to swell ths. 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 worshippers, Mr. 
 D wight L. Moody. His appearance created a momentary stir of 
 sensation throughout the hall. Mr. Moody is a short and some- 
 what 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 clear, but somewhat too rapid, yet 
 can be heard and understood in every part of the building. He 
 gesticulates but little, and his motions are evidently unstudied. 
 His style of speaking is entirely conversational, but, though he 
 seldom makes* any attempt at rhetorical display, he possesses and 
 uses with marvellous effect 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 affects those who are too far off 
 to hear almost as strongly as those who crowd about his feet. 
 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 throughout 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 gen- 
 tleman standing on the platform. 
 
 "Now," said Mr. Moody, after announcing his text, "what is 
 
MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 27 1 
 
 the use of these special meetings ? I have been asked this ques- 
 tion often. Are there not churches enough ? Are there not min- 
 isters enough, and services enough, and sermons enough ? 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 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 morn- 
 ing. Do you doubt it ? " he asked, turning to the clergy upon the 
 stage. " No," " No," " No," was 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 ? In one little tow-headed boy may sleep the Refor- 
 mation. In another may be a Wesley, a Whitefield, 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 prayer- 
 ful labor, succeeded, by the assistance of her husband, a wealthy 
 barrister of the metropolis, in converting one hundred and fifty 
 of their friends and acquaintances. In speaking of it with grate- 
 ful joy, she said, 'We 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 vineyard ! Don't wait for the harvest, 
 for — hark ! " 
 
272 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 lied 
 
 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 the 
 same words were repeated by Mr. Sankey's musical voice in a 
 beautiful hymn : 
 
 " Hark ! the voice of Jesus crying, 
 Who will go and work to-day? 
 Fields are white and harvest waiting, 
 Who will hear the sheaves away?" 
 
 In the afternoon the throng was immense. For a considerable 
 time before the hour for the commencement of the services 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 all 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 assembled 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 thousand 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 doubt- 
 less many were drawn to the place out of curiosity, the larger 
 portion, by their demeanor, seemed to have but one object, that 
 of promoting the work of the great revivalists. The ladies and 
 gentlemen of the choir were promptly in their places ; and punc- 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 273 
 
 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 services were opened 
 by Mr. George H. Stuart, who gave out a hymn, and after it had 
 been sung by the choir, Rev. J. Wheaton Smith, D. D v of the 
 Beth-Eden Baptist Church, stepped forward and led in prayer. 
 Mr. Sankey then gave out the 11 6th hymn, "Come, thou Fount 
 of every blessing." At the conclusion of the singing, Mr. 
 Sankey said : " We will now sing, ' Here I raise my Ebenezer.' 
 The audience will all join in the singing." The hymn was evi- 
 dently popular with the masses, for it was sung with a hearty 
 good-will. Mr. Moody then announced that he would read a 
 portion 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 en- 
 larged and elaborated, were moral courage and enthusiasm, both 
 of which, he held, were essential elements for success 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 successful, 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 ? " " Forward the Call," 
 and " Hold the Fort," were sung by Mr. Sankey, the choir join- 
 ing 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 liter- 
 ally the town talk. " Have you been to hear Moody?" " San- 
 
274 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 key's singing is better than a sermon;" "Did you hear the 
 ' Ninety and Nine ? ' " " Wasn't that hymn, ' Nothing but Leaves,' 
 impressive?" "Its Moody's earnestness that tells;" "What a 
 team they are ! " — these are a few of the thousand-and-one ex- 
 pressions you hear every day. There are plenty of sharp criti- 
 cisms 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 wonderfully effective iri awakening a new interest in the old 
 doctrines of religion. A common complaint among the thought- 
 ful people is that Mr. Moody's sermons have no direct applica- 
 tion to the relations and duties of everyday life — that they do 
 not aim to make 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 appear- 
 ance 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 ? Why trouble himself about the 
 affairs of the household, the street, and the mart, when he ex- 
 pects every moment to see the world rolled up like a scroll ? 
 
 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 Presbyterians, Episco- 
 palians, Baptists, Lutherans, and, in short, ministers of all the 
 Protestant denominations, attend the meetings in the Depot 
 Church, and participate in the morning assemblies for prayer.. 
 The general feeling among the clergy is one of gratified disap- 
 pointment 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 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 275 
 
 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 illus- 
 trations, 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 meaning 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 convic- 
 tion, and second, in his constant repetition of the same idea, with 
 just variation enough to keep it monotonous. By tireless re- 
 iteration he wears the truth of the Gospel into the stoniest heart. 
 Faith in Christ is his simple and never-ending 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 min- 
 ister, talking to a knot of brother clergymen, praised the revi- 
 valists warmly. " I declare it gives me new courage," he 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. 
 
276 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 Brook- 
 lyn. The attendance from this class is larger, and the impres- 
 sion produced in those who attend seems deep and influential. 
 Mr„ Moody pronounced the gatherings of the second Sunday 
 more successful, in view of the attendance of the unconverted 
 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 w^ek 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 ordinarily give 
 smallest attendance at religious meetings ; such a day as would 
 suggest to many a . faint-hearted country superintendent 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 work- 
 ers ; enough it would seem to cheer the heart of any doubting 
 Elijah as to the faith and zeal of very many amid all the coldness 
 and unbelief in this great city. When, at the close of his ap- 
 peal 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 coming week would 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 ad- 
 mission had been given to women who expressed a desire to find 
 salvation, while many other tickets were distributed without ques- 
 tion, Mr. Moody thought there were more than seven thousand 
 unconverted persons in the audience ; certainly a hopeful gather- 
 ing 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, 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. '277 
 
 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 salva- 
 tion. When he asked those who desired an interest in this 
 salvation to rise and stand during his prayer, hundreds rose to 
 their feet, and afterward repaired to the inquiry-rooms for per- 
 sonal 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 se- 
 riousness, and many rose for prayers and remained at the inquiry- 
 meeting. 
 
 For one whole week Mr. Moody labored, not for the salvation 
 of sinners, but for the regeneration of professed Christians. At 
 every service hundreds of long-acknowledged church members 
 listened with bowed heads and tearful eyes to the fervent exhorta- 
 tions of the evangelist, who, casting aside all preconceived notions 
 of church work, and preaching only love to God and devotion to 
 the Saviour, brought to their awakening souls a vision of the bless- 
 ings of true holiness more beautiful than even in their most un- 
 selfish moods they had ever before conceived. He did not 
 preach, " Repent in order to avoid the wrath of an angry God," 
 and thus wring an ephemeral obeisance from weak knees but 
 cold hearts ; he preached Christ crucified ; drew for his hearers 
 convincing illustrations of the perfect love of the Father, and 
 urged them, with tears in his eyes, not to kneel from a sense of 
 duty, but to cast themselves at the feet of the Saviour, and, with 
 a heart overflowing with love, there seek to learn how to win 
 others to the straight and narrow, but pleasant path of joy and 
 peace. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Breed said there was a wonderful power in self-con- 
 secration ; the ungodly man had at all times a traitor in the cita- 
 del of his wickedness — a conscience which would compel 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 
 
278 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 go and pray with every one in the village. He started, and 
 knocking at every door, was, in spite of his past reputation, ad- 
 mitted 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 comfort 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 apparently fruitless, determined to 
 seek counsel of God, and assembled one afternoon in a gentle- 
 man'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 with the Holy Spirit. These seven 
 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 
 this city. Now let us sing." 
 
 Mr. Moody, at the conclusion of the. singing, said : " Send 
 thanksgiving, but praise to God is better. What we want 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 prayer, but nothing about 
 praise. In the Bible there are more passages referring to praise 
 than to prayer. We want Christ, 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 go through the world all the time with a long 
 face, we will drive men away from Christ. There are so many 
 people always 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 
 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 279 
 
 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 condition 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 
 who are sincere Christians, those who have come to Christ. The 
 first thing a young convert always does is to pray, and when, in 
 praising God, he sings, 
 
 " ' O happy day ! ' 
 
 how happy he is ! If the ten thousand persons present could be 
 induced to take Christ as their only friend and sing praises to 
 him, there would be such a shout as to almost raise the roof. 
 We want to see the time when the streets are filled with people 
 filling the air with songs of praise to Zion. When that time comes 
 the people will be happy, because they have found Christ. When 
 we stray away from God, we don't want to pray ; but when we 
 return to God, then we want to sing his praises. What we want 
 to-day is a Church of workers, and when we have that we will 
 have a praising Church. When a man gets out of himself, be- 
 comes unselfish, and commences to work for others, he becomes 
 a happy man, because he is doing God's service. If you want to 
 praise God, go and do some work, lift up somebody, relieve the 
 sick and comfort the heart-broken. By so doing it will be the 
 best praise that we can give to God." The speaker said that 
 some years ago he met a man who told him that he was going to 
 take his family of five children to church with a smile. The man 
 said to him, whenever he passed a house on a certain street he 
 always looked at the windows where he saw children, and he 
 always smiled upon them. Said the speaker: "Kindness to 
 children is never forgotten ; it is the way to reach their hearts and 
 gain their affection." The children became so fond of seeing 
 the man that they watched for him, and finally they said he was 
 
280 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 so good and kind, that he must be a minister. They resolved 
 one Sunday after he passed to follow him, and they did so ; when 
 they found that he entered a church, they also went in, and after 
 service returned home and said that they heard the best sermon 
 of their lives. They went again, and finally joined the church. 
 The man said that he got them in with a smile. A crabbed and 
 cross Christian never accomplishes any good ; they are stumbling- 
 blocks in the way of others, and prevent the building up of the 
 Christian Church. Oh that we may have live churches ! What 
 we want to do is to get rid of these dead churches, with their 
 cold forms and ceremonies, and have them filled with live, happy 
 people. The speaker continued in this strain for some time, and 
 urged his hearers to come to Christ and be happy. When they 
 did so they would continually praise Him for His goodness. 
 
 Mr. Moody then gave out the 25th hymn, which was sung by 
 the choir and the entire congregation, led by Mr. Sankey. The 
 people seemed to be deeply impressed with it, and such whole- 
 souled singing by more than eleven thousand persons has never 
 been heard before in this city. It is in these words : 
 
 We praise Thee, O God ! for the Son of Thy love, 
 For Jesus who died and is now gone above. 
 
 Chorus— Hallelujah ! Thine the glory, Hallelujah ! Amen. 
 Hallelujah ! Thine the glory, revive us again. 
 
 We praise Thee, O God ! for Thy spirit of light, 
 
 Who has shown us our Saviour and scattered our night. 
 
 All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain, 
 Who has borne all our sins and cleansed every stain. 
 
 All glory and praise to the God of all grace, 
 
 Who has bought us, and sought us, and guided our ways. 
 
 Revive us again ; fill each heart with Thy love ; 
 May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. 
 
 Mr. Sankey next rose from his cabinet organ, behind which he 
 had remained seated during the service, and said: "How many 
 prodigal sons may be restored to their homes to-day ! The re- 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 28 1 
 
 currence of Thanksgiving recalls to my mind a story told me by 
 a very dear friend in Europe of a prodigal son who was saved by 
 love. A wayward boy who could not be persuaded to do good, 
 whose steps were only evil continually, was finally, at the request 
 of his brothers, sent into the street. He went away, but on 
 Thanksgiving day poor John, homesick and heartsick, returned. 
 His father saw the poor wanderer at the door, and received him 
 back to his arms. Then his brothers again demanded that the 
 black sheep should again be cast out, but the father answered, 
 'No, no, my son John, I'll not cast thee out j come, gather around 
 our board to-day.' This overwhelming love was too much. The 
 long-lost prodigal wept, the family knelt with him and prayed for 
 him, and to-day that boy is one of the hardest workers for Christ 
 to be found in all Europe. A father's love saved him ! Let us 
 remember that. Our friends may cast us off, but our Heavenly 
 Father will receive us. if we only knock at the door. I will now 
 sing you the hymn 'Ninety and Nine.'" Mr. Sankey here took 
 his seat, and in a sweet voice sang with touching expression the 
 words : 
 
 " There were ninety and nine that safely lay 
 
 In the shelter of the fold ; 
 But one was out on the hills away, 
 
 Far off from the gates of gold. 
 Away on the mountains wild and bare, 
 
 Away from the tender Shepherd's care ; 
 Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine, 
 
 Are they not enough for Thee ? 
 But the Shepherd made answer, 'Tis of mine 
 
 Has wandered far away from me ; 
 And although the road be rough and steep, 
 
 I go to the desert to find my sheep." 
 
 Never was our National Thanksgiving more perfectly symbol- 
 ized than in the scene which yesterday morning gladdened the 
 eyes of the Evangelists as they entered the old Exhibition build- 
 ing at Thirteenth and Market streets to begin their early prayer- 
 meeting. The seemingly limitless auditorium, decorated as it is 
 
282 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 in our national colors, with wide, beautiful expanses of pure white 
 between the relieving tints, was almost filled with eager worship- 
 pers, whose very glances beamed with praise and thanksgiving, 
 while, with many a benison and on silvery pinions, the light of 
 opening day, descending earthward, poured in a flood of welcome 
 through the glass-covered roof and rested on the picture lil:e a' 
 dove of peace. 
 
 Large as the building is and ample as the accommodations are, 
 last evening every seat was occupied, and around the walls men 
 were standing. Such a gathering of males in this city has never 
 before been seen, and it is a question whether in this country for 
 such a purpose there has ever been such an assemblage. The 
 order was perfect, not the slightest confusion or noise was obser- 
 vable, but ail seemed deeply oppressed with the solemnity of the 
 occasion. The stillness was remarkable, and throughout the 
 entire evening a whisper, if made, might 'have been heard. 
 While doubtless many were drawn to the place by curiosity, it 
 was also true that many more were there with an honest purpose 
 and with honest convictions. It has happened more than once 
 that men who had no idea of conversion have been brought under 
 the influence of the great revivalists, and such most likely was 
 the case last night, when some two hundred sturdy men fearlessly 
 stood up in that mighty assemblage and acknowledged themselves 
 sinners, and as being desirous of leading better lives. The occasion 
 was one long to be remembered, and could not but make a deep 
 and lasting impression upon very many who stood back. The 
 preaching of Mr. Moody is irresistible in its effects ; so plainly is 
 the teaching of the Saviour made, and so convincing is his argu- 
 ment in behalf of the religion of Christ and the great necessity 
 of turning away from the paths of vice, that before a person is 
 aware of it, he is unconsciously forced to make a public confes- 
 sion of his sinfulness and his desire to lead the life of a Christian. 
 Greater interest could not have been manifested than was last 
 evening, and a more respectful hearing could not have been 
 accorded to any preacher. 
 
 "Go," said he ; '-go to some hovel where a drunkard reels to 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 283 
 
 every day. See the children run away and hide .in terror when 
 the besotted father staggers up the hill ; see the pale, haggard- 
 faced wife tremble ; she bears many a scar made by that strong 
 right arm on that defenceless body. Such a man may be here to- 
 day. He may repent at last and secure the Lord Jesus. Then, 
 in a little while, see what a change ! The little children will 
 climb on his knee and clasp their loving arms about his neck ; 
 the wife will wear a happy smile, and instead of the drunken 
 song, you will hear: 
 
 " ' There is a fountain filled with blood.' 
 
 or perhaps he will remember a hymn his sainted mother taught 
 him, and on the evening air will come the words : 
 
 " ' Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in Thee.' 
 
 "That is what I call regeneration. May the spirit of prayer 
 come on this assembly this afternoon. You may see many king- 
 doms, but except you be born again you will never see the King- 
 dom of God. You may travel through your own country, and in 
 California stand in awe before the great trees at which so many 
 have wondered, but except you be born again you can never see 
 the tree of life which stands in the paradise of God. You may 
 stand on the banks of many mighty rivers, but except you be 
 born again you never can see the river that bursts from the 
 Throne of God and runs through His Kingdom. You may look 
 with pleasure upon the jewelled crowns of the earth, but unless 
 you be born again yoif cannot see the Crown of Life. You may 
 meet with princes in this world, but except you be born again 
 you cannot meet the Prince of Peace. A few years ago I met 
 with a man who seemed happy and yet very, very lonesome. 
 'Have you no children?' I asked. 'Yes,' was the reply, 'I 
 have one — in heaven.' He then showed me the picture of a 
 beautiful child, about seven years of age, and said, ' I am glad 
 she is in heaven, for while she lived I worshipped her, and when 
 she was taken from me I almost cursed my Maker, for I was a 
 
284 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 cursing man. And when I was still in this terrible mood I 
 threw myself on the bed and at last I slept, and dreamed, I sup- 
 pose, though it may have been a vision. I thought I was travel- 
 ing along a desert waste, and at length came to a dark, fathomless 
 river. I thought I heard the voice of my darling calling, 
 " Father, come over ; its beautiful over here." Then I saw my 
 precious one amid a choir of heavenly beings, and she kept on 
 beckoning to me until I attempted to cross, but found I could 
 not ford the stream. While I was looking for some way to get 
 over, I heard a voice from heaven saying, " I am the Way, the 
 Truth, and the Life." I awoke a changed man, and now only 
 live to meet her in that heavenly sphere where death can never 
 again come. If my little one had lived I might have led her 
 astray, but she is safe now, and I believe that a kind Father will 
 let me follow her.' Oh ! how many of you," said Mr. Moody in 
 conclusion, " have little ones beckoning to you from the other 
 side of the river of death ? Have you children, husbands, wives, 
 brothers, sisters, godly fathers, or sainted mothers in the land to 
 come ? Only go to God, be born again, and meet them in the 
 Kingdom of God." At the conclusion of the sermon, Mr. Moody 
 called upon those who desired to be prayed for to stand up, and 
 fully two thousand rose to their feet, and stood with bowed heads 
 and glistening eyes while the leader offered up a fervent suppli- 
 cation in their behalf. 
 
 Charles M. Morton, of Plymouth Bethel, Brooklyn, then made 
 a brief address, relating an incident of the recent meetings in 
 Brooklyn, the reclamation of a man whose home had been broken 
 up by intemperance. When the man had been converted he 
 came to the speaker one day and said, " I have got back my 
 home, my friends, my wife and my children, but something that 
 my little girl said last night made me cry. She ran up to me, 
 and, throwing her arms around me, said, ' Papa, you don't stag- 
 ger any more now.' " Now it is just so with Christians when 
 they get the Word of God in the heart ; they don't stagger any 
 more. 
 
 Hon. S. Farwell, of Chicago, spoke of some special meetings 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 285 
 
 now being held in Central Illinois, and said the workers in his 
 State were listening for the key-note from the City of Brotherly 
 Love, and were anxious for an interest in their prayers at one of 
 the meetings in Mason, Illinois. The first convert was the leader 
 of a company of actors who had been a few evenings before per- 
 forming in the same hall in which the meeting was held. He 
 was an intelligent, highly educated man, and is now preaching 
 the Gospel. He says : " I have served the devil for thirty years. 
 I am fifty-one years old now. All my time and talents shall 
 be upon the Lord," and one of the first things he told the 
 people after his conversion was this : " I have been behind 
 the scenes. You don't know all that goes on there. Take my 
 advice, you church members who have been in the habit of going 
 to theatres, and don't go there again." That was pretty good 
 preaching for a first sermon. He now goes about the street read- 
 ing the New Testament, as he used to read Shakespeare, and he 
 tells Brother Dean that every day he finds new texts that 'he 
 never knew were in the Bible at all. That might be the case 
 with all of us, for the Spirit will bring all things to your remem- 
 brance whatsoever I have said unto you. 
 
 There was one point which ought to be mentioned in this con- 
 nection. It was a matter of experience with him that very often 
 what prevents persons who are anxious from finding peace is 
 some difficulty in their business. There is some little thing 
 which they are not prepared to give up. It was so with a young 
 man with whom he was speaking last night. He found that he 
 was engaged in the liquor business, and he told the young man 
 that unless he was prepared to give that up he would not have 
 peace. 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke on the prayers of Jesus, and said He was 
 the example, for He was praying all the night before He chose 
 the twelve Apostles ; and on every occasion where there was a 
 special communication to Him from His Father in heaven, it came 
 in answer to prayers. What we need is more of the praying 
 spirit, that all who come to these meetings maybe reached by the 
 Spirit of God. Even those who are unable to get into the meet- 
 
286 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ings are sometimes in that way led to a spirit of reflection. A 
 man came to one of the services and found the door closed, and 
 the words of Scripture rushed upon his mind, "And the door 
 was shut." He said, "What if the door of Heaven should be 
 shut ? " and was led to serious consideration, which resulted in 
 his conversion. A lady in Brooklyn had been praying that her 
 son might attend the meetings. She had tried to persuade him, 
 but he had refused. On the last of the services there, the young 
 man thought he would go to the Tabernacle for the afternoon 
 meeting. He found the gates locked, the building being full. 
 He went into the overflow meeting, and heard Mr. Needham. 
 That afternoon he was converted, and his mother's prayers were 
 answered. There is nothing for which we may not pray. Jesus 
 prayed at the grave of Lazarus ; and we may bring our dead sons 
 and daughters to Christ that He may give them spiritual life. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Newton said he wanted to relate an incident which 
 had been revived in his memory by the observations of Mr. 
 Moody on prayer. Forty years ago, said he, I was a student 
 in a theological college in New York, and was brought into inti- 
 macy with a graduate of West Point Military Academy, whose 
 brother was a fellow-student of mine. The officer was a strictly 
 moral man of sterling integrity, but not a Christian. His 
 brother one day spoke to him, and asked if he would not be- 
 come a Christian. His reply was : " What more do you want 
 me to be than I am now ? " and his manner was such that the 
 brother said no more, but determined to pray for his conversion 
 instead of arguing with him. The next winter the officer was 
 ordered out West for frontier service, and his wife, who was a 
 lady of high moral character and great attainments, was, in con- 
 sequence, temporarily separated from him, and went to live at 
 Providence, Rhode Island. While she was there a great work of 
 grace was progressing in the parish. She was among those who 
 were brought to the feet of Jesus ; and after she was converted, 
 the minister, at whose house she was staying, asked if she would 
 not join the church. She said, "I can't until I have written to 
 my husband. I have never taken a step that we could not take 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 287 
 
 together since we were married. I can't put a barrier between 
 him and myself until I have written to him and told him of the 
 change in my life." She immediately wrote ; but before her 
 letter reached him out on the frontier, he had written to her, and 
 their letters crossed. He said that for several days he had a 
 strange feeling, such as he had never experienced before. He felt 
 that he was unworthy and a sinner, and that he needed pardon. 
 He had no Bible in his tent, and borrowed one from a comrade \ 
 then he read about the way of salvation, and found light. He 
 said in his letter that he had become a Christian ; so when her 
 letter reached him, the wife was in possession of the glad news 
 that both were following Jesus. Who can tell the joy there was 
 'in that family ? Although this occurred many years ago, and the 
 dear fellow to whom I refer is now in heaven, the impression it 
 made upon me will never be effaced, and I tell it to-day because 
 it may lead others to pray for the conversion of those friends who 
 do not now feel their need of Christ. 
 
 After silent prayer for a few moments, during which it seemed 
 that every Christian heart was lifted to God in earnest supplica- 
 tion — for the most solemn stillness prevailed through the house — 
 the meeting closed with the Doxology and benediction. 
 
 MEETING FOR DRUNKARDS. 
 
 One of the most interesting meetings yet held by the evangel- 
 ists in this city was that set apart especially for the benefit of 
 drunkards who had been unable to conquer the demon of alco- 
 holic stimulus. The congregation was much larger than on the 
 preceding day, and, as would naturally be expected, very differ- 
 ent in many other respects. Several hundreds of Christian 
 workers, who have been regularly attending all the meetings, 
 remained away in order to leave as much room as possible to 
 those who were directly affected by the curse of intemperance. 
 A glance over the audience showed a large number of temperance 
 advocates and missionaries, several clergymen, and a few regular 
 Christian workers. Almost all the other faces were new. There 
 were old fat-hers whose white hairs had almost been brought in 
 
288 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 sorrow to the grave by the wayward steps of loved and almost 
 lost sons ; aged mothers, whose doubly refined features had been 
 pinched by suffering, and once rosy, smiling lips blanched to 
 whiteness by long-continued effort to choke back the sobs which 
 will well up from hearts wrung by the anguish of seeing dear 
 ones sinking into ruin ; there were pale-faced, loving-eyed sisters, 
 whose young lives had been nothing but woe instead of innocent, 
 hopeful joy, and whose bright smiles had long given place to 
 sighs over the downward course of some willful brother. Here 
 and there could be seen the bloated faces of blear-eyed drunk- 
 ards, who glanced wildly around as though the strangeness of the 
 situation was so overpowering that it required a great effort of 
 will to remain, and not a few were accompanied by mothers, 
 wives, sisters, or, perchance, sweethearts, who, having exhausted 
 worldly means, had determined to lay their burden before the 
 Lord. The great majority of all those gathered in the Depot- 
 Tabernacle yesterday afternoon were as sad-faced and tearful- 
 eyed a collection of humanity as it would be possible to assemble 
 in one place. Those who had not directly suffered by intem- 
 perance grew at once into sympathy with the hundreds about 
 them, whose heavy sighs told the stories of unutterable anguish, 
 and this influence increased until a cloud of terrible depression 
 seemed to hang over the entire congregation. Every class of 
 society was represented in this throng united so closely by such 
 painful bonds. Close to the half-starved, long-abused, yet faith- 
 ful wife of some besotted brute was seated the child of fortune 
 and culture — child no more, but an old, old woman, whose only 
 son, still in his youth, had fallen almost to the lowest depths of 
 degradation. Near her was a man, every lineament of whose 
 features was some index of nobility of soul and rare talents, but 
 whose threadbare coat and sunken cheeks betrayed to all gazes 
 the lifelong victim of an unconquerable appetite. Just behind 
 this group was a young girl, whose face, sweet as an angel's, was 
 already furrowed by grief. Beside her was a father, whom she 
 seemed to worship, and this father, broken down in health and 
 almost ruined in mind by the excessive use of liquor, seemed at 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 289 
 
 last to have resigned himself to hopeless ruin. He gazed about 
 in a half-sleepy, half-childish way, and several times attempted to 
 get up and leave his seat, but the hand of the child-woman held 
 his very tightly, and each time he would conquer his restlessness 
 and sit down. By far the largest proportion of the congregation 
 were women, almost all of whom had evidently clutching at their 
 hearts the agonizing image of some past or present experience 
 with woe in its most terrible form. As the exercises proceeded 
 it was interesting to note the change which gradually came over 
 the scene. As Mr. Moody declared over and over again that the 
 God who had once cast out devils could do it now, and would do 
 it if only asked, and as fervent supplications for this Divine inter- 
 position were made, the cloud seemed to rise from all hearts, the 
 noonday sun poured in upon the picture like blessed rays of 
 hope ; eyes long dimmed by tears beamed with a new light ; lips 
 so long tightly pressed by anguish smiled with a new-found joy, 
 and dissipated faces lost their reckless look and became resolute 
 in the strength of noble determination. It is probable that more 
 than one slave was freed, and more than one heart made happy. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Newton read the requests for prayer. He said that 
 as the day was set apart particularly for prayers for the intem- 
 perate only, only those which related to persons held by the 
 demon of drink would be read. Among the requests were twenty 
 for prayers for intemperate husbands ; ten for drunken fathers ; 
 twenty-five from sisters for dissipated brothers ; ten from widows 
 for intemperate sons ; one for a young man struggling to over- 
 come the demon of drink ; one from a sister for three brothers, 
 one of them a hard drinker; one from a mother in Scottsville 
 for an intemperate son ; from a friend for a young man in New- 
 castle, England ; from a friend for a young man who earnestly 
 desires to reform ; from a sister (long identified with Methodist 
 missions) for an intemperate brother ; from a Christian for an 
 intemperate brother-in-law in Richmond, Va. ; from a mother, 
 whose only son was rapidly hastening to ruin \ from a wife whose 
 husband has almost beggared his family, and from friends for 
 the Woman's Temperance Society of Plymouth Church. There 
 13 
 
290 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 were forty requests for prayers for tavern-keepers' souls, that they 
 might be turned from the road in which they were leading so 
 many of their fellows ; two requests for intemperate and ungodly 
 men ; one against the sale of liquor on the Centennial Grounds ; 
 one from a wife for a husband; one from a father whose son, 
 once a professor of religion, was now hurrying on to destruction ; 
 one from a mother who desired prayers for a drunken husband 
 and son ; one from a Christian lady whose intemperate husband 
 had come to believe that not even God could save him from him- 
 self; another from a sister for a dissipated brother ; another from 
 a mother for a son who is addicted to the use of intoxicating 
 drinks ; a doctor in Massachusetts desired prayers for himself — 
 he had long been striving in vain to overcome the habit, and now 
 asked for higher aid. Prayers were also requested for a brother 
 who was once a professed Christian, but who now made the hearts 
 of his friends heavy by yielding to temptation ; a mother re- 
 quested prayers for four children, one of whom was addicted to 
 the use of wine. Prayers were asked for God's blessing on the 
 Woman's Temperance Society and their " Home for Inebriate 
 Women ; " also, for the " Franklin Reformatory Home." A wife 
 and daughter requested prayer for a father in the liquor business. 
 Prayers were requested for four intemperate men, three of whom 
 were the sons of three deceased elders in one Presbyterian 
 church, and for three intemperate brothers, the sons of a minis- 
 ter. 
 
 Rev. Dr. J. Wheaton Smith also offered a fervent prayer for 
 the salvation of those who were unable to take even the first step 
 towards saving themselves. He asked for comfort for aged 
 hearts, for wives and daughters and sisters, so that they could 
 feel to-day the joy of thanksgiving, and asked special blessing on 
 those who were engaged in the unhallowed traffic, that they should 
 be taught that all happiness on earth or in heaven would be lost 
 if they should continue in their present course. 
 
 The congregation then rose, and with heartfelt earnestness 
 translated into the harmonies of sound the words of the 3d 
 hymn : 
 
MOODY AND SA.NKEY IN AMERICA. 2QI 
 
 " I need Thee every hour, 
 Most gracious Lord ; 
 No tender voice like Thine 
 Can peace afford." 
 
 Mr. Sankey stopped the singing at the third verse and said : 
 " Now we should like to hear every one in the house who believe 
 that they do need the Lord join in that chorus : " 
 
 " I need Thee, oh ! I need Thee, 
 Every hour I need Thee ; 
 Oh ! bless me now, my Saviour, 
 I come to Thee." 
 
 Thus adjured, every voice seemed to combine with every other 
 to fill the grand auditorium with the musical reverberations of the 
 beautiful supplication, and the waves of harmony rolled mountain 
 high through the seemingly limitless structure. 
 
 The secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. 
 Cree, spoke of the case of a drunkard who had come into his 
 office and asked special prayers for strength to resist temptation. 
 
 Another case was mentioned of a poor man who came into the 
 inquiry-room with a heart almost breaking, and said he wanted 
 the people to pray for him, but could not write a line, and was 
 consequently unable to send in a request without help. It was 
 also requested that prayer be offered for an unworthy son, who 
 had for years resisted every effort to bring him into the right way, 
 and also for his companion, with whom he had become united 
 within a few weeks. Rev. Dr. Hatfield, in referring to the course 
 of intemperance, said there was, humanly speaking, no hope for 
 a drunkard. Only in rare instances could the victim of alcoholic 
 stimulants be saved. But nothing was too hard for God to ac- 
 complish, and he wanted his hearers to try and have faith in what 
 seemed an utter impossibility. At one time the speaker could 
 not force himself to have full faith, but a number of instances 
 which had since been brought to his attention, had proved to 
 him how weak had been his confidence in God. One of these 
 instances was the case of a man who was so completely ruined 
 
292 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 by drink that when at last he showed some sign of repentance 
 the speaker thought he must have some evil design. But the 
 man was prayed for again and again, and these prayers were an- 
 swered, for he has been a sober, industrious, respectable citizen for 
 the last eighteen years. " Father " Martin next offered a prayer 
 for the salvation of drunkards. Mr. Moody said he noticed an 
 aged man the evening before urging a young man to go into the 
 inquiry-room. Afterward, when he went into the room, he met 
 that father and the youth together and prayed with them. The 
 old man, with tears in his eyes, then said: "Mr. Moody, I live 
 twenty miles out in the country, and came all the way here to- 
 night to thank you ; for this afternoon I received a letter from my 
 son, who has been attending these meetings, and is now con- 
 verted." " Is this young man also your son ? " asked the speaker. 
 " No," was the unexpected reply; "he is a stranger to me." 
 " This," continued Mr. Moody, " was the most beautiful part of 
 it. The old man had come to thank us for assisting in his son's 
 conversion, and had seized the opportunity to urge some other 
 man's son to seek the Lord. Now we ought to lift our eyes above 
 all human belief, and remember that Christ has the power to help 
 every one who asks for his divine aid. But some say, ' It has 
 become a disease with me; I can't help myself; my soul don't 
 need a physician ; it is my body that is sick.' But don't you 
 suppose Christ can heal the body? He has power over disease. 
 The Great Physician never fails. Some mothers say, ' My son is 
 dead to everything that is pure ; dead to everything that's holy.' 
 You remember the child that was dead and Christ raised it up 
 when asked to do it ? You will find him able to raise up any 
 child of the flesh, whether dead or not. Christ has power over 
 devils, over disease, and over death. In London I saw a great 
 many incurable hospitals. They did not need anything of the 
 kind when Christ was on earth. No case was incurable then. 
 Now let us pray that he will cure this disease of drunkenness. 
 
 " Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for such a Saviour as 
 Thou hast sent, and now we come to-day to ask that Thou wilt 
 rebuke the devils who have taken possession of fathers, and 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 293 
 
 brothers, and sons, and cast them out ; make bare Thine arm to 
 save these drunkards ; bless these strangers who have come to 
 us to-day. They are strangers to us, but not strangers to Thee ; 
 Heavenly Father, help them, raise them, so that soon a band of 
 men who are now the slaves of strong drink may be working for 
 His glory. While the infidels are mocking and scoffing and saying, 
 ' God cannot save drunkards,' O God ! make bare Thine arm and 
 show them Thy strength ; show them that God can save the 
 lowest drunkards, and it will be to Thy great glory. Amen." 
 The 56th hymn was then sung as follows : 
 
 " The great Physician now is near, 
 The sympathizing Jesus ; 
 He speaks the drooping heart to cheer, 
 Oh ! hear the voice of Jesus. 
 
 Chorus — Sweetest note in seraph song, 
 
 Sweetest name on mortal tongue, 
 Sweetest carol ever sung, 
 Jesus, blessed Jesus !" 
 
 Rev. Dr. Breed arose and said he had long felt the strongest 
 sympathy for those who were suffering from that particular evil, 
 and he knew there was not a minister living who did not feel in 
 the same way. In all such cases the man was still the same. It 
 was only the appetite which was unconquerable. All had heard 
 of the member of Congress, who, when asked to sign the pledge, 
 said, " Sign it, yes ; and then I would cut off my right hand if 
 that would compel me to keep it." Don't think there was no 
 hope. A lady of this city, who once had a drunken father, many 
 and many a time had gone out to look for him at night, and, find- 
 ing him in some saloon, would stand in the cold and snow until 
 he came out. The touch of her hand would turn him, and he 
 would follow her staggering to their home. One evening, while 
 the keen winds of winter swept down every street, and a freezing 
 sleet covered everything with a coat of ice, she attempted in the 
 same way to lead him home, but he staggered and fell on the 
 pavement. She bent over him, trying to revive him, and when he 
 
294 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 returned to consciousness her hair was frozen to his lips. She 
 succeeded in getting him home alive, and in less than one month 
 afterwards he completely reformed. A converted rum-seller in 
 the audience then arose and said he was once a dealer in the 
 accursed stuff, but now thanked God that he would never again 
 touch the hell-distilled fluid or raise it to the lips of a brother. Rev. 
 Dr. Newton prayed earnestly that all who were struggling for sal- 
 vation might be saved by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and that 
 those who had sunk so low that they had no desire to rise might 
 be brought to see the terrible error of their ways and helped to 
 redeem themselves before it was too late. The congregation 
 then united in singing the 89th hymn : 
 
 " Yield not to temptation, 
 
 For yielding is sin ; 
 Each victory will help you 
 
 Some other to win. 
 Fight manfully onward, 
 
 Dark passions subdue, 
 Look ever to Jesus, 
 
 He'll carry you through. 
 
 Chorus — Ask the Saviour to help you, 
 
 Comfort, strengthen, and keep you ; 
 He is willing to aid you, 
 He will carry you through." 
 
 This hymn was sung with a will, all joining most heartily in 
 the chorus. It was then announced by Mr. Moody that another 
 meeting of the same character would be held next Friday noon, 
 and the meeting adjourned. 
 
 Mr. Sankey, with all his enthusiastic love of the Father, for 
 whose worship all hymns were written, never forgets that flesh is 
 very weak, and must be helped by all the means which can be 
 provided. He therefore usually selects hymns for the opening 
 praise with a light, joyous melody, which soon brings all hearts 
 into sympatlry, so that, as -the services proceed, the majestic 
 movement and grand harmonies of familiar long-metre hymns do 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 295 
 
 not roll ineffectively around souls still insensible from worldly 
 influence, but sweep in resistless waves of music along the ten- 
 derest chords of the human heart, lifting the soul far above the 
 burden of clay which weighs it to the earth. 
 
 When a meeting is held specially for young men, it is always 
 better that those for whom it is intended should take the most 
 prominent part in the exercises ; but every one who has had the 
 management of such gatherings will readily appreciate the diffi- 
 culty that is always experienced in carrying this rule into practice. 
 What is needed to make young men's meetings full of interest and 
 productive of benefit is short addresses, prayers, and little crumbs 
 of experience incident to a young man's life ; and when twenty or 
 thirty participate within an hour, each contributing to the spiritu- 
 ality of the occasion, there never need be any fear of a dull meet- 
 ing. A word of encouragement from an old Christian, who has a 
 young heart, is always welcome and beneficial ; but when the 
 aged brethren monopolize three-fourths of the time, as is some- 
 times the case, with long, prosy, and wearisome sermonizing, all 
 the soul of the meeting is effectually stamped out, and the time 
 is, of course, then wasted. 
 
 Throughout the series of deeply interesting gatherings of young 
 men, held in the North Reformed Church, Brooklyn, under the 
 excellent superintendence of Charles M. Morton, this difficulty 
 was not unfrequently encountered ; and the same evil began to 
 show itself in the meetings held here nightly. 
 
 A happy suggestion was, however, made and acted upon. 
 Mr. Moody announced on Sunday that the following evening a 
 fathers' meeting would be commenced at Dr. McCook's church,, 
 Penn Square ; " and henceforth," said he, " nobody over forty 
 years of age will be admitted to the young men's meeting. I put 
 the limit at forty, because that will just allow me to go there when 
 I want." The fathers' meeting was accordingly held on Monday 
 night, and last evening it developed into a parents' meeting, both 
 fathers and mothers being invited to attend for prayer and con- 
 versation in regard to the conversion of their children. Mr. John 
 Field has been chosen as the leader ; and it seems likely that 
 
296 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 this new feature will speedily become one of the most important 
 auxiliaries of the revival work. The leader last evening delivered 
 a brief but very impressive address, relating an incident con- 
 nected with his own personal history which touched every heart ; 
 then the meeting was opened for prayer and short testimonies, 
 many petitions being offered for unconverted parents and children 
 out of the ark of safety. | 
 
 Said Mr. Moody : " I was never more shocked than on one 
 occasion when a father said to his son, after he had returned 
 from a meeting of this kind where he had given his heart : ' My 
 son, I always hoped that you would become established in busi- 
 ness before you gave attention to matters of religion ; ' but I don't 
 believe one father out of ten millions would say such a thing as 
 that. It is better to go up to heaven from the poor-house than to 
 go down to hell in a gilded chariot. What is there to be gained 
 by losing your soul and thinking only all the time of riches ? " The 
 speaker said that he would rather lose his eyes ten thousand 
 times over than to lose his soul. He then narrated an incident 
 of a little child who had been run over and killed, and the news 
 was taken to the father by the superintendent of a Sunday-school 
 in Chicago, and when the superintendent told the father he arose 
 like a wild man and rushed to the mother, and she cried out to 
 be taken to see the child ; but the good man told her that the 
 child's body was so mangled that it could not be recognized by 
 her. The superintendent said to Mr. Moody that he would rather 
 do anything again than to bear such news to a family and witness 
 such a sight. The speaker said that it would be better to lose 
 everything than lose your own souls. The little child went to 
 heaven ; it would be far worse to have borne the news that their 
 little child's soul had been lost. Let the news go up to heaven to- 
 night, " Saved." Strive to enter heaven by the straight way. A 
 man has but to will to do a thing, and it will be done. God has 
 done all he can for you. He has sent his only Son to save you, 
 and if you will to be saved you will find comfort, peace, and hap- 
 piness. It is for you to decide to-night whether you will serve 
 the Lord or will take the side of Satan. Since the fall of 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 297 
 
 Adam, Satan has been an usurper; he has no right to this 
 world. The Son of man has come to seek and save ; he is here 
 now to seek and save. Are you willing to be saved now ? No 
 matter how dark and deep your sins may be. He can pardon 
 your sins if you will only come to him. Christ comes to you to- 
 night fo carry you over the dark river, if you will only let him. 
 Sinners, won't you come to Jesus to-night ? 
 
 Meeting for Women. 
 
 The afternoon service, which was exclusively for women, may 
 be said to have commenced the actual work of the revival. The 
 meeting was one never to be forgotten by any who were present. 
 At two o'clock the doors were thrown open, and the crowds be- 
 gan to pour in until before half-past three all available space was 
 crowded. More than eleven thousand women gathered at this 
 religious service, the ushers and reporters being the only men 
 allowed on the main floor. By far the larger portion of the occu- 
 pants of the platform were ladies representing the upper and 
 middle classes, while here and there could be seen poverty- 
 stricken needle-women who in their battle for life had been unable 
 to find time to think of the life to come. Fully three hundred 
 members of the combination choir were in their seats, and on the 
 stage were many prominent clergymen. Said the evangelist: 
 " You have seen the murderer before the court of justice. If he 
 had a mother she was there with him. She was not ashamed of 
 him, but would say, ' Guilty or not guilty, he is my boy, and I 
 love him.' How such a mother clings to her son's side every 
 moment possible ! How she watches every witness who comes 
 to testify against her own ! How she weeps and prays with him 
 in his narrow cell, and when at last the verdict comes in 'guilty,' 
 the loving heart-strings break at last, and the mother is carried 
 fainting, almost dead, from the room. But her boy still lives for 
 a few hours, and she comes back. She follows him to the scaf- 
 fold, and suffers a thousand deaths while he is suffering one.' 
 At this point the loud sobbing of a woman in the audience be- 
 
 
298 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 came so painful that for a moment the speaker could not proceed. 
 Recovering himself, he said : " Such is a mother's love, and yet 
 your Heavenly Father loves you more dearly, more devotedly 
 than a mother ever can." All who desired to be prayed for were 
 then requested to rise, and at least three thousand persons 
 stood up. 
 
 Inquiry-Meetings. 
 
 Mr. Moody then arose and said : " I want to say a few words 
 to you to-day about the inquiry-rooms. Many persons talk about 
 them as though they were something new, and ask what is the 
 object of such places ? We have been much hindered in our 
 w r ork by people who, night after night, come as spectators, as 
 though we were all on exhibition. I think it is very strange that 
 any Christian should not understand the object of inquiry-meet- 
 ings, for they are not an innovation. Look at the third chapter 
 of Luke and at the ninth verse : 'And now also the axe is laid at 
 the root of the trees ; every tree therefore which bringeth not 
 forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And the 
 people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then ? ' Then there 
 was an inquiry-meeting at once. The people became anxious 
 about the salvation of their souls, and wanted to know what they 
 should do to be saved. ' He answereth and saith unto them, He 
 that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; 
 and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.' That was an in- 
 quiry-meeting. All the people wanted was a little advice, and 
 that was given them. ' Then came also publicans to be baptized, 
 and said unto Him, Master, what shall we do? And He 
 said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.' 
 That was another inquiry-meeting. ' And the soldiers likewise 
 demanded of Him, saying, And what shall we do ? And He said 
 unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely ; 
 and be content with your wages.' You see all classes of hearers 
 were asking, ' What shall we do ? ' They were given special an- 
 swers for special cases, and that constituted an inquiry-meeting. 
 Even John could not preach so plainly but that his hearers 
 
 / 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 299 
 
 wanted more expounding. The object of inquiry-meetings is to 
 answer those who have special questions to ask. Many persons 
 may be affected by a good sermon or touched by a fervent 
 prayer, but each one may have peculiar difficulties to overcome, 
 and unless these can be presented to some Christian who, having 
 been through the same trials, can advise how to get rid of them, 
 even the most anxious souls may go away discouraged, and, what 
 is worse, remain away. In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew we 
 read, ' Now Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the 
 house ; and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto 
 us the parable of the tares of the field. There was another in- 
 quiry-meeting at once. Even the faithful disciples of Jesus had 
 questions to ask as soon as opportunity offered. In the fifty-first 
 verse we find that the Master himself opened an inquiry-meeting, 
 for it says: 'Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all 
 these things ? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord.' There, you see, 
 He was encouraging them to make inquiry. This is the only 
 way the Truth can be preached and be made effective. We must 
 get right in among the people and answer the numberless ques- 
 tions which confuse groping minds if we wish to bring souls to 
 Christ. If there were more inquiry-rooms there would be more 
 effective preaching. In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew we 
 read • 'Then came Peter unto Him and said, Lord, how oft shall 
 my brother sin against me and I forgive him ? till seven times ? ' 
 This was an inquiry-meeting started by Peter, and it is a very 
 good thing that Peter went to the Lord with that question, for 
 otherwise we never would have had this blessed answer : ' Jesus 
 saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times ; but, 
 Until seventy times seven.' Christ always encouraged His fol- 
 lowers to come to Him, and He was always ready to answer 
 their inquiries. The preaching that does bring inquirers is just 
 the kind the devil does not want. 
 
 "Another inquiry-meeting is told of in the 19th chapter of 
 Matthew: 'And behold, one came and said unto Him, Good 
 Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' 
 In the 24th chapter of Matthew, still another inquiry-meeting is 
 
300 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 spoken of: ' And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the dis- 
 ciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us when shall these 
 things be ? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the 
 end of the world ? ' These all show how they used to have in- 
 quiry-meetings in the days of Christ. In the 2d chapter of the 
 Acts we read: 'Now when they heard this, they were pricked 
 in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, 
 Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto 
 them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of 
 Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost.' In the 8th chapter of the Acts we hear 
 of an inquiry-meeting that did not take place after a sermon or 
 in church, but way off in the desert. Philip found a poor eunuch 
 out in the desert and quieted his anxious spirit by telling him it 
 was only necessary to believe in order to be saved. The eunuch 
 was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing. The Bible is full 
 of accounts of inquiry-meetings. While Paul was at Rome there 
 was at all times anxious persons hastening to his house and in- 
 quiring, ' What shall we do to be saved ? ' They did not go 
 there to kiss Paul's great toe, but to find the way of life. Some 
 people say you should not speak to persons after they have been 
 listening to a good sermon, for you may disturb the seed already 
 sown. Don't you know it's the devil who is most apt to disturb 
 the seed? We should not only sow it, but harrow it down. 
 All the workers in the inquiry-rooms should carry their Bibles and 
 have them ready for just such cases. When the inquirer is seek- 
 ing for light, you need not talk to him ; hold up just the right 
 passage from the Scripture and let him read it. The third class 
 are those who are not convicted of sin. I met a man last even- 
 ing who acknowledged that he had not been in a place of worship 
 for eight years, but still he was very anxious to have me under- 
 stand that he was not a bad man, though he did admit that now 
 and then, when he became angry, he would swear. Now I knew 
 the only way to do in his case was to get the law on him. So I 
 turned to the 3d chapter of Romans and read to him : 'And it 
 is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.' Then I turned 
 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 30I 
 
 to Isaiah and showed him that the thoughts of the Lord could not 
 be his. The only way to convict a man is to bring the law of 
 God to bear on his conscience, and then when he fully feels his 
 wickedness teach him to lift up his heart in prayer to God. There 
 is generally in the inquirer either the spirit of the Pharisee or 
 the spirit of the Publican. God be thanked for the spirit of the 
 Publican. Don't give comfort to the Pharisee, or to the uncon- 
 victed. Show them plainly their wickedness. But when they are 
 convicted and feel that nothing ever can wash away their sins, 
 turn to the ist chapter of Isaiah and show them the 18th verse : 
 e Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; though 
 your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though 
 they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' What more 
 comfort could be asked than this ? Scarlet and crimson are two 
 fast colors, yet the Lord can make them white." 
 
 The inevitable question, asked and answered so often, What is 
 the secret of the power of these men ? recurs to each new com- 
 munity where their influence is directly exerted. The frequent 
 motive behind the inquiry is personal desire to enjoy and employ 
 this secret in the service of Jesus. This becomes every honest 
 worker, and justifies the attempt to unveil the hiding of their in- 
 fluence, for the information and inspiration of those who would 
 fill the earth with redeemed souls. And, again, in the midst of 
 our gathered threads, we insert the answers to this problem, that 
 they may be woven into the beautiful robe of their wonderful 
 career. 
 
 There are two points here to be considered : r. The occasion 
 met these men, and, 2. They proved equal to it. If the capabil- 
 ity had not been in them, they would have dropped into obscurity 
 like hosts of others. But it is no less true that for lack of occa- 
 sion great powers often lie concealed, not only from the world, 
 but even from him whose they are. In Chicago, hundreds, even 
 thousands, gladly heard Mr. Moody, and he there proved his 
 efficiency in every department of the work he undertook. Had 
 he not, it is by no means probable that a larger opportunity 
 would have opened to him. When the enlarged opportunity was 
 
302 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 given, he showed a breadth of comprehension, a depth of insight, 
 a control over large masses, and a mastery of the myriad details 
 of a great undertaking, such as his work in Chicago never would 
 have called for. There is another consideration. Mr. Moody's 
 powers have had development; his capabilities have not only 
 been educed, but they have been improved by exercise. 
 
 Mr. Moody talks as if he knew just what he wanted to say, and 
 was determined to say it. In this he is an example to Sunday- 
 school teachers. 
 
 Mr. Moody's Christian experience was of a most positive 
 kind ; and a vivid realization of the appalling fact that on every 
 hand men were perishing eternally moved him to the work which 
 has now grown to such great proportions. In awakening the 
 consciences of the unconverted and stimulating the activities of 
 Christians, he possesses a rare power that none can fail to recog- 
 nize. Herein lies his greatness. No one will claim for Mr. 
 Moody the richness of language, the resistless pathos and humor, 
 the wonderful mimicry and dramatic power that characterize the 
 great temperance orator. But Mr. Gough does not more thor- 
 oughly hold an audience than Mr. Moody. We have heard the 
 latter when every eye and every ear in his vast audience were 
 riveted upon him — the place, the man, all else in the universe 
 forgotten, while his homely sentences and pointed illustrations 
 issued forth hot and glowing, radiant with quaint touches of im- 
 agination, and varied by occasional sallies of quiet humor, the 
 whole saturated with sincerity and marked by the simplicity of a 
 child-like faith. This was oratory of the truest sort. There are 
 many men who talk as effectively as Mr. Moody for a little while, 
 or occasionally. They can get the sympathy of an audience 
 when they chance to be in the vein 5 but it is a very different 
 thing to be master of an audience. Mr. Moody is always that ; 
 at his best superlatively so. 
 
 A minister who went to hear Mr. Moody preach was surprised 
 that there was so little of plan or of argument in his discourse, 
 that it was made up so largely of declaration and appeal, and he 
 wondered how such preaching could prove so impressive. In- 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 303 
 
 deed, he was sure that a sermon of that kind was not likely to 
 convince an unbeliever; it seemed, in fact, only addressed to 
 those who admitted the truth of the great facts which the preacher 
 emphasized. The minister was pleased with Mr. Moody as a 
 man. He admired his earnestness and his desire to win souls to 
 the Saviour ; but he could not think his sermon as a sermon 
 amounted to much. Something else than such preaching, he was 
 confident, gave Mr. Moody the ears of the multitude. 
 
 Yet, just here, that minister made a great mistake. It would 
 have been a blessed thing for him and for sinners about him if he 
 had recognized, in what he counted the lack of Mr. Moody, one 
 of the sources of Mr. Moody's special power as a preacher. 
 That minister thinks it always his duty to argue with unbelievers. 
 He is a little in doubt himself on most points, and he sees that 
 others are. He opens discussion with them in every sermon, 
 and at the sermon's close neither he nor they are quite convinced. 
 He does not rest down on the Word of God with such positive- 
 ness that he has no thought of its being in question. Hence he 
 never proclaims, declares, preaches the truth in confidence. He 
 is called a good sermonizer, but his sermons neither convince 
 unbelievers nor arouse the careless to seek salvation ; nor yet do 
 they reassure distrustful Christians. If he would but believe with 
 Mr. Moody's confidence, and declare the gospel with Mr. Moody's 
 positiveness, he would have more of Mr. Moody's success in 
 bringing his hearers to a sense of their danger, and to an accept- 
 ance of the full salvation to which he points them. 
 
 Two men were riding in a street-car together. One was a 
 skilled infidel and controversialist. The other was a simple- 
 hearted Christian layman. The infidel sought to provoke an 
 argument as to the Bible and its truths. The believer's response 
 was : " I cannot argue the case with you. I am not competent to 
 that. But this I do know. With all my heart I trust the Lord 
 Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I only wish you had the joy in him 
 which I have." The infidel's unexpected answer came promptly: 
 " There you have got me. I can't answer that." The assurance 
 which enables a child of God to testify for Christ and his salva- 
 
304 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 tion is more effective than the most carefully constructed argu- 
 ments for the reasonableness of God's plan of redemption. 
 
 The one unmistakable cause of the great interest attending 
 these two brethren is the conviction that God is with them. 
 Among the natural agencies which he is using through them are : 
 
 (1) An irrepressible ardor of personal conviction ; 
 
 (2) The simplicity, quickness, and brightness of the speak- 
 ing ; 
 
 (3) The speaker's utter forgetfulness of himself; no parading 
 of his own sanctity, or humility ; of his own goodness or bad- 
 ness, or of himself in any way. 
 
 (4) An unaffected, loving regard for his fellow-men ; a real 
 and affectionate interest in them ; and a hearty, genial way of 
 showing it. 
 
 (5) The entire naturalness of manner wins and holds attention. 
 There is none of that straining after effect which is so apparent 
 and so odious in some professional " revivalists ; " no solemn 
 farce, no cant, no sentimentalism. He appears to be among 
 evangelists what Walter Scott was among writers — a sturdy, 
 wholesome, manly man. 
 
 Mr. Moody owes none of his success to fiery enthusiasm, sensa- 
 tional exhortings, or clever advertising, as many devotees, not to 
 religion but to special church organizations, so confidently as- 
 serted. He owes it all to simple earnestness, unerring judg- 
 ment, and that never-failing conservator of human effort — method. 
 Most of his brothers of the cloth, knowing that their con- 
 gregations are composed of representatives of many classes and , 
 conditions of life, and honestly desiring to preach and pray as 
 much for one as another, forget that homoeopathic principles can- 
 not be extended to include the soul diseases which the Great 
 Physician came to cure, and thus continue to dilute the current 
 of their endeavor by attempting to preach on all sins and to all 
 sinners at the same time, until such infinitesimal portions are dis- 
 pensed to those who need special aid that their work is, after all, 
 but "love's labor lost. Mr. Moody, from the very start, has been 
 as systematic in his work as an astronomer laboring to master 
 
MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 305 
 
 the secrets of some newly-discovered planet. He is not content 
 with simply giving his life to the cause of religion, trusting to 
 some higher power to carry home the arrows shot at random, but 
 so husbands his strength, so concentrates his energies, and so 
 persistently directs his efforts to the special work of the moment, 
 that every word is made to tell, and each succeeding sentence 
 carries more and more conviction to the hearts which it is in- 
 tended to influence. It will be remembered that, contrary to 
 all precedent, the evangelist commenced his work of regenera- 
 tion, not with the unconverted, but with professed Christians. 
 Ignoring the sins of sinners, he preached only of the sins of saints. 
 
 For one whole week this unexpected but perhaps not unneces- 
 sary prelude to the regular programme was continued, and dur- 
 ing that time it is possible that not a few really earnest and de- 
 voted lovers of their Master discovered that in the crowning 
 grace of charity they were sadly lacking, for Christian bounty 
 should be as boundless as the sea and Christian love as deep. 
 During the past week Mr. Moody has worked exclusively for 
 those who, while not doubting the truth of Revelation, have failed 
 to follow its teachings or come into full sympathy with its consol- 
 ing spirit. These divided from the Christian workers, the pro- 
 fessed infidels and unbelievers in the plan of the Atonement, 
 were again subdivided by Mr. Moody's system of teaching into 
 as many different classes as their varied needs seemed to require. 
 For each special services were held, at which special arguments 
 and appeals were employed to reach their particular cases. 
 There were meetings for men, meetings for women, meetings for 
 mothers, for fathers, for young men, for parents, and last, but 
 not least in importance, for drunkards. At each one of these 
 assemblages the services, from the opening prayer to the bene- 
 diction, were conducted exclusively and most heartily for the 
 spiritual benefit of the class which had responded to the call. 
 
 Curious as it may appear, the great evangelist seems instinct- 
 ively to have adopted in his spiritual warfare with Satan precisely 
 the same tactics which, originated by the first Napoleon, was the 
 secret of his numberless and marvellous victories. Napoleon 
 
306 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 never made a direct movement until he had so divided the bat- 
 talions of the enemy that by a coup d'etat he could concentrate 
 his whole force on one subdivision, thereby gaining a certain vic- 
 tory without material loss, and thus continuing until the enemy 
 was reduced to fragments and routed. The evangelist, in his 
 crusade against evil, follows exactly the same plan. Instead of 
 imitating the Church and firing indiscriminate and ineffective 
 rounds into the well-trained ranks of the enemy, he persuades 
 the sinners to divide themselves into clearly-defined classes, and 
 then concentrates his whole force on the separated fragments, 
 with, as a result, an amazing number of unconditional surrenders. 
 But, besides Mr. Moody's earnestness and attention to system, 
 there is back of all an overpowering strength of will, made pecu- 
 liarly effective by a large amount of animal magnetism. These 
 qualities combined would raise any man of ordinary intelligence 
 above his fellows ; but when this power is controlled by intense 
 religious feeling, it not only raises the leader above his fellows, 
 but his fellows above themselves. Who shall describe the evan- 
 gelist's preaching? He is not oratorical or rhetorical or even 
 logical. His brightest ideas are not aesthetic, and his most 
 effective appeals are not pathetic. Still, he has the faculty of 
 selecting out the very arguments or illustrations which will most 
 affect the particular heart he desires to touch, and of presenting 
 those arguments or illustrations in such a gleaming light of plau- 
 sibility as to throw into a shadow every opposite thought which 
 chance may evolve. When speaking to parents, he invariably 
 tells of the beautiful children who stand beckoning to their loved 
 papa and mamma from the summerland ; when talking to sons 
 and daughters, he adjures them by their white-haired father or 
 sainted mother to hasten onward to the place of pure delight 
 where all who love may be again united. He appeals to hus- 
 bands to reform for the sake of their loving wives and innocent 
 children, and to wives to come to the Father for the sake of their 
 wayward husbands and helpless babes. There may be art in 
 such methods of making truth patent, but with Mr. Moody it 
 has the effect of the perfection of art — artlessness. 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 307 
 
 The Harvest Gathered. 
 
 The third week of the evangelists' labors among the uncon- 
 verted in Philadelphia, drew to a close on Saturday, Dec. nth. 
 
 At the end of a fortnight their special work, that of arousing 
 members of churches to activity and individual effort, was prob- 
 ably as far advanced as in Brooklyn when the evangelists had 
 ended their month's labors ; but, then, it must be remembered 
 that the City of Brotherly Love had caught inspiration from the 
 glorious and successful meetings in Brooklyn, which will always 
 be remembered as initiatory of a revival that promises to be 
 widespread, if not national, in its influence and extent. There 
 were some difficulties to be overcome when the work was begun 
 in Brooklyn, which did not present themselves in Philadelphia. 
 When the evangelists came here on the 21st of November, it was 
 no longer a matter of doubt that in their own land, as well as in 
 the British Isles, great crowds would be attracted to listen to Mr. 
 Moody's earnest talks and Mr. Sankey's sweet gospel sermons in 
 song. Something of the methods by which the multitudes were 
 to be reached and brought under religious influences had begun 
 to be appreciated ; the efficiency and important mission of the 
 inquiry-meeting were recognized, if not generally, at least in 
 part ; and so the special work in the City of Churches, while it 
 has brought forth lasting fruit in the conversion of many souls, 
 and migh': have been still more effective had it been of longer 
 duration, was also influential here in Philadelphia, and in many 
 cities and towns, through the medium of the press, as sounding 
 the preliminary bugle-notes which called the Lord's hosts to 
 battle. 
 
 There have been held during the last three weeks thirty-eight 
 meetings addressed by Mr. Moody, nine of them being specially 
 for Christian workers, fourteen for the general public (these had 
 an average attendance of eight thousand), and fifteen daily 
 prayer-meetings, at which the gatherings have been on the 
 
308 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 average about three thousand. If the congregation had been 
 composed of new faces at every service, more than two hundred 
 thousand of the citizens of Philadelphia would have been reached, 
 but most probably half of each audience has been made up of 
 substantially the same people. Of the remaining one hundred 
 thousand, however, there is every reason to believe that a large 
 proportion were of just the class sought to be reached in these 
 special services — namely, those who are strangers to religion. 
 Many who have not been attending any place of worship for a 
 length of time, have come ' into the depot church and heard 
 the Gospel faithfully preached. Thus it will be seen a widespread 
 influence is being exerted throughout the families of this great 
 city by these special meetings beyond that which could have 
 been brought about through the regular services at the various 
 churches 
 
 A great work has been done amongst the young men. Meet- 
 ings are conducted each evening by Mr. John Wannamaker in 
 the Broad and Arch M. E. Church, at which the average attend- 
 ance has been little short of five hundred. Here many conver- 
 sions have taken place ; young men have learned to talk to young 
 men, and with loving entreaty and kind sympathy lead them to 
 Christ. Mr. Moody spoke to those who gathered at this meeting, 
 and incited them to band themselves together for a canvass of 
 the city, that they might bring many strangers to the meetings 
 and make their influence felt in all parts of Philadelphia. Not 
 only was this work recommended, but hints were thrown out that 
 a still more important mission might be given to the young men 
 of this city. Philadelphia, he said, was a great centre, and there 
 are hundreds of towns and villages in all the surrounding country 
 where special meetings might be held and become productive of 
 most wonderful results. " A thousand young men are wanted," 
 he said, "to devote themselves to Christ's service." 
 
 Excursion trains are running almost every night, bringing in 
 hundreds to the meetings. Thus the village churches and coun- 
 try ministers will be aroused, quickened, and encouraged, and a 
 spirit of energy and Christian zeal very widely infused. 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 309 
 
 Women's meetings are being held every afternoon in Dr. 
 McCook's church ; but with one or two exceptions, these gather- 
 ings, although attended by four or five hundred persons, have 
 not been as profitable or enlivening as they might be made. One 
 defect has been that the singing is not sufficiently hearty or con- 
 gregational — not more than one out of twenty of the sisters seem 
 to take any part in the service of song. There is also a tendency 
 to long speeches ; and altogether greater heartiness needs to be 
 infused into the meetings in order to make them as useful as such 
 services are designed to be. 
 
 Judging from Mr. Moody's own words, the results have been 
 more than satisfactory — they have been surprising. More con- 
 verts are believed by the evangelists to have been made during 
 the past week than in any other week ever spent in America. 
 The inquiry-rooms, so often explained and so ably defended by 
 Mr. Moody, have been full almost every evening, and a large pro- 
 portion of those converted have at once become workers for the 
 salvation of others. There were on Sunday three regular ser- 
 vices ; the first in the morning for Christians, the second at four 
 o'clock for women, and the third in the evening for men. At the 
 early morning service the evangelists were greeted with a congre- 
 gation of over 6,000 Christian workers, supported by an excellent 
 voiced and well-drilled volunteer choir of 500 members. This 
 choir has been so perfectly trained, under the direction of Mr. 
 Fischer, that it has become one of the best organizations of its 
 kind ever drawn together in the city. The services opened with 
 the nth hymn, 
 
 I have a Saviour, He's pleading in glory, 
 A dear, loving Saviour, though earth friends be few ; 
 
 And now He's watching in tenderness o'er me, 
 And oh ! that my Saviour were your Saviour too, 
 
 which was sung by the whole congregation with much spirit and 
 rare grace of expression for a body of 6,000 or 7,000 singers, 
 most of whom were strangers to each other. The words, "For 
 
3IO MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 ; 
 
 Let some droppings fall on me. 
 
 Chorus — Even me, even me, 
 
 Let Thy blessing fall on me, 
 
 was next sung by the choir, led by Mr. Sankey, whose sweet 
 voice rang out pure and clear above the multitudinous harmonies, 
 like the notes of a silver flute amid the fortissimo tones of a pow- 
 erful orchestra. Win. B. Dodge, of New York, then made a 
 prayer, 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 blessing. 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 Scriptural, 
 poetical, or musical standpoint, is one of the most beautiful hymns 
 in the collection ; and it has became such a favorite that nearly 
 all singers have learned it, and now as the familiar notes of the 
 chorus are touched by Mr. Sankey, the sweet melody, rich har- 
 mony, and rather intricate movement are perfectly followed by 
 thousands of voices. The last verse, "Sowing the seed with an 
 aching heart," was sung with affecting expression by Mr. San- 
 key, and as the echoes of the solo died away the choir could be 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 311 
 
 heard repeating the chorus in whispers of melody. Mr. Moody- 
 then arose and read a part of the twelfth chapter of Romans. 
 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 Lin- 
 coln. 
 
 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 devo- 
 tional occasions. Mr. Moody made a fervent 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 congregation, with Mr. Sankey, 
 sang with inspiring earnestness the noth hymn to the familiar 
 tune of Antioch. As the stanzas were concluded, Mr. Moody 
 arose and preached an eloquent sermon from the text, " Occupy 
 till I come." Luke xix. 13. 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 con- 
 gregation and proved destructive to prosperity, as well as peace 
 and harmony. Then there were the obstructors, who continually 
 opposed every movement, whether for good or ill. Next came 
 the idlers, and finally the workers. " Now, which of these four 
 classes do you belong to ? " continued Mr. Moody. " I shall 
 judge no man ; take your places as you please ; but if you have 
 faith in Christ 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 mis- 
 take; you should apply to my neighbor, who is pastor of the 
 
312 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 remember 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 organizer 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 number 
 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 otherwise labor, had 
 expended his fortune in printing and circulating tracts. " This 
 man," said Mr. Moody, " has already sent out more tracts than 
 all the American and the 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 slums 
 of London and educating the gamins whom he rescued. Referring 
 to the responsibility which all Sunday-school teachers 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 became 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 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 313 
 
 were next requested to rise and one-half of the remainder stood 
 up. 
 
 The women's meeting in the afternoon was thronged with wor- 
 shippers, every available space being occupied and thousands 
 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. 
 
 This was sung by the ten thousand voices with an effect hardly 
 to be described. Wave upon wave of the richest harmony swept 
 in great billows of musical sound from one end of the mighty 
 structure to the other and finally seemed to die away among the 
 sunbeams which rested gently upon the windowed roof. The 
 last verse was so inspiringly rendered that at Mr. Moody's request 
 the lines were repeated. After a few moments spent in silent 
 prayer Bishop Simpson offered up a supplication imploring the 
 Father to send on every one of the vast assembly the blessings 
 of His grace, that all might feel that Christ had made them 
 whole. He thanked the Lord for the wonderful effusion of His 
 Spirit which had accompanied the labors of His servants, and 
 prayed that they 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 b) r and by. 
 
 Mr. Moody then read from the 12th chapter of St. Matthew 
 
 the parable of the ten virgins, and as he concluded Mr. Sankey 
 
 exquisitely sang the new hymn, "The wise and foolish virgins." 
 
 The latter part of this hymn is an adaptation of Balfe's "Too 
 
 14 
 
314 MOODY AND SANKEY.IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 mar- 
 riage supper is written. "I wish," said Mr. Moody, "to call 
 your attention to the words, 'I pray thee, have me excused/ 
 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 the marriage-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 Philadelphia ! 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 to be excused should 
 be taken away, the grass would soon be growing in the streets of 
 Philadelphia. 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 manufactured 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 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 315 
 
 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 ex- 
 cuse, 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. 7 This is a mistake, Christ is an easy Master. ' The 
 way of the transgressor is hard? I stand here as a witness 
 that my God and my Saviour is not a hard Master. Another 
 excuse is that the inquirer don't understand the Bible. Now, I 
 don't believe that excuse will stand the light of eternity. I never 
 met skeptical people that have read the Bible from back to back, 
 and I know there is no book more misjudged. People will sel- 
 dom judge of a new book until they have read it, but they wil- 
 lingly 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 saved because I 
 did not understand the Bible.' Others excuse themselves on the 
 plea that there are so many hypocrites in the Church and they 
 don't like such company. Nov/, I admit that there have always 
 been hypocrites in the Church, but is that a good excuse ? If 
 every man on the face of the earth is a black-hearted hypocrite, 
 is that any reason why you should be ? But if you don't like 
 hypocrites you had better go to Christ, for not one of them shall 
 sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Stay away, and 
 you'll go with the hypocrites through eternity. Again, I fancy 
 that there is one in the audience who says, ' I am so vile that 
 Christ won't receive me.' I know there is not one of you who 
 can show me a place in the Bible where it says any one is so 
 wicked that forgiveness is impossible. There is not a mother in 
 the congregation who would not forgive a wayward child, and 
 there is not a sinner in this assembly who cannot obtain forgive- 
 ness 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 
 
316 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 congregation 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 northwest corner of the building, where Mr. Moody himself 
 prayed and talked with those who had been affected by the ser- 
 vices. 
 
 The Depot-Tabernacle was crowded to repletion at the services 
 held in the evening, and the most encouraging part of it was that 
 the 11,000 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, beyond doubt, that the con- 
 sciences of men can be easily reached by honest, earnest endeavor, 
 and manly argument, when showy but soulless phrases would 
 hardly penetrate beyond the ear. 
 
 Jesus, lover of my soul, 
 
 was sung by the united tones of at least ten 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 
 multitude 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 particularly asked for those who were seeking 
 Jesus. At the conclusion of the prayer Mr. Sankey took his seat 
 at the organ, and with marvellous power of expression, sung the 
 6th hymn : 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 317 
 
 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 marriage- 
 supper had been read Mr. Sankey sang the 81st hymn : 
 
 The Lamb's bright hall of song, 
 With its fair glory, 
 Beckons thee on. 
 Ref. — 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 arose 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 became 
 more and more intense, until, as he began to exhort his hearers to 
 come to Christ, to forget self and seek the forgiveness of a loving 
 Master, the vast sea of faces, as if by some irresistible fascination, 
 turned fixedly towards 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 exqui- 
 sitely 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 ! 
 
318 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 marriage-supper, and 
 we pray that we all may accept it. As these who stand up pray 
 to God, ' Be 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 wanderer 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 assemblage sang the 86th hymn : 
 
 Rock of Ages, cleft for me. 
 
 
 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 meet- 
 ings 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 devoted to reports 
 of progress from all sources. He 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 
 broke, and returning home, after being spoken to by Mr. Moody, 
 he wept for his sins, and, finally, surrendered unconditionally to 
 Jesus. A man in the audience next arose, and told of two 
 brothers who started out one Saturday morning, became intoxi- 
 cated, and continued in that state until Sunday afternoon, when 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 319 
 
 their mother requested prayers for her wayward boys. Both 
 afterwards went separately and accidentally to the revival meet- 
 ings, 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 con- 
 gregation. 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 meeting scoff- 
 ing 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 absorption 
 of the woman, in the chapter just read, to the will of God. She 
 had a submission and a sublimity of confidence which all Chris- 
 tians 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, remem- 
 ber," continued the speaker, "that even if our prayers should 
 not be answered, even if our dearest joys should be stricken 
 from our lives, we should be able to say ' It is well' The great 
 principle of this movement should be entire submission to God 
 and unfaltering confidence in his love." 
 
 Mr. Geo. H. Stuart next arose and related an affecting inci- 
 dent of a man who came into the inquiry-room on the previous 
 
320 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 night, and after long years of infidelity at last was able to return 
 to the 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 night before 
 last and said he was one of eleven children, and all had become 
 Christians but himself. He said he had once come to the meet- 
 ing in hopes of finding Jesus, but could not. He came again on 
 Sunday, "And then," continued the man, "when I heard Mr. 
 Moody tell of that little child beckoning from the other side of 
 the dark river I thought my heart would break,, for I had lost my 
 only child only three weeks before. Oh ! cannot you help me ? " 
 " I prayed with him there on the street where we met," added 
 Mr. Sankey, " and he went home with a changed heart." Another 
 case mentioned 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 he has been carrying on 
 the good work that his loved one had found Jesus clear across 
 the sea." 
 
 Love to Christ will enable us to make sacrifices for him with- 
 out feeling it to be a hardship. In illustration of this, Mr. 
 Moody related a touching story of the wife of an Indian mis- 
 sionary giving up her children to the care of Christian friends in 
 this country so as to go back to the mission field where her own 
 and her husband's labors had been before greatly blessed, and 
 saying, just before she parted from them, "I want to say good- 
 bye without a tear, for I would not like my children to think that 
 it cost me tears to serve 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 sympathy 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 32 1 
 
 with them ; then tne 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 police 
 man 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 were the words of the revivalist. All 
 who heard him could not but have been convinced that the 
 speaker was in earnest, and that he felt that the obligation that 
 rested upon him was so great that unless he presented the truth 
 in a manner not to be mistaken or misunderstood 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-laborer, 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 Inter- 
 lachen will remember a feeling coming over him as of some impend- 
 ing shadow of gloom. It was in some such shadow that we were 
 until now, like a mantle covering us come these days of bright 
 ness. To-night let this vast congregation join in the solemn 
 
322 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 prayer, he continued, to the Lord for the great and glorious work 
 that is now progressing amongst us." The hymn, 
 
 Rejoice and be glad ! The Redeemer has come, 
 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 plat- 
 form 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 feel- 
 ing 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 
 
 I am so glad that our Father in Heaven. 
 
 "I want to utter a word of thanksgiving," said Mr. Sankey, "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 benefi- 
 cial in their results. 
 
 A gentleman arose 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 revival were becoming 
 more and more manifest, even among the outcasts who would 
 never enter a church or any building where Christian people 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 323 
 
 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 crqwded, 
 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 Rink 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 found that he had been 
 several times in the city jail, for misdemeanors 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 engage- 
 ment, the temptations of which are such as no Christian can face. 
 And I am a Christian, a new creature — not reformed, you can't 
 reform a drunkard ; I tried that a hundred times — but regen- 
 erated, born again by the grace and power of God. I have 
 reported sermons many a time, simply to ridicule them, but never 
 had the least idea what true religion meant till I heard Mr. 
 Moody's address on " Love and Sympathy " ten days ago, and I 
 would not have believed there could be so much sweetness in a 
 lifetime as had been condensed into those ten days. My chil- 
 dren know the change ; my wife knows it ; I have set up the 
 family altar, and the 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 
 
324 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 and peace in my own soul. 
 The thought came, Can I give my will to Him ? but I said, Lord, 
 I take Thy will to be mine, so mine must be Thine." 
 
 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 this meeting was very large and 
 the converts many. 
 
 Mr. Moody arose and said : " I will open the meeting with a 
 very few remarks about the inquiry-room. We have a great deal 
 of trouble with people coming into the inquiry-room on outside 
 business. One man pressed past the ushers yesterday and wanted 
 to shake hands with me 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 cannot 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 me on purely per- 
 sonal or general subjects, to try and find some other time for 
 seeing me." The leader next read from the 5th chapter of Ro- 
 mans, beginning at the 7th verse. Continuing, he said in all 
 cases where persons 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. 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 325 
 
 I believe that for one man killed by over-work 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 
 during the services in that city had been converted, except one, 
 her brother, who had left his wife and family after bringing dis- 
 grace upon the family, and whose misconduct was breaking his 
 father's heart. " This is really a story of grace," said Mr. Moody ; 
 "for this lady says in her letter: 'If he would but come home 
 there w r ill be no reproach. Nothing but 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 to preach about to-night 
 many would have staid away ; but 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 mes- 
 sage because he thinks it too harsh you would dismiss that ser- 
 vant 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 in f o 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,' all 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 makes 
 
326 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 every man keep his record. Talk about God condemning 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 Philadelphia 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 
 Sabbath morning and asked him the terrible question : ' How 
 far is it to Hell?' 'Young man,' was the reply, 'don't mock 
 such a serious reality, you may be nearer to hell than you think.' 
 They had only just turned the corner 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 in the other world and then you can't drown 
 it in drink. No doubt all the six thousand years Cain has re- 
 membered 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 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 327 
 
 hundred years ! 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 unre- 
 deemed. Besides, what are such men going to do if they get 
 there ? Do you think that these rumsellers, who are destroying 
 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? 
 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 between 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 hell. And 
 this service to-night will come to you by-and-by ; you will remem- 
 ber how the preacher plead with you from this pulpit, and how 
 Mr. Sankey sang. There will be no young man there putting 
 his hand on your shoulder and asking you to be saved ; no Sab- 
 bath-school teacher to lead you to Christ. Why not say now, 'I 
 will turn to the God of my mother; I will this night seek salva- 
 tion,' for God says : 'Then shall ye find me, 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 
 
328 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 profess Christ." 
 " I asked him," said Mr. Moody, "How dare you take the risk? " 
 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 and pray with him, but it was no use ; he said his 
 heart was as hard as a stone. " Pray for my wife and my chil- 
 dren, but don't waste your time praying for me." His last words 
 were : " The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not 
 saVed," and then the angels bore him away to judgment. 
 
 Dr. J. Wheaton Smith offered the closing prayer, and from two 
 to three hundred persons entered the inquiry-rooms, while the 
 congregation sang : " Jesus, lover of my soul." The number of 
 workers in the inquiry-rooms is gradually increasing ; 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 noon- 
 day 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 birth. " 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 himself will be of no avail. You can't find 
 anything in Scripture which will justify a man in the belief that 
 he 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 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 329 
 
 cannot improve it. Some one has said, ' God never mends any- 
 thing; He creates anew." It is of no use to go and tell a man 
 he 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' Sup- 
 pose you do, you can get better stimulants than drink. When 
 the Spirit of God fills a man's heart, and he gets thorough ac- 
 quaintance with his Bible, 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 born of God before we receive 
 spiritual strength ; with God's life in us we shall overcome. A 
 man who has been intemperate for thirty years, and who would 
 drink five glasses before breakfast, has just been reclaimed ; he 
 says that all the appetite has been taken away. God can do this 
 for every poor drunkard 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 try- 
 ing 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 question, What should he do to be 
 saved ? Mr. Moody continued : " It is better to have love for 
 Christ than to lead a blameless life without love. Now, the sub- 
 ject for to-day will be backsliding; 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 
 reasons, and when 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 backwards, but 
 they are never satisfied, for any man who was once converted 
 finds the world spoiled for him. In the 2d chapter of Jeremiah 
 
330 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 you will find the question, ' What iniquity have your fathers found 
 in me ? ' What iniquity have you found in God that you should 
 leave Him? That's what the question means. A backslider 
 don't leave a congregation or a people ; he leaves God. In the 
 19th verse you will find the words, 'Thine own wickedness shall 
 correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.' Do not 
 think God can let such faults escape. The backsliders are the 
 unhappiest mortals on the face of the earth. They seem to think 
 it's a very light thing to break God's law, but God will punish 
 them. God says to the backslider, ' I am married to you ; I am 
 merciful ; but only acknowledge your sins and I will forgive you. 
 Turn, O backsliding children ! saith the Lord, for I am married 
 unto you.' What words can be more beautiful than these ? Why 
 is it that these men have left such a Father? If you will only 
 come back now you will have a warm welcome. But I believe 
 many backsliders are still Christians outwardly, but they have 
 been moving away in heart. They neglect secret prayer and 
 become very formal in public devotion. 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-bye to 
 my friends here before I started ; but did you ever 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-bye now. I 
 am going away from you, and never expect to call again. Good- 
 bye, for I am going back to the world ? ' Did you ever hear of 
 any one backsliding 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 winter, seemed most forbidding 
 for an early service. Nevertheless, at the eight o'clock service 
 a congregation of seven thousand gathered to listen to Mr. 
 Moody's address on "Daniel." Anticipation of a rich feast 
 seemed written on many faces, for a goodly number had heard of 
 the remarkable impression made by the delivery of this address 
 in Brooklyn and in the cities across the Atlantic. Mr. Moody 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 33 1 
 
 had an audience 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 great lessons from the life of one of the greatest Bible 
 characters ; and we venture to say no one went away disap- 
 pointed. The meeting had been advertised as specially for 
 young men, and probably three-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 Abed- 
 nego 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 wrapt attention was 
 given throughout. 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke in the afternoon in continuation of his 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 be- 
 lieved 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 have 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 offers 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. Some 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 
 condemned, bread for the hungry, a feast in the wilderness — are 
 these likely to make men gloomy ? None are too young, and a 
 marriage feast is just the thing likely to make the young happy. 
 
33 2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Some people stumble over their intellect, and say they can't 
 understand religion. There are hundreds of things we believe 
 that we cannot understand. Many parts of the Bible I don't 
 understand ; but I am not going to fight against my 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 them- 
 selves. God wants you just as you are in all your guilt and rags. 
 If you come as princes He sends you away as beggars ; 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 believe 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 ? 
 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 
 rejoicing in sins pardoned." 
 
 At the close of the sermon no less than five hundred rose for 
 prayer, and a very solemn feeling was prevalent throughout 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 the most part 
 such as were evidently under divine influence. It not unfrequently 
 happens that persons embrace the invitation to the inquiry room 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 333 
 
 just for the purpose of airing their religious crotchets, or seeking 
 the evangelist's opinion upon some peculiar tenet to which they 
 may 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. Sanke) r , 
 as well as from most of their fellow-workers ; and the cavilers 
 and questioners are beginning to learn that the inquiry-room is 
 no place for them unless they come prepared humbly and honestly 
 to seek direction from the Holy Spirit through conversation with 
 Christian men and women. 
 
 Rev. 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 offices at 
 the seat of government." 
 
 Rev. J. Wheaton Smith then prayed very fervently for the dis- 
 tinguished men who were in the congregation last evening. " We 
 pray," said he, "for the Chief Magistrate of these United States. 
 We thank Thee, O 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 discharge of his important duties 
 that there is a duty which he owes to himself in regard to his 
 own salvation." 
 
 The occasion of these remarks and this prayer was this : A 
 large party of gentlemen from Washington, who were invited to 
 visit and inspect the Centennial preparations, took occasion to 
 hear the evangelists, and on Sunday evening, the 19th, the follow- 
 ing distinguished persons were upon the platform : President 
 
334 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Grant ; Hon. George M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy ; ex- 
 Gov. Jewell, Postmaster-General; ex-Secretary Borie; Hon. 
 George Bancroft ; Judge Strong, of the United States Supreme 
 Court; Governor Hartranft; ex-Governor Joel Parker, of New 
 Jersey ; ex-Governor Bigler ; Hon. Thomas A. Scott ; Col. Fred. 
 Grant and lady ; Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church; Judge Buell, of New York ; ex-Speaker Blaine; Hon. 
 Morton McMichael ; General Patterson ; General Garfield ; Sen- 
 ator Christiancy, of Michigan ; Senator Wallace and wife ; ex- 
 Senator Cattell ; Congressmen Wells, of Mississippi ; Thompson, 
 of Massachusetts ; Purham, of Florida ; Judge Pierce ; Messrs. 
 George H. Stuart, 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 Sun- 
 day night. He had contracted a severe cold, and the exertion 
 of speaking during the early services of the day, and conversing 
 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 
 w r ith 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 influence a great pop- 
 ular assembly, that he had in advance formed a very high esti- 
 mate 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 exaggerated. 
 
 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 wonder- 
 ful man, and others of the distinguished visitors who occupied 
 seats on the platform expressed themselves in similar terms of 
 gratification. 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 33$ 
 
 During the progress of the revival, the question often recurs 
 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 gospel of 
 Christ preached in simplicity and directness. Very many of 
 these hearers are not in the habit of church attendance. 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 in- 
 active 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 day hundreds of the unconverted from among these hearers 
 ask the prayers of Christians in their behalf, and enter the in- 
 quiry-rooms for personal conversation with God's children as to 
 their needs and duty. Many 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 
 for 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 counseled 
 religiously. Drunkards are talked to plainly and prayed for 
 earnestly. Women and men meet by themselves, and sermons 
 are preached for their exclusive benefit. 
 
 All this in itself is a great matter. No ordinary curiosity 
 would bring together such audiences day after day for weeks to- 
 gether. 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 wonder at its 
 power ; but there is no diminishing of the crowds in attendance 
 week by week. No undue excitement gathers and holds these 
 
33^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 hearers. All is quiet and calm at the meetings. The preacher 
 makes no effort to sway his audiences by strong appeals to their 
 passions. The choice he sets before them is simply that which 
 the gospel offers wherever it is faithfully proclaimed. The in- 
 terest 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 personal 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 rejoicing 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 
 fashionable for sinners to listen to straightforward earnest appeals 
 to repent and be converted. 
 
 The record of these meetings is given 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. Editorial comments 
 in the secular papers on this theme are frequent and pointed. 
 Indeed, both Christians and the unconverted have been wisely 
 counseled 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 safely 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 common 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 337 
 
 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 pre- 
 vailing current of popular feeling that they can be excluded from 
 an influence as general as that which now pervades this com- 
 munity. Those pastors who participate most heartily in the 
 special revival meetings naturally share most richly in the 
 attendant blessings \ yet all have new opportunities 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 com- 
 munity about it. On all sides unsaved men and women are unusu- 
 ally ready to be conversed with, prayed for, taken by the hand and 
 led to a waiting Saviour. All who make the experiment of intro- 
 ducing 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 preaching 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 beginning 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 rea- 
 son to rejoice in what God is accomplishing through this agency. 
 
 A weighty responsibility rests now in the churches, and on all 
 Christian workers in this city, and elsewhere as widely as the 
 knowledge of these revival meetings extends. God is doing great 
 things before us all. He has called the attention of the com- 
 munity to the theme of personal religion. Multitudes who were 
 thoughtless on this subject a little time ago are now thinking 
 about it earnestly. They are easy of approach. They would like 
 *5 
 
3$S MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 
 immediate co-workers in the present series of meetings will have 
 a share in the blame. Systematic, earnest, untiring work on the 
 part of Christians far and near, in the line of direct, personal vis- 
 itation 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 Israel ; therefore 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 in- 
 iquity; 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 turning men to the exam- 
 ination 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 hope- 
 ful 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 clay " of the pro- 
 tracted 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- 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 339 
 
 school, in the social religious meeting. More people are study 
 ing the Bible than ever before. A larger proportion of all the 
 people are engaged in this study. The study is more systematic, 
 more intelligent, more thorough, and more fruitful than at any 
 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 sin- 
 gle 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 encour- 
 aging 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 Phila- 
 delphia, he would have sakl that the man was crazy who sug- 
 gested it. A very large proportion of all present at that meeting 
 had their Bibles, and used them freely, and very many in the audi- 
 1 ence 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 
 1 of the Bible. It was pleasant to hear that building " rustle wi' 
 1 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 intelligent 
 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 words are 
 able to make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ 
 Jesus. The believer is to be sanctified by God's truth. God's 
 Word is truth. 
 
34© MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 How to Use your Bible. 
 
 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 both of 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 understood it. Bible Chris- 
 tians are all the time rejoicing in the Lord, for the Lord is their 
 strength, but the people who neglect their Bibles are in a back- 
 sliding state. 
 
 Mr. Moody quoted Jeremiah xx. 9, to show that Christian 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," pub- 
 lished 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 subject, and then you 
 will be full of love, and there will be no room for malice and 
 hatred in your heart. After that take up " faith ; " it is better to 
 go to the Word of God and get faith 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 WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 341 
 
 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 
 corn 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 ? " I said I could recommend 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 Gen- 
 esis he 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 inher- 
 itance, you will become interested. This Book tells me of this 
 inheritance. What can the geologist tell you about the Rock of 
 Ages ? 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 promised 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 Scripture. Pe- 
 ter 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 ? We don't know how to use this 
 sword; we should get into the habit of using it. David says : 
 "Thy 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 upon the Word of God. 
 
 When you meet together to dine it is better to bring out the 
 
342 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Bible than to bring on wine. I was glad in England at seeing 
 that done in a great many of the houses of the upper classes. An 
 Englishman said to me, " Moody, did you ever study the life of 
 Job ? " I said, " No, I 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?" He 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 represented by Job's friends trying to restore him. 
 See what language they used. They were wonderful wise men, 
 but they could not help Job out of his difficulties. Men are mis- 
 erable 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 better. 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 first. So the last state of man is 
 better than the first. It is better than the state of Adam, because 
 Adam might have lived ten thousand years and then fallen; 
 therefore it is better 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 chil- 
 dren. He 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 scoffers 
 have come to the meetings, but before they left they have been 
 converted to God. A man while in a saloon picked up a news- 
 paper containing a report of one of the meetings, the first line of 
 which was, " Where art thou ? " 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, 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 343 
 
 leading a Christian life. We must take the Bible without preju- 
 dice, and not as Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, or Episco- 
 palians. 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 colors. In study- 
 ing it, it would be well to have a copy of Cruden's Concordance 
 and a Scriptural 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 news- 
 paper only tells of the news of the day, while the Sacred Volume 
 tells of what will take place. The Book should be taken up topic- 
 ally ; that is, take " love " as 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 word "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 informa- 
 tion that they obtain and the interest they will take in it. The 
 Book will become very precious to them, and they will never want 
 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 the speaker 
 liked John's account the best. Some people read the Bible as 
 though they did it merely to ease their conscience. They take it 
 up, perhaps, and read a chapter without reflection, and then lay 
 it aside with a mark indicating where they left off, just as they 
 
344 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 freshen his mind upon 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 years, if the 
 necessity occur for a recurrence to it, an explanation can be given 
 at once. The speaker gave some further illustrations showing how 
 he had impressed sermons upon his mind at the time of their de- 
 livery 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 
 response to my invitation, I have received precious communica- 
 tions from many of you. Were it possible, I would gladly reply 
 to each ; but, as I have not opportunity for this, I shall avail 
 myself of the columns of The Christian to send to 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 hears 
 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 affections (Ex. xxviii. 29) ; and of 
 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 345 
 
 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 Redeemer, and it has 
 become eternal salvation unto you. Now, Jesus is something 
 more to 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 constant holy walk. Having died to 
 save you, Jesus lives to keep you. At the cross he washed you 
 from the condemnation of sin ; at the mercy-seat he will cleanse 
 you from daily defilement. 
 
 Some of you have written me how old besetting sins are annoy- 
 ing 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 weariness. Cast it all 
 before your blessed Advocate, and let him bear you and your 
 burdens too. 
 
 And do not, above all, forsake your Bibles. You can never 
 separate Jesus the Word made flesh from the written Word. He 
 who proclaimed himself the Way, declared also that he was the 
 Truth. Pack your memory full of passages of Scripture, with 
 which to meet Satan when he comes to tempt or accuse you ; and 
 be not content to simply know, but strive to obey the Word of God. 
 Never think that Jesus has commanded a trifle, nor dare to trifle 
 with anything he has commanded. 
 
 I exhort the young men to be sober. Exercise yourselves unto 
 godliness ; run the race according to Paul's motto, " Looking 
 off unto Jesus "; draw your inspiration and power directly from 
 himself. 
 
 I exhort the young women to great moderation. Your sphere 
 of testimony may not be public; your place of usefulness may* 
 not be large ; in your own homes " adorn the doctrine 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 
 
34-6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 more in 
 knowledge and in all judgment ; that ye may approve things 
 that are excellent ; that ye may be sincere, and without offence, 
 till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, 
 which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God " 
 (Phil. i. 9, 10, n). Mr. Sankey joins me in Christian love. 
 
 Your brother in Christ, D. L. Moody. 
 
 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., verse 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 communica- 
 tion 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 judgment. You find that when 
 Christ came 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 he 
 daughter wanted her to go into the inquiry-room. She went into 
 the room with her daughter, and they were both blessed. He 
 mentioned a young woman who was converted at Edinburgh, and 
 was killed by an accident on a railroad. At the conclusion 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 d 
 not believe that there was a flood, and others say that they be 
 lieve in the New Testament, but cannot accept the Old Testa- 
 ment. It won't do to reject any portion ; for if you do, you will 
 
 i 
 
 d 
 e 
 
 ; 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 347 
 
 have to reject it entirely. The speaker said that he firmly be- 
 lieved that there was a flood, and there is abundant testimony to 
 prove it. He was not present to defend the Bible, for it defends 
 itself. He had a message to deliver, 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 everybody 
 else mad ? There are many who think that the men who serve 
 the Lord and preach 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 experienced by the conversion of hundreds 
 and thousands of souls. When God shuts the door it will 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 
 
348 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 He 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 effort is being made to write it down now, but they are 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 attended the meeting without any 
 concern for herself, but before the service was over she said she 
 would be in the ark before the afternoon was over. The young 
 lady went to the inquiry-room and there sought Jesus. He then 
 related another incident of a mother and daughter who attended 
 one of the meetings last Monday night. The latter was a con- 
 vert, but the other was not. He noticed them, and talked to the 
 mother. Afterward he observed the two in close conversation, 
 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 referred to a man who, on being 
 converted, told how he had 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 he 
 cried to God for help. He was thus left without father and mo- 
 ther, 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 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 349 
 
 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 responded to the request. 
 
 Ex-Mayor Story of Boston then most fervently prayed in be- 
 half 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 ignorance after hear- 
 ing the warning words of the evangelists, or say that the oppor- 
 tunity was not offered them of coming to the Saviour. Some of 
 the most remarkable instances of conversion have taken place, 
 and many who attended the meetings with no thought of becom- 
 ing 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 Mas- 
 ter. Every day the number of converts is being largely in- 
 creased, which shows conclusively that the power of the revivalists 
 is not of themselves, but of Him who has called them to do his 
 work. 
 
 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 before 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 Friday 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 thou- 
 
35° MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 sand people straining their necks just because some one has 
 swooned away." After a general chorus of the hymn, " Rejoice 
 and be glad," Mr. Moody read the thirteenth chapter of the First 
 Corinthians. "Grant, O God," prayed Mr. Moody, "that if 
 there be any here who have made resolutions to do better during 
 the coming year than they did in the blessed year that is clos- 
 ing, 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 popu- 
 lar hymn was well rendered, and the evangelist smiled a heavenly 
 smile of satisfaction. "A man cannot serve two masters," said 
 Mr. Mood)-. " I couldn't belong to the Democrats and to the 
 Republicans 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 Christians some time. 
 Why not decide to-night, in the closing moments of the old year ? 
 All the good men named in the Bible were men of decision, and 
 the others, Pilate, Agrippa, and the rest, wavering — ' almost per- 
 suaded.' When Egypt was so 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 ? ' ' 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 here- 
 after, 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 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 35 I 
 
 play cards and I can't give it up / ' I love my rum-bottle — oh, my 
 darling rum-bottle, how can I part with you ! ' Sinner, 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 sev- 
 eral 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 Rev. 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 questions as if 
 doubting the Word which he so often preaches, and the vener- 
 able 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 73d Psalm : " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? And 
 there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." 
 
 Mr. Moody. — Dr. Plumer, we speak of the duty of "convic- 
 tion." What is conviction ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — Conviction is a clear persuasion that a thing 
 is true. Religious conviction is a clear, settled persuasion 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 ? 
 
352 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 conviction is to light 
 up the soul to the faith of Jesus. The sole 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? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — Lydia had no distress — we read of none. God 
 opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken by Paul ; 
 but the jailer of 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. Plumer. — Glory be to God, there is such a thing as con- 
 version! If -there was not, everlasting chains and darkness 
 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 gives him all his confidence. 
 
 Mr. Moody. — Why must a sinner come to Christ for salvation ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — Because Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. All 
 the angels in heaven and all the saints in heaven and earth cannot 
 save one sinner. He must come to the Saviour. I will tell you 
 why. Here are quintillions of tons of atmospheric air, why does 
 not that support life without your respiring? You must breathe 
 it, or you die. For the same reason you must make Christ yours, 
 or you perish, notwithstanding 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 salva- 
 tion yours. 
 
 Mr. Moody. — Can a man be saved here to-night before 12 
 o'clock — saved all at once ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — Why not? In my Bible I read of three thou- 
 sand men gathered together one morning — all of them murderers 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. $$$ 
 
 — their hands stained with the blood of the Son of God. They 
 met in the morning, and before night they were all baptized mem- 
 bers of Christ. God added to . the church in those days such as 
 should be saved. If you are ever saved there must be a moment 
 when you accept Christ and renounce the world. 
 
 Mr. Moody. — What is repentance ? 
 
 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 does not commit the sins he has repented 
 of; therefore saving repentance always terminates in purity 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 ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. —The fact that God is true. " Let God be true, 
 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 be- 
 lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life." 
 
 Mr. Moody. — What if I haven't got faith enough ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — 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 the 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 confidence, 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. Plumer.— Are you able to analyze your faith and say 
 whether it is exactly of the right kind? The thief upon the cross 
 did not say, if I had a little more faith I would ask you to remem- 
 ber me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He offered his 
 prayer with the faith he had and Christ accepted him. You 
 must have faith in God through grace, and then your faith must 
 have works, to be of the right kind. 
 
354 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Moody. — I don't feel that I love Christ enough. 
 . Dr. Plumer. — And you never will. To all eternity you never 
 will love him as much as he deserves to be loved. 
 
 " Had I ten thousand thousand tongues, 
 Not one should silent be ; 
 Had I ten thousand thousand hearts, 
 I'd give them all to thee." 
 
 Mr. Moody. — When the temptation comes, it is so much 
 stronger than my resolution that I yield. What shall I do ? 
 
 Dr. Plumer. — Look to Jesus. He was in all points 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 forever. 
 
 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 persons sat 
 listening intently to the words of the earnest evangelist. Mr. 
 Moody had concluded a sermon from the text, " How long halt 
 ye between 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 personal counsel, 
 or who were burdened with anxious doubt. An ordinary inquiry- 
 meeting, such as usually follows Mr. Moody's sermons, 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-meetings. I often 
 see some of you who are outside looking 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-night; but 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. 
 Plumer, of South Carolina. He is seventy-four years old. He 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 355 
 
 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 pa- 
 triarchal 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 service. Many a soul 
 present seemed to feel himself the questioner, 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 " preach- 
 ing was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon- 
 stration of the Spirit and of power." 
 
 The Midnight Watch. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the doors were again thrown open while 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 but a few more persons 
 got in through the briefly opened doors, it was because those 
 who had come to stay the meeting out held on to their seats, 
 unwilling to give up an opportunity of once a year'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 Rev. Dr. March, 
 formerly of the Clinton Presbyterian, prayed. He entreated God 
 that all the meditations of the night should draw the congrega- 
 tion to a contemplation of their great blessing in Christ. The 
 twenty-eighth hymn, " One more day's work for Jesus," was sung, 
 
356 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 the solo by Mr. Sankey and the chorus by the choir, Mr. Sankey 
 substituting the word "year" for "day" and asked 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 then do with Jesus who is called 
 Christ?" 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 those present do the 
 same. Let Christians in "these last minutes of 1875" lift up 
 voices in prayer for the salvation of sinners. Mr. Moody pic- 
 tured Pilate's supposed remorse on the morning after he had 
 refused to save Christ from the cross. He followed the foot- 
 steps of Judas — this man Pilate, who would be popular with 
 Caesar — and put an end to his life. The man of pleasure and 
 the woman of the world were then exhorted to come to Jesus. 
 " How about you blasphemers who have come in here to-night ? 
 What are you going to do ? Many are here to-night who have 
 made resolutions to commence the new year with, but they can do 
 nothing without Jesus." At 15 minutes to 12 Mr. Moody asked 
 that all join in a silent prayer. Heads were bowed all over the 
 building, and silence reigned, Mr. Sankey breaking it by playing 
 the soft strains of " Almost persuaded," which he sang, or rather 
 recited, in a broken voice. Mr. Moody asked those Christians 
 to arise who wished other Christians to pray for them. Almost 
 the entire audience rose to their feet. Then the unconverted 
 were invited to stand up and ask Christians for their prayer. 
 Rev. Mr. Johns led in prayer, remembering both classes — the 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 357 
 
 converted in need of help and the unconverted in need of a 
 Saviour. Dr. Newton, after this, recited the Lord's prayer, and 
 all the congregation followed. The doxology, " Praise God, 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 foui 
 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 the building broke with startling distinctness on the 
 ear. A few words of prayer were uttered in the meanwhile by 
 Messrs. Moody, Sankey and George H. Stuart, the multitude 
 still bowing their heads. The benediction was impressively pro- 
 nounced by Rev. Dr. Plumer, and Mr. Moody, wishing all a 
 " Happy New Year," closed the meeting. 
 
 Dr. Plumer said, "I wish you all a Happy Eternity," and with 
 this solemn greeting the vast multitude passed out. 
 
 The Mid-Day Service. 
 
 At the noon service, which was specially for the reclamation 
 of inebriates, more than a hundred requests for prayer were re aH 
 for unfortunates of all ages and sexes of that class. Mr. Moody's 
 text was, "All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth." 
 He told of a man who, in his drunken moments, came into one 
 of these meetings, declaring : " John Wannamaker's catchpenny 
 won't have any effect on me." But the question, "Where art 
 thou?" so affected that drunkard that he was led to the Saviour. 
 Dr. Plumer, president of Columbia College, exhorted the peo- 
 ple, saying : " Oh, believe ! Be saved ! Come, ye opium-eaters 
 and smokers, ye drunkards and ye chloral drinkers, come all and 
 be saved ! " 
 
 The hymn " Sowing the Seed " was announced. Mr. Sankey 
 said, Before we sing this song I will tell you one reason why we 
 should sing these hymns, and that is, God is blessing them to 
 many a poor wanderer who comes to this building night after 
 night. Last week a man who had once occupied a high position 
 
358 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 the seed of a lingering pain, 
 Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, 
 Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, 
 Sowing the seed of eternal shame, 
 Oh, what shall the harvest be?" 
 
 Last night that man in the inquiry-room went on his knees and 
 asked 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 he reached 
 home he went into a saloon and broke his resolution. We prayed 
 for him last night. He is 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 Sankey, in the only two cities they have 
 visited in this country?" We had no substantial results in 
 Brooklyn until the froth of novelty had blown away. In Phila- 
 delphia the froth of novelty has now blown away, and you have 
 got to the blessed work. Every church in Brooklyn that followed 
 up the labors of Moody and Sankey with personal effort is to-day 
 in the midst of a greater or more limited revival of religion, and 
 every case that has been followed up by an effort has been suc- 
 ceeded 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. Sab- 
 bath-school teachers were quickened in their work, but the great- 
 est results of the work have been in regard to young men. Two 
 union prayer-meetings have grown out of the work — one in Brook- 
 lyn 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 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 359 
 
 in Brooklyn is that of a man given up by everybody. That man 
 was picked up in the mud before my 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 this city. 
 
 Mr. Moody said he had received a note Sunday night, asking 
 him if a person could come to the Saviour if he wanted to, or, in 
 other words, has one power in himself to come ? To answer this 
 he read from Matthew xi. 27, and from other portions of Scrip- 
 ture. 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 Friday. The glimpse that is given in these 
 meetings into many of the homes of the great city is an appalling 
 one. Wives, sisters, daughters, send up a bitter cry for interces- 
 sions in behalf of those who are walking in the sure way to death, 
 and wrecking the happiness of others in the work of their own 
 destruction. And darker still was the revelation when the re- 
 quests for prayer mentioned wives, mothers> and daughters has- 
 tening 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." An- 
 other for an only daughter given to the use of intoxicating liquors. 
 The prayers in behalf of these cases are most urgent and beseech- 
 ing, and it is a relief to these dark unveilings 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 Christ. 
 
 A Sunday-school Day at the Depot Church. 
 
 Thursday, January 6, the noon-day service at the Depot 
 Church was specially in the interest of the Sunday-schools. The 
 platform was crowded, as was also the space in front of the sepa- 
 rating curtain, which was finally lifted and a large number of per- 
 
360 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 sons 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 pure delight." After 
 reading a few verses from Matthew xviii., Mr. Moody said : 
 
 We have been having such a tender time in these noon-day 
 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 something 
 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 — because 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 Chris- 
 tians 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 ab t 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 successful 
 in leading children to Christ it must be done personally. 
 
 A friend of mine, 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 
 home 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 rest went out, and he then spoke to 
 her personally about her soul's salvation ; told her how anxious 
 he was for her conversion. The tears began to trickle down her 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 36 1 
 
 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 those five young 
 ladies were led to Christ, and all of them have been successful 
 teachers now for five years. Remember 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 teachers' class, call- 
 ing upon some scholars. We went into one house and met three 
 young ladies who had grown up in our mission Sunday-school. 
 They had been there from little childhood up. As I went out I 
 said, " Now let us go to work and see if we can't win those three 
 to 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 converted. Prayer has prevailed, 
 and those three have been saved, and two of 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 ear- 
 nestly 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 Sun- 
 day, make a point of meeting them through the week, invite them 
 to some of your meetings, and then pray to God to convert them. 
 
 My friends, when you turn one of these little children to Christ, 
 you don't know and you can't tell what God may do with them ; 
 you don't know how they may be raised to be 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 suc- 
 cessful. 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. 
 16 
 
362 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 And not only that. How very few mothers take their children 
 off 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 re- 
 quests here from mothers for drunken sons ; but the fact is that 
 hundreds of mothers do not believe in the conversion of their 
 little 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 only, 
 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 children 
 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 sec- 
 ond time. She attempted it the third time, " Suffer little chil- 
 dren to come, and don't any of you stop them from one and all to 
 come" She had got the meaning of the phrase. She could not 
 have given a better one. 
 
 Don't any of you stop them, for God wants them all to come, 
 and it is this miserable unbelief in the church that is keeping 
 back the children. How many could be brought to Christ in the 
 morning of their days if we labored for their salvation as we 
 should. God help us to be wise while we have our children with 
 us young— their hearts tender. Let us pray to make an impres- 
 sion on them for eternity, that they may go to Christ in the morn- 
 ing of their day. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said many a parent and many a teacher, it is to be 
 feared, as the result of all his earthly career, will at last be able 
 to say nothing better than that he has gathered "nothing but 
 leaves." Pardon me, then, while I sing that hymn, and let each 
 one pray that his harvesting will be far better. 
 
 After singing, the Rev. H. C. McCook spoke as follows : Faith 
 
 i 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. $6$ 
 
 is natural to a child. There is scarcely anything that a child does 
 not receive by faith. In the family circle, when he comes to 
 learn the first principles of right and wrong, he has nothing for it 
 but the word of the father, " This is right, my child," or the word 
 of the mother, " This is wrong, my child ; you must do this ; you 
 must not do that," and the child believes. You scarcely ever 
 find a doubter among children. Now, God has already prepared 
 the children for this. When you come before them persuaded 
 that the child can be led to Christ — as Brother Moody has said — 
 persuaded that the Word of God which you teach is able to make 
 the child wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ — when 
 you sit down before that little immortal, God has made the whole 
 way, so far as his natural disposition is concerned, perfectly plain 
 and easy for you. 
 
 Now, what are you to do ? You do not need to stop and 
 explain what faith is, or what regeneration is, or to enter into any 
 other of these questions about religious doctrines and life, but the 
 great thing is to hold up the object of faith. If you can put 
 Christ's creed before the child, showing what Jesus is to the child 
 and to all the world, in all his lovely attributes, the child will fol- 
 low you, and the Holy Spirit will bring that child to embrace 
 Christ by faith. 
 
 Now, then, point to God as the Father of the child in Jesus 
 Christ. Let him be taught to believe through all his days that 
 this heavenly Father is his own father — his Father in heaven — 
 and that he may go to him for every blessing. Several years ago 
 I was playing with my own little girl and a companion who had 
 come to the house, when the children were both very small. 
 They were leaping down from the stairway, and as I stood below, 
 my little child said, " Papa, let me jump into your arms." " Very 
 well," I said, "go up a step or two higher," and I reached out 
 my arms. The little one stepped up and then sprung down the 
 steps without any hesitation, and I caught her safely. " Now," 
 said I, " Gracie, you try it," and little Gracie went up a step or 
 two lower and stood as though she was going to make the jump, 
 but she didn't do it. Once, twice, several times, she tried to 
 
364 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 make the jump and couldn't do it, and I had to reach up and 
 lift her down in my arms. Now, what was the difference ? 
 How can you account for the difference in those two children ? 
 Why, my own little girl had the spirit of a child in her. I was 
 her father, and so with an unquestioning faith she leaped right 
 down stairs, knowing that I would catch her. But the other 
 child was not of my family. She was only in there as a playmate 
 for a season, and when she came to attempt to repeat the action 
 her little heart failed her, because she didn't see her father down 
 below with outstretched arms. 
 
 Rev. C. A. Dickey, D.D., next addressed the meeting. He 
 said : God has laid on me many responsibilities, under which I 
 tremble, but there is none that I carry like my two 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 some- 
 body must share the responsibility with me — some other father or 
 some other mother must divide it with me — but before God I feel 
 that for two souls I am wholly responsible. 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. 
 I therefore wish that this question had been otherwise presented. 
 Instead of how to bring the children to Christ, we ought to be 
 considering on our knees how we are liable to hinder the chil- 
 dren from coming to Christ, for I believe that there is nothing 
 which can possibly interpret the promise of God and the precepts 
 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 hin- 
 dered 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 work 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, 
 "Suffer, them to come." And I say that the dark line on that 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 365 
 
 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 children. 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, could come ; as though everything 
 that was essential was provided but one thing, and that was the 
 removal of the obstacle, the taking away of the hindrance. 
 " Suffer them to come." " I am ready," says Jesus. The chil- 
 dren are ready. The trouble is that something is in the way, 
 somebody is violating some pledge, somebody is violating some 
 promise, somebody has thrown himself in the way of the child, 
 and it is prevented from coming to me. 
 
 Rev. 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 Rice's circus, and whose 
 mother kept a peanut stand at the Arch-street Theatre. 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 drum- 
 mer-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 
 

 366 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 to their scholars only in the class are about as successful as 
 preachers who never have any inquiry-meetings. If we are going 
 to be successful in leading children to Christ it must be by per- 
 sonal teaching. Mr. Moody related several instances of the 
 successful result of personal teaching, both by Sunday-school 
 teachers and mothers with their children. 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 illus- 
 tration 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 accomplish- 
 ing 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. 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 Governor 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 ?" said he, broken down in ago- 
 nizing sorrow. " I want you to promise me," said she, "that you 
 will be a Christian and follow me to where I am going 5 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 my 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 this tall, stately, 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 367 
 
 dignified man, always attentive to my 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 and 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 lat- 
 ter-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 Rev. George A. Peltz said : How can 
 we reach that very point ? How can we see in the children of 
 our homes and our classes that work of the Lord God so that 
 they will lead others to righteousness ? 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 ? " " Why, I can't tell the time 
 when I didn't love Jesus," said she. Love to Jesus appeared to 
 have sprung up in that little heart, so 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 and 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 boy in my 
 own Sunday-school was convicted of sin. He came to the school 
 hoping his teacher would say something to help him, but the 
 teacher did not. He went home with his heart all crushed be- 
 cause he felt that nobody cared for his soul. He sat down alone 
 to brood over his terrible condition. His little sister came run- 
 
368 MOODY AND SANKEY-IN AMERICA. 
 
 ning 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?" 
 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 ? " said 
 he. She answered, " Why, I was learning my text for next Sun- 
 day." 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 ante-room, 
 and many of the men retiring for the same purpose to another. 
 
 Teachers 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 we 
 may be equally certain that he would cease to preach if he did 
 no 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 in- 
 struction, he may find that after all he has accomplished nothing. 
 He has taken the easily-captured outworks, while the citadel re- 
 mains 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 whom I have seen standing on the 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 369 
 
 street clothed in rags. I find her all nicely clothed, and ask, 
 ' What does this mean ? ' 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 out the right kind 
 of hand ? Was your hand all right ? ' ' Why, sir, you don't un- 
 derstand. The stranger put the money, a ten-pound note, into 
 my hand ; laid it here on this very palm. Why, I got the money ; 
 isn't that enough ? ' 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 ? 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 revi- 
 val excitement has cooled, that converts did not " hold out." It 
 was a common thing for people to come into his meetings indif- 
 ferent and go away converted. Indeed, the emphasis with which 
 he preached to all alike the duty of immediate 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 quite as much to be depended on as one who dallies a long 
 while over a decision ? There are no more steadfast soldiers of 
 Christ in the British churches to-day than those who enlisted 
 under Mr. Moody. Perhaps no other minister in Edinburgh has 
 had to do with so many of the converts in that city as Mr. Wil- 
 son, 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 hopeful conversions in connection with it, many thou- 
 sands though they were. The breaking down of denominational 
 prejudices is most marked. The spiritual life of the churches 
 has been greatly quickened. 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 Chris- 
 tian worker in Edinburgh, the like of which one often hears in 
 
370 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 he has had no greater joy than to preach in the 
 evening on the street to those who never go to church; adjourn- 
 ing 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 Gospel 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 since." In many places the special revival 
 interest — if it may be called special in such a case — which began 
 with his meetings, still continues. 
 
 "Evangelistic meetings" are a common form which this quick- 
 ened 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, con- 
 ducted sometimes by ministers and sometimes by laymen. Edin- 
 burgh 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 members 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 " keeping it up." The specific requests 
 for prayer that are sent into it sometimes reach a hundred in 
 one day, a goodly number being accompanied by thanksgiving 
 for answers received to prayers previously solicited. On Satur- 
 
 ■\ca 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 371 
 
 days 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 arrange- 
 ments for the meetings of the evangelists in Philadelphia, he has 
 had unequalled opportunities of learning the truth as to the sub- 
 ject on which he now writes. 
 
 I write, by request, a few lines expressive of my own impres- 
 sions of those dear brethren, Messrs. Moody and Sankey, and 
 of the work which they are now carrying on in this great city. 
 The details of their work are reported in the papers every day. 
 I need not dwell upon them. The striking peculiarities which 
 mark the 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. 
 
 The first of these is the illustration afforded in the work of 
 these men of the essential, practical union existing between Protestant 
 Christians. Many instances of this might be referred to in con-, 
 nection with this movement. A single one may here be adduced. 
 This occurred rather in the preparation for the work than in the 
 work itself. A part of this preparation was to have a class of 
 Christian workers trained and ready to go into the inquiry-rooms 
 and render service there, in guiding anxious souls to Jesus. 
 The class was composed of between three and four hundred 
 Christian men and women. These were gathered from the dif- 
 ferent churches of the city, known to be in sympathy with the 
 evangelists and their work. They were the best specimens of 
 Christian knowledge and experience that these churches could 
 
372 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 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 committee 
 of four ministers, representing the leading Protestant denomina- 
 tions. The Rev. Dr. Breed represented the Presbyterian church ; 
 the Rev. Dr. J. Wheaton Smith, the Baptist ; the Eev. Dr. Hat- 
 field, the Methodist ; and the present writer the Episcopal church. 
 This committee met the workers several times for general coun- 
 sel and directions in view of the solemn and responsible work in 
 which they were to engage. At these meetings each member of 
 the ministerial committee addressed the workers in turn. There 
 was no concert or agreement beforehand, as to the points to be 
 discussed, and yet the most delightful harmony prevailed through 
 all the exercises. Not one jarring or discordant note was struck 
 from the beginning to the end. If a stranger had been present, 
 he might have listened most attentively to the teachings of these 
 men, representing the leading branches of the Protestant church ; 
 and for the life of him, he 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 Presbyterian, 
 the Baptist, the Methodist, or the Episcopalian. The watchmen 
 on the walls of Zion were seeing eye to eye. They had ap- 
 proached so near to Jesus that they no longer saw things in the 
 decomposed rays of their separate denominationalism. The 
 pure white light that shines eternally from the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness was shedding down its beams upon them ; and, on that 
 grandest of all questions, "How shall a man be just with God?" 
 they were 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 contemplate 
 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 should say it was 
 great singleness of aim, a remarkable earnestness and intensity 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 373 
 
 of purpose. And to be brought into contact with such men, 
 especially when, as in the present case, they are possessed of 
 great magnetic power, cannot fail of having a good effect on all 
 about them. We hear the song of life pitched to 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 har- 
 mony 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 appeals 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, f wished, 
 while at these last-named meetings, that every member 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 helping 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 multi- 
 tudes of men not reached or blessed by the ordinary mifiistrations of 
 tJie gospel. This is seen in the character of the assemblies they 
 
374 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 are addressing all the time. It is seen in the open acknowledg- 
 ment of numbers converted at these meetings ; 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 instrumentality, 
 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 be a sufficient recompense for all 
 the time, and money, and labor expended in this work since 
 these brethren came to our city. But when this one comes to be 
 multiplied by dozens of scores of rescued men, of this most hope- 
 less class of all who go astray ; and when to this one class are 
 added large numbers of those in every other class of transgress- 
 ors, brought back to God, through the labors of these evangelists, 
 I feel, for myself — whatever others may 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, wherever 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, 
 rumdealers 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 objectionable to 
 earnest Christians — what a comfort in this, to begin with. But 
 in expounding the Book he is mighty, because he has made it his 
 study, is full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and has strong com- 
 mon sense. In all these seven weeks of labor no heresy-hunter 
 has even smelled any unsoundness. Plain, pointed, all-sided, 
 tender and intensely 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 technical- 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 375 
 
 ities. For once we have an evangelist who has solved that ques- 
 tion of ministerial conferences and Sunday-school institutes, 
 " How shall 'we reach the masses'!" Over eleven thousand peo- 
 ple, of all classes, crowd the great tabernacle, all eager to get 
 near the stand, and all hang upon his thrilling words. 
 
 Mr. Moody is an organizer and a manager in the best sense. , 
 Classifying Christian workers by age and sex, for greater effi- / 
 ciency, by meeting at different hours and places adjoining, and V 
 all under his direction, his way of doing things wins the co-opera- 
 tion of all. And if, as rarely is the case, anything falls out of 
 line, 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 what just man's would not be. 
 Samuel blundered as to Israel's first king, and the last thought 
 of David, the chosen one, prefigured the mischoices of the kingly 
 ones by men, and their rectifications by the Lord of the kingdom 
 ever since. John, the shaggy rustic of the wilderness, with loath- 
 some "locusts and wild honey" for "his meat," grimy fishermen, 
 and a hot-headed youngster fiercely " haling men and women to 
 prison," who of the " wise men " would have picked these 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 
 
376 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 together, each Sabbath of the year. The Christian world never 
 before by their own choice hit upon such a doing together of any- 
 thing. It 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 hid 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 educating millions in a way 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 morn- 
 ing of Sabbath, or at 4 p.m. of a week day ; sitting around him in 
 far more reverent intensity of heed than the disciples of Socrates 
 or Plato on the banks of the Illyssus ever showed ; than any 
 group of pupils in any " Divinity School " I have seen ; no 
 trifling, no fun-making, no dawdling, 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 them to do. These 
 may show what that is. 
 
 (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 prac- 
 tical 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 commen- 
 taries on it. Does it stop you from sinning and stir you up 
 to do what God would have you do ? The persons in the narra- 
 tive were good or bad, wise or foolish, as may be ; they are there 
 to carry God's question to you : Are you fleeing from the wrath 
 to come, and doing God's bidding to you ? To save souls, to 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 377 
 
 make alive in Christ, is the ever-visible aim in the reading, and 
 of his upspringing, comments as he reads. 
 
 (b.) Vivid personation marks these readings. Take Lot and 
 Peter. A quick-handed crayonist could put much of the " read- 
 ing" on a board as it went on. It would be Lot stealing a look 
 " toward Sodom," seeming not to see it; the glamour of its 
 towers, warehouses, etc., stealing his heart. He gets there ; 
 makes money ; gets into city office ; is rich. See him strutting 
 about Sodom : boys whispering, " There goes rich Mr. Lot, 
 
 president of bank!" Been any Congress he'd been Hon. 
 
 John Lot, M. C. 1 Sounds well. He's done well for himself!" 
 Next he is seen lolling in the " best carriage in Sodom," with 
 wife and daughters, going to opera or theatre, etc. Religion 
 dead in his soul; "just like you, and you, worldly professor, 
 getting the world and losing your soul." Then two angels come. 
 They will put up with him. He's one of the chief men of 
 Sodom now. Why not have any distinguished strangers ? Ah ! 
 he didn't guess their errand. They tell him ; ask if he has any 
 other but those in the house. Then the mob ; the stroke of 
 blindness ; and, because they can't see, he gets through the crowd 
 to houses of sons-in-law. See him ring door-bell ; window opens, 
 with "Who's there ? " The tidings ; the call, " Up, flee for life." 
 They laugh at him; "mocked him;" he's out of his head. 
 There's no danger! Sodom never had better times or stood 
 firmer. His lost his witness ; men don't believe a word he says, 
 because he's been living as much in the world as they have ; his 
 testimony is good for nothing, just like so many here. Then the 
 storm; the flight; "the sin of Sodom," etc. 
 
 Peter was most effectively sketched ; with more of system and 
 naturalness than any other I have noted. 
 
 He is fishing; is called; leaves all; but as soon as he has 
 made himself over to Jesus, goes back to his business. [Con- 
 verts who would jump from the inquiry-room into the pulpit, etc., 
 had a plain speaking to at this point] His call when the busi- 
 ness was good— nets full — (costs to be a Christian); he gets into 
 " Doubting Castle " — trying to walk the water — " most Christians 
 
378 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 live in that castle." On the Mount of Transfiguration he started 
 " toward Rome " — a touch of High Churchism got into him. 
 He would have three tabernacles : one for Moses, one for Elias, 
 one for Christ — all alike, bring Christ down to their "old saints' " 
 level ! Instantly they were gone ! Christ alone with them ; a 
 voice of thunder, " hear him ! hear him ! " 
 
 This was a masterstroke in the reading. With awful emphasis, 
 " hear him " rang over the throng. Peter's fall was divided into 
 six steps — each a kind of medallion scene around the central 
 figure, which grew into bold and powerful form as he " read him 
 out." (i.) The feet-washing refusal; didn't know how dirty 
 travel in the world had made him. (2.) Self-confidence ; " If all 
 forsake, not I," etc. (3.) Got asleep; "could not watch one 
 hour." Malchus and his lost ear, or a half-awake Christian's 
 blunder, was a telling point. (4.) " Followed afar off." (5.) Got 
 into bad company ; by the fire in the hall. (6.) Lost his 
 temper; swore, etc. This detail is given to show the method 
 the revival Bible-study is taking. It is simply the Bible made 
 alive ! 
 
 Very ragged and inaccurate many of the chalk-marks are, 
 some almost grotesque, but life is in them ; Christ is in them ; 
 the way to be saved is seen by them as by no other use of Scrip- 
 ture. On this method the Bible takes the hearer along with 
 itself; it does not come at him, corner him, and "hew him in 
 pieces," as in some uses of it ; but it fills him with itself, and he 
 walks in the light, seeing by it his sins, and the blessed Jesus 
 ever so full of waiting love and mercy toward him. 
 
 Successors, more accurate, scholarly, and, we hope, as full of 
 Christ, will carry on this raising to life of the Word of life in the 
 manner Mr. Moody has so effectively begun. " Thy Word is 
 truth." 
 
 It is a wonderful record which is made of the meetings led by 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey in this city up to the present week. 
 Including the young men's and young women's meetings, there 
 have been in all about 250 different services of the series, with 
 an aggregate attendance at them of perhaps 900,000 persons. It 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 379 
 
 is thought by the committee in charge that at least 300,000 dif- 
 ferent persons have in all been at these meetings. To the last 
 the interest in the services has deepened, and the attendance at 
 them has increased. The meetings of last Sunday, at the begin- 
 ning of the ninth and closing week, were as crowded as any from 
 the first of the series. Very many Christians have been quick- 
 ened to new activity in the work of the Lord, and very many 
 sinners have been led to yield themselves to a waiting Saviour, 
 through God's blessing on these services. The good results of 
 the meetings are not to end with the removal of the evangelists 
 from Philadelphia. There is a new Christian life in this city, 
 manifested in a spirit of union, and in zeal and heartiness in all 
 religious endeavors beyond anything hitherto known here. Un- 
 mistakable evidence of this is given in the varied exercises of 
 the closing week of these evangelistic meetings. The brightest 
 anticipations of friends of this work at its beginning are already 
 more than realized in Philadelphia. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the closing meeting of the course 
 was densely packed by the best people of the city, while thou- 
 sands were unable to gain admittance. Faithful to Christ and to 
 the truth he wins the confidence of good men, and more than all 
 binds them closer to the Lord and to duty. 
 
 Mr. Sankey Answers a Question. 
 
 " How should music be conducted in the Lord's work?" asks 
 one. Before we give his reply we insert the crisp remark of a 
 veteran pastor : 
 
 "There are these three," said Dr. Plumer, at one of the Moody 
 meetings, "faith, hope, charity, but the greatest of these is char- 
 ity, for charity endureth forever. There are these three, prayer, 
 the sacraments, praise, but the greatest of these is praise, for 
 praise endureth forever." 
 
 I can scarcely expect that my views will be accepted by all 
 singers ; but my opinions are based upon the results of more 
 than fifteen years' personal experience in conducting the service 
 
380 MOOTW AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 of praise in various branches of the Lord's work in this country 
 and other lands. 
 
 I will speak first of the music in the church, which should be 
 conducted by a good, large choir of Christian singers, who would 
 encourage the congregation to join heartily with them in the 
 songs of Zion, instead of monopolizing the service themselves. 
 
 I would not have unconverted persons leading the praise of the 
 people of God. I am fully persuaded that four-fifths of the tra- 
 ditional trouble with choirs arises from having unconverted peo- 
 ple conducting this part of the service of the sanctuary. If I 
 could not get a converted choir, I would go back to the good old 
 ways of our forefathers, and select the best Christian man in the 
 church who had a good voice, and put him up in front of the con- 
 gregation, and let him lead as best he could, and I am sure the 
 people would join more heartily under his leading than they 
 would with a choir who are anxious to show how well they could 
 execute some new tune which they have just found. But there 
 are very few churches, if any, in which a good Christian choir 
 may not be formed, and no one will doubt that when all the parts 
 of our sweet church songs are sung from the heart, and the 
 words of the hymn are distinctly pronounced, it is much sweeter 
 than where all are singing in unison. 
 
 I would have the singers and the organ in front of the congre- 
 gation, near the minister or speaker, and would insist on deport- 
 ment by the singers in keeping with the services of the house of 
 God. The conduct of the choir during the service will have very 
 much to do with the success of the preaching. Instead of whisper- 
 ing, writing notes, passing books, and the like, the choir should 
 give the closest attention to all the services, especially to the 
 preaching of the Word. There should be the most intimate 
 understanding between the leader of the singing and the pastor. 
 When new tunes are to be introduced into the church they might 
 be sung frequently by the choir alone, before the regular services 
 commence, as voluntaries ; thus the people would become some- 
 what familiar with the music, and when it is introduced into 
 the regular service they would be able to take up the tune and 
 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 38 1 
 
 sing it with pleasure and profit. New hymns and tunes should 
 be introduced occasionally, but great damage is often done by 
 injudicious choir leaders trying to introduce a new tune at every 
 service. 
 
 The congregation should be exhorted by the pastor to join 
 heartily in the singing, and if a choir-master persisted in bring- 
 ing out new-fangled tunes in which the people could not join 
 during the hour of public worship, he should be set aside and his 
 place supplied by some one who would not be so ambitious to 
 show off how well the choir could perform, but who would be 
 glad to have all the people join in the good old songs of Zion, 
 which will be loved and sung until 
 
 " All the ransomed church of God 
 Are saved to sin no more." 
 
 The whole question of the singing should be kept in the hands 
 of the office-bearers of the church, and the choir should never be 
 encouraged to entertain the idea that they are an independent 
 organization, with power to levy war upon the church and bring 
 it to terms, or to secede from it and cause a disruption. Praying 
 singers are likely to be loyal to the church, and not to give 
 trouble. 
 
 The singing in the regular prayer-meeting should be of the 
 most spirited and spiritual character, and should be led by a 
 single voice, usually without instrumental accompaniment, so that 
 no restraints of any kind may interfere with the worship of even 
 the oldest saint, who might not be able to sing in just such time 
 and voice as would be expected were the instrument used. 
 
 The singing of long hymns should be avoided. Two or three 
 verses well sung and bearing upon the key-note or subject of the 
 meeting will do more good than a dozen verses poorly sung. 
 Old familiar hymns and tunes should be used, with now and then 
 a Sunday-school song, so that the children may feel that they 
 have a part in the prayer-meeting as well as in the Sunday-school. 
 The young should be encouraged to attend the prayer-meetings 
 to assist in the singing. 
 
382 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Nothing will kill a prayer-meeting more effectually than poor 
 drawling, lifeless singing ; while many a poor prayer-meeting has 
 been saved by good and spirited singing. 
 
 The American' Sunday-school has done more to make us a sing- 
 ing people than all other causes combined, and to attempt giving 
 suggestions as to how its singing should be conducted, may seem 
 rather venturesome. But as there are schools where, for want of 
 a good singing-leader, there is a sad deficiency in this most 
 delightful service, I may be pardoned for dropping a few sugges- 
 tions for their benefit. 
 
 In the first place, you should have a lady or a gentleman who 
 can play the cabinet-organ. If you have not such an instrument 
 already, I would advise you to get one as soon as possible. Let 
 the leader, seated at the organ before the school, with a few good 
 voices near by, conduct the singing in a hearty and spirited man- 
 ner, inviting and urging all the teachers and scholars to take part 
 in it. You will have great difficulty in getting the children to 
 sing at all, if the tunes are allowed to drag. A word now and 
 then as to the meaning of the hymn, a few directions as to the 
 way in which it should be sung, and hints as to the correct pro- 
 nunciation of the words, will add much to the interest and profit 
 of the singing. 
 
 Do not let the school run into a singing-class. See that all the 
 hymns have a bearing upon the lesson of the day. 
 
 When union religious services are held, the singing should 
 occupy a prominent place, and it should be judiciously conduct- 
 ed. A union choir should be formed, composed of the best singers 
 from the different denominations in the community. The pastors 
 should select the persons from their own choirs or congregations, 
 and send in their names to the person or persons selected to have 
 charge of the singing. Frequent meetings of these singers should 
 be held for practice. Such hymns and tunes should be used as 
 are easily caught by the people, and such only as contain the 
 simple gospel ; those which are full of invitations to Christ rather 
 than to creed. 
 
 All these preparatory meetings for practice should be opened 
 
 or, 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. $$3 
 
 and closed with prayer. Moreover each singer should be im- 
 pressed with the importance of bearing himself in the most exem- 
 plary manner. Especially should this be demanded from each 
 singer during the time of the public services, for inattention to 
 the preaching on the part of members of the choir will cause 
 more or less inattention in the congregation. 
 
 The time and tune should be led by the organ. The organist 
 should first play a measure or two, to indicate the time and move- 
 ment. At the close of this all should join heartily in the singing, 
 leaving no place for the appearance of the quite useless appen- 
 dage of too many religious gatherings — a fussy singing-leader. 
 During the public service I would not have the leader stand up 
 before the audience, and with a stick or a book beat the time with 
 such fearful gesticulations as to call the attention of the people 
 from the singing to himself. Let there be nothing about the 
 choir to divert the audience from their part of the worship. All 
 should try and understand the sentiment of the hymn or sacred 
 song, and enter into it with heart and voice, in a prayerful frame 
 of mind, silently asking God to bless the song to every soul. 
 
 I am persuaded that much interest may be added to evangel- 
 istic services by the singing occasionally of some sweet gospel 
 hymn by a single voice. If the voice be strong enough, and the 
 pronunciation of the words be clear and distinct, and the singer 
 be full of faith that God will bless his message, I have no doubt 
 that many will accept the " gospel in the song " who would, per- 
 haps, otherwise remain unreached by the truth. I would not 
 permit solo singing, or any other kind of singing, to take the place 
 of the preached Word ; but solo singing, properly conducted, 
 may be a means of attracting people to the services who would 
 not have come simply to hear a sermon in the usual way. 
 
 What is most needed in all these things is that they be at- 
 tempted in prayer and faith, and to the glory of God. Ministers 
 should pray for the singers and the singing. The singers should 
 pray for themselves and their work. Thus may a bond of union 
 be formed in this service which will be owned of God, and thereby 
 will the world be led to see still more and more of the power 
 of sacred song in winning souls to Jesus. 
 
384 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 At an immense praise-meeting presided over by him, additional 
 words were spoken worthy of being read by many ten thousands. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said : " There has been running through my heart 
 since coming here this evening, a sort of mournful note along 
 with these notes of joy. It is that these meetings are soon to 
 pass away — that this is the last praise-meeting we shall probably 
 join together in on earth. But with that thought comes this 
 blessed thought, that by and by, with this large company, and 
 with other large gatherings we have met elsewhere, we shall meet 
 to sing a better song than we have ever sung on earth. We are 
 glad of the Christian hope and assurance we have that we shall 
 stand with that company, and our song shall be, 'Hallelujah, 'tis 
 done ; I believe on the Son ; I am saved by the blood of the 
 crucified One.' I would to God that while we are praying, sing- 
 ing, and speaking to-night, souls may decide for heaven. We are 
 fast moving on to judgment May God help us all to believe on 
 Jesus, so that when we stand before the presence of the King we 
 may be able to join in the new song of Moses and the Lamb." 
 
 Mr. Sankey and the congregation then sang, " Tis the promise 
 of God full salvation to give." 
 
 Rev. Dr. McCook spoke of the way Messrs. Moody and San- 
 key had overcome the prejudices of the people of Scotland against 
 the organ and songs. When Mr. Sankey showed them he was 
 singing the Gospel, it struck some of the people as a novelty, but 
 it was no new thing. It was only a part of the old, old way of 
 declaring the old, old story. He quoted several texts of Scripture 
 to prove that there was a mighty influence in Christian song to 
 retain in the minds of the people the truths of the Gospel. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said: "I have received so many cheering letters of 
 how these little hymns are blessed, that I am encouraged to go on 
 with this speaking to one another in hymns and songs. It is 
 wonderful how these hymns have been spread all over the world 
 these last two years. After our work in London was over, I had 
 twelve days to spend before sailing for home. I thought I would 
 slip off where I would get rest, where I would not be asked to 
 sing or even talk about these meetings. I went to Calais, thence 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 385 
 
 to Paris, and on to Switzerland. I went to the capital of Swit- 
 zerland, near the foot of the Alps. The evening I got there, the 
 first thing I heard under my window was the most beautiful vol- 
 ume of song that I almost ever heard. I looked out of the win- 
 dow and saw about one hundred and fifty people singing this 
 sweet hymn : ' Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast/ 
 It had been translated into their language. I recognized the 
 words. I spoke to them through my friend as an interpreter. 
 The next evening they were requested to attend a large gather- 
 ing in the capital of that country. I promised to go down and 
 sing a hymn or two. The old French church was packed, and 
 people were standing in the street. These people sang nearly all 
 the hymns that you sing to-day. They had been translated and 
 sung for months. I heard the children sing them in the Alps. 
 As I returned through another portion of France, I heard those 
 hymns sung on board the railway trains, and I thought, ' What 
 shall the harvest be ? ' You do not know how many souls have 
 been rested by hearing * Safe in the arms of Jesus.' Then, I 
 said, by God's grace I will keep on singing, and I will encourage 
 every other person who has a voice to keep on singing these sweet 
 stories of Jesus and His love, and somebody will be blessed, just 
 as somebody is being blessed here. May God bless the singing 
 of these hymns throughout the earth until we meet to sing a 
 better song in heaven." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Sheppard said : " We owe a special debt of gratitude 
 to God that in His good providence He has made the service of 
 song so efficient in publishing the Gospel. When I first had the 
 pleasure of being acquainted with Mr. Sankey I told him he had 
 actualized an idea of the Rev. Albert Barnes. Mr. Barnes said 
 to me a few weeks before his death, if he could sing as well as I 
 could, he would not preach but would sing the Gospel in the 
 pulpit ; for he thought he could accomplish more by singing than 
 preaching it. The first song I heard Mr. Sankey sing was : ' Je- 
 sus passeth by/ and I said that was the most eloquent sermon I 
 ever heard ; it spoke of the opportunity present — soon to pass — 
 and actually passed. It was most impressing and powerful." 
 17 
 
386 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Sankey rendered the favorite hymn, "Jesus of Nazareth 
 passeth by." His voice, in the lines " Oh, all ye heavy-laden, 
 come," and afterward in " Too late ! too late ! will be the cry, 
 Jesus of Nazareth has passed by," became so low, broken, full of 
 pity and clear withal, that dozens of people half rose from their 
 seats and bent forward toward the stage as if by magnetic attrac- 
 tion. Mr. Sankey's singing was as fine as ever, and it seems 
 strange that any one who listens to his beautiful songs of praise 
 is not touched and brought to look upon the question of eternal 
 life as the most important that could be presented. Men have 
 risen for prayer who have stated that they were brought to realize 
 their lost condition and to seek salvation through the hymns that 
 they have heard sung. 
 
 Mr. Moody read the 35th chapter of Isaiah, after which he 
 made an earnest prayer, thanking God for the rich blessings that 
 he has showered upon the people. Reports were then received. 
 Mr. Moody first made the report as to the women's meetings. He 
 stated that they are very interesting, and God is showing his 
 power greatly. The prayers of mothers and wives are being 
 amazingly answered. The 87 th hymn was then sung, 
 
 Lord, I hear of showers of blessings. 
 
 The reports were then continued as follows : Mr. George H. 
 Stuart reported a great awakening in the First Reformed Presby- 
 terian Church. He said that the pastor had taken a great inter- 
 est in the revival services, and that since they have commenced 
 his only son has given his heart to Christ. There are now twenty- 
 three young men who are living witnesses of what Jesus is doing 
 in that church, and while he could not give the number of ladies 
 who have professed Christ, he would say that there have been 
 quite a large number. Several young men in his store had come 
 out on the Lord's side. 
 
 Mr. Rowland represented the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion. He said that the prayer-meetings on Saturday evenings 
 are largely attended, and that there is an average of twenty young 
 men who at every meeting rise for prayer and express a desire 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 387 
 
 to come to Christ. There have been twenty-seven drinking men 
 converted. Meetings have been inaugurated by the young con- 
 verts- among the workmen at the Gas Works and the seamen on 
 board of the receiving-ship. He also stated that a good work is 
 being done by the Yoke Fellows, and that bands of workers 
 were going out, holding meetings, and bringing men to the 
 Saviour. , 
 
 Professor William Johnston followed by stating that a great 
 awakening was going on in a small mission near Germantown, 
 and that on last Tuesday evening' some twelve or fifteen arose 
 for prayer, and before leaving the place gave their hearts to 
 Christ. On Sunday a meeting was held at the House of Correc- 
 tion, the result of which was most encouraging. Over one hun- 
 dred persons arose for prayer. At the Bethany Presbyterian 
 Church, at the request of the pastor, he reported the most happy 
 results. At the last communion twenty-nine persons arose for 
 prayer. 
 
 Mr. Wannamaker made a very encouraging report of what the 
 Lord is doing at the young men's meetings. He said that they 
 are largely attended, and that nightly a score or more men rise 
 for prayers and are led to Christ. The meetings are remarkable 
 for their length, and though it has been his effort to close them 
 at 11 o'clock, it is often midnight before some of the young men 
 are able to get away. He also said that many had been turned 
 to God through the singing of Mr. Sankey, and often when Mr. 
 Moody feared that he had failed in his efforts to reach the hearts 
 of the people, a number have testified that the sermons had 
 induced them to take a stand for Christ. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Hatfield followed, and said that he had been greatly 
 encouraged with the meetings, and had given them very much of 
 his time. He spoke of the great work that is being done among 
 the women, and said the results are astonishing. He then referred 
 to the young men's meetings, and stated that he had seen as many 
 as fifty rise for prayer. The number of conversions are surpris- 
 ing, and, do what he would, he never could get away until a very 
 late hour. 
 
388 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Moody said that he had received a letter from a young 
 convert, a resident of Cedarville, New Jersey, who, several weeks 
 ago, while on a visit to this city, attended a meeting in the depot 
 and was converted. He went home and opened a prayer-meeting 
 in a school-house, which has been greatly blessed. The meet- 
 ings are still being held, and are being attended with glorious 
 results. 
 
 A school-teacher from the country during the Christmas holi- 
 days was converted at one of the meetings, and he writes that 
 after he got home he gathered the boys together and had a 
 prayer-meeting. Several have since been held, all of which have 
 been greatly blessed. On Monday last a lady came in the 
 women's prayer-meeting and was converted. She said that the 
 evening before her husband had attended the meeting in the 
 depot and given his heart to Christ. The conversion was brought 
 about in this manner : The two had engaged in a quarrel, during 
 which their little girl, unobserved by them, on the porch knelt 
 down and prayed for them. A neighbor noticed the child, and 
 went into the house and told the parents. The quarrel ceased, 
 and that night the father went to the meeting at the depot, and 
 there was converted. He returned home and set up the family 
 altar. The result was that the wife and mother the next day 
 attended the meeting and was also converted. The family are 
 now rejoicing in the Saviour. 
 
 Mr. John Wannamaker, who has so efficiently presided over 
 the young men's meetings, made a very encouraging report 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 themselves afresh to the Mas- 
 ter's work, and nearly all of those young men were converted 
 during the past eight weeks. He had never witnessed such meet- 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA, 389 
 
 ings, 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 hearts to Christ, and are now 
 laboring hard for the conversion of all out of the fold. A recent 
 convert who once had been a Christian, but who had fallen 
 through the power of strong drink, related his experience. He 
 had 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 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 
 five hundred young men in Dr. McCook's church were 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, Shadrack, Meshech, Abednego, and Daniel, 
 
39° MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 .. 
 
 the young men are to be noble witnesses for Christ. May God 
 speed the day when every young man in this city shall feel that 
 it is the greatest privilege and highest honor to be on the side 
 of Christ and working for him. 
 
 Interest Culminates. 
 
 Such an interest in any matter has never been experienced, 
 much less in religious affairs. It would seem from the crowds 
 and the number of anxious inquirers that the Master's cause was 
 being taken up with the determination to carry it through to a 
 final and complete victory, that Satan and his followers are to be 
 overcome, and that truth and righteousness are to triumph over 
 sin and iniquity. Whatever may be said of the meetings, one 
 thing is certain, that an amount of good has been accomplished 
 during the past eight weeks that is beyond all calculation. 
 Blasphemers have been made to realize the extent of their sins ; 
 scoffers have been turned to Christ; drunkards have been re- 
 formed through the operations of the Holy Spirit, and those 
 who denied the existence of a God have been compelled to cry 
 for mercy and forgiveness. Where there has been strife there is 
 now happiness ; and where there was once discord there is now 
 peace. Families have been united, and husbands and wives, 
 once estranged, reconciled. With all this has come an entire 
 dependence upon God, and but for the Scriptural teaching of 
 the evangelist, it could not have been brought about. With all 
 these evidences of the power of God, there would seem to be 
 nothing else necessary to prove the necessity of accepting the 
 terms of the Saviour. No happiness can be obtained outside of 
 Him, and he acts rashly who refuses to heed the warning words 
 of those who are holding up the cross. 
 
 Theirs is a holy work, that has the approval of all good men, 
 and, what is better than all, the blessings of the Father. Every 
 man or woman who has been checked while on the downward 
 path of destruction, and through the teaching and preaching of 
 the evangelists has been induced to look in faith for strength 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 391 
 
 to a Higher Power, has reason to thank God that the meetings 
 were inaugurated. There have been thousands of brands rescued 
 from the burning, and who are now tasting of a happiness that 
 hitherto they knew nothing of. Anything that brings comfort to 
 the sorrowing heart and peace to a family must be of God, and 
 those who are the instruments by which it is brought about can- 
 not but be His servants. For all the good that has been done 
 by the evangelists and by all who are aiding them there is await- 
 ing a reward in heaven far richer than any gift that could be 
 bestowed by men. 
 
 So great was the desire to hear that the Depot was filled with 
 upwards of twelve thousand persons, and the doors closed, and 
 before twenty minutes from this time there were seven thousand 
 persons around the several doors of the building striving in vain 
 to gain admittance. There were two thousand persons forming 
 an excursion party from Wilmington, Del., and Chester, Penn., a 
 portion of whom were unable to get within the building. It was \ 
 with much difficulty that Mr. Moody himself was able to force 
 his way through the crowd that thronged the door. One of the 
 doors was forced open and a number of persons took possession 
 of some of the seats reserved in front for the unconverted. 
 
 Among the distinguished persons on the platform were Hon. 
 Judge Paxson (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania), Mr. S. Iwanager 
 (Japanese Commissioner) and friend, Rev. Wm. Harmson (Balti- 
 more), Mr. Potter (President National Bank), W. Simes, Esq., 
 Mr. Noblett (President Commercial Exchange Bank), Hon. Ho- 
 ratio Gates Jones (State Senator of Pennsylvania), Alex. Brown 
 (banker), Rev. Dr. Aikman (Detroit, Michigan). 
 
 Before commencing his discourse Mr. Moody spoke of how 
 unfairly a part of the audience had acted in bursting open the 
 door and taking the seats reserved for the unconverted. Some 
 of those people who had taken possession of those seats had 
 been occupying them for the past two weeks, and he hoped their 
 consciences would trouble them so they would not sleep to-night, 
 and then they would not break the door open to-morrow. It 
 might not be right to make these remarks in regard to all who 
 
39 2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 had come in by that door, but those whom the coat fitted might 
 put it on and button it up tight. 
 
 At the close of the meeting three thousand persons went into 
 the inquiry-rooms. 
 
 Such an anxious seeking for the truth has never been wit- 
 nessed, and it is a question whether the same amount of positive 
 good has been accomplished anywhere in so short a time. What, 
 apparently, is wanted by the people is the presentation of God's 
 Word in the same simple and easily-to-be-understood manner, 
 as has been the case the past few weeks by the evangelists. The 
 plan of salvation and the promises and mercies of the Father 
 are often so mysteriously clouded, that people do not really 
 understand what is required of them. Then again, the truth is 
 not unfrequently presented in such an uninviting form as to rather 
 drive away than attract sinners. The plainer it is stated the bet- 
 ter, and the more good is accomplished. Messrs. Moody and 
 Sankey have signally succeeded in this matter, for by their 
 preaching, praying, and exhortation, very many who never 
 opened a Bible are now studying the sacred volume and in it 
 are finding comfort and happiness. It may be said with a great 
 deal of truth that all classes have been benefited by the special 
 religious services — ministers, Christian workers, and sinners. 
 There never has been such a delightful period as the past two 
 months, and all who have been privileged to be present at the 
 Depot during the sojourn of the evangelists in this city will 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 example of constant speaking reminds us of the 
 resolution formed by Fox, the greatest of English orators, who, 
 after one failure in the House of Commons, determined to speak 
 on every question, and so rose by degrees to be the greatest 
 debater the world ever saw. Mr. Moody says : 
 
 When I began my Christian course, I tried to work in the 
 churches in Chicago, and I was told that I had better not speak. 
 I went into the dark lanes and got meetings together. I kept my 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADBLPHIA. 393 
 
 mouth open, I did not let the church close it. Confess Christ in 
 season and out of season, and let the devil and the world talk and 
 throw stones at you. Your reward will come by and by. Take 
 a bold stand for Christ. You will never be good for much for 
 God's service until the world calls you crazy. If the world has 
 nothing to say against you, you are not much of a Christian. 
 
 " My subject is ' Instant Salvation.' What is that? One minute 
 Noah was outside of the ark, and the next he was in. The man, 
 Christ Jesus, is the ark, and the moment you step in you're saved. 
 A man came to me at a Manchester meeting, and said that it 
 was his feelings that kept him from believing. Said I, was it 
 Noah's feelings that saved him in the ark, or was it the ark ? 'Ah, 
 I see it I ' he exclaimed ; ' I've got to make a train. Good-by,' 
 and he was off. He afterward became one of the best workers 
 in that town. One instant Lot stood inside of Sodom, and in the 
 next he was outside- — don't you see ? That's instant salvation. 
 The blood of the paschal lamb is placed on the door-posts in a 
 second, and the Hebrews are safe from the destroying angel." 
 Mr. Moody made another point in the six cities of Joshua on the 
 banks of the Jordan, and once within the walls of which a mur- 
 derer was safe from the avenging pursuit of the murdered man's 
 relatives. In imitating the actions of a man striking the bloody 
 blow, mounting his horse, rushing at breakneck speed over the 
 hills and through the valleys, and at last springing into the city 
 of safety, from which he turns a look of defiance back at his baf- 
 fled pursuer, Mr. Moody made quite a lively place of the pulpit, 
 and as he shouted until he became hoarse, his dramatic display 
 was very attractive. "As soon as we get into the city, we may 
 stop running — we're free. When the black man in our country 
 was in slavery, he always kept looking toward the north star ; he 
 knew there was no use in going into Pennsylvania or New York, 
 for he'd be brought back ; but he looked farther — across the 
 Canadian boundary, where he beheld waving a flag under which 
 no bondsmen breathed. He is pursued, he flees, crosses the line 
 ■ — is one instant a slave, and the next he stands under the Union 
 Jack a free man. The Queen's soldier is enlisted by simply hav- 
 
394 MOODY A*ND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ing a British shilling placed in the palm of his hand — made a 
 soldier in an instant. Do you want to know when you're a Chris- 
 tian ? It's when you've got the British shilling. Is there one 
 here to-night who will cross the line and be free?" [Voice, 
 " Yes."] " Thank God — any more ? " he inquired. [Voice, "Yes."] 
 " Praise the Lord ! Who else will come to Christ ? " A lady 
 arose to her feet and said, " I will." " Let us pray," said Mr. 
 Moody, "and let all who want our prayers arise. Now, don't 
 look around to see who else is rising." The intercession for 
 the penitents being ended, there was a general chorus of the 
 hymn, " Come to Jesus," and the multitude dispersed. 
 
 At the great Christian convention which assembled on the 
 19th and 20th of January, Mr. Moody said he had received a 
 great many letters from ministers and others asking him how to 
 get up these meetings, and how to conduct them. If you can 
 get two or three ministers and congregations agreed in a town of 
 five thousand inhabitants, let your meeting be appointed and 
 have it advertised ; and when the meeting is organized, do not 
 change the speakers each night to please the different denomina- 
 tions, but let one man speak each night for at least one week, 
 and then the people become acquainted with his way of present- 
 ing the Gospel to them. Let the meetings be short. Send' the 
 people away hungry, and they will come back again. Look well 
 after the ventilation, and have good, lively singing. Have godly 
 men and women to sing from the heart, and sing new pieces 
 once in a while. The songs of John Wesley went further than 
 his sermons. 
 
 There is no general rule as to how to pull the net and gather 
 in the harvest of souls. There are various ways, such as getting 
 them to go into the inquiry-room, or to rise for prayer. One way 
 to find out who want to become Christians is to get them to do 
 something they do not want to do. At a union meeting do not 
 speak on controverted subjects if they are not cardinal points; 
 but if they are, we must take a firm stand. At these meetings 
 all denominations have given up something. The Quakers have 
 given up something, and so have the Methodists. Dr. Hatfield 
 
 :, 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 395 
 
 has not shouted once since he has been here. [Laughter.] The 
 object of these union meetings is to proclaim the Gospel. 
 
 Mr. Moody expressed himself ready to answer any questions 
 that might be asked, and these several questions were asked by 
 the audience : 
 
 Q. If a meeting is to last one hour and ten minutes, how long 
 should the sermon be ? 
 
 A. From thirty to forty minutes. A good many people, by a 
 long sermon, receive impressions and lose them again before the 
 sermon is concluded. 
 
 Q. What ought to be the character of the prayers ? 
 
 A. Special meetings ought to have special prayers. Regular 
 church services pray for everything in general. This is right ; 
 but when we have ""special services we do not want the prayers 
 offered for our rulers, but for the souls that are present. 
 
 Q. Where would you have the meeting held in a small town ? 
 
 A. In one of the churchres, if there was no sectarian feeling ; 
 but if there is a spirit among the churches to bring converts to 
 their particular churches, then go into some public hall. 
 
 Q. In villages where there are several churches, and the church- 
 goers are cold, and you cannot make an impression on their hearts, 
 how would you act ? 
 
 A. Go on with the regular services, but have a special service 
 to wake them up. These special services are something out of 
 the regular course and it sets people to thinking. 
 
 A gentleman in the audience requested Mr. Moody to repeat 
 the questions before answering them, as the congregation could 
 not hear them. 
 
 Mr. Moody said he could not hear some of them himself. 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 The meeting for the hour closed with singing " Come Thou 
 Fount of every blessing." The doors were opened to allow the 
 departure of some, and the admission of others to the eleven 
 o'clock meeting, the subject of which was " How to conduct 
 prayer-meetings." 
 
 Rev. Allison Henry, of Philadelphia, made the opening prayer. 
 
396 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Moody gave his ideas of how prayer-meetings ought to be 
 conducted. There should be no formality. If the people will 
 not come up and take the front seats, the minister should go down 
 among them and take the stiffness from the meeting. The secret 
 of the minister's success is to get others to work. People who 
 take part in your prayer-meetings are the ones that don't find 
 fault ; but when they don't work they will find fault. In Chicago 
 we have nineteen meetings a week, and there is no time to go to 
 theatres, if there is any wish to go. The prayer-meetings should 
 be open if you want to make them interesting. 
 
 Q. Do you think prayer-meetings are better than a Wednesday 
 evening lecture ? 
 
 A. I pity the church where the minister has no prayer-meeting ; 
 I do not advocate giving up prayer-meetings for lectures. 
 
 Q. Should women and children be encouraged to speak in our 
 prayer-meetings ? 
 
 A. That is a controverted point. The Presbyterians say 
 women should be silent. 
 
 Q. Is it best to have laymen lead the prayer-meeting ? 
 
 A. I think when a minister has been leading a prayer-meeting 
 for fifty years it gets into a groove, and it would be an advantage 
 to have an elder lead the meeting ; then, in the case of a vaca- 
 tion, the prayer-meeting would not be closed. 
 
 Q. How is a spirit of prayf r to be developed in a meeting ? 
 
 A. It better be commenced in the classes. 
 
 Q. If there are members who cannot pray or speak, and yet 
 are good, conscientious members of the church, ought they to be 
 encouraged to speak or pray ? 
 
 A. That is an important question. When I was converted, I 
 got up in a good many prayer-meetings to speak for Christ. I 
 had zeal without knowledge. A minister took me one side ; he 
 colored up, and I knew something was coining. He hesitated 
 and then he hung his hea'd. I said, "Say on." He said, "I 
 have no doubt but that the Lord has converted you, but — ah, ah, 
 ■ — ah, don't you think you would serve the Lord by keeping 
 silent?" [Laughter.] The man was honest, and if I had been 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 397 
 
 in his place I might have given the same advice. He should 
 have told me there was some work I could do. I was two years 
 in finding it out, and then I went into the lanes and went to 
 among the ragged boys. 
 
 Q. Don't you think it would be a failure in a prayer-meeting 
 if there was no effort made to bring unconverted men to Christ ? 
 
 A. There should be an effort made, but it is sometimes best 
 done by believers giving an account of the joy they experience 
 in believing, instead of exhorting. 
 
 How to Get Hold of the Non-Church-Goers. 
 
 On this subject Mr. Moody spoke as follows : 
 
 I want to say a few words on this question if you will allow 
 me. We have had in our city (Chicago), for a number of years, 
 what we call a "Yoke Fellow's Band." They meet every Sunday 
 night, say at six o'clock. We furnish them with tea. This 
 doesn't cost much, only about fifteen cents a head ; and after 
 they have drank their tea, and prayed together, they start out to 
 find recruits and bring them to the church. I have not known 
 for years what it is to preach to empty seats ; long before I had 
 any reputation to draw folks we always used to have our church 
 full. Many churches around us that had men with great names 
 to draw a congregation, very often during the Summer season 
 were only quarter full, or half full, but for the twelve months of 
 the year our church would be full. It was these young fellows 
 who brought them there. These men who bring in the recruits 
 off of the street, found probably in some dark saloon, and brought 
 in, will be anxious that you should preach well, and if the minis- 
 ter seCs that his helpers are anxious that he should make an 
 impression upon his hearers, he will preach all the better for it. 
 
 There are hundreds and thousands of young men in this 
 country who want to work in the church, but they don't know 
 how. They want some one to set them to work. The way we 
 4© in our meetings is this : We have two men generally go to- 
 
39§ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 gether ; we put them on the corners of the great thoroughfare, 
 or we give them so many saloons, and billiard-halls, and hotels 
 to look after. Every saloon within a mile of that place of wor- 
 ship is visited. Many a time I have gone into these saloons and 
 asked men to come and hear me preach. I know that isn't a 
 very proper thing for a preacher to do, but it's a good deal better 
 than preaching to empty seats. Some of our brethren said they 
 didn't like to do it ; I said there were a great many things we 
 didn't like to do. If we make up our minds to it, we can get 
 people to the preaching. If we roll up our sleeves, they will 
 come. Then in the summer season never mind the church, 
 leave it to the owls and bats ; if the people won't come to the 
 church, go out on tke first street corner you come to and preach, 
 or go to the court-house square, or the park ; anywhere, to get at 
 the people. And then when you get the people, have good sing- 
 ing. And remember when you sing that what the people want is 
 the words. The words, not the music, reach the soul and convert 
 the man. And then shake hands with every one who comes. 
 Instead of staying in the pulpit to pronounce the benediction, I 
 used to go right down to the door while they sang the last hymn, 
 then I'd get them as they passed out. Let the benediction go, 
 but shake hands with them. And we must have plainer churches. 
 And they must not have mortgages upon them. If we are all the 
 time staggering under a big debt, we must be after the money of 
 the people, and that will soon drive them off. When they won't 
 come to the church, or, as many can't come — mothers, washer- 
 women, people with nothing to wear — why, go to them. Ask 
 permission to go down to their rooms and hold a cottage prayer- 
 meeting. Let them call in their neighbors. That commits these 
 people to your side; they are then known to favor religious 
 meetings, and good is done in that way. Don't arrange it so as 
 to keep the hymn-books in the church all the time. Let the 
 people carry the books home, then they'll sing of Jesus while at 
 their home work. 
 
 In answer to question, What was the secret of your success in 
 Chicago ? Mr. Moody said :^The only way I got along in Chicago 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 399 
 
 was by going to preach to the people if they would not come and 
 hear me. 
 
 A Farewell Not Final. 
 
 At the close of the course of meetings in Philadelphia, the 
 Evangelists were greeted in the Old Depot by an immense au- 
 dience, from which thousands were excluded by lack of room, 
 who had come to manifest their interest in the mighty work and 
 its chief promoters. Deep solemnity rested on the vast assem- 
 blage, and many hearts were saddened by the prospect of the 
 departure of the men who had won them to Christ, or stimulated 
 and instructed them as Christian workers. 
 
 Mr. Moody, after making the announcements for the meetings 
 to follow, said that the expenses of the meetings had been paid, 
 but that this evening he would, on his own responsibility, ask for 
 a thank-offering with which to finish and pay for the building now 
 in course of construction for the Young Men's Christian Associ- 
 ation. He said that he desired it also to be distinctly understood 
 that they [Moody and Sankey] were receiving no money from the 
 committee, and declined to have any collections taken up in the 
 meetings. As to the photographs, they had no interest in them, 
 and for eight years he had refused to have any taken. If any 
 one had purchased a copy and felt cheated, he did not pity him. 
 It is true that there is a royalty upon the hymn-books, which is 
 paid over to a committee, consisting of Mr. George H. Stuart of 
 this city, William E. Dodge of New York, and Mr. Farwell of 
 Chicago. He did not know how much had been realized upon 
 the sale of the books in this city, but in order to satisfy any one 
 that no money has been made out of the meetings, the committee 
 would give one thousand dollars as a thank-offering for the Young- 
 Men's Christian Association's Hall. He trusted that two hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars wonld be subscribed. 
 
 He read the following letter: 
 
 Dear Mr. Moody : — Through the instrumentality of the blessed 
 meetings now closing, my darling son, a prodigal, and his wife are 
 
400 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ;, the 
 
 now resting in a Saviour's love. The accompanying ring 
 gift of one dearly loved, and so long worn it seems a part of 
 myself, I now offer to my dear Lord and Master as a thank- 
 offering for His unspeakable blessing. Do with it as the Holy 
 Spirit directs. Please join with me in prayer that my son may be 
 consecrated to God, and be the means of leading many to Christ. 
 
 He said: Enclosed I found a diamond ring with eight dia- 
 monds. One man said he would give $500 for it. If any will 
 give more he can have it, but if not the ring will be sold for $500 
 and the money be given to the Y. M. C. A. Let us now go to 
 work and praise God by giving $280,000 for this object. 
 
 The ushers then began to take the collection up, and almost 
 immediately Mr. Moody announced that three persons had given 
 $70,000, and shortly after that another person had given $10,000 
 more, and that the diamond ring had been sold for $1,000. 
 
 About $100,000 were speedily raised, a short sermon was 
 preached, and then Mr. Moody spoke of his past nine weeks' 
 labor as most precious weeks to him ; but one cloud crossed his 
 path, and that was that he was now to take his leave of them. 
 He wanted to thank the people for their attention, and he wanted 
 their prayers for the success of the work in the metropolis of the 
 country. He thanked the ministers of Philadelphia for their sup- 
 port and sympathy. He also thanked the ushers, choir and re- 
 porters, and invoked the blessing of heaven upon them. 20,000 
 copies of his little book for the unconverted would soon be 
 ready, and copies would be sent to those who are not Christians 
 if they sent their names. 
 
 Finally, he said : We love you, and we want your prayers as 
 we go to New York. He then prayed most earnestly for all s the 
 young converts, that they may be kept true to the faith. 
 
 After singing " Blest be the tie that binds," the happy throng 
 dispersed. 
 
 The Last Farewell. 
 
 After a brief absence from the city, the Evangelists returned 
 Feb. 4th, to bid a last farewell to the thousands who had learned 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 40 1 
 
 to follow them as the multitudes once followed the Master. The 
 Depot-Tabernacle was packed to repletion with an eager multi- 
 tude, many of whom were better content with a few square inches 
 on which to stand, where the words of the Evangelists could be 
 heard, than with all the pleasures of the great world beckoning 
 from the outside. On the stage were almost all the clergymen 
 who have taken an active interest in the movement. 
 Mr. Sankey, by request, sang the beautiful hymn, 
 
 Sowing the seed by the daylight fair. 
 
 The stanzas were sung as a solo by Mr. Sankey, the choir 
 joining in the chorus with much spirit and expression. The 
 chorus of the last verse was sung so softly as to give the sweet 
 effect of a distant choir of angel choristers. At the conclusion of 
 the hymn Mr. Moody arose, and calling attention to the fact 
 that at the last meeting a collection was taken up for the benefit 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association building, said that it 
 was necessary to raise about $280,000, and at the last meeting 
 only $120,000 had been subscribed. It might be supposed that 
 this was a good deal to spend on a building, yet many citizens 
 had private houses worth far more in actual value, and only one 
 family could reap the benefits. But this building was to be a 
 home for thousands of young men who might otherwise be led 
 astray by the brilliant palaces of crime which Satan was con- 
 stantly rearing for the ruin of the young. If it was desirable to 
 redeem young men it was necessary to go where they would 
 naturally congregate, and this association, if provided with con- 
 venient and pleasant quarters, would attract the young of all 
 classes, and there the workers for Christ could labor. Continu- 
 ing, he spoke of the advantages of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association in other cities, showing that in Cleveland especially 
 the results were beyond calculation. Every young man, when 
 converted, became a Christian worker, and was it not better to 
 have one, or two, or three thousand young men voluntarily work- 
 ing for God than letting the young wander in any direction, while 
 a few hundred paid missionaries were vainly striving to stem the 
 
402 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 tide of sin ? He then told an affecting story of a boy who was 
 taken by his father from his Scotland home, and lost in the streets 
 of Chicago while the father was on a drunken spree. The boy 
 became a street gamin, and grew up surrounded by the worst 
 influences. Time passed on, and at length, through the Young 
 Men's Christian Association, the youth was saved. Then, as the 
 love of the Saviour pervaded his heart, the memories of boyhood 
 returned, and he was seized with an irresistible longing to gaze 
 once more on the face of the mother so long lost. He wrote 
 again and again to many different addresses, but the letters were 
 all returned. Almost despairing, he threw himself on his knees, 
 and in anguish called on God to help him. As he prayed, the 
 memory of a long-forgotten village came to his brain, and he 
 seemed to hear some spirit whisper that there he could find a 
 letter awaiting him. He wrote, and received the letter which 
 his mother had written to him seven years before. With this as 
 a guide he found the mother, so long lost, waiting in submission 
 to God's will for the return of her son, and when that son not 
 only returned, but she folded to her arms a Christian, her heart 
 overflowed with joy, and that one moment repaid for all the long 
 years of hopeless longing. " Was not the saving of this young 
 man," asked Mr. Moody, "worth all the money that could be 
 spent on any building ? Did not that mother's tears bestow a 
 double blessing on every giver and every worker in Christ?" 
 Mr. Moody concluded by beseeching those present to each do 
 their share towards forwarding the blessed work of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association by aiding in the erection of a long- 
 needed building. While the ushers were passing through the 
 congregation with the contribution baskets Mr. Sankey sweetly 
 sang a new solo, after which Mr. Moody made a fervent prayer 
 for the blessing of God on the work already done, and asking that 
 on the golden shore of the Beyond all who had found Christ 
 might clasp hands without missing the face of one lost brother. 
 
 The 82d hymn, 
 
 Only an armor-bearer proudly I stand, 
 Waiting to follow the King's command, 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 403 
 
 was next sung by Mr. Sankey, the choir joining heartily in the 
 chorus. At the conclusion of the second verse the entire con- 
 gregation of twelve thousand persons rose to their feet and 
 blended their voices with those of the choir. 
 
 Mr. Moody next arose and said : " I want to call your atten- 
 tion to one little word in the fourth verse of the fourteenth chap- 
 ter of Romans. That little word is able. God is able to hold 
 you, and will hold you up if you have faith in His power, and are 
 not self-confident. There are three enemies which every young 
 convert has — the flesh, the world, and the devil. Don't think you 
 have got rid of them. Not only do the young fall, but some of 
 the most eminent men have fallen after years of walking in the 
 right path. Don't think you are to be wafted into heaven without 
 any effort. You have got to fight — it is a conflict. But how 
 sweet is the thought that God is able to make us stand. But you 
 must let God keep hold of you. It is a great deal better to have 
 God take hold of you than for you to try to take hold of God for 
 safety, while confident not only that you can stand alone, but can, 
 if necessary, retain your grasp. Every Christian's life should be 
 like that of the orange tree. In Florida I saw these trees grow- 
 ing in dry sand, and when I asked how they lived, I was told 
 that every tree had a top root which went right down until it 
 struck water. We, too, must find a fount so pure and revivifying 
 that no surroundings can injure our spiritual growth. Now, I 
 want to call your attention to the second chapter of Hebrews, the 
 eighteenth verse. It is temptation that brings out the character. 
 We don't want to be like hot-house plants. We must learn to 
 overcome temptations. Our Saviour has been tempted, and He 
 knows how to succor them that are tempted. If you are over- 
 taken in a fault, young friends, don't be discouraged ; go right to 
 Christ in your time of trouble and tell it right out. You will find 
 forgiveness and loving aid. Now look at the first chapter of 
 Paul, Second Epistle to Timothy. A great many predict that 
 these young converts will fall away. Perhaps some will. The 
 parable of the sower is as true to-day as it was when Christ first 
 spoke it. But if some seeds have fallen on stony ground or 
 
404 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 among thorns, is it any sign that God is not able to keep what has 
 been committed to Him ? He is able to grant all our wants and 
 to aid us under all circumstances. You may tremble when you 
 look into your own heart, but you can't tremble when you look 
 towards God. The Bank of England is protected by soldiers, 
 who march around it all night long; so the moment your eyes are 
 closed in sleep, God's angels are guarding you. Now, what I par- 
 ticularly want to say to young converts is to become united to 
 some church. If you have got your arm around the cross, don't 
 go to sleep there, forgetful of all others, but while clinging with 
 one hand, reach with the other down into the water and help to 
 save some one else who is struggling in the waves. One danger 
 which young converts always meet is found in spiritual pride, 
 which the devil instils into their hearts. Another danger is the 
 possibility of becoming lukewarm and losing all pride in the work 
 of God. Let ' Word and Work ' be our watchword. If you 
 neglect either the one or the other you won't be successful. But 
 he who holds the word in one hand and works with the other 
 must advance nearer and nearer to the Throne." In closing, he 
 said : " I hate to say farewell. I hate to leave you. The hardest 
 part of our work is when we have to say farewell to those we have 
 prayed with and wept with. Let us pray that God rgay lift us 
 higher and higher. May God bless you ; may God keep you. 
 Keep close to the Saviour ; try to follow Him closer and closer 
 every day. I don't like the word farewell. I'll bid you good- 
 night, and by the grace of God I want to meet you in the morn- 
 ing where night can never come and farewells are never needed." 
 As Mr. Moody ceased, Mr. Sankey touched a few familiar notes 
 on the organ, and in the next moment began in a trembling voice 
 a farewell hymn set to the tune of " Home, Sweet Home." The 
 scene was an affecting one, and many were the glistening eyes 
 among the thousands who seemed to have forgotten that the 
 evangelists were ever to depart. A few moments were next 
 spent in silent prayer, after which the congregation and choir 
 sang in unison " The Sweet Bye and Bye," filling the vast audi- 
 torium with floods of musical sound. The benediction was then 
 pronounced, and the audience gradually dispersed. 
 
THE WORK IN PHILADELPHIA. 405 
 
 The furniture, partitions, floorings, platforms, etc., of the Depot 
 Building were sold at auction the next morning, and realized 
 $3,100. On many of the articles there was a very lively competi- 
 tion. 'This was especially the case in regard to the chairs which 
 had been occupied during some period of the revival meetings by 
 prominent individuals. President Grant's chair was knocked 
 down to Mr. John Wanamaker for $25 ; Mr. Moody's chair to Mr. 
 Stuart for $55 ; Mr. Sankey's chair to Mr. Field for $55 ; Mr. 
 Stuart's chair to Mr. Field, for $26 ; Dr. Newton's chair to Mr. 
 Stuart for $25 ; Mr. John Wanamaker's chair to Mr. Field for 
 $47.50; Mr. Thomas Scott's chair to Mr. Whitney for $20 y 
 Governor Hartranft's chair to Mr. John Wanamaker for $5;; 
 Speaker Blaine's chair to Mr. Field for $5 ; the chief usher's 
 chair to Mr. Stuart for $15. 
 
 Mr. Moody's platform, Bible rest, crimson plush on the pulpit, 
 with a piece of ingrain carpet and speaking tube, were sold to 
 Mr. Baily for $125 ; the towel used by Mr. Moody brought $5, 
 and Mr. Sankey's $5.50; twenty-four car mats were sold to Mr. 
 Davis for $69.75; a Windsor settee to Mr. Manly for $27; the 
 dismissing gong to Mr. Stuart for $10 ; Mr. Baily bought a lounge 
 for $16; six walnut cane-seat chairs for $15; a washstand for 
 $10.50, and a walnut office table for $18 ; Mr. Stuart bought two 
 walnut cane-seat chairs for $12; Mr. Marshall bought a walnut 
 and green reps Spanish chair for $17 ; a set of stone china toilet 
 ware was sold to Mr. Johnson for $10, and a looking-glass to Mr. 
 Stuart for $6.50. There were a large number of articles sold, 
 and the prices obtained were good. 
 
 As a fitting close of this re'sume* of the course of meetings in 
 Philadelphia, we append the remarks of Geo. H. Stuart in New 
 York: 
 
 In October last in our city we attempted a great work for God. 
 Some had high expectations that it would redound largely to the 
 glory of Heaven. They saw a deep spirit of prayer among the 
 clergymen and members of the churches. And what has been the 
 result ? It has far exceeded the highest hopes of the most san- 
 guine. We had little thought to see a hall, one-half larger than 
 
406 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 yours, filled to overflowing every Sabbath with from 7,000 to 
 13,000 people, who came to hear "the old, old story of Jesus and 
 His love." God had heard our prayer, and His work has been 
 continued in all our churches. In my own church — an old 
 Scotch church, which has been little disposed to unite in such 
 religious movements — I have seen what I have never seen before 
 during the forty years that I have known it. At the morning 
 meetings in the depot church on Sundays, the early hour at which 
 people came was remarkable. The watchman has told me he saw 
 men gathering there as early as 4:30 o'clock in the morning ; and 
 on cold mornings in January, the throng was so great at six 
 o'clock that he was obliged to open the doors. My church has 
 had but two pastors in seventy-five years, and on Sunday next it 
 will hold a special communion service — something it has not 
 known in years — and fifty-five new communicants will be there. 
 Two-thirds of them are young men. I know a merchant of your 
 city who was led into the meetings in Philadelphia, and is now 
 reclaimed from a long career of intemperance. I now have in 
 my pocket a letter from his sister, expressing gratitude for what 
 God has done for her brother. My friends, there never was 
 such a time as the present for work — work, work, work, is the 
 motto. We in Philadelphia have followed these brethren here in 
 our prayers. But much will remain for others besides them to 
 do. O, may you all learn to carry this lamp of salvation into the 
 brothels, and houses of shame, and scenes of iniquity, and all 
 dark corners in this great and wicked city. 
 
THE PRINCETON REVIVAL. 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The Princeton Revival. 
 
 Princeton is one of the old towns of New Jersey, famous for 
 being the seat of learning where the Presbyterians of this region 
 and the South chiefly educate their sons. A correspondent, of 
 February tenth, said : 
 
 God's spirit is still doing wondrous things for us. Almost 
 every one is awakened. Our prayer-meetings are filled to over- 
 flowing, and are characterized by great earnestness and power. 
 Those who have lately found Christ are very earnest in leading 
 their associates to seek Him. We hope and pray that not a 
 single one will be left out of the fold. The visit of Messrs. 
 Moody and Sankey has been blessed to us all. 
 
 The oldest professors tell us that this is the most gracious 
 revival the college has ever witnessed. There have already been 
 over eighty conversions ; but we hope for still greater things. 
 
 This reference to the evangelists makes it needful to rehearse 
 more fully their relations to this great work in that intellectual 
 community. And we are again reminded of what has been well 
 touched by a secular paper : 
 
 It is a little difficult to explain or analyze the success of these 
 evangelists. We rather incline to the explanation which Mr. 
 Moody himself always offers, that he is only the mouthpiece and 
 expression of a deep and mysterious wave of religious feeling 
 now passing over the nation. The disasters and disappoint- 
 ments of the year, the reaction against the skepticism and the 
 selfish greed of the day, the deep religious sentiment lying at 
 the bottom of the American character, and the eternal wants of 
 the human heart, have prepared the minds of the people for a 
 profound religious transformation or impulse. 
 
 The clay after the final farewell at Philadelphia, the brethren 
 
408 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 were taken to Princeton, and held a few meetings there. In the 
 narrative that follows, we see how the way had been prepared : 
 
 The revival influence at work among the students is one of 
 notable power. The movement is of recent origin. While 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey were in Philadelphia the students 
 indicated to President McCosh their very general desire that 
 the evangelists should be invited to spend a day at the college. 
 The Doctor gladly undertook to extend the invitation. Visiting 
 the gentlemen at Philadelphia, he obtained from them a promise 
 that they should spend the " Day of Prayer for Colleges " at 
 Princeton. Mr. Moody, however, having to go to Florida, was 
 unable to fulfill his engagement. Then said the students, " Let 
 us go on, as we are, and if we cannot have Mr. Moody, let us 
 beseech the presence of the Lord." With this mind they initi- 
 ated a movement which has had its fruit in an almost unprece- 
 dented interest in spiritual things, heightening and spreading day 
 by day, and yet on the increase. Rev. Dr. W. M. Taylor, of 
 New York, and Dr. Cuyler have been here addressing the stu- 
 dents. On the occasion of the visit of the latter nearly a hun- 
 dred rose for prayer in response to his appeals. This is perhaps 
 the most opportune moment for the coming of Messrs. Moody 
 and Sankey. A student said to me, " It is better that they 
 should come now than that they should have come before, for 
 now the harvest is ripe." 
 
 That an extraordinary condition of spiritual awakening is 
 prevalent was at once manifest when hymn after hymn was given 
 out and caught by the waiting multitude, to pass the time until 
 Mr. Moody should arrive. And the vigor and enthusiasm with 
 which the melodies were rendered betokened a more than su- 
 perficial acquaintance with the " Sacred Songs and Solos." 
 The sonorous voices of the students — bass, tenor, and baritone 
 —blending together in pleasant harmony, and the evident im- 
 pulse and heart with which they sang, produced a fine effect, and 
 made music with a ring that meant something. 
 
 Messrs. Moody and Sankey stepped upon the platform about 
 half-past seven. With them were seated Rev. Dr. McCorkle, 
 pastor of the church ; Rev. Dr. McDonald, of the First Presby- 
 
 
THE PRINCETON REVIVAL. 409 
 
 terian Church ; Professors Aiken and Green, and Mr. G. H. 
 Stuart. Dr. McCosh sat with the audience in front of the 
 pulpit. 
 
 " Come, Thou fount of every blessing," was the opening hymn, 
 Mr. Sankey leading at a portable organ. After prayer by one 
 of the clergy, Mr. Sankey sang the " Ninety and Nine " with his 
 accustomed effect. It was listened to in intense silence. 
 
 Mr. Moody said he would take a subject rather than a text. 
 He understood that there had been quite a religious awakening 
 in the place, and no doubt many were asking the question 
 "Why should I be interested in the Son of God." For this 
 reason he wished to speak to them upon " What Christ is to 
 us." First, said he, Christ is a Saviour. He is a Saviour be- 
 cause man wanted a Saviour, and God, knowing that want, pro- 
 vided for it. And Christ is a Saviour to all. No one yet ever 
 came to Him and was cast out. He is also a deliverer. When 
 we are saved, that is not all. We have only commenced our 
 warfare against sin. Satan snares us again and again into his 
 toils, but Christ is almighty to set us free. He is the Way. 
 When a person is just converted he says : " What church shall 
 I join. There are the Methodists and the Presbyterians, and 
 the Episcopalians, each claiming to be the true church. What 
 am I to do?" Christ says "I am the way." He will be to 
 the guideless one as the cloud and the pillar of fire to the wan- 
 dering Israelites. Some think we are getting wiser than the 
 Bible — it might do for the dark ages, but this is a time of en- 
 lightenment. I always say to these people, " Bring me a better 
 book than the Bible and I will throw it away." You might as 
 well say, " What splendid gas we have now. Let us build all 
 our churches and houses without windows. We don't want the 
 sun any more. It was good enough for our fathers, but we 
 have something better." The illustration was well received. 
 The audience saw its aptness, and smiled assent to its force. 
 Young man, said Mr. Moody, your mother was right. Don't 
 give up your mother's Bible, or your mother's God. Look at 
 those who have cut loose from the old moorings. How do they 
 die ? and how does the Christian die ? Take Christ for your 
 18 
 
4IO MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 guide. He has been down here and blazed out the way, as 
 they say out West, and all we have to do is to follow. Mr. 
 Moody here told with great effect the story of the man whose 
 child was dead, but who saw in a dream his little one in a 
 beautiful land, radiant and happy, and saw her beckon him to 
 come to her — his futile effort to do so, and his hearing the voice 
 of Christ saying to him " I am the way." The impression pro- 
 duced was profound. Many were bathed in tears. But, said 
 the speaker, Christ is also the Light. This he illustrated by 
 telling of a man climbing a high mountain to see the sun rise. 
 A storm raged so furiously that he would fain have retraced his 
 steps. " No," said the guide, " we'll soon be above the storm." 
 A little higher up they found themselves where no rain had 
 been and whence looking down upon the wild play of lightning 
 and turmoil of elements, they were quickly bathed in the rays 
 of an unhidden sun. So with the Christian. Above the storm 
 is light and peace, and the higher one climbs above the en- 
 tanglements of earth, the surer he will be to catch the sun's 
 earliest cheer. " All moonshine " some say of religion. 
 Thank you for the compliment. The moon reflects the light 
 of the sun, and Christians do, or should do the same thing pre- 
 cisely, reflecting the light diffused upon them. He told the 
 story of the blind man carrying a lantern that others might not 
 stumble upon him, to show the importance of our taking care 
 to be living epistles, and lights rather than stumbling-blocks in 
 the way of others. In contrasting the death of the righteous 
 and unsaved, he related the affecting war incident in which a 
 young man dying from his battle-wound sends to his mother 
 and sisters his last message : " Tell them I died trusting in 
 Christ — tell them to be sure and meet me in heaven." 
 
 The students seemed much interested in the recital, and the 
 effect was marked. Going on to speak of skeptics, Mr. Moody 
 said that, unlike many, he had much sympathy for honest 
 doubters, but he had only one word for them all. If they seek 
 wisdom, let them come to God, who " giveth liberally and up- 
 braideth not." His remarks upon this point were admirably 
 calculated for such of the students as might have been inclined 
 
THE PRINCETON REVIVAL. 411 
 
 to cavilling. If they were as they usually profess, only seeking 
 truth, he told them where to apply for it. Lastly, he presented 
 Christ as our Burden-bearer, and appealed to his hearers, if 
 they were burdened with a load of any kind, to roll it off upon 
 Him. If it were a load of sin, did He not take all our sins on 
 His own shoulders, and bear them for us upon the tree ? Was 
 it any other care or trouble, is anything too great for Him to 
 carry? He might go on, did not time forbid, to speak of Him 
 as our Advocate, our Surety, our Justification, our Sanctification 
 — yea our all in all. Surely it is downright madness to turn 
 away from such a friend. Oh, might they see Him as the one 
 altogether lovely, the bright and morning star. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang "Go Bury Thy Sorrow " with exquisite 
 pathos, and Rev. Dr. McDonald pronounced the benediction. 
 
 Mr. Moody was announced to speak to the students at nine 
 in the morning. At that hour the apartment was densely crowded 
 with young students to the number of about five hundred. 
 There were present of the faculty : President McCosh, Profes- 
 sors Green, Hodge, Alexander, Aiken, Macloskie, Duffield, 
 Cameron and Hunt. Mr. Moody arrived in ill-condition, hav- 
 ing a severe headache. The room was a little chilly, and as its 
 smallness compelled him to speak in a much more subdued 
 tone than he is accustomed to, circumstances did not seem to 
 favor the production of any remarkable impression. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang " Free from the law; oh happy condition," 
 as a solo, the audience uniting in the chorus. 
 
 Prof. Macloskie said prayers were requested for two mem- 
 bers of the junior class, and then led in a brief petition. 
 
 Mr. Moody read Romans hi., 10-22, and proceeded to preach 
 his well-known discourse on " For there is no difference." 
 The series of happy illustrations, which will recur to our read- 
 ers, with which he is wont to make clear the equality of man- 
 kind before God, the depravity of his nature, and his need of 
 some means to bring him out of condemnation, were quickly 
 apprehended, and well appreciated by the students. Once in a 
 While as something particularly quaint would escape Mr. Moody's 
 lips, a ripple of merriment would pass over the congregation, 
 
412 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 but so far from levity, it was an expression of sympathy with 
 the speaker's broad and kindly humor, and of that pleasure 
 which we all experience when an illustration is strikingly origi- 
 nal, and when in connection with its accompanying truth it 
 seems particularly " pat." But in his pathetic mood, in the 
 relation of war tales and incidents having to do with domestic 
 concernments, the effect he produced was even more pronounced. 
 If professors and students seem all intellect, under Mr. Moody's 
 spell they quickly betray that they have tenderest heart§. Grey- 
 browed dignitaries wept to-day with the youngest freshmen. 
 When at the close of his exhortation Mr. Moody requested 
 such as desired to be remembered in prayer to rise, fifteen 
 students, regardless of any presence, responded ; and when he 
 wished the Christians in the room who desired to be endued 
 with more consecration to rise also, the audience seemed to 
 spring to their feet en masse, the merest fraction retaining their 
 seats. Surely the Lord is working here, and moving in 
 His might. 
 
 Fully half an hour before the time for commencing the after- 
 noon meeting (3.30) the Second Presbyterian church w r as 
 packed in every part. All the afternoon, sleighs came in from 
 the country, bringing their burdens from far and near, and as 
 soon as the church doors were opened continuous processions 
 -filed through them and quickly filled up the building. The 
 inevitable confusion resultant upon trying to find every one 
 seats or even standing accommodation, ensued. Chairs were 
 handed about over people's heads, all manner of pushing and 
 crowding occurred, and a good deal of jostling pleasantly sub- 
 mitted to. The interval before the hour of opening was spent 
 in singing a number of hymns, and in occasional supplication 
 in the words of several of the clergymen present. 
 
 At half-past three Mr. Sankey, with Messrs. Stuart and Cree, 
 of Philadelphia, entered. Mr. Stuart announced that in conse- 
 quence of indisposition Mr. Moody would be unable just then 
 to participate. He asked Mr. Sankey to take charge of the 
 meeting until Mr. Moody should arrive, in case he should be 
 able to attend. 
 
 
THE PRINCETON REVIVAL. 413 
 
 Mr. Sankey gave out the hymn, " I need Thee every hour," 
 which was sung by the audience standing. Prayer was offered 
 by Dr. Aiken. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said he would sing " Jesus of Nazareth passeth 
 by." He related an incident that had in his mind entwined 
 itself around it. It was that of the young man in Brooklyn 
 who had promised his old mother in Dundee that he would 
 attend Mr. Moody's meetings if he had opportunity, and who 
 consequently frequented the meetings at the Rink and was 
 converted. " Too late — too late ! " in this little song were the 
 words that reached his heart. The solo was then rendered in 
 Mr. Sankey's most fervent manner. 
 
 Mr. T. K. Cree, of Philadelphia, gave some account of the 
 work and the harvest in that city, comparing the numbers that 
 thronged the depot with the present gathering, to afford some 
 realization of the magnitude of the former. He proceeded to 
 speak upon the utility of the inquiry room and the value of 
 individual effort, urging the people of Princeton to make use of 
 these most important means of influence. He gave a number 
 of practical hints to further the success of any such measures, 
 and closed with an appeal to the unconverted. 
 
 The hymn " Hallelujah, 'tis done," was sung by Mr. Sankey, 
 the audience taking up the chorus with great spirit. 
 
 Mr. Stuart here said he had just received a message from 
 Mr. Moody, stating that he was hungry for work, and that 
 while he could not come to this meeting, his presence might be 
 relied upon this evening. 
 
 Mr. Stuart proceeded to supplement Mr. Cree's report of 
 the awakening in Philadelphia by telling in glowing terms of 
 its extent and power as he had observed it. He also laid great 
 stress on the value of inquiry meetings. They had been of vast 
 benefit to the Christians of his city in entangling them into 
 actual contact with sinners, and imbuing them with a love of 
 the work. 
 
 " In fact," said he, "I am not ashamed to say to you here at 
 Princeton that during my forty-three years of God's service I 
 never knew what Christian life was until within the last nine 
 
414 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 weeks." He gave a number of instances indicating how wide- 
 spread and unmistakable have been the fruits of the great cam- 
 paign. In closing, he made a stirring appeal to newly converted 
 Christians to be alive to the rescue of their fellows, and then to 
 the unsaved, whom he entreated most affectionately to accept 
 redemption. 
 
 The impulse thus given to the revival carried it forward until 
 a very thorough renovation took place, so that a well-informed 
 observer writes : 
 
 The revival in Princeton college is regarded as one of the 
 most remarkable means of grace now transpiring, or that has 
 taken place for many years in college life. There are nearly 
 five hundred students in that institution. Fully one hundred 
 conversions are said to have taken place since the week of 
 prayer. And the college officers declare that at this time there 
 is scarcely a student who is not more or less serious on the 
 subject of his personal salvation. Before the work began, there 
 were about one hundred professed Christians among the stu- 
 dents, but in a generally cold state. The week of prayer wit- 
 nessed a quickening among these, and they resolved that each 
 one would labor personally and earnestly with some one of the 
 unconverted to bring them to Christ. By the blessing of God 
 this personal Christian labor has resulted in the wonderful work 
 of saving grace now witnessed. 
 
 Mr. Moody himself said in his first sermon in New York : 
 
 I have just come from Princeton, and I must confess that I 
 have not seen anything in America that has pleased me like 
 what I have seen in Princeton. They have got a Holy Ghost 
 revival there. The President of the college told me he had 
 never seen anything like it, and one of the faculty told me he 
 had never seen anything like it in Princeton. Well, I inquired 
 into it and I found that they had been disappointed and could 
 get nobody to come, and so they determined to hold meetings 
 themselves, and they did, and one of the faculty got up and 
 asked them to pray for him, and right there the work broke 
 out and there have been brought back to the fold of Christ fifty 
 
THE PRINCETON REVIVAL. 415 
 
 within the last few days, and it looks now as if all Princeton 
 was going to be blessed. 
 
 I saw more zeal when I was in Princeton last Sunday than I 
 have in many a year. I was talking to the students there about 
 their souls, and after I had been talking for some time, quite a 
 group of young men gathered around me, and the moment that 
 one of them made a surrender and said, " Well I will accept 
 Christ," it seemed as if there were twenty-five hands pressed 
 right down to shake hands with him. Tha^t is what we want — 
 men that will rejoice to hear of the conversion of men. 
 
 To the depth and vitality of the work, we are able to add this 
 crowning testimony : Our prayer meetings are largely attended 
 and marked by a deep and quiet solemnity. We have reached 
 that stage in the work which the early Church experienced im- 
 mediately after the day of Pentecost, when souls were added 
 to the church daily. 
 
 One by one, those of whose conversion we had almost de- 
 spaired, rise to tell us of their hope in -a newly found Saviour. 
 Croakers and scoffers have been put to silence by the stead- 
 fastness of the converts. Men enslaved to habit, whose college 
 life had been characterized by every species of excess, are now 
 " careful to depart from all iniquity," and have become active 
 workers in the cause of Christ. Skeptics seek in vain a solution 
 of such phenomena. It is the " mystery of godliness." 
 
 From this centre of religious influence a spirit of revival has 
 radiated into many hearts, homes and churches of the land. 
 We are now hearing from numbers of churches blessed with rich 
 outpourings of the Spirit, begun by the simple accounts given 
 by the students of the gracious work here. Some of the stu- 
 dents devoted the vacation of two weeks exclusively to such 
 work, in the churches of their respective homes and elsewhere, 
 and God has blessed these humble efforts to the conversion of 
 many souls. 
 
416 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Hippodrome of New York. 
 
 A clergyman writing to Philadelphia gives a graphic sketch : 
 
 As in Philadelphia, the location of our Tabernacle is in the 
 very centre of the city, accessible from every direction by all 
 classes. On one side of it lie the homes of wealth, the avenues 
 of fashion, and the great hotels, on the other the masses of the 
 middle classes, and a little beyond, the crowded abodes of the 
 poor and the dens of wretchedness and vice. It is the old de- 
 pot of the Harlem Railroad, and occupies the block bounded 
 by Madison and Fourth Avenues and Twenty-sixth and Twenty- 
 seventh streets. It was the scene of Barnum's great pageant, 
 and subsequently of Gilmore's monster concerts. It is about 
 one-fourth larger than your " Depot Church." Mr. Varley 
 preached here for several Sabbaths, the first occasion being a 
 wonder to every one. On a- wild and stormy winter's night, 
 fifteen thousand people crowded the place, while multitudes were 
 unable to gain entrance. Frequently then the roar of the wild 
 beasts would be heard mingling with the singing and prayers. 
 
 The committee have rented this structure at one thousand 
 five hundred dollars a week and spent ten thousand dollars in 
 fitting it for the meetings. It has been divided into two great 
 halls, one seating six thousand five hundred, the other four thou- 
 sand, while between there is a wide space inclosed for inquiry- 
 rooms and for the evangelists, with a passage from one to the other 
 for their use. It is expected that after speaking in the large 
 room Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey will pass over to the other or 
 overflow meeting, where meantime addresses and prayers are to 
 be made by clergymen and laymen, chosen for their adaptation 
 to such work. 
 
 The appearance of the rooms is warm and business-like. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 417 
 
 There will not be the vast sea of twelve thousand faces as in 
 Philadelphia, but it is thought more effective work can be done 
 with a more limited number. No tickets are issued to the gen- 
 eral public. Except the " workers " and choir, all are on a par 
 in this respect, welcome, up to the capacity of the building. 
 
 It was not a pleasant thing for our metropolitan Christians to 
 be compelled to wait till Brooklyn and Philadelphia had been 
 visited by the evangelists, before our turn would come. But 
 the Lord has had better thoughts concerning us than our own. 
 The interval has been a season of instruction and preparation 
 such as cannot fail to render their labors among us far more 
 fruitful than they could otherwise have been. On the one hand 
 the edge of mere curiosity has been dulled and the glamour of 
 novelty been dispelled. Much has been learned by us from the 
 experience of our two neighboring cities, both of the hindrances 
 and the helps to a solid success. Plenty of time for preparatory 
 work on the part of our committees has been allowed, and as 
 for our churches, the Lord has been anointing them with fresh 
 oil and girding them with power by a spiritual refreshing and 
 quickening, so that while we are disposed to lean less upon these 
 beloved men, we are yet in more thorough sympathy with their 
 spirit, and welcome them with a chastened joy and solemn 
 earnestness which we might not otherwise have felt. 
 
 Many Christians are already full of work in gathering a har- 
 vest in their own congregations ; so there will be more room for 
 the unconverted to fill the seats at the Hippodrome, while meet- 
 ings will be so regulated in the different churches as to allow 
 efficient cooperation on the part of the pastors and devout men 
 and women with the general work of the evangelists. Already 
 a band of several hundred have consecrated themselves to the 
 special duties of the inquiry- room. They represent all evangel- 
 ical denominations, and all our prominent churches, and have 
 been under training for weeks past through lectures from expe- 
 rienced pastors in Dr. Ormiston's church, which has been crowd- 
 ed by those anxious to hear the most practical truths connected 
 with directing the soul to its Saviour. Meantime a fragrant 
 cloud of prayer has been ascending from our home altars, our 
 18* 
 
418 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 noon-day meetings (of which we have had four in different parts 
 of the city), and from all our churches, that the Lord would 
 work mightily. We firmly believe that the day of Pentecost has 
 fully come. 
 
 A preparatory meeting was held Sabbath evening for dedica- 
 tion of the building and consecration of the laborers. Wm. E. 
 Dodge, chairman of the general committee, presided. About 
 one thousand five hundred were present, it being a stormy night 
 and the meeting held at 9 o'clock. There was nothing formal. 
 Bishop James, the Rev. Drs. Paxton, T. D. Anderson, and 
 Tucker, Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, the Rev. Dr. C. C. Tiffany, and 
 others, engaged in prayer and tender appeal, all breathing the 
 spirit of utter dependence on the Infinite arm, and travailing for 
 the souls of sinners. 
 
 Monday night a dense mass of people blocked the streets in 
 the vicinity of the Hippodrome. In twenty minutes after the 
 opening of the doors seven thousand people were quietly seated, 
 or standing in the main hall, and four thousand in the other ; 
 while several thousand lingered around the doors to catch the 
 echo of the speakers and the singers. 
 
 The audience represented mainly the middle and upper classes 
 of our population, and appeared about equally divided between 
 church people and the irreligious. There was, however, a pre- 
 vailing atmosphere of seriousness rather than of curiosity. On 
 the platform the pastors of the city were largely represented, and 
 a choir of five hundred were at the left of the speaker's stand. 
 In many respects the arrangements for ushers and telegraphic 
 communication are the same as in Philadelphia. Promptly at 
 8 o'clock, Messrs. Moody and Sankey appear on the platform. 
 They do not seem at all worn with their previous labors. " Let 
 us all bow our heads in silent prayer," is Mr. Moody's first 
 utterance, and instantly, as when a wind sweeps over a field of 
 grain, all are bowed and a thrilling stillness follows. Then 
 " Jesus lover of my soul," rings out. Bishop Janes leads in 
 prayer ; " Hold the Fort " wakes the echoes of the room and 
 stirs the blood of thousands and is followed by the sweet song 
 significant at this moment, "What shall the Harvest be?" 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 419 
 
 Tears are in many eyes. And now Mr. Moody announces his 
 text, " But God hath chosen the weak things of the world to 
 confound the things that are mighty." 
 
 Just as we expected, his theme was the plan of God to work 
 powerfully through human weakness, that the glory may be his. 
 He warned them against dependence on crowds, or instruments, 
 or accessions. Urged them to crucify the great " I," to have our 
 face in the dust that we may receive God's message and proclaim 
 it with success. I cannot give a description of the sermon ; they 
 who have heard the like do not need it. Every one feels that the 
 meeting was all that could be desired for tone and spiritual vigor. 
 Mr. Moody has improved surprisingly in his delivery. When 
 in Brooklyn he spoke 220 words per minute. Last evening he 
 spoke only about 180. Moreover, the arrangement of his topics 
 has more system than heretofore, and his first effort in this city 
 was much more powerful than the first one in Brooklyn. The 
 closing part was the best, and at the culminating point a chorus 
 of " amens " came from all parts of the vast assembly, and when 
 he said " O may the spirit of Elisha rest upon us here," the full 
 force of his remarks fell with great power upon the congregation. 
 Additional experience has improved Mr. Moody very materially. 
 It is the testimony of his friends that the more he preaches the 
 better he preaches. Years ago he stammered badly, but has 
 continually been improving, and in other respects he is growing 
 stronger and more intense. There is the same deep faith in the 
 power of Christianity to save the world from sorrow and sin, but 
 it glows with an intense flame. His faith is a living one. It 
 is a power, active on all occasions, and which at no time grows 
 cold or lifeless. 
 
 If it was a surprise to the journalist that thousands should 
 pour out on a wintry night to the cheerless Hippodrome, which 
 is one of the monuments of the career of the gigantic humbug 
 of the generation, to hear the Scriptures expounded by this 
 uncouth exhorter, this wonder must have grown when the same 
 vast throng crowded the places of meeting the next day and 
 evening, and continued to do so for months. Many a circum- 
 stance clearly proved that the central figure was the earnest 
 

 
 420 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 talker. In his sermon on "faith " he related thrilling incidents 
 and made powerful appeals. 
 
 When I was at Nashville, during our late war, I was closing 
 the noon prayer-meeting one day and a great strong man came 
 up to me, trembling from head to foot. He took a letter out of 
 his pocket and wanted to have me read it. It was a letter from 
 his sister. The sister stated in that letter that every night as 
 the sun went down she went on her knees to pray for him. The 
 sister was six hundred miles away, and said the soldier, " I never 
 thought of my soul until last night. I have stood before the 
 cannon's mouth and it never made me tremble, but, sir, I 
 haven't slept a wink since I got that letter." I think there is 
 many a Christian here who understands what that letter meant. 
 The Lord had seen her faith. It was God honoring faith, and 
 it was God answering prayer. And so, my friends, if God sees 
 our faith, these friends that we are anxious for will be brought 
 to Christ. 
 
 Let us go out and bring all our friends here, and if there is 
 poor preaching, we can bring down from Heaven the necessary 
 blessings without good preaching. In Philadelphia a skeptic 
 came in just out of curiosity. He wanted to see the crowd, and 
 he hadn't more than crossed the threshold of the door before 
 the Spirit of God met him, and I asked him if there was any- 
 thing in the sermon that influenced him,*in hopes that I was 
 going to get something to encourage me ; but he could not tell 
 what the text was. I asked him if it was the singing, but he. 
 didn't know what Mr. Sankey had sung. It was the power of 
 God alone, that converted him, and that is what we want in 
 these meetings. If we have this power, when we invite our 
 friends here, the Lord will meet them and will apswer prayer 
 and save them. Let us go and bring our unconverted friends 
 here. All through the services let us be lifting up our hearts 
 in prayer, God save our friend ! O God, convert him ! And 
 in answer to our prayer the Lord will save them. 
 
 While in London there was a man away off in India— a godly 
 father— who had a son in London, and he got a furlough and 
 came from India to London to see after his son's spiritual wel- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 42 I 
 
 fare. Do you think God let that man come thus far without 
 honoring that faith. No. He converted that son, and that is 
 the kind we want — where faith and works go together ; and if 
 we have faith God will honor it and answer our prayer. Only 
 a few years ago in the city of Philadelphia there was a mother 
 that had two sons. They were just going as fast as they could 
 to ruin. They were breaking her heart, and she went into a 
 little prayer-meeting and got up and presented them for prayer. 
 They had been on a drunken spree or had just got started in 
 that way, and she knew that their end would be a drunkard's 
 grave, and she went among these Christians and said, " Won't 
 you just cry to God for my two boys " ? The next morning 
 those two boys had made an appointment to meet each other 
 on the corner of Market and Thirteenth-sts. — though not that 
 they knew anything about our meeting — and while one of them 
 was there at the corner, waiting for his brother to come, he fol- 
 lowed the people who were flooding into the depot building, 
 and the spirit of the Lord met him, and he was wounded and 
 found his way to Christ. After his brother came, he found the 
 place too crowded to enter, so he too went curiously into an- 
 other meeting and found Christ, and went home happy; and 
 when he got home he told his mother what the Lord had done 
 for him, and the second son came in with the same tidings. I 
 heard one get up afterward to tell his experience in the young 
 converts' meeting, and he had no sooner told the story than 
 the other got up and said : " I am that brother, and there is not 
 a happier home in Philadelphia than we have got ; " and they 
 went out, bringing their friends to Christ. 
 
 Let us now show our faith by our works. Let us away to 
 our friends, to our neighbors, and to those we have an influence 
 over, and let us talk about Christ and let us plead with God 
 that they may be converted, and instead of there being a few 
 thousand converted in New York, tens of thousands can be con- 
 verted ; and let our prayers go up to God in our homes and 
 around our family altars. Let the prayers go up, ' ; O, God, 
 save my unconverted husband." " O, God, save my uncon- 
 verted wife." "O, God, save my unconverted children," and 
 
42 2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 God will hear that cry. As I was coming out of a daily prayer- 
 meeting in one of our Western cities, a mother came up to me 
 and said, " I want to have you see my husband and ask him to 
 come to Christ." I took out my memorandum book, and I put 
 down his name. She says, " I want to have you go and see 
 him." I knew the name and that it was a learned judge, and 
 so said to her, " I can't argue with him. He is a good deal 
 older than I am and it would be out of place. Then I am not 
 much for infidel argument." " Well, Mr. Moody," she says, 
 " that ain't what he wants. He's got enough of that. Just ask 
 him to come to the Saviour." She urged me so hard and so 
 strong, that I consented to go. I went up to the office, where 
 the Judge was doing business, to tell him what I had come for. 
 He laughed at me. "You are very foolish," he said, and be- 
 gan to argue with me. I said, " I don't think it will be profit- 
 able for me to hold an argument with you. I have just one 
 favor I want to ask of you, and that is that when you are con- 
 verted you will let me know. v " Yes," said he, " I will do that. 
 When I am converted I will let you know " — with a good deal 
 of sarcasm. I thought the prayers of that wife would be an- 
 swered if mine were not. A year and a half after I was in that 
 city, and a servant came to my door and said : " There is a man 
 in the drawing-room." I found the Judge there. He said : " I 
 promised to let you know when I was converted." I had heard 
 it from other lips, but I wanted to hear it from his own. He 
 said his wife had gone out to a meeting one night and he was 
 home alone, and while he was sitting there by the fire he thought, 
 " Supposing my wife is right, and my children are right ; sup- 
 pose there is a heaven and hell, and I shall be separated from 
 them." His first thought was, "I don't believe a word of it." 
 The second thought came, " You believe in the God that created 
 you, and that the God that created you is able to teach you.: 
 You believe that God can give you life." "Yes, the God that 
 created me can give me life. I was too proud to get down on 
 my knees by the fire, and I said, ' O, God, teach me.' And as 
 I prayed, I don't understand it, but it began to get very dark, 
 and my heart got very heavy. I was afraid to tell my wife, and 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 423 
 
 I pretended to be asleep. She kneeled down beside that bed, 
 and I knew that she was praying for me. I kept crying, ' O 
 God, teach me.' I had to change my prayer, ' O God, save 
 me j O God, take away this burden.' But it grew darker and 
 darker, and the load grew heavier and heavier. All the way 
 to my office I kept crying, ' O God, take away this load.' I 
 gave my clerks a holiday, and just closed my office and locked 
 the door. I fell down on my face ; I cried in agony to my Lord, 
 ' O Lord, for Christ's sake take away this guilt.' I don't know 
 how it was, but it began to grow very light. I said, ' I wonder 
 if this isn't what they call conversion. I think I will go and 
 ask the minister if I am not converted." The old Judge said 
 to me : " Mr Moody, I have enjoyed life in the last three months 
 more than all put together." The Judge did not believe. The 
 wife did, and God honored her faith and saved that man. And 
 he went up to Springfield, 111., and the old Judge stood up there 
 and told those politicians what God, for Christ's sake, had 
 done for him. And now let this text sink down deep into your 
 hearts : " When He saw their faith." Let us lift up our hearts 
 to God in prayer that He may give us faith. 
 
 At the prayer-meeting at noon Mr. Moody, before reading 
 the Psalm said : Now let us at once get down to ourselves. 
 If we are only quickened and revived ourselves as Christians, 
 there will be no trouble about reaching the world. In this fifty- 
 first Psalm the Psalmist thirty-three times refers to himself. He 
 is not praying for the Church now, not praying for Jerusalem 
 now, not praying for His kingdom now, but praying for himself. 
 It is a good thing sometimes to get home to ourselves, especially 
 we that are engaged in working for our brothers. While we 
 are looking after the vineyards of others, we sometimes neglect 
 ourselves. It does us good sometimes just to get down to our- 
 selves. While reading the psalm, Mr. Moody stopped short 
 at the passage, " Create a clean heart in me, O God ! and re- 
 new a right spirit within me," and said : 
 
 It seems as if here is where we might well stop and say a 
 word. Fs our heart clean in the sight of God ? Has He re- 
 newed a right spirit within as ? Do we show that in our home, 
 
424 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 in our daily life, in our business, and in our contact with 
 others ? If we do not, it seems to me it is better to be praying 
 for ourselves than for others, that the world may see that we 
 have been with God's spirit. If we are a great way from Christ 
 in all our ways, our words will be cold and empty, and we can- 
 not reach the world. There is power enough in this room to 
 move all New York if we had the right spirit and clean hearts. 
 A friend of mine told me he had been preaching some time with- 
 out seeing any result in his church, and he began to cry to God 
 that he might have a blessing in his church. He said weeks 
 went on and the answer didn't come, and he felt as if he must 
 either have a blessing or give up the ministry. He must have 
 souls or die, and he said that on one Sunday he threw himself 
 on his knees in his study and cried to God : Oh, God ! break 
 this heart of mine and give me a contrite spirit. Just at this 
 moment he heard a faint rap at the door, and opening it, his 
 little child, four years old, entered. She had heard her father's 
 prayer, and she said : " Father, I wish you would pray for me. 
 I want a clean heart." " And," said he, " God broke my heart, 
 and at the next meeting there were forty inquirers, after that 
 one sermon. " Oh, that our hearts may be tender, and may we 
 know what it is to have broken hearts and contrite spirits. " 
 
 Mr. Sankey said he desired to call attention to that part of 
 the psalm commencing, " Restore to us the joy of thy salva- 
 tion." The audience now became expectant at the prospect of 
 hearing this evangelist speak, as he rarely makes addresses at 
 the revival meetings. He told the story of a minister in Lon- 
 don who was with them in their work. " He had been working 
 with us," said the singer, " and yet did not seem to have any 
 joy and happiness, but was sad and weary-looking, and I 
 noticed that the burden of his prayer was, " Restore unto us 
 the joy of thy salvation ; " but I also observed that when the 
 inquirers of God were going into the inquiry-room to be spoken 
 with, that dear man of God took his hat and went home. He 
 may have gone home to pray, but he didn't seem to have any 
 joy for a long time. One evening, instead of going home, he 
 took his hat and went into the inquiry-room to labor for the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 425 
 
 Lord there, and who should sit down opposite in that crowded 
 inquiry-room but his own son that he had been praying for for 
 years ! God directed him to that chair, and he spoke to the 
 boy arid knelt down and prayed with him and God blessed the 
 son there, and the father came back the next day and looked 
 as if God had restored to him the joy of his salvation, and he 
 stood up and tola! the story whenever he went to work for 
 Jesus in the vineyard, and wherever he went God blessed him, 
 and joy was restored. I hope it will be so here that instead of 
 waiting and watching for feeling, we will go to the work each 
 one of us and see if God will not restore to us speedily the joy 
 of his salvation, and may be we will see some of our own dear 
 sons that are here to-day." 
 
 The Rev. William Lloyd gave his experience of the efficacy 
 of prayer. He said that a few months ago during service in 
 his church an aged man stood up and said he was the only one 
 of a large family who believed in Christ. He was very much 
 distressed, and said he had a daughter who had sailed for Cali- 
 fornia, and that he desired the prayers of the congregation for 
 a change of heart in her. The congregation complied with his 
 request, and in a short time, to the great surprise of an aged 
 parent, a letter came to him from his daughter, bringing the 
 glad tidings that she had given her heart to Christ. 
 
 Muddy streets, a rainy evening, and the fact that several of 
 the churches were holding their regular prayer-meetings did not 
 diminish the number in the congregation which visited the Hip- 
 podrome the third evening. 
 
 When the first stanza of the hymn " Only an Armor-bearer" 
 had been sung the whole audience rose, making a low murmur 
 in their movement, and joined in the chorus, " Hear ye the Bat- 
 tle-cry." The impression was deep at this moment, and at 
 intervals, when the singers paused for breath, the vast hall was 
 as quiet as though no one had been there. Mr. Moody read a 
 part of the first chapter of Joshua, and then prayed that the 
 blessing of Heaven might come upon all those present, as it 
 had upon Joshua in the days of old. As the rain comes down 
 from heaven so may Thy blessing fall upon us. The hymn, 
 

 426 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 " Nothing but leaves, the Spirit grieves," was sung with 
 deep emotion and produced a noticeable effect upon the list- 
 eners. 
 
 Mr. Moody's sermon was even more earnest than those he 
 has delivered before in the Hippodrome, and its persuasive 
 power was greater than that of any of its predecessors. "• I 
 don't want false excitement — God forbid it," he said, and with 
 the words a murmur of approval was noticeable. " We must 
 light our torch here and go forth ; give the key-note to our pur- 
 poses in these meetings. Are not souls worth more than this 
 Republic?" he cried, and emphasized it with forcible gestures. 
 In this part of the sermon the attention of the audience was 
 very close. Seldom could an eye be found in the audience 
 which did not rest upon the preacher. His mention of the fire- 
 man who saved a child from perishing in flames was impressive 
 in its expression, and carried emotion to many who had vivid 
 recollections of the Broadway conflagration. 
 
 This was the illustration : — Once, when a great fire broke 
 out at midnight and people thought that all the inmates had 
 been taken out, way up there in the fifth story was seen a little 
 child crying for help. Up went a ladder, and soon a fireman 
 was seen ascending to the spot. As he neared the second story 
 the flames burst in fury from the windows, and the multitude 
 almost despaired of the rescue of the child. The brave man 
 faltered, and a comrade at the bottom cried out, " Cheer ! " and 
 cheer upon cheer arose from the crowd. Up the ladder he 
 went and saved the child because they cheered him. If you 
 cannot go into the heat of the battle yourself, if you cannot go 
 into the harvest field and work day after day, you can cheer 
 those that are working for the Master. 
 
 During the meetings of Mr. Moody in Brooklyn, a young 
 man heard him explain the way of salvation. He was not 
 specially affected by the truth, and returned to his boarding- 
 house only to comment in a critical and scoffing spirit. At the 
 table he was requested to give an outline of the sermon ; and, 
 as he related the points and illustrations of the preacher, a 
 young lady, who was a silent listener to his narrative, was con- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 427 
 
 victed and led to see the plan of salvation, and gave her heart 
 to Christ. 
 
 It was a touching request for prayers, that of twenty-six 
 mothers, present at the Hippodrome noon prayer-meeting, for 
 the salvation of their unconverted children. Twenty-six mothers' 
 hearts yearning before God for the souls of their children, and 
 more than twenty-six hundred sympathizing Christian hearts, 
 uniting with them at the throne of grace, for the salvation of 
 those they loved and cherished. 
 
 The fire now kindled burned hotter each day and night. Five 
 distinct meetings were held at the Hippodrome, the attendance 
 being largely increased over that of the previous day. A notice- 
 able growth of interest was manifested. In addition to the 
 regular services at noon and 8 p. m., special meetings were 
 given for women and young men, and an auxiliary meeting was 
 held in the small hall in the evening. Mr. Moody's sermon 
 was based on the parable of the three men with their master's 
 talents, and was one of the best he has preached since he 
 returned from Europe. It made a profound impression ; hundreds 
 were in tears. The aggregate attendance at all the meetings 
 was about twenty thousand, though in many cases the same per- 
 sons were present at several meetings. Christian workers were 
 engaged until a late hour with nearly two hundred interested 
 inquirers. 
 
 Mr. Moody's manner was more impressive and his address 
 even more fervent than on any of the previous evenings. During 
 several portions of it the audience were moved to tears, and 
 throughout the entire sermon the deepest attention was paid to 
 every sentence uttered. There was apparently a much smaller 
 proportion of people who came from curiosity, than there has 
 been since the service began. 
 
 When Mr. Moody had finished his sermon, "I need Thee 
 every hour " was sung, and the Rev. J. S. Kennard and Dr. 
 Arm itage prayed. Those who wished to attend the meeting for 
 young men were requested to retire to the small hall, and such 
 as desired to talk with Christians were asked to go into the in- 
 quiry-rooms between the two halls. Others who chose to re- 
 
428 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 main were invited to do so, and while the choir sang again " I 
 need Thee every Hour," the audience became a moving sea of 
 human beings, going in all directions. Some went home, others 
 sought seats in the front of the room, hundreds joined the meet- 
 ing for young men, and about two hundred accompanied Chris- 
 tians to the inquiry-rooms. For those who remained the 
 Rev. Drs. Ormiston, and Paxton and William E. Dodge offered 
 prayers. The inquiry-rooms were busy places. In all parts 
 of them were groups of two or three persons earnestly engaged 
 in conversation on religious topics. The success attained was 
 regarded as surprising at this stage of the revival. Mr. Moody 
 was greatly encouraged. 
 
 Mr. Sankey came in. Before singing the " Ninety and Nine," 
 he said he feared many were present who came from curiosity, 
 yet he hoped they would go away with a different feeling in their 
 hearts. Men could not be saved in their own way, he said, but 
 they must come to Christ in his way. They must believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ and go to the blessed Bible to find out 
 the way. The way of the righteous was the only right way. 
 " God forbid," he said, " that we should lead any in any other 
 way ! For years Jesus has been leading me where I never could 
 have gone myself." 
 
 He then sang the " Ninety and Nine," and when he had fin- 
 ished the Rev. G. H. Hepworth made an address, in which he 
 urged his hearers to become Christians. 
 
 Immediately after the close of the overflow meeting, the 
 meeting for young men in the smaller hall began. The ground 
 floor of the room was filled and a few seats in the galleries were 
 occupied. The meeting was opened at 9:15 by Mr. Moody, who 
 announced the hymn, " Sweet Hour of Prayer." 
 
 A large number of persons asked for the prayers of Christians 
 for their relatives and friends. One spoke in behalf of his 
 brother, another for his son-in-law, another for three sons, an- 
 other for a backsliding brother. The requests were numerous 
 and made so rapidly that frequently four or five or more persons 
 were speaking at the same moment. The interest felt was 
 more intense than it has been at any time since the revival be- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 429 
 
 gan. Then a request was made that those who wished for their 
 own salvation, who desired to become Christians, should rise, 
 and the request met with many responses. Mr. Moody ex- 
 claimed, " Truly God is here ! " and then said, " Let us pray." 
 His voice was filled with emotion as he prayed ; his words 
 seemed almost broken as they fell from his lips, and it appeared 
 that his voice would fail him, as he spoke with great feeling and 
 earnestness. Mr. Moody announced the 54th hymn, "Just as 
 I am," and requested all those who had risen for prayers and 
 all those who were anxious for the salvation of their souls to go 
 into the inquiry-rooms, where Christian friends would meet and 
 help them. 
 
 Mr. Moody, at the close of his address, said that a young 
 men's meeting would be held in the Fourth Avenue hall, and 
 while the choir was singing a hymn, he made his way through 
 the passage connecting the halls, and appeared on the other 
 platform. He said that when in Scotland, he was asked to or- 
 ganize a young men's meeting. He did so, first in Edinburgh, 
 and afterwards in Glasgow, and they were a great success. 
 Eight different meetings were held at the same time. He 
 wished the people here could only see them. They did not 
 think such a meeting would be so successful in America, but 
 tried it in Philadelphia, and in a short time they had an average 
 of a thousand at every meeting. Now, said he, do you want 
 such a thing ? Will you pray for it and work for it ? He called 
 for a show of hands of those who were in favor of its being or- 
 ganized, and was greatly pleased at the number held up. All 
 who had any relatives or friends that they wished to have prayed 
 for were called upon to make their requests known. 
 
 Four years ago a young man — a very wayward son, given to 
 drink and sin, long prayed for by a Christian father — was sent 
 out to sea, that he might escape the temptations he could not 
 resist. Now he has come back again, his heart unchanged, 
 until, in God's providence, he sauntered into the Hippodrome, 
 and there the Lord met him and touched his heart, and his 
 friends are praying that the work may be finished, and are fully 
 expecting to see the penitent saved. 
 
43° MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Then came the case of a drunkard awakened under the 
 preaching in the Brooklyn Rink meetings last fall. The man 
 seemed very much in earnest at the time, but though deeply 
 impressed, he did not take hold of Christ ; and though kept from 
 drink for months, he yielded once more to the temptation of 
 the cup and became intoxicated. Half-way salvation is no 
 salvation. 
 
 ''Almost will not avail, 
 Almost is sure to fail ; 
 Sad, sad that bitter wail : 
 Almost, but lost ! " 
 
 Worldly questions and replies. 
 
 A contemporary presents a question in connection with the 
 revival movement of Moody and Sankey that is not without 
 interest. It asks whether the marvellous results that have 
 been achieved by the evangelists, so far as crowds and manifest- 
 ations of emotions are concerned, leave any permanent result 
 in the moral culture of the people. Do those who, under the 
 nervous preaching of Moody and the sweet singing of Sankey, 
 feel that they are called by the Holy Spirit to lead a better life, 
 go- out into the world strengthened for its duties and tempta- 
 tions ? Do they become better Christians, better citizens, bet- 
 ter fitted for daily cares and struggles ? Do they have a higher 
 sense of what they owe to the State and to one another? Does 
 the singing of a hymn or the application of the Holy Scriptures 
 bring about suddenly that elevation and reformation of the soul 
 necessary to the development of our moral nature? Is reli- 
 gion a sudden influence that comes like a stroke of lightning, or 
 is it what the poets tell us about falling in love at sight? One 
 newspaper claims to have information to the effect that the 
 revival in Philadelphia has not been lasting ; that there are no 
 evidences of a general reformation in morals. But, on the 
 other hand, we find in the same journal a news paragraph to 
 the effect that six or seven thousand of those who had been con- 
 verted in Glasgow by the revivalists have remained true to 
 the faith. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 43 1 
 
 We have never believed that men fall into religion at the first 
 blush ; that the true development of a moral life comes in an 
 hour; that a soul can really be saved by a song or a sermon. 
 So many conditions enter into such a life that it must come 
 like all other growths, by development. This is at the basis of 
 our whole Christian life, of all that is taught by Protestant and 
 Catholic. The influences of Moody and Sankey are apt to be 
 ephemeral. A hearer may receive a noble influence which 
 leads to better thoughts and a purer life. One who has lived 
 for years in the contemplation of worldly things, who has given 
 to the devil and his works the time and energy that would have 
 made him a much better citizen, may have suddenly called to 
 his mind the memories of a childhood of faith, of a mother's 
 prayers, awakening in his mind all the latent religious feeling, 
 for there are tens of thousands with a deep and truly reverent 
 nature whose lives are in themselves a religion and who never 
 go within a church. These are among those who may be 
 reached by the teaching of the evangelists. It is in that direc- 
 tion, if at all, the true extent of the work will be done. 
 , More than all, there are many who may receive from the 
 preaching of the evangelists what the Scriptures call the word 
 of quickening — the lighting of the torch which may, if duly 
 nirrsed, burn into the flame. If the depths of society can be 
 stirred up ; if the poor and forlorn, the wretched and the sinful, 
 can only be turned from intemperance and lust and hypocrisy 
 and false pretence ; if they can be taught the purer blessings of 
 a tranquil honest life, even when compared with all the pomp 
 and success of the world, then we shall feel the true spirit of a 
 revival. Certainly the evangelists are men who believe in their 
 work. We are told they live by faith in deed as well as in 
 word ; that neither Moody nor Sankey accept a penny for their 
 labors ; that they have no interest in the sale of the books and 
 pictures which have had such an enormous circulation. They 
 do not raise collections. They have no means. They trust to 
 the Lord for their daily bread, and we are told that it always 
 comes — sometimes in one form and sometimes in another — 
 but never by begging or borrowing or by direct payments or by 
 
43 2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ,ord 
 
 i go 
 
 any business interest in any enterprise. They trust in the Lor 
 who fed the ravens. They make no plans ahead. They g< 
 from place to place as they are " called by the Holy Spirit," and 
 take no care for the future. Altogether, the whole movement is 
 one of the most extraordinary in modern times, and worthy of 
 interest and study. As to the results, the future must tell. 
 
 It is interesting in further reply to the anxiousness about 
 results which is so frequently displayed to see that : The Rev. 
 W. O. Simpson, of Derby, stated in a recent address, as reported 
 in the London Christian, as to the fruits of the Moody and 
 Sankey meetings, " that he had carefully looked over the reports 
 of the churches, and found that there was not a church which 
 did not acknowledge an increase of membership and spiritual 
 life as the result." 
 
 
 Growing Interest. 
 
 
 The special services for young men, for women, and for 
 prayer in the large hall, were all attended by several thousands. 
 The multitudes who came out in the unfavorable weather and 
 the words of all who spoke and prayed, indicated a very healthy 
 growth of religious fervor. The inquiry rooms were thronged 
 with workers and those who were anxious for salvation. 
 
 Mr. Moody read from Corinthians xiii., always substituting 
 the word " love " for "charity." In the vast congregation there 
 were many persons deeply moved by his sermon. It was not 
 his forcible utterances, nor his impressive language that wrought 
 the effect, for he has seldom spoken in more moderate tones 
 and with fewer gestures. The sermon was very largely com- 
 posed of anecdotes of a very pathetic nature. The preacher 
 drew tears from hundreds of eyes. Old and young men, as 
 well as wives and mothers, were deeply moved by his stories 
 of children who had taught older people to have greater 
 love and sympathy. He said, " We little know how much may 
 be won by a smile. If we're going to reach the world we must 
 get the wrinkles out of our brows. ' God so loved the world 
 that He gave his only begotten Son ' — that's the Gospel." Mr. 
 Moody's stories were all told with much feeling. Although the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 433 
 
 evangelist has probably related them twenty times or more, he 
 has lost none of his pathos and sympathy. Sometimes he 
 preaches the same sermon twice in the same evening to separate 
 audiences, and the second effort is usually more earnest than 
 the first. His prayer at the young men's meeting last evening 
 was much more fervent than that in the larger hall, and yet his 
 audience in the latter case was three or four times as large as 
 in the former. He seems thoroughly satisfied that the work in 
 New- York will be a deep one. He said : " I believe in my 
 soul we are going to see the greatest" work in New r York that 
 we have seen in this country. I feel that there is a mighty 
 power at work in these meetings." 
 
 Some one says : Mr. Moody's practice is to give theology in 
 very small doses and religion in as large quantities as the patient 
 can bear. He hits the sinner a blow with the brawny arm of a 
 blacksmith, and then, when the poor fellow is perfectly convinced 
 that he is going to perdition, he takes him by the hand with 
 something like a woman's tenderness and starts him on the road 
 to heaven to the music of " Glory, Hallelujah." 
 
 "Christ didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. 
 . . . There's one mountain peak that the wrath of God has 
 swept over, and that is the Mount of Calvary." Mr. Moody's 
 faith is almost childlike in its simplicity, although it has the 
 strength of manhood. He has no creed or ritual of his own, 
 and accepts no system but that which the plain elements of the 
 Christian religion themselves construct. He thoroughly believes 
 that God created the world and governs it, that Christ was sent 
 to redeem man from his sins, and that through Him is the only 
 way by which the world can be saved. He hardly goes beyond 
 this. With his faith profoundly fixed in his heart, and growing 
 stronger with his experience, Mr. Moody joins a genuine love 
 of his race, which makes him always prompt in rejoicing with 
 those who are happy in their religion, or in giving sympathy to 
 such as have not found the Way of Life. Moreover, he pos- 
 sesses a mind which never tires inks activity to convert sinners, 
 and an energy and enthusiasm which become more earnest and 
 intense every year. There is no sect which he does not welcome 
 19 
 
434 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 to his meetings. An Episcopalian or a Methodist, a Baptist or 
 a Presbyterian, or Congregation alist, are alike received as 
 brothers. He finds Christian truth in them all, and recognizes 
 that each denomination, in its own way, has helped to make the 
 world better. " Any church," he says, " which preaches Christ 
 is doing God's service on the earth." 
 
 Mr. Moody is not a theologian. His Bible, an index of sub- 
 jects, Cruden's Concordance, and a few commentaries, comprise 
 his text-books. The Sunday-school and home missionary field 
 have been his theological seminary. The history of the Church 
 since the time of the Apostles seems to have little interest for 
 him. He apparently knows scarcely anything of its ancient 
 strifes. The wars of sects and the claims of different denomi- 
 nations he does not give the least evidence of knowing much 
 about He never refers to any of the great controversies of the 
 Church, more than to mention Luther, Knox, Whitefield, and 
 Wesley, as examples of what Christians may do if thoroughly 
 consecrated to religious work. 
 
 The meeting at three o'clock, and the one held in the evening, 
 were both impressive and suggestive at this stage of the revival. 
 In the afternoon no one was admitted but ladies, except the 
 male members of the choir, a few reporters and the usual de- 
 tail of policemen. The audience was such an one as New York 
 has probably never seen before. Between six and seven thousand 
 women were seated in one room, every grade of society being 
 represented, and forming a congregation to be seen few times 
 in the course of a life. And this vast number was one of the 
 best evidences yet furnished of the depth of interest in the re- 
 vival movement. But a scene even more significant than this 
 was to be found at the evening services. None but men were 
 admitted, and not only were all of the seven thousand seats in 
 the large hall taken, but four thousand men composed a second 
 audience in the smaller room. 
 
 While he was speaking the rain began to fall upon the roof, 
 and attracted some attention. He cried out : " O, may God 
 rain down the blessings of Heaven here to-night, and may it 
 come to your thirsty souls as it now comes to the thirsty earth." 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 435 
 
 He preached the same sermon afternoon and night, and 
 spoke of 
 
 Forgiveness and eternal life. 
 
 O, the blessed Gospel of the Son of God, what can we do 
 without it ? When we lay our little children away in death they 
 shall rise again. I was going into a cemetery once, and over 
 the entrance I saw these words : " They shall rise again." In- 
 fidelity didn't teach that ; we got that from this book. O, the 
 blessed Gospel of the Son of God ! How every one of you 
 ought to believe it ! Young lady, if you have been careless up 
 to this afternoon, O, may you get awake. May you this hour 
 not hesitate to turn from your sins unto God and believe the 
 gospel of His son. I used to be a good deal troubled with my 
 sins, and I thought of the day of judgment, when all the sins 
 that I had committed in secret should blaze out before the 
 assembled universe. Bat when a man comes to Christ the Gos- 
 pel tells him they are all gone, and in Jesus Christ he is a new 
 creature. All I know is that out of the love which my Lord has 
 for me He has taken all my sins and cast them behind his back. 
 That is behind God's back. How is Satan to get at it ? If 
 God has forgiven our sins, they won't be mentioned. In Ezekiel 
 we are told not one of them shall be mentioned. Isn't it a 
 glorious thing to have all our sins blotted out ? And there is 
 another thought, and that is the Judgment. You know if a 
 man has committed some great crime, when he is brought into 
 judgment how he dreads it ! How he dreads that day when he 
 is brought into court, when he is put into a box and witnesses 
 are to come up and testify against him, and he is to be judged ! 
 But, my friends, the Gospel tells us that if we come to Christ, 
 we shall never come into judgment. Why ? Because Christ 
 was judged for us. He was wounded for our transgressions. 
 If he has been wounded for us, we haven't got to be wounded. 
 " Verily, verily," — which means truly, truly — " I say unto you " 
 — now just put your name in there — " He that heareth my 
 words, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath " — h-a-t-h, hath. 
 It don't say you shall have when you die. It says, hath — " He 
 
43^ MOODY ADD SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me hath 
 everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation." That 
 means into judgment. He shan't come into judgment, but is 
 passed "from death unto life." There is judgment out of the 
 way. He shall never come into judgment. Why ? Because 
 God has forgiven us and given us eternal life. That is the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ought people to be gloomy and put 
 on long faces when that is the news ? 
 
 Away out oh the frontier of our country, out on the prairies, 
 where men sometimes go to hunt or for other purposes, the grass 
 in the dry season sometimes catches fire, and you will see the 
 flames uprise twenty or thirty feet high, and you will see those 
 flames rolling over the Western desert faster than any fleet horse 
 can run. Now what do the men do ? They know it is sure 
 death unless they can make some escape. They would try to 
 run away perhaps, if they had fleet horses. But they can't, that 
 fire goes faster than the fleetest horse can run. What do they 
 do ? Why, they just take a match and they light the grass from 
 it, and away it burns, and then they get into that burnt district. 
 The fire comes on, and there they stand perfectly secure. There 
 they stand perfectly secure — nothing to fear. Why ? Because 
 the fire has burned all there is to burn. Take your stand there 
 on Mount Calvary. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is to whosoever 
 will come. I thank God that I can come to this city of New 
 York with a Gospel that is free to all. It is free to the most 
 abandoned. Still it may be there are some wives who have got 
 discouraged and disheartened. I can tell you the joyful news 
 that your husbands and your sons have not gone so far but that 
 the grace of God can save them. The Son of God came to raise 
 up the most abandoned. I noticed on my way down this morn- 
 ing not less than four or five tramps. They looked weary and 
 tired. I supposed they had slept on the sidewalk last night. I 
 thought I would like to have time just to stop and tell them 
 about the Son of God, and how Christ loved them. The Gospel 
 of the Son of God is to tell us how he loves us. He takes our 
 feet out of the pit and he puts our feet on the Rock of Ages. 
 And that, my dear friends, is what Christ wants us to do, and 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 437 
 
 don't think that there isn't some one in your homes but that he 
 wants to save. Tell them that there is none too abandoned, 
 none so young, none so fallen, but that God can save them. 
 There was William Dorset, and the power of the Lord was upon 
 him, and in closing his meeting one night he said there wasn't 
 a man in London so far gone but that the Lord could save him. 
 There was Whitefield, and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, 
 and he said, "God is so anxious to save souls that he will take 
 the devil's castaway." Whitefield said that the Lord would 
 take the devil's castaway. Dorset said that there was no man 
 in London so far gone but that the Lord would save him. 
 There was a lady missionary whom I knew, who found a man 
 who said there was no hope for him ; he had sent away his day 
 of grace. She went to Mr. Dorset and said to him, Ci Mr. Dor- 
 set, will you go down and see him and tell him what you said ? " 
 Mr. Dorset said he would be glad to go and see him. He went 
 up into a five-story house, and away up in the garret he found a 
 young man lying upon some straw. He bent over him and 
 whispered into his ear and called him his friend. The young 
 man looked startled. He says, " You are mistaken in the per- 
 son when you say, ' My friend.' I have no friends. No one 
 cares for me." Mr. Dorset told him that Christ was as much 
 his friend as of any man in London. Poor prodigal ! And 
 after he had talked with him for some time, he prayed with him 
 and then he read to him out of the Bible, and at last the light of 
 the gospel began to break in upon that darkened heart. This 
 young man said to Mr. Dorset he thought he could die happy 
 if he knew his father was willing to forgive him. Mr. Dorset 
 said to him, " Where does your father live ? " The young man 
 said he lived in the West End of London. Mr. Dorset said, " I 
 will go and see him and see if he won't forgive you." But the 
 young man said, "No, I don't want to have you do that. My 
 father would abuse you if you should speak to him about me. 
 He don't recognize me as his boy any more." Mr. Dorset said, 
 " I will go and see him." He went up to the West End of Lon- 
 don, where he found a very fine mansion, and a servant dressed 
 in livery came to the door, and he was ushered into the drawing- 
 
43% MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 room and presently the father, a bright, majestic looking man, 
 came into the room. Mr. Dorset held out his hand to shake 
 hands with him, and said, " You have a son by the name of 
 Joseph, have you not?" And when the father heard that, he 
 refused to shake hands with him, and was going out of the room. 
 The father said, "If you have come up here to talk about that 
 worthless, vagabond, I want you to leave the house. He is no 
 son of mine." Mr. Dorset said, "He is yours now, but he 
 won't be long ; but he is yours now." " Is Joseph sick ? " said 
 the man. "Yes," said Mr. Dorset, "he is dying. I haven't 
 come for money. I will see that he has a decent burial. I 
 have only come to ask you to forgive him." "Forgive him ! 
 forgive him ! " said the father, "T would have forgiven him long 
 ago if I thought he wanted me to. Do you know where he is?" 
 " Yes, sir, he is in the East End of London." Can you take me 
 to him ? " "Yes, sir, I will take you to him." And the father 
 ordered out his carriage, and he was on his way. When we got 
 there he said, " Did you find my boy here ? Oh, if I had known 
 he wanted me to, I would have taken him home long ago." 
 When the father went into that room he could hardly recognize 
 his long lost boy. The father went over and kissed the boy, 
 and the father says to him, "I would have forgiven you long, 
 long ago, if I had known you wanted me to. Let my servant 
 order the carriage and take you home," but the boy said, " No, 
 father, I am dying ; but I can die now happy in this garret, that 
 I know you are willing to forgive me." And he told his father 
 how Jesus had received him, and in a little while he breathed 
 his last, and out of that dark garret he rose up into the kingdom 
 of God. Oh, my friends, there may be some one in New York 
 who would rejoice to hear such words. Oh, here is a Christian, 
 shall he not publish it? And you that are not Christians, 
 won't you come into the Kingdom ? Oh, that to-day you may 
 receive Christ, is the prayer I believe of the hundreds that are 
 gathered here. 
 
 When the sermon had been concluded a few moments were 
 given to silent prayer, and after that a large number arose for 
 prayers. While the hymns "Almost Persuaded " and "Just as 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 439 
 
 I am " were sung, those who desired to converse on religious 
 subjects, were requested to go into the inquiry rooms. About 
 two hundred did so, and Mr. Moody and several Christian 
 workers labored with them until late in the afternoon. 
 
 One of the committee said the results of these labors were 
 " perfectly marvellous." 
 
 Opposition. 
 
 The sources of antagonism to the work were strangely diverse, 
 as is revealed by the following editorial comments on reports 
 concerning the safety of the Hippodrome : 
 
 Nothing must be left undone by the committee having the 
 building in charge to render life secure during this Moody and 
 Sankey revival, and we have faith that the utmost that is possi- 
 ble will be done to accomplish this end. Especially would we 
 wish to guard against any unnecessary alarm. The work in 
 which these evangelists, so called, are engaged is only too likely 
 to provoke opposition. Their meetings attract multitudes from 
 the theatres and other places of public amusement, and interfere 
 sadly with bier halles and such places of resort. It is but nat- 
 ural that a strong interest should wish this counter attraction 
 removed, and endeavor to exaggerate any suggestion of danger 
 to the detriment of Moody and Sankey's work. With any such 
 movement we have no sympathy. 
 
 Antagonism early appeared in the contrary direction, as is 
 shown by a digest of Rev. O. B. Frothingham's sermon on the 
 Revivalists' Aim. 
 
 Although sympathizing with the aim of the evangelists he said 
 he regretted that their concern was not apparently with spiritual 
 truths in their grander representations. He thought that their 
 doctrine of God was childish, their theory of Providence puny, 
 their intelligence of Scripture limited, and their whole concep- 
 tion of the universe that of the nursery. Even of Christ, he 
 remarked, they do not speak in any large and friendly way. 
 Their Christ was not a man. His courage was not heroic. He 
 was sent, He died as a matter of universal business, and the 
 
: 
 
 440 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 power of His living dated from the few moments when He suf- 
 fered on the cross. And that suffering was not that men might 
 be touched to the heart of their manliness and toned to a more 
 noble life, but that they might be saved from some unknown 
 doom. If the end at which the evangelists aimed were accom- 
 plished, the world that would satisfy them would be one wherein 
 civilization would be put back in many ways. Certain impor- 
 tant classes of literature and much of art would be eliminated, 
 as under the influence of Paul's conversion pictures and books 
 were bought by artists and authors and publicly cast upon the 
 flames. It would require that men should cease to study 
 science. To this Mr. Frothingham would demur, believing that 
 civilization was good, and that its progress depended upon wis- 
 dom and culture and scientific investigation, and also upon the 
 avoidance of any exclusive system and of all sectarianism. He 
 thought, however, that the appeal of the evangelists would 
 reach a multitude of people not of the cultured or enlightened, 
 but the poor and the ignorant. If these men had in them the 
 capacity to reach the mass of the people, just so far as they did 
 they would succeed, and so perform a work for which all lovers 
 of mankind would be grateful. 
 
 This toploftical treatment of the matter, shows how extremes 
 meet, — the low and the high in rank, culture and vocation, 
 alike seeking to hinder and discredit the work. But, in spite 
 of the mud and rain, between eight thousand and ten thousand 
 people attended the meetings in the Hippodrome on Monday. 
 In the evening Mr. Moody continued his remarks on the Gos- 
 pel of the New Testament. The special services for women 
 and for young men, as well as the meeting in the inquiry rooms, 
 were largely attended, and gave evidence of a sustained interest 
 in the revival. Mr. Sankey sang " Jesus of Nazareth passeth 
 by," and the vast room was in breathless quiet. When the 
 hymn, "Jesus paid it all," was given out, the audience was 
 requested to rise and sing, and Mr. Moody said, " If you can't 
 sing as well as the person next to you, don't mind that. If 
 you can't sing at all, just talk the words out. It will do you 
 good." With his hymn-book in his hand, he stood in the pul- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 441 
 
 pit and sang heartily, beating time with the hand in which he 
 held the book. 
 
 The vast concourse of people who assemble nightly and daily 
 in the Hippodrome, will probably be remembered by the peo- 
 ple of New York as among the most remarkable demonstrations 
 that the metropolis has ever seen. It is not a usual privilege 
 to see people of every class and condition assemble together 
 every day for the purposes of religious worship to the number 
 of ten thousand or fifteen thousand. To form an idea of the 
 spectacle which seven thousand people, who form the largest of 
 the meetings, affords to the eye, one should stand upon the 
 platform in a corner of the room, from which point a view of 
 the entire " sea of upturned faces " may be obtained. Crowded 
 in every corner of the auditorium, the congregation rises on the 
 galleries, which reach around the building, and extend far back 
 beneath the roof, until the last lines are almost lost in the dim 
 light. A quiet, an order prevails which would be worthy of 
 sitting statues. From the elevated pulpit, erected at a point 
 about thirty feet from the outermost limit of the audience, Mr. 
 Moody speaks. A man not extraordinary in personal appear- 
 ance, far from likely to impress a stranger with an unusual 
 degree of favor, every ear is alert to hear him. He is short of 
 stature, stoutly built, inclining to obesity, with shoulders slightly 
 curving forward, short of neck, with a round, pleasant face, 
 ruddy with health, and a long rich black beard. He wears a 
 business suit, with a Prince Albert coat buttoned at three 
 places. With an abruptness that almost startles one, he speaks, 
 and every eye is his, and so remains until he sits down, and 
 then, for the first time, every one moves in his seat and a gen- 
 tle rustle is heard for a moment. 
 
 This was especially noticeable last evening. The Hippodrome 
 was crowded in both halls, and all the standing room was occu- 
 pied in every part of the building. Mr. Moody continued his 
 remarks on the subject of Regeneration, and held the congre- 
 gation in breathless quiet. Mr. Sankey sang " The Ninety 
 and Nine," and expressions of appreciation were very general. 
 Among the persons present were Gov. Tilden, the Rev. Drs. 
 
442 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Anderson, Tyng, and John Cotton Smith, and Cyrus W. Field, 
 Judge Haines, of New Jersey, and John Lord, LL. D. The 
 usual after-meetings were held, and almost the entire congrega- 
 tion remained. Hundreds went into the inquiry-rooms, and 
 Christians staid with them until a late hour. 
 
 The Inquiry-Rooms. 
 
 The scenes in the inquiry-rooms night after night are of the 
 most interesting character. At the invitations given both in 
 the main and adjoining rooms, those rising to their feet and 
 those who are searching for religious knowledge and the " peace 
 which the world cannot give nor take away," pass from the midst 
 of the great audiences into the smaller rooms dedicated to expo- 
 sition and prayer. After the sermon of Mr. Moody, he, with 
 other Christian workers, may be found seated by the side of 
 penitents, instructing them and quietly praying for the divine 
 enlightenment. A solemn quiet pervades these rooms, broken 
 by the clear song of some sweet-voiced singer, the sobs of some 
 woman, or the prayer of a faithful disciple. Here may be 
 found all classes — the rich, the poor, the ignorant, the educated, 
 learned divines and earnest laymen, all on the same level, 
 engaged in the same grand work. They are in groups, scat- 
 tered here and there, while gliding about from group to group 
 may be seen Mr. Moody. Here are infidels who come to scoff 
 and reason, remaining to receive the arrows of conviction as 
 word after word, not of sophistry but plain irrefutable truth, 
 passes through the fervid spirit of some saint of God into the 
 very inmost nature of the one who would have overthrown the 
 true and faithful Christian worker. Certainly the work of these 
 men and women is not in vain and the future shall attest by its 
 glorified ones, its purified, the grandeur of this work which men, 
 without a laugh of derision or scowl of malice, pause in the 
 midst of trade and pleasure to contemplate and admire. 
 
 The Second Week of Revival. 
 
 Mr. Moody kept firing heavy guns into the immense masses 
 that gathered to be instructed and saved. The grandest truths 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 443 
 
 that can engage human thought he presented and enforced with 
 all the energy of his powerful nature, and with simplicity, direct- 
 ness, and fervor. He was aided by a large company of noble 
 men whose talks were often eloquent and weighty. We select 
 some gems from these discourses. 
 
 Rev. Dr. S. H. Tyng, Jr., said success in intercession is one 
 of the blessings we find in Christ. It has pleased the Father 
 that all the fullness of justification, of strength and of sympathy 
 shall be found by the believer in Christ. His success in inter- 
 cession is found in Christ. We see in the ist Epistle of Ephe- 
 sians what a multitude of things God shows us to be in Christ. 
 When He sent His Son into the world he says : All spiritual 
 blessings are in Christ — acceptance, remission, forgiveness, 
 daily strength, mercy, everything is for us in Christ. We need 
 only to be in Christ to have all our needs fully supplied, and 
 then prayer is the speaking of a child to a heavenly Father. 
 Then prayer is almost soliloquy, for in Christ we have lost our 
 personality in whom we have found our forgiveness and our 
 home. Therefore when we come to intercession let us look 
 upon it as a privilege we have as those that are in Christ, and 
 there will be no failure in our intercession if it be in the exalta- 
 tion of Jesus. In Christ we are interceding in heaven. It is 
 the believer's privilege to be identified by faith with the work 
 of Christ, and we can say, " He bore my sins in His own body 
 on the tree, and He has admitted me into the acceptance of the 
 Father. He has brought me nigh the Father in the reconcilia- 
 tion of His love." An incident was told by a doctor in Boston, 
 of a young man who was brought into the consumptive hospital 
 as a patient. It was manifest the disease had made great 
 progress, and his days were numbered. They knew nothing 
 about his previous history, but that he was a rough, bad man in 
 every respect. He was put in one of the wards, and he was 
 very reticent. When any one came near him he expected to 
 be preached at, and he threw on everything like Christian sym- 
 pathy. When the doctor came round healing the body and the 
 soul, for he unites the two offices, he looked at this man and 
 saw on his countenance that he would reject spiritual counsel. 
 
444 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA e 
 
 He prescribed for his physical condition, and then passed on, 
 but all of a sudden he turned back and said : " Do you love 
 Jesus?" The man said "No." The doctor turned away, but 
 turned back a moment afterward and said : " Jesus loves you." 
 Every day for a week he spoke to the man in those same words. 
 That was the message to him, " Jesus loves you." One night 
 the night-bell, hanging over this poor sinner's bed was rung 
 violently. The nurse asked what was the matter. "Oh," he 
 said, " I cannot enjoy it alone. I must have somebody with 
 me." "What is the matter?" "I have just found out that 
 Jesus loves me." The nurse read the Bible to him and prayed 
 that he might grow in the love of Jesus. When the doctor 
 came next morning he found him in a state of unconscious ex- 
 haustion. The nurse woke him up and asked him if he was 
 thinking about Jesus. He folded his hands upon his breast 
 and said, "When I am conscious I am thinking about Jesus, 
 but when I am unconscious Jesus is thinking about me." The 
 man was in Christ in his conscious moments and was full of 
 Christ, and in his weakness and unconsciousness he was sure 
 Jesus was thinking about and loving and caring for him. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Hepworth said: I am strongly moved at this point 
 to utter a single word to those who feel they are unsaved. It 
 is terrible to think even for a moment that there is any soul in 
 this vast congregation that will not be gathered in at the last 
 day to the joy and love and salvation of God. If there is one, 
 I want to say to that soul that it will be simply his own fault 
 and not God's. God has done everything for you, and up to 
 this moment you have done next to nothing for Him. I state 
 this as a bold fact, to which in and by your experience you are 
 bound to give an assent. 
 
 Now this occasion seems to be filled on one side with an 
 expression of great sadness, and on the other side with an 
 expression of great triumph. I cannot look into your faces 
 without reading your character. I cannot see those lines that 
 have been furrowed there s not by time so much as by experi- 
 ence, without seeing away behind your face the things you have 
 been doing and the thoughts you have been thinking. If all 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 445 
 
 hearts could be unroofed — if we could look into each other and 
 through each other, and read each other as a book, it would be 
 a dangerous experiment to try. If that power should be given 
 to us by the Holy Spirit for an hour, you and I would endeavor 
 to close our hearts like a book, with a clasp, and keep them 
 shut. We do not want people to look into our lives. Some are 
 saying : " If I could only forget these things and get rid of them. 
 If there was only a single chance for me to start anew." That 
 is my sorrow, that there is a man or woman here down in the 
 valley so far that his heart is so filled with despair. A drunk- 
 ard or gambler may say : " Oh, religion will do for almost 
 everything, but it will not do for me ; it is too late." You dare 
 not say that to God. You may say it to me but not to Him. 
 The lost one is the one God wants most. The ninety-nine are 
 saved ; it is the hundredth sheep God is after. What a great 
 sorrow it is that you are where you are tied behind all these 
 doubts and despondencies — tied hand and foot as Samson was 
 in the olden days, by the temptations of New York life. 
 
 Another word : It is an occasion of triumph. God is here, 
 and God's hand is not shortened. God is here, poor sinner, 
 and God wants you. Your mother does not want you as much 
 as He does. Your mother never sacrificed as much for you as 
 your Saviour. You cannot do anything for Him, but how much 
 has He done for you ? You cannot pay the debt. It is like 
 paying a debt of a thousand dollars with a bushel of ashes. 
 Yet in spite of your unworthiness, there stands the cross, and 
 you and I can kneel at its feet and leave our burdens there, and 
 we can go out into New York free men, emancipated by the 
 proclamation contained in the Sermon on the Mount. Do not 
 wait until to-morrow. Do it now. At an inquiry-meeting in 
 England a long time ago, there was a poor fellow went into the 
 meeting and said to the minister, " I want to hear you talk 
 about religion.''" After an hour's conversation the minister said, 
 " Do you see the light ? " The man said, " No, it is dark as 
 pitch." The minister talked another hour ; it was then eleven 
 o'clock and he was tired. He said to the poor fellow, " Now, 
 if you will come to-morrow, I will finish the conversation." 
 
446 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 The poor collier said, "It is now or never. If I don't get it 
 now I never will. I have a feeling in my heart that I must and 
 will have it, and I am going to get it." The time passed on in 
 conversation until twelve o'clock, and the minister was pretty 
 well used up, but the man had not got the light. At two 
 o'clock the collier lifted up his hands and said, " I have got it, 
 the Lord has come to me." The next morning he went with all 
 the hands into the coal-pits, and just as they sounded the call 
 to dinner there was a cry that there was an accident ; one of 
 the coal-pits had fallen in. Poor John was under the pile, but 
 he was not quite killed. The people put their ears to the 
 ground to see if there was any life in him, and they called 
 " Johnny, Johnny," but all they heard was, " Oh, I am so glad 
 I did not put it off." That was the last they heard. The man 
 was saved. Go thou and do likewise. 
 
 Rev. John Hall, D. D., read a portion of Scripture from the 
 fortieth Psalm, commenting upon it as he read. He said : One 
 would infer that the case of David was a very bad one, and he 
 had recourse to the Lord in his trouble. He waited upon the 
 Lord. He was not content with a chance ejaculation — a peti- 
 tion now and then. He waited patiently upon the Lord. It 
 was earnest, continuous, believing prayer which he offered. 
 He had it to himself. He waited upon the Lord. You must 
 tell those persons that ask our prayers that we cannot make our 
 prayers here a substitute for their dealing directly with the 
 Lord. They must go to Him and tell Him their wants. It is 
 their duty, each of them personally, to go and have dealings 
 with the Almighty. The Psalmist says : " I waited patiently 
 for the Lord and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry." It 
 is a comparatively easy thing to feel some emotion when there 
 are a thousand people around us feeling in the same way ; but 
 let us bear in mind what we individually and severally feel 
 alone with God. That is the true measure of our power in 
 prayer. That is the true measure of the earnestness of our 
 hearts before Him. " He inclined unto me and heard my cry/' 
 He was not waiting to be moved. He is ready to act all the 
 time, but it would not be for His glory, and it would not be for 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 447 
 
 our good for Him to act until we showed our appreciation of 
 the blessing by patiently waiting for Him. Look at the con- 
 dition the suppliant was in : " He brought me out of an horri- 
 ble pit, and out of the miry clay." The horrible pit, like that in 
 which the drunkard is, like that in which the young man is who 
 spent yesterday where he dare not tell his mother or sister ; 
 like that in which the dishonest man is who is entangled in his 
 own frauds and is not able to see where he can begin to be an 
 honest man ; like that in which those members of our churches 
 are who have never carried their sins to the foot of the cross. 
 If any of you have tried to walk through a morass and tried to 
 get out of it by putting forth all your strength, you have found 
 that the more energy you put forth to get hastily away the 
 deeper you sink in it. So with sinners. When they make the 
 most desperate efforts to clear themselves, the more they get 
 involved. The way to get out of the miry clay and horrible pit 
 is to cry to God. Stop striving and stop working, and let the 
 Lord save you, and then He has the glory. " He brought me 
 out." It is well for ministers to preach and evangelists to labor 
 and Sunday-school teachers to teach, but it is God that does 
 the work. He brought me out, and to Him is the glory. He 
 does the work well. He set my feet upon a rock, and estab- 
 lished my goings. We know our Rock is perfect. One foun- 
 dation is laid for us and that is Jesus Christ. A sinner is only 
 safe out of the horrible pit and miry clay when his feet are on 
 that Rock, and when God establishes his goings. When you 
 go to the Lord for strength the Lord will guide you ; you will 
 see in what way the Lord will have you walk, and your goings 
 will be established. We have a great many people who go 
 wavering, doubtful and uncertain. They come to Christ to-day 
 and go to the world to-morrow, come to God to-day and to his 
 foes to-morrow. They are, as we say in common talk, shilly- 
 shallying. That is not the type of a Christian God wants. 
 God wants a man to declare plainly that he is seeking a city 
 that is to come, whose builder and maker is God. Mark what 
 follows this prayer — the answer : " He hath put a new song in 
 my mouth, even praise unto our God." If God, in answer to 
 
44^ MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 your prayer, has put a new song in your mouth, sing it, as God 
 wants you to sing it, in your own way. The father to his chil- 
 dren, the husband to his wife, the master to his men in his 
 office or his shop, the minister to his people, the Sunday-school 
 teacher to his class. Let God put a song in your mouth. Do 
 not talk about your experience. Do not talk behind your ex- 
 perience. Say what you feel. Say what is true to you, but d 
 not go an inch beyond it, for when you do, you defile your ow 
 conscience, and all the bad effects of untruthfulness come back 
 upon you. Let God put the song in your mouth, and when you 
 sing it, many shall hear it and trust in the Lord. We ought to 
 know the truth and be able to tell it. I can bring to my mind 
 a vivid picture of earnestness in the case of a dying lady in 
 this city who sent for me between the two services on Sunday. 
 I found her in her house looking as white as the sheets of her 
 bed. I never will forget her earnestness as she said : " I have 
 only half an hour to live. Tell me in the shortest words you 
 can how I can be saved." Thank God, the words are short : 
 " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'' 
 
 Mr. Moody said : We have not come here to talk about the 
 evil of intemperance, but we have come here to tell those that 
 may be slaves to strong drink that there is one who is able to 
 save them, and w r e have come to pray to God that they may be 
 delivered. I seldom meet a drunkard but wants to get free 
 from the vice and habit of using strong drink. It is very en- 
 couraging to come here and say the grace of God is able to save 
 every drunkard in New York city. We have some persons in 
 the hospitals for incurable diseases, but when it comes to the 
 soul we do not need any hospital for any incurable case. The 
 Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost. Christ is 
 able to snap fetters that bind every victim of lust, let the sin 
 be what it will. In the fifth chapter of Mark we find recorded 
 the case of a man with an unclean spirit whom no man could 
 bind. We find that men had tried in every way to help this 
 poor fellow, and failed. It is said no man could bind him. 
 " Neither could any man tame him." I suppose he was the 
 terror of that whole region. If he had a family, how they must 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 449 
 
 have been afraid of him ! They could not tame him or even 
 keep clothes on him. It is the most hopeless case in Scripture, 
 but Christ had but to speak the word and he was in his right 
 mind. It is said he had his dwelling among the tombs. That 
 is where every poor sinner is ; he is dead in trespasses and 
 sins. It is easy for Christ to save our friends who are addicted 
 to strong drink. Many a drunkard is saved by the power of 
 God, not by forming resolutions, because their appetite is 
 stronger than their will and resolution, but thanks be to God the 
 blessed Saviour is stronger than strong drink. He is stronger 
 than any man's appetite. They must have this appetite de- 
 stroyed. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and 
 this appetite is a work of the devil. Christ can take away this 
 appetite. In Philadelphia we had this subject for every Friday 
 meeting, and when we left we had good reason to believe over 
 one hundred intemperate men had been reclaimed. They 
 formed themselves into a society, and they were going into the 
 darkest lanes of Philadelphia and hunting up those who were 
 addicted to the same sin, and they were trying to bring them to 
 Christ. I wrote to some of them to come over £nd state what 
 Christ had done for them, and I have just received a dispatch 
 saying that some of them will be over here next Friday. One 
 night a man came into the young men's meeting so under the 
 influence of liquor that when he got up to ask for prayers they 
 pulled him down. He said : " I will get up." I had no faith 
 that the Lord would convert a man when he was under the 
 influence of liquor, but the Lord did convert him. God can 
 save drunkards. Let us have faith that he will save our friends. 
 In this fifth chapter of Mark we find there were three who 
 prayed. The devils prayed that they might be sent out of the 
 country, and the Lord answered their prayer. The men of the 
 country prayed that He might depart, and He answered their 
 prayer. Then the man who was clothed and in his right mind 
 prayed that he might be with Christ, but Christ didn't answer 
 that prayer. Why ? Because He wanted him to go to work. 
 He said : " Go home and tell what the Lord hath done for you." 
 Perhaps the wife 'and children always ran away from him when 
 
450 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 he went home. Now what was their amazement when he came 
 in. The wild glare has gone from his eyes. His wife is yet a 
 little afraid, but he says. " Don't be afraid of me any more. I 
 am perfectly well. The Lord Jesus has saved me." He told 
 his friends. You may say a layman cannot preach ; that was 
 the best preaching in the world. I imagine he got on some 
 dry goods box at the corner of some street, and published in 
 Decapolis what good things Jesus had done for him. Many a 
 man is bound hand and foot by strong drink, and thinks there 
 is no hope for him. You men that have been delivered from 
 the power of strong drink, go tell these men that God has power 
 on earth to free every drunkard on the earth. Let us have 
 faith to-day in prayer. 
 
 Prayer was then offered, and the 40th hymn, " Oh bliss of 
 the purified," was sung. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said : I will say a few words in continuation of 
 this subject about going to work for Jesus' sake, and going in 
 the name of Jesus. After we had been four months in London 
 a young lady in the house in which I stayed, came and asked 
 me in a trembling voice if I would pray with her brother. She 
 said he had been going to church ever since he was a little boy. 
 He attended a prominent church in London. She said : 
 " When the sermon is being preached, I see there is a troubled 
 look in his face." The tears rolled down her cheeks as she 
 said : " I am afraid my brother is not a Christian. I want you 
 to go with him to church and speak to him upon this subject." 
 It was half an hour's drive to the hall, and I spoke to this 
 young man and prayed with him ; I prayed for Jesus' sake 
 that he might be rescued and join us, for we needed help from 
 such as he. That night at the meeting, he surrendered his 
 heart to Jesus. The next night God used him in speaking to 
 others. Three nights after he came to me about twelve o'clock 
 at night. He knocked at my bed-room door. I got up and 
 William was standing there. He said : " I wish you would 
 come and pray with my brother George." I went up stairs, 
 and there was his younger brother praying to God for his salva- 
 tion. I stayed there half an hour. If you could have heard 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 45 1 
 
 William's prayer for his brother, and how he brought it at the 
 close for Jesus' sake, it would have sunk deep in your heart — it 
 did mine. George was converted, and those two young men 
 are now working in and for the Lord. That young lady was 
 very grateful to God for having brought her brothers out of 
 darkness, and she went the following week and hired one of the 
 largest conveyances she could, and gathered all the old women 
 that were unable to go out to the meeting — cripples, and those 
 that were on beds of sickness that could be taken out. She 
 got some fifteen or twenty of them in the stage, and she sat in 
 the rear, and they went to the meeting. They could not have 
 got to the meeting any other way. She sat beside them, and she 
 has been visiting them ever since. She said she wanted to do 
 something for the Lord, and she is doing that work. One by 
 one those aged pilgrims are crossing the river. She is there 
 speaking a word to them while they are neglected by others. 
 Oh, that we may have such scenes here — grateful hearts going 
 out in the dark places of the city, and carrying that precious 
 name to those that are perishing. If you do this work in Jesus' 
 name, God will bless it, and He will use you to carry his word 
 to perishing souls. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang, " Not now, my child, a little more rough 
 tossing." Prayer was then offered by Rev. Dr. Tyng, Jr., 
 making special reference to the students at Princeton College. 
 Rev. Dr. Hepworth said :' It seems to me that we have a 
 right to feel the presence of the Holy Ghost is in our midst. 
 The motive for this immense congregation coming here, I think, 
 is not curiosity, but an honest desire to know what God will 
 have us to do, and to know how we stand in the judgment of 
 the Almighty. I am sure that our dear brother was led by the 
 power on high when he chose the subject of prayer to begin 
 with. It is often that the nearest road to a neighbor's heart is 
 by the throne of heaven. When we want to engage in war we 
 go into the arsenal and take the proper weapons, and when we 
 want to pray we must receive the sword of the Spirit and the 
 shield from the hand of the Almighty. There is nothing so 
 beautiful and so effective as prayer. When Christian in " Bun- 
 
45 2 
 
 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 yan's Pilgrim's Progress " was sick and tired and worn out and 
 weary, he lay down at the foot of the cross and slept ; and when 
 he awoke he saw the burden had dropped from his shoulders 
 and rolled down the hill, and as he watched it it fell at last into 
 the sepulchre of the Lord. Some of you may want to begin a 
 new life, but you say, " How shall I get rid of the sins I have 
 already committed ? " Our brother has read the Word, which is 
 the golden key to unlock that door. If there is one word more 
 emphatic than another — both in the Old and New Testaments — it 
 is, that when a man is in perfect earnestness about himself, and 
 when a man sits down in humility, God takes care of his sins, 
 and his eyes never behold them again. 
 
 If a man is in the habit of drinking, or if he gives away to 
 any other temptation and is bound with its iron chain, he. has 
 but one course to pursue. Human friendship may give him 
 condolence for the past and encouragement for the future, but if 
 he goes to Jesus Christ he will get rid of the whole thing. God 
 takes the sin away from you as easily as you, with a rubber, will 
 remove a pencil mark from paper. Come to the cross of Christ 
 in humility, but with a spirit of determination and an unswerving 
 faith that God will bless you because He wants you, and that 
 your best friend is Jesus Christ, in whose name you utter your 
 prayer. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ormiston said : Prayer is at once our most precious 
 privilege and grandest power. It is a precious privilege for 
 each soul in its own behalf to realize that it is entering into the 
 very presence of God and holding communion with Him who is 
 the giver of every good and perfect gift, and who knows all your 
 wants and ways and needs and temptations. If you come to 
 God in real prayer you come with an open heart. Your tongue 
 may stammer, your lips may falter, and you may be inadequate 
 to tell out in articulate words all you want, but lay bare your 
 heart and spread it out as Gideon spread the fleece, and the 
 Lord will supply all your need. 
 
 Prayer is not mere bowing our heads, or doing as others do. 
 It is the distinct peculiar privilege of each soul. You may sit 
 in a congregation like this and ninety-nine out of every hundred 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 453 
 
 may be praying and you not, or on the other hand you may be 
 praying and the ninety-nine not praying. Praying is direct 
 personal communion with a personal living God in whose 
 boundless love you believe. It is a power as well as a privilege. 
 It is the grandest power that any human soul can wield in this 
 world. All have the grand gift. We may not be all strong, 
 wise, eloquent or learned, but it is the universal privilege of all 
 God's saints to enter into His presence within the vail and kneel 
 before the mercy seat sprinkled with blood, and pray for others. 
 Let every one of us, if we have received the gift ourselves, be 
 solicitous to have the spirit of prayer, and then when we find we 
 have that blessing, we can enter in with all the enrobed priest- 
 hood of God. When this whole congregation bow their heads 
 in prayer, if we were all near Him what a wondrous power we 
 would have — the priesthood of God pleading with Him that 
 His kingdom may come and reign in our hearts and our 
 churches and in the world. Oh, God of all grace, pour out 
 upon us as a people the spirit of supplication, and teach us now 
 and always how to pray, and give us the spirit of importunity to 
 continue to pray until a new world shall be given unto Him. 
 Mr. Sankey sang " Holy Spirit; Heavenly Guide." 
 Mr. Moody said : At a place where we were holding meetings, 
 in the gas-works, there was a man who came to our very first 
 meeting. He was very much interested, and said, '' I will try and 
 see if I can't lead some of the men in my shop to Christ." He 
 began to talk with them. There were one hundred and seventy- 
 five men on the night watch, and when I left they said twenty- 
 five out of the hundred and seventy-five had been converted, 
 and every night at midnight — that is the hour they have what 
 might be called their midnight dinner — and every night at mid- 
 night they have a prayer-meeting. When you and I sleep to- 
 night all these young converts speak and pray, and it looks 
 now as if every man in the gas-works was going to be brought 
 to Christ. 
 
 I have felt the Spirit of God working in my heart just as 
 I have felt the wind blowing in my face. I can't reason it out. 
 There are a great many things I can't reason out that I believe. 
 
454 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 I never could reason out the Creation. I can see the world, 
 but I can't tell how God made it out of nothing. All your 
 Tyndalls and your philosophers of the present day can't create 
 one grain of sand out of nothing. But even these men will 
 admit there is a creating power. There are a great many things 
 that I can't explain and that I can't reason out, that I believe. 
 I heard a commercial traveller say that he had heard that the 
 ministry and religion of Jesus Christ was a matter of revelation 
 and not investigation. " When it pleases God to reveal His 
 Son to me," says Paul. There were a party of young men 
 together, and those men went back to the country, and on their 
 journey they made up their mind not to believe anything they 
 could not reason out. An old man heard them, and presently 
 he said, " I heard you say you would not believe anything you 
 could not reason out." "Yes," they said, "that was so." 
 "Well/' he said, "coming down on the train to-day, I noticed 
 some geese, some sheep, some swine, and some cattle, all eat- 
 ing grass. Can you tell me by what process that same grass 
 was turned into hair, feathers, bristles, and wool ? Do you 
 believe it is a fact ? " " Oh, yes," they said, " we can't help believ- 
 ing that, though we fail to see it." "Well," said the old man, 
 " I can't help believing in the regeneration of man when I see 
 men that have been reclaimed. I see men that have been 
 reformed. Haven't some of the very worst men in the city been . 
 regenerated — picked up out of the pit and their feet put upon 
 the rock and a new song put in their mouth ? It was cursing 
 and blaspheming, and now it is praising God. Old things have 
 passed away and all things have become new ; not reformed 
 only, but regenerated — a new man in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Look you, down there in the dark alleys of New York is a 
 poor drunkard. I think if you want to get near hell, go to a 
 poor drunkard's home. Go to the house of that poor miserable 
 drunkard. Is there anything nearer like hell on earth ? See 
 the want and distress that reigns there. But hark ! A footstep 
 is heard at the door, and the children run and hide themselves. 
 The patient wife waits to meet him. The man has been her 
 torment. Many a time she has borne about for weeks the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 455 
 
 marks of blows. Many a time that strong right hand has been 
 brought down on her defenceless head. And now she waits 
 expecting to hear his oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. He 
 comes in and says to her : " I have been to the meeting, and I 
 heard there that if I will I can be converted. I believe that 
 God is able to save me." Go down to that house again in a 
 few weeks and what a change ! As you approach you hear 
 some one singing. It is not the song of a reveller, but they 
 are singing the " Rock of Ages." The children are no longer 
 afraid of him, but cluster around his knee. His wife is near 
 him, her face lit up with happy glow. Is not that a picture of 
 regeneration ? I can take you to thousands of such homes, made 
 happy by the regenerating power of the religion of Christ. 
 What men want is the power to overcome temptation, the power 
 to lead a right life. 
 
 The only way to get into the Kingdom of God is to be born 
 into it. If the Archangel Gabriel was to wing his way here to- 
 night, and we could have a chance to tell him all our wishes, 
 we couldn't ask him for a better way of getting into the King- 
 dom of God. Christ has made salvation ready for us, and all 
 we must do is just to take it. Oh, may we not hesitate to take 
 it ! There is a law in this country requiring that the President 
 must be born in the country. When foreigners come to our 
 shores they have no right to complain against such a law, which 
 forbids them from ever becoming Presidents. Now hasn't 
 God a right to make a law that all those who become heirs of 
 eternal life must be born in His Kingdom ? An unregenerated 
 man would rather be in hell than in heaven. Take a man 
 whose heart is full of corruption and wickedness, and place him 
 in heaven among the pure, the holy, and the redeemed, and he 
 wouldn't want to stay there. My friends, if we are to be happy 
 in heaven we must begin to make a heaven here on earth. 
 Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said that Sunday was the best day he had passed 
 in New York. The inquiry-rooms were very interesting. He met 
 several men from England who had been under the influence of 
 
456 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 the revival there and had since been converted. He then sang 
 the hymn "Call them in, the broken hearted." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Osborne said he knew of three persons who were 
 impressed at one of the Sunday meetings in the afternoon, and 
 that Christians had gone home with them and labored until 9 
 o'clock, when they were converted, and are now rejoicing in 
 their faith. "We should learn from this," he said, "that when 
 an inquirer comes to us we should never leave the person until 
 conversion results." 
 
 The subject of Mr. Moody's remarks was disobedience. 
 He said : 
 
 All the trouble *in the world originates in this little word. It 
 is the cause of all misery, and is the open door through which 
 it comes. It was there that Adam fell ; God told him that he 
 shouldn't do a certain thing, and he did it. In the 15th chap- 
 ter of First Samuel we read of sacrifices and obedience, and 
 that God prefers being obeyed to having any sacrifice offered 
 that men may choose. The first thing that God wants is obedi- 
 ence. That's what we want in our families. If our children 
 disobey us .there comes an alternative. They must learn to 
 obey, or they or we must leave the house. It is the same with 
 the kingdom of God. If we enter it we must obey. To obey 
 is better than making sacrifice. Saul lost his crown, his throne, 
 his son, his friend Samuel, and the friendship of his son-in-law 
 David ; he turned his back on them all because of his disobe- 
 dience, and he finally lost his life. But just turn to that other 
 Saul over in the New Testament. He was obedient unto death. 
 He had no Jonathan, save at the right hand of God. He had 
 no crown, no throne, but he won them both. A blessing is 
 promised all who will obey. God deals with individuals as 
 with nations. The punishment is the same. Punishment 
 comes alike upon families and individuals if they will not obey. 
 A crisis may come when we do not know whether to obey God 
 or our employers or possibly our parents. The Word of God 
 makes the way clear. When we come into God's kingdom, 
 " Whatsoever He saith to thee, do it." If the laws of the 
 nation are in conflict with God's law, they must be broken. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 457 
 
 Christ alone of all men obeyed God full}-. Obey Him and 
 then God may look down .pleased with His children, and say, 
 " This is my son, this is my daughter." Christ came to do 
 God's will. When men disobey army orders they are court- 
 martialed and shot. No one complains. Now, my friends, is 
 there not as much reason why we should obey the orders of 
 Heaven, and when we do not, should we not be punished ? 
 Sinners are willing to do anything but obey God. Coming to 
 him as a poor beggar is what they don't like. If they could 
 buy salvation they would gladly do it. Some men down in 
 Wall street, I fancy, would pay great prices. Many people come 
 to me and say, " Mr. Moody, is it right for me to go to the 
 theatre ; can I dance ? " That ain't it. Can we glorify God by 
 doing such things ? It's a good deal better to be right with God 
 and then he will look down with pleasure and bless us. 
 
 Mr. Moody then prayed, thanking God for what he had seen 
 in the inquiry-rooms the previous evening and especially for the 
 conversion of a scoffer who had come into the meeting. 
 
 The special words to which he directed attention were the 
 words of Christ, " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest." He said : 
 
 We here find an invitation to come to Christ. He says, 
 " Come unto me all." I like that word " all," because every 
 one is included in it, The question that comes home to us all 
 is, Shall we come ? Some people go to Christ with their good 
 deeds, pure desires, good thoughts and good name. But this 
 isn't what Christ wants. He alone wants the sins of men. 
 They are all that he himself hasn't got, and he wants them. 
 The moment we are willing to come to him with our sins, he 
 will receive us. He will forgive and heal whoever brings his 
 soul to him. God dealeth with us as we deal with our children. 
 If your child does wrong, if he tells a lie, you want him to con- 
 fess, and begin to talk with him. He may tell you that he is the 
 best scholar in his class, that he is obedient, and that he loves 
 you. But that ain't what you want. You want him to confess 
 that he has told a lie. So let us learn to come before the Sa- 
 viour and confess our sins, laying them at the feet of Jesus. But 
 20 
 
458 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 by what right can we respond to this invitation ? Suppose the 
 mayor of New York should invite all the Smiths to a banquet, 
 and Mr. Sankey should go and try to get in on the plea that he 
 was a singer. Or suppose a man should go whose name was 
 Jones and who was a good scientist. Do you suppose they 
 could get in when their names were not Smith ? Now, if you 
 can prove that you are a sinner, this invitation from Christ ap- 
 plies to you. Don't try to prove your worthiness but your un- 
 worthiness. If you want rest come to Christ. It can't be 
 obtained in the world. You can't buy it; your friends can't 
 give it to you ; God don't call you without giving you the means 
 of winning ; you can come if you will. O, may God give you 
 the power to-day. 
 
 After a prayer and the singing of a hymn, the Rev. Dr. 
 Tucker said "the idea of Christ has become sadly confused of 
 late in the world. Many think him to be far off, only to be 
 reached in some indistinct and unknown way. The truth is that 
 the idea of him should be simple, and that he is God in the 
 flesh, ready at any moment to save and to help men. We must 
 preach such a Christ and talk such a Christ. It is simply the 
 old story, 'God so loved the world.' " 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Seaver said there were no truer words than 
 those of the old hymn, " If you tarry till you are better, you'll 
 never come." There was no simpler definition of faith than the 
 one given by the late Dr. Bushnell, that "it is that act whereby 
 one person — a sinner — commits himself to another person — a 
 Saviour." 
 
 Third week of Mercy. 
 
 Still the vast multitudes throng the Hippodrome and Mr. 
 Moody stirs, and Sankey enthuses and soothes them. Speak- 
 ing, at an eight o'clock in the morning meeting, on "occupy 
 till I come/' he said : 
 
 These words were addressed to us as well as to the Apostles. 
 They are for every child of God — not to the elders or the min- 
 isters merely, but to you and me and to every man and woman. 
 We may divide the church into four classes. The first are ob- 
 
 , 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 459 
 
 jectors ; they do nothing but object, object, object. They are 
 destructive. Nothing can live near them. They are always 
 finding fault and complaining. They want their own way, will 
 never be contented, should never have got into the church. 
 The second class are obstructive ; they remain stable, and are 
 a stumbling-block. Others are. idlers, who take no interest in 
 the church. They are sound asleep, and Satan can do any- 
 thing with them. 
 
 To the other class I want to speak this morning. They are 
 the workers. I would rather have one hundred Christian 
 workers than one hundred converts. We must restore the 
 standard. It is better to get ten men to work than to do ten 
 men's work. I will almost say that three-fourths of the church 
 is asleep. O, what a power the Church of God might become 
 were its members ready to work for their friends' souls ! There 
 are one thousand persons in this hall every night who would be 
 glad if some one would speak with them. The trouble is we're 
 afraid we'll offend some one, or that we'll make a mistake, and 
 the result is that we do nothing. Now, there is a great diver- 
 sity of gifts among Christians. Every man has a circle of 
 friends among whom he has more influence than any one else. 
 My friend here from the Philadelphia Gas Works has done 
 more good among his companions than the best ministers in 
 Philadelphia could have done. I'd rather have that man there 
 than Dr. Tyng. I well remember one day in London I visited 
 a dog market, where fights were going on. I tried in every way 
 to draw the attention of the crowd, but failed. Finally, one of 
 their own number began to speak. They stopped at once. In 
 fifteen minutes that man did more than all of us. I know a 
 Dublin man who circulates one hundred thousand dollars worth 
 of tracts every year, and I've heard men say, " O, how I'd like 
 to do that." I know another man — a reformed burglar — and I 
 question whether he has not done as much good as the rich 
 man in Dublin. Every man should use the talent God has 
 given him. Last Friday night these reformed men from Phila- 
 delphia gained the ears of men in that meeting who would not 
 listen to me. I heard the other day of an irreligious man who 
 
460 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 t one 
 a 
 id 
 
 : 
 
 came to this city one day last week, and was stopping at 
 of the hotels. On Wednesday morning he sent a boy out for a 
 certain one of the city papers. The boy couldn't find it, and 
 brought The Tribune. The man read the report of the meet- 
 ings on the previous day. The story I had told of the tw< 
 brothers who became converted on the same evening at differ- 
 ent meetings had a power over him. He said it went to his 
 soul. All that day and the next he remained in his room, and 
 at last found light, and telegraphed the news to his friends. 
 
 At this point Mr. Moody looked at his watch and said : But 
 my time is up ; got to close right away ; agreed to let you go 
 out in forty-five minutes; let us rise and sing, "Praise God 
 from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 Describing a noon meeting, the reporter says : 
 
 Mr. Moody seldom preaches a sermon that fails to move a 
 large part of his audience to tears. In some instances the 
 power of his stories is very remarkable in this respect. But at 
 the noon meeting, when Mr. Moody did no more than preside, 
 the congregation was affected to a much greater degree than on 
 any previous occasion. The day had been set apart for prayers 
 and remarks on the subject of temperance, and ten men were 
 present who had been converted from habits of intemperance 
 while the Evangelists were in Philadelphia. The hour was 
 given up to them, and four of the number stood in Mr. Moody's 
 place and told the story of their fall and subsequent conversion. 
 They represented different grades of society, and there was con- 
 siderable variety in their experiences. The effect of their sim- 
 ple and sometimes homely language was powerfully shown upon 
 all present. Tears were in the eyes of men and women every- 
 where. Ministers, members of the choir, policemen and re- 
 porters, all yielded to the influences. Mr. Moody sat at the 
 rear of the speakers and tears flowed down his cheeks like rain. 
 
 The first prayer was offered by the Rev. A. D. Vail, and after 
 a hymn had been sung Mr.. Moody said : "We have with us 
 to-day several friends from Philadelphia who will tell what their 
 experience has been. They are not accustomed to speaking to 
 an audience like this, but I hope you will pray for them as they 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 46 1 
 
 speak, and make them feel that they are among friends." He 
 then read from John i. ? u, 12 : " He came unto His own and 
 His own received Him not, but as many as received Him to 
 them gave He power." "That," said Mr. Moody, "means 
 every darkened soul in New York. There is no one so vile that 
 He cannot save him." 
 
 Mr. Jameson, a night laborer in the gas works in Philadelphia, 
 was introduced. He said he was not accustomed to speaking 
 before such an audience, but added : When you have the religion 
 of Jesus Christ you are not afraid to do anything for His cause." 
 He said he was formerly accustomed to make three dollars a day 
 and go home and tell his wife he made only ten shillings. The dif- 
 ference he spent for liquor. He had joined temperance societies, 
 but they did not help him for any length of time. One evening he 
 was out with his friends, and they were drinking, when one of 
 them suggested that they go to the revival meetings, as he had 
 heard that Mr. Sankey was a "red-hot singer." The sermon 
 came home to him (Jameson), and he prayed. " The prayer," 
 he said, " was the hardest work I ever did in my life. It made 
 me sweat more than working around the hot fires of the gas 
 works. We now have prayer-meetings at the works ; there are 
 one hundred Christians there, and a ' gin mill ' near by is for 
 sale." 
 
 Mr. Moody then presented Mr. Linton to the audience. He 
 said : I was once a very prosperous man, and had made a great 
 deal of money. I began to drink. I lost my money. I left 
 the church. I lost my little boy whom I idolized, and his death- 
 bed scene made me reform ; but I only gave God one-half of 
 my heart. I again became prosperous and took to drink, and 
 lost my money and my friends, and went to ruin. A dear sister 
 at last took me into the meetings at the Depot. I met Mr. 
 Moody. After that I attended the meetings alone, and finally 
 God blessed me with new life." 
 
 The hymn " Yield not to temptation" was sung, and Mr. Hil- 
 ton said : " I was once a low drunkard : I was beneath the brute, 
 and you can't get much lower than that. My mother prayed 
 for me, and my friends all left me. One night some of us went 
 
462 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 in to hear Mr. Sankey sing. When we were going away I said 
 I thought he was a pretty good singer, but argued that ' Billy ' 
 Moseman could beat him. I went the next night, and Mr. 
 Moody preached from the text, ' Where art thou ? ' Those 
 words kept ringing in my ears. I knew my degradation ; had 
 even called upon God to smite me dead. But those words 
 became my salvation, and I am a new man. I would not give 
 what happiness I have known for the wealth of millionaires. 
 My family and my niece have now all come to Christ, and we 
 are happy." 
 
 Mr. Anderson said he had become intemperate while in the 
 army, had reformed and then again had turned to drink. " I 
 became," he said, " a perfect slave to liquor. I have taken a 
 razor to my throat in moments of despair. My friends all 
 deserted me, and there was none who cared for me but my wife 
 and my aged father and mother. They all prayed for me for 
 years. I went to one of the meetings. I kept repeating the 
 words ' turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die.' I had a great strug- 
 gle, and at last was- on my knees, and a great load was lifted 
 from off my shoulders." 
 
 Mr. Reid, a fine-looking young man, said he was a helpless 
 drunkard at twenty-one years of age. He had taken pledge 
 after pledge, and all to no purpose. His mother loved him ten- 
 ded) 7 . He read to the audience a letter he had once received 
 from her. One night he came home after a long debauch in a 
 neighboring city, and his mother met him kindly. He fell sick,, 
 and when he had recovered he was told that his mother was at 
 the point of death. He then thought that he had murdered her. 
 He resolved again to reform, and he did reform. " God," he 
 said, " was so good to me as to raise that mother from her bed 
 of sickness." 
 
 Mr. Moody then prayed, with a voice choked by his deep 
 emotion, that these men might be blessed, and might have 
 strength to always keep near Christ. The meeting was then 
 dismissed with the benediction. 
 
 At another meeting the subject of Mr. Moody's remarks was 
 Hope. He said : 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 463 
 
 If I should question every one here to-day I have no doubt 
 each would be found with a hope. But is it a true or a false 
 hope ! If it is false it is worse than none. Job speaks about 
 the hypocrite, and says : " Will God hear his cry when trouble 
 cometh upon him." Solomon says in Proverbs that " the hope 
 of the unjust man shall perish." If you have false hopes of 
 heaven, the best thing you can do is to give them up. For 
 what are they good for ? Will they bear you over Jordan ? Will 
 they sustain you beyond the grave ? But true hope is not in 
 regard to eternal life. That is secured to us if we are born of 
 God. Our hopes are of the resurrection of Christ. His second 
 coming and our own resurrection. It is written, " He that be- 
 lieveth hath eternal life." The Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven, the dead shall be raised, and we shall meet Him in the 
 air. It is a glorious hope. All that believe shall rise. That 
 is a hope sure and steadfast. Some one says that joy is like a 
 lark that sings in the morning, but hope is like a nightingale 
 that sings in the night. We won't need hope after we get to 
 heaven. But it takes us there. You can have Christ and this 
 hope to-day if you will. " He came unto His own and His own 
 received Him not, but as many as received Him to them gave 
 He power." 
 
 After a prayer and the singing of the hymn, " Tis the promise 
 of God full salvation to give," the Rev. Dr. Anderson spoke 
 briefly. The Rev. Dr. White said that many persons cherished 
 a h6pe that they would prepare for the future late in life. But 
 the apostle says, " How shall ye escape if ye neglect so great 
 salvation ? " 
 
 Mr. Sankey then sang a hymn alone, and a season of silent 
 prayer followed, after which the Rev. Dr. Hall said : " The 
 word of the living God is the warrant for our belief and hope. 
 There are delusive hopes, and how shall a man know that his is 
 of the true type ? A man knows his own failings ; he has an 
 inner consciousness of these. He knows if his hope be a well- 
 grounded one. True hope is elevating, purifying, and makes a 
 man God-like according as it is strong." 
 
 Mr. Wells announced that the Committee had set apart Sat- 
 
464 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 urday for special prayer for Christian work, and that he pro- 
 posed now to have a prayer-meeting. What we need now is 
 prayer, more prayer for Christian work, for Christ work, that 
 brought Him from heaven to this earth of ours, the work for 
 which He hung upon the cross. The only way I take strength 
 in prayer is to take the Bible and lay my hand upon it and say, 
 " Lord, Thou hast said it." We have an invitation to prayer. 
 Let us accept it. 
 
 Mr. Wells then drew some instructive conclusions from the 
 prayer of David, after which he related an incident of a little 
 girl who came to him the other night, and said : " If there 
 should be a little child who has not been brought to God, I 
 should like him to come to me." I went down into the au- 
 dience, and saw a mother with a boy by her side, and I went up 
 to her and said : " Is your boy a Christian ? " She said : " No ; 
 but I wish he was." I said : " Johnny, w r ould you like to be a 
 Christian?" He said: "I don't know." I took that little 
 child by the hand and led him to the little girl and left them 
 together. When I came by, about fifteen minutes afterwards, 
 they were both on their knees, praying. When the little boy 
 came down, he said to his mother : " Mamma, have you found 
 Jesus ? — I found Him up there in the gallery." I went home 
 with that little girl, and she said to her mother : " Only think, 
 Jesus let me tell that little boy the way to Him." 
 Again Mr. Moody discoursing on Faith said : 
 But now the question is, Who shall we have faith in ? A man 
 got up in one of our young men's meetings the other night and 
 wanted to know why it was there were so many that backslid. 
 One reason for backsliding is because men are not sound in 
 their faith ; it is because they have not really been converted to 
 God. A good many men are converted to a church ; they say, 
 " I like that church ; it is a beautiful church, and there is beau- 
 tiful singing ; I like that quartet choir and the grand organ, and 
 there is a good minister." And so they are converted to the 
 church, and they are converted to the singing, and converted 
 to the organ, and converted to the minister, or they are con- 
 verted to the people that go there. They get into good society 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 465 
 
 by going there. But that is not being born of God, or being 
 converted to God. Once there was an old chap sat down 
 among some army soldiers, who were telling stories of adven- 
 ture, and one fellow got up and told all about how he had back- 
 slid, but the old soldier said, " I think there is some mistake, 
 and the truth of the matter is that you have never yet slid for- 
 ward." Now if a man has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he 
 has got something he can anchor to, and the anchor will hold ; 
 and when the hour of temptation comes to him, and the hour 
 of trial comes to him, the man will stand firm. If we are only 
 converted to man and our faith is in man, we will certainly be 
 disappointed. How very often we hear a man say, " There is 
 a member of the church who cheated me out of five dollars, and 
 I am not going to have anything more to do with people who 
 call themselves Christians." But if the man had had faith in 
 Jesus Christ, you do not suppose he would have had his faith 
 shattered because some one cheated him out of five dollars, do 
 you ? What we want is some one to have faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Turn to the prophecy of Jeremiah, 17th chap- 
 ter, beginning with the 5th verse : " Thus saith the Lord, Cursed 
 be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and 
 whose heart departeth from the Lord. Blessed is the man that 
 trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is." But cursed 
 is the man who puts his trust in man ; that is the reason why so 
 many people are all the time being disappointed, and why there 
 are so many that find their faith shaken. It is because they 
 have been trusting in man, and man has failed them, and they 
 have been trusting in themselves, and their hearts are deceitful 
 and desperately wicked, and we cannot have trust in ourselves ; 
 and because man has failed us, or because we have failed our- 
 selves, we tl»nk God will fail us. But if we put our trust in 
 the God of Jacob, He will surely not fail us. 
 
 At the close of his sermon he said : " I can't help but think 
 that we have had the best meeting to-night that we ever had. I 
 am glad to see so many here." " Faith," he seems fitted to ex- 
 pound, for a man who has known him long and well said the 
 other day, "He has the largest faith of any man I ever knew." 
 
466 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 His thoro.ugh study of the Bible, to the exclusion of almost every 
 other book, has disciplined him in the use of simple and direct 
 speech. Before his Bible Mr. Moody bows with a sublime rev- 
 erence. He once said it was worth more than all the libraries 
 in Europe. A learned clergyman has said, " Give me a book 
 that is Bibler than this Bible and I'll accept it." Mr. Moody 
 one evening held his Bible at arm's length above and beyond his 
 head, and said if any one would offer him a better book he would 
 make the exchange. "But don't ask me," he continued, "to 
 give up this book until you can offer a better one in its place." 
 With God supreme above all things, and full of love and mercy, 
 the ideal Christian is to Mr. Moody one who accepts this love 
 in all its fullness, and bows in supreme humility before it. He 
 must banish his pride, cease to value the successes and honors 
 of life, and have an unbounded faith in God, and be willing "to 
 get down in the dust like Abraham, and work and wait for the 
 blessing." 
 
 When Mr. Moody had finished his sermon, he asked the ladies 
 and the men to separate and form meetings in each of the halls, 
 which was done, while the choir sang " Only trust Him." A 
 marked interest was developed at these meetings, and the in- 
 quiry-rooms were thronged until a late hour. 
 
 Fourth Week of Revival. 
 
 The attendance was gratifying in spite of the unfavorable 
 weather, and on some occasions overwhelming. Mr. Moody an- 
 nounced every evening that he would address the young men of 
 the city on Sunday morning, his subject being " The Prophet 
 Daniel." Tickets to the number of seven thousand were issued, 
 and five thousand of them were limited in the distribution ex- 
 clusively to young men, the remaining two thousand being given 
 to any others that might apply for them. The influence of the 
 soft Spring morning, and the general publicity given to the sub- 
 ject of the meeting, had the effect of bringing out a very large 
 attendance — the largest that has ever been seen in the building 
 on Sunday morning. In the course of his sermon Mr. Moody 
 said : 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 467 
 
 When Daniel went to Babylon he took his stand ; the meat 
 and the wine which were offered him he refused to eat. He 
 knew that the wine had been offered up to idols, and he refused 
 to partake of what had been thus polluted. He saw that the 
 law of God and the law of the great king Nebuchadnezzar were 
 in conflict, but he obeyed the law of God. He was a man of 
 faith and of belief. In ten days he looked healthier than any 
 of those who ate as the king had ordered. He had taken his 
 stand for God and God blessed him. Young man, you that 
 have just come to New York, is there not a lesson in this story 
 for you? Does your employer ask you to work on Sunday? 
 Take your stand. If God's law conflicts with man's, adhere to 
 the living God. He will help you. You may have promised 
 that loving, praying mother of yours that you would not go to 
 the theatre. Are you tempted to go ? Does some friend invite 
 you and urge you to go with him ? Take your stand. Learn to 
 say no. Yield with no compromise. It is this miserable, com- 
 promising spirit that ruins so many. Supposing we of these 
 times had been in Babylon when Daniel was tempted. Why, 
 we'd advised something like this : " Now, Daniel, you know you 
 are not in Jerusalem. You're a poor heathen captive " — now 
 here's the advice of the Christianity of the nineteenth century — 
 "you're in Babylon, Daniel, and do as the people of Babylon 
 do. You know wine is better than water, and water won't 
 agree with you. The water of the Euphrates will make you 
 sick. We know the wine has been offered to idols, but God 
 will wink at it if you drink while you are down here." But 
 thank God, that man took his stand and kept his faith. 
 
 The king had a dream, and Daniel said, "I'll tell the king his 
 dream ; only give me time." Ah, see what faith he had. He 
 knew that God would keep him right. And that night he 
 prayed long and faithfully that God would reveal the secret. 
 He went to sleep, and had a dream, in which God revealed the 
 secret. He arose and went to the king, and was asked if he could 
 tell the dream. Daniel, with the same faith in God, said that his 
 God was able ; and gave God all the glory. He told the king 
 what he had dreamed, how his Chaldean kingdom would be 
 
468 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 hers 
 
 overthrown and divided, how Greeks and Romans and others 
 would overrun it and divide its possessions. " That's my dream," 
 said Nebuchadnezzar, and an edict went forth making Daniel a 
 ruler among the mighty. But another trial came. The king 
 ordered his image to be set up on the plains. There are three 
 men who will not bow down to it. They are Shadrach, Me- 
 shach, and Abed-nego. And the king is very angry, and or- 
 dered the furnace to be heated ten times hotter. And when 
 they came forth with not so much as a hair of their heads 
 burned, another edict went forth that any man who said any- 
 thing against the God of Shadrach shall incur the wrath of the 
 king. Young man, will you take your stand as those men did ? 
 
 "Ah," said Mr. Moody, "the time is up; just made a be- 
 ginning. I'll finish it next Sunday morning. Mr. Sankey will 
 now sing ' Dare to be a Daniel. ' " 
 
 Noticeable features in all of Mr. Moody's preaching are the 
 depth of feeling and abundance of ideas which he seems unable 
 to express. Many times he suffers under very strong emotions, 
 and his thoughts come so fast, and sorAetimes in such confused 
 forms, that he is wholly unable to find relief in words. Last 
 evening he was more deeply moved than he has ever been be- 
 fore since he came to New York. His theme was the compas- 
 sion of Christ, and was more capable than almost any other of 
 producing such an effect upon him. " Go with me," he said, 
 |C up Mount Calvary to-night to where the Son of God hangs 
 between two thieves, and before the Roman centurion smites 
 Him in the side with a spear, hear Him say ' Father forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do.' " He also referred to the 
 Saviour weeping over Jerusalem, and said that wherever He 
 saw human suffering " the great heart of the Son of God was 
 moved with compassion." " Won't you receive him," he asked 
 in almost piteous tones, " and do you see no beauty in him 
 that you like ? " Turning to several gentlemen in the pulpit 
 he called them by name and said, " Didn't you come here 
 in Christ's name ? " and being answered in the affirmative, 
 he faced the audience and leaned over the railing, saying in a 
 half-weeping voice, " Ah, the Son of God is here to-night. Do 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 469 
 
 you doubt it ? " Near the close of this discourse Mr. Moody 
 pointed toward a young man in the audience near the stage, and 
 said : " Won't you have Him, young man ? O, won't you have 
 Him to-night ? " " Yes," came the reply. " Well, thank God," 
 said the evangelist ; " we've been praying for that young man 
 two or three days.'' 
 
 Mr. Moody took a very active part in the services with the 
 young men, as is his custom. He is very much gratified at the 
 success of the work among the young men, and he always exerts 
 himself with an unusual degree of zeal whenever holding meet- 
 ings for them. The interest among them seems to be con- 
 stantly deepening ; new converts are obtained every night, and, 
 from the remarks they make in the meeting, it is evident that a 
 deep religious feeling is rapidly spreading among them. 
 
 The inquiry-room is the place where the real harvests of the 
 revival work are gathered, and of these the public know and 
 always will know a very imperfect part. Great crowds at the 
 meetings, nearly all the city ministers interested in the work, 
 forcible and affecting sermons, these are features of the evan- 
 gelists' labors which the public can. see and about which it can 
 read. But the quiet of the inquiry-room, where groups of men 
 and women are communing with each other in silent prayer or 
 in conversation subdued to a whisper, and which constitute the 
 best and most trustworthy tests of the influence exerted, no one 
 can thoroughly appreciate or accurately estimate. Several 
 times yesterday Mr. Moody referred to the meeting for young 
 men on the evening before as the most remarkable he had yet 
 seen, and Mr. Moody is not a man who often speaks from the 
 pulpit of the progress of his efforts. But others also bear wit- 
 ness to a marvellous work among the unconverted, and say they 
 never saw anything like it in their lives before. Last evening 
 when the sermon was finished the men were requested to retire 
 to the small hall for a meeting there to last forty-five minutes. 
 Nearly all the men present did so while the choir sang " I need 
 Thee every hour." Those who went into the small hall repre- 
 sented all ages, from boys of fifteen years to men with grey hair 
 and infirm step. Some showed marked evidence of anxiety in 
 
470 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 their faces ; there were none who were not in a serious mood ; 
 many joined in singing the hymn as they passed through the 
 aisles. The ladies remained in the large room, and Mr. 
 Sankey led the meeting, Mr. Moody going with the men. In the 
 meantime several anxious persons went into the inquiry rooms, and 
 as the meetings went on the number was continually augmented 
 until the spacious apartments were filled to their capacity. 
 
 About two thousand persons assembled in the Madison ave- 
 nue hall at four o'clock, and Mr. Moody was to address the 
 meeting on the subject ' : How to Deal with Inquirers." The 
 majority of those present was composed of the members of dif- 
 ferent evangelical churches. Mr. Moody said that those who 
 want Christ can be divided into four classes : — First, professing 
 Christians; second, those who think others are worse than they; 
 third, the backsliders, and fourth, those who are completely 
 broken down in sin. There are a great many who when called 
 upon will tell you that he is a good enough Christian, that he 
 don't beat his wife, he does not do innumerable things that 
 other men do. That is very often because he has had 
 more light than other men have had, not any thing of him- 
 self. That is the feeling .of self-righteousness, and such men 
 are the hardest to talk to, because they think they know every- 
 thing themselves ; but they can be reached, and I have seen 
 more than one of that kind go out of the inquiry room a hum- 
 bler and a wiser man. Then the third class, the backsliders. 
 They can be talked to. Just read to them Jeremiah, chapter 
 2 — " I will heal the backslider ; I will love him freely." That 
 is enough. Let a man believe in Christ and accept His word. 
 All he has to do is to study the Bible, and each will find some- 
 thing applicable to his want. The broken down sinner can be 
 reached, because, Christ who saved the thief on the cross, has 
 promised to help all who call on Him. What I want to impress 
 on you is that, to bring men to Christ, all that is necessary is 
 to know, feel, understand and be able to explain the Word of 
 God. The meeting concluded with the singing of the hymn, 
 l - Work in my vineyard ; there is plenty to do." 
 
the work of grace in new york. 47 i 
 
 Drawing Water out of the Wells of Salvation. 
 
 After the singing of the Seventy-first hymn Mr. Moody preached 
 on the subject of the day — "Joy." He said: — I doubt a man's 
 conversion who has not joy. If a man who thought he was 
 converted last night told me he had not joy I should not believe 
 in his thorough conviction. There is the backslider's prayer, 
 " Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." The way to keep 
 that joy is to study the Word and work. When the word is 
 thoroughly studied by you then give it out. People say, ' why is 
 it that so many ministers break down ? ' Some think it is over- 
 work. It is nothing of the kind ; it is fretting. They have not 
 joy, for the joy of the Lord is thy strength. With joy you shall 
 draw water out of the wells of salvation. There are three kinds 
 of joy in the Bible — the joy of finding Christ, the joy of seeing 
 others converted, and the joy that John speaks of — the joy of 
 seeing the disciples walking in truth. Let us read John xv., n. 
 " These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain 
 in you." When we have joy how easy it is to go out and bring 
 souls. If we have joy bubbling up in our hearts all the world 
 can see it. It is not our sermons that convert men, it is our 
 lives. Mr. Sankey sung the noth hymn, commencing, "Joy to 
 the world, the day is come." the whole congregation joining in. 
 
 After the singing one of the converted recited his experience. 
 He said : — Strange as it may appear to many of you present, a 
 few weeks ago I was unhappy, but since then I have found that 
 joy. About three weeks ago I thought of coming to New York. 
 I live one thousand miles away. My family tried to persuade 
 me not to, but I felt some power drawing me to this city ; the 
 same power brought ine to this building and so to the 
 inquiry room. I met a gentleman from Boston and we walked 
 together to the St. Nicholas Hotel, and he talked to me of 
 Christ. The next day I went to the inquiry room and Mr. 
 Moody introduced me to a lady, whose look of internal joy 
 and benevolence struck me. She talked to me for a long time. 
 The next day I came again and I found this lady working with 
 two other young men, and the look of holy joy on her face 
 
472 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ayed, 
 
 could not be mistaken. That night I went home and prayed, 
 and that night I became a Christian. 
 
 Rev. Charles F. Deems followed. He took for his text, 
 " Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; enter into the joy 
 of thy Lord." He said : — There is no use, my friend, when we 
 have once found the joy of the Lord that we should relapse into 
 dyspeptic wretchedness. We can find the joy while we are here 
 on earth, and we can keep it, for there is even joy in sorrow if 
 we put our full trust in God, firmly believing that in all emer- 
 gencies we can rely on Him, and never in vain. This habit of 
 looking back into the little petty cares and troubles of this world, 
 when we have so much to look forward to — it is foolish. Let 
 us shout out for the Lord, and with all our banners flying. Let 
 us use all our gifts to praise Him ; our eloquence, our wits, our 
 honor, our musical gifts — all our talents in the furtherance of 
 His work. Let the world see in our face the joy that is in 
 our heart. 
 
 Mr. Sankey then rose to sing the hymn " Joy and Sorrow," 
 but before doing so said that the words of Dr. Deems struck a 
 key-note, that Christians ought not to have such long faces and 
 look as if they were predestined for some awful fate, instead of 
 being intended to enter into the joy of the Lord forever. A 
 smiling face, a pleasing address, or a kind, thoughtful solicitude 
 brings more souls to God than a long dyspeptic face with ever 
 so much preaching. Mr. Sankey continued at some length on 
 this subject, and concluded by singing the above mentioned hymn. 
 Dr. Hep worth delivered a short address, in which he said 
 that Monday was generally a gloomy day among preachers, but 
 this morning he felt like shouting " Glory, Hallelujah." There 
 were about thirty to thirty-five names read for entrance into 
 his church, and of those only two came with letters of introduc- 
 tion ; the others came by profession, and right out of the world, 
 and I think, said he, 1 can see written over the signature of the 
 Holy Spirit the initials of Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey. Among 
 these there is one incident I would like to mention. Some 
 years ago, a very dear friend of mine to-day was engaged to be 
 married to a very beautiful girl. As he looked into the future 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 473 
 
 he had everything that heart could desire ; money, grand busi- 
 ness prospects, health, and in the immediate future a wife and a 
 very happy home indeed. He forgot all his past, and in imagin- 
 ation he lived in the castles which he built in the air, and every 
 castle had a golden minaret, for when we build with the imagin- 
 ation we do not count the cost. All at once, as though a flash 
 of lightning had come out of a clear, cloudless sky, sickness fell 
 upon this lady, and she died at once. The shock of course, was 
 terrible. He was a man of large heart and generous sympa- 
 thies, and those are they who make the best or worst men in 
 the world. Your mean men keep along an even track an equal 
 distance from good on the one side and evil on the other, but 
 when you have generous men to deal with they either move on 
 the mountain top or are thrown down into the valley. And my 
 poor friend, thrown down by his despair, rushed into every sort 
 of dissipation which New York life affords, and New York life 
 is very rich in that sort of material ; and he spent an immense 
 amount of money — nearly all he had. What he wanted wasfor- 
 getfulness, and he went on from bad to worse until he reached 
 low tide and the mud of moral iniquity ; and one day in the 
 midst of all this, by one of those instincts you and I know, he 
 was led to open the safe and take from it a little bundle con- 
 taining a little silver key, which he had turned in the casket of 
 his beloved, and next to it was a tress of auburn hair \ and as 
 he looked at them he started back in horror as he reflected 
 upon the gulf that now separated him from her, and he turned 
 to his friend and asked if he thought he should ever see her 
 again, and was answered : " I don't think you ever will. I 
 don't see how you can. The life you and I have been living 
 these last twelve months don't lead that way. It leads down 
 the other side, and you and I can never look a pure woman in 
 the face again." And the poor fellow burst into tears, and then 
 wringing his hands he cried : " Oh, I must see her again, and I 
 will meet her again ; if there is anything in religion by which I 
 can get rid of my past life I am going to get rid of it, and I am 
 going to right about face, and keep my face toward, and my eyes 
 upon our home. And if she is in heaven, I am going there too." 
 
474 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 And in due course be came to see me, and wrung my hand in a 
 way I cannot describe, but there was great resolution in his 
 heart ; and last Sunday morning, with the memory of that 
 golden tress and silver key, George, for that was his name, joined 
 my church, and being asked if he would like to go back to the 
 past, he exclaimed, " I have found a home, and I cannot go back 
 to despair,'' and he is marching on that journey to-night to the 
 tune of glory, glory, hallelujah. Thank God for that. 
 
 Mr. Haight said : About four years ago I was a confirmed 
 drunkard, but one day I went into the Water Street Mission 
 House, without a shirt or a pair of shoes, and there I knelt down 
 and prayed God to help me to overcome my terrible sin, and 
 blessed be God, I am to-day a new man. Before I went to 
 the mission I had taken pledges and formed resolutions, but 
 they were of no avail ; I only fell back into my former state. But 
 when I trusted all to God, I was able to resist, and I can to-day 
 say, that He is able to save to the uttermost. Then followed 
 addresses by Mr. Sawyer and Mr. Bunting, two other reformed 
 drunkards, Mr. Sawyer likening the inquiry-rooms to the pool 
 of Bethesda. 
 
 The hymn "Waiting and Watching " was sung by Mr. Sankey ; 
 and the Rev. Dr. C. D. Foss said : 
 
 A traveler in an African desert, weary, foot-sore, exhausted, 
 rushed down into a little gully where he found a little water to 
 slake his thirst, coming up on the other side. He was perishing 
 of hunger. He spied a little script in which something was 
 carefully wrapped. He said to himself, (i Some one who has 
 preceded me has left a little bread to save the life of the unfor- 
 tunate one who follows him." But when he had torn it open, 
 he threw it down, exclaiming, "My God! It is only pearls." 
 Bread enough to sustain his life for six hours would have been 
 worth more than untold jewels. I bless God that I have had 
 every day since I began to need it, my daily bread. I went one 
 day to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum on the upper end of this Isl- 
 and with one of its managers, and when I had gone through it, 
 and my heart had been touched with gratitude, as I saw what 
 efforts were being made to help those who lacked a single sense, 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 475 
 
 I asked the superintendent how many of those poor people, 
 after eight or ten years of training, were able to read with in- 
 telligence and appreciation the columns of a newspaper or an 
 ordinary book. He told me not one in ten, and I came away 
 blessing God that I had the sense of hearing and all my senses 
 and faculties. 
 
 I recollect when I was sixteen years old, and my father lay 
 dying ; when he gathered his four sons around him and g-ave 
 them his dying charge and blessing, in the course of which he 
 spoke these words : " My son, know thou the God of thy father, 
 and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. If thou 
 seekest Him, He will cherish thee ; but if thou forsakest Him, 
 He will cast thee out forever." Then he went home, and my 
 brothers are there, too, and I am on the way. 
 
 Last summer one of the brightest girls in my Sunday-school 
 class sickened and felt she was to die. Calling her Christian 
 father to her bedside, she said, "Father, tell me exactly what 
 it is to be a real Christian." Her father told her, and then she 
 said, " But suppose you do love Jesus and believe in Him, but 
 are afraid there is still some sin in your heart, what then?" 
 "Cast it all on Jesus," said the father. Then she said, " Fath- 
 er, kneel down and pray beside me." And he knelt down and 
 prayed as only a Christian father at the death-bed of his only 
 child can pray. Then she looked up and said, " Now it is all 
 right, and I am ready to go." And she lay there for three weeks 
 in the very light of Heaven, and then left us for the perfect day. 
 
 For all these things I thank God, and thousands here to-night 
 will join me in this thanksgiving. By prayer and supplication 
 and thanksgiving may your requests be made known unto God, 
 especially in your troubles here to-night. There are multitudes 
 broken-hearted treading the thorny path, knowing not what to 
 do. Let me tell you, go down on your knees and say, "Oh 
 God, I thank thee " — and trust that he will help you finish the 
 sentence — you will find something to praise him for, and your 
 prayer will find answer. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said : In about the eighth or tenth seat here one 
 evening sat a little girl. It was at the prayer-meeting at the 
 
476 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 conclusion of the preaching services. Our friends on the plat* 
 form here discovered a beautiful little girl sitting there very 
 deeply interested in talking to a little companion that was with 
 her. They seemed to become so interested that one of the la- 
 dies went down from the platform to sit by them and listen and 
 see what the little one was saying. The dear child, she found, 
 was preaching Jesus Christ, telling how much Jesus loved her, 
 and how much she loved Jesus, and asking this little one if she 
 would not become his disciple. The lady said to her, " I think 
 if that little girl shall speak a word for the Son of God in this 
 dark city, shall I remain idle any more ? By God's grace I will 
 speak to somebody to-night." .And she went right to work and 
 found an anxious soul in this very place, and spoke about the 
 Lord Jesus that night for the first time in her life. So " A lit- 
 tle child shall lead them." When the word of God is preached 
 these little ones can be led to Jesus as well as the larger ones. 
 I said, " Thank God that while the lady workers are gathering 
 in, the little children, too, are at work, bringing souls to Jesus 
 Christ." These things I am glad of. I am glad, too, and praise 
 Him because of the blessing that He has brought down upon our 
 service of song. I could stand here until to-morrow morning,! 
 think, and tell you of instances precious to my heart where the 
 singing of these simple Gospel hymns had been the means in 
 God's hand of awakening an interest in souls, and of hundreds 
 that have been led through this instrumentality to take the first 
 step toward Jesus. 
 
 Said Mr. Moody : O, sinner, trust in the Lord Jesus to save 
 you, and he will do it. Here is a man who has tried to stop 
 swearing many a time and failed, haven't you ? You have tried 
 to stop drinking many a time and failed, haven't you? You 
 have tried to keep down your temper many a time and failed, 
 haven't you ? It was failure all the time. Now, I want you to 
 give all your efforts up and just fall right into the arms of a lov- 
 ing Lord and trust him to do it. O how quickly it will be done 
 if you only let him come into the heart. There will be no trou- 
 ble. If the fountain is only right, the stream will be pure. I 
 was preaching some time ago in a little town in Illinois, in the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 477 
 
 open air. Crowds came out every night to the meeting. A 
 gentleman constantly drove up in a beautiful carriage, and with 
 a cigar in his mouth always remained listening until the preach- 
 ing was over, and then he would drive away. I asked who 
 he was. They told me he was one of the wealthiest men in 
 that place. I said, " I noticed him to-night weeping." They 
 laughed at the idea. "Weeping," they said; u O if you were 
 only to hear the report he gives of your work." " I don't care 
 if he is what you say," I said, "the man is interested." I 
 heard that 
 
 He was the profanest man in that whole country, that he 
 cursed the very wife of his bosom, and that he even used very 
 profane language before his children. I thought, however, I 
 would go to see him. People advised me not — they thought it 
 would hurt my feelings. But I went up and stood and waited 
 just as he was coming out of his front gate. " This is Mr. P. ? " 
 I said. " Yes, that is my name ; what do you want ? " he said. 
 He knew me very well. " I want to ask you a question if you 
 have no objection," I said. "What is it ? " he said in a gruff 
 way. " I am told," I said, " that you have more wealth than 
 any man in this part of the country. God has blessed you with 
 great wealth and with a nice family and much comfort, and all 
 He has received from you is that you curse Him and blaspheme 
 Him. Why treat Him in that way ? " Tears came trickling 
 down his cheeks, and he says " Come in, come in." When I 
 had sat down, he said : " The fact is, Mr. Moody, if I have tried 
 once I have tried a thousand times to stop swearing. I am so 
 ashamed of* myself sometimes I can't hold my head up. There 
 is no hope for me. I can't stop it." I said : " I know you 
 can't, but you can trust the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will 
 stop it for you." He thought there was no chance for him. 
 "Why, my dear friend," I said, " He just came to do that very 
 thing, to give you power to overcome sin. If you will only 
 come to the Lord Jesus Christ there will be no trouble. All 
 you want is to let Him in." I got down and prayed with him, 
 and he then asked me what I would advise him to do. " I tell 
 you, what you'll do," I said, " Go up to the church prayer-meet- 
 
47 S MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 ing and ask them to pray for you." He wouldn't go, he never 
 was in the church. "Though there may be bad things said 
 against them," I said, " they are the very best friends you have 
 got. Get up and tell them you want them to pray that God 
 will save your soul." The next morning in the prayer-meeting 
 who should come in but this wealthy man ! He put his hand on 
 the back of the seat where I sat and I felt it tremble. " My 
 friends," he said, " If God can save a poor wretch like me will 
 you pray Him for me ? " Inside of a year he became an elder 
 there, and is a bright and shining light in that church now. 
 O, sinner, it will be failure, failure, failure, until you accept the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, but when you do He will save you. You 
 haven't got to go home to ask God for salvation. 
 
 Perhaps there is no subject in the Bible that takes hold of 
 me with as great force as this subject of the wandering sinner. 
 It enters deeply into my own life. It comes right home into 
 our own family. The first thing 1 remember was the death of 
 my father. It was a beautiful day in June when he fell sud- 
 denly dead. The shock made such an impression on me, young 
 as I was, that I shall never forget it. I remember nothing 
 about the funeral, but his death has made a lasting impression 
 upon me. The next thing that I remember was that my mother 
 was taken very sick. And the next thing that occurred in our fam- 
 ily that impressed itself on my young mind was that my eldest 
 brother, to whom my mother looked up to comfort her in her 
 loneliness and in great affliction, became a wanderer — he left 
 home. I need not tell you how that mother mourned for her 
 boy — how she waited day by day and month by month for his 
 return. I need not say how night after night she watched and 
 wept and prayed. Many a time we were told to go to the post- 
 office to see if a letter had not come from him. But we had to 
 bring back the sorrowful words, "No letter yet, mother." 
 Many a time have I waked up and heard my mother pray : 
 " Oh, God, bring back my boy ! " Many a time did she lift 
 her heart up to God in prayer for her boy. When the wintry 
 gale would blow around the house, and the storm rage 
 without the door, her dear face would wear a terribly anxious 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 479 
 
 look, and she would utter in piteous tones, " Oh, my dear boy ; 
 perhaps he is now on the ocean this fearful night. Oh, God 
 preserve him ! " We would sit around the fireside of an even- 
 ing and ask her to tell us about our father, and she would talk 
 for hours about him. But if the mention of my eldest brother 
 should chance to come in, then all would be hushed ; she never 
 spoke of him but with tears. Many a time did she try to con- 
 ceal them, but all would be in vain, and when Thanksgiving 
 Day would come, a chair used to be set for him. Our friends 
 and neighbors gave him up, but our mother had faith that she 
 would see him again. One day in the middle of summer a 
 stranger was seen approaching the house. He came up on the 
 east piazza and looked upon my mother through the window. 
 The man had a long beard, and when my mother first saw him 
 she did not start or rise. But when she saw the great tears 
 trickling down his cheeks she cried, " It's my boy, my dear, 
 dear boy," and sprang to the window. But there the boy stood 
 and said, " Mother, I will never cross the threshold until you 
 say you forgive me." Do you think he had to stay there long ? 
 No, no. Her arms were soon around him, and she wept upon 
 his shoulder, as did the father of the prodigal son. I heard of 
 it while in a distant city, and what a thrill of joy shot through 
 me. But what joy on earth can equal the joy in Heaven when 
 a prodigal comes home ! This night your father wants you. 
 Dear son, come to Him. Confess your sin, and He will have 
 mercy upon you and forgive you. May Heaven's blessing rest 
 upon every soul here is my prayer. 
 
 A Month of Grace. 
 
 The vast swelling throngs surge in around the Hippodrome ; 
 and to accommodate people from out of town who could not 
 stay to the preaching service at night, Mr. Moody consented at 
 the beginning of the fifth week to hold a meeting at 4 p. m. and 
 preach the same sermon which he delivered at night. The au- 
 dience were admitted only by tickets, and great numbers were 
 thus able to hear the evangelists and return to their homes for 
 
480 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 the night. The second month of grace he grandly inaugurated 
 by his sermon on The Blood. 
 
 The reporter said : for extreme care in preparation, for apt- 
 ness and force of illustrations, and for showing his great knowl- 
 edge of the Bible, this sermon was perhaps the most noteworthy 
 that he has yet delivered here. It is an old sermon but it has 
 been remodeled and improved frequently. The evangelist's 
 views in general have usually escaped sharp criticism even from 
 those who are considered to be the less orthodox followers of 
 Christianity. But the sermon on " The Blood " invokes some 
 opposition and criticism in certain quarters. Mr. Moody antici- 
 pated this, and meets the arguments of his critics in his usual 
 blunt and direct way. In his prayer before the sermon he said : 
 " Keep Thy servant from teaching any error." When he had 
 opened his remarks he referred to the blood, saying : " That 
 scarlet line began its course way back in Eden, and runs all 
 through the Bible ; it is the scarlet thread that binds the leaves." 
 
 The sermon was as follows : 
 
 We have for our subject to-day, The Blood. I would like to 
 call your attention to a few passages of Scripture in different 
 portions of the Word of God. The first is in the 3d chapter of 
 Genesis, 21st verse : " Unto Adam also and to his wife did the 
 Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them." That is the 
 first glimpse we have of the shedding of blood. 
 
 To me it is a very sweet thought that God thus dealt in grace 
 with Adam before He dealt in government Some people com- 
 plain of God's dealing with Adam, that He was very severe, 
 but you will find God dealt in love with him. Some one said, 
 He put the lamp of promise into his hand before he drove him 
 out of Eden. The first thing was the promise that the seed of 
 the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and in the very 
 same chapter we find that God consented to kill those innocent 
 animals to make coats of skins. Of course the blood had to be 
 shed in order to furnish those garments. As they went out of 
 Eden, I think Adam might have said to Eve, " These garments 
 are a token of God's love." God clothed them. He put cher- 
 ubim at the gate of the garden, and a flaming sword to protect 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 48 1 
 
 the Tree of Life, that they should not come and eat; but we 
 find when the right time came He took that very sword and 
 opened the way back to the Tree of Life, so that we can all 
 come to it now if we will. 
 
 In the 4th chapter of Genesis we find the great doctrine of 
 the blood brought out : " And Abel, he also brought of the 
 firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had 
 respect unto Abel and to his offering." In the morning of cre- 
 ation God had marked out a way for man to go. Abel took 
 God's way; Cain wanted to go his own way. That is always 
 the way. If you had talked to Cain, he would have said, " I 
 do not know why the fruit of the earth should not be more ac- 
 ceptable to God than the blood of the lamb. I do not under- 
 stand why any one should bring blood for an offering ; I am 
 sure the ripened grain would be more acceptable to God than 
 blood'; I have a dislike for the very name of blood." You will 
 find the world is full of Cainites and Abelites to-day. Some 
 want to go to God in their way, and some wish to go to Him in 
 His own way. The man who goes in his own way gets no life ; 
 it is all darkness until he goes in God's way. " Abel also brought 
 of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord 
 had respect unto Abel." He was a very religious man, but re- 
 ligion is one thing and coming to God in His way is another. 
 There are a great many who are very religious, and yet they do 
 not like to go in God's way. There is no doctrine in the Old 
 Bible written and spoken against so much as this very doctrine 
 of the blood. From the time that Abel came with his bleeding 
 lamb, man has disliked it. It shows how deceitful the heart is, 
 that we do not like to go in God's way. These men had been 
 brought up with the same surroundings. Up to this time we 
 see no difference between the two men as to education, and yet 
 there is a very great difference between their offerings. God 
 accepted Abel's offering and did not accept Cain's, and conse- 
 quently sin rose up in Cain's heart, and envy and hatred and 
 malice, and he rose up and slew his brother. Sin leaped into 
 the world full grown at one leap. The first-born was a mur- 
 derer. When Abel first got to heaven and sang the song of 
 
482 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 redemption, there must have been but one soul in heaven when 
 he came there alone, that could sing it. The angels could not 
 join him, and they must have heard it with surprise ; but that 
 chorus has been swelling ever since that time, swelling for the 
 last six thousand years. The first man who went to heaven 
 had brought a bleeding lamb and put the blood thereof between 
 him and his sin. 
 
 Will you look at the 8th chapter of Romans ? " And Noah 
 builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, 
 and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." 
 It was so important that he should have blood put between him 
 and his sin that God had him to take clean animals for a sacri- 
 fice. We find that the first two thousand years men were trav- 
 eling by that highway. Way back there in Eden the scarlet 
 line commences its course. You will find it running all through 
 the Bible ; you take it out of the Bible and you take out all that 
 book teaches. Those men who are trying to destroy that pre- 
 cious doctrine are at sea without sail ; they do not know where 
 they are. You cannot take up a place in Scripture but you 
 find the scarlet thread running through it. If you turn over to 
 the 2 2d chapter of Genesis, you will find the story of Isaac's 
 sacrifice. Abraham went in God's way. In the 13th verse it 
 is said, " And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and be- 
 hold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns, 
 and Abraham went and took the ram and offered" him up 
 for a burnt offering instead of his son," There the doctrine 
 of the blood is foreshadowed again. On that mountain we 
 catch a glimpse of the blood ; on Mount Moriah, which was 
 close to Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified — look at 
 that scene ! 
 
 For twenty-five long years Abraham had been looking for 
 that boy, and at the age of one hundred God gave him Isaac. 
 How he must have doted upon his boy ! One night God said 
 to him, a few years after, " Abraham, take your son and go up 
 to the mountain that I will show you, and offer him there as a 
 sacrifice." He did not offer objections and ask why God had 
 ordered it. God had told him to have faith in Him, and with- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 483 
 
 out consulting any one, not even his wife, he saddled an ass and 
 took his son and told his wife that he was going up to a moun- 
 tain. He took the wood for a fire, and a knife and his son, and 
 away he went. I can imagine that father's feelings. He said 
 to himself, " I do not understand it, but I know that God never 
 makes any mistake. He never has told me to do anything but 
 that it has brought honor and glory to His own name." I can 
 imagine how the old man looked at the boy as he lay sleeping. 
 He said, " In a little while my boy will be gone." I can see 
 the tears on the old man's face as he gazed at him on that first 
 night. On the second night I can see there was a struggle go- 
 ing on within him as he thought, " I will only have this lovely 
 boy one night more." The third day comes, and in the morn- 
 ing he lifts up his eyes, and over yonder is Mount Moriah, and 
 he says to the two young men who are with him, " You stay here, 
 and Isaac and myself will go yonder and worship." They had 
 the wood, they had the knife, but the lamb they had not. On 
 the way up that mountain the boy said to the father, " Father, 
 where is the sacrifice ? We have no lamb." And the father- 
 said, and it seemed prophetic, "The Lord will provide a lamb." 
 And so he did in the fullness of time, the Son of His own bosom. 
 "My son, the Lord will provide a lamb for a sacrifice," and on 
 they went. The two worked together and built the altar, rolled 
 up the stones and put wood on them. When everything was 
 ready I can imagine how the old man told his child that the 
 Lord had told him to take his boy and offer him up as a sacri- 
 fice, and after that they embraced and wept together. The old 
 man binds his boy and puts him on that altar ; he takes the 
 knife and is ready to drive it to the heart of his child ; he is re- 
 solved to make quick work of it, but even while bis hand is 
 lifted there is a voice from Heaven, " Abraham, Abraham, 
 spare thy son ! " God so loved him that he spared his son, but 
 He so loved you and me that he gave His own son for us all. 
 There was no voice heard at Calvary saying, " Spare my bon.'' 
 No angel came and took Him from the Cross ; but He gave Him 
 up for us. And when Abraham looked around him, lo ! there 
 was a ram caught in a thicket, and he took the ram and slew 
 
484 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 him and offered him up for a burnt offering — and then was that 
 scarlet thread trickling down Mount Moriah. 
 
 That was typical of God's own Son. We are told that when 
 Abraham was on Mount Moriah God promised him that through 
 his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed. Abraham 
 walked by way of the blood. There is no other way. You can 
 not find any of God's chidren that have walked any other way. 
 In Exodus, twelfth chapter and thirteenth verse, you find, " And 
 the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye 
 are : and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the 
 plague shall not be upon you, when I smite the land of Egypt." 
 It was not, " And when I see your good resolutions, your tears, 
 your agonies, I will pass over you." The blood was.a token that 
 he gave them. Some people say, " Oh, it was not the death 
 of Christ ; it was his life ; it was his moral character that was 
 significant ; and you should preach up His life, and preach up 
 His moral character." Let us preach these indeed, but let us 
 not forget to preach His death — that Jesus Christ died for sin- 
 ners, but did not live for them. He lay down His life and be- 
 came a substitute for sinners. The Bible does not say the living 
 lamb shall be a token. If they had tied up a live lamb, Death 
 would have gone over that ; but they were to take a lamb and 
 kill it, and put its blood upon the door-posts, and when Death 
 came down, wherever the blood was he did not go in. 
 
 Some say, " I wish I were as good as that one who has been 
 visiting the poor and doing deeds of charity during the last fifty 
 years; wouldn't I feel safe for heaven?" But, oh, my dear 
 friends, if you are sheltered by the blood of the Son of God you 
 are as safe as any man or woman on the face of the earth. That 
 is not character ; that is not deeds ; it is the blood. God says, 
 " When I see the blood I will pass over you." Moses and 
 Abraham and Joshua were no safer behind the blood than the 
 little boy ; it was the blooH that kept Death out, it was not their 
 good work. An old minister when dying said he had preached 
 the Gospel for fifty years, but when he was dying he did not rely 
 upon his preaching or his works, but he requested them to bring 
 his Bible to him and put his hand upon the verse which said : 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 485 
 
 " And the blood shall be to him a token ; " and he said : " I 
 put my hope upon that verse." It was not his preaching, it was 
 not his good deeds — away with them ; works are all right in 
 their place, but they do not save us ; it was not what he* had 
 done, but what the blood had done. So it is not the strongest 
 nor those who have the best character that are the safest, but 
 those who are behind the blood. 
 
 Some one said the little fly in Noah's ark was as safe as the 
 elephant. It was the ark that saved the elephant, just as it was 
 the ark that saved the fly. The question is, Have you got the 
 token ? It was the most absurd thing in the world to the 
 Egyptians, this sprinkling of the blood. I can see the 
 haughty Egyptian riding through the town and seeing the blood 
 sprinkled on the door-posts, and stopping to inquire what it meant. 
 Every one was killing a lamb and he heard their bleating. He 
 said, "You must have gone clean mad; what is that for?" 
 They answered, " God has told us that at midnight to-night there 
 will be a cry in Egypt ; that Death is doing his work, and every 
 house that has not got blood upon its door-posts Death will 
 enter and take the first-born." I can see that Egyptian now. 
 How scornfully he looks upon those men ! That is the way 
 the world looks now upon it. They say, " What do you mean 
 by the blood ? The idea of being saved by the blood ! The 
 idea that the blood of another cleanses from sin ! " And the 
 proud, haughty world scoffs at the thought. Listen. At night 
 Death came down. He entered the palace, and the crown prince 
 was laid low ; and so on through every house in Egypt, taking 
 the first-born alike of the rich and the poor. And only faith and 
 its sign in blood upon the door-posts kept him out. The blood 
 of Jesus Christ when it comes will be worth more than all the 
 world. Your wealth, culture, and refinement cannot help you 
 when God comes to judge the world. The question is, Have 
 you got the token ? The'world makes light and scoffs and ridi- 
 cules the idea now as it did then. 
 
 But the time is coming when the blood of Jesus Christ will be 
 worth more to you than all the world. It is like Noah's ark. 
 I can see those antediluvians scoffing at Noah. But one hour 
 
4O0 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 after the flood began to fall Noah's ark was worth more to them 
 than all the world put together. My friends you had better be 
 wise. Be sure you have got the token. If I go down to the 
 depot and want to go to Chicago, I go to the ticket office. I buy 
 my ticket, and when I get aboard the train the conductor don't 
 know who I am, and he don't care who I am. It makes no dif- 
 ference whether I am white or black, learned or unlearned. 
 The question is, Have I got a ticket ? Have I got the token ? 
 Pardon the illustration. The man that has got the token is 
 safe. The man that has not got it is unsafe, I don't care what 
 his life or his character may be, and not only unsafe, but un- 
 saved. And there is no salvation outside the blood of Jesus 
 Christ. There is no other name whereby ye may be saved. 
 To be sure, this scene down in Goshen was typical. 
 
 Another thought. A good many Christians wonder they are 
 so weak and have not more strength and do not grow strong 
 like other people. You will find out in the eleventh verse. 
 " And thou shalt yet eat it ; with your loins girded, your shoes 
 on your feet and your staff in your hand." They were not only 
 to kill the lamb, and take the blood and put it on the doorpost, 
 but they were to feed on the lamb. Now, the great trouble with 
 Christians is they do not feed on the Lamb. Their idea is, if 
 you get converted and join the church, that is enough, instead 
 of feeding on the Lamb, and getting strong, and becoming 
 giants in God's service. They have got the wilderness journey 
 before them, and they should keep the staff in their hands and 
 the shoes on their feet, and feed on the Lamb. Let us learn 
 the lesson to feed on the Lamb, and if we feed on Christ we 
 will have strength. If we neglect to feed, and do not feed on 
 it, we will become weak and feeble, and won't have the power. 
 There is another thought. "This month shall be unto you the 
 beginning of months." All the four hundred years they had 
 been in Egypt were rolled away. And, sinner, all these years 
 that you are in the service of sin, you are just losing them ; it 
 is all lost time. These four hundred years they had been in 
 bondage in Egypt God rolled away, and said, " This shall be 
 the beginning of months." And you know everything dates 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 487 
 
 from the blood. What is 1874 ? You date back to the blood ; 
 you can't help it. It is the beginning of months to you, and 
 God made Israel date back to that night when the lamb was 
 slain, that they might not forget the meaning of it. There is 
 another thought in that chapter. The fourth verse is : " And 
 if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his 
 neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number 
 of the souls ; every man according to his eating shall make 
 your count for the lamb." It don't say "If the lamb be too 
 little for the household." Christ is enough for any family, for 
 any household. If you will only just take Him, He is enough 
 for the whole world and all can have Him if they will. Take 
 now, Exodus, twenty -ninth chapter and the sixteenth verse, 
 " And thou shalt slay the ram and take his blood and sprinkle 
 it round about upon the altar." Now, I have not got time to 
 picture that scene, but I want to call your attention to this. 
 The only way the High Priest came into the presence of God 
 was to sprinkle blood round about the altar, and if he came 
 without the blood he had no communion with God whatever. 
 And from the time Adam fell until the present time, there has 
 been no communion with God whatever, only through the blood. 
 I don't care who the man is, if he ignores the blood, he has no 
 communication with Heaven, he has no intercourse with Heaven. 
 There is no other way. Away back in those days you find they 
 came and sprinkled blood around the altar, and then they made 
 their request to God. Don't think, dear friends, that God will 
 have anything to do with you unless you come to Him in His 
 way. If you attempt to come to God and ignore His Son, 
 Heaven will be as brass to you. There will be no communica- 
 tion between your soul and God, until you go by His way. Then 
 in the thirtieth chapter and the tenth verse, " And Aaron shall 
 make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the 
 blood of the sin offering of atonements." Atonement means at 
 one. It brings the sinner and God at one. The only way they 
 can come together is through the blood of Jesus. 
 
 Now, turn to Leviticus, eighth chapter and twenty-third 
 verse. " And he slew it, and Moses took of the blood of it and 
 
488 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of 
 his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot." I 
 used to read such passages and used to say, " What in the world 
 does that mean ? " Blood upon the ear, the hand, and the foot ? 
 What for ? It seems very plain to me now. Blood upon the 
 ear ! A man can't hear the voice of God unless he is sheltered 
 behind the blood. It is only the blood-bought that hear the 
 voice of God. Why, you know in the twelfth chapter of John, 
 when God spake to His Son and said, " I have glorified my 
 name and will glorify it again," the people said it thundered. 
 They could not tell the difference between the voice of God and 
 thunder. But God's own children can hear it, and they can 
 understand it. You take a man sheltered behind the blood, 
 and let him come into this meeting, and he will understand 
 what I mean. But next to him a man may sit and say, "What 
 in the world is that man talking about ? " It is a mystery to 
 him. He don't understand it. Why ? Because his ear is not 
 open. No uncircumcised ear can hear the voice of God. And 
 it is important to hear right. 
 
 Then blood upon the hand. A man may work for God, but 
 it is only the blood-bought hand that can work for God. And 
 now I tell you, dear friends, the greatest, the grandest mistake 
 the church of God is making to-day is getting ungodly men to 
 do something for the church. It is keeping hundreds of men 
 out of the Kingdom of God. We take ungodly men and make 
 them trustees of the church, and take their money and say, 
 " Their money is just as good as anybody else's money," and 
 these men have an idea that they are buying their way to 
 Heaven, and they are even better in their own opinion than 
 many true Christians. Then there are ungodly men singing in 
 the choir and helping in the service of God. No man can do 
 anything to please God until he is first sheltered behind the 
 blood. I don't care who he is, I don't care what his life has 
 been, God cannot accept it • he cannot work with God. Until 
 sheltered behind the blood he cannot work or walk with God. 
 A man will have no desire to walk with God until he is sheltered 
 behind the blood, and brought into communion with God. God 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 489 
 
 came down on sundry occasions and talked with Abraham and 
 Jacob, but God never came down and walked with man until 
 he put them behind the blood in Goshen. When the Israelites 
 came to the Red Sea, they went through the Red Sea like giants. 
 He walked with them in the wilderness. When they wanted 
 bread He opened his hand and fed them : when they wanted 
 water He brought it out of the rock. God walked with them. 
 When Christ was down here they said to Him, " What shall we 
 do ? " Did he tell them to build colleges, teach in the Sabbath- 
 school class, preach to the drunkard and feed the hungry, and 
 clothe the naked ? Ten thousand times, No ! This is it : 
 The work of God is to believe on Him, and if a man won't 
 believe in God's Son he cannot hope to get to Heaven in any 
 other way. He that climbeth up the wall is a thief and a 
 robber. No uncircumcised hand can work for God. 
 
 No uncircumcised foot can walk with God. Some may say, 
 " I cannot understand it ; it is a very strange thing why God 
 should demand blood." I will tell you why. He says, "The 
 soul thatsinneth shall surely die," That is the penalty. God's 
 justice must be kept. He rides in a chariot with two wheels, of 
 which justice is one and mercy another, and justice must be done 
 as well as mercy. Why does God demand blood ? God de- 
 mands life. You have sold yourselves for naught. Christ comes 
 and takes the place of the sinner, and dies in his stead, and it 
 is through His precious blessed work of atonement on Calvary 
 that we are saved. If there is any other way, my friends, I can- 
 not find it. The life of all flesh is in the blood, and God has 
 stamped the flesh with death, and He says it shall never come 
 into His presence. And here comes in the glorious truth of the 
 resurrection : "lam the resurrection and the life." All lost life 
 in the first Adam ; all got it in the second. Some people say : 
 " It is a great mystery that sin came into the world." It is a 
 greater mystery that God came down and bore the brunt of it 
 Himself — that He took the saved into His own bosom and 
 opened the way to the tree of life, l^et me ask you to take up 
 your bibles and take up this great and glorious subject and study 
 it awhile, and you will have a reason for the hope within you. 
 
 21* 
 
49° MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 You will be able to tell how you are saved. It is not your good 
 deeds, your tears, your prayers, but it is the finished work of 
 Jesus Christ that saves you, because He died and gave Himself 
 for us. I do not believe any one can get a true glimpse of Jesus 
 Christ without loving Him. 
 
 There is a story of a man that went to California, when the 
 excitement broke out, and left his wife and child in New Eng- 
 land. He said as soon as he was successful he would send for 
 them. It was a long time before he was successful, but at last 
 he sent the money, and his wife and child came on to New York, 
 and got on one of those beautiful steamers, and started for San 
 Francisco; and everything was going well. All at once, how- 
 ever, a cry was heard, " Fire, fire ! " It ran through the vessel ; 
 the pumps were set to work and they got all the water they 
 could, but they could not put it out. The flames gained on 
 them and the captain ordered out the boats. But there were 
 not life-boats enough to take all the passengers, and among the 
 rest left on the deck was the mother of the lovely boy. The last 
 boat was pushing away. If she did not get into that boat she 
 must perish. She begged of the men to take her and her boy, 
 but they said, " We dare not take any more." Her tears and 
 entreaties at last touched the heart of one of the men, and he 
 said, " Let us take her." But the others would not, and at last 
 they compromised by saying, " We will take one." What did 
 the mother do ? Did she leap into that life-boat and leave her 
 boy behind to perish? That is not a mother's love. She 
 hugged him, she kissed him and she dropped him over into the 
 life-boat, and said, " If you live to see your father tell him I died 
 to save you." Supposing that young boy has grown up to be a 
 man, and he speaks contemptuously of such a mother, would 
 you not say " He is an ungrateful wretch ? " But, sinner, what 
 are you doing with Jesus ? Did not He do more than that? 
 Was not He numbered among the transgressors for us ? Was 
 not He wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our ini- 
 quities ? Did not He die for the ungodly ? 
 
 There is a story of a regiment in the Austrian army that was 
 guilty of mutiny, and as they did not want to inflict the penalty 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. . 49 1 
 
 of death upon the whole regiment, they decided that one man 
 in ten should be shot. The regiment was drawn out in line 
 and the officer went along taking out the tenth man. There 
 was a father and a son. The son knew he could be spared 
 better than the father. He was so anxious that the father 
 should not be shot that he watched the officer, and saw, as he 
 came nearer, that it would fall on his father. So the son stood 
 behind his father, and pushed him into the place of life and 
 took the place of death himself. So with us. We were con- 
 demned to die, and there was no hope and no way of escape, 
 and Christ said, " Father, let me go and take that place," 
 and He left the throne, and he came from heaven and died in 
 our stead. And do you get up and go out of this hall and say, 
 " I see no reason I should love Christ ? " A young man said 
 to me the other night, " I can go along without Christ ; I don't 
 need Him." Well, my friend, if you can get along without 
 Him, He can get along without you. But He don't want you 
 to perish ; He wants you to live. May you find refuge behind 
 the blood of Christ, is my prayer. 
 
 Conclusion of " The Blood." 
 Mr. Moody continued the consideration of the subject of 
 " The Blood." On Tuesday he began with the first mention of 
 sacrifices in Genesis, and drew all his illustrations and texts 
 from the Old Testament ; yesterday his sermon was on the 
 blood of Christ. He preached the death rather than the life 
 of Christ, makes the Atonement the sole foundation of the 
 hope of heaven — not good works and moral character. In the 
 Bible, from the creation of the world in six days, to the rolling 
 away of the stone from the sepulchre, there is not an idea which 
 he does not wholly believe and uphold and honor, without 
 attempting to explain away anything, and he is convinced that 
 each part is needed to sustain the whole. If one part is true, 
 it is all true, and if one sentence is false, it might as well be 
 torn in shreds. There arise in his mind no doubts or questions, 
 and he deals with none, but taking the Bible as literally true 
 
492 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 throughout, he impresses his strong faith upon the listening 
 audience and their hearts accept it. 
 
 Those who were here yesterday, will remember that we had 
 for our subject the Blood, as found in the Old Testament. To- 
 day we -will consider it in the New Testament. There are 
 those who say that it is all one story ; that instead of being two 
 books, it is but one. There is one class of people who say they 
 believe in the New but not in the Old Testament, and another 
 class believes in the Old Testament but not in the New. 
 But if you read it carefully, you cannot divide it. If you change 
 any part of it, it is all gone. The very passages that some 
 wish to throw out of the Old Testament, and yet believe the 
 New Testament, these very passages confirm the others. Some 
 say, " I do not believe there was such a thing as a deluge ; we 
 do not believe there was any such thing as a flood." But Christ 
 says : "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be." Some 
 say, " We do not believe that Sodom and Gomorrah were de- 
 stroyed in flames and buried, do you ? Yes, we believe what 
 Christ believed. He says: "Remember Lot's wife." They 
 say, " We do not believe the whale ever swallowed Jonah ; do 
 you ? " Yes, we believe what Christ taught ; and when Christ 
 says, " As Jonah was three days in the whale's belly." He put 
 His divine soul into the Old Testament as in the New. It is 
 one book, therefore. Whoever touches any part of the Bible 
 touches it all. That is what the questioner is trying to do to 
 break down the word of God, and our confidence in God's tes- 
 timony and God's record of His son. Yesterday, I did not 
 have time to go through the Old Testament, to say all I wanted 
 to say about the blood, as there described. To-day we will 
 pass over into the New Testament, and see what Scripture says 
 about blood in the New Testament. 
 
 The first thing I call your attention to is that we are redeemed 
 by the blood. There is no other redemption. In the first 
 Epistle of Peter, first chapter, eighteenth verse. " Forasmuch 
 as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, 
 as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by 
 tradition from your fathers, . . . but with the precious blood 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 493 
 
 of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 
 You are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Redemp- 
 tion is more than salvation really. A man might rescue another 
 from sudden death. He might see a man in a carriage, with 
 the horses dashing through the street, and in a moment his life 
 would be gone, dashed to pieces against the wall. He might 
 stop that steed, and save the man's life. He would be the 
 savior of that man. Christ is more than our Savior. He is 
 our Redeemer. He has redeemed us with His blood. Redemp- 
 tion is to buy back. When Christ came, he bought us 
 back. He says you have sold yourselves for nought, but you 
 shall be redeemed without money. Though salvation is free 
 to us, and it is without money and without price, yet it cost 
 God all that He had to do it. It was the blood of Christ, His 
 only Son, that redeemed us. It cost Him His precious blood 
 to buy us back. Do you think silver and gold could have 
 redeemed this world ? Why, God couid have created millions 
 of worlds of gold, if silver and gold could have done it, but we 
 could be redeemed not by such corruptible things as silver and 
 gold. The apostle looks upon these with scorn and contempt 
 when it comes to the subject of redemption. You are redeemed 
 by the precious blood of the Son of God, as of a lamb without 
 spot or blemish. The joy of every Christian is that he has been 
 bought back by the blood of Christ. Once when I was going 
 to speak in a little town, on our way there, there was a young 
 man riding in front of us, and I said to my companion, " Who 
 is that young man? I do not remember to have seen him 
 before." He said, " Look over there. Do you see that beau- 
 tiful meadow and that large farm and the house over there ? 
 That young man's father drank that all up while he lived, and 
 his son there went away and went industriously to work and 
 accumulated money, and came back, redeemed the old home- 
 stead, and took his mother out of the poorhouse, and is now on 
 his way to church there with his mother." That was the story 
 of the old Adam. He did the same thing. He sold us out to the 
 hands of justice ; and the son of God came to buy us back. A 
 friend of mine was coming from Dublin some time ago, and met 
 
494 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 an Irish boy with an English sparrow in his hands. The bird 
 was trembling for its life, and trying to get back its liberty ; 
 but the boy was stronger than the sparrow, and would not let 
 it escape. The man tried to get the boy to let the bird go. 
 He said, " My boy, why don't you open your hands and let the 
 bird fly away ? " The boy replied, " Faith, and I won't be 
 doing that, when I have been after him for hours, and have 
 just got him." Then he tried to get the boy to do it from 
 principle, telling him that it was right to let the poor bird have 
 its freedom again, but the boy would not do it, and finally the 
 man bought him with a piece of money. When he put the 
 money into the boy's hand, in so doing he redeemed the spar- 
 row. At first the little thing did not realize that it had its lib- 
 erty. It chirped a few times, and looked around, and then it 
 tried its little wings again, and went up singing, as if it said, 
 "Thank you, thank you; you have redeemed me." That is 
 what Christ did. And He says, " I will contend with him that 
 contendeth against thee." He gave us our ransom. He 
 redeemed with His own blood this lost world. There is 
 redemption for every soul that wants to be redeemed. 
 
 Justification through Christ's Blood. 
 We are not only redeemed by blood, but we are justified. 
 This is more than pardon. If a man is washed in the blood, he 
 is as just as if he had never sinned. The question was asked 
 me, " How can a man be justified with God ? " A man is jus- 
 tified by His precious blood. In the third chapter of Romans, 
 twenty-third verse, it says : " For all have sinned, and come 
 short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." So, if a man 
 has been redeemed by the blood of Christ, he is justified. Or, in 
 other. words, God says, " I have nothing in my heart against you." 
 We talk about our sins being pardoned and forgiven. In reality 
 no sinner is forgiven. Sin has to be atoned for, and the Son of 
 God has made atonement. He has justified us with his own blood. 
 In the fifth chapter of Romans, ninth verse, it says : " Much more 
 then being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 495 
 
 wrath through him." Then another thing the blood does — it 
 makes us all equal ; one kindred with one tongue, one language. 
 A man that has been sheltered by the blood of Christ, he talks 
 the same language with every other that has been so sheltered. 
 You can tell a man that talks the language of Zion. He may 
 not be able to talk the same language, but his language has the 
 same spirit. Paul says in the seventeenth chapter of Acts, 
 twenty-sixth verse : " And hath made of one blood all nations of 
 men for to dwell on the face of the earth." Hath made of all 
 nations one blood ! The blood of Jesus Christ brings us 
 together, makes us one, brings us all to one level. 
 
 Just before the war came on, during the days of slavery, I 
 was in Boston. They were very exciting times there then, and 
 Dr. Kirk was preaching on the subject of the Cross. It was 
 during the great strife, when there was a great deal of hatred 
 and suspicion against foreigners then in our country. It was 
 in the time of the Know- Nothing party, and there was a great 
 deal of feeling against the blacks and a great deal of feeling 
 against the Irish. Dr. Kirk said when he came up to the Cross 
 to get salvation, he found a poor black man on the right and an 
 Irishman on his left, and the blood came trickling down from 
 the wounded side of the Son of God and made them all brothers, 
 and all alike, and equal. That is what the blood does. It 
 makes us all one kindred, and brings us all into the family of 
 God. We are all saved by the same blood. The blood has 
 two cries. It either cries for our condemnation, or for our sal- 
 vation. If we reject the blood, it cries out for our condemna- 
 tion. If we are sheltered behind the blood, and if we fly to 
 that blood for refuge, it cries out for our protection, and for our 
 salvation. We will turn a moment to the First Colossians, 
 first chapter and twentieth verse : " And having made peace 
 through the blood of His Cross ; " and then with that let us 
 read a verse that one will find in John, nineteenth chapter and 
 the thirty-fourth verse : " But one of the soldiers with a spear 
 pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 
 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he 
 knoweth that he saith true." He saw the blood that came out 
 
496 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 of that side, and thought now there is the blood that speaketh 
 peace. But you know when Pilate washed his hands and said, 
 " I am innocent of the blood of this just man," the mob cried 
 out, "Let His blood be upon us, and upon our children." 
 Not to save us, not to redeem us, not to wash us, not to justify 
 us, not to cleanse us, but " Let His blood be upon us and upon 
 our children " — " we are responsible for the act." They took 
 it upon themselves, but what a prayer it was ! Would to God 
 that the prayer had been, " His blood be upon us and our chil- 
 dren to cleanse us, and save us, and speak peace to our guilty 
 conscience." How it would have been blessed ! But their cry 
 was, let His blood be upon us, said in all scorn and derision. 
 That is the cry to-day of hundreds of thousands — " We are not 
 going to be saved by the blood, we don't believe in any such 
 thing, we will be responsible for rejecting Him and casting 
 Him away." Oh, my friends ! If we ignore the blood, we are 
 lost ; there is no other way of being cleansed from our sins. 
 It says in the first chapter of Revelations and fifth verse, 
 " Unto Him, that loved us and washed us from our sins in His 
 own blood." Now, if he so washed us, we are clean ; if the 
 Son by His coming washed us, and if the blood did not cleanse 
 us, how are we to be cleansed ? How are we ever to come into 
 the presence of the pure and holy God, and see Him in high 
 heaven where he sits upon His throne ? No man until he is 
 washed by the blood can see God — he will have no desire to 
 see Him ? 
 
 Some people tell us that the Bible does not contain anything 
 on the subject of the blood. I received a letter from a lady 
 some time ago stating that it was the Apostles that taught it, 
 that Christ did not say one solitary word about it ; so she threw 
 out the epistles and the teaching of Paul, and said she took the 
 teachings of Jesus Christ, because there was no blood in them. 
 In Matthew, twenty-sixth chapter and twenty-eighth verse, it 
 says, for this is " My blood of the New Testament which is 
 shed for many for the remission of sins," and then you will find 
 in the ninth chapter of Hebrews twenty-second verse, that 
 "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." I 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 497 
 
 would like to ask the. people who believe in the Bible and yet 
 try to ignore the doctrine of blood, What are you going to do 
 with that portion of Scripture where it says that " Without the 
 shedding of blood there is no remission ? " From the time that 
 Adam fell in Eden to the present time there has never been a 
 soul saved but by the shedding of blood, there has never been 
 a soul prepared for the coming to God except by the shedding 
 of blood. The Holy Ghost comes and dwells with that soul 
 that is washed in the blood of redemption, and it becomes a 
 temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in, but never until it has 
 been cleansed by the shedding of the blood. 
 
 "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Im- 
 manuel's veins." Why do we sing that song? Why do we 
 like to sing that hymn ? It is because it has got the blood in 
 it. The hymns that have the scarlet line running through them 
 will never be lost. That hymn never will be lost ; as long as 
 there is a church on earth it will be sung. There is not a 
 nation in the world, where there is a Christian, but that they 
 have that hymn translated into their own language. I question 
 if there is an hour in the whole twenty-four but in some parts 
 of the earth they are singing that hymn — " There is a fountain 
 filled with blood, drawn from ImmanuePs veins." Why do you 
 likd that hymn, "Just as I am, without one plea, save that Thy 
 blood was shed for me? " Why is it that that hymn is so popu- 
 lar ? Why does the Church of God like it and sing it ? Why 
 do we sing it so often ? Because it has got the precious blood 
 in it. Then there is the familiar hymn " Rock of ages cleft for 
 me, let me hide myself in Thee," etc. Why do we all like that 
 so much ? Because it speaks of that fountain which has been 
 opened in the house of David for sin and uncleanness, whereby 
 your sins may be washed away in the blood of the Lamb. 
 Everything that blood touches it redeems. When the blood 
 came out of the Son of God and touched the Roman spear it 
 touched the Roman covenant, and when the blood came out 
 and touched this earth it redeemed it. Though the usurper has 
 got it now, Jesus Christ will have it by and by. Everything 
 that blood touches it purifies and redeems. 
 
498 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 A New and Living Way to God. 
 
 And so, my friends, what you want is to have the blood ap- 
 plied to your sins. You want to be cleansed by it, and as long 
 as there is blood upon the mercy-seat there is hope for the 
 vilest sinner that walks the face of the earth. God, seeing us 
 look at the blood upon the mercy-seat, says, " Press in ! press* 
 in, sinners ? Press into the Kingdom of God." The vilest can 
 come if he will. That is what the blood of Christ was shed for, 
 to cover sin and to bless us and wash us and prepare us for God's 
 Kingdom. You may turn a moment to Hebrews, tenth chapter. 
 I wish I had time to go through Hebrews with this wonderful 
 subject, for there is more said in Hebrews about the blood than 
 in any other book in the Bible. Now it says at the nineteenth 
 verse : " Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the 
 holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which 
 He hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say his 
 flesh." Before he had to go to the high priest, but now God 
 has opened a new and living way and made all His children kings 
 and priests, and we don't now need any one to intercede for us. 
 When Christ said " It is finished," the vail of the temple was 
 rent. It does not say it was rent from the bottom up. No, it 
 was rent downwards. It was God that seized that vail and tore 
 it open, and God came out and man can go in there now 7 . 
 Through His flesh the vail was rent, and now all of us, through 
 the precious blood of Christ, are made kings and priests, and 
 can go boldly into the holiest. Now a living way has been 
 opened. That is what Christ has done. " By a new and living 
 way which He hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is 
 to say, His flesh ; and having a high priest over the house of 
 God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith 
 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our 
 bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession 
 of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised." 
 Now turn to the 28th verse of the same chapter : " He that de- 
 spised Moses's law died without mercy under two or three wit- 
 nesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 4^9 
 
 be though worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God 
 and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was 
 sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit 
 of grace ? " 
 
 Now, I would like to ask friends here to-day that ignore the 
 whole subject of the blood, where is your hope ? What is it 
 based on ? What are you building your hopes of heaven on ? 
 Is it your good deeds ? He says those men that despised 
 Moses's law died without mercy. How much more worthy of 
 punishment shall he be thought who hath trodden under foot 
 the blood of the Son of God, the blood of the covenant ? I 
 heard of a man some time ago that was going to get to heaven 
 in his own way. He did not believe in the Bible or the love of 
 God, but was going to get in on account of his good deeds. He 
 was very liberal, gave a great deal of money, and he thought 
 the more he gave the better it would be in the other world. I 
 don't as a general thing believe in dreams, but sometimes they 
 teach good lessons. Well, this man dreamed one night that he 
 was building a ladder to heaven, and he dreamed that every 
 good deed he did put him one round higher on this ladder, and 
 when he did an extra good deed it put him up a good many 
 rounds : and in his dream he kept going, going up, until at last 
 he got out of sight, and he went on and on doing his good deeds, 
 and the ladder went up higher and higher, until at last he thought 
 he saw it run up to the very throne of God. Then in his 
 dream he died and a mighty Voice came rolling down from 
 above, " He that climbeth up some other way, the same is a 
 thief and a robber," and down came his ladder and he woke 
 from his sleep and thought, " If I go to heaven I must go some 
 other way." My friends, it is by the way of the blood that we 
 are to get to heaven. If a man has got to pay his way there, 
 only a few can get there. What are you going to do with these 
 poor sick people who cannot work at all and make money to be- 
 stow on others ? Are they to be tost and damned ? No, thank 
 God ! He has made the way so easy and open that the weak 
 and the young and the smallest and poorest can be saved if they 
 will. He has made a new and living way right up to the 
 
500 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Throne. The despised and persecuted can go up as well as 
 anybody else. Let me read that again : " He that despised 
 Moses's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses." 
 That is established. You can go out of the Bible and find that 
 in history. 
 
 Now, my friends, let me ask you where is your hope ? How 
 are you going to be saved ? If the Bible is true, and I suppose 
 there is hardly one here but believes it, what are you going to 
 do with that passage that says in Hebrews, " Without the shed- 
 ding of blood there is no remission ? " If you have this blessed 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ offered to you, sent to you, and you send 
 back the insulting message that you don't want it, where is your 
 hope ? What is your hope ? How are you going to be saved ? 
 How are you going to escape the condemnation of the law? 
 Now, I have traveled considerably during the last two or three 
 years and have met many ministers, and I have learned that 
 the man that makes much of the blood in his preaching, much 
 of the Atonement, and holds up Christ as the only Substitute, 
 God honors his preaching; and the man that covers up this 
 glorious truth, there is no power in his preaching. He may 
 draw great crowds, and they may hover around him for a few 
 years, but when he at last goes, the church itself goes down 
 because it had no power in itself, their prayer-meetings had no 
 power. The minister would get up a good choir and a great 
 crowd to hear the music and fine singing, but when it comes to 
 a real spirit of power they have not got it ; and any religion that 
 takes the blood and covers it up, hasn't any power. 
 
 I was in a city of Europe and a young minister came to me 
 and said, " Moody, what makes the difference between your 
 success in preaching and mine ? Either you are right and I am 
 wrong, or I am fight and you are wrong." Said I, " I don't 
 know what the difference is, for you have heard me and I have 
 never heard you preach. What is the difference ? " Said he, 
 " You make a good deal out of the death of Christ, and I don't 
 make anything out of it. I preach the life." Said I, " What 
 do you do with this : ' He hath borne our sins in His own body 
 on the tree'?" Said he, "I never preached that." Said I, 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 501 
 
 " What do you do with this : ' He was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions ; He was bruised for our iniquities, and with His 
 stripes we are healed ' ? " Said he " I never preached that." 
 "Well," said I again, "what do you do with this — 'without the 
 shedding of blood there is no remission'? " Said he, " I never 
 preached that." I asked him, " What do you preach ? " "Well," 
 he says, " I preach a moral essay." Said I, " My friend, if you 
 take the blood out of the Bible, it is all a myth to me." Said 
 he, " I think the whole thing is a sham." " Then," said I, " I 
 advise you to get out of the ministry very quick. I would not 
 preach a sham. If the Bible is untrue, let us stop preaching, 
 and come out at once like men, and fight against it if it is a 
 sham and untrue : but if these things are true, and Jesus Christ 
 left heaven and came into this world to shed His blood and 
 save sinners, then let us lay hold of it and preach it, in season 
 and out of season." In the college at Princeton this last year, 
 when the students were ready to go forth into the world, the 
 old man, their instructor, would stand up there and say, " Young 
 men, make much of the blood. Young men, make much of the 
 blood ! " and I have learned this, that a minister who makes 
 much of the substitution and holds Christ up as the sinner's 
 only hope, God blesses his preaching. And if the Apostles 
 didn't preach that, what did they preach ? You take the great 
 doctrine of substitution out of the preaching of Paul, Peter, 
 John, James, and Philip, and all of those holy men, and you 
 take out all that they preached. And so, my friends, there 
 don't seem to be one ray of hope for the man that ignores the 
 blessed, blessed subject of the blood. " Without the shedding 
 of blood there is no remission." 
 
 It is said of Julian, the great apostate, that when he was trying 
 to stamp out Christianity in the days of Rome's prosperity, be- 
 fore it received Christianity, when he was trying to drive those 
 . Christians away, he received a mortal wound, and as he pulled 
 the spear out of his side, he took a handful of the blood that 
 gushed forth from the wound, and threw it toward heaven as he 
 reeled and staggered, crying out, " There, Galilean ! Thou 
 hast conauered ! " We are all conquered, overcome by the 
 
502 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 blood of the Lamb. The only way to Heaven is by the Word 
 of His testimony and His blood. Revelation is full of the sub- 
 ject. It would take days to go through Revelation and see all 
 it contains about blood. The only thing that Christ left down 
 here in the world of His person, was His blood. His flesh, 
 His bones, He took away with Him, and when He hung there 
 on Calvary, and the blood came out of His hands, and out of 
 His feet and from his bruised side, and trickled down on the 
 earth, it was never gathered up. It was left there, and God 
 holds the world responsible for it. What are you going to do 
 with it ? Are you going to trample it under foot and send a 
 message to Heaven that you don't care for it, that you despise, 
 hate it ? Or, are you going to find a refuge and shelter behind 
 it ? It is Christ's, shed for the salvation of every soul here 
 within these walls. It is said every man that goes up, goes up 
 by the way of the blood. You cannot think about Abel, but 
 you think of the bleeding Lamb. So, my friends, the question 
 to-day is what are you going to do with this subject. I have 
 heard of an English lady who was greatly troubled about her 
 soul for several months, and the way her conversion was brought 
 about was this : She told her servant one day to go out and 
 kill a lamb, and told him what to do with all of the different 
 parts except the blood, and presently after he had killed the 
 lamb he came in and asked her, " What shall I do with the 
 blood of the Lamb ? " And God used it as the arrow that 
 should go down into her soul ; and she began to walk her room 
 and ask herself, " What shall I do with the blood of the Son of 
 God?" What are you going to do with that precious blood L 
 that flows out of Calvary ? Are you going to let it cleanse you 
 from sin ? What say you ? Will you take it and by and by 
 stand with your garments made white by the blood of the Lamb 
 and sing the song of redemption ? 
 
 During the war a New York minister, I think it was, came 
 down among the soldiers in the hospital, and preached to them 
 the way of Christ, and helped them in their dying hours. He 
 found one man whose eyes were closed and who was muttering 
 something about " blood, blood ; " and the old doctor thought 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 503 
 
 he was thinking of the carnage of the battle-field and the blood 
 he had seen there, and going up to him, he tried to divert his 
 mind ; but the young man looked up and said, " Oh, Doctor, it 
 was not that I was thinking of, I was thinking how precious the 
 blood of Christ is to me now that I am dying. It covers all 
 my sins." Oh, my friends, the dying hour will come. We are 
 hastening on to death. If Christ is not your all in all, what is 
 to become of you? I was on the Pacific coast some time ago, 
 and there they were telling me about a stage-driver who had 
 died a little while ago, and you that have been there know that 
 those men who drive coaches make a great deal of the brake, 
 for they have to keep their feet upon it all the time going 
 down the mountains ; and as this poor fellow was breathing his 
 last in his bed he cried out, " I am on the down grade, and 
 can't reach the brake 1 " Those were his last words. Tn ere 
 was not a stage-driver there, when I was there, but was talking 
 about it. Just about that time a very eminent man in our coun- 
 try was dying in New York or New Jersey — a holy man of God, 
 who had lifted the banner of Christ and won many to Christ, 
 and he was passing away in the prime of life. There stood his 
 wife and friends around the bedside, and there was seemingly a 
 heavenly halo around that couch, and just expiring, he said : " I 
 am sweeping through the gates washed in the blood of the 
 Lamb." Those were his last words. They live to-day in the 
 nation. I believe they will never be forgotten. Your time will 
 come, and then it will be grand to die with those words upon 
 your lips — " I am sweeping through the gates washed in the 
 blood of the Lamb." 
 
 Temperance Meeting. 
 
 The many requests for prayers were all in behalf of those 
 whose besetting sin is the love of strong drink. Mr. Moody's 
 remarks were very short. He said, among other things : 
 I There is just one hope for a drunkard, and that hope is Christ 
 in his heart. A man may have strong will, but we find that the 
 tempter is stronger than the will and it gives way. The only 
 means by which to overcome sin is to accept Christ ; education 
 
504 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 
 won't do it, culture won't do it, and a man by his own strength 
 cannot do it. I found a drunkard last night who wanted to get 
 to God without Christ — can't do it. Let us have faith that God 
 will enter into such hearts to-day." 
 
 After a prayer by Mr. Wells and the hymn " Pass me not, O 
 gentle Saviour," Mr. Moody introduced Dr. Reynolds of Massa- 
 chusetts, who has been active in recent temperance movements 
 in that State. He gave as his own experience : " I am one of 
 the unfortunate men who inherited the love of strong drink; it 
 is as much a part of my inheritance as my hand is part of my 
 body. I drank for twenty years, and the last six I was a 
 hardened drunkard. When for the second time I was on the 
 verge of delirium tremens, driven by a propensity I could not 
 control, I in despair, knelt down and asked God to help me, 
 and from that time to this I have been a temperate man and 
 one of the happiest that ever lived. If you want to read a his- 
 tory of my life and of all drinking men's lives, you will find it in 
 the 60th Psalm. No man can handle alcohol and not be beaten 
 in the end. Drinking men are the best-hearted men in the 
 world, and if you can get them to quit it, they make the best 
 Christians. Oh, if this evil has got hold of you, go down on 
 your knees and ask God to help you." 
 
 He was followed by Mr. Warner, the President of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association of Philadelphia, who spoke upon 
 the work going on in that city. He said, " That man Moody 
 gave us more work than we can do ; " the meetings continued 
 to be full and the interest was not dying out. 
 
 The meeting was formally adjourned, but all who wished to 
 hear a few words from two working men, reformed drunkards, 
 from the Phelps Mission, were invited to remain, and the whole 
 audience kept their seats. Perhaps no words had more effect 
 than those spoken by these two men, who had been through the 
 whole range of wretchedness and abasement which drunkenness 
 could create and still retained a spark of manliness on which to 
 build hope for the future. 
 
 There was an unusually large attendance at the noon 
 prayer-meeting. There is no better indication of the great 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 505 
 
 interest taken in this revival than the fact that such numbers 
 continue to go at this inconvenient hour. One wonders that 
 there are so many who think it possible to leave their worldly 
 interests for an hour at midday, or so many women who do not 
 feel that their small duties at home are too imperative. Many 
 of them come in on the early trains from the country, carrying 
 their satchels, and they are the ones, perhaps, who evince by 
 their faces and eager manner the most vital interest in these 
 meetings. 
 
 Mr. Moody, who speaks as readily and impressively at the 
 prayer-meetings as he does to the crowds who assemble in the 
 afternoon and evening, made to-day an address on Thanks- 
 giving. He said that after praising God, and praying to Him 
 day and night for weeks, the time seemed already to have 
 come to give thanks for the evidence they had had, that the 
 prayers had reached the Throne of Grace. Many instances 
 were given of what seemed direct answers from God to these 
 prayers — enough in one half hour to overthrow all the arguments 
 against its efficacy which modern thought has produced. Rev. 
 Dr. Hatfield of Philadelphia said he had apprehended that God's 
 work would not be as well done here as it had been in the city 
 from which he came, but that in that one meeting he had dis- 
 covered how unfounded that apprehension had been. 
 
 The women's prayer-meeting, at the close of the noon ser- 
 vices, was one of the largest held since this work began, nearly 
 all of those in the large hall adjourning to the smaller room. 
 The ladies, who generally conduct these meeting alone, were 
 assisted by the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, who delivered a short address. 
 
 The young men's meeting developed a deep interest, and was 
 attended by several thousand people. Thurlow Weed was 
 present, as he had been in the afternoon, and sat among the re- 
 porters. When the sermon was finished he still kept his seat, 
 •and remained to attend the prayer-meeting that followed. 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke on the promises contained in the Bible. 
 He said in part : 
 
 There was a man in London who had all the promises of God 
 printed together in a little book, and sometime after some one 
 
506 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 
 in the country sent up for a copy. He received the answer 
 that all the promises of Gocl were out of print — perhaps that 
 man had never heard of this : (holding up a Bible). At one 
 time in Chicago, when the meetings grew a little dull, I told 
 them we would go through the Bible and look for all the prom- 
 ises given us ; and from that time there were no more dull 
 meetings. We had never realized before what promises God 
 has made to those who believe in Jesus Christ. In the West I 
 met a man in the cars who was marking a lot of notes he had 
 in his hand with the letters B., G., P., and so on, and I asked 
 him what it was for. He said some of them were*bad, the par- 
 ties were bankrupt, and he never expected to collect them. 
 Some were good, though the men were slow to pay, and some 
 were only possibly good, and he marked them to calculate his 
 chances. Now some people are just like this man with God's 
 promises ; some they expect will be kept, and some they do 
 not ; some are barely possible. I advise you to make all God's 
 promises good. God always keeps every promise he makes, 
 and I defy any infidel to show any promise He has not kept. 
 
 Sermons on Heaven. 
 
 With all the work that Mr. Moody daily has to do, it seems as 
 if he could never say all that he has to say, or pour out all the 
 Christian feeling his heart contains. He is a most inexhausti- 
 ble speaker, and those who hear him day after day care the most 
 to go again and again. The Rev. G. D. Mathews and the Rev. 
 Dr. Rodgers assisted him yesterday afternoon. 
 
 He preached on the subject of Heaven, a subject which he 
 continued the next day. It was a clear and vivid description — 
 such a picture as could be drawn only by a man who, like Mr. 
 Moody, believes thoroughly what he finds in the New Testa- 
 ment. He began by saying that in these days there were many 
 people who think there is no heaven except on earth, and no 
 God except Nature. But the heaven on which he would have 
 all his hopes fixed was the one above the skies, the one in which 
 were God the Father, and Christ the Son, the angels and the 
 friends who have gone before ; and with his Bible in his hand, 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 507 
 
 he read the texts on which this vision and this hope were founded. 
 He spoke of the children — the way to teach them the simple 
 story and to lead them to God ; and all his hearers were appa- 
 rently more deeply touched than they have ever seemed to be 
 before. Mr. Sankey and Mr. Thatcher sang softly together, 
 "Waiting and Watching," before the meeting closed. 
 
 The sermon was as follows : 
 
 We have for our subject this afternoon, Heaven. It is not as 
 some talk about heaven — as just the air. I find a good many 
 people now who think there is no heaven only just here in this 
 world ; that this is all the heaven we will ever see. I talked 
 with a man the other day who said he thought there is nothing 
 to justify us in believing there is any other heaven than that 
 which we are in now. Well, if this is heaven it is a very strange 
 kind of heaven — this world of sickness and sorrow and sin. If 
 he thinks this is really all the heaven we are going to see, he 
 has a queer idea of it. There are three heavens spoken of in 
 the Bible, and the Hebrews acknowledge in their writings three 
 heavens. The first is the aerial — the air, the wind, the air that 
 the birds fly in — that is one heaven ; then there is the heaven 
 of the firmament, where the stars are ; and then there is the 
 heaven of heavens, where God's throne is and the mansions of 
 the Lord are, the mansions of light and peace, the home of the 
 blessed, the home of the Redeemer, where the angels dwell. 
 That is the heaven that we believe in and the heaven that we want 
 to talk about to-day. We believe it is just as much a place and 
 just as much a city as New York is, and a good deal more, be- 
 cause New York will pass away, and that city will bide forever. 
 It has foundations whose builder and maker is God. I do not 
 think it is wrong for us to speculate and think about and talk 
 about heaven. I was going to meeting once some time ago, 
 when I was asked by a friend on the way, " What will be the 
 subject of your speech ? " I said, " My subject will be Heaven." 
 He scowled, and I asked, " Why do you look so ? " He said, 
 " I was in hopes you would give us something practical to-night. 
 We cannot know anything about Heaven. It is all speculation." 
 Now, all Scripture is given to us by the inspiration of God. 
 
508 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 Some is given for warnings, some for encouragement. If God 
 did not want us to think about Heaven and talk about it 
 down here, there would not be so much said about Heaven in 
 Scripture. There would not be so many promises about it. If 
 we thought more about those mansions that God is preparing 
 for us, we would be thinking more of things above and less of 
 things of this earth. 
 
 I like to locate heaven and find out all about it I can. I ex- 
 pect to live there through eternity. If I was going to dwell in 
 any place in this country, if I were going to make it my home, 
 I would want to inquire all about the place, about its climate, 
 about what kind of neighbors I was going to have, about the 
 schools for my children — about everything, in fact, that I could 
 learn concerning it. If any of you who are here were going to 
 emigrate, going off to some other country, and I was going to 
 take that for my subject to-day, why, would not all your ears be 
 open to hear what you could learn about it ? Would you then 
 be looking around to see who was sitting next you, and who 
 among your acquaintances were here, and what people were 
 thinking about you ? You would be all interested in hearing of 
 this country that I was talking about. You could not think 
 anything about the latest fashion or about some woman's 
 bonnet. If it is true that we are going to spend eternity in 
 another world, and that God is inviting us to spend it with 
 Him, shall we not look and listen and find out where He is 
 and who is there and how we are to get there ? Soon after 
 I was converted an infidel got hold of me one day, and he 
 asked me why I looked up when I prayed. He said that 
 heaven was no more above us than below us, that heaven was 
 everywhere. Well, I was greatly bewildered, and the next time 
 I prayed it did seem as if I was praying into the air. His words 
 had sowed the seed. Since that time I have not only become 
 better acquainted with the Bible, but I have come to see that 
 heaven is above us. It is upward. If you will turn to the 17th 
 chapter of Genesis, you will see that it says that God went up 
 from Abraham. In the 3d chapter of John, in the wonderful 
 conversation that Christ had with Nicodemus, He told them that 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 
 
 5°9 
 
 he came down from heaven ; and as we read in the ist chapter 
 of Acts, " They "saw Him go up "into heaven,'' — not down — " and 
 the clouds received Him out of their sight." If you will turn to 
 the 8th chapter of ist Kings, 30th verse, I will show you that 
 God has a dwelling place. A great many people have gone 
 upon their reason until they have reasoned away God. They 
 say God is not a person that we can ever see. He is God of 
 Nature. " And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy ser- 
 vant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this 
 place ; and hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place ; and 
 when Thou hearest, forgive." Some people are trying to find 
 out and wondering how far heaven is away. There is one thing 
 we know about that ; it is that it is not so far away but that 
 God can hear us when we pray. There is not a sigh goes up 
 to Him but that He hears it. He hears His children when they 
 cry. God has a throne and a dwelling place in heaven. In the 
 7th chapter of 2d Chronicles, 14th verse, it says, " If My people 
 which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray 
 and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I 
 hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their 
 land." 
 
 There are a good many promises given us to encourage us to 
 pray and to teach us that God hears us when we do pray, that 
 He is not so far away but that He hears us. When Christ was 
 on earth, they came to Him and said, " Teach us how to pray 
 to our heavenly Father. He taught them a prayer. It began 
 " Our Father which art " — not on earth — no, but " Our Father 
 which art in heaven." Now, when we go to heaven we will 
 be with our Father Himself. If you will turn to the 7th chap- 
 ter of Acts, 15th verse, it says, " But he, being full of the Holy 
 Ghost, looked steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God 
 and Jesus standing on the right hand of God " — which shows 
 that heaven is not so far away but that God can allow us to look 
 into it, if He will. l: And they stoned Stephen, calling upon 
 God, and saying, Lord Jesus receive my Spirit." Thus we have 
 
5IO MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 it. clearly established from Scripture teachings, that not only is 
 heaven the dwelling place of God the Father but of Jesus Christ 
 the Son. A great many think that there is but one person. 
 There is but one God but there are three persons. God the 
 Father, God, the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. When I get to 
 heaven I expect to see them all there. There is Christ standing on 
 the right hand of God. Stephen saw Him. We have got Christ 
 there : heaven would not be all that we love unless Christ was 
 there. I would be unhappy when I got to heaven if I could 
 not find Him there who redeemed me, who died for me, who 
 bought me with His own blood. Some one asked a Christian 
 man once what he expected to do when he got to heaven. He 
 said he expected to spend the first thousand years in looking at 
 Jesus Christ, and after that he would look for Peter, and then 
 for James, and for John, and ail the time he could conceive of 
 would be joyfully filled with looking upon these great persons. 
 But O, it seems to me that one look at Jesus Christ will more 
 than reward us for all that we have ever done for Him down 
 here ; for all the sacrifices we can possibly make for Him, just 
 to see Him ; and not only that, but we shall become like Him 
 when we once have seen Him, because we shall be like the 
 Master Himself. Jesus the Saviour of the world will be there* 
 We shall see Him face to face. 
 
 It won't be the pearly gates : it won't be the jasper walls and 
 the streets paved with transparent gold, that shall make it 
 heaven for us. These would not satisfy us. If these were all, 
 we would not want to stay there forever. I heard the other 
 day of a child whose mother was very sick ; and while she lay 
 very low, one of the neighbors took the child away, to stay 
 with her until the mother should be well again. But instead 
 of getting better, the mother died and they thought they 
 would not take the child home until the funeral was all 
 over, and would never tell her about her mother being 
 dead. So a while afterward they brought the little girl 
 home. First she went into the sitting-room to find her 
 mother ; then she went into the parlor to find her mother there ; 
 and she went from one end of the house to the other, and could 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 511 
 
 not find her. At last she said, " Where is my mamma? " And 
 when they told her her mother was gone, the little thing wanted 
 to go back to the neighbor's house again. Home had lost its 
 attractions to her since her mother was not there any longer. 
 No, it is not the jasper walls and the pearly gates that are 
 going to make heaven attractive. It is the being with God. 
 We shall be in the presence of the Redeemer. We shall be 
 forever with the Lord. 
 
 We have now seen that God the Father and God the Son are 
 dwelling in heaven. Will you turn to the eighteenth chapter of 
 Matthew, tenth verse : " Take heed that ye despise not one of 
 these little ones ; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels 
 do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." 
 So we shall have the company of angels when we go there. We 
 find that when Gabriel came down and told Zachariah that he 
 should have a son, Zachariah doubted his word, and Gabriel 
 replied, " I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of God." 
 It says in Luke, second chapter and thirteenth verse, that after 
 one angel had proclaimed that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, 
 there was a multitude of the heavenly host telling out the won- 
 derful story. So, we have angels in heaven. We have God 
 the Father and Christ the Son and angels dwelling there. The 
 angels undoubtedly wander away from the throne of God to this 
 worldly sphere, to watch over the soul's welfare of those they 
 have left behind. It may be that some angels are hovering 
 over the souls here to-night, to see if some one will decide in 
 favor of the Lord's side. And we have not only the presence 
 of the angels already established, but we have friends. Those 
 who have died in the Lord are there. Do you believe that 
 Stephen is not there, after his martyrdom ? Do you believe 
 God did not answer that prayer of his, " Lord, receive my 
 spirit ? " Undoubtedly, the moment that spirit left that body, 
 it winged its way to the world of light. Do you think those 
 who have died in Christ are not there with the Master to-day? 
 What does Paul mean when he says, " Absent from the body, 
 present with the spirit ? ; ' All the redeemed ones are in 
 heaven. We talk about "the best of earth." They are not 
 
512 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 down here. They are up in heaven. The best that ever troc 
 this earth are up there around the throne, singing their song 
 of praise, the sweetest songs you ever heard. Turn to John, 
 twelfth chapter and twenty-sixth verse : " If any man serve me, 
 let him follow me : and where I am, there shall also my servant 
 be j if any man serve me, him will my father honor." I want 
 to call your attention to this : " Where I am there shall also my 
 servants be." They shall be with Him. We have it clearly 
 established. Will you turn to the seventh chapter of Revela- 
 tions, ninth and tenth verses : " After this I beheld, and lo a 
 great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and 
 kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and 
 before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
 hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our 
 God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. " 
 
 There are redeemed saints around the throne. You may 
 say, " Well, what good does that do me ? That will not help 
 me. What I want to know is, have I an interest in that land ? " 
 Well, I cannot speak for the rest of you, but I can say that it is 
 the privilege of every one in this audience to know that their 
 names may be written in heaven if they care to have them 
 there. When the seventy went out to preach, in every town 
 they went to, there was a great revival ; people are prejudiced 
 against revivals these days, but they are as old as the world. 
 When these men went out two by two and proclaimed the Gos- 
 pel their cry was " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand ; " and the seventy returned elated with their wonderful 
 success. They thought all they had to do was to speak, and the 
 whole world would be moved ; but they were told, " Rejoice not 
 at your success in these cities ; rejoice that your names are 
 written in heaven/' It is a grand thing for a man or woman to 
 know that his or her name is written in heaven. Young lady, 
 do you know to-day that your name is there ? Young man, do 
 you know that your name is written in heaven ? Do you think 
 that Christ would have told these men to rejoice, if He had not 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 513 
 
 known that their names were written there ? Some persons 
 say that you cannot be sure ; but that is one of the greatest 
 delusions of the devil. If we cannot be certain of being saved 
 then we cannot preach salvation. There is not one passage of 
 Scripture that gives us reason to doubt our own salvation. 
 " I know that my Redeemer liveth ; " in Him I believe. I 
 know that I have passed in this world from death to life ; I 
 know, I know, I know — that is the way the Scripture speaks in 
 regard to our salvation, and so if you do not know to-day that 
 your name is written in heaven ; if no spirit bears witness with 
 your spirit, that your name is written in heaven, oh, do not 
 sleep to-night until you do know it ! It- is the privilege of 
 every man and woman in this house to know it if he will. 
 
 Would you just turn to a few passages in the Scriptures? 
 Turn back to the prophecy of Daniel a moment, the twelfth 
 chapter and first verse : " And at that time shall Michael stand 
 up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy 
 people ; and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was 
 since there was a nation, even to that same time j and at that 
 time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be 
 found within the book." Every one that shall be found written 
 — not in the church book ; a good many have got their names 
 written on some church record, that have not got them written 
 in the book of life — but every one whose name is found written 
 in the Book of Life, shall be delivered. Then would you turn 
 a moment to Paul's epistle to the Philippians, fourth chapter, 
 third verse : " And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help 
 those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Cle- 
 ment also, and with other my fellow-laborers whose names are 
 in the Book of Life." Why, it is not only they themselves who 
 know it, but Paul seemed to know their names were there. He 
 sent them greeting "whose names are in the Book of Life." 
 My dear friend, is your name there ? It seems to me it is a 
 very sweet thought to think we can have our names there and 
 know it ; that we can send our name on ahead of us, and know 
 it is written in the Book of Life. 
 
 I had a friend coming back from Europe some time ago, and 
 22* 
 
she came down with some other Americans from London to 
 Liverpool. On the train down they were talking about the 
 hotel they would stop at. They had got to stay there a day or 
 two before the boat sailed, and so they all concluded to go to 
 the North Western Hotel, but when they reached Liverpool 
 they found that the hotel was completely filled and had been 
 full for days. Every room was taken, and the party started to 
 go out, but this lady did not go with them, and they asked her, 
 " Why, are you not coming ? " " No," said she, " I am going 
 to stay here." "But how? The hotel is full." "Oh," said 
 said she, u I have got a room." " How did you get it ? " "I 
 telegraphed on a few days ago for one." Yes, she had alone 
 taken pains to telegraph her name on ahead and had thus 
 secured her room. That is just what God wants you to do. 
 Send your name on ahead. Have your mansion ready for you 
 when you come to die. Don't go on neglecting this great ques- 
 tion. Don't neglect your soul's salvation. Don't neglect your 
 home beyond the grave. You can have your name written in 
 the Book of Life to-day, and have the crown and robe all ready 
 for you when your spirit leaves your body. You can secure an 
 interest in the Kingdom of God this very day, if you will only 
 seek it. But there is another passage I want to call your atten- 
 tion to in regard to this very point of having your names put in 
 the Book of Life. Now turn to Revelations, thirteenth chapter, 
 eighth verse : " And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship 
 him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the 
 Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Ah ! there is a 
 good deal in Scripture about our names being written in the 
 Book of Life. Turn again to Revelations, twentieth chapter, 
 twelfth verse : " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
 before God ; and the books were opened ; and another book 
 was opened which is the Book of Life ; and the dead were 
 judged out of those things which were written in the books, 
 according to their works." Then in the last chapter but one 
 and the last verse : " And there shall in no wise enter into it 
 anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, 
 or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 515 
 
 of Life." Not a soul shall enter in through the pearly gates of 
 that city whose names are not written in the Book of Life. It 
 is a very important thing that we have our names written there, 
 and then I think the next important thing after our names are 
 written in the Book of Life, is to have our children's there. 
 We ought to be careful and see that the names of the children 
 whom God has given us are written there. 
 
 I want to speak here a few minutes about our children, for 
 the promises, are not only to us but to our children. I pity 
 those fathers and mothers who don't believe in the conversion 
 of their little children. I pity the fathers and mothers who are 
 not laboring to bring their children to Christ and have their 
 names written in the Book of Life. I heard of a mother dying 
 a few years ago of consumption, and when the hour came for 
 her departure, she asked that the children be brought in, and 
 the oldest child was brought to her bedside. The mother put 
 her dying hand on his head, smoothed his hair, and gave him 
 her dying blessing ; and the next child was brought in, and the 
 next, and the next, and to each she gave a message of love and 
 hope ; and at last the little infant was brought in, and she hugged 
 it to her bosom and kissed it and hugged it again and again 
 until, as they went to take the little child from her mother, as 
 they saw it was exciting her and hastening her death, she looked 
 up into her husband's face and said, " I charge you to bring all 
 these children home with you." 
 
 And so God charges us parents to bring our children home 
 with us. He don't want one left out, but wants every one writ- 
 ten in the Book of Life. And they can be written there to-day 
 if we only seek, and if that is the uppermost in the minds of 
 God's people to have them there, they will be brought in. 
 What a blessed revival we will have if the fathers and mothers 
 will only wake up and see that they are brought in ! If we 
 want to shine forever in the kingdom of God then we must 
 bring them in. But the trouble is, we want to shine down here 
 in this fleeting world. How ambitious the fathers and the 
 
516 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 mothers are that their children shall just shine here for a little 
 while, and'the best and final interest of their soul is overlooked 
 and forgotten. I heard of a man that was dying some time ago, 
 a man of great wealth, and when the doctor told him he could 
 not live, the lawyer was sent for to come and make out his will, 
 and the dying man's little girl, only about four years old, did 
 not understand what death meant, and when the mother told 
 her that her papa was going away, the little child went to the 
 bedside and looked into her father's eyes and asked, " Papa, 
 have you got a home in that land that you are going to ? " And 
 the question sunk down deep into his soul. He had spent all of 
 his time and all of his energy in the accumulation of great wealth. 
 He had a grand home and had now got to leave it; and how 
 that question came home to him. 
 
 Dear friends, let me ask you the question to-day, Have you 
 got a home beyond the grave ? Can you say your name is writ- 
 ten in the Lamb's Book of Life ? Can you rejoice as only 
 Christ's disciples rejoice, because your name is there ? If you 
 cannot, then don't let the sun go down until the great question 
 of eternity is settled. Let the news flash over the wires of 
 heaven up to the throne of God, that you want your name there : 
 " Oh, let my name be written in the Book of Life ! " And then, 
 when your name is called and there is a voice heard, " Come up 
 hither I " you will go with joy and gladness to meet your Lord 
 and Saviour. You remember how it was with that dying sol- 
 dier — you have undoubtedly seen it, it has been in print so 
 often — who, lying on his cot, was heard to say, " Here ! here ! 
 here ! " and they went to him and asked him what he wanted. 
 " Oh," said he, " they are calling the roll of heaven, and I am 
 answering to my name," and in a few minutes he faintly whis- 
 pered it again, and was gone. That great roll is being called, 
 and it will be a very important thing, more important than any- 
 thing else when the hour comes, that our names be written in 
 the Book of Life, for God says except -it is written in the Book 
 of Life we shall not enter that city. The gates will be closed 
 against us ; no one will enter the kingdom of God except those 
 whose names are written in the Book of Life. So, my friends, 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 517 
 
 let us be wise. Let us see that our names are there, and then 
 let us go to work and see if we cannot bring our children to 
 Christ. I know a mother in this audience to-day who has got 
 a family of children, and a few days ago she got stirred up and 
 thought she would go to her children and talk to them person- 
 ally about Christ. She commenced only ten days ago, and what 
 is the result ? A son and two daughters — all that she has got — 
 have been brought to Christ, and perhaps there is not a happier 
 woman in New- York to-day, because she has got the names of 
 her family all written in the Book of Life. She knows that they 
 are to be an unbroken circle in eternal life. Fathers and moth- 
 ers, let us be wise unto eternity, and bring our children into the 
 kingdom with us. But, you may say, what has this to do with 
 heaven ? You cannot talk about heaven, but the children must 
 be spoken of, " for of such is the kingdom of heaven." They 
 have been going up there for these six thousand years. Their 
 little spirits are up yonder with the Shepherd, and He will 
 take better care of them than we can. It seems as if it ought 
 to make heaven very dear to us. 
 
 I never talk about children and heaven but what the story of 
 two fathers comes right home to me. One lived out in the 
 Western country on the banks of the Mississippi River. The 
 world calls him rich, but how poor he is or how poor he was. 
 Thank God ! be is rich now. One day his oldest son was 
 brought home to him unconscious ; a terrible accident had hap- 
 pened, and the family physician was hurriedly called in. As 
 he came in the father said : " Doctor, do you think my son will 
 recover ? " " No," said the doctor, " he is dying and cannot re- 
 cover." "Well," says the father, " only bring him to, can't you, 
 that we may tell him ? I don't want him to die without knowing 
 that he is dying." 'The doctor said he would try, but that the boy 
 was fast dying. After a while the boy did become conscious 
 for a moment, and the father cried : " My boy, the doctor tells 
 me you are dying and cannot live. I could not let you die 
 without letting you know it." The young man looked up to his 
 
518 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 father and said : " Father, do you tell me T am going to die 
 right away ? " " Yes, my boy," said the agonized father, "you 
 will be gone in a little while." " Oh, father, won't you pray for 
 my lost soul?" Said the speechless father, " I cannot pray, 
 my son." The boy grew unconscious, and after a little while 
 was gone ; and the father said when he buried that boy that if 
 he could have called him back by prayer he would have given 
 all he was worth. He had been with that boy all those years, 
 and had never prayed once for him. Am I talking to a pray- 
 erless father and mother to-day ? Gather your children around 
 you, and show them the way to the kingdom of God. Train 
 them to go where Christ reigns in triumph, that they may be 
 with you. 
 
 The other father was a contrast. I don't know but he may 
 be in this audience this afternoon. His son had been danger- 
 ously ill, and when he came home one day he found his wife 
 greatly troubled. She told him there had been a great change 
 since morning, and she thought their boy was dying. " I wish," 
 said she, "that you would go in and tell him of his condition, 
 for I cannot bear to, and he ought to know it if he is dying." 
 The father went in, went up to his son's bedside, placed his 
 hand on the boy's pale forehead, and saw the cold, damp sweat 
 of night was gathering, and he saw in a little while the boy 
 would be gone, and he said, " My son, do you know you are 
 dying ? " and the young man said, " No. Am I dying ? " 
 "Yes, my son." " Will I die to-day?" "Yes, my boy; you 
 cannot live until night." And the boy looked surprised and 
 yet seemed to be glad, and said, " Well, father, I will be with 
 Jesus to-night, won't I ? " " Yes, my boy, you will stand to- 
 night with the Saviour," and the father turned away to conceal 
 his tears, and the boy saw the tears, and said, " Father don't 
 you weep for me : when I go to heaven I will go right straight 
 to Jesus and tell Him that ever since I can remember, you 
 have tried to lead me to Him." 
 
 God has given me two little children, and if I know my heart 
 to-day, I would rather have such testimony as this go home to 
 my Father through my children, than to have the world rolled 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 519 
 
 at my feet. I would rather have them come to my grave and 
 drop a tear over it, and say, " When my father lived he was 
 more anxious for my eternal salvation, than he was for my tem- 
 poral good, than I would to have all the power this world can 
 bestow. A few weeks ago, when my boy was sick, and I didn't 
 know but that it would result fatally, I took my place by the 
 side of his bed, and placed my hand on his forehead, and said : 
 " Willie, suppose you should be really sick " — I didn't want to 
 have him think he was likely to die — " and you should be taken 
 away, do you think you would be afraid of death ? " and a tear 
 trickled down his cheek as he said " No papa ; last summer I 
 was awful afraid of death, but Jesus has taken it all away now. 
 If I die I should go to Him and He would give me everything 
 I wanted." Ah ! how sweet it was to think the little fellow was 
 not afraid of death. It seems to me we ought to teach our 
 children so that they will hail with joy the time that they can 
 go to meet Jesus, their blessed Saviour. Oh, may the Spirit of 
 the Lord God, come upon this assembly to-day, and may we 
 know that our names are written in the kingdom of Heaven, 
 and then see that the children whom God has given us, are 
 written in the Book of Life. 
 
 Mr. Moody continued the next day the subject of Heaven. 
 The hall was full ; many had to find seats on the steps 
 leading up to the choir, and a less fortunate found none 
 at all. The most common incidents that happen every 
 day become novel and significant when Mr. Moody 
 applies them, weaving them in with grave religious ques- 
 tions, and the sermon yesterday was as full of these 
 strong and homely illustrations as any he has preached in this 
 city. Everybody listens and follows him, feeling the force of 
 what he says, whether touched and seriously awakened by it 
 or not. His great faith in God and his wholesome views of 
 life, overwhelm all argument, and he leads his followers to Christ 
 as if there had never been a question raised as to the premises 
 which he takes for granted, and as if there was no other way 
 to go. 
 
 He began with the injunction to lay up treasures in Heaven. 
 
520 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 He said that Christianity suffered more from those who have 
 accumulated too much wealth here than from those who have 
 too little ; they were like balloons which have too much ballast 
 to rise above the house-tops ; sand would have to be thrown out 
 before they could hope to reach the skies. The church was a 
 place where people seemed to go to rest, not to work, but Christ 
 said that that rest was only in Heaven, and there, too, was the 
 reward. Mr. Sankey and Mr. Thatcher sang together " Oh, to 
 be over yonder." 
 
 The sermon was as follows : 
 
 Yesterday you remember our subject was Heaven, and we 
 were trying to find out who were there : and I want to take the 
 subject right up where I left off, and I call your attention to the 
 6th chapter of Matthew and 19th verse, where you will find these 
 words : " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through 
 and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where 
 neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not 
 break through and steal. " Now, if we are living as the Lord 
 would have us live, our treasures are laid up in heaven and not 
 laid up on the earth, and I think we would be saved from a 
 great many painful hours and a great deal of trouble, if we 
 would just obey that portion of Scripture, and lay up our treas- 
 ures in heaven and not upon the earth. It is just as much a 
 command that we lay up our treasures in heaven and not upon 
 the earth, as it is that we shall not steal. God tells us plainly, 
 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and 
 rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal ; 
 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and 
 rust doth not corrupt and where thieves do not break through 
 and steal." It is a command. 
 
 Now, it don't take long to tell where a man's treasure is. It 
 don't take long to find out where a man's heart is. You talk 
 with a man five minutes and if he has got his heart upon any 
 one object you can find it out if that is your aim, and now if you 
 want to find out where a man's treasure is, it won't take you^ 
 long to find that out either ; for you know that the Bible tells us 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 52I 
 
 " Where your treasure is there shall your heart be also." And 
 the reason we have so many earthly-minded people and so few 
 people of heavenly minds is because the many have their whole 
 heart set upon earthly pleasures and objects, and the few have 
 their treasures laid up in heaven. If your treasure is here, you 
 will all the time be disappointed and in trouble and trial, when 
 the Lord has told you plainly to lay up your treasures in heaven 
 where moth and rust doth not corrupt, nor thieves break through 
 and steal. Now you talk with a man a few minutes and you 
 soon find out where his heart is, Talk about money, and if he 
 loves money and is making money and longing for more, how 
 his eye will light up ; and if he is fond of politics, and you refer to 
 that, his whole face kindles up, for you have touched his heart 
 and the subject dearest to him. If it is pleasure, or if it is 
 passion, speak about it and he is interested at once. But the 
 child of God who has got his treasures yonder, (pointing up- 
 ward) when you talk about heaven, you will see his heart is 
 there, and if a man's heart is in heaven it is not an effort for 
 him to talk about it at all. He cannot help it, and if our af- 
 fections are set on things above and not on this earth, it will be 
 easy for us to live for God. Now here is the command : " Lay 
 not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, but lay up your 
 treasures in heaven." 
 
 Now, my friends, ask yourselves the question, Where is 
 your treasure ? Or in other words, Where is your heart ? When 
 you find out that then you will find out where your treasure is. 
 In the 10th chapter of Hebrews, 13th verse, are these words : 
 r These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but 
 having seen them afar off, and were persuaded to them, and 
 embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pil- 
 grims on the earth. For they that say such things declare 
 plainly that they seek a country." Then in the 10th verse of 
 that same chapter, speaking of Abraham, it says: "For he 
 looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and 
 maker is God." The moment Abraham caught sight of the city 
 he proclaimed himself a pilgrim and a stranger. The well- 
 watered plains nf Sodom had no temptation for him. He de- 
 
52 2 MOODY AND: SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 clared plainly that he saw another country — a better country. 
 He had turned his heart from this fleeting- world, and Sodom 
 with all its temptations didn't tempt him. He had got some- 
 thing better. He had his eye fixed upon a city that should en- 
 dure when Sodom should have been swept away, and He had 
 got His eye fixed upon that city to lay up treasure there. How 
 poor a man is, no matter how much he has got laid up in this 
 world, if he has not got his treasure laid up in heaven. A 
 couple of friends of mine in the war called upon one of our 
 great Illinois farmers to get him to give some money for the 
 soldiers, and during their stay there he took them upon the cu- 
 pola of his house and told them to look over yonder, just as far 
 as their eyes could reach, over that beautiful rolling prairie, and 
 they said, " That is very nice," and it was all his. Then he 
 took them up another cupola and said, " Look at that farm, and 
 that, and that," and these were farms all stocked, and improved, 
 and fenced, and they said, '"That is very nice," and then . he 
 showed them horses, cattle, and sheep-yards, and told them 
 " that is all mine.''* He showed them the town where he lived, 
 which had been named for him, a great hall, and building lots, 
 and those were all his ; and, said he, " I came out West a poor 
 boy without a farthing, and I am worth all this ; " but when he 
 got through my friend said, '"How much have you got up yon- 
 der? " and the old man's countenance fell, for he knew very well 
 what that meant. " What have you got there in the other 
 world?" "Well," he says, "I have not got anything there." 
 " Why," says my friend, " what a mistake ! A man of your 
 intelligence and forethought and judgment to amass all this 
 wealth, and now drawing to your grave, you will have to leave 
 it all. You cannot take a farthing with you, but you must die 
 beggared, and a pauper," and the tears rolled down his cheeks as 
 he said, " It does look foolish." But a few months after he died, 
 as he had lived, and his property passed to others. And we 
 see people here in New York accumulating money as if it is all 
 there is to live for, and leave it, many of them, to their children 
 to make the way down to hell easy for those children. One 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 523 
 
 generation accumulates wealth for the next to squander it and 
 to ruin soul and body. 
 
 A great many people are wondering why they don't grow in 
 grace ; why they don't have more spiritual power. The ques- 
 tion is very easily answered. You have got your treasure down 
 here. It is not necessary for a man to have money to have his 
 treasure down here. He may have his heart on pleasure. He 
 may make an idol of his children, and that is the reason that 
 they don't grow in grace. If we would only just be wise and 
 do as God tells us, we would mount up, as it were, on wings, 
 and would get nearer to heaven every day. We would get 
 heavenly-minded in our conversation and have less trouble than 
 now. And so, my friends, let us just ask ourselves to-day 
 where is our treasure ? Is it on earth or in heaven ? What 
 are we doing? What is the aim of our lives? Are we just 
 living to accumulate money or to get a position in the world 
 for our children ? Or are we trying to secure those treasures 
 which we can safely lay up in heaven, becoming rich toward 
 God? 
 
 I have known men who have been up in balloons, and they 
 told me that when they want to rise higher they just throw out 
 some of the sand with which they ballast the balloon. Now, I 
 believe one reason why so many people are earthly-minded and 
 have so little of the spirit of Heaven is that they have too much 
 ballast in the shape of love for earthly joys and gains ; and what 
 you want is to throw out some of the sand, and you will rise 
 higher. I heard of a man the other day who said he did not 
 know what to do with his money. It was a burden to him to 
 take care of- it. I could not help but think how quick I could tell 
 him what to do with it. I could tell him where to invest it 
 where it would bring an eternal profit. I hope to live to see the 
 day when men will be as anxious to make investments for the 
 Lord as for themselves, and a man won't then be putting so 
 much money in railroad shares and so much in banking stocks, 
 and so much in a mine in the mountain, but he will put it in 
 good security, where it will bring good returns for the Lord. 
 That is the kind of investment I think we ought to live for. A 
 
524 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 friend of mine said that he was in Liverpool some time ago, and 
 there was a vessel coming into the harbor. It sailed right up 
 the Mersey under full sail, and a little while after another vessel 
 came in towed by a tug and sunken to the level of the water. 
 He wondered it did not sink ; and he went down to the water's 
 edge and saw that they got it into the harbor with a great deal 
 of difficulty, and he inquired and found that it was loaded with 
 lumber. It had such material on board that it could not sink, 
 and it had sprung aleak and had got water-logged. My friends 
 I think there are a good many of God's people that have got 
 water-logged, and it takes all the strength of the church to look 
 after those Christians that are water-logged and so water-logged 
 that they cannot go forth and do good to others — help the un- 
 fortunate, and lift up the poor drunkard, because they don't know 
 whether they are saved themselves. The fact is they are off with 
 the world, mingling with the world ; acting, speaking, as though 
 in the world, and they don't know whether they are saved 
 themselves. 
 
 I believe if we are God's people we must live separate from 
 the world. I think before this world is ever reformed, the peo- 
 ple of God must be set apart from the world. There never will 
 be a true reformation in the world until God's people are sepa- 
 rate, until we are liberated here below. Who would want to 
 live in the sinful world ? These smoking, chewing, drinking, 
 horse-racing, dancing, card-playing Christians will never reform 
 this world. We have got to come out and be separate from the 
 world, and have our hearts set on things above, and not so much 
 on the things of this earth. If we are willing to live the lives 
 of Christians, we have got to live them not as if we were of the 
 world. Suppose that when we had sent our brothers and fathers 
 and sons away to fight the battles of the war, they had chosen 
 after they had got away off down South hundreds of miles from 
 home — they had chosen to remain there, and had chosen to 
 leave forever the wives and sisters and daughters they had left 
 behind in the North, and to make homes for themselves among 
 the enemy. But instead of that, were they not always anxious 
 that the war should be over, and looking eagerly forward to the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 525 
 
 time when they should come back home ? That is the way with 
 Christians in this world. We are strangers and pilgrims here 
 in this world. It is not home to us ; we are citizens of another 
 and a finer country. A man was asked the other day, " Well, 
 how is the world getting on ? " He replied, " I do not know. 
 I haven't been in the world for several years." He was living in 
 another country, taken out of the old place and, transplanted 
 into the new. If things do not come to satisfy us down here, let 
 us not be complaining ; let us remember that we are on a pil- 
 grimage ; that we are citizens of another country, and that we 
 are to have all we want when we get home. I was on board 
 the train from Chicago to Cairo one day, and there were two 
 ladies sitting in the seat behind me, who were talking together, 
 and I could not help hearing the conversation. I learned that 
 they were strangers when they started from Chicago, but on the 
 way, before they came to Cairo, they got quite well acquainted. 
 One was going to New Orleans, and one was going to Cairo. 
 Before they got to Cairo the Cairo lady said to the New Orleans 
 lady, " I wish you would get off at Cairo ; I enjoy your company, 
 and I would, like very much to have you spend a few days at 
 my home." The New Orleans lady said, " I would like to do so 
 but I have packed all my things in my trunk, and they have all 
 gone on ahead to New Orleans ; so I have not any clothes with 
 me good enough to visit and go into society in. I have nothing 
 except what I have on " — and she added — " and you know this 
 dress is good enough to travel in." That is what I think of the 
 journey of this world. A very little is good enough for us to 
 travel in. We are all travelers, and this is good enough for 
 traveling. We have raiment and mansions up there waiting for 
 us. Let us have our hearts and affections set on things above, 
 and not on things on the earth. In Hebrews, fourth chapter, 
 and ninth verse, it says: "There remaineth, therefore, a rest 
 for the people of God." Not on earth ; it does not say on earth. 
 There is another great mistake that a good many people are 
 making at the present time. They have an idea that the church 
 is a place of rest. Instead of going there to work for God, they 
 go there to rest. " There remaineth a rest for the people of 
 
526 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 e all 
 
 God. We will rest when we go home. We will have 
 eternity to rest in. We do not want to talk about rest here. I 
 hope the time will come, and I believe it will come, when they 
 will ask this question of all who are candidates for membership 
 in the church : " What work do you expect to do ? " and if they 
 are going into the church to rest, they will be told that we have 
 enough of such members now ; and if we could only get them 
 out, and get some others in who will go to work in earnest, it 
 would be a good thing for all. We should understand that we 
 come into the church to work. All that seems to constitute a 
 Christian these days is to unite with the church ; and then, 
 after they have joined it, every one in the church must wait on 
 them — the minister, the laymen, all the members must go and 
 call on them, and they do not do this ; they go to some other 
 church, and the quicker they do it the better. " There remain- 
 eth a rest for the people of God." The idea of our talking 
 about rest here, where Christ has been cast out, where they have 
 taken the life of God's own Son. Why should we want to stay 
 in the enemy's country at rest and peace ? As long as it is the 
 enemy's country, let us not dream of rest. We will rest by 
 and by, when Jesus comes. Let us not talk about rest now. I 
 heard of a man the other day that got tired and discouraged 
 and homesick. He wanted to go home ; he did not see his 
 work blessed as it used to be ; and one night as he went to bed 
 he wished himself dead. And going to sleep in that state of 
 mind it was not unnatural for him to dream the dream that he 
 did. He dreamed that he died, and was taken away to the 
 Eternal City. When he first got there, as he walked up and 
 down the golden streets of heaven, looking upon the Celestial 
 City, he met two friends whom he had known upon earth. All 
 at once, as they walked together, they noticed that every one 
 was looking in a certain direction. He looked and saw some 
 one coming up the streets in a golden chariot. He saw that 
 He looked different from the rest of the redeemed who had 
 come there from earth, and as He came nearer, he saw that it 
 was the blessed Lord and Saviour. When the chariot came 
 sweeping up to where they were, the Saviour got out of the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 527 
 
 chariot, and asked his companions to get into the chariot, and 
 then asked him to walk with Him. The Saviour then took 
 him to the battlements of heaven, and said, " What do you 
 see?" He answered, "I see the dark world that I have just 
 come from." " What else ? " he was then asked. He looked 
 further, and replied, "I think I see men going over into 'the 
 bottomless pit. " What else ? " I hear the wail coming up 
 from these, he said. The Saviour asked " will you stay here 
 and enjoy these mansions with Me, or will you go back to 
 earth and tell those poor erring mortals about Me ? " Here he 
 awoke from his sleep, and he said he has never since wished 
 himself dead. He wants to live as long as he can, to proclaim 
 to the last the Saviour's life and death to a lost world. 
 
 We have not long to work. Let us work without ceasing. 
 Work, work, work ! The first word that Paul ever heard from 
 the Son of God was, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? " 
 Shall the servant be above his master ? Shall we become 
 careless of our master's work down here? Oh, let us begin 
 to-nigHt, and let it be the work of each one here this very 
 week to bring some souls to Christ. A young man who lay 
 dying was heard by his watching mother to moan the words 
 " Lost, lost, lost ? " She went to him and said, " Why my 
 son, why do you say, Lost, lost, lost ? It is not possible that 
 you have lost your hope in Christ ? " " No, mother ; not 
 that." " Then what do you mean by those words — lost, 
 lost ? " " Mother, I was thinking how I have lost my life, how 
 I have wasted my twenty-four years. I have done nothing, I 
 have lost a life ! " And the young man died regretting that he 
 had lost a life time, which was given him in which to work for 
 Christ Jesus. If God should summon us to-day, would we be 
 ready to go to our account ? Would we not have to say our 
 life had been a failure, because we had not done the work that 
 He had for us to do ? We will rest by and by. The wicked 
 shall cease from troubling by and by. The weary shall be at 
 rest by and by. We will not talk about rest here. We shall 
 have enough. We shall have all eternity for rest. 
 
 I want to call your attention next to the fact that our reward 
 
528 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 is in heaven, and not here. God's people make the great mis- 
 take of looking for a reward down here. They are still looking 
 for a reward down here. Let us remember that the reward is 
 beyond. I have noticed that that is the case with almost every 
 one of God's people — they look for reward down here. God 
 does not propose to reward His children here. He is to 
 reward them up yonder. We are to work here. When we are 
 done He will say " Well done, good and faithful servant. 
 Enter into the joy of thy Lord." You will then have a seat at 
 His right hand. The reward will be great, He says. If God 
 calls the reward great, what kind of a reward will it be ? If 
 the great God says so, won't it be a wonderful reward ? Instead 
 of looking for reward and honor here, let us look beyond for 
 it. See what Paul says to Timothy, " For there will be for me 
 a crown." He did not look for his crown here. 
 
 When I read the life of Paul it makes me ashamed of the 
 Christianity of the present day. Talk about what we have suf- 
 fered ! Talk about what we have done ! I think it would do 
 every member of the church good to spend six months reading 
 the life of Paul, and to see what he had to go through.. He had 
 been beaten four times, and received thirty-nine stripes upon 
 the bare back. If one of us should get even one stripe now, 
 how many volumes would be written on the martyrdom ! What 
 a whine there would be ! It was nothing for Paul to be beaten 
 with thirty-nine stripes. Did any one say to Paul, "You have 
 been beaten already four times before, and now they are going 
 to bring that scourge upon your back as many times again per- 
 haps \ had you not better go off down to Europe, and rest for 
 six months until this persecution dies out ? " The appeal would 
 pass him by unheeded. " I have but one aim, one thing to 
 hope for. I press toward the mark of my high calling in Christ 
 Jesus." These earthly afflictions, what were they ? He never 
 complained of them. . Instead of giving up his opinions and his 
 hope, he was willing to stand his stripes and his miseries again 
 and again. And it was no trifling matter, these beatings he 
 received. Yet he received them all and would not deny the 
 faith that the mercy and power of God had wrought in him. 
 
THE WORK OF -GRACE IN NEW YORK. 529 
 
 If you allow me the expression, the devil had his match when 
 
 he got hold of Paul. Not all he could do would give him the 
 
 upper hand of Paul and separate him from the love of God. 
 
 He had his reward in view, and he always, scorning what the 
 
 world could do to him, pressed toward that reward. He knew 
 
 that all his sufferings here would be wiped away, and joy and 
 
 peace be his, when he wore the crown for which he had so 
 
 bravely fought. And how many are working for these crowns 
 
 at the present day ? How much would they suffer now for a like 
 
 reward that awaited this mighty warrior ? His enemies one 
 
 time took him out and stoned him like the martyr Stephen. 
 
 Think of the torment he experienced, the pain that he must 
 
 have suffered, as these stones were hurled at him. So great 
 
 was the anger of those who were thus around him, that they 
 
 left him for dead when they got through with him. See his 
 
 head all swollen up ; see the bruises upon his body and his limbs ; 
 
 see the ugly scars and the gaping wounds that he carried. He 
 
 was hardly brought to life again, and for a long time thereafter 
 
 you could see him with his injured head and black eye on the 
 
 corners of the streets, and yet not frightened by any means, 
 
 but preaching the glorious Gospel of his God and Master Jesus 
 
 Christ. He went to Corinth, was not afraid, but preached 
 
 there for eighteen months, and in all his ministrations, and in 
 
 all his labors he had to rely upon himself. He had no influen- 
 
 : tial committee to meet him upon his arrival at the station and 
 
 ,< conduct him to a fine hotel and make all arrangements about his 
 
 ■ expenses. There were no stations in those days ; when he did 
 
 * arrive he came unannounced and on foot. And instead of a 
 
 1 splendid hotel to go to, his first care was to go himself, walk 
 
 ( around all the streets and find cheap lodgings in some alley 
 
 i where he could go after he had left off preaching for the day to 
 
 make tents, to which trade he had been brought up. And then, 
 
 after all his preaching, and all his labors, what reward did he 
 
 t receive ? Well, there was a sort of committee, and they said 
 
 they would pay him off. Did they give him some testimonial 
 
 3 and a large sum in money then ? What they did do instead of 
 
 presenting him with, say, a thousand dollars in gold — this com- 
 
530 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. . 
 
 mittee I speak of took him down to a cross street and gave him 
 thirty-nine stripes. That is the way they paid him off. That 
 was the way they treated this mighty fighter, a preacher that 
 turned the world upside down. 
 
 Talk about Alexander making the world tremble at the tread 
 of his armies ! Talk about Napoleon shaking the world to its 
 centre when the powers knew he had gathered his army round 
 about him ! Why these have all passed away, but the words o 
 Paul, of the despised tent-maker, make the world tremble even 
 to this day. He talks about being in peril among robbers. 
 Well what did the robbers find on him ? No money, no jewelry, 
 — nothing. What treasures he had, he had placed them above 
 their reach — he had put them in heaven where thieves do not 
 break through or steal. The robbers got nothing from him, 
 though he was richer than any man at the present day. Not a 
 man who has lived since Paul is richer than he was. Three 
 times again he says, he suffered shipwreck ; also a clay and a 
 night he was in the deep. He had been subjected to perils by 
 water, to perils of robbers, to perils brought about by his own 
 countrymen. Besides these he experienced perils of the wilder- 
 ness ; perils among false brethren — ah! that must have been 
 the hardest. He was weary, he was in pain, but none of these 
 things would move him. Thank God, the apostle was a warrior, 
 and would to God that the Church had a thousand like him at 
 the present day. Nothing was able to battle him down. Not 
 even the newspaper of the day, if they had one, pitching into 
 him every day would have caused him a moment's thought. It 
 might have called him a poor deluded man, might have said to 
 him : " Oh, you poor fool." For none of these things did he 
 care. He looked above and beyond them. He knew there was 
 a glorious reward awaiting him. And so the mighty warrior 
 went on to fight for his Master. But at last he had to flee, and 
 to escape he was let down the walls in a basket. He goes to 
 fight elsewhere. Driven out of one place, he does not de- 
 spair ; and that is the spirit that we want to-day. He was al- 
 ways willing to receive the stripes and the torments and to suffer 
 everything the world could heap upon him for the cause of 
 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 53 1 
 
 Christ. His enemies again gave him thirty-nine stripes. Well, 
 he was used to it. His back had not perhaps got well before 
 he received this punishment. After they got through with him 
 they cast him and Silas into prison. No sooner had they got 
 in, instead of being frightened at what they had received, they 
 began to worship the God for whom they had suffered. Paul 
 says to Silas : " Come, Silas, let us praise God and have 
 prayers." And they opened their worship by singing, perhaps, 
 the 46th Psalm. After that they had prayers and called upon 
 God for His protection. And as soon as they had said " amen," 
 their God responded to their cries for help, and the whole prison 
 shook, and there was a great commotion. Yes, that was a 
 queer place to sing praises in — a prison ; and it was just after 
 he had received the stripes. • Why, I dare say, if Mr. Sankey 
 should have only one stripe upon his naked back, he would not 
 feel much like singing. But this man had received thirty-nine. 
 He was as much at home with his God in prison as he was out of 
 it. He could praise Him as well behind bolts and bars as he 
 could in the synagogue. He knew what his reward would be. 
 He knew that the grave would be his immediate reward, but he 
 had faith in the great hereafter ; he had a crown and a reward 
 that would not pass away. Yes, do you think that God would 
 have let him suffer like that without rewarding him ? If we 
 suffer persecution for Christ's sake, great will be our reward. 
 Paul's sufferings were the cause of the conversion of the Phil- 
 ippian jailer. I suppose he was the first convert in Europe. 
 Look at him again in Rome. The time had come for his de- 
 parture ; Nero has signed the order for his execution, and he is 
 being taken out to be beheaded. Ask him now at this moment, 
 when death is but a little way off, if he is sorry that he has 
 suffered for the Son of God. Ask him if he would not like to 
 recant to save his head. I can imagine how the old boy would 
 look if you should ask him such a question as that. They are 
 going to take him two miles out of the city to the place of exe- 
 cution. He walks with a steady, unfaltering step. He wavers 
 not, nor looks aside. His gaze is fixed upon the reward of his 
 high calling in Christ Jesus. And he writes to his friend Tim 
 
532 . MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 othy, c{ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown." You 
 could not shake him in his faith. Thank God, at this dread 
 moment he kept his word w'ith Jesus. He had never preached 
 any false doctrine. He had only preached Christ crucified, and 
 had manfully fought under his banner like a faithful soldier to 
 this the end of his life. " Good-bye," you can imagine him say- 
 ing to Timothy, " henceforth there is laid up for me a crown, 
 and I am going to win it." As he walked through the streets 
 of Rome, I tell you Rome never had such a conqueror. Not 
 all her mighty men of war, not all her generals and statesmen 
 and orators had risen to the supreme height that Paul had 
 reached at this moment. He was going to receive a prize that 
 would eclipse all the trophies of war and wit and learning. 
 
 But at last he approaches the fatal spot He is placed in the 
 position that he had to take; the executioner makes him ready, 
 and at the given signal the blow descends, his head comes off, 
 and his spirit is lifted into the golden chariot, and is borne to 
 the pearly gates of Heaven. As he approaches the celestial 
 portals, the battlements of Heaven are crowded with the saints 
 that Paul by his preaching had sent before him. Ah ! how they 
 welcome him. He is borne on toward the great white throne 
 to receive, his reward. The bells of Heaven are set a ringing, 
 and hosannas are chanted by the choir of Paradise. He comes 
 near the throne and he hears the great voice saying, " Well 
 done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord." And the saints now gather around Him, and greet, and 
 bear witness for him to the Master he had so faithfully served. 
 One would say, " That sermon that you preached to the Gala- 
 tians wrought a change of heart in me, and I have been chosen 
 to take my place among the elect." Another would say, " That 
 lecture that you delivered at Thessalonia converted me." An- 
 other — "Paul, that appeal that you made at Corinth touched 
 my wicked soul ; I began to worship Jesus whom you preached, 
 and here I am among the angels." Oh, what a reward was that. 
 Was it not worth all the cares, troubles, anxieties, sufferings, 
 torments, and death he had gone through ? Men murmur at 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 533 
 
 the little crosses they have to endure here, but they forget if 
 they be faithful, the Lord will reward them by and by. 
 
 What causes joy in heaven ? One more thought before I close. 
 What is it that occasions so much joy in heaven ? Suppose some 
 great discovery had been made in this country. It would throw 
 the whole nation into excitement. If it should turn out that 
 some great mines had been discovered whose riches had never 
 been equaled ; that it rewarded all those that went to it with an 
 independent fortune in a few months. What intense excitement 
 would be created all through the land. Yet this would not be 
 noticed in Heaven. What would, then, create joy in that place? 
 Why, if that little girl down there would only give her heart to 
 Jesus to-day, all Heaven would sing and shout " There is joy," 
 it is written, "over one sinner that repenteth." The idea that 
 that little boy or that little girl could cause joy in Heaven, and 
 create an excitement there ! for every sinner that repents there 
 is joy in heaven. Just look at the 15th chapter of Luke : 
 " When he found the sheep he called his friends in." I have 
 tried to make out what friends are there referred to. Were they 
 the angels ? No, I don't think they were the angels. I can 
 imagine, and I think the idea a legitimate one, that these friends 
 are the redeemed ones that knew us, and loved us, and prayed 
 for us on earth. These are the people whose names Christ is 
 writing in the Book of Life. It might be that an entry would 
 be made that down at the Hippodrome, on March iotb, at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon, these redeemed ones first turned their 
 hearts to Me. Some beloved mother is up there, it may be, and 
 is now looking down on her child, and is praying that her child 
 may have a clean heart and seek the Lord. Perhaps some lit- 
 tle, loving child is looking over the battlements to see its father 
 or mother here repent and give their souls to God. When I 
 was in the great Exhibition Building in Dublin, I said that per- 
 haps a mother was praying near the throne for a certain young 
 lady in the audience, and asking her if she would not come to 
 Jesus. A short time afterward I received the following letter : 
 " Dear Sir : On Wednesday, when you were speaking of Heaven, 
 you said that ' it might be that at this moment a mother was 
 
534 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 looking down from Paradise and praying for the salvation of 
 her child who is here.' You apparently looked at the spot where 
 my child was seated. My heart said, ' That is my child, and 
 that is her mother.' Tears sprang to my eyes, and I bowed my 
 head and prayed that the Lord would show his way to my dar- 
 ling child. Lord save my child, I cried. I was then anxious 
 to the close of the meeting. When I reached her she was 
 bathed in tears, and she arose and put her arms around my neck 
 and kissed me, and on the way to the inquiry-room she told me 
 that it had been the same remark about a mother looking down 
 from Heaven that had found its way to her heart.'' I remem- 
 ber that time when a beautiful young lady was led to the in- 
 quiry-room, leaning on the arm of her father. " What can I do 
 to be saved ?" she said. And afterward she became a zealous 
 worker for the Lord. The letter was written by her father, who 
 is a clergyman. 
 
 Shall these lectures close without one deciding to make heaven 
 his home ? Will there be no young man to start for heaven 
 to-day? — no person, no father, no mother, that will repent and 
 turn to God ? I pray that many will accept salvation. Shall 
 we all pray that He will save every soul in this assembly? 
 Would it be asking too much ? Let us who are saved pray that 
 God will rescue every lost soul here ; and as we pray let us bow 
 the head and lift up our heart — and may Christ the God hear 
 us, and hearing save. 
 
 The Other Side of the Picture. 
 
 After the glowing sermon on Heaven that gathers up the 
 Scripture into a broad beam of light and lets it shine on the 
 future to win men, we introduce the reports of that discourse, 
 and some portions of it, which shows the intensity of the speak- 
 er's feelings respecting the danger of unbelievers : 
 
 Mr. Moody gave as his text, "Son, Remember," saying 
 that, if he consulted his own feelings, he would be preaching on 
 Heaven or God's love, but a man who came as a messenger 
 must give the whole message. 
 
 For the first time since he has been in the city Mr. Moody 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 535 
 
 preached on the dark side of the religious question — the conse- 
 quences of a godless life, or rather the consequences of rejecting 
 Christ, whether the life be godless or not. It was not like most 
 of his sermons, the natural expression of easily flowing thoughts, 
 but the dutiful message of a man who gives warning of the 
 worst. In his most rigorous sermon he tells not of a hell, the 
 fires of which are always burning, but of a conscience which 
 never sleeps or forgets. He might picture under a pressure of 
 argument other torments, but as yet he has only given the 
 ameliorated form of everlasting suffering. He finds in the words 
 " Son, remember," enough suffering for all eternity. Going 
 from the densely crowded streets one scarcely expected to find 
 many gathered in the hall, but there was the usual large congre- 
 gation in attendance. 
 
 I was at the Paris Exhibition in 1867, and I noticed there 
 a little oil painting, only about a foot square, and the face was 
 the most hideous I have ever seen. On the paper attached to 
 the painting were the words " Sowing the tares," and the face 
 looked more like a demon's than a man's. As he sowed 
 these tares, up came serpents and reptiles, and they were 
 crawling up on his body, and all around were woods with 
 wolves and animals prowling in them. I have seen that 
 picture many times since. Ah ? the reaping time is com- 
 ing. If you sow to the flesh you must reap the flesh, If 
 you sow to the wind you must reap the whirlwind. God 
 wants you to come to Him and receive salvation as a gift. You 
 can decide your destiny to-day if you will. Heaven and hell 
 are set before this audience, and you are called upon to choose. 
 Which will you have ? If you will take Him He will receive you 
 to His arms. If you will reject Him He will reject you. 
 
 Now, my friends, will Christ ever be more willing to save you 
 than He is now ? Will He ever have more power than He has 
 now? Then why not be saved now? Why not make up your 
 mind to be saved now while mercy- is offered you ? I remember 
 a few years ago, while the Spirit of God was working in our 
 church, I closed the meeting one night by asking if there were 
 any that would like to become Christians to rise, and to my great 
 
536 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 joy a man arose that had been anxious for some time. I went 
 up to him and took him by the hand and shook it and said, "I 
 am glad to see you get up. You are coming out for the Lord 
 now in earnest ? " " Yes," said he, " I think so. That is. there 
 is only one thing in my way." Said I, " What is that ? " 
 " Well," said he, " I lack moral courage. I confess to you that 
 if such a man " — naming a friend of his — " had been here to- 
 night, I should not have risen. He would laugh at me if he 
 knew of this, and I don't believe I have the courage to tell him." 
 " But," said I, " you have got to come out boldly for the Lord, 
 if you come out at all. That is what you have got to do ; "and 
 I talked with him, and he was trembling from head to foot. I 
 thought the spirit of God was striving with him, and I believe 
 the Spirit was striving earnestly with him. I did not labor with 
 that man as I often wished since that I had. I wish that night 
 I had prayed more earnestly with him. He came back the next 
 night, and the next night, and the next night, and the Spirit of 
 God strove with him for weeks. It seemed as if he came to the 
 very threshold of Heaven, and was almost stepping over into 
 the blessed world. I never could find out any reason for this 
 hesitation except that he feared his old companions would laugh 
 at him. I notice that when men go to prison no one laughs at 
 them, but when they come out and declare their intention of 
 leading good lives and standing up for Jesus, then men laugh at 
 them and make sport of them. 
 
 Well, I thought surely this man would be brought into the 
 fold, but at last the spirit of God seemed to leave him ; convic- 
 tion was gone, and then after that when he used to meet me on 
 the street he used to shun me, and if I met him coming along 
 the same side of the street he would cross over to the other side 
 and dodge me in every way he could. He finally got so that he 
 didn't come to church on the Sabbath. He always used to come 
 before. And that is the fault some people find with these meet- 
 ings. They say it hardens people. Yes, it does harden some 
 people. Any man that goes through a special meeting like this 
 and rejects the gospel of course becomes hardened, and his 
 chances are much less for heaven. The things that formerly 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 537 
 
 moved them do not move them so readily the next time. It 
 hardens a great many. It hardened this man. Six months from 
 that time I got a message from him that he was sick and wanted 
 to see me. I went to him in great haste. He was very sick 
 and thought he was dying. He asked me if there was any hope. 
 Yes, I told him, God had sent Christ to save him, and I prayed 
 with him. Contrary to all expectations and to the belief of the 
 physicians, he recovered and got off from his sick bed. One 
 day I went down to see him. It was a bright, beautiful day, and 
 he was sitting out in front of his house convalescing rapidly, 
 and I said, " You are coming out for God, now, aren't you ? 
 You will be well enough soon to come back to our meetings 
 again ?" Said he, "Mr. Moody, I have made up my mind to 
 become a Christian. My mind is fully made up to that, but I 
 won't be one just now. I am going to Michigan to buy a farm 
 and settle down, and then I will become a Christian." Said I 
 " But you don't know yet that you will get well." "Oh," said 
 he, " I will be perfectly well in a few days. I'll risk it. I have 
 got a new lease of life." " Oh," said I, "it seems to me that 
 you are tempting God," and I pleaded with him, and tried every 
 way to get him to take his stand. At last said he, " Mr. Moody 
 I can't be a Christian in Chicago. When I get away from Chi- 
 cago, and get to Michigan, away from my friends and acquaint- 
 ances, who laugh at me, I will be ready to go to Christ." , Said 
 I, " If God has not got grace enough to save you in Chicago, He 
 has not in Michigan," and I preached Christ to him, and urged 
 Christ upon him. At last he got a little irritated, and said, " Mr. 
 Moody, you can just attend to your business, and I will to mine, 
 and if I lose my soul, no one will be to blame bat myself — cer- 
 tainly not you, for you have done all you could." I went away 
 from that house then with a heavy heart. 
 
 I well remember the day of the week, Thursday, about noon, 
 just one week from that very day, when I was sent for by his 
 wife to come in great haste. I hurried there at once. His 
 poor wife met me at the door, and I asked her what was the 
 matter. " My husband," she said, " has been taken down with 
 some disease, and I have just had a council of physicians here, 
 
538 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and they have all given him up to die." Said I, " Does he 
 want to see me? " " No," said she. " Then why did you send 
 for me ? " Said she, " I cannot bear to see him' die in this ter- 
 rible state of mind." "What does he say?" 1 asked. Said 
 she, " He says his damnation is sealed and he will be in hell in 
 a little while." I went in, and he at once fixed his eye upon 
 me. I called him by name, but he was speechless. I went 
 around to the foot of the bed and looked in his face and said, 
 li Won't you speak to me ? " and he at last fixed that terri- 
 ble deathly look upon me and said, " Mr. Moody, you need not 
 talk to me any more. It is too late. You can talk to my wife 
 and children ; pray for them ; but my heart is as hard as the 
 iron in that stove there. My damnation is sealed and I will be 
 in hell in a little while." I tried to tell him of Jesus's love and 
 of God's forgiveness, but he said, " Mr. Moody, don't you mock 
 me. I tell you there is no hope for me." And as I fell on my 
 knees he said, "You need not pray for me; you need not pray 
 for a lost soul. My wife will soon be left a widow and my chil- 
 dren will be fatherless. They need your prayers, but you need 
 not pray for me." I tried to pray, but it seemed as if my pray- 
 ers didn't go higher than my head, and as if the heaven above 
 me was like brass. As I took the cold, clammy hand, the sweat 
 of death was upon it, and it seemed like bidding farewell to a 
 man I should never see in time or eternity. I left him with a 
 broken heart. That was about noon. The next day his wife 
 told me he lingered until the sun went down behind those West- 
 ern prairies, and from noon until he died all he was heard to 
 say was, " The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am 
 not saved." After lingering along an hour he would say again 
 those words, and just as he was expiring his wife noticed his 
 lips quiver, and that he was trying to say something, and as she 
 bent over him she heard him mutter, " The harvest is past, the 
 summer is ended, and I am not saved," and the angels bore 
 him away to judgment. He lived a Christless life ; he died a 
 Christless death ; we wrapped him in a Christless shroud and 
 bore him away to a Christless grave. Oh, how dark and sad ! 
 Are there some here that are almost persuaded to be "Chris- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 539 
 
 tians ? Take my advice and not let anything keep you away. 
 Fly to the arms of Jesus this day and hour. You can be saved 
 if you will. Son, remember! I have warned you to-day. 
 Daughter, remember! you cannot say that I did not lift up a 
 warning voice to-day and exhort you with all my soul to escape 
 the damnation of hell. 
 
 When he described the scene at the death bed of the de- 
 spairing and unrepentant sinner, a thrill of horror passed through 
 the vast assemblage and tears rolled down many a furrowed 
 cheek. Mr. Sankey was visibly affected by the picture, and 
 when he raised his head at the close of the address his eyes 
 were red from weeping. The preacher concluded by referring 
 to the fact that the fifth week of his work in this city would 
 come to an end with his sermon, and by praying earnestly that 
 many might be brought to Christ to commemorate the event. 
 The services closed with the singing of 
 
 " Jesus, lover of my soul." 
 
 Mr. Moody has had a very successful week. Though the 
 weather was not entirely propitious, the crowds were but 
 slightly diminished. The endurance of these two evangelists is 
 something startling. Still one can see by their make-up that 
 they are intended for severe labor. Mr. Sankey weighs about 
 two hundred and twenty pounds avoirdupois, and measures 
 forty-four inches around the chest. This is the weight and 
 chest measure of the basso pro/undo in an opera troupe, and is 
 indicative of great constitutional resistance. Mr, Moody is 
 only an inch or two less in chest measurement and but a few 
 pounds lighter. These gentlemen are both remarkable for 
 equable temperaments. They are the most cheerful and happy 
 men in New York. Never anxious or fretful about the future, 
 they do each day's duties as they present themselves. If this 
 is religion it would do some of our worn out and tired merchants 
 good to make an experimental investment in it. 
 
 With all his zeal and earnestness. Mr. Moody is not a man 
 over-weighted with gravity. His quick sympathy with people 
 of all classes, and his appreciation of their sorrows, make him 
 
540 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 often pathetic, and his belief in the danger of the unconverted 
 soul makes him deeply in earnest; but he has no melancholy 
 views of life, no morbid dread of impending evil, and none of 
 the sombre views of those who think of God only as a Judge 
 and Avenger. Those who hear him most are the least aston- 
 ished at the whole movement and the crowd he draws. The 
 most severe critics of his views and methods soon forget their 
 criticism in the genial atmosphere of his sincere, easy talk and 
 irresistible humor. His sermons are to those of the more 
 scholarly and cultivated clergymen, what home ballads are to 
 symphonies, and every one must like them whether they are 
 educated to appreciate fully the symphonies or not. The quiet 
 humor of the preacher was never more effective than when illus- 
 trating the excuses made by those bidden to the feast, and the 
 reasons given him every day by those who reject Christ. When 
 finally he told of a man seventy-eight years old, who said he 
 wanted to be a Christian, and would be one, " but I am afraid, 
 sir, I would not hold out," the whole audience smiled. 
 
 In one of the churches reference was made at some length to 
 the disinterested nature of the work at the Hippodrome — such 
 an immense effort and outlay on the part of men who have per- 
 sonally nothing to gain by the movement, neither position, nor 
 money, nor reputation, none of the rewards which are generally 
 the stinjuiants of labor. Mr. Moody, who gives his time and 
 unremitting efforts to the cause, the clergymen of prominence 
 and talent who assist him daily, the young men of the Christian 
 Association who act as ushers and work in the inquiry-rooms, 
 and behind these the gentlemen of wealth and liberality who 
 support the whole organization — it is only through the disinter- 
 ested cooperation of all these men that the movement is such 
 a wide-spread success. All that is left for the people to do is 
 to go and listen and assent. No effort, no money is require^ 
 from the audiences, anq* no especial quality but receptivity. 
 The words fall and spring up bearing fruit Mr. Moody tells 
 of a man with such a rigorous sense of justice that he "did not 
 believe in being saved all at once and for nothing ; " yet so 
 simple and plain is the plan of salvation which is taughf: at the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 54 1 
 
 Hippodrome, that very many who go find themselves believing 
 and trusting for nothing and all at once. 
 
 Of all the people that assemble there, none seem to enjoy the 
 revival with more fervor than the old people, of whom there is 
 always a large proportion. Many go day after day, and are 
 to be found in the same places. In religious feeling alone the 
 world seems not to have distanced them, but to go with them 
 or to follow them, and they have a sense of company which to 
 them is growing a rare experience. It is a great popular move- 
 ment in which they have their full share, and in which their 
 years only give them a more vital interest. With bent heads and 
 closed eyes they say their fervent amens as they listen to the 
 sympathy, charity and hopefulness which Mr. Moody daily 
 gives them. He is not so much above their mental range but 
 that he can set their thoughts and feelings flowing with love 
 and gratitude. 
 
 Dr. John Hall said : I am extremely touched by the number 
 of old men and the mothers in Israel who are here. Many of 
 them may not have much money to give or be able to do for 
 others, but all can pray. God does not keep the door barred. 
 Just as a lawyer makes it his business to handle cases, and a 
 physician to cure diseases, so it is the business of the Christian 
 to pray. We clergymen are extremely anxious to have our 
 congregations revived, but what we want is to be quickened and 
 revived ourselves, to go up to the level where we want our peo 
 pie to be. Be you what you want others to be. You, parents, 
 be Christlike before your children. I have often been surprised 
 and amused at people who, after spending years in a godless 
 life and then coming to Christ, wonder that every one they 
 speak to is not converted to God. I want to say to them, Did 
 you come at once? How long did you wait after God called 
 you ? God has had patience with us and we must have patience 
 too. Old Christians ought always to pray and not faint ; the 
 clouds are not from the sun, but from the earth. 
 
 There was a time when I thought I must preach with a loaf 
 of bread in one hand and the Gospel in the other. But it is a 
 
542 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 thousand times better to get the blessing that cripple got ; as 
 for the rest God will take care of His own. 
 
 Mr. Moody invited to the front of the platform a highly respect- 
 able-looking grey-haired man, above the middle age, who stated 
 that he was converted three weeks ago, and that he was a hotel 
 proprietor and kept a bar previous to his conversion. He testi- 
 fied of the power of Christ over his soul not because he felt it, but 
 because the word of God gave him authority for saying his sins 
 were put away and he was a new man. He carried his Bible, 
 and appealed to it in support of all the statements he made. 
 Two more reformed drunkards, middle-aged men, whose coun- 
 tenance bore traces of the effect of strong drink, also spoke. 
 One of them was converted about three weeks ago, but the 
 baptism he then received was John's baptism. Since Mr. 
 Moody's visit he was baptized with a love for winning souls to 
 Christ. The third man was converted but three weeks ago. 
 
 Said Mr. Moody : I wonder how many of these people here 
 this afternoon would like to be saved ? I am not going to ask 
 those who would to rise. I do not know whether any one would 
 have courage to rise, and by that act say, " I would like to be 
 saved." Perhaps you say to yourselves, " If that man will just 
 tell me the way how I can be saved this afternoon, I will be 
 saved." I believe one reason why so few are saved is because 
 they do not come out to the meetings expecting to be saved. 
 They do not come for that purpose. There was a lady came to 
 our meeting in Philadelphia — to the noon meeting at n o'clock; 
 she came early so as to get a good seat. After the meeting was 
 over we had another meeting for women, and she stayed at that. 
 She had made up her mind not to leave the meetings until she 
 had found Christ. She did not find Him at that meeting, but 
 she might have found Him. He was offered freely to every one 
 at all of them. So she stayed at the afternoon meeting, and 
 still no light came. She stayed at the evening meeting and 
 went into the inquiry meeting afterward. Between n and 12 
 o'clock she took me by the hand and said, " I will trust Him." 
 And she rejoiced in the Saviour's love. I met her afterward. 
 There was not a face shone more than hers did. There was a 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 543 
 
 woman who came determined to find Him. When we search 
 for God with all our hearts we are sure to find Him. 
 
 Now a great many think they can't repent because they have 
 not this sorrow they talk about ; they want to work up their feel- 
 ings before they repent. Now all this is man's idea. With the 
 command for all men to repent comes the power. God ain't an 
 unjust God ; he don't tell all to repent and then not give the 
 power to do it. With the command He gives the power, and 
 you can turn to Him if you will. You are free agents, and if you 
 come to God you will live, and if you refuse to return to Him, of 
 course you must die. And now I want to warn you about one 
 thing and that is fear. Fear is not repentance. I have not 
 much hope of scaring men into the kingdom of God. If you 
 could do it you would have them out as quickly as they got in. 
 It is like men in a storm at sea. They are cursing and blas- 
 pheming and in fifteen minutes after they all turn very pious. 
 This is not repentance ; it is fear. A great many men repent 
 # on their dying bed, but when they recover they forget all about 
 it. That is not what we want. It is a cool, calm calculation 
 that you will just make up your mind that you will turn from sin 
 and turn to God ; and he will receive every one that will so turn 
 to Him, for He deals in mercy. 
 
 Reconciliation Illustrated. 
 
 You hear people say they can't understand that : they can- 
 not imagine but they have to do something to satisfy God. But 
 I tell you that God is satisfied, God is reconciled. You have 
 the word of Paul that God is reconciled to us. Yes, thank God, 
 He is reconciled to the world. Can you reconcile God ? Christ 
 has done that. The moment a sinner takes this to heart, and 
 comes to Jesus, that moment he is saved. Perhaps a story will 
 illustrate this as well as anything. In England I was told about 
 an only son — these only sons are hard to bring up properly ; 
 they have every whim and caprice gratified ; they generally grow 
 up headstrong, self-willed, and obstinate, and make it miserable 
 for any one to have anything to do with them. Well, this son 
 had a father something like himself in disposition. And one day 
 
544 MOODY AND SAXKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 a quarrel arose between them, and at last, as the son would not 
 give in and own he was wrong, the father in a fit of anger said 
 that he wished his son would leave the house and never come 
 back again. " Well," rejoined the boy (as angry as his father,) 
 " I will leave, and I never will enter your house again until you 
 ask me." " Well, then, you won't come back in a hurry," replied 
 his father. The boy then left. The father gave up the boy, but 
 the mother did not. Perhaps these men here won't understand 
 that, but you women do. A great many things will separate a 
 man from his wife, a father from his son, but nothing in the wide, 
 wide world will ever separate a mother from her child. A jury 
 can bring in a verdict against her son ; the hisses may go up 
 against him ; he is condemned to be hanged ; there is not a 
 friendly paper to write an article in his favor. But if his mother 
 be there, the boy has at least one eye to rest upon him, one 
 heart to beat in sympathy with him. He is taken to the cold, 
 damp cell and left to his fate. All forsake him but his mother. 
 She comes there; she puts her arm around his neck; she 4 
 kisses him ; she would spend all the time with him if the officers 
 would allow it. She cannot save him. The day before his ex- 
 ecution she sees him for the last time ; she has not the 
 courage to see him in the shadow of the gallows. The supreme 
 moment at length arrives ; he is led forth, and in a few minutes 
 he dangles a corpse. Does the mother then forget him ? No ; 
 even now she goes to his grave, strews flowers upon it, and 
 waters them with her tears. A mother's love is next to God's 
 love. Death is stronger than everything else; yes, but with the 
 exception of one thing — a mother's love. Death and decay 
 may wreck this city, buildings may cease to exist, everything 
 yields before them but a mother's love. 
 
 To refer to the illustration again • When the father had given 
 the boy up, he thought he would never come back, the mother 
 was taken very sick. She had been trying by every means in 
 her power to effect a reconciliation between the father and son. 
 When she found she could not recover from her illness shev 
 again renewed her efforts with all the power of a mother's love. 
 She wrote to her son, imploring him to ask his father's forgive- 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 545 
 
 ness. He sent word back that he would not write to his father 
 unless his father first wrote to him. " I will never come home 
 until he asks me," he said. The mother began to get lower 
 and lower. Her husband at this time came to the bedside and 
 asked if there was anything he could do for her. " Yes, yes," 
 she cried, " there is one thing — you can send for my boy. That 
 is the only wish I have on earth that is not gratified. If you 
 do not care for him when I am alive, who will care for him when 
 I am gone? I cannot bear to die and leave my child among 
 strangers. Just let me see him and speak to him and I will die 
 in peace." The father said he could not send for him. He 
 could, but he wouldn't. He did not want to. The mother has 
 but a few hours now to live. She again beseeches her husband 
 that he will send for their son. The father said he would send 
 a dispatch to him, but in her name. " No, no ; that would not 
 do." Well, he can stand it no longer, and he signs his own at 
 the foot of the telegram. It was sent, and the moment the boy 
 received it he took the first train home. The father was stand- 
 ing by the side of the bed when the son arrived. But when he 
 saw the door open he turned his back upon him and walked 
 away. The mother grasped the hand of her boy and pressed it 
 again and again, and kissed him fervently. " Oh ! just speak 
 to your father, won't you? Just speak the first word." "No, 
 mother, I will not speak to him until he speaks to me." The 
 excitement was too much and she was rapidly sinking. She 
 told her husband she was dying. She now took his hand in 
 one of hers, and held the hand of her boy in the other, and 
 sought and strove to bring about a reconciliation. But neither 
 would speak. With her last strength she then placed the hand 
 of the son into the hand of the father and sank down into the 
 arms of death, and was borne by the angels into the kingdom of 
 God. The father looked at the wife and then at the boy ; he 
 caught his eye ; they fell upon each other's necks, and there 
 stood weeping by the bed of the departed. That is the illustra- 
 tion I have given ; but it is not a fair illustration in this respect ; 
 God is not angry with us. With that exception it is a good 
 illustration of reconciliation. Christ brought the hand of the 
 
546 MOODY" AND SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 Father clear down to this world ; He put the hand of the sinner 
 into the hand of His Father and died that they might be recon- 
 ciled. You have nothing to do' then to bring about a reconcil- 
 iation. God is already reconciled to us and is ready to save us. 
 Let us pray. 
 
 The sermon, as usual, was full of familiar illustrations. Even 
 two boys, with ragged hats and dirty hands, who had evidently 
 dropped in there for an adventure, paid enough attention to 
 catch all the stories and convey them to each other by nudges. 
 If some delay over the sermon tried them, the singing came in 
 time to prevent a retreat. By request, Mr. Sankey sang "The 
 Ninety and Nine " again. 
 
 At the opening Mr. Sankey sung " Holy Spirit, heavenly 
 Guide," while the audience sat in perfect quiet. 
 
 Instead of basing his sermon upon a text, according to the 
 usual form, Mr. Moody seems to prefer a general subject, and 
 then in the course of his address he reads from a small and 
 much-thumbed Bible a number of passages of Scripture, illus- 
 trating and enforcing his teaching. No one ever preaches ser- 
 mons in more cheerful tones and with a more genial manner, 
 and in this way he takes from religion any seeming austerity, 
 presenting it so attractively that the light-hearted of his hearers 
 cannot dread its effect upon their youth and spirits. He 
 preached upon the Holy Ghost. When he said, " I do not seek 
 to work through your brains as much as through your hearts, 
 since it is not intellectual power so much as love for Christ 
 which you want," he struck the keynote of his work. The 
 house was full. The labors of the inquiry rooms are extensive 
 and successful ; meetings are held in them whenever the con- 
 gregations in the larger hall are dismissed. 
 
 Mr. Moody said : the Holy Ghost is our teacher. He will 
 teach us and show us things to come. He comes to speak of 
 Christ, not of Himself. A man came to me the other day and 
 said he was going clown to Florida, where my wife and family 
 are, and wanted to know if I had any message to send. Well, 
 I sent them a message ; but suppose when that man went down 
 there he should go and see my wife and should begin and talk 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 547 
 
 about himself, and not say a word about me. That would not 
 cheer their hearts ; they would want to hear about me. That 
 would make their hearts warm. The Holy Ghost teaches us 
 this lesson of self-forgetfulness. Every one of us Christians 
 wants more of the Holy Ghost. Let us all give ourselves up 
 to the influence of His spirit, who will lead us on to liberty and 
 life and peace and joy. 
 
 I have believed in God for thirty years. When first con- 
 verted, I did not believe in Him very much, but ever since then 
 I have believed in him more and more every year. When peo- 
 ple come to me, tell me they can't believe, and ask what they 
 shall do, I tell them to do as I once knew a man do. He went 
 and knelt down and told God honestly he could not believe 
 in Him, and I advise them to go off alone and tell it right out 
 to the Lord. But if you stop to ask yourselves why you don't 
 believe in Him, is there really any reason ? People read infi- 
 del books and wonder why they are unbelievers. I ask why 
 they read such books. They think they must read both sides. 
 I say that book is a lie, how can it be one side when it is a lie ? 
 It is not one side at all. Suppose a man tells right down lies 
 about my family, and I read them so as to hear both sides ; it 
 would not be long before some suspicion would creep into my 
 mind. I said to a man once, " Have you got a wife ? " " Yes. 
 and a good one." I asked : " Now, what if I should come to 
 you and cast out insinuations against her ? " And he said, 
 " Well, your life would not be safe long if you did." I told him 
 just to treat the devil as he would treat a man who went round 
 with such stories. We are not to blame for having doubts flit- 
 ting through our minds, but for harboring them. Let us go 
 out trusting the Lord with heart and soul to-day. 
 
 God is Love. 
 There are three thoughts I have tried to bring out to-day : 
 that God is love ; that His love is unchangeable ; that His love 
 is everlasting. The fourth thought is this : that His love is 
 unfailing. Your love is not. His is. When people come to 
 me and talk about their love for God, it chills me through and 
 
54-3 MOODY AND SAN KEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 through ; the thermometer goes down fifty degrees ; but when 
 they talk about God's love for them, I know what they would 
 say. So do not think for a moment that God does not love 
 you a good deal more than you love Him. There is not a 
 sinner here, there is not an unsaved man here to-night but 
 He wants to save, just as a father loves his child, only a thou- 
 sand times more. Is there a poor wanderer here that has wan- 
 dered far from Christ ? He sends me to invite you to come to 
 Him again. I don't care how sinful you are ; let this text sink 
 deep into your soul to-day, '-God is love." 
 
 Paul for three years preached upon immediate repentance. 
 He besought his hearers with tears, to turn from their sins and 
 be saved. "Behold, now is the accepted time." That was 
 what he preached. Yes, I leave heaven and earth, and go 
 down to the very borders of hell, and will ask them there if it is 
 not better to repent now. They would all with one voice 
 answer, " Yes, yes, yes." The only time we ever heard from 
 that place was to have a young man implore that word might 
 be sent to his father's house, that his brothers there might be 
 warned against neglecting salvation. Yes, the. lost ones would 
 tell you to escape and seek the kingdom of God and be saved. 
 Why, then, heaven, earth, and hell all unite in warning you to 
 seek the kingdom of God. Why will you not do it, then ? Why 
 not accept Christ this very day ? Just think what will become 
 of you if you do not. 
 
 When the Lawrence Mills were on fire a number of years ago 
 — I don't mean on fire, but when the mill fell in — the great mill 
 fell in, and after it had fallen in the ruins caught fire. There 
 was only one room left entire, and in it were three Mission Sun- 
 day-school children imprisoned. The neighbors and all hands 
 got their shovels and picks and crowbars, and were working to 
 set the children free. It came on night and they had not yet 
 reached the children. When they were near them, by some mis- 
 chance a lantern broke, and the ruins caught fire. They tried 
 to put it out, but they could not succeed. They could talk to 
 the children, and even passed them some hot coffee and some 
 refreshments, and encouraged them to keep up. But alas, the 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 549 
 
 flames drew nearer and nearer to this prison. Superhuman 
 were the efforts made to rescue the children ; the men bravely 
 fought back the flames ; but the fire gained fresh strength and 
 returned to claim its victims. Then piercing shrieks arose when 
 the spectators saw the efforts of the firemen were hopeless. The 
 children saw their fate. They then knelt down and commenced 
 to sing the little hymn we have all been taught in our Sunday- 
 school days : " Oh ! how sweet- — let others seek a home below 
 which flames devour and waves o'erflow." The flames had now 
 reached them ; the stifling smoke began to pour into their little 
 room, and they began to sink, one by one upon the floor. A few 
 moments more and the fire circled around them and their souls 
 were taken into the bosom of Christ. Yes, let others seek a 
 home below if they will, but seek ye the kingdom of God with 
 all your hearts. 
 
 When I was a young man, before I left my native town, I was 
 at work in the field one day in company with a man, a neighbor 
 of mine. All at once I saw him begin to weep. I asked him 
 what the trouble was. He then told me a strange story — strange 
 to me then, for I was not at that time a Christian. He said 
 that his mother was a Christian when he left home to seek his 
 fortune. When he was about starting his mother took him by 
 the hand and spoke these parting words. " My son, seek ye 
 first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things 
 else shall be added unto thee." "This," said he, "was my 
 mother's favorite text." When he got into the town to which he 
 was going he had to spend the Sabbath there. He went to 
 church, and the minister took this very text — " Seek ye first 
 the kingdom of God." He thought it very strange. Well, he 
 said he would not seek the kingdom then, he would wait until 
 he got a start in life — until he got a farm and some money. Yet 
 that text troubled him. Again he went to church, and to his 
 amazement the sermon was on that very same text. He did 
 not attend church for sometime. At last he was induced again 
 to enter the church, and behold ! he heard the preacher take 
 that very same text. He thought then it was God speaking to 
 him ; that his mother's prayers were being answered. But he 
 
550 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 coolly, calmly, and deliberately made up his mind that he would 
 not be a Christian. " I have never heard a sermon that has 
 made any impression on me since." I was not a Christian my- 
 self, so I didn't know how to talk with him. The time came 
 for me to leave home. I went to Boston, and there I became a 
 convert. When I got to be a Christian the first thing that came 
 into my mind was that man. I made up my mind to try to 
 bring him to Christ. When I came home I mentioned the name 
 to my mother and asked if he was living. " Is he living ?" she 
 exclaimed; "didn't I write to you about him ? " "Write me 
 what?" "Why that he had gone out of his mind and is now 
 in the insane asylum." When I got up there he pointed his 
 finger at me; says he, "Young man, 'seek ye first the Kingdom 
 of God.' " He had never forgotten that text. Although his 
 mind was shattered and gone, the text was there." 
 
 My friends, do not let that man speak to you. He is gone 
 now. How much better it would have been for him to have 
 followed his mother's prayer. The Spirit of God may be striv- 
 ing with some one to day. I may be standing here for the 
 last time. Let me plead with you once more to seek the King- 
 dom of God, and seek it with all our hearts. 
 
 Sermon on Daniel. 
 Mr. Moody discoursed on "Daniel." He said: The next 
 thing that comes before us is that the king is in trouble again. 
 He has had another dream. He called in the wise men of 
 Babylon and told them what he had dreamt about, but they 
 were not able to interpret what it meant. But the prophet is 
 brought in, and he at once told him the dream. He says : " Oh 
 king, this is your own kingdom. God has made it to extend to 
 the four corners of the earth, and now since God has exalted 
 you, you have become proud, and have not given Him the 
 glory, but if thou wilt humble thyself He may spare thee." Now 
 Daniel preached to him a good sermon. It may be he told him 
 of Nineveh, and how the Lord had spared it when its people 
 repented. We find the king saying, one year afterwards : " Is 
 not this the great kingdom I have built up by my power ? " 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 551 
 
 We're told a voice from heaven said : " Oh king, thy glory is 
 departed from thee." He left the throne, was driven from 
 among men, and dwelt with the beasts of the field. At the end 
 of seven times — some think that means seven years — his reason 
 returned, and the last glimpse we catch of the mighty monarch 
 is in the 4th chapter of Daniel, where he sends out his last 
 decree. Now he has got home to himself. The language of 
 this touches the king on his throne ; it sounds as if it came 
 from a man who has met the God of all grace, and his heart 
 has been changed. He says : " Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise 
 and honor and extol the King of Heaven." We have very good 
 reason to believe that he was a saved man. We have very good 
 reason to suppose that Daniel was successful, by his faithfulness, 
 in winning him to the God of the Hebrews. For fifteen years 
 we lose sight of the mighty prophet. Another takes the throne. 
 We do not find out who that second ruler was, but now we find 
 Belshazzar, who reigns next, had a feast. There he is, with his 
 thousand lords come up from different parts of the empire. 
 No doubt he thought, like every sinner, that he was perfectly 
 secure. They are praising their gods of silver, gold, and brass. 
 While the banquet is going on the king orders the vessels 
 that had been taken from the temple to be brought in. All 
 at once in that banqueting hall every voice is hushed. The 
 king trembles from head to foot. What is the matter ? Every 
 eye is directed yonder to the wall. There is seen a handwriting 
 there, " Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." There was not any of 
 his wise men could read the writing. No uncircumcised eye 
 could read God's writing. Daniel was sent for. With one look 
 he can see it without any trouble. It was his father's writing. 
 It read,, " Thy kingdom is numbered, thou art weighed in the 
 balance and found wanting, thy kingdom is given to the Medes 
 and Persians." He thought not that. while this was going on 
 the Medes and Persians were already at work — that very night 
 they were marching up the streets of Babylon. "They battered 
 down the gates of the palace, and soon the king's blood flowed 
 with the wine of the banquet. He blazed forth for one single 
 
552 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 night, and this is the first and the last we ever" hear of him. 
 Now Darius the Mede takes the throne. 
 
 We find that Daniel was put over the presidents and made 
 the chief man in all the realm. He was put there to see that 
 no damage was done to the king. He held the position for a 
 long time, but at last there was a conspiracy raised against him. 
 No man can be true to God but some one rises up that wants 
 him to be got out of the way. If they could only just get one 
 of their own number in his place, what would they not gain ? 
 After talking it over . they could find no occasion against 
 Daniel but touching the love of his God. Oh, thank God for 
 such a man. Would to God we had more like him. He had 
 put no friends into office that had swindled the government. 
 Though he had been Chief Secretary they could find nothing 
 against him. At last one of them said : " I have got a plan." 
 I can imagine the one hundred and twenty princes all together 
 one night and one of them gets up and says : " Do you know 
 that this man Daniel won't worship any one but the God of the 
 Hebrews ? Now if we could get Darius to sign a decree that 
 no man shall be worshiped for thirty days but himself ! Just 
 make a lion's den and make it the penalty for any man who 
 refuses to obey the decree, and we shall soon get him out of 
 the way." But they said : " Look here, this must be a profound 
 secret. We must not go out of the Council Chamber to-night 
 until we get the king's signature." They very carefully drew 
 up the document. Next morning some of them called on the 
 king, saying: " O king, live forever. We have been thinking 
 how we can increase your popularity, and we've made up our 
 minds that if you should sign a decree that not one in your 
 empire should worship any God but yourself it would make you 
 the most popular monarch that ever ruled." It cannot but 
 touch the king's vanity. He liked it very much. They showed 
 him the document. "Well," he said, "I can see no objection 
 to that. The king takes his signet, down comes the stamp and 
 he signs it. As he does so, one of them cries : " The law of 
 the Medes and Persians altereth not." There also was a pen- 
 alty put in the decree. I can imagine one of Daniel's friends 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 553 
 
 runs and tells him. I can imagine what Christians of the 
 present day would say : " Now these men want to plunder the 
 government. Hadn't you better go off to some remote part of 
 the country for the thirty days ? If you don't they will catch, 
 you and throw you into the lions' den." Or, " Daniel, if you: 
 pray, dont pray with your window open towards Jerusalem. If 
 you will pray, put down the blinds and pray in secret. Put 
 something in the keyhole so they can't be peeping in." How 
 many men are trying to serve God in that way. How many 
 young men I have heard of whom when they hear the footsteps 
 of their comrade will at once get off their knees. Do you 
 think Daniel is going to turn to the right hand or the left in his 
 old days ? Thank God, Daniel had time to pray. If there had 
 been a daily prayer-meeting in Babylon he would have attended 
 it regularly. Now, these princes watch him. He knelt down 
 as aforetime. He prayed that God might direct Darius in the 
 affairs of his kingdom, but he didn't pray to Darius. When 
 they told the king I can imagine him stretching himself and 
 saying, " Who is he ? " " Why, that man you put over us, that 
 Hebrew." The king was troubled when he heard it, and set 
 his heart for the delivery of his friend Daniel, but the laws 
 could not be altered. He and every peasant knew he was 
 the best man they had in the whole country. Darius loved 
 him very much, but he couldn't save him. He didn't love 
 him as much as Jesus loved us. Our Darius died himself 
 that the law might be kept. And now, there is the old man 
 moving on to that den like a conqueror. He knows if God 
 wants him to go to heaven from the den it is all the same. 
 These princes thought the lions would make short work of 
 him. Ah, down comes an angel and shuts every mouth. I can 
 imagine he even uses one as a pillow. He would rather be 
 there with a clear conscience than Darius on his throne with a 
 guilty one. Now I can hear about daybreak the king's chariot 
 going ,over the streets of Babylon. In great haste he comes to 
 the den and cries, " O Daniel, is that God whom thou servest 
 able to deliver thee from the mouth of the lion ? " " Yes, my 
 God is able to deliver me, Darius." He takes him out ; they 
 
554 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 embrace each other, and I can imagine they breakfast together 
 that morning. 
 
 Here Mr. Moody said that the time was up, and he could not 
 finish, but merely said that Daniel ever after was greatly be- 
 loved. Mr. Sankey closed with the fine song, " Dare to be a 
 Daniel." 
 
 Some Expositions. 
 
 Mr. Moody read part of the 12th chapter of Acts, explaining, 
 as he read, in his familiar way, which makes a genial story out 
 every verse. It was of the deliverance of Peter from the prison 
 where he slept between two soldiers and bound with chains. 
 And the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in 
 the prison, and he smote Peter on the side and raised him, say- 
 ing, " Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands." 
 " Now, if we had been going to do this thing," Mr. Moody said, 
 " we would have crept in there in the dark and loosened the 
 chains in all possible silence and slipped out again. But God 
 has a light, and walks in, and the chains rattle off on the floor. 
 And he saith unto him, cast thy garment about thee and follow 
 me. And Peter went out, not wide awake yet, but wide awake 
 enough to obey ; that is what God wants. And as Peter knocked 
 at the door of the gate a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 
 And when she knew Peter's voice she opened not the gate for 
 gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. 
 And they said to her, Thou art mad. The people would not 
 believe their prayer was answered, but said, c She don't know ; 
 that girl has gone clean mad.' Now if there is any one who 
 doubts that our prayers are answered, he is just as guilty as the 
 people who would not believe that Peter was knocking at the 
 gate. There were more converts in the inquiry room yesterday 
 than we could talk to personally, and many, even the very ones 
 we pray for, are constantly coming in. God only can tell how 
 much good this movement may do, but I feel as if we had 
 already done more than we expected. Let us give thanks to 
 Him. Our prayers have indeed been answered." 
 
 One of the clergymen spoke of the work in the Ninth ward, 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 555 
 
 where meetings are constantly held for the multitudes who never 
 go to church, and where many have been brought to Christ. 
 A gentleman from Brooklyn was called from the audience to tell 
 of the work in his church there. li A small stream, but ever 
 flowing," he said. The Rev. Dr. Kennard said that when Mr. 
 Moody asked him if he had any good news, he felt like saying 
 as Wesley did, "God is with us." The meeting closed with a 
 few moments of silent prayer and the doxology. 
 
 While Mr. Moody exhorts, in his plain and general* way, 
 the people who flock to the revival meetings, the work there 
 does not include all that is being done. That is the great cen- 
 tre ; but many other clergymen of the city and throughout the 
 country, feeling the impulse, carry the same spirit to their own 
 churches, where it reaches the more critical classes, who rarely 
 or never go to the Hippodrome. 
 
 I want to speak of the seven different characters in John, and 
 how Christ dealt with them. 
 
 Suppose we could divide up these sinners here under these 
 seven heads. Turn to the 7th chapter of John and see how 
 Christ dealt with that respectable sinner Nicodemus. He set 
 him aside entirely. He did not put a new piece into the old 
 garment ; the Lord does not patch a man's coat. He gives him 
 a new coat throughout. He told Nicodemus he must be born 
 again. In the 4th chapter see how Christ deals with one who 
 has fallen. She is very unrespectable, but He gives her the 
 water of life. We cannot find any class of people in New York 
 that has not its representative in the Bible and Christ's dealings 
 with them. A nobleman came to Him, whose child was ill. 
 He told him to go home, his child would live ; He did not give 
 the nobleman any medicine for his child, but the man took His 
 word, and when he got home he found his child was nearly well, 
 and that it was better from the seventh hour, when he had 
 spoken to Christ. If some poor tramp is here to-night who has 
 not got any friends or anywhere to lay his head to-night, a poor 
 miserable sinner, if he will turn to the 5th chapter of John he 
 will know how Christ will deal with him. There was just such 
 a poor beggar at the pool. Christ asked him if he would like to 
 
556 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 touch the waters ; he said, " I would like to be put in, but I 
 haven't any one to help me ; I am lame ;" and the Lord said, 
 " Take up thy bed and walk." He cured him by a word. I 
 can imagine in the gallery there is a man who says : " I wish 
 there was some class in the Bible that represented me. I have 
 broken the law. If the law should get hold of me I would have 
 to go to prison for twenty years ; the police do not know ; I have 
 covered up my sin. I wish there was something in the Bible for 
 me." Well, there is ; there is. Turn to the 8th chapter of 
 John. You will see how Christ dealt with a woman whom the 
 law would have stoned to death. They dragged her into the 
 presence of Christ, saying, " The law of Moses says, * Stone her 
 to death ■' what sayst thou ? " He stooped and wrote on the 
 ground as if he paid no attention ; then he raised up and said, 
 " He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone," 
 and he went on writing on the ground. When he looked up 
 again the crowd had disappeared. He said, " Where are thy 
 accusers? Go thou and sin no more." If you want to know how 
 Christ dealt with sinners, go to the Bible. There is no sinner 
 here who has not his representative in the Bible. 
 
 About bringing your Bibles with you — just have a Bible you 
 can mark. If I should go and hear one of my friends preach, 
 and he unfolded some grand and glorious truth, I would put a 
 few words down upon the margin of the Bible that would just 
 give me the key to the whole, and I would not forget it. By 
 doing this, when you heard a good sermon you could go and 
 preach it to other people. I hope the day will come when if a 
 man hears a good sermon in the morning, he will be so full of 
 it he will have to go and preach it over again in some locality 
 where they have not heard it. If the lawyers and merchants 
 would only do that they would make better missionaries than 
 the hired ones. I think more of this Bible in my hand than of 
 all the other Bibles in New York. If I had come without this 
 Bible I would have been lonesome. I have carried it so long I 
 have got used to it. Buy a good Bible, one that won't wear out, 
 with a good flexible cover that will fold around you. Button 
 up your coat over it and keep it close to your heart. You can 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 557 
 
 mark your texts in it and know where to look for them at any 
 time, and they will be glad to see you in any prayer-meeting. 
 There will be something fresh about you that will make you al- 
 ways welcome. 
 
 An Englishman said to me, " Did you ever study the book of 
 Job?" "No," I said, "not particularly." "You ought to," said 
 he ; " it is a wonderful book ; if you get the key to that, you get 
 the key to the whole Bible." " That is singular," said I. " I 
 thought Job was more of a poetical book ; how do you make it 
 out?" He said the first division represents Adam in Eden, a 
 perfect man untried; the second head represents his fall ; the 
 third says, "The wisdom of the world came to restore Job." 
 "You cannot," he said, "find any wisdom in all the books 
 equal to the wisdom of those three men, but they could not help 
 Job out of his difficulty. Just so is the world trying to put 
 Adam back again ; they try to amend him but they cannot do 
 it. Your philosophers cannot restore Adam to his original per- 
 fection. What can the geologist tell you about the Rock of 
 Ages ? What can the astronomer tell you of the Bright and 
 Morning Star ? The fact is Job could not stand their treat- 
 ment. He could stand his boils and his scolding wife, but 
 he could not stand the way the wise men treated him. The 
 fourth head is about Elihu ; he came and brought grace 
 and that is what Job wanted. He did not want law ; Job was 
 a righteous man in his own conceit up to this time. He said 
 I have fed the hungry, I have clothed the naked, I did this and 
 that — I ! I ! I ! — that was Job's cry then. He was a great man ; 
 if we had him now we would make him a leader in some Pres- 
 byterian church and be glad to get him. Under the fifth head 
 God speaks. He says, " Gird up your loins like a man. I will 
 put a few questions to you." The moment Job got a glimpse 
 of God he was a different man • his self-righteousness was gone. 
 When I go into the inquiry rooms some days some have their 
 heads down on their hands, and I cannot get a word out of 
 them. I say to myself such persons are near to God. But some 
 are flippant and glib, and say why does God do this and why 
 does God do that ? God alone restores Adam to his lost state 
 
558 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 and in his restoration he is better than he was at the beginning, 
 because his last state is eternal. When he is restored to heaven 
 there is no more banishment. 
 
 In this last chapter I have read what the Lord tells us to do 
 with our children : We are to teach them diligently with line 
 upon line, here a little and there a little. I have no doubt 
 some parents have got discouraged and disheartened that they 
 have not seen their children brought to the Saviour as early as 
 they expected. I do not know anything that has encouraged 
 me more in laboring for my children than my experience in the 
 inquiry room. In working there I have found that those who 
 had religious training, whose parents strove early to lead them 
 to Christ, have been the easiest to lead toward Him. I always 
 feel as if I had a lever to work with when I know that a man 
 has been taught by a godly father and mother ; even if his 
 parents died when he was young, the impression that they died 
 praying for him has always a great effect through life. I find 
 that such men are always so much easier reached, and though 
 we may not live to see all our prayers answered, and all our 
 children brought into the fold, yet we should teach them dili- 
 gently, and do it in love. There is where a good many make 
 a mistake, by not teaching their children in love — by doing it 
 coldly or harshly. Many send them off to read the Bible by 
 themselves for punishment. Why I would put my hand in the 
 fire before I would try to teach them in that way. If we teach 
 our children as we ought to do, instead of Sunday being the 
 dreariest, dullest, tiresomest day of the week to them, it will be 
 the brightest, happiest day of the whole seven. What we want 
 to do is to put religious truths before our children in such an 
 attractive form that the Bible will be the most attractive of 
 books to them. Children want the same kind of food and truth 
 that we do, only we must cut it up a little finer, so that they 
 can eat it. I have great respect for a father and mother who 
 have brought up a large family and trained them so they have 
 come out on the- Lord's side. Sometimes mothers are discour- 
 aged and do not think they have so large a sphere to do good 
 in as we have, but a mother who has brought up a large family 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 559 
 
 to Christ need not consider her life a failure. I know one 
 who has brought up ten sons all Christians ; do you think her 
 life has been a failure ? Let us teach our' children diligently, 
 in season and out of season. We might train them that they shall 
 be converted so early they can't tell when they were converted. I 
 do not believe as some people seem to think, that they have got 
 to wander off into sin first, so that they may be brought back to 
 Christ. Those who have been brought up in that way from 
 their earliest childhood do not have to spend their whole life in 
 forgetting some old habit. Let us be encouraged in bringing 
 our children to Christ. 
 
 Rev. Mr. MacArthur cited the causes of many eminent men 
 who had all been converted at a very early age. It is wrong 
 to suppose, he said, that a child must commit some sin before 
 it can be converted. Sins may be forgiven, but with reverence 
 be it said, not even the blood of Christ can blot out the memory 
 of them. What is wanted is to bring the children into the fold 
 before their hearts have' become scarred and stained with sin. 
 " Sowing wild oats " is a very foolish phrase, for " what a man 
 sows that shall he also reap." Mr. MacArthur closed an elo- 
 quent address by relating several incidents illustrative of his 
 remarks. He was followed by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers and Mr. 
 Sankey, both of whom told several anecdotes of parents who had 
 been converted through the agency of their children. 
 
 Mr. Sankey followed up his remarks by singing the favorite 
 hymn "Waiting and watching for Me." As nearly always hap- 
 pens, it affected many in the congregation to tears. 
 
 Mr. Moody then added a few more anecdotes illustrative of 
 the power and efficacy of children's prayers, after which the 
 benediction was pronounced and the meeting closed. The 
 usual after meetings for women and men were well attended. 
 
 The young men's meeting took the form of an experience 
 meeting, many of the young converts testifying that the yoke 
 they had taken upon them was indeed easy and the burden 
 light, and urging those who were still far from God to accept 
 the salvation' so freely offered. 
 
 The boys' meeting, which is one of the most promising features 
 
560 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the revival work, was well attended. About one hundred boys 
 were present, many of them testifying that they had found joy 
 and peace in believing, and that the same Jesus that had saved 
 them from their sins was also able to keep all those who put 
 their trust in Him. Parents should encourage their boys to at- 
 tend this meeting that they may, in the morning of their days, be 
 brought to the knowledge and love of Him who while on earth 
 said, " Suffer little children to come unto Me," and who will be 
 a true friend and guide to them in their struggles through life. 
 
 The women's meeting was held after the close of the prayer- 
 meeting. About two thousand ladies were present. 
 
 The audience that gathered at the Hippodrome was even lar- 
 ger than that of any previous evening. Five minutes after the 
 doors were opened every seat in the body and side galleries of 
 the large hall was occupied. The building filled so rapidly that 
 Mr. Moody had to request all who were Christians and all the 
 young converts to retire to the Fourth avenue hall to a prayer- 
 meeting to be held there, in order to make room for the crowds 
 waiting outside. Among the prominent persons upon the plat- 
 form were ex- Vice-President Colfax, Mayor Wickham and Mr. 
 Thurlow Weed. At a quarter to eight Mr. Sankey opened the 
 services by singing " Hold the Fort, 1 ' the congregation joining 
 heartily in the chorus. 
 
 At the close of his sermon Mr. Moody said he thought the 
 genuine Christians would have to stay away from the next meeting 
 in order to make room for those who needed the sermon more. 
 People do not often need to be requested to stay away from re- 
 ligious services, but it is only by such arrangements as this, that 
 all who wish to go to the Hippodrome in the afternoon can pro- 
 cure the necessary tickets. U many felt sure enough of them- 
 selves as Christians to remain at home, it was not evident in the 
 house, which was crowded. Mr. Sankey gave a short and very 
 interesting address on sacred song. When in London he heard 
 Mr. Spurgeon say that he never knew a true revival of religion 
 unaccompanied by sacred song. He was very glad there was 
 such a revival of song in this country, that the songs they now 
 sang were known and sung all over the country. It is said of 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 561 
 
 the English lark that it never sings as it descends, but always as 
 it rises from the fields toward heaven it sings its sweetest notes. 
 When it returns again to the earth the singing ceases. That is 
 a picture of the church ; as the tide rises higher and higher she 
 sings more sweetly. So it was with God's people, as we 
 read in Old Testament history. When stopping near Berne, 
 Switzerland, with a friend, enjoying a rest after two years of 
 labor in England, he was about to retire to rest one evening 
 when he heard in the French language the hymn, " Safe in the 
 arms of Jesus," sung by about one hundred beautiful voices. 
 He went out to speak with them, and they had there a most 
 blessed service of song, in which some of Luther's beautiful 
 hymns were sung. Among the gentlemen who took part in the 
 exercises there was a general and hearty expression of thanks 
 to the conductors of the St. Patrick's day procession, whose 
 route passed the Hippodrome. Fearing that the afternoon's 
 service would be disturbed by the music of the bands as they 
 marched past, the Committee of Management sent a request to 
 the Grand Marshal asking that the music should cease while 
 near the Hippodrome. This was at once granted and orders 
 transmitted to the several divisions, in response to which the 
 whole vast procession walked silently from Thirty-fourth street 
 to Twenty-third, so that not the slightest disturbance resulted 
 to the meeting while the long line of Irishmen passed the build- 
 ing. The committee were very earnest in grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of the alacrity with which their wishes were complied with 
 in this matter. 
 
 The Christian Convention. 
 
 In response to invitations published by brethren in New York, 
 several thousand delegates from various parts of the land as- 
 sembled at the Hippodrome on the twenty-ninth of March, for 
 a two day's meeting. After an address by Mr. Moody, he 
 was then questioned by delegates in all parts of the house, as 
 follows : 
 
 Q. What is your opinion about the time for holding revival 
 services ? 
 
562 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 A. God is always ready for them ; just as ready in August as 
 in January. A good many people fail because they are waiting 
 for a set time to favor Zion. This idea that we have got but a 
 few months in the year to work is a false one. 
 
 Q. How about increasing the number of meetings ? 
 
 A. It depends on the number we now carry on. If I had 
 enough meetings on hand, I would not be inclined to increase 
 them. 
 
 Q. What should a minister do if his church is in a cold con- 
 dition, and he himself is interested ? Would you commence an 
 effort by calling in outside help ? 
 
 A. Now that is a very important question. If I was a min- 
 ister in a community and could not get more than one or two 
 to sympathize with me, I would just get those two round to my 
 study and pray with them, and we should go forth and have a 
 meeting. If one man can beat a thousand, two can beat two 
 thousand. Just get as many as you can to help you. 
 
 Q. Suppose a congregation were alive and the minister dead ? 
 
 A. Then let the congregation go on w-ithout the minister. 
 
 Q. Suppose he opposes it ? 
 
 A. He cannot prevent them ; they can get up some hall, of 
 they can go into the streets and preach. A man who wants to 
 work for God can find work, and nobody can stop him. 
 
 Q. Suppose there are difficulties in the church that can't be 
 removed ? 
 
 A. I don't know of any difficulties that God cannot remove. 
 The trouble is we try to do these things, instead of going to God 
 in prayer. 
 
 Q. Did not Christ Himself encounter difficulty when preach- 
 ing in Nazareth ? 
 
 A. Ah, but Nazareth, that was the world and not the church. 
 If the church was in the condition Nazareth was in, do as the 
 Saviour did, go down to another town. 
 
 Q. Is it best to put a test question, to ask those who are anx- 
 ious to rise or go into the inquiry-room? 
 
 A. I think it is best to have a test. If any man is going to 
 be saved he has got to take up his cross. If it was not a cross 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 563 
 
 T would not like to ask them to do it. Get them to take the 
 first step. In the very act of their going into the inquiry-room 
 they are very often blessed. In standing up they let their friends 
 know they are interested and want to be on the Lord's side. It 
 is a great help to have an inquiry-meeting. I don't think I'd 
 care to have meetings without them. People are impressed 
 under the sermon, but what you want is to tell them personally 
 about Christ. Where one is converted under the sermon, hun- 
 dreds are converted in the inquiry-room. 
 
 Q. Suppose the pastor and a small portion of the congrega- 
 tion wish to hold evangelistic meetings, and the trustees refuse 
 to open the doors ? 
 
 A. Well I should pray for the trustees. In the first place the 
 church made a mistake in electing unconverted men to be trus- 
 tees. They regulate your choirs, and very often the minister, 
 and if they get a minister who will preach right at them they 
 will force him to leave. 
 
 Q. In a community where there is a very interesting revival, 
 and very many families do. not attend any church, what would 
 you have the laymen try to do ? 
 
 A. I'd have the whole town districted off, and every family 
 visited. I think that could be done. When there is a special 
 interest in a town, it is a harvest time, and most people will be 
 glad to have some one to come and speak to them. 
 
 Q. Do you advocate anxious seats ? 
 
 A. I'd rather call them seats of decision, but in union meet- 
 ings we have to lay aside a good many denominational peculiar- 
 ities. Anxious seats are well known among the Methodists, 
 but Presbyterians and Episcopalians would not like them. 
 
 Q. What would you say to an inquirer who says he could be 
 a Christian without going into the inquiry-room ? 
 
 A. I would say most certainly he could, but as a general thing 
 he won't. The battle is on that one word, the " will." Man # 
 has to give up his will, and be willing to do anything before he 
 can get into God's kingdom. 
 
 Q. What method would you recommend to get people on to 
 their feet to testify for Christ ? 
 
564 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 A. The first thing, I would bury all stiffness. It depends a 
 good deal on the way the meeting is opened. If it is a stiff, 
 formal meeting, it would take an earthquake to get a man to 
 stand up. Be free and social, as if you were in a man's house 
 w r hom you knew very well. Get them to give out the hymn, 
 and then in an off-hand way say a few words, so as to give the 
 key-note to the meeting — " Now, if any of you like to testify, I 
 would like to have you do it." At last Monday's meeting I 
 said to the young converts, " You that owe most to God, rise." 
 Forthwith three or four rose together. In the course of an 
 hour and twenty minutes, one hundred and fifty spoke, and I 
 had to close while three or four were on their legs. 
 
 Q. When one or more leading members of a church have so 
 borne themselves in the community that the church is scandal- 
 ized, what would you do ? Is it best to have a little church 
 discipline, before you commence special meetings ? 
 
 A. I should say certainly. The friends should go into the 
 eighteenth chapter of Matthew, and do what they are taught to 
 do there, and if those men don't repent, turn them out of the 
 church. Then commence the work, and God will bless it. It 
 is a good deal better to have ten men in the church right, than 
 to have five hundred at whom the world will laugh. 
 
 Q. How if they are the stronger party ? 
 
 A. Why, if the world is stronger than the church, organize 
 another church. You see the mistake is in taking unconverted 
 people into the church. We have got to be more careful when 
 we do get people into the church to feed them on the Word of God. 
 
 Q. Where some persons oppose new methods and forms, 
 what would you do ? 
 
 A. The great trouble is, people make a mistake in the way 
 they introduce them. I have known ministers who asked some 
 of the members if such a thing was not the best plan. It 
 would be a good deal better to go on and say nothing about it, 
 and they won't know it is an innovation at all. 
 
 Q. In conducting a series of special meetings, would you have 
 a regular line of connected thought running towards a certain 
 point, to guide you ? 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 565 
 
 A. I'd just preach to get people into the inquiry-room, to 
 produce conviction. Any sermon that would produce that is 
 the sermon I would want to preach. 
 
 Q. Sometimes there is excitement in a community, suppose, 
 political ; can two leading questions occupy the minds of the 
 community at one time? 
 
 A. The political question might interest the world. The 
 thing I dread more than politics, however, is these miserable 
 church fairs. That bothers me most. More meetings have 
 been broken up by bazaars, church fairs and festivals than all 
 your political meetings. 
 
 Q. How far is it best to encourage young converts to labor 
 with inquirers in the inquiry-meeting ? 
 
 A. I have always encouraged it. I believe a man that has 
 been a great drunkard is just the man to go and work among 
 his own class. Here is my friend Mr. Dodge, who is a great 
 temperance man, and he can't be expected to thoroughly sym- 
 pathize with the drunkard. 
 
 Q. Is the young convert wise enough to lead an inquirer to 
 Christ ; is there not danger of his misleading him ? 
 
 A. My experience is the reverse. A young convert who has 
 been over the road himself can explain to a man of the same 
 class how he did it. One who has been an infidel can tell an 
 infidel how he got over infidelity himself. A reformed drunkard 
 can tell another drunkard how he has has got over his appetite. 
 A man in Philadelphia brought to Christ between fifteen and 
 twenty of his friends, and if some ministers and workers had re- 
 fused to let him work there would not have been that result. 
 
 Q. What about boys and girls ? How would you use them ? 
 
 A. You have to use a good deal of discretion about children. 
 There is great danger in having them take an active part. A 
 good many persons in the church have so little sense that they 
 begin to praise a boy and give him spiritual pride. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion about women in the pulpit or other- 
 wise ? 
 
 A. That is a controverted point and we will leave it. I don't 
 care about my wife going to preach. 
 
566 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mr. Moody then spoke on the topic, " How to conduct "prayer- 
 meetings." He said : I think this is one of the most important 
 questions which can come before us. I believe more ministers 
 fail right here than in any other place. Where one fails in a 
 pulpit I believe fifty fail in the prayer-meeting. I have noticed 
 as I have been traveling up and down the country and mingling 
 with a great many ministers, that it is not the man that preaches 
 the best that is the most successful. You must get the people 
 to pray. It is so much easier to preach for an audience who 
 are praying for you than to those who are just criticising you all 
 the while. Now I find a great help in a prayer-meeting to get 
 the people up close together ; if they won't come I would take 
 the chair and walk down amongst them. Then another impor- 
 tant thing is to see that the ventilation is all right. A good 
 many meetings are held in basements and small rooms, where 
 the windows, perhaps, won't be opened through the winter; 
 where people get sleepy, and you think it is your fault. See 
 that it is not too hot or too cold, and that the air is pure. It is 
 a good thing to have a subject, suppose " faith " or " love," and 
 let people know it a week before. Let the minister not always 
 lead, for then when he goes off there is a collapse. If he man- 
 ages right, it seems to me he would get different leaders, so that 
 when he goes off there will be no falling away. Not only that, 
 but he should teach his members to work. Now, a great many 
 can be brought out and made a great help to the church if the 
 minister would only give a little attention to it. You may ask 
 what are we going to do with the men who talk so long. Weil, 
 I would see them privately, and say, "Now, try to be a little 
 shorter." It would be a good thing, however, if the ministers 
 would show a good example. They very often leave just fifteen 
 minutes for the meeting, and complain of Deacon Jones taking 
 up the rest of the time. They say everything they can think of 
 in the chapter, and wonder why "the poor laymen won't take it 
 up." Why, if they say everything they can think of on a cer- 
 tain chapter, there is not much chance for a poor layman, espe- 
 cially if he don't know what the chapter is to be. If a man takes 
 part in a meeting he has got a little more interest in it. There 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 567 
 
 is a good deal of truth in what the old deacon said, that he 
 always liked the meeting when he took part, and he didn't care 
 for it when he didn't take part. The following queries and an- 
 swers were then given : 
 
 Q. If only two or three brethren and twenty or thirty sisters 
 attend, how are you going to carry on a prayer-meeting ? 
 
 A. I should call it a woman's meeting, and have them take part. 
 
 Q. What should be the main purpose of a prayer-meeting ? 
 Is it for the conversion of sinners or the edification of saints ? 
 
 A. I should say it should be for the edification of saints, and 
 devotion, and praying for the members who may be in affliction 
 or trouble. 
 
 Q. If some of the brethren get up and clap their hands, would 
 you stop them ? 
 
 A. Well, that is a controverted point. I won't answer it. 
 
 Q. In every church would you have an inquiry-meeting after 
 every meeting ? 
 
 A. If in the prayer-meeting, there should be a number of 
 unconverted, I would have it a sort of Gospel-meeting, and so 
 draw the net every night. I have an idea that a Gospel-meet- 
 ing and a prayer-meeting are quite different. There ought to 
 be separate meetings for the unsaved. 
 
 Q. Would you have an inquiry-meeting after every preaching 
 service ? 
 
 A. If I were to work with the Christians trying to build them 
 up, I would have no inquiry-meeting. If I were to preach the 
 Gospel, I would have an inquiry-meeting. 
 
 Q. Is it profitable to have preaching services every Sunday 
 night for the unconverted ? 
 
 A. Yes, and every night sometimes. My idea of church ser- 
 vice is this : when we do have the breaking of bread we have 
 worship. Some churches have it once a month, some every 
 Sunday morning. If on every Sunday morning, people who go 
 will know the meeting is for the edification of saints, and the 
 evening service may be for those who are not Christians. 
 
 A delegate observed that the Congregational churches in 
 New England had a rule that the minister should lead the 
 
568 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 prayer-meetings, for this reason : that it was found when minis- 
 ters took the place of laymen in this matter, the latter took the 
 leadership out of his hands. He asked Mr. Moody what he 
 would do in order to prevent that. Mr. Moody replied that 
 this was not his experience on the subject. Dr. Kirk, of Bos- 
 ton, of whose church he was a member twenty years ago, very 
 seldom led the meeting ; neither did Dr. Cuyler usually lead in 
 his own church prayer-meeting in Brooklyn. 
 
 A delegate, Mr. Gurney Burchard, a deacon of Lafayette 
 Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, corroborated Mr. 
 Moody's statement with respect to Dr. Cuyler, asserting that 
 Dr. Cuyler never leads his prayer-meeting. The queries and 
 answers were then continued. 
 
 Q. Should there be a separate organization for united prayer 
 and united work ? 
 
 A. If they get to pray well, they will get to work well. 
 
 Q. Ought the minister to call on people to pray and speak ? 
 
 A. My theory is one thing and my practice another. I have 
 always advocated open prayer- meetings, but very often people 
 get up whom we know nothing about, and talk too long, so I 
 have lately had to put the meeting in the hands of those on the 
 platform. Still I stick to my theory that it is better to have an 
 open meeting. If men would persist in ruining the meeting I 
 would have to talk to them personally, and try to keep them still. 
 
 Q. Is it right to call on a man to pray when he is not in the 
 spirit of prayer ? 
 
 A. He should be in the spirit of prayer ; but that is one of 
 the things which makes me object to calling on men to pray. 
 Very often they are called on when they are not in communion, 
 and that is not prayer at all. 
 
 Q. What would you do with a brother who prays the same 
 prayer over and over ? 
 
 A. I should see him privately and talk to him about his own 
 soul. Very often you find that these men are out of communion 
 with God and are merely trying to keep up the form. 
 
 Q. What would you do with a man in the church who was 
 told a hundred times to cut short and he didn't obey ? 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 569 
 
 A. Have a bell. 
 
 Q. Suppose you drive him away ? 
 
 A. Let him go. Five will come and take his place. 
 
 Q. Is it wise to adhere to a series of topics ? 
 
 A. If it is in the way throw it overboard ; don't have a cast- 
 iron rule. 
 
 Q. Should boys lead boys' prayer-meetings ? 
 
 A. If a judicious person is there to guide them. 
 
 Q. Would it be well to make the Sunday-school lesson the 
 subject for the prayer-meeting? 
 
 A. If you have teachers' meetings, better not. If you have 
 not teachers' meetings, I have known it to work pretty well. 
 
 Q. Shall the women take part in our church prayer-meetings ? 
 
 A. It is a controverted point. Let every prayer-meeting 
 have its own way. 
 
 Q. What about ringing the bell when a man is praying? 
 
 A. If the prayer don't go any further than his own head I 
 would have no scruple in ringing the bell. 
 
 Q. In the time of special interest in the church, would you 
 multiply the preaching services or the prayer-meetings ? 
 
 A. I think I'd do both. 
 
 Q. What would you do with a man about whose character 
 you had a doubt, and yet who prayed in every meeting ? 
 
 A. I would go to him faithfully and labor with him. If I 
 thought he was wrong with God I would tell him so. I think 
 we make a great mistake by not being faithful to such men. 
 
 Q. What should be a man's posture when praying ? 
 
 A. I don't know. I don't think it makes any difference if 
 his heart only bows before God. There are times, I believe, 
 when a man should be on his face. We should be very chari- 
 table to those who don't do as we do. That is all of man, not 
 of God. 
 
 Q. Well, if people are in an upright position? 
 
 A. I'd leave it with them. 
 
 Q. What does the Scripture teach women should do in a 
 prayer-meeting ? 
 
 A. It teaches they should pray like the rest. However, this 
 
57© MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 is a controverted subject, and all controverted points should be 
 left out in a union meeting. There are some men who would 
 break up every union meeting. They have got one horse and 
 they always trot him out on all occasions. Sometimes it is 
 tobacco ; he says that no man ought to smoke or chew. 
 Another time it is temperance. You know very well our Pres- 
 byterian brethren object to women speaking. They are here 
 on this platform with us, and if we talk on this subject they 
 will take up their hats and go out. We want to keep out things 
 which we know are controverted. 
 
 The delegate continued to press Mr. Moody on the subject, 
 but he replied, " You call a convention on the subject ; we have 
 not called one to discuss that." 
 
 The subject of the first hour was : "Inquiry-meetings: how 
 can they become part of the service in our churches ? " and 
 promptly at the hour Mr. Moody commenced the proceedings, 
 every seat in the large hall being then occupied, while num- 
 bers of persons were still seeking admission to the convention 
 who could not be accommodated. Before the opening of the 
 session the choir sang, " I hear Thy gentle voice," and the 
 audience (more than half being male voices) joined with grand 
 effect in the chorus. It was such an outburst of congregational 
 psalmody as many of the delegates had never before heard or 
 joined in. They will long remember it, and many will sing with 
 more enthusiasm when they return to their country and city 
 homes for having joined in the soul-stirring services of song of 
 this convention. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Fish, of Newark, N. J., at the call of Moody, made 
 the opening address on the subject of the hour. He said : I 
 do not know why I have been selected by Mr. Moody to open 
 this discussion except it be from the fact that I have long been 
 connected with inquiry-meetings, and that of the one thousand 
 two hundred conversions that have taken place in connection 
 with my ministry of the last twenty-five years, almost the whole 
 of that number have come into the light of the Gospel through 
 the agency of such meetings. I feel that the great part of my 
 ministry has been wasted for lack of this very agency ; and 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 57 1 
 
 I have now resolved that no service shall pass except under 
 very extraordinary circumstances, which shall not be followed 
 by an inquiry-meeting. Standing by the Sea of Galilee, on one 
 occasion, and seeing its waters teeming with fish, I remembered 
 what Christ said to his disciples on that very lake : " I will 
 make you fishers of men ; " and coming back to my church, I 
 told them the inquiry-meeting is the best place to " catch souls ; " 
 and that ought to be the one object of our preaching services. 
 Since the beginning of January I have been almost constantly 
 in the inquiry-rooms, and have seen from two to three hundred 
 persons — perhaps four or five hundred — converted there. One 
 great advantage gained by these meetings is that the pastor has 
 an opportunity of becoming personally acquainted with 
 young converts and inquirers ; and it is no small thing to do 
 that, because we will then be better prepared to give the right 
 kind of instruction and counsel. As to the methods to be adopt- 
 ed for making these meetings a part of the services of our 
 churches, I have adopted the plan of making the evening serv- 
 ice short, bringing it to a close by half-past eight. I refer to 
 the evening service because that is the time when the sermons 
 are especially with a view to reaching the unconverted. As soon 
 as the sermon is concluded I send half a dozen persons down 
 into the church parlors to sing ; and half a dozen more to make 
 themselves polite, and see that strangers are given an invitation 
 to come in. It is most important that stiffness and formality 
 should be -abolished, and that all should get the idea that the 
 inquiry-room is a place where the utmost friendship and home- 
 feeling is cultivated. In ten minutes after the meeting is begun 
 we usually settle down to work, those who are unable to do any- 
 thing else helping in the singing. About ten or twenty persons 
 sit down to converse with the inquirers, and in this way five or 
 six hundred souls have been brought to accept Christ. It is 
 necessary, moreover, that the preaching should be of such a 
 character as to awaken inquiry, in order that these meetings 
 should be successful. Strike while the iron is hot, but take care 
 that the iron shall become hot by striking. Make your sermon 
 full of Christ and His love, and of the great truths of the Gos- 
 
572 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 pel, and then you will always have inquirers seeking the way of 
 salvation. 
 
 Mr. Moody called upon Rev. Dr. Robert Booth to speak on 
 the same subject for five minutes. 
 
 Dr. Booth said, I do not know of any special reason why I 
 should speak in regard to inquiry-meetings, but I have made up 
 my mind whenever Mr. Moody called upon me that the best 
 way is to respond. I take it that there is no question as to the 
 advisability and necessity of inquiry-meetings. The question 
 is, " How shall we put the inquiry after the Sabbath service ? " 
 On one occasion Brother Sankey called upon me to " draw the 
 net." I did so, and two young ladies who were among the num- 
 ber who* responded I became greatly interested in. The next 
 Sabbath morning I preached a sermon in my church setting 
 forth that conversion might be immediate, and invited persons 
 to come to the inquiry-room. That was the first time it had 
 ever been done in my staid church and my sober ministry. Ten 
 came in, and among them a young man who had been long a 
 member of my congregation, and one of the ladies whom I had 
 met a few evenings before. That first inquiry-meeting in my 
 church resulted in conversions, and it was a great satisfaction to 
 me that I had made the attempt. The question to my mind is, 
 " Have we not to revolutionize the whole system of preaching ? " 
 We thought we were all dead in New York, frozen and crystalized. 
 But see what has been the result of plain gospel preaching. 
 Why, I believe that if this could go on for six months our police 
 could be disbanded, and we could hold New York for God. Are 
 we not guilty, brethren, in that we have not preached as we 
 ought to have done ? Oh, let us preach the old gospel of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ and expect to see results. 
 
 Mr. Moody — Now let us, in harmony with what Dr. Booth 
 has said, sing two verses of " I love to tell the story,'' and while 
 we are doing so let the doors be opened. Then the Rev. Mr. 
 Lloyd will speak. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lloyd alluded to a remark of the preceding speaker, 
 in which he said : " May the Lord burn up our old sermons, 
 and help us to preach better than we have ever done before." 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 573 
 
 Mr. Lloyd said he would trust the stove to burn up a good many 
 of his old sermons, as it had already done. In a thieves' kitchen 
 den, in the lowest part of London, said he, I once paid a visit, 
 and asked the crowd of rough and low characters that were as- 
 sembled if I might sing them a hymn, and they gave their con- 
 sent, and then I told them a story — the story of the Prodigal 
 Son, as related in the Gospel. Before I got through many were 
 touched, and in that thieves' kitchen I held an inquiry-meeting 
 right away. Since then, in my own church, I have tried to give 
 opportunity for an inquiry-meeting at the close of every service, 
 and almost always with good results. We must get rid of the 
 idea that revivals of religion must necessarily be periodical. 
 We must get away from this vacating for two months in summer 
 and idling away another two months, and then pitching at a 
 wonderful rate for the remainder of the time. I like better the 
 Scriptural plan, for in the days of the early church " there were 
 " added unto the church daily such as should be saved." Every 
 religious service was an inquiry-meeting in those days ; and the 
 same thing was characteristic of the Reformation and of the 
 work of the Scottish Reformers. In the Methodist church we 
 have the advantage for we have the altar as well as ' the inquiry- 
 room. Both have their uses, and some prefer the altar while 
 others are attracted to the inquiry-room. The only way in which 
 the inquiry-meetings can be connected with the regular services of 
 the church is to make them a part of the regular order of ser- 
 vice, and the sooner that is done the better. 
 
 Mr. Sturges, a layman, of Boston, was next called upon by 
 Mr. Moody. He said that the first inquiry-meeting he ever at- 
 tended was at the Victoria theatre in London, and there the plan 
 adopted was one which he thought might with advantage be 
 copied here. When the preaching was over, various ministers 
 and laymen went among the audience, and sat down here and 
 there to talk with those who had been moved upon by the Holy 
 Spirit. He believed that this personal contact and invitation 
 was most important; indeed, without it he thought but very few 
 were brought to the Saviour. The inquiry-room, continued Mr. 
 Sturges, is wherever you get an individual soul to speak with 
 
574 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 about salvation. As to the method of doing it, I know of only- 
 one way of reaching a soul, namely, through the Holy Spirit, and 
 I know of no way in which the Holy Spirit works but by the 
 Word of God. Therefore, be able to quote the exact words of 
 Scripture, or better still, read them direct from the Bible, for 
 there is a mighty power in getting the Word direct from its 
 source. Be ready to turn to the Bible and give counsel from 
 its pages ; and then the Word of God will be carried to the 
 heart with power. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Osborne said : It may be a mistake if we regu- 
 larly make inquiry-meetings a part of the Sabbath service ; it 
 may be best to have them on Sabbath evening or at some other 
 time. How can they become part of our church services ? I 
 answer, first, not until we ourselves believe in the inquiry-meet- 
 ing. We must believe that the Gospel, when preached, has 
 power to bring a soul to God ; we must believe in immediate 
 conversion of souls. Then, in the second place, we must be- 
 lieve that successful preaching is not the exclusive work of a 
 few men. In the early history of Christianity the converts 
 " went everywhere preaching the Gospel ; "and we must believe 
 in the personal responsibility of every Christian. Then we 
 must plan for these inquiry-meetings. When these three things 
 are done great blessings will be sure to follow. 
 
 Mr. Moody wound up the hour's debate with a brief address. 
 He said if the ministers could encourage their members to scat- 
 ter themselves amongst the audience to watch for souls, great 
 good would result. Two persons in a town in Scotland, finding 
 that the church was cold and indifferent, adopted the plan of 
 speaking to the people as they were leaving after service, and 
 thus were the means of bringing many souls to Christ. Indeed 
 most of the conversions in that church were through their instru- 
 mentality. Let the Christian men and women clinch the nail 
 which the minister drives home in his sermon, by getting into 
 conversation with those who are anxious and inquiring. Stran- 
 gers like to be spoken to, and will generally be glad to be invited 
 to stay to prayer-meeting. Perhaps we had better call it a 
 prayer-meeting. Two young men came into our meeting a few 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 575 
 
 nights back, and said they had been attending a certain church 
 in this city. We said they had better go and tell the minister 
 they had found Christ; they said, "No. We have been there 
 the last six years, and nobody ever spoke to us ; we don't want 
 to go there again." A minister preached a sermon once on the 
 recognition of friends in heaven, and after he had done some 
 one said, " I wish now he would preach about recognition of 
 friends on earth, for nobody has ever spoken to me." I was 
 preaching in an old circus building in a town in England, and 
 noticed that after the service a number of young men were talk- 
 ing to persons at different parts of the building. The secretary 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association told me they were his 
 band of workers, and I found that forty- one out of the fifty 
 young men had got into conversation with persons about the 
 conversion of their souls. An old Scotch clergyman objected 
 to inquiry-meetings, because they disturbed the seed, and said : 
 " When a farmer has sown the seed he does not take it up again 
 to see if it is growing." "No," said some one in reply, "but 
 there is one thing the farmer does, though ; he harrows in the 
 seed ; " and that is just what is the effect of religious conversa- 
 tion in the inquiry-room after the regular preaching service. 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang "Waiting and Watching," and the hour was 
 closed with a minute of silent prayer, followed by a petition 
 offered by Rev. Dr. Plummer, of South Carolina. 
 
 The subject of the second hour was " The training of young 
 converts and lay teachers," opened by the Rev. S. H. Tyng, Jr., 
 who delivered a very forcible address. He said the present 
 Laodicean state of the Church was greatly due to the neglect 
 of proper training for the young converts of the last ten years. 
 Very much dishonor is done to the Holy Ghost when the ques- 
 tion is asked, " Do you think these young converts are going 
 to hold out? " and if they fall back the Holy Ghost bears the 
 rebuke which is really due to our own laziness. There are three 
 distinct departments in which young converts need training, 
 namely, in the Word, the worship, and^the work of the church. 
 They need training in the text of the Word. Some who are 
 brought under religious influences, do not even know the order 
 
576 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 of succession of the Books of the Bible, and as Dr. Hall 
 remarked at Philadelphia, the most of the Bible is an unknown 
 territory, as unknown as the unexplorered heart of Africa. 
 My own suggestion to every new convert is to have a new Bible. 
 The old Bible had under the old life associations of task and 
 drudgery ; let him have a new Bible that it may become con- 
 nected with the new life on which a young convert enters. I 
 think it is best that each person should have his own individual 
 system of working ; we must make our own way. The young 
 convert must be taught self-work. A young man who has been 
 a Christian for two months, came to me the other day, and 
 brought me his new Bible to show me the method of marking 
 texts which he had discovered and worked out for himself. 
 He was full of enthusiasm, and had learned more in two months 
 of the Scriptures by following his own system of working than 
 he would have done in twelve months by adopting anybody 
 else's method. The next thing is training in worship. Train- 
 ing in private worship is an abomination. Be as familiar with 
 your Heavenly Father as your own father is with you. Let 
 there be no formality in talking with your Heavenly Father, 
 and learning from Him His will. But in view of his entrance 
 upon public service, the young convert needs training. En- 
 courage him even in his prayers. Unite with him in spirit ; 
 even though his. petition may hardly meet the wants of your 
 experience, crowd your experience down to his prayer. I do 
 like the Methodist way of groaning ; it helps the young con- 
 verts to pray, and encourages them in the use of their voice. I 
 would limit the young convert in giving his testimony, for I 
 don't believe very much in what is called experience. While 
 confessing Christ he is safe, but professing Christianity does not 
 always mean the same thing. Some one asked Bishop Gris- 
 wold, of Rhode Island once, if he had got humility, and, with 
 his squeaky little voice, he replied, " Not much to speak of." 
 Therefore, I would have the young converts confine themselves 
 to exhorting and giving their testimony. 
 
 I believe also that the church should be a body of workers ; 
 not a lot of wandering sheep, who need constant pastoral super- 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 577 
 
 vision. But the pastor ought to find work for everybody ; he 
 must have his plan, and all work should be under his direction. 
 Upon that point I am a very high churchman, and quite in sym- 
 pathy with the views of Dr. Hall. I believe in the pastor being 
 a kind of general, just as that man there (pointing at Mr. Moody) 
 has for the last six weeks been " bossing " it over everybody. 
 This is the duty of the pastor. I believe in the kind of pastoral 
 work spoken of by the apostle when it is said, " They gave 
 themselves unto the Lord, and unto us for the work of the Lord." 
 Two rules I would lay down in regard to setting young converts 
 to work : let the pastor study adaptation ; don't let him put 
 square pegs into round holes. See what a man can do, and then 
 set him about that work. Keep every man as far as possible in 
 his own sphere of life and secular calling ; that is, don't take a 
 good physician to teach a Bible class, because the chances are 
 that half the time he won't be there ; but let his work rather be 
 to visit the sick and minister to their bodily and spiritual neces- 
 sities. Then I want to see revived the lost institution of the 
 Christian Church. During the first century there were what 
 were called catechumen classes, and these are greatly needed in 
 the present day. The class system of Methodism probably was 
 intended by John Wesley to supply this need, but has been de- 
 generated, I think, too much to mere experience-meetings instead 
 of classes for instruction. Let there be the training of young 
 converts in the Word, work and worship, and the effect would 
 be the winning of a multitude of souls for Christ. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Deems said : A minister whose preaching was 
 blessed to the conversion of souls must have the help of 
 Christian men and women in his congregation ; he may well ex- 
 claim : " Who is sufficient for these things ? " No one man 
 could do the spiritual work of a church of six hundred or one 
 thousand souls. Why should a minister be expected to visit 
 the members of his congregation ? Why should not they rather 
 go and see him ? I teach my people (continued Dr. Deems) 
 that they must pay me pastoral visits, and for that purpose I 
 am in my office two hours every day, except when Brother Moody 
 calls me away, and then of course I must obey orders because 
 25 
 
578 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 he is a layman. Let us teach young converts that as soon as 
 they join the church they become co-pastors of the minister and 
 are expected to do as much pastoral service for the minister as 
 the minister does for them. I do not call preaching hard work, 
 it is so delicious and enjoyable to preach ; but when I have a 
 young convert to instruct for two hours in my study the exer- 
 tion is tenfold that of preaching a sermon. I tell you it is dig- 
 ging, spading, hard work. But that is what every pastor ought 
 to do : he ought to be president of his own college, and take 
 care that all its members have opportunities to prepare for 
 Christian work. When a sermon is preached, the work is only 
 just begun ; a sermon is not for the people to take away and 
 dump down in their home, never to be used again, but every one 
 should come with panniers, so as to carry away the good seed 
 of the Kingdom, and scatter it wherever they go. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Plummer, of South Carolina, closed the session with 
 a brief speech, urging the necessity of closer study of the Bible 
 as furnishing the best training for all young converts. He was 
 told of hearing it said that it was not polite or proper to ask a 
 person whether he was a Christian. No one ought to be 
 ashamed to ask such a question ; and there were thousands who 
 were waiting to be asked, and would yield to the Saviour if 
 their friends and acquaintances did their whole duty. We want 
 (he said) more of the Christianity of the New Testament : " He 
 found his brother Andrew, and brought him to Christ." 
 
 Mr. Sankey sang the hymn " Nothing but Leaves," and the 
 benediction was pronounced by Rev. Dr. Adams. 
 
 The Convention on Church Music. 
 
 Mr. Sankey then came forward and said : The question be- 
 fore us is, " How shall the service of song be conducted in the 
 Lord's work ? " and for the short time that we have here this 
 morning to discuss it I don't propose to go into any elaborate 
 exposition but simply to get down at once to the practical work- 
 ing of the question. Now, as there are so many different forms 
 of work, we will have to take them up in order. I shall com- 
 mence first with the church, then I shall talk of the prayer- 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 579 
 
 meeting, then the Sunday-school, then the evangelistic work. 
 And first, I would say that I am very glad indeed to see and to 
 know that the power of sacred song is beginning to be recog- 
 nized, not only in our own land, but in other lands. Now how 
 can we utilize this power ? Before I go further I would like to 
 make one statement here which will go to prove and establish the 
 fact that the power of sacred song will lay hold of the people of 
 this land and others to a greater extent than in former years. 
 The little hymn-book that was published in England containing 
 most of the hymns we are enjoying here to-day, has taken such 
 a hold, I would say for the most part on the common people, 
 that not less than five million copies have been sold all over the 
 world — T mean those with the music and the words. They 
 have been sold away off in India and Africa. Not long 
 ago I got a translation of them in the Kaffir language. Now 
 comes the question here, How can we utilize them ? In the 
 first place, with regard to the church services, I would not have 
 an artistic quartette choir. The first thing I would do, I would 
 discharge them. Now, remember, I don't speak of them indi- 
 vidually, but against the services which they attempt to lead or 
 rather succeed in monopolizing. I could not praise God here 
 for you, you must join for yourself and with us. In order to 
 have a large Christian choir, I would have all the Christians I 
 could gather in from the congregation and elsewhere. Some 
 people, I know, will object to this, but I can't help it. For the 
 last two years we have made a rule that only Christians should 
 lead these services of praise, and we have tried as far as we 
 could to get those who love the Lord and try to sing out of their 
 heart for Him, and I know that God has blessed the singing of 
 tbese\ Gospel hymns from hearts that know the Saviour. I 
 would\have the singers, if possible, near the minister. I would 
 not like to have them in the far part of the church where the 
 minister can't speak with them and they with him. There is a 
 difference, there is a separation and opposition sometimes which 
 should never be allowed. The singing should be under the con- 
 trol of the office-bearers and minister. The deportment of the 
 choir should be such as die congregation will like. If they are 
 
580 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 before the congregation and with the minister it will be very 
 much the better. And there is another plan I should like to 
 call attention to, that of having a screen, which, as soon as the 
 singing is over, will drop down like a jack in the box and they 
 are hid. Your ministers should insist upon it that the choir 
 should give as much attention to the sermon and services as the 
 congregation. People who will not give attention to the word 
 of God as preached, should not be leading the services of praise 
 in the church of God. I have found out this, that by having my 
 choir give attention to the addresses here, the contagion spreads, 
 and the audience give attention too. The most exact attention 
 should be given to the preacher while he is preaching. I should 
 not deal further with this point except to speak on the instru- 
 ment. I have often found this the case, that a large organ 
 drowns the people's voice. Now it is not so much the fault of 
 the organ as the man who plays it. A large organ may be played 
 very softly. I would prefer a small organ near the pulpit and 
 have it played just simply so as not to drown the people's voice, 
 but support them and keep them in tune. It is the human voice 
 we want instead of the playing, for there is nothing equal to the 
 human voice in the world. Now, I shall go to the prayer-meet- 
 ing, and say a word on how we should conduct the singing in it. 
 I would have one man, a Christian, who is a good singer, lead 
 the singing, and I would have him regularly at the prayer-meet- 
 ings. Very often some very good man or very good woman will 
 start up a tune entirely out of pitch ; nobody could join and they 
 themselves would nearly break their voices before they were 
 through. Now, I would say. let Brother Smith or Jones have 
 charge, and if he have a few friends about him, so much the 
 better. In regard to instruments in the prayer- meeting, if the 
 leader was a good singer, I would dispense with it, and if not, I 
 would let some one else raise the tune with it in a proper key. 
 Then I would introduce some Sunday-school hymns. Now and 
 then a new hymn brought in would give great life and animation 
 to the meeting. A very important question is how to introduce 
 new tunes. The best plan I have found is to practice the tune 
 as a voluntary. I would exclude altogether operatic pieces from 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 58 1 
 
 the church and have my choir understand the simple, plain 
 pieces. I would leave an operatic piece for the opera. Don't 
 bring it into the house of God. 
 
 Now, with regard to Sunday-school singing, I must say that 
 we in America have set an example to the earth in Sunday- 
 school singing. But there are few places where they have not 
 good singing. To these I would say : get a small instrument, 
 and get a lady or gentleman to play it. Gather the singers 
 around the leader and sing. Talk to them frequently. I would 
 not, however, let it diverge into a singing-school. I would sing 
 on the topic of the day. I would not sing about Greenland's 
 icy mountains, and pray about something else. Now, I would 
 say a word about the Evangelistic services. These are be- 
 ing conducted about the country everywhere. Now, if the pro- 
 moters of union services would send out notices to all the de- 
 nominations of ministers, and ask them to send in the very best 
 singers in their choirs and congregations, and have them come 
 together, saying, " Now, for this time and these services we will 
 lay aside our little differences of opinion and unite on one thing, 
 singing for Jesus," it would be found to work well. All the 
 practice-meetings of choirs, I think, should always be opened and 
 closed with prayer. There will not be one disturbance in that 
 case for the thousand if they are opened with prayer. I com- 
 mend this to all you friends that are to be connected in any way 
 with singing : have the meeting opened and closed with prayer. 
 I would also have plenty of hymns printed on slips, so as to let 
 the people have the words. I would make a point of going into 
 the work of supplying the people with the hymns, and then I 
 would have the minister speak to the people about the hymn, as 
 Mr. Spurgeon does. He gets up and reads the hymn through, 
 commenting on this verse and that, and telling the congregation 
 how they might sing it. The result is there is not one but sings 
 it at the top of his voice. If a man on the other hand gets up 
 and reads a hymn, and gives it over to the choir, that is the end 
 of it, and with a worldly choir they care very little. I wish the 
 day was spent and gone when such would be the practice in our 
 churches, and I hope the day will come when the ministers will 
 
582 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 encourage the singers in this way, for there is a great power in 
 it. Many a man will remember how you read the hymn. I re- 
 member in Philadelphia, years ago, when I was a little boy, I 
 heard an old minister get up and read the hymn, " There is a 
 fountain filled with blood." I have thought of that old man, 
 with his grey hair, and tears streaming down his face, as he 
 read that hymn, ever since, though I have forgotten the sermon 
 and everything else. I want to spend five minutes more, that 
 you may. ask me some practical questions. If I have any infor- 
 mation I will be pleased to give it to you. 
 
 The following questions were then put and replies given : 
 
 Q. Would you not think it better to encourage congregational 
 singing by abolishing the choir altogether and have it led by 
 a single voice ? 
 
 A. I think not, from the fact that very few precentors have 
 the power of voice to lead two or three thousand people. They 
 have to labor so hard in leading that they don't create that 
 sympathetic feeling toward the singing that should exist. There 
 is no impropriety in it, but I would not advise any man or 
 woman to attempt it alone. 
 
 Q. What about smaller meetings ? 
 
 A. The same will apply to small ones. 
 
 Q. Would you have the leader of a prayer-meeting pitch 
 the tune ? 
 
 A. If a singer, he could do it, but of course the man who 
 leads is not always a singer. I think we would have a hard 
 time if I should ask brother Moody to lead the singing here 
 to-day. 
 
 Q. If you have not got any singers who are Christians, what 
 would you do ? 
 
 A. I would commence evangelistic services at once and 
 get some. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend solo singing in the ordinary church 
 services ? 
 
 A. Not as a rule. 
 
 Mr. Moody — I would if I had Sankey. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. Sankey — Let me for a moment speak of this solo singing. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 
 
 583 
 
 read in the word here, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you 
 ichly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another 
 in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs ; singing with grace 
 in your hearts to the Lord." There are hymns which teach and 
 >reach the Gospel, and these are not hymns of praise. I believe 
 tat is another power of singing which many have not discov- 
 :red yet, that of preaching the Gospel. There is no praise in 
 the hymn "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by," yet it has been 
 blessed to hundreds of souls. It is not praising God at all. 
 When it comes to praising God I will join in the general sing- 
 ing as heartily as any one else. If I want to preach to you in 
 song I would ask you to listen. 
 
 Q. Would you ask the congregation to sing in unison ? 
 
 A. As a rule, I would ask them to join in the air or leading 
 part and let the choir bring in the tenor and bass and other 
 parts. If, however, a man in the audience is a good singer 
 and his voice is better adapted to singing bass, let him sing bass. 
 
 The subject was continued by the singing of "Hold the 
 Fort," in which, as may readily be inferred, the congregation 
 joined with a will. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Taylor then said : It seems to me as a founda- 
 tion of all that is said and done upon this matter that we ought 
 to have right ideas of the importance of praise. Let us 
 think of what the sacrifice of praise in the house of the Lord is 
 designed to do. It prepares the way for the descent of the Holy 
 Spirit into the heart. Bring me a minstrel, said Elisha, and 
 while listening to the music the spirit of the Lord came down 
 and he prophesied. Very frequently, through the music of a 
 song of praise, the spirit of God in His glory has come down 
 and filled the living temple of the human heart; for it not only 
 prepares the way for the sermon to follow, but very often clinches 
 the effect produced by the sermon. I heard the beautiful story 
 about Toplady's conversion. He went into a barn in Ireland 
 where he heard a Primitive Methodist minister preach the Gos- 
 pel. At the close the minister gave out the hymn, " Come ye 
 sinners, poor and needy." It seemed to him then that the 
 whole company of the congregation took up the appeal from the 
 
584 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA, 
 
 minister's lips, and instead of one appeal there was that of hun- 
 dreds. Then he gave his heart to Christ, and nobly did he 
 honor the obligation in his later life by laying on the altar of 
 Christ the hymn that we are so fond of — 
 
 " Rock of ages cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in Thee." 
 
 Then, again, singing sustains the heart in trial. Very often 
 in this country we are in the habit of serenading our great men, 
 but oh ! no songs in the ear of God are like the serenades which 
 go up from the hearts of God's children in the night of trial. 
 He comes forth from His throne to speak words of comfort and 
 cheer. Then, again, it braces the heart for conflict. After His 
 last supper, Christ sang a hymn — the Lord Jesus sang and sang 
 with Gethsemane in view, to brace Himself up for conflict with 
 the prince of this world. Who does not know, too, how Luther 
 strung himself up for his reformation work by that noble version 
 of the 46th psalm, termed the Marseillaise of the Reformation. 
 Mr. Sankey has covered the whole ground in the admirable ad- 
 dress to which we have listened, so in my remarks I will limit 
 myself to congregational singing, and will look at it from the 
 point of view of the pastor. Mr. Sankey has a little forgotten 
 that while conducting the evangelistic services he has everything 
 in his power — the pastor has to take the church with him. The 
 church must be like Wordsworth's cloud, and move altogether 
 if at all. Ministers have to suffer, like Moses, a good many 
 things for the hardness of people's hearts. If we want to come 
 up to the ideal pitch of perfection we should probably end by 
 making discord all around. So we have got to make the best 
 of things as at present. We ought to be limited in our range of 
 selection of hymns. I have a profound conviction that the great 
 size of our congregational hymn-books is killing congregational 
 singing. It is not possible for the great multitude of the con- 
 gregation to acquire the facilities to sing all the tunes needed 
 for the rendering of these hymns. The first thing I would re- 
 commend a minister to do is by a species of natural selection to 
 make his own little selection out of the big one, and if by any 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 585 
 
 accident he would give out one that dragged, then put a beacon 
 on it and not give it out again. Let ministers give good heed 
 to the counsels Mr. Sankey addressed to them with regard to 
 the necessity of cultivating good feeling between them and the 
 choir. If they persist in looking on the choir as hirelings it 
 will develop the hireling spirit. Don't continue to look on them 
 as necessary evils. (Laughter.) Go and have a free and frank 
 and brotherly conference with them. Don't manage it by au- 
 thority, you can never do that. Manage them by influence and 
 love. Talk sincerely and earnestly on the subject. One more 
 thing I would say. If we have good congregational singing, we 
 must have rousing preaching. The best way to heat a church 
 is to have the stove in the pulpit. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Hastings then delivered a long address, in 
 which in some measure he differed from the principles laid 
 down by Mr. Sankey. He said first of all he had not one par- 
 ticle of sympathy for the church suffering under the curse of 
 mercenary choirs, nor would he until the church would wake up 
 to the fact of the shameful neglect of which she was guilty in 
 this matter of praising God. You ministers, said he, who are 
 tortured by quartettes, I am not sorry for you. Have you 
 gone to the rehearsal, have you taken them by the hand and 
 found out their thoughts about the praise of God ? have you 
 ever shown any sympathy for them personally ? When they 
 are singing in church are you looking over notes, or looking 
 over the Bible, or occupying yourself with something else ? If 
 I tread on Mr. Moody's toes a little for a minute — one service 
 which is permitted to be interrupted is the service of song. 
 Mr. Moody while Dr. Adams was praying did not say " Open the 
 doors," but the moment the hymn is singing, he says, " Now 
 open the doors and let them in." The most magnificent thing 
 I ever heard in my life is the lifting up of the voices of this great 
 congregation. I don't blame Mr. Moody — it is only of a piece 
 with the common habit of the church throughout the country. 
 What Brother Sankey said this morning was admirable sense 
 for the millenium, but we are but little past the middle of the 
 nineteenth century yet. Let us work toward it. I have got a 
 
586 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 pretty good pair of legs, long enough for ordinary use. For 
 many years, while my sainted father was with me, I had the 
 delight of having my choir just as I wanted, and when the 
 crisis came I said to my legs " Now do your duty," and I went 
 on the hunt, just as Mr. Sankey recommended to find singers 
 in the congregation to make themselves targets for the ungen- 
 erous criticism of the congregation. My congregation is better 
 than the average on that subject. Singers have some rights 
 which Christians are bound to respect. They are not respected 
 by the church and ministers as they should be ; they are held 
 at arm's length. The average condition of musical culture in a 
 given congregation must determine what the singing should be, 
 and that congregation cannot ignore the fact without a viola- 
 tion of nature. I would rather have a first-rate quartette than a 
 first rate precentor. There is more music in it. You can 
 have a Christian influence prevailing in a quartette choir as well 
 as in choral choir. The churches have not lifted up this ser- 
 vice and elevated it with the service of prayer. I long for the 
 revival of love and joy in the Holy Ghost to bring us to our 
 senses on this subject. Why, look at the days of Solomon, 
 when four thousand were set apart for the service of song. 
 There is not a church I ever knew of that took any careful 
 measures to train up either a leader or a choir for themselves. 
 
 The second hour's services were now commenced, Mr. Moody 
 saying amid loud laughter, " Now I don't know how to get the 
 people in," adding, after giving out the second hymn, "Let all 
 rise and sing. Never mind the doors. If you are paying atten- 
 tion to what you are singing you won't notice the people coming 
 in. If I were to set apart two minutes for them to come in, then 
 these ministers would get talking, and I couldn't stop them." 
 After a short preliminary service the following queries were put, 
 and answered by Mr. Moody : 
 
 Q. How can you introduce new hymns into the church ? 
 
 A. One good way is to have one night given to sacred song, 
 and singing new hymns and tunes, as well as the old ones ; 
 and then I would have the people have the books in their 
 homes. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 587 
 
 Q. How can I get the speakers to be short in the prayer- 
 meetings ? 
 
 A. Be short yourself and set a good example. 
 
 Q. My church is divided. I can't get them united in special 
 services. What am I to do ? 
 
 A. Just get as many as you can, and just get each one to in- 
 fluence those that are standing out. 
 
 A. I am a pastor in a town with about ten thousand inhabit- 
 ants. I cannot get the young men out to our meetings. What 
 am I to do ? 
 
 A. The best thing to do is just to have a yoke-fellows' band 
 — form the Christian young men into a band ; suppose there 
 were only three of them, let them meet and pray together. The 
 little band will soon grow, and in the course of a few months 
 they will be thirty. Let your preaching be short ; throw away 
 your manuscript and preach right at them. If you see a man 
 has gone to sleep make up your mind that you have got to close. 
 There ought to be no trouble about that. A man can get a 
 hymn book for five cents. He can drop off one cigar and get it. 
 The great trouble is that a great many only have the hooks in 
 the church ; they ought to have them in their homes. 
 
 Q. What do you think of having a service devoted entirely to 
 sacred song opened and closed by prayer ? 
 
 A. A very good thing. 
 
 Q. What would you do to get people out to hear the Gospel 
 preached ? 
 
 A. Get them out to hear it sung. In that way you will get 
 them acquainted with it. Touch it up with some little story when 
 you give it out, and before you know it you are preaching to them. 
 
 Q. What is the best book for inquirers ? 
 A. Well, the book written by John is about the best I have 
 ever seen. 
 
 Q. How would you wake up an interest in the church prayer- 
 meeting ? 
 
 A. Why, wake up yourself. Shake hands with the young 
 men, say you are glad to see them, and you may be sure they 
 will come back again. I believe men living in a country dis- 
 
5&8 , MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 trict have, in this respect, more advantages than we in cities. 
 When I was in my native village I had all those long winter 
 evenings to myself, and if there had been such meetings I would 
 have been glad to go to them. When I went back to my native 
 town, last summer, I preached there for a short time. When I 
 was ready to go away some of the young converts asked me 
 what they should do. I told them to go right into the school- 
 houses and hold a series of meetings. The result was that 
 these houses are filled with people at those meetings. I tell 
 you the nation is hungry for the Gospel. 
 
 Q. If a church is sadly in debt would you favor a fair ? 
 
 A. I am a sworn enemy to them. I never knew one yet but 
 the devil got in before we got through. Just conceive for a 
 moment Paul going down to Corinth to open a fair. God's 
 people have money enough, they don't want to go into the world 
 to get it. There was a time when the church was trying to get 
 out of the world, but now the world has come into the church. 
 A young lady is put behind a table to draw young people to her 
 beauty. I don't know when I was more mortified than by an 
 advertisement of a church fair in the West, where it was said 
 that any young man could come in and take a kiss from the 
 handsomest woman in the room for twenty-five cents. I hope 
 the time is come when we shall be rid of these abominations. 
 It would be a good deal better to preach in the streets than to 
 get a church put up in that way. 
 
 Q. How would you get members to work ? 
 
 A. Well, keep them out of fairs. I don't think you can move 
 the church in a mass ; you have got to work with them privately 
 and personally, A great many persons would work if they were 
 shown what to do, and there are a good many others of execu- 
 tive ability in the church who could set them about it. Sup- 
 pose the politicians wanted to carry New York ; they would 
 know how every man would vote. 
 
 Q. What is the best book on revivals ? 
 
 A. The Bible. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Q. To what extent is it profitable to use the talents of Chris- 
 tian women in special efforts f 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 589 
 
 A. The women in the inquiry-meetings here are of great help. 
 A woman's meeting is held every day at the close of the noon 
 prayer-meeting, and their inquiry-room is always nearly full. 
 No one can visit so well as a woman. The time is coming 
 when there will be ten women missionaries for one we have now. 
 A woman can go into the kitchen and sit right down and talk 
 with a woman at the wash-tub. The poor woman will tell a 
 person of her own sex her troubles, when she will not converse 
 with a man. What a blessing it would be, if in this city, as in 
 London, ladies of wealth and position would visit the poor. 
 
 Q. How would you get your choir in the front of the church 
 when they insist on staying in the rear ? 
 
 A. I tell you how it is done at Northfield. They have got 
 an organ in the gallery away far from the pulpit. I objected to 
 this, but not only that, I didn't see the object of having singing 
 behind the people. Our ears are not put on in the wrong way. 
 I said I would send to Bradbury and get an organ myself, and 
 then they brought it down. 
 
 Q. Suppose none of the congregation understand music ? 
 
 A. Well I don't understand music, but I can sing as well as 
 Mr. Sankey can. I can sing from my heart. The fact is peo- 
 ple have gone to sleep. Larks never sing in their nests, it is 
 when they get out. A little boy who had been converted was 
 constantly singing. While his papa was reading the paper one 
 day he came up to him and said, "Papa you are a Christian, 
 but you never sing." Says the father, " I have got established. " 
 Not long after they went out to drive, but the horse would not go. 
 The father got vexed and said, " I wonder what ails him ? " " I 
 think," said the boy, "he has got established." 
 
 Q. How far shall persons be urged to confess Christ ? 
 
 A. You will see in Romans, x.. 10. If we are to be soldiers 
 of Christ we are to put on the livery of Christ, and let the world 
 know. 
 
 Q. Should the influence of the Spirit be waited for? 
 
 A. Our work is to preach Christ. The work of the Holy 
 Spirit is to convince men that Christ is the Son of God. He 
 will do His work if we will do ours. 
 
59© MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Q. Should a pastor lead a weekly meeting of young converts 
 in order to train them in Bible study ? 
 
 A. A very good thing. We should teach them both Word 
 and works. In an article written by a friend of mine it is asked 
 how is a man to mow if he does not sharpen his scythe? What 
 would you say of a man who is always sharpening his scythe? 
 The quickest way to train young converts is to put them to 
 work ; but the Word should not be neglected. When the scythe 
 gets dull it should be sharpened up again. 
 
 Q. How about fault-finders ? 
 
 A. I would deal with them personally and ask them how is it 
 with their own souls. 
 
 Qy How can you make sinners feel their sinfulness ? 
 
 A. That is God's work, you can't do it. 
 
 Q. If a minister or some influential layman should object 
 your working? 
 
 A. I should preach in a cottage or elsewhere. Never force 
 yourself on a people, but if you are faithful they will be glad to 
 hear you. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Armitage was called upon by Mr. Moody to open 
 the debate on "How to get hold of non-church-goers." He 
 said, "I am very grateful that the phrase "non-church-goers" 
 is put in the question. I like it better than the formula more 
 generally in use, namely, How can we reach the masses ? It is 
 sharp. There is more of the angular about it. It comes 
 directly home. It does not lead the mind into any of the mists 
 of class distinctions ; but draws the line sharply between those 
 who are in the' church and those who are not. ' Those who are 
 not in the church are divided into three classes — infidels, pagans, 
 and Mohammedans, and to each of these the leaven of the 
 church is to extend until the whole bin is leavened. I think we 
 are to begin to ' get hold of non-church-goers' by going after 
 them, if they will not come to us. I know of no other way. I 
 am not aware of any one passage in the New Testament, or 
 indeed in any part of Scripture, which authorizes the Church 
 of God in expecting that the unreconciled shall come to her, 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he commenced his mission as the 
 
 is it 
 t to 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 59 1 
 
 Saviour of the world, went about first to seek those who were 
 lost, and then to save those whom He had sought and found. 
 The shepherd in the parable did not expect the wandering sheep 
 to come back voluntarily, but he left the ninety and nine to go 
 and seek the lost ; when He found it, He put it upon his 
 shoulders, and brought it back to the flock with great joy. Our 
 Lord went about doing good, not waiting for the people to come 
 to Him. He went into the cities and villages and towns, into 
 the families, amongst the agriculturists, and all conditions of 
 people. There were no tenement houses in the Judean cities ; 
 if there had been, there would have been no room, from cellar 
 to basement, that He would not have visited. When He was 
 sending His disciples forth his injunction was, ' Go ye into ail 
 the world, and preach- the Gospel to every creature.' A per- 
 petual missionary church ! When the church ceases to be 
 offensive, it will retrograde. The question for us to consider is 
 how can we 'get hold.' Not simply to reach after, or attract, or 
 move ; but get hold of. There is a significance about that old 
 Anglo-Saxon word. It indicates nerve, muscle, resolution, will, 
 and perseverance — this getting hold of non-church-goers. We 
 must fall back constantly upon our Lord's example, and do as 
 He did. He laid hold of the people by patient labor, and by 
 pressing home the fact of His mission to save them. It was 
 the story of Christ's life and death and resurrection that made 
 the apostles' preaching so powerful ; and we must preach Jesus 
 and the resurrection if we want to get hold of the people. We 
 must labor with them in the great facts of the Gospel. ' Get 
 hold ' of them, too, by intense love. Nothing less than this will 
 open their hearts to us. We must have an affection for them 
 which they can feel. Love, my dear brethren of the ministry, 
 is always unconventional. It knows nothing about poverty, or 
 class distinctions, or birth, or character. Love sweeps away 
 all of these. It is the loving, earnest souls that have an influ- 
 ence for good. What would you give for the poet apart from 
 the love which is in all true poetry, or for the orator who was 
 not all in a blaze, or for the sculptor who was not all aglow with 
 love ? What will a non-church-goer give for your endeavors in 
 
592 MOODY AND SANKEY *N AMERICA. 
 
 his behalf, unless he knows that you love him? If you find a 
 non-church-goer — be he skeptical, or a poor man, or an ignorant 
 man, or a sick man — bring to him your sympathy, just as the 
 Lord Jesus did to all with whom He spoke. It is said that the 
 natives of India, when they want to quarry out a stone, first 
 take a chisel and run a groove, then they kindle a fire in the 
 groove, and last of all, they pour in a little water, which, be- 
 coming heated, causes the stone to expand and eventually to 
 burst. This is just what the Lord Jesus did. First he grooved 
 right down into the hardness of the human heart, then poured 
 in the water of His love, and thus gained an entrance and broke 
 it asunder." There was considerable applause at the close of 
 Dr. Armitage's address, but Mr. Moody remarked, " The time 
 at our disposal is so short that we haven't any time for applause, 
 and must fill up every minute. We will next hear from Rev. 
 Dr. Newton, of Philadelphia." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Newton, pastor of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 of the Epiphany, on Chestnut and Fifteenth streets, Philadelphia, 
 said : The Lord Jesus when upon earth called His people " the 
 salt of the earth," but the salt is of no use unless it be scattered. 
 He also said : '/ Ye are the light of the world ; " but the rays of the 
 sun must be dispersed if they are to give light all over the earth. 
 Oh, if the church, by its individual members, would but scatter 
 the rays of spiritual light in this way, how many hundreds 
 and thousands might be brought within its influence. We may 
 do this wherever we go. An Episcopal clergyman in England 
 was staying at a hotel, and was waited upon by a little English 
 girl. He asked her " Do you ever pray ? " " Oh, no, sir," she 
 replied ; " we have no time here to pray ; I am too busy to do 
 that." "I want you to promise me," said the clergyman, "that 
 during the next two months you will say three words of prayer 
 every night, and when I come here again at the end of that 
 time, I will give you half a crown." "All right," she said, " I 
 will do it." u Well, Jane, I want you to say every night ' Lord 
 save me.' " He left, and two months after when he came again 
 to the hotel inquired for Jane, and was told, " Oh, she has got 
 tDO good to stay in a hotel ; she has gone to the parsonage up 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 593 
 
 yonder." He went to see her, and as she opened the door for 
 him she said, "Oh, you blessed man, I don't want your half- 
 crown ; I have got enough already." And then she told- how at 
 first she had just carelessly run over the words as she was going 
 to bed at nights, but after the first two weeks she began to think 
 what the word " save" meant; then she got a Bible and found 
 the words, " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 
 and the prayer was no longer a mere form. " Now," she said, 
 "I am happy, and I don't want your half-crown, but I am so 
 thankful that you asked me to say that prayer." Wherever we 
 go, let us carry that spirit with us, and be ready to speak to all 
 we meet ; by that means we shall soon "get hold of non-church- 
 goers." Take simple means, and use sympathy, feeling, love 
 and earnestness. In the congregation of an earnest minister, 
 there was a man who was an infidel, and who prided himself on 
 his opposition to the Gospel. The minister prepared a sermon, 
 in which, by powerful argument, he sought to convince the man 
 of his error. But he sat unmoved through it all. When the in- 
 fidel got home his little girl came to him with her eyes full of 
 tears, and having evidently something upon her heart. He 
 asked her why she was crying, and she replied : " I am thinking 
 of what my Sunday-school teacher has been telling me about 
 what Jesus suffered for us ; " and then looking straight into his 
 eyes, she said : " And oh, papa, don't you think we ought to 
 love this blessed Jesus?" He had resisted the sermon, but 
 the child's words broke him down ; he went to his room to pray, 
 and that night he went to the church to seek an interest in the 
 prayers of the people. When the minister heard of it he said 
 to his wife, after reading over the sermon to her, " There is one 
 great lack about that sermon ; there is not enough of Jesus in it." 
 He learned the lesson which we must all learn, that if we want 
 to reach the hearts of men we must have much of Christ in our 
 sermons and our conversation, and then we may expect God 
 will bless us. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Fletcher, of Dublin, Ireland, was next introduced 
 by Mr. Moody. He said : I am the bearer of good news from 
 a far country. Multitudes of people in Ireland and Scotland 
 
594 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 
 and throughout Great Britain bless God for the visit to our 
 shores of our dear brothers Moody and Sankey. Thousands of 
 hearts are praying for them every day. Before they came 
 among us we were very much in the position of the minister 
 alluded to yesterday who often preached about the recognition 
 of friends in a future state ; (laughter) but we never saw our 
 way clear to any kind of real Christian union among the mem- 
 bers of the various Protestant churches, until God in his good 
 Providence raised up these two men, and sent them over to our 
 shores. Through their influence good men of different denom- 
 inations have become united, and we are now welded together; 
 and we pray that God may bless this great country of America 
 from whence came these two men, whose labors have been so 
 greatly blessed. And let me say that if ever, in God's good prov- 
 idence, they should return, all England, and Scotland, and 
 Ireland will receive them with open arms. (Applause). Yet 
 there were some wise men — men with long faces and long 
 heads (laughter) — who prophesied that the work would not be 
 permanent ; many of the Episcopalian ministers — and let it be 
 understood that I am Episcopalian myself to the backbone, if 
 you please — were of this opinion. They said this kind of work 
 is irregular ; it will be much damage to the church ; and some 
 said, " Wait two years, we will give you that time, and then see 
 where the converts will be." They prophesied that the effects 
 would be "like footprints on the sands " of the seashore ; you 
 see they got quite a practical idea. But it was not true. The 
 two years have passed since the work in Scotland, and more 
 than two years since that in Ireland, and what is the result? I 
 say it in the presence of my God — not for the praise of men, 
 but for the glory of God — that the work is broader and deeper 
 now than it was then. You ask, How is this ? We had con- 
 vened in a similar gathering to this eight hundred and fifty of 
 the cream of our clergy— more than four hundred of them 
 Episcopalians, and the other four hundred and fifty belonging 
 to the various dissenting denominations ; their hearts were 
 warmed : they received a fresh baptism, and now they are work- 
 ing in their own city, town and village parishes in a way they 
 

 THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 595 
 
 never worked before. Hundreds of clergymen who were thus 
 brought together confessed they did not know how to preach 
 until they heard a layman. Now they preach eye to eye, heart 
 to heart, face to face ; and they look for immediate results, be- 
 lieving that they may be the means of the salvation of souls as 
 surely as they believe that Jesus lived, and died, and rose again 
 and ascended into heaven. That is the way to reach the masses. 
 Now what are you to do here? Many of our Episcopalian 
 brethren in Ireland made a fatal mistake, and they are mourn- 
 ing for it to-day. And the same will be the case if the Episco- 
 palian members hold aloof from this movement here. I am 
 sorry there is one absent to-day. You should learn from our 
 experience. Take our testimony. Know that this work is 
 from God, and that His Spirit is resting upon it. Remember, 
 you don't honor the .work by coming into it, but you get great 
 honor by being permitted to take part in it. Look only to the 
 honor and glory of Jesus, honor Him by the circulation and 
 preaching of His word, and thus multitudes will be gathered 
 into the fold of Christ. 
 
 " Rescue the Perishing " was then sung by Mr. Sankey, who 
 remarked that the following verse contained one of the most 
 blessed truths that had been uttered in connection with the sub- 
 ject before them : 
 
 " Down in the human heart, 
 
 Crushed by the tempter, 
 Feelings lie buried that grace can restore ; 
 
 Touched by a loving heart, 
 
 Wakened by kindness, 
 Chords that were broken will vibrate once more." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Chamberlain, a missionary lately returned from Cen- 
 tral India, gave a touching recital of the effect which the telling 
 of the simple story of the cross had in an Indian city, where a 
 savage mob had threatened to stone him when he first entered 
 upon his mission work. Those who were the most violent were 
 subdued, ready entrance was found to the hearts of the people ; 
 and many copies of the Scriptures were afterwards purchased 
 by the very people who a few hours before had refused to even 
 
59S MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 allow them to be given away in their city. He then, at the re- 
 quest of Mr. Moody, sang a Telugu song, which had been set 
 to music, which was very popular in India. He sang it in the 
 native language, and afterward recited the following translation, 
 remarking that the words might be heard sung in the streets 
 and houses of the people in many parts of Central India : 
 
 REFRAIN. 
 
 Ni charanamule Nammiti, Nammiti, 
 Ni padamule battiti, battiti. 
 
 I. 
 
 Dikkika nive tsakkagu rave 
 Mikkili mrokkudu, mrokkudu. 
 
 II. 
 
 Aihiki sukamu narisiti nitya 
 Mahaha drohini, drohini. 
 
 Translation into the same metre in English : 
 
 REFRAIN. 
 
 Thy refuge would I seek, blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus: 
 Thy mercy-giving feet would I clasp, blessed Jesus. 
 
 My only help art Thou. Wilt thou not hear me ? 
 For on Thee, Thee alone, Thee alone do I call. 
 
 Refrain — Thy refuge, etc. 
 II. 
 The fleeting joys of earth have not I tasted ? 
 Traitor I wander far, wander far, far from Thee. 
 
 Refrain — Thy refuge, etc. 
 in. 
 My own works, all so vile, filled with pollution, 
 I abhor, I renounce, Saviour turn me not away, 
 
 Refrain — Thy refuge, etc. 
 
 IV. 
 
 My hard and sinful will, my baser passions, 
 
 Pluck them out, drive them hence ; free me, Lord, deliver me. 
 
 Refrain — Thy refuge, etc. 
 v. 
 My nature so corrupt, canst Thou not change it ? 
 Ease my pain, oh my God ! save me, Lord, save me now. 
 
 Refrain — Thy refuge, etc. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 597 
 
 At the call of Mr. Moody an earnest prayer on behalf of the 
 salvation of the heathen was offered by Rev. Dr. SchafT, and the 
 closing speech of the hour was made by Rev. Dr. John Hall, 
 who, after offering words of congratulation and thankfulness in 
 regard to the glorious work accomplished through the instru- 
 mentality of Messrs. Moody and Sankey in Ireland, England, 
 and on this continent, said that the work would be permanent 
 just in proportion as the church was diligent. In regard to the 
 subject under consideration, "How to reach non-church goers," 
 he replied that the work would be done by each individual 
 Christian working in their own sphere and among their own 
 circle of friends, and specially by special prayer on behalf of 
 the conversion of persons in whom our interest might be felt. 
 He related circumstances in connection with his own church work, 
 illustrating his idea and showing how one conversion often leads 
 to several others being reached. The church was as much a 
 New Testament and God-ordained institution as the ministry, 
 and work would therefore be best accomplished through that 
 channel. He said he would not join in the cry for burning of 
 sermons ; many sermons which were read were equally effective 
 as those delivered extempore. He would not lay down any 
 rule as to the length of a sermon. The worst rubbish he ever 
 heard under the name of a sermon was preached in a Protestant 
 church in Rome, and it only lasted ten minutes ; that was ten 
 minutes too long. His theory was that all the trees in God's 
 garden should bear fruit after their kind. When all the mem- 
 bers of a congregation were engaged in prayer for individuals in 
 whom they were interested, the result would be constant conver- 
 sions. Nobody gets the glory, but the temple is built up, and 
 Christ has all the glory. 
 
 The next hour was devoted to the subject of "Our Young 
 Men : what more can we do for them ? " Two or three verses 
 of "Nearer My God to Thee," were sung, after which Mr. John 
 Wannamaker, President of the Philadelphia Y. M. C. A., ad- 
 dressed the Convention. He said : The two questions which 
 are before the Convention this afternoon lie very close together. 
 Of the non-church-going masses, certainly a very large portion, 
 
598 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 if not the largest, is composed of young men. I sometimes think 
 that we forget how large a proportion of our population is com- 
 posed of young men. I should not wonder if in this city alone 
 there are as many as 350,000 young men out of a million and 
 a half people in New York. What a vast company it is ! What 
 a peculiar company ! And whilst I love the Church dearer than 
 anything else on this earth, yet I cannot but feel that 1 must 
 work both in it and out of it to reach this class of } r oung men. 
 Satan seems to have seized upon our young men, and is holding 
 them outside the door of the Church, and the preaching of our 
 wise and faithful ministers, therefore, does not reach them. 
 Hence under the fostering care and inspiration of the pulpit the 
 Young Men's Christian Associations have been organized. If 
 there is one other object these associations have in view, I have, 
 in an acquaintance with them of twenty years, not been able to 
 find it out. If we do not conduct them in just the manner which 
 seems best, I would say to my dear brethren of the ministry, give 
 us your counsel, but don't in your synods and assemblies and 
 conferences move resolutions about "certain unordained young 
 men," and so forth, and so forth. Come to us, and help us make 
 these associations what you want them to be. We mean to do 
 what good we can by means of this " missing link " between the 
 church and the outlying masses. These young men are sorely 
 tempted, and they need our help. Mr. Wannamaker told an 
 affecting incident of a young man who presented himself at the 
 Association rooms in Philadelphia; he had come to the city to 
 search for work, failed to get it, spent his money, and had not 
 enough left to- pay for a night's lodging. Just then he was 
 offered a situation in a liquor-saloon, but he had the courage to 
 refuse it. "No," said he, " I will starve and freeze first. My 
 father in the country is a Methodist class-leader, and my mother 
 is praying for me, and it would break her heart to know that I 
 was engaged in selling liquor." This young man was just one 
 of thousands in our large cities, and they need our sympathy. 
 Mr. Wannamaker, in the course of an earnest speech, which was 
 well received, again called upon the ministers present to give 
 the Young Men's Christian Associations their hearty co-opera- 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 599 
 
 tion, and also counselled all present to give themselves to indi- 
 vidual work for the Master, not relying upon superintendents, 
 secretaries, or committees, but each man and woman making 
 the resolve to bring one soul to Christ every day of their life. 
 
 Mr. W. E. Dodge, Jr., next addressed the convention, very 
 heartily commending the work of Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciations to the prayers and active sympathy of both ministers 
 and laymen present. In working for the conversion of young 
 men the first thing to be done was to show them that every one 
 in the church loves and respects them ; show them that they 
 are wanted to work in the church ; let them feel that they are 
 an important part of the church ; and make them work amongst 
 themselves and for each other. In country towns and villages 
 the system of sending out the young men two and two for Chris- 
 tian work has been greatly blessed ; much good has been ac- 
 complished, and the churches had been awakened by the re- 
 ports which these young men would bring of their work. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Dodge's speech, Mr. Sankey sang 
 with intense feeling and power the hymn, "What are you going 
 to do, brother?" and the whole congregration was moved to 
 tears. It was a touching sight to see many of the strong men 
 occupying the delegates' seats in the centre of the house visibly 
 affected at the touching, solemn, and heart-searching appeal. 
 
 " Oh for such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit," said Mr. 
 Moody, " during the last moments of this Convention, that we 
 may not have room to receive it." After a few moments of 
 silent prayer a fervent petition was offered by Rev. Dr. Roswell 
 Hitchcock, after which the ever memorable Christian Conven- 
 tion of March, 1876, was brought to a close. 
 
 Mr. Moody Scatters Gems. 
 
 Says the reporter : The sermon from the text, tl One thing thou 
 lackest," was one of the strongest yet delivered at the Hippo- 
 drome. Mr. Moody has the fire and passion of the Crusader. 
 He propels his Christianity with heat and power, which carries 
 all before it. The lukewarm, the godless, the drifting are caught 
 up by it, and many are taken into the Church. Only those who 
 
600 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 are insensible to religious impressions, those too cultivated for 
 the crudities and the strong feeling, and those who are coldly 
 fortified by another philosophy, remain wholly unaffected. He 
 is not so uninstructed as is generally supposed. Though not 
 educated for the ministry, his preaching shows a wide acquaint- 
 ance with the Bible and its literature. He has ranged himself 
 against the powers of evil, and, feeling his strength, he rises to 
 a fervor and devotion which only men with one absorbing idea 
 can feel. " You have to act as if there was not another man in 
 the world to act," said he yesterday ; " I made up my mind to 
 that ten years ago." From this sermon we take 
 
 Mary's Choice. 
 
 
 In the first chapter of Luke, the 41st verse, we read of Mary's 
 choice. After we have been saved, the next thing is to sit at the 
 feet of Jesus, and learn of Him, as Mary did. That is God's 
 College. You may go through Andover and Princeton and Yale 
 and Harvard, or any and all of the colleges, but if you don't go 
 to God's college, God will not use you for his cause. He sends 
 his teachers all out from there. We must learn at the feet of 
 Jesus from His lips. A man who prayed at Jesus' feet did not 
 have his prayers answered in the way he expected them to be. 
 He wanted to stay there. He prayed to be allowed to sit at 
 Jesus' feet forever. '' No," said Christ, " go and tell what great 
 things the Lord hath done for you." The first news that came 
 to the disciples that Christ had risen came from the two Marys. 
 They came and fell at the feet of the Saviour, and He said to them, 
 '•Go publish what thou hast seen; go, tell the tidings." He 
 said to Mary, " She hath the one thing needful," and that was 
 to sit at the fountain and drink of the wisdom of the Saviour. 
 The disciples were called disciples because they were to learn 
 of Him. The young converts who are not willing to study 
 Christ and learn of Jesus, are not fit for His service. They 
 must go to God's college and learn of Him. Martha was like 
 many who are willing to work for God, to do something for 
 Him, but are not willing to pause and hear the voice of Jesus. 
 Hundreds of good people are willing to do all they can, but 
 
THE WOSK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 6oi 
 
 they are not willing to stop and hear the voice of the Lord and 
 receive instruction from Him. He says, " It is more blessed 
 to give than to receive." Mary took her place of receiving, 
 and was content to put the Lord in His place of giving some- 
 thing. She chose the good part. I think if I had Christ in 
 my house to-night ; I would feel like not doing anything, like 
 letting the supper go, and sitting at His feet to ask Him ques- 
 tions and listen to the answers. It is better if we are going to 
 work for God to be alone with Him a great deal. 
 
 There are two lives that Christians lead ; one before the 
 world, wherein we manifest God ; and there is a life that we 
 must live alone with God, and sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ. 
 The longer I live, and the older I grow, the more convinced I 
 am that there are times when we must sit quietly at the feet of 
 Jesus, and only let God speak to our souls. O, young friend, 
 learn that lesson. It will save you many a painful hour. Just 
 keep quietly alone, and learn of Jesus. You know it is when a 
 man is alone with his wife, that he tells her the precious secrets 
 of his soul. It is not when the family are around, or when there 
 is company there. So, when we want to get the secrets of 
 heaven, we want to be alone with Jesus, and listen that He may 
 come and whisper to our souls. The richest hours I have ever 
 had with God, have not been in great assemblies like this, but 
 sitting alone at the feet of Jesus. But, in these days of steam 
 and telegraph, we cannot get time to listen to Christ's whisper 
 in our ears. We are so busy we do not choose the one thing 
 needful. If we did, we would not talk so much as we would 
 listen, and when we did speak, it would be only when we had 
 something to say. We would hear words that came from the 
 Master, and they would burn down deep into our souls and 
 bring forth fruit. 
 
 In the twentieth chapter of Matthew, eighth verse, you read 
 the words, "One is your Master." Ah, to learn who is your 
 Master and serve him only ! We are willing to serve our friends, 
 to serve the church, to serve the public, and please every one, 
 and forget the Lord. But we should just have one master, and 
 live to please him alone, and he should be the Lord of Glory. 
 26 
 
602 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 He is a good Master. I want to recommend Him to you here 
 to-day. If He is not your Master, then the devil is. Every 
 one has a master, who is either Satan or Christ. You may not 
 acknowledge it, you may not know it, but either the Lord of 
 Glory or else the Prince of the Powers of Darkness is the one 
 you serve. Satan is a hard and cruel master. If you make 
 mistakes under him, he will have no mercy for you. When you 
 get into trouble, if you are in his service, you will have to suffer 
 indeed ; but with the Lord of Glory for your master, if you 
 make mistakes or fall into error, all you have to do is to go 
 and confess to Him, and He will forgive you quickly and smile 
 upon you, and restore to you the joy of salvation if you have 
 lost it. O, that we might learn the sweet lesson that " One is 
 our Master," and that One is Christ in Heaven. Those men who 
 are trying to serve the public, what do they gain ? I pity those 
 men in Washington, who are trying to serve the public. We 
 send them there, and then turn and abuse them. Public men 
 get nothing but abuse, after all. It is a hard thing to serve the 
 public ; but it is a glorious thing to serve Christ. I would a 
 thousand times rather have Him for my master, than the cruel, 
 heartless, wretched world. To know that we have only one mas- 
 ter, but one to please and one to serve ; to live with that idea 
 in view all the while — one to please and one to glorify — is a 
 most blessed thing. He is not a hard master. He knows we 
 are liable to mistakes, and He is ready and willing to forgive. 
 If Christ is such a glorious Master, should we not be willing to 
 sacrifice ourselves to Him and give up all and follow him, and 
 turn our back upon this fleeting world and live for Him ? 
 When our country was in danger, how men laid down their 
 lives and gave up everything for their country. The moment 
 Abraham Lincoln called for six hundred thousand men, you 
 could hear the tramp of their feet in every direction, and the 
 song went up from all quarters, " We are Coming, Father Abra- 
 ham, six hundred thousand strong." All Mr. Lincoln had to do 
 was to call, and the men came pouring in, Christ is calling for 
 laborers. There are nations perishing for the want of the Gos- 
 pel tidings. We are a long time getting them into the world. 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 603 
 
 America has men enough and money enough to do it all, to send 
 the Gospel around this globe. It is high time that this gospel 
 was proclaimed in every town and village and hamlet through- 
 out the whole world. It would be very easy if God's disciples 
 would work together for it. From another sermon we take 
 
 Decision. 
 
 Let us look at Barabbas. It seems to me that there is no 
 case in the whole Bible where the great doctrine of substitution 
 is brought out better than in this one. There was a man con- 
 demned in one of our western cities. What troubled him 
 the most was, that the night he was to be executed, they were 
 making the gallows in the prison. He heard them sawing 
 the planks and driving the nails ; and as he heard he trembled 
 from head to foot. This cross might have been made in the 
 prison where Barabbas was confined, and these two thieves 
 to be crucified with Christ might have been associated with 
 Barabbas, and he might have been the ring-leader in crime. 
 Barabbas knows he has to die, that there is no hope ; he has 
 perhaps heard them making the crosses, one for him, and 
 others for each of his two companions. At last the executioner 
 comes. He hears the footfall in the hall, and he takes one man 
 from his cell, and then another, and there is poor Barabbas 
 trembling from head to foot. He thinks, " In a few moments I 
 will be led to execution, and will be nailed to the cross, to die its 
 terrible death ; " and while Barabbas trembles, the executioner 
 comes and unlocks the door, and throws it open, and says : 
 "Barabbas, you are free!" "What! free? Am I free?" 
 " Yes, you are free." " What do you mean ? How came this ? 
 Who set me free ? " "Pilate asked the people which should be 
 free, yourself or Jesus of Nazareth, and the multitude have 
 chosen you to be released, and Christ is to be put to death in 
 your stead." What joy, what good news it must have been for 
 that poor Barabbas ! And think, my fiiends, what guilt there 
 was in that multitude making the choice of Barabbas ! I never 
 saw any one in my life but thought it was one of the most cruel 
 cases in this world. 
 
604 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 But did you ever stop to think what you are doing that is 
 worse ? The man that chooses this world has chosen much 
 worse than the Jews did. I would rather choose Barabbas than 
 the god of this world. If you reject Jesus Christ, bear in mind 
 that Satan is your god ; he leads you on with an unseen hand. 
 He is your tempter, and is trying to lure you away from the 
 world of light, to leave you in the dark caverns of eternal death 
 and ruin. Thanks be to God there is hope to-day ; this very 
 hour you can choose Him and serve Him. O, make your choice 
 to-day. It is not between Jesus and Barabbas now; it is be- 
 tween the Lord of Glory, the Prince of Peace, or the Devil of 
 Hell. Every one has to decide, whether he wants to decide or 
 not. Some people say, " I do not propose to decide this ques- 
 tion at once. I am going to be neutral." No man can have 
 Christ presented to him but he has to decide. You will either 
 decide to reject or to receive Him. There is but one alternative ; 
 if you reject Him you receive the devil. If we would stop put- 
 ting this question over from day to day unanswered, if that little 
 girl sitting by her mother would just say what she would do, 
 how happy we should all be. There are some here this after- 
 noon who have come, perhaps, to scoff and laugh. Dear friends, 
 are you going to scoff on ? Are you going to die in your sins 
 and be lost? When Jesus comes this afternoon and knocks on 
 the door of your heart and wants you to become a Christian, are 
 you going to reject Him ? Some say, " Well I can't give up the 
 world." Had you rather have the world than have Christ? 
 Had you rather have the god of pleasure than the God of heaven ? 
 There is no way to stand neutral on this question. You must 
 have one or the other ; you must have the god of earth or the 
 God of Heaven. I pity the man or woman who is living for 
 this world. You will not only be disappointed now, but you 
 will be disappointed all through this life. The god of pleasure 
 can never lift you up and make your heart to rejoice. Solomon 
 looked abroad over this world for that which would satisfy the 
 yearnings of his soul. He picked up worldly pleasure, looked 
 at it, and then laid it away and said, " Vanity, vanity, all is van- 
 ity ! " There are many who live for wealth and social position. 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 60$ 
 
 What is it after you have got it ? It is like the boy running 
 after a bubble ; when you get it it is gone. Oh, that this text 
 would sink deep in the hearts of all here, that they might be 
 made to realize their need of Christ ! Don't go out of this hall 
 and say you will forget this text. Just let it sink into your heart 
 and say, " What shall I do with Jesus ? " Won't you just stop a 
 moment and think ? What shall I do with Him ? One of two 
 things you must do ; you must either receive Him or reject Him. 
 You receive Him here and He will receive you there. O, may 
 every soul make up its mind where it will spend eternity ! 
 Whether it will be found in the world of light or in the dark 
 caverns of eternal woe. 
 
 Don't delay the answer to this great question, " What shall I 
 do with Christ ? " Accept Him now. When you are sick it is 
 no time to receive Jesus. When death comes he often steals in 
 unawares. Some men don't know that death is coming until 
 they are hurried away into the other world without any prepara- 
 tion. How much do you think some lost one would give if he 
 had his life over again ? How much do you think Agrippa 
 would give to be in Paul's place now? How much do you think 
 those men who took part in the services and heard Christ preach 
 to them would give if they had the opportunity you have here 
 this afternoon ? Oh, if I could go to the borders of the lost world, 
 and call up one soul, and bring him on this platform, and let him 
 tell the awful horror and woe of being separated from Christ, how 
 terrible it would be. Why, I believe that Caiaphas would be 
 very glad to exchange places with John ; but it is too late now. 
 All the opportunities are gone. They risked all for wealth and 
 station. And what was the wealth and the position these men 
 held ? It was only for a few months or years, and then God 
 changed their countenances and sent them away. The rich 
 man would have been glad to exchange places with Lazarus, who 
 sat with the dogs at his door. What must have been his misery 
 when he saw from his terrible position Lazarus among the saved. 
 It is a good deal better to be a poor beggar with Christ in your 
 heart than to have the applause of this world and die without 
 hope. 
 
606 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 The time has come now for me to close these Sunday after- 
 noon meetings. It is the last time probably that I shall ever 
 speak to this congregation. I may never see many of you again. 
 It is probably the last time we shall meet until we meet at the 
 judgment bar of God. Shall we meet there ? Oh, my friends, 
 come into the fold of Christ to-day. If you receive Him it will be 
 well ; if you reject Him and are lost it will be terrible. Won't 
 you just say that you will receive Christ to-day ? Won't you say 
 you will not longer reject Him? 
 
 Mr. Moody's One Purpose. 
 
 Don't go and get discouraged when you get to work because 
 you don't find everything prosperous as you expected. You 
 cannot tell what will prosper. What you think is prosperity 
 may turn out to be the worst thing you could have done, and 
 the thing you have least hope of may turn out to be your great- 
 est success. 
 
 An old woman who was seventy-five years old had a Sabbath- 
 school two miles away among the mountains. One Sunday 
 there came a terrible storm of rain, and she thought at first she 
 would not go that day, but then she thought, " what if some one 
 should go and not find me there?" Then she put on her 
 waterproof, and umbrella, and overshoes, and away she went 
 through the storm, two miles away, to the Sabbath-school in the 
 mountains. When she got there she found one solitary young 
 man, and taught him the best she knew how all the afternoon. 
 She never saw him again, and I don't know but the old woman 
 thought her Sabbath had been a failure. That week the young 
 man enlisted in the army, and in a year or two after the old 
 woman got a letter from the soldier thanking her for going 
 through the storm that Sunday. This young man thought that 
 stormy day he would just go and see if the old woman was in 
 earnest, and if she cared enough about our souls to go through 
 the rain. He found she came and taught him as carefully as if 
 she was teaching the whole school, and God made that the oc- 
 casion of winning that young man to Christ. When he lay 
 dying in a hospital he sent the message to the old woman that 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 6oJ 
 
 he would meet her in heaven. Was it not a glorious thing that 
 she did not get discouraged because she had but one school and 
 scholar? Be willing to work with one. Bear in mind the 
 words, " This one thing I do." I live for souls and for eternity. 
 I want to win some soul to Christ. If you want this and work 
 for it, eternity alone can tell the result. May God give us a 
 passion for souls. 
 
 Christ our Model. 
 
 Christ is the Light of the World. He says, " If any man 
 follow me, he shall not walk in darkness; he shall have the light 
 of life." 
 
 When I was a little boy I used to try and catch my own 
 shadow. I don't know whether any of you have ever been so 
 foolish as that or not. I could not see why the shadow al- 
 ways kept ahead of me. Once I happened to be racing with 
 my face to the sun and I looked over my head and saw my shadow 
 coming back of me, and it kept behind me all the way. It is 
 the same with the Sun of Righteousness. Peace and joy will go 
 with you while you go with your face toward Him. 
 
 Once I was trying to walk across the field after a fresh fall 
 of snow. I would try and see how straight a line I could make 
 with my footprints in the snow. When I looked around to see 
 how straight I was going I always walked crooked ; but if I 
 kept my eye on the mark ahead of me, and did not take it off, 
 I could walk straight enough. So if Christians only kept their 
 eyes on the mark — on Christ Jesus, and followed in his foot- 
 steps, not turning around to see what kind of a path they made, 
 they would walk straighter. He is our model. If, instead of 
 asking, Why can't I do this and that ? Why can't I dance ? 
 Why can't I go to the theatre ? Why can't I read The New York 
 Ledger 1 I don't see why I cannot doit! Can you ? Then 
 put it in this way, What is the use of it ? " Will it make me a 
 better Christian ? " If it won't, then I won't do them. Instead 
 of asking, What is the use ? and Why can't I ? ask if it will be 
 for the honor and glory of Jesus, and if it won't, say, I won't 
 do it. 
 
608 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 I do not see that we can have any better example than Christ 
 himself. Just consult the Word of God and see what Christ 
 would do. You will find that God never makes a man do wrong. 
 Who ever heard of a man backsliding who walked with God ? 
 God never backslides. If we are going to keep company with 
 God we have got to walk. God does not stand still and does 
 not run. You must grow in grace or else in worldliness. Enoch 
 walked with God. He found the right way back there in that 
 dim age. He was the most unpopular man in that time. If 
 they had had him up for office, I don't think he would have got 
 to be even so much as constable. God and he agreed very well, 
 so that at last God said to him, " Come up here and walk with 
 Me." Old Dr. Bonner said, "Enoch started on a very long 
 walk one day — he has not got back yet." It is sweet to walk 
 with God. We walk the wilderness to-day and the promised 
 land to-morrow. Oh, that we all could say, " Father, take my 
 hand," and put our hands in His to-day. There is a difference 
 between our having hold of God and His having hold of us. If 
 God has hold of me I cannot fall, can I ? If the great God 
 who created heaven and earth hold us by the hand what have 
 we to fear ? When my little girl was about three or four years 
 old her mother got her a new muff, and then she wanted to go 
 right out and take a walk with that muff. She teased me to go 
 out walking with her. I told her I was tired, but after a while 
 I got up and went with her. I said, " Emma you had better 
 let me take hold of your hand." She said, " No, I want to put 
 my hands in my muff like mamma does." She was as proud as 
 a peacock with the muff, and went strutting down the street. 
 So a great many people start out with the idea that they are 
 saved and can get along without the Word of God, but they 
 find they need to have God hold them all the time. My little 
 girl went along alone for a minute, and by and by down she 
 went. When she got up she said, " Papa, I w r ish you would 
 let me take hold of your little finger ; " but I said, " If you do, 
 when your feet go from under you, you will let go and go down." 
 She insisted on having my little finger, so I gave it to her. 
 Pretty soon her little feet slipped from under her, and down she 
 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 609 
 
 went again. Then when she got up she said, " Papa, I wish 
 you would take my hand." So I took her little hand, and held 
 it by the wrist. Her feet went out from under her a number of 
 times after that, but she did not fall because I held her. Oh, 
 my friends, let us learn the lesson to-day of separation from the 
 world. Enoch walked with God and God saved him. Abraham 
 walked with God and God became his friend. Let us to-day 
 put our hands in His as a friend, take hold and walk with Him. 
 
 David's Cunning. 
 
 But now the enemy comes back again stronger than ever, 
 thousands upon thousands, a great multitude, and the hour of 
 battle comes on. There on that hill are the armies of the Phil- 
 istines, and here on this are the thousands of Saul ; and at last 
 a giant warrior comes out from the camp of the Philistines and 
 cries to Saul's army, "Just select one man to come out and fight 
 me, and if he will overcome me we will all be your servants," 
 and he defies them day after day, and there is not a man in all 
 that camp that dare meet the giant of Gath. They were all 
 frightened, and the king trembled from head to foot. As he 
 came out in the morning, I think I can see them looking so 
 startled, and saying, "Look! There he comes again." So he 
 defies them again and again — " Show me a man that will dare 
 to meet me." And so every morning, day after day, day after 
 day, for forty days, he came out two or three times a day, and 
 each army was afraid of the other, not daring to open fire. 
 Just then, up came a young stripling. (Some one has said he 
 was the first delegate to the Christian Commission.) He had 
 been sent up from the country by his mother, to see how his 
 brothers were getting on in the king's encampment. I sup- 
 pose the mother made up some nice things for them to eat, 
 some nice cakes, perhaps, and jelly. I can see him coming up ; 
 perhaps there was a servant along, and up they came on their 
 asses. Just as they came into camp, out came the giant again, 
 and defied them. The young man looks at him, and then asks 
 "What, what does that man say? Hark!" He hears the 
 giant defy Israel, God's anointed, God's own people. His blood 
 26* 
 
6lO MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 begins to tingle in his veins. He goes into camp and says to 
 his brothers, " What does that mean ? Why do not some of you 
 go out to meet him?" "Why," they said, "you don't know 
 much about fighting, or you would not talk of such a thing in 
 that way." Said he, " I will go myself, then." " It's a nice 
 thing for you to say you'll go. Why, one look at him will make 
 you run faster than you ever ran in your life." They began to 
 make sport of him, and mock him. He said, " If there is no 
 one else to go, I will go." But they only mocked him. At last 
 some one said to the king, " There is some one in camp who 
 offers to go and meet the giant of Gath." And the king said, 
 "Go bring him." And when the king saw David, his heart 
 sunk within him at once. What could he do ? He had not 
 been used to using a sword. He did not know anything about 
 it. The king said to him, " You are not able." He looked at 
 David. He saw that he knew nothing of the use of weapons in 
 battle. Said David, " I think I would like to meet him. A lion 
 and a bear got into my father's fold one night, and I killed them 
 both • and I believe that God will be able to deliver me from 
 the giant as he did from the lion and the bear." Some one has 
 said there were thousands of men in that camp who knew that 
 God could use them, but David was the only one there who be- 
 lieved that God would use him. Said David, "Now I will go." 
 So they took him and began to dress him for the fight. They 
 began to put armor upon him, and a shield, and a helmet. But 
 in a few minutes it began to act upon him. He began to feel 
 uncomfortable in it, and to twist himself, and make wry faces, 
 and at last he said, " I cannot fight in this armor." ~ He was 
 like a little boy in his grandfather's overcoat. It did not fit him 
 at all. He said, " I have not proved it. I have proved the 
 God of Israel. I have not proved this armor." It was like the 
 way of the world. A great many are anxious to work in Saul's 
 armor. If he had gone out in this armor and conquered, they 
 would have said it was Saul's armor that did it. Then he said, 
 "Let me take my sling. I am used to that." "What ! " they 
 exclaimed, " a sling to meet the giant of Gath ? Why, he has 
 a helmet, and a sword, and a shield, and an armor-bearer ! !' 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 6ll 
 
 But David said, "Well, I will only take my sling." I can 
 imagine how they made all manner of sport of him. But they 
 were driven to extremes, and must have some one, and so they 
 let him go. Even his brothers must have thought he would 
 surely be brought back dead. 
 
 So he went to the brook and he picked up five smooth stones 
 out of the brook. O, my friends, God uses the weak thing, God 
 uses the little thing ! You and I would have wanted some good 
 big rocks to have slung at him ; but David got a few little 
 smooth stones, and went to meet his enemy. The giant came 
 out full of indignation and wrath, saying : " Am I to take the 
 consent of this man to meet me ? " David said to him, " You 
 come with a helmet and a shield and an armor-bearer. I come 
 in the name of the God of Israel." So if we come in the name 
 of God, will all giants fall. So he puts one hand behind him 
 and raises the other right up and throws his sling, and the gi- 
 ant falls dead ; and then he rushed right up to him and took 
 his sword from him, and cut off his head, and with the sword 
 and the giant's head in his hand, went forward toward the king. 
 Then Saul called to his cheering army, " Make haste, rush 
 upon them! " And it was not long before the whole camp of 
 the Philistines were falling before their enemy. 
 
 So God used the man who was willing to be used. He used 
 the man that had faith to believe that God would use him. 
 
 Dr. William Taylor read a part of the 14th chapter of Mat- 
 thew : " And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, 
 saying, ' This is a desert place, and the time is now past ; send 
 the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy 
 themselves victuals.' But Jesus said unto them, 'They need 
 not depart ; give ye them to eat ? ' " In the course of his short 
 address he said : " It is never needful to depart from Christ. 
 The disciples misunderstood the meaning and purpose of the 
 Master when they asked Him to send the multitude away. On 
 the last day, men may be commanded to depart from the Lord, 
 but never until then. What compassion He had upon them! 
 How many there were who needed Him, and how like the Mas- 
 ter all this is ! So it is here to-day ; God will not send you 
 
6l2 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 away fasting. He would not even have the heart of a man if 
 He did not long to feed the people and heal their sufferings and 
 quiet their anxieties. A little boy perhaps had these loaves 
 and fishes in his satchel, and Andrew was put to the blush 
 when he said, ' What are these among so many ? ' He forgot 
 to whom he gave them. We must not forget for whom we do 
 what little we can do. Robert Burns said, i Who does the ut- 
 most he can, does more.' I remember an old Covenanter's story 
 I used to hear. A band of Covenanters were hidden in a cave, 
 when a man came to them and passed himself off as one of 
 them. But when he began to eat without first saying grace they 
 knew he was a spy, and had only time to fly before the dragoons 
 were upon them. A little chink lets in great light. How can 
 a man be a true Christian and forget to give thanks ? Prayers 
 are transmuted into blessings, and come down upon* us." 
 
 Mr. Moody then said : " I remember when I was in London 
 hearing a clergyman say, * How astonished Philip must have 
 been when Jesus gave him a small loaf to divide among the 
 multitude, not a grain of meal for each one ! ' He must have 
 broken off a very small piece for the first man, then, finding he 
 had as much left, more for the second, a little more for the 
 third. But when he found the loaf did not after all grow any 
 smaller, he would just break off half of it for each one. Faith 
 grows! If we. have faith, and will follow divine guidance, we 
 can all do much for Christ and our fellow-men. A man may 
 say he has no talents, he can do nothing ; but I tell you do what 
 you can ; your faith will grow. Use what light you have. If 
 you cannot be a lighthouse, be a tallow candle. People used to 
 have to carry their candles with them, but when a lot of them 
 got together it was bright enough. If each one would bring a 
 little light and let it shine, there would be plenty of light." 
 
 The Farewell Meetings. 
 
 These occurred on Wednesday, the 19th of April, and called 
 
 out vast multitudes. Indeed, one of the ablest secular journals, 
 
 among other excellent things, says : " Into the Hippodrome he 
 
 has gathered day by day the largest audiences ever gathered in 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 6l$ 
 
 this city. Lawyers, bankers, merchants, some of whom scarcely 
 ever enter a church, are just as much a part of his congregations 
 as are the second-rate and third-rate boarding-house people, 
 mentioned so conspicuously in a recent analysis by a morning 
 journal. All classes and conditions of men have been repre- 
 sented in these great revival meetings. 
 
 " Mr. Moody is a man of so driving a^ persistence and so im- 
 maculate a consistency, that it is scarcely more possible that he 
 should greatly change himself than that — to use a biblical figure 
 — a leopard should change his spots. Indeed there is no pros- 
 pect whatever that he will ever conform either himself or his 
 style to the demands of propriety or to the requirements of 
 grammatical rules. Let us frankly confess then, as we bid him 
 good-by, that we are heartily glad there is none. He is what he 
 is because he is what he is. We would not change him. Make 
 him the best read preacher in the world and he would instantly 
 lose half his power. Set him to imitating the elegant abstrac- 
 tions of Burnet and Barron, of Tillotson and Stillingfleet, and 
 his style would become not only stilted but tame. Put him 
 through a course of training in systematic theology, and you 
 fasten big logs of fuel to the driving wheels of his engine. Give 
 him a smattering of logic, and forthwith undue assumptions, 
 beggings of the question, ignoratio elenchi, and ambiguous mid- 
 dles step forth and solicit the derision of his school-bred hear- 
 ers. Even lend him an English grammar, and we should never 
 again be charmed by his naive provincial colloquialisms. He 
 is just right for his work as he is — original, dashing, careless. 
 He has not, it is true, one word of solace or of light for the 
 honest cultured doubter ; but, on the other hand, the doubter 
 knows too much to expect, either of him or of any human be- 
 ing, a solution of eternal mysteries. Should Mr. Moody address 
 himself to lifting the clouds from the skeptic's soul, the greater 
 part of his audience would learn atheistic arguments which 
 would stop longer in their memories than would Mr. Moody's 
 attempted refutation of them, and the clouds themselves would 
 hang as thick and black as ever. The masses of men are not 
 all philosophic disputants. They believe pretty much what they 
 
6 14 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 are taught to believe. And these masses Mr. Moody reaches 
 the more surely and widely because he is one of them himself, 
 and because he has not been made elegant and faultless by the 
 trimming and restraining processes of a liberal education. His 
 very solecisms sound sweetly in their ears. His familiarity and 
 conversational manner please them. They like his directness 
 and his earnestness. He is driving a bargain with them, and 
 he "talks sense." He is trying to comfort them, when "from 
 the world's bitter wind they are seeking shelter," and he fills 
 their souls with the assurance of a Father's love. There they 
 sit and listen — the poor, the distressed, the afflicted, the sorrow- 
 ful — taking " their fill of deep and liquid rest, forgetful of all 
 ill." Life becomes pleasanter to them. The future assumes a 
 hopeful aspect. Mr. Moody touches more chords than their pas- 
 tor on Sunday does. He comes nearer home. He nourishes 
 them more. His society is more refreshing. They go away 
 from the Hippodrome brightened and strengthened. They like 
 Mr. Moody ; and so does almost everybody. Hence we would 
 not upon any account have him change himself. We enjoy his 
 rude simplicity and his pell-mell earnestness, his downright in- 
 dividuality, and his uncalculating naturalness. We think deli- 
 cious his " had ought to have done," and his ' ' they come and 
 said ; " his " you was there," and his " Pilate, he was a heathen ; " 
 his " meracles " and his "heavun ; " his " Ja-eye-rus's " daugh- 
 ter, and his " Ca-eye-phas " the high priest. We come to de- 
 sire his frequent " thank Gods," his oft-recurring " but thens ; " 
 his interlocutory ejaculations, and his boxing gesticulations. 
 We love to listen to the stories of his wonderful " little boy," 
 and of his marvellously sharp-witted negroes. We admire his 
 child-like faith, and his unquestioning trust. We are delighted 
 with his quaintness which makes men smile, and his pathos 
 which makes men cry. And we shall not soon forget his incom- 
 parable frankness, his broad undenominationalism, his sledge- 
 hammer gestures, his profuse diction, which stops neither for 
 colons nor for commas ; his trueness, which never becomes 
 conventional ; his naturalness, which never whines ; his abhor- 
 rence of Phariseeism and of ecclesiastical Machiavelism, his 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 615 
 
 mastery of his subject, his glorious self-confidence, his blameless 
 life, and his unswerving fealty to his conscience and to his work." 
 
 A conservative and representative religious paper says : His 
 preaching, unlike that of most of the evangelists we have heard, 
 covers the whole field of doctrinal truth. Never were the fun- 
 damental truths of the inspiration of the Scriptures, the divinity 
 of Christ, regeneration by the Spirit, the vicariousness of the 
 Saviour's death, and an endless retribution, more clearly and 
 earnestly set forth than they have been the past ten weeks in 
 the Hippodrome. Nothing short of being created anew in 
 Christ Jesus, and being made complete in his righteousness, has 
 been the aim of the preaching there heard. 
 
 Of Mr. Sankey also it remarks : The singing, under the ad- 
 mirable lead of Mr. Sankey, undoubtedly contributed much to 
 the inspiration which animated the services, and helped to draw 
 the vast crowds which felt their influence. Every hymn was a 
 gospel message, and the tunes seemed not only to have been 
 made on purpose for the hymns, but the expression given to their 
 spirit, and the articulation given to their words, were scarcely 
 less than perfect. No singing was done in Choctaw. Every 
 word was as audible as though it had been read in plain English. 
 
 Dr. Nathan Bishop, chairman of the executive Committee that 
 provided for the Hippodrome services, is reported to have stated 
 that : To this, as to every great work, there was a prior history 
 of careful preparation. Long before Mr. Moody came to the city 
 a few leading laymen held meetings of prayer for wisdom and 
 guidance, and when the way was opened for the work to be in- 
 troduced a guaranty fund of $25,000 was pledged, and has since 
 been paid. The hearts of the people were ripe for the move- 
 ment, and the results show that those churches most active in 
 co-operation have shared most liberally in the fruits. Five thou- 
 sand converts have been reported, of whom about 2,200 have 
 already found church homes, and the remainder are under the 
 tutelage of the committees of workers, and will soon decide 
 what churches they will join. About $45,000 has been expended, 
 and the Committee think never more wisely and with greater 
 promise of good to the world. Thurlow Weed has said that Mr. 
 
6l6 MOODY AND SANKEY IN AMERICA. 
 
 Moody is the most successful in making his ideas stick in the 
 heart of the people, of any man he has ever heard. So well are 
 the Committee satisfied with the results, that they will be ready 
 to renew their subscriptions when the time comes. 
 
 Add to this the vast sums contributed during the last days 
 of the meeting for the Y. M. C. A., and the continuance of simi- 
 lar labors, and we see the amazing popularity and power of 
 the evangelists. 
 
 Mr. Sankey said : I feel in my heart to-night a sad minor 
 note sounding there, one of sadness and regret that the meet- 
 ings that have been so blessed are so soon, so far as we are 
 concerned, to pass away. This is a sad thought and note in 
 the song of my heart to-night ; yet still there is a louder note, 
 one of a joyful tone, telling me that we shall meet again. I 
 desire to say, before giving way to others, that in all of our 
 work, both in this and other countries, we have never had 
 more hearty, warm and efficient help than we have had in New 
 York in all the departments of this work. My heart goes out 
 this night to each worker here: it goes out to you all. We 
 feel that each one, in whatever secluded place, has done his 
 duty, and my heart goes out to each of you with a hearty "God 
 bless you." I hope we shall not look back on the work here 
 with regret. I hope we shall not hear that it has passed away 
 or that the young converts have fallen away. I can say, and 
 I trust not boastfully, from what we have heard from England, 
 that the young converts there are standing well, and shall it be 
 otherwise in our own country ? I trow not. I believe it will 
 go on from day to day, and scatter off into these various 
 churches and Sunday-schools and Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociations until tens of thousands are raised up to work for God. 
 
 Mr. Moody has had nothing but cheerful, and intelligent 
 cooperation, and he said : 
 
 I want to speak of one thing that has cheered me since com- 
 ing here, beyond measure, and that is the spirit of unity. We 
 have not heard a word about denomination since I have been 
 here. Thanks be to God, we are bound up in one bundle, and 
 the moment we understand each other a little better, we shall 
 
THE WORK OF GRACE IN NEW YORK. 617 
 
 be able to do greater work, and the hosts of hell will not pre- 
 vail against us. 
 
 Every young convert should go into the Church and go to 
 work. I don't care what the denomination is, if the minister 
 only preaches the Gospel. Some of the converts have asked 
 me about going to theatres and balls, etc. I don't carry your 
 consciences. I know that I couldn't do those things. Let 
 Christ be your example. Of all things, don't touch strong 
 drink. That has been the ruin of many young converts. Give 
 up your right hand rather than touch it. You are called to be 
 the sons and daughters of God. Don't disgrace the name. We 
 want to get higher, nearer to God. 
 
 I don't like these farewell meetings. I don't like to say 
 good-bye. But I can say, as I once heard Lucius Hart say, 
 "I'll bid you all good-night and I'll meet you in the morning." 
 May God bless you all ! 
 
 Mr. Moody spoke of the kindly feeling that had existed 
 between the ministers and others engaged in the meetings, and 
 Mr. Sankey sang a farewell hymn to the tune of " Home Sweet 
 Home." 
 
 Immediately upon the close of this farewell exercise, the 
 Hippodrome began to be transformed into a place of amuse- 
 ment. The evangelists sought a few days' retirement, one in 
 Florida, where his wife and sick child had gone, the other at his 
 home in Pennsylvania. But scarcely had the echoes of their 
 voices ceased in New York, before the sturdy preacher makes 
 a tour of the South, beginning at Augusta, Ga., and sweeping 
 northward, where he and Mr. Sankey join once more in a grand 
 campaign in the city of St. Louis. There the eyes and hearts 
 of many will be turned, while uncounted prayers will ascend to 
 God for rich blessings still to follow the heaven- directed labors 
 of the evangelists. 
 
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