The life and work of Dwight Lyman Moody

1

-m

WORK

OF

! I Hill

The Life and Work

of

Dwight Lyman Moody

By the

Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D.

For many years a close colleague of Mr. Moody

With Numerous Illustrations

London
James Nisbet & Co., Limited

21 Berners Street, W.

5

OlMANUOt

I 25b42

PREFACE.

NUMEROUS invitations have come to me recently, to write
concerning the life and work of D. L. Moody, all of which
were declined. I have, however, accepted the invitation of
the publishers of this volume for several reasons.

First. Because they have made it possible for me in so doing
to make a generous contribution to some benevolent or educational
work, which I may select, my hope being that I might in this
way contribute to the work for which Mr. Moody gave his life.

Second. Because very many friends have urged upon me the
propriety of my so doing ; they presented it to me as a call to duty
as well as a privilege, they told me it was a golden opportunity to
speak of his life to many people who might not read the particulars
of it elsewhere, and I was convinced that a subscription book
would reach thousands of homes, which might not otherwise be
influenced. They told me that my work as an evangelist made it
fitting that I should write of him, who was known as the greatest
evangelist of the generation.

Third. I write because I loved him, and I felt that I might
in this way pay tribute to the most consistent Christian man I have
ever known. I am confident that there has not been in these latter
days a man who was more truly filled with the Holy Ghost than he.

In view of all this my contract was made with the publishers,
and it was made before I knew what other books might be written,
but even then I was assured by those who knew that my book had
a field of its own, and could not be considered as in competition
with any other, for I would write from an entirely different standpoint.

(v)

vi PREFACE

This book is sent forth with the prayer that God may make it a
blessing to its readers everywhere. It is my purpose, in using such
facts as I may legitimately claim, to present Mr. Moody, not only in
his early life, and tell the story of his conversion, but to present him
as a public character, as a man of God, as a Prince among evangel
ists, and give to my readers such a view of him as may not be found
in other books. He was a man of great faith in God, and of mighty
power in life and in prayer ; he was a devout student of the Bible, he
was a great preacher, and he moved men as it has been given few men
to do. He reached more people during his lifetime than any other
man, possibly in the world's history. He was, in the judgment of a
distinguished Scotch Christian, the greatest educator of his day.
He had a victorious life, and a triumphant death. It is the purpose
of this book to give a review of all this, in as personal and practical
a way as possible.

Letters have been written me by many of his old friends,
giving me even a better knowledge of him than my more than
twenty years' acquaintance could aftord.

So I write with pleasure, and thanking God that it is my privi
lege. He was the best friend I have ever known, and whether I

o

think of him as a preacher, and a great leader of men, or just as a
humble follower of God, in his home as I frequently saw him, he
was the most thoroughly consecrated man, and the most Christ-like
of any one I have ever known. Among those who rise up to call
him blessed, I thank God I stand.

New York, January, 1900.

N. B. I desire to record my grateful appreciation of assistance rendered me
in preparing this book by Rev. Ford C. Ottman, and other friends.

I • W „ v_^ .

LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS.

CHAPTER. FAGS,

I. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER . 17

Early Acquaintance with Mr. Moody—A Most Profound
Influence — A Master in Moving Men — The Power of God on
His Work — The Last Picture of the Evangelist — Professor
Drummond on Moody.

II. NORTHFIELD 35

Northfield Not a Modern Town — The First Settlers— The
Second Settlement — After the Revolution — The House in
Which Moody was Born — The Character of the Town.

III. MR. MOODY'S EARLY LIFE . . 45

The Death of His Father— Mrs. Moody' s Struggle — Incidents
from Moody's Early Days — His Rudimentary Education — De
parture from Home — Looking for Work.

IV. HIS MOTHER 57

A Picture Never To Be Forgotten — His Mother's Blessing — •
Her Puritan Ancestry — Her Conversion — D. L. Moody's
Tribute to His Mother — Verses She Had Marked.

V= HIS CONVERSION 74

First Acquaintance With Mr. E. D. Kimball— Just Ready for
the Light — Mr. Moody's Probation — Admitted To the Church
—A Changed Life—He Seeks His Future In the West.

VI. SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK 87

Preparation for Future Work — Recruiting For the Church and
For Sunday Schools— The School on "the Sands" -Muscu
lar Christianity — The North Market Mission — President Lin
coln's Visit — Incidents of the Work.

fvii)

viii £757- OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS

PAGB
LHAFTRF,

VII THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION AND

THE CHICAGO AVENUE CHURCH 100

First work with the Young Men's Christian Association —
The Illinois Street Church— Elected President of the Young
Men's Christian Association— Dedication of the New Build
ing—A Great Religious Centre— The North Side Taber
nacle—Development of the Chicago Avenue Church.

VIII. GIVING UP BUSINESS . „ 109

Moody as a Commercial Traveler — "God will Provide" —He
Gives Up Business — His Means Exhausted — Friends Come
with Unsolicited Aid— Marriage— His Wife and Her In
fluence — Mr. Moody' s Family.

IX. MOODY AND SANKEY .... , . 122

Mr. Sankey's First Singing at a Moody Meeting— A Sudden
Proposition — A Street Service— Mr. Sankey Joins Mr.
Moody— The Effect of Mr. Sankey's Singing— A Blessed
Partnership.

X. EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, IRELAND AND

SCOTLAND i39

The Discouraging Outlook — Sunderland — Revival Fire Kin
dled at Newcastle— Edinburgh— The Work in Scotland Con
tinued — The Evangelists go to Ireland— The Return to
England— Various Meetings— The London Revival.

XI. EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES . 158

The Gospel Campaign in Brooklyn— The Campaign in Phila
delphia— The Great Meetings in New York— Glorious Enthu
siasm for the Lord — In Baltimore, 1878.

XII. MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS '75

The Sanitary and Christian Commissions— Mr. Moody'?
Zeal — Experiences from the War— The Revival at Camr
Douglas— Work in the War with Spain— On Sea and Land-
Striking Illustrations — "God Keep Us From War."

XIII. THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD 19°

A Blessed Town — Northfield Dear to Mr. Moody — Mr.
Moody' s Love of Nature — Dr. A. J. Gordon— Rev. F. B.
Meyer at Northfield— A Star In the Midnight Darkness.

LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS ix

CHAPTER. PAGE.

XIV. THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS 203

Marvelous Educational Work — The Beginnings of Northfield
Seminary — Three Great Ends in View — Mt. Hermon — The
Northfield Training School.

XV. THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE AND THE STUDENT

VOLUNTEERS 215

Various Bible Conferences — The Pre-Eminence of Northfield —
The Beginnings and the Growth of the Conference — The
Student Volunteers — Missionary Interest Awakened.

XVI. THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 229

The Need of the Institution — The Practical Nature of the
Work — Touching Requests for Prayer — The Rev. R. A.
Torrey — The Women's Department.

XVII. THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN 245

The First Meeting — How Mr. Moody Vivified the Work —
The Reports of Co-Workers — The Monday Conferences —
Meetings For Children.

SCVHI. THE LAST CAMPAIGN . , 257

Mr. Moody Goes to Kansas City — The Great Convention
Hall — Inspiring Opening Services — The Beginning of the End
— Mr. Moody Breaks Down — Back to Northfield.

XIX. MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST .......... 269

D. L. Moody an Evangelist in the Truest Sense of the
Word — Especially Adapted to His Work — His Dread of
Notoriety — His Views on Sudden Conversion.

XX. HIS BIBLE , , . . 283

A Book More Than Precious to Him — The Advice of Harry
Moorehouse — Mr. Moody's Ideas Concerning the Way to
Use God's Word.

XXI. HIS CO-WORKERS , 289

Ira David Sankey— Paul P. Bliss— Major Whittle— Henry
Varley— John McNeill — George C. Stebbins— Ferdinand
Schiverea— H. M. Wharton— R. A. Torrey— A. C. Dixon—
Henry Drummond— G. Campbell Morgan— George H. Mac-
gregor — F. B. Meyer.

LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS

PAGE.

""xXII. THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS ... 3°7

Characteristics of the Three Sermons— God's Love— The
Excuses of Men— Reaping Whatsoever We Sow.

XXIII. HIS BEST ILLUSTRATIONS 346

The Fervor of His Eloquence—" Let the Lower Lights Be
Burning"— "For Charlie's Sake"— A Penalty Necessary-
Calling on God — One Year's Record.

XXIV. REVIVAL CONVENTIONS -36?

A Typical Convention— What is Evangelistic Service ?— We
Want New Hymns — Apt Replies to Questions.

XXV. HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE 37<*

A Characteristic Bible Reading— Helpful Auxiliaries to Bible
Study— Jesus the Key to the New Testament— The Four
Gospels— Six Things Worth Knowing— Ho. v Christ Dealt
With Sinners.

XXVI. HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS .... 39<>

His View Concerning the Word of God— The Second Coming
of Christ— The Work of the Holy Ghost— A Blessed Experi
ence.

XXVII. THE FUNERAL 4*4

Mr. Moody' s Last Moments— A Triumphant Passing Away-
Funeral Services— Addresses by Dr. Scofieid, Dr. Weston,
Dr. Chapman, Bishop Mallalieu, Mr. Torrey, and others.

XXVIII. ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY LOVED TO SPEAK

AND WHERE HE WAS BURIED 439

Mr. Moody 's Remains Taken to Roundtop— A Place of
Blessing— Koundtop Particularly Identified With Mr. Moody.

XXIX. MEMORIAL SERVICES 456

The Great Meeting in New York — Impressive Addresses-
Estimates of Mr. Moody by Dr. Greer, Mr. John R. Mott,
Mr. Cutting, Dr. Buckley, and Others who Knew and Loved
Him.

LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS xi

CHAPTER. PAGE.

XXX. APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS 485

Testimony to Mr. Moody' s Wonderful Personality — The Opin
ions of Prominent Men who Knew Him and His Work — The
Universal Regard in Which He Was Held.

XXXI. EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER .... 503
Important Tributes from the Secular and Religious Press — All
Men Eager to Admit Mr. Moody' s Greatness — What He
Accomplished for the Betterment of Mankind.

XXXII. THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 517

Personal Characteristics — His Hold Upon His Friends — His
Charming Social Side — His Kindliness, Modesty and Unself
ishness.

xxxin. PP:RSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY .... 53?

By Re\. H. M. Wharton, D.D. An Estimate of Mr. Moody,
based on intimate association with him and long knowledge
of his work.

XXXIV. A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO 546

By Rev. H. M. Wharton, D.D. Mr. Moody as He Appeared
to one of his Prominent Co-Workers during the World's Fait
Campaign.

The Greatness of Mr. Moody

BY HENRY DRUMMOND

WERE one asked what on the human side were the effective
ingredients in Mr. Moody's sermons, one would find the
answer difficult. Probably the foremost is the tremen
dous conviction with which they are uttered. Next to that are
their point and direction. Every blow is straight from the shoulder
and every stroke tells. Whatever canons they violate, whatever
faults the critics may find with their art, their rhetoric, or even
with their theology, as appeals to the people they do their work
with extraordinary power.

If eloquence is measured by its effect upon an audience and
not by its balanced sentences and cumulative periods, then there is
eloquence of the highest order. In sheer persuasiveness, Mr.
Moody's has few equals, and, rugged as his preaching may seem to
some, there is in it a pathos of a quality which few orators have
ever reached, and appealing tenderness which not only wholly
redeems it, but raises it not unseldom almost to sublimity.

In largeness of heart, in breadth of view, in single-eyedness
and humility, in teachableness and self-obliteration, in sheer good
ness and love, none can stand beside him.

(xiii)

The Last of the Great Group

BY NEWELL DWIOHT HILLIS.

WHEN long time hath passed, some historian, recalling the
great epochs and religious teachers of our century, will
say, " There were four men sent forth by God ; their
names Charles Spurgeon, Phillips Brooks, Henry Ward Beecher
and Dwight L. Moody." Each was a herald of good tidings ;
each was a prophet of a new social and religious order. God
girded each of these prophets for his task, and taught him how to
"dip his sword in Heaven."

In characterizing the message of these men we say that Spur
geon was expositional, Phillips Brooks devotional, Henry Ward
Beecher prophetic and philosophical, while Dwight L. Moody
was a herald rather than teacher, addressing himself to the com
mon people — the unchurched multitudes. The symbol of the
great English preacher is a lighted lamp, the symbol of Brooks a
flaming heart, the symbol of Beecher an orchestra of many instru
ments, while Mr. Moody was a trumpet, sounding the advance,
sometimes through inspiration and sometimes through alarm.

The first three were commanders, each over his regiment, and
worked from fixed center, but the evangelist was the leader of a
flying band who went everywhither into the enemy's country, seek
ing conquests of peace and righteousness. Be the reasons what
they may, the common people gladly heard the great evangelist.

(xiv)

Moody as a Prophet.

BY REV. F. B. MEYKR, B. A.

GOD'S best gifts to man are men. He is always sending
forth men. When the time is ripe for a man, God
sends him forth. When for a moment the race seems to be
halting in its true progress, then, probably from the ranks of
the common people, rises he who leads a new advance. " There
came a man sent from God." Yes, God constantly sends men.
But the greatest gift is a prophet.

When New Testament times dawned the touch of the priest
had lost its power forever, but around those times prophets have
gathered — John the Baptist, Savonarola, Luther, Latimer, White-
field, Wesley, Spurgeon, and it is not fulsome flattery which in
cludes the name of Moody.

WHAT is A PROPHET ?

A prophet is one who sees God's truth by a distinct vision ;
who speaks as one upon whose eyeballs has burned the Light
of the Eternal, and, thus speaking, compels the crowd to listen ;
he is one whose strong, elevated character is a witness to the
truth in which he believes and which he declares. These are
the three necessary conditions of a prophet. It matters not in what
diction he speaks, whether in the rough, unpolished tongue of the
people, or in the choice, well-balanced language of the schools.
A man who possesses those three qualities is a prophet, and

has a mission from God. Such a one was Moody.

(xv)

*vi MOODY AS A PROPHET

There were certain traits in the prophets and in John the Bap
tist which we recognize also for the most part in Moody. For in
stance, the prophet generally rises from the ranks of the people.
Again and again from the common people have been supplied the
leaders of men. Those in the upper grades of society, from whom
we should naturally expect the most, would seem very largely to
have worn themselves out with luxury and self-indulgences. His
tory is full of the stories of prophets who came from a lowly stock.
And Moody was the child of humble New England parents. His
father died early, and Moody's boyhood was spent face to face with
privation. He had to fight his way from the ranks of the people.
We have to thank this fact for the strong common sense which dis
tinguished him. Moody had the practical insight to humor which
belong especially to those who toil upon the land. And this man,
with his close relationship to the life of the people, came to be able
to hold ten thousand of them spellbound in the grasp of his power
ful influence.

TAUGHT OF GOD'S SPIRIT

Again, it will generally be found that a prophet is not
learned in the teaching of the schools. John the Baptist received
his college education in the desert, amid the elements of Nature.
These were his great kindergarten, in which his soul was prepared
for its great work. When men go to the conventional colleges they
learn to measure their language with the nicest accurateness.
Was Moody's lack in this and in similar directions a loss to him ?
Nay, he was taught of God's Spirit. He bathed himself in a book,
in that one volume which is in itself a library, the intimate knowl
edge of which is alone sufficient to make men cultured.

There is often a brusqueness about the prophet. We see that
in John the Baptist. He was not a man to be found in king's
courts. Without veneer, brusque, gaunt, strong, he lived and

MOODY AS A PROPHET xvii

labored. Moody partook the same characteristics. It is not
unlikely, however, that he assumed a certain attitude of brusque-
ness because he felt afraid of being made an idol of the people.
Having seen the evils of popularity, he wished to avoid them. To
timid, friendless women, to individual sinners, he was wonderfully
gentle and kind in manner. Amongst his grandchildren, whose
simple playmate he became, he was tenderness itself. The brusque-
ness belonged only to the rind, to the character which had known
deep experiences.

Moody had very distinct experiences. The manner of his
conversion led him to expect immediate decisions in the souls of
others. Under his Sunday school teacher's influence he had been
led on the moment to give himself to Christ, and he looked for
others to do nothing less, nothing more tardy.

His BAPTISM OK THE HOLY GHOST

Again, the prophet has known a touch of fire. Mr. Moody
once told me that a number of poor women in Chicago who heard
him speak said one day, "You are good; but there is something
you have not got ; we are praying that it may come." Later, one
afternoon in New York, he was walking along, when an irresistible
impulse came upon him to be alone. He looked around. Where
could he go? What was to be clone? He remembered a friend
living not far away. So into his house he rushed, and demanded
a room where he could be alone. There he remained several
hours, and there he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
When he returned to Chicago and began to speak, the godly
women who had spoken to him beforetime said, "You have it
now." And the wonderful power which Moody henceforward
exercised over his fellow-men he owed to that touch of fire. It
never left him. People were attracted. What happened when he

xviii MOODY AS A PROPHET

visited England, happened wherever he went. The prophet had
the real ring about him. He dealt with things as they are.

There was genuine greatness of heart in Mr. Moody, and it
constantly triumphed over sect differences. When his mother died
three years ago the Roman Catholics of the neighborhood asked
that they might be pallbearers.

A prophet, of course, has his message. His office is not so
much that of teacher or preacher as of herald. He sounds the
alarm and cries " fire." With Moody it was not repentance because
of hell-fire. The love of God was his proclamation. And how he
could speak about that ! I have seen him break down, as with
trembling voice and tears in his eyes he pleaded with men for the
love of God's sake to be reconciled with Him. A prophet is hum
ble. In this respect Moody was true to the type. He seemed the
one person who did not know there was a Moody. He did not
know half so much about himself as the newspapers told. This is
true greatness.

And now he has gone. My world is very much thinner. A
great tree has fallen. One more throbbing voice is silent.
Spurgeon is gone. Moody is gone. The voices are dying. Listen
to-day to the voice of the Son of God.

REV. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory Chapter

££ T DO not know whether I dare say what I am now about to
speak to you. I asked a brother minister this afternoon,
and he would not take the responsibility, but after thinking
it over I will say it. I believe if Christ had actually lived in the
body of our dear brother and had been subject to the same limita
tions that met him, he would have filled up his life much as D. L.
Moody filled up his, and for that reason I say, after the most care
ful thought, I had rather be D. L. Moody lying dead in his coffin
than to be the greatest man alive in the world to-day/' This
remarkable tribute was paid by Dr. H. G. Weston, of the Crozier
Theological Seminary, Chester, Pa., and when he had finished it,
there was a wave of sympathetic expression and approval which
swept over the entire audience, and his remarkable utterance was
greeted with quiet Amens and suppressed sobs.

I question if this generation has known a man who was more
Christlike than D. L. Moody. That he sometimes made mistakes
his best friends will allow, but that he was ready to undo these mis
takes when they were made, and to make acknowledgment when
that was necessary, all who knew him well will testify.

EARLY ACQUAINTANCE WITH MR. MOODY

I have heard his name since infancy. First of all from my
mother's lips when I was a child. For it was at that time his name
was being spoken with approval by ministers and Christian

(17)

1 8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

workers, and also at that time that the newspapers were making
frequent reference to his increasing usefulness and power.

I am naturally a hero worshipper. There are certain names
that have always stirred me and certain personalities that have
ever been my inspiration. No name, however, has ever been more
sacred among the names of men than that of Moody, and no char
acter has ever so taken hold of my very being, as his.

When first I felt called to preach the Gospel, I determined
there were certain men whom I must hear. In my list of names I
had Henry Ward Beecher, and I shall ever recall with grateful appre
ciation the opportunity of hearing him in the Plymouth Church
when his text was : " Except your righteousness exceed the righ
teousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter
into the kingdom." And when his prayer reminded me of nothing
so much as the running of a mountain stream over the rocks as it
hurried on its way to the sea, I came away feeling that 1 had
had a great privilege, not only in hearing Mr. Beecher preach, but
in being lifted up to Heaven by his prayer.

A MOST PROFOUND INFLUENCE

The second name in importance on my list was that of Dr.
John Hall, and possibly the deepest impression of my life was
made, when he was preaching from the text in I. Timothy iv : 6:
"Thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ." He closed his
sermon by leaning over the pulpit and saying, " I have only one
supreme ambition, and that is that I might close my ministry here
and have you say concerning me, " he was a good minister of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ," and I came away saying that I had had
such an uplift as rarely comes to a young minister.

Written in large letters on my list was the name of Charles
H. Spurgeon, and it has ever been the regret of my ministry that

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I9

before it was given to me to cross the sea, God had called him to
cross over into the better land.

But of all the names written, none stood out so plainly as
that of D. L. Moody. I had somehow made up my mind from
what I had heard of him, and from what the newspapers had printed
of his work, that he was to move me more mightily than any other
man in the world, and I bear glad testimony to the fact that' the
after-years proved my expectation to be true. He exercised the
most profound influence over me from the very first moment I met
him, an influence which only increased with the passing years, and
still abides, although he is in the presence of his God.

AT THE WORLD'S FAIR MEETINGS IN CHICAGO

In the providence of God I was frequently with him in ser
vices ; notably, at the World's Fair Meetings in Chicago, when he
was not only the genial host of the workers with whom he was sur
rounded, but was the leader of a great force of Christian ministers
and laymen, commanding the city for God with as great genius as
ever an officer commanded and led his soldiers against the enemy
on the field of battle.

He invited me to be with him in Pittsburg in 1898, and one
of the most tender memories of my life is that which 1 have ot
him in connection with the meetings held in the Exposition Building.

I saw him in frequent conferences when 1 was pastor in Phila
delphia, when his great heart yearned over the cities in the Fast,
much as did the heart of the Master when looking down upon the
City of his love, he said, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! "

I was with him in the special campaign in New York, when
from early morning till late at night in the Grand Central Palace,
he not only preached himself, but had called to his assistance
workers and friends from many other cities.

2o INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

It was my great privilege to be frequently at Northfield
where Mr. Moody showed not only his great heart, but his great
power as a leader as in no other place in the country, and inti
mately as I knew him, and devotedly as I loved him, I never came
in contact with him that my heart did not beat a little faster and
my pulses throb a little more quickly.

MOODY CONDUCTING MEETINGS

I used to love to watch him in the meetings he conducted.
His eyes were always open to take in the most minute detail of
the services, and things to which other men would be blind he was
ever seeing. 1 frequently almost lost the message he was giving
in my admiration for the messenger. While he was sitting in the
first part of the service, he would make a dive into his pocket, take
out a little piece of paper and write a message to some of his work
ers, put down an illustration or record something which was to be
the seed thought for a future sermon. Sometimes you would
scarcely think he was noticing what was going on, and suddenly he
would be on his feet announcing a hymn, and while he could not
sing himself, yet he was superb in his power to make other people
sing, "Isn't that magnificent" he would say, as voice after voice
took up the great chorus. " Now the galleries sing, that is my
choir up in the gallery, now show the people what you can do ;
now the men, now the women, now altogether," until it would
seem as if greater singing one had never heard in all his life.

He was ever on the alert in every service. I have heard him
many times relate, however, one instance to the contrary, when
George O. Barnes was being greatly used in evangelistic effort.
Mr. Moody had taken him around to several appointments, and
the evening service came so quickly upon them that they did not
have time to eat anything except a hasty lunch which they took

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 2l

somewhere together, the principal article of which Mr. Moody said
was bologna. When Mr. Barnes arose to speak in the evening, the
room was very hot, and Mr. Moody said that that, together with
the lunch he had taken, made him very drowsy; he pinched himself
to keep awake, but at last he fell asleep. Mr. Barnes did every
thing he could to arouse him, and when he had failed he stopped
preaching, and Mr. Moody said, turned to his audience to say,
"This is the first time I have ever seen D. L. Moody defeated, but
the devil and bologna sausage seem to have gotten the best of
him." I have heard him tell it over and over. No one enjoyed a
joke better than himself, even though he might be the subject
of it.

He seemed to know what the people wanted and what
they would take, and the things that other men would turn away
from he would present with great power. I remember a meeting in
Albany, New York, years ago, when short conferences were being
held through the country by Mr. Moody and his co-workers,
when he turned to Dr. Darling, then of Schenectady, now of Auburn
Seminary, and said, " Doctor, tell them the story you told me this
morning ; " and then the distinguished preacher gave an illustration
which he might have thought too simple to use in a crowded assem
blage, but which swayed the great audience.

A MASTER IN MOVING MEN

He was a master in moving men. I can shut my eyes now
and see him, with tears rolling down his face, as he plead with men
to turn to Christ ; sobs breaking his utterance as he told of the
love of God to men and of God's special love to himself. He was
as sincere a man as ever stood on the platform to preach, and it
was for this reason that people of all classes and grades believed in
him, When the New York Dailies came out with great headlines

22 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

saying, "Moody is dead," a Jew in one of the courts turned to a
friend of mine to say, " He was a good man," and when his death
was being discussed in one of the great clubs in the City of New
York, a man who was an infidel said, " I think he was the best
man this generation has known, and if I should ever be a Christian
I should want to be one just like Moody, if I could."

There were times when he was more than eloquent, when
every gesture was a sermon. Who can ever forget his description
of Elijah going up by a whirlwind into heaven. When carried away
by the power of his own emotions, he lifted his hands while his audi
ence seemed to be lifted with him, andraising them higher and higher,
1 can hear him say the words, " Up, up, up, I can see Elijah going,
and I see heaven open to receive him as he rises." The impres
sion on his audience was profound.

A BLESSING To HAVE KNOWN HIM

To have known him at all was a blessing, but to have known
him with any degree of intimacy was one of the rarest privileges
of a minister's life. I would not say that I knew him better than
other men, for hundreds knew him far more intimately and for
a far longer time than I ; but if love, since I have known him, can
make up for the years in which I was not acquainted with him,
then these recent years with their increasing admiration and love
will give me the right to speak and write. Dr. Pierson says concern
ing George Miiller, " A human life filled with the presence and
power of God, is one of God's choicest gifts to His church and to
the world."

"Things which are unseen and eternal seem, to the carnal man,
distant and indistinct, while what is seen and temporal is vivid and
real. Practically, any object in nature that can be seen or felt is
thus more real and actual to most men than the living God. Every

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 23

man who walks with God, and finds Him a present help in every
time of need ; who puts His promises to the practical proof and
verifies them in actual experience ; every believer who with the
key of faith unlocks God's mysteries, and with the key of prayer
unlocks God's treasuries, thus furnishes to the race a demonstra
tion and an illustration of the fact that ' He is a Rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him.'

" DEATH HAS NO TERROR TO ME "

" George Miiller was such an argument and example incarnated
in human flesh. He was a man of like passions as we are, and
tempted in all points like as we are, but who believed God and
was established by believing ; who prayed earnestly that he might
live a life and do a work which should be a convincing proof that
God hears prayer and that it is safe to trust Him at all times ; and
who has furnished just such a witness as he desired Like Enoch,
he truly walked with God, and had abundant testimony borne to
him that he pleased God. And when, on the tenth day of March,
1898, it was told us of George Miiller that 'he was not,' we knew
' God had taken him ;' it seemed more like a translation than
death," the same thing can be said of Mr. Moody. He used to
say, " Sometime you will pick up a paper and will read of D. L.
Moody's death ; don't believe a word of it ; I may be asleep, but I
I shall not be dead ; death has no terror to me," and his words
were a prophecy of his triumphant passing into the presence of
God. The telegram written by Mr. A. P. Fitt, his son-in-law, to Mr.
Louis Klopsch, of the Christian Herald, is a confirmation of this :

"EAST NORTHFIKLD, MASS., Dec. 22.

" Mr. Moody had a triumphant entry into Heaven at noon.
"As early as 8 o'clock, A.M., he said: 'Earth is receding and Heaven is
opening. God is calling me,'

24 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

"He was perfectly conscious to the last, and showed the same courage and
faith, unselfishness and thought for his wife and children and his schools as
always.

" His doctor says it was 'a pure case of heart failure, due to absolute loss of
bodily strength. '

" In leaving us he gave unflinching testimony to the truths he taught.

. A. P. FlTT. "

A WONDERFUL LIFE

His was a wonderful life. In one of Tissot's pictures there is
seen a great multitude of people lame and halt and blind in the
way along which Jesus of Nazareth is to come, and then there is a
view representing him passing, and as he moves along, only those
before Him are sick, while all behind him are well. This was Mr.
Moody's life. All that was behind him felt the touch of his power.
The Chicago Bible Institute has become an object lesson to Chris
tian workers everywhere. Northfield is a center of influence forth
from which streams of blessing flow to the very ends of the earth.
England, Ireland and Scotland have felt the touch of his conse
crated life, and millions of lives the world over thank God that he
ever lived, those who were lame, halt and blind spiritually now leap
and praise God that D. L. Moody ever lived.

His home life, in the testimony of those who knew it best,
was most beautiful. On that memorable day when his body was
lying in the casket in the Congregational Church in Northfield, when
other speakers had paid their tribute to his distinguished father,
Mr. William R. Moody, his eldest son, rose to say : " As a son I
want to say a few words of him as a father. We have heard from
his pastor, his associates and friends, and he was just as true a
father. I don't think he showed up in any way better than when,
on one or two occasions, in dealing with us as children, with his

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 25

impulsive nature, he spoke rather sharply. We have known him
to come to us and say : ' My children, my son, my daughter, I
spoke quickly; I did wrong; I want you to forgive me.' That
was D. L. Moody as a father.

" He was not yearning to go ; he loved his work. Life was
very attractive ; it seems as though on that early morning as he
had one foot upon the threshold it was given him for our sake to
give us a word of comfort. He said : ' This is bliss ; it is like a
trance. If this is death it is beautiful.' And his face lighted up
as he mentioned those whom he saw.

" We could not call him back ; we tried to for a moment, but
we could not. We thank God for his home life, for his true life,
and we thank God that he was our father, and that he led each one
of his children to know Jesus Christ."

A BEAUTIFUL HOME

There was ever a holy atmosphere about this home to me in
the few times I was permitted to pass its portals. Mr. Moody
used to tell a story of a sick child whose father one day came into
his room and to whom the child said, "lift me up," and the father
lifted him gently, and he said, " lift me higher," and he lifted him
yet a little higher; "higher," said the child, faintly, and he lifted
him just as high as his arms could reach, and when he took him
down he was dead. "I believe," said Mr. Moody, "that he lifted
him into the arms of Christ," and then his great kindly face
glowed, and as the tears rolled down his cheeks he said, " I would
rather have my children say that about me than to have a monu
ment of gold that would pierce the clouds," and his home life
clearly bore out the fact that he not only said this in words, but he
put it into every action in his home. His personality was charm
ing ; he was the center of every group everywhere, It was a most

26 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

ordinary thing to see representative men from many parts of the
world in his home, but none were ever so prominent as to dim the
brightness of his greatness, and yet he was as modest as a woman
and as humble as a little child. Who that ever sat about his table
can forget his laugh. It was as hearty a laugh as one has ever
heard. He knew just how to put every man at his best. His
questions always brought forth that which would make a man
appear to the best advantage before his hearers. " Morgan," he
would say, speaking to the Rev. G. Campbell Morgan, " tell that
story about Joseph Parker ;" and then although he might have
heard it before he was the most interested listener ; his eyes would
gleam and his face light up as the inimitable story teller painted
the picture of London's greatest preacher.

THOUGHTFUL OF OTHERS

He was so very thoughtful of other people. The last time I
rode with him to Mt. Hermon, he stopped to talk a few minutes
with the men at the old ferry, asked them about their homes and
spoke a cheering word concerning their work, and said as he drove
on, " I want them to know that I am interested in them."

Driving up from the station at the last students' conference at
Northfield, he stopped every student trudging along with his bag
gage and took the bag into his buggy until it was piled up with
luggage, and the greater the number of men whose burdens he
lifted, the happier he became.

Walking across his lawn one day when his conversation was,
as ever, the evangelizing of the great cities, he turned quickly and
said, " Chapman, how many children have you ?" and when I told
him two, as I had then, he turned quickly about and said " come
with me," and he pointed out to me some white turkeys and some
ducks of a very rare breed and said, " I will send a pair of these

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 27

to the children," and when only a few days had elapsed, sure
enough the turkeys and the ducks came safely to my country
home, and my children took particular delight in feeding and
caring for the ducks and turkeys that came from Mr. Moody's
house.

Driving along the country road with Dr. Wilton Merle Smith,
of New York, when the conversation had been general, he stopped
his horse under the shade of a great tree, and, said Dr. Smith, "he
poured out his soul in such prayer as I have rarely heard."

"I JUST WANTED TO BE WITH You"

I shall ever remember one of his illustrations. He had told
one of his children that he was not to be disturbed in his study, and
after a little while the door of the study opened and the child came
in. "What do you want," said the father, and the little fellow
looking up into his father's face said, " I just wanted to be with
you," and the tears started into the great evangelist's eyes as he said,
" it ought to be like that between us and our God." I can well un
derstand how his little child would want to be with him every minute
of his time, for there are many of us who counted it our special
privilege to be in fellowship with this godly man.

The first time I saw him is a memorable day in my life.
I was a student at Lake Forest University, and he was to
speak in Chicago, I think it was in 1878. Four times he preached
the Gospel that day and 1 was in every service; but the
service of all services was that of the afternoon in old Far-
well Hall ; it was for men only. The place was filled to
overflowing with men ; the singing was superb, so said my friends,
but I lost the power of the music in the .sight of this man of
God of whom I had heard so much. His text was, " Be not de
ceived, God is not mocked ; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he

28 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

also reap." The sermo-n is remembered because, under God, it has
been used to lead so many to Christ. Under the power of it I saw
my own heart, and then I saw the Saviour who was waiting to make
it clean. I halted around with others if only I might have the
chance to touch his hand. Just in front of me went a man who
held Mr. Moody's attention for a little time, and who said to him,
as he afterwards told me, " I am a defaulter, I have taken money
which is not my own, I am a fugitive from justice, what must I
do ? " And Mr. Moody told him he must take the money back,
even though it meant punishment, and he did it ; was sent to the
penitentiary, was pardoned out just before he died of quick con
sumption.

"HE HAS FORGIVEN ME ! "

Before the pardon Mr. Moody made his way across the
country that he might stand in his cell, and as he entered, the young
man sprang to his feet and putting his arms out to Mr. Moody said,
"He has forgiven me, He has forgiven me." His evangelistic life
was filled with just such incidents. In the evening of that great first
day I saw him once again and followed him into the after meeting
where I had the privilege of a moment's conversation. I had been
in doubt for a long time on the subject of assurance. I did not
know certainly whether I was a Christian or not, and Mr. Moody
said, when I asked him to help me, "do you believe this verse?"
and he quoted the Fifth Chapter of John and the 24th verse,
' Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life." I
said, "certainly I believe it." "Are you saved," he said, and I said,
''sometimes I think I am, other times I feel I am not." He put
his hand on my shoulder and said but one sentence, and then he left

INTROD UCTOR Y CHAPTER 2g

me; "young man," said he, "whom are you doubting?" and then
he left me, and it Hashed across my mind in an instant that, in my
lack of assurance, I was doubting Christ ; from that moment to this
I have never doubted.

THE POWER OF GOD ON His WORK

The next impression was in connection with the brief confer
ences held throughout the country when five days were spent in
Albany and Troy, and the meetings were held in the First Re
formed Church of which I afterwards became pastor. I came down
from my country church with many other ministers from different
parts of the State. The great church was crowded ; I was obliged
to stand in the aisle, but 1 forgot all discomfort in the impression
that was made upon me by this mighty man of God. I followed
him from one city to another and then went back to my own church
to preach to my people on the story of the Moody meetings. The
power of God was not only on his work, but was on the very men
tion of it, so that my church officers came together and said that
this work must go on, and more than a hundred people came to
Christ because of it. In the day when rewards are given for ser
vice, I am very sure that my dear friend will share in the glory of
these who came to Christ indirectly through his ministry.

When I became an evangelist his word was always the cheeri
est; I never met him that he did not have some word to say concern
ing the work at large. If ever there was a perplexity in my mind, or
any doubt as to what my course of action should be, in settling any
problem, Mr. Moody was the first to give advice and always the
wisest of all advisers. The last time I saw him was in Boston, in
the days when Admiral Dewey was to be welcomed to the New
England Metropolis. He was there that the people might have the
privilege of hearing Campbell Morgan. I heard him say, "some

3o INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

people think we ought to give the meetings up because of the ex
citement outside, but I believe," he said "that Christ is more attract
ive to the people than anything in all this world." The very morn
ing of the parade when Mr. Morgan was obliged to be away and
other speakers could not delay, some of his friends suggested that
he at least give up this meeting. But he was never easily discour
aged and he positively refused to yield in the least, and he preached
himself with his old time vigor to a great company of people in
Tremont Temple.

THE LAST PICTURE OF THE EVANGELIST

The last picture of him is drawn by the. Hon. John Wana-
maker. He was on his way to Kansas City, and, as Mr. Wanamaker
said, he had turned away from his comfortable home and was
going away into the far West, when he might have had all the rest
of his home and help of his family, only for the joy of preaching
the Gospel. Mr. Wanamaker met him at one of the railroad
stations. It just so happened at this time that he was alone ; he
purchased his own ticket, checked his baggage, then said, "we will
have a little time now together," and they sat down in another rail
way station when Mr. Moody poured out his heart to his old friend
concerning some of the interests that were dear to him, and then
as they parted he said, with his face flushed and his eyes rilled
with tears, " if I could only get hold of one more Eastern city I
should be grateful to God." These two friends said good-bye, the
one to go into all the comforts of the presence of his loved ones,
and the other to hurry away across the country that he might hold
his last service, preach his last sermon, and then go from the very
thick of the fight into the presence of his God.

D. L. Moody is dead. Men say it with sobs, and the old
world seems lonely without him, but D. L. Moody is in heaven, we

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 3I

say it with thanksgiving, and we can just imagine the joy which
rang through all the arches of the heavenly land when he entered
in through the gates into the city. So is it strange that many can
say the words of Dr. Weston with which this chapter began, " I
would rather be D. L. Moody lying dead in his coffin than to be
the greatest man alive in the world to-day."

PROFESSOR DRUMMOND ON MOODY

In his day no one was closer to Mr. Moody, than Prof. Drum-
mond, and a few years ago he said this of his friend : " Whether
estimated by the moral qualities which go to the making up of a
personal character, or the extent to which he has impressed these
upon communities of men on both sides of the Atlantic, there is,
perhaps, no more truly great man living than D. L. Moody. By
moral influences in this connection, I mean the influence which,
with whatever doctrinal accompaniment, leads men to better lives
and higher ideals. I have never heard Mr. Moody defend any
particular church. I have never heard him quoted as a theologian.
But I know of large numbers of men and women of all churches
and creeds, of many countries and ranks, from the poorest to the
richest, and from the most ignorant to the most wise, upon whom
he has placed an ineffaceable moral mark."

CHAPTER II.

Northfield

IT is pleasant to think that the privilege should have been given
to Mr. Moody of absorbing his earlier training and of associat
ing his later work with so charming a place naturally as Northfield.
God's children are not denied the fair, the beautiful things of
Nature. It is just like our Heavenly Father to give the best to
one who walked so close to Him as did this dear friend.

Those of us who knew Mr. Moody well remember how he
loved beautiful things. The song of the brook was music to his
soul ; the coming of the leaves and flowers of spring was a parable ;
and his own dear Northfield was beloved by him to the end. He
was perfectly happy when driving about through the beauties of
the surrounding country.

In view of his love for Nature, and the unusual beauty of his
early environment, it is, perhaps, not surprising that the first
doubts to assail the faith of the boy Moody, after his conversion,
were pantheistic. He himself has related how a pantheist
approached him and told him of God as Nature, and how it troubled
him. But his doubts resolved themselves into a firmer belief in
Nature, not as Gocl, but as God's handiwork.

NORTHFIELD is NOT A MODERN TOWN

Its elms whisper a long story of days when men who sought
to worship Gocl in freedom of conscience martyred themselves by
denial of the comforts of their homes in the old world and faced

3

(35)

36 NORTHFIELD

the terrors of bitter want and of crafty savage foes in the wilder
nesses of New England.

Long before this particular spot in the valley of the Connecticut
was occupied by the white man, large tribes of Indians dwelt there,
living upon the fruits of a generous lowland soil and the trophies
of the chase

The streams abounded in shad and salmon. The plenty of
fish gave the place its Indian name, Squakheag, which signifies, in
the Indian tongue, a place for spearing salmon. Wigwams clustered
on nearly every knoll and bluff, and along the banks of the river
ran the narrow trail of the aborigines.

A little way back from either side the river, and following its
windings, extends a range of hills. Brush Mountain, one of these
hills, was regarded by the Indians with a superstitious veneration,
as the abode of their Great Spirit. Did not his breath come forth
every spring, from a cleft in the rock, and melt the snow ? To-day
the traveler who climbs Brush Mountain will be shown an opening
whence comes a blast of air, warm enough in the winter to keep
the snow from accumulating in the immediate vicinity. *

THE FIRST SETTLERS

In 1669 a small party of whites, following the trail along the
Connecticut northward from Northampton, came upon the lands
of the Squakheags. The natives had suffered severely a few years
before from the raid of a large party of Mohawks, who had come
from the West, laying waste their fields and destroying their
villages. To the eyes of the white men the land seemed very fair.
About Northampton the tillable soil had been quite completely
taken up, and the Squakheag region seemed to offer a good situa
tion for a new settlement. As the Indians were not unwilling to
part with their lands, a petition was made to the General Court of

NORTHFIELD

Massachusetts by thirty-three settlers, for permission to purchase
the; land from the Indians. The permission was granted on the
condition that not less than twenty families should settle there
within eighteen months after the first move.

The settlers took up the land in 1673, and for two years lived
,in amicable relations with their Indian neighbors. Then, when
King Philip's war broke out, the Squakheags were moved by the
rude eloquence of the chief's emissaries to take part in the uprising.
One morning they attacked the whites in the fields, killing many,
and driving those who remained to seek refuge within the stockade.
The position of the sixteen families in the fort was perilous. A
relief expedition from Decrfield was ambushed while on the way,
and lied home with great loss. Another company succeeded in
reaching Northfield and rescuing the beleaguered ones, who left
the settlement and returned to their former homes.

THE SECOND SETTLEMENT

Not for seven years did the proprietors of the land take steps
towards its re-occupation. Then about twenty families returned.
Houses were built along a main street, and wen; protected by two
forts. In 1688 eleven Indians, sent on the warpath by the French
in Canada, murdered six persons in Northfield, and so alarmed
the rest that more than one-half left the settlement. This so weak
ened the town that it was abandoned by those who remained.

The final settlement was made in 1713, and Northfield now
prospered, although in 1723 it was again exposed to attacks from
savages, who had been incited to make depredations upon the New
England villages by the French Governor of Canada. It is said that
men were then able to harvest their crops only in armed parties of
forty or more. A fort was built a few miles up the river, and a

3S NORTH FIELD

cannon was placed there, that its voice: might give warning of the
approaching enemy. Peace came after the death of the Governor of
Canada.

The existence of the hamlet continued for a long time precari
ous, for it was an outpost among the settlements, and therefore
especially exposed to danger from the savages. During the French
and Indian War Northfield was in constant terror. Thereafter such
dangers gradually disappeared, and time was given to develop the
naturnl resources of the place. Northfield sent her quota to take
part in the War of the Revolution, nor did she hesitate to assert
the principles of liberty, even to the extent of forcing her parson,
against his first desire, to omit from his prayer the usual petition
for blessing on " his majesty," the King of Great Britian.

AFTKK TIIK RKVOI.UTION

After the war the town rapidly acquired a certain culture. A
hotel building, erected in 1798, was purchased by a company of citi
zens in 1829, and made into an academy which did honorable service
for education during many years. About this same time the town
was deeply affected by the wave of Unitarianism, which was then
spreading throughout New Kngland. Schisms arose in the village
church, and a new parish was formed.

Northfield lies where three States meet — Massachusetts, New
Hampshire and Vermont. Just south of the Massachusetts State
line is the village, scattered for the most part along the main
street, two miles long and 160 feet wide, on the east side of the
river. On either, side of the street is a double row of elms and
maples, which have grown old with the village until they bend their
lofty heads over the quiet roadway like the nodding guardians of
some useless post. Savage, neighbors are no longer near to enforce
.in alert sentinelship.

NORTH FIELD 4I

Several roads cross this avenue, and all lead to scenes purely
pastoral. Flanking the main street are dwellings, for the most
part set well back among their lawns and fragrant gardens. These
homes were built to last. They seem as substantial to-day as when
they were built, although many of them are very old. The house
occupied by Mr. William Alexander, for instance, has been in the
hands of his family for one hundred and fifteen years. The
present-day tendency to flock to the large cities has somewhat
affected the younger generation of Northfield's old families, but the
elms and the old houses are still there to perpetuate the atmosphere
of old New England days, and better than all this the town has
been so sanctified by the labors of her own best-known son that
she will be remembered as the home of good works long after
pompous cities have crumbled.

His BIRTHPLACE

Mr. Moocly's birthplace is a plain, small farm-house, which still
stands on the hillside. It looks upon one of the country roads,
which winds up from the main street in an easterly direction. The
building is two stories high, with green blinds, and is protected
from the sun by stately trees. There is one tree, of especial
majesty, under which Mr. Moody is said to have planned some of
his greatest sermons.

<H>

The home in which Mr. Moody and his family were domiciled
after his work had so broadened as to make necessary a larger
house than the homestead, stands near the north end of the town,
and is not far from his mother's house. It was purchased for
about $3,000. A plain, roomy building it is. From time to time,
as the requirements came up, Mr. Moody had additions built to
the house, until it spread out its arms with a suggestion of
hospitality most inviting to the visitor. The building fronts upon

.\ -•

42 NORTHFIELD

the main street. Mr. Moocly's study is on the first floor, only a
few steps within from the entrance. The atmosphere of the house,
with its simple but substantial furniture, suggests the home of a
man who desires to shape his environment to make it suit his

work.

THE CONCEPTION OF NORTHFIELD SEMINARY

When Mr. Moody returned to Northfield after his evangel
istic tour of Great Britain, he went home to Northfield to rest.
With his eyes sharpened by travel, and with his usual alert observ
ance of the needs of those about him, he conceived a plan of
making possible education for girls who were born to the unstimu-
lating routine of farm life. The germ of Northfield Seminary lay
in this conception. In 1878 Mr. Moody purchased the first sixteen
acres of land toward the two hundred and seventy acres which are
now owned by the Seminary. Mr. H. N. F. Marshall, of Boston,
was a guest of Mr. Moody at that time, and the decision to pur
chase the land was arrived at with the advantage of his advice.
As he and Mr. Moody came to a decision, the owner of the land
walked up the street. They invited him in, asked his price for the
sixteen acres, paid the money, and had the papers made out before
the owner had time to recover from his surprise.

Work was .begun on the building the following year. It was
intended to establish this school as a high-class seminary for girls.
When it was opened in 1879, twenty-five pupils entered. At first
they studied and recited at Mr. Moody's home, the first dormitory
not being opened until 1880. Bonar Hall, the second dormitory,
was burned a few years later, but Marquand Hall was opened in
1885. Other buildings have followed. At present the school
possesses seven dormitories, a library, a gymnasium, a recitation
hall and an auditorium.

NORTH FIELD 43

The buildings have been erected with a view to artistic effect as
well as adequate accomodations, and add much to the beauty of
the situation. From the slopes of the school grounds, one looks
up the river valley to the distant green hills of Vermont and New
Hampshire, while the placid river meanders through fertile fields
which show rich with the fruits of the farm. Well built roads
wind through the grounds; shade trees and groups of shrubbery
have been set out. Moreover, the land yields practical returns as
a farm under the supervision of Mr. Moody's brother. Six horses
and fifty head of cattle belong to this school farm, and from ten to
fourteen men are constantly employed. The school now numbers
about four hundred pupils, its graduates being admitted to Welles-
ley, Smith and other high-grade institutions.

THE MT. HERMON SCHOOL FOR BOYS

When Mr. Moody was conducting his earliest mission work in
Chicago, he laid close to his heart a plan to provide some day a
school where boys could secure training in the elementary branches
and the Bible, With this still in mind he purchased, in 1880, two
farms of 115 acres each, with two farm-houses and barns. They
were situated on what was known as Grass Hill, four miles from
Northfield Seminary, and in the town of Gill. This school was in
corporated as the Mt. Hermon School for Boys. The present build
ings include five brick cottages, a large recitation hall, a dining hall
and kitchen, Crossley Hall and Silliman Science Hall. This school
now numbers about 400 students, and here, as at the Seminary the
industrial system is a prominent feature, but at Mt. Hermon nearly
all of the work of the farm and house is done by the boys.

The auditorium of the Northfield Seminary was built in 1894
and was planned by Mr. Moody for the use of the summer confer
ences. It seats nearly 3,000 persons. A grove of white birches

H4 NORTH FIELD

on a hillside back of the Seminary becomes, during the summer
meetings "Camp Northfield ", where young men spend their sum
mer outing periods.

Henry Drummond describes somewhere his first astonishment
at finding this little New England hamlet with a dozen of the finest
educational buildings in America, and of his surprise when he
stopped to think that all these buildings owed their existence to a
man whose name is perhaps associated in the minds of three-fourths
of his countrymen, not with education, but with the want of it.

THE CHARACTER UK THE TOWN

The eastern part of the town has of late years become known
as East Northfield, and has its separate Post Office and stores.
New streets have been laid out and new houses have been built.
Northfield, in fact, is coming to be known as a summer resort, but
not of the usual type. Frivolous recreation gives way there to
sane occupation and wholesome exercise. Intemperance, the use
of tobacco, card playing and dancing have no place there ; but the
heart of nature is opened to those, who, with minds bent upon the
best things, seek her reverently.

Northfield then is both a typical New England town and the
result of the individual impression of one man's life. All that is
best in American culture is there epitomized, and the elms and the
hazy hills and the homes of by-gone generations are witnesses of
the regenerating inlluences which can be brought into play through
the devotion and singleness of purpose of one man.

CHAPTER III

His Early Life

D WIGHT LYMAN MOODY was born in the town ot
Northfield, Mass., February 5, 1837. He was the sixth of
seven sons who, with two daughters, made up the family
of Edwin and Betsy Holton Moody. The father had acquired a
little farmhouse and a few acres of stony ground on a hillside just
without the limits of the town, but the whole was encumbered by
mortgage. Mr. Moody worked as a stonemason when the oppor
tunity was afforded, using his leisure time to till his farm. The
burden of his responsibilities proved too heavy; reverses crushed his
spirit ; and, after an illness of only a few hours, he died suddenly
at the age of forty-one years, when Dwight was only four years
old, leaving a large family unprovided for.

A SUDDEN" UPHEAVAL OF THE FAMILY

Young as he was, the picture impressed on the boy's mind by
this sudden upheaval of the household, consequent upon his father's
death, remained vivid. He did not forget the desperate feeling
.which must have seized the family in that crisis ; nor did he ever
forget the wonderful fortitude with which his mother met the situa
tion. Only a month after the death of the father two posthumous
children were born— a boy and a girl. Neighbors advised Mrs.
Moody not to attempt to face the harsh conditions now confronting
her. " Keep your twin babies, but bind out your other children,"
they urcred, " It will be so long before they can be of any real

(45)

46 HIS EARL Y LIFE

service to you that their maintenance just now will be a greater
burden than you should assume."

But Mrs. Moody was not the woman to be daunted by circum
stances. The idea of separating from her children was not enter
tained. She took upon herself the task of snatching some tribute
money from an unwilling soil, and of bringing up her children to
wholesome manhood and womanhood — how well she succeeded is
shown by the results.

ONE CALAMITY AFTER ANOTHER

One incident of this early period proved a severe blow to the
bereaved family. The oldest son, upon whom the mother was
planning to place considerable dependence, ran away from home.
Mr. Moody in later years related this incident and its sequel in
the following words :

" I can give you a little experience of my own family. Before
I was four years old the first thing I remember was the death of
my father. He had been unfortunate in business and failed. Soon
after his death the creditors came in and took everything. My
mother was left with a large family of children. One calamity
after another swept over the entire household. Twins were added
to the family, and my mother was taken sick. The eldest boy was
fifteen years of n.ge, and to him my mother looked as a stay in her
calamity, but all at once that boy became a wanderer. He had
been reading some of the trashy novels and the belief had seized
him that he hud only to go away to make a fortune. Away he went.
I can remember how eagerly she used to look for tidings of that
boy ; how she used to send us to the postoffice to see if there was
a letter from him, and recollect how we used to come back with the
sad news, ' No letter.' I remember how in the evenings we used
to sit beside her in that New England home, and we would talk

HIS EARLY LIFE 47

about our father ; but the moment the name of that boy was men
tioned she would hush us into silence. Some nights when the wind
was very high, and the house, which was upon a hill, would tremble
at every gust, the voice of my mother was raised in prayer for that
wanderer who had treated her so unkindly. I used to think she
loved him more than all of us put together, and I believe she did.
On a Thanksgiving day — you know that is a family day in New
England— she used to set a chair for him, thinking he would return
home.

His BROTHER HOME AGAIN

"Her family grew up and her boys left home. When I got
so that I could write, I sent letters all over the country, but could
find no trace of him. One day, while in Boston, the news reached
me that he had returned. While in that city, I remember how I
used to look for him in every store — he had a mark on his face-
but I never got any trace. One clay while my mother was sitting
at the door, a stranger was seen coming toward the house, and

o o

when he came to the door he stopped. My mother didn't know
her boy. He stood there with folded arms and great beard flowing
down his breast, his tears trickling down his face. When my
mother saw those tears she cried, ' Oh, it is my lost son,' and en
treated him to come in. But he stood still. ' No, mother,' he said,
' I will not come in until I hear first that you have forgiven me/
Do you believe she was not willing to forgive him ? Do you think
she was likely to keep him standing there. She rushed to the'
threshold, threw her arms around him and breathed forgiveness."

The Moody family were Unitarians. Dwight had the early
advantages of Christian training, attending, as soon as he was old
enough, the church in the village, where the Rev. Mr. Everett was
pastor. In his interest in the efforts of Mrs. Moody to earn a
livelihood for her large family, Mr. Everett once took Dwight into

48 HIS EARL Y LIFE

his family for a time, in order that he might attend school, making
return for this privilege by running errands and doing chores.
It may seem strange that a Unitarian training should have fostered
a temperament which afterward became, in its expression, so
purely evangelical. By way of explanation, it is said, that Mr.
Everett was not one of those who questioned the divinity of our
Saviour. Unorthodoxy had not as yet affected this church. The
Bible as the Word of God, Jesus as the Son of God, the Church
and its Sacraments — these were accepted beliefs of this country
pastor.

Dwight also had the benefits of religious training in the home.
Mrs. Moody early taught her children to learn passages of Scrip
ture and verses of hymns. These she would recite at her frugal
table, and the children would repeat them after her.

INCIDENTS FROM MUODV'S EARLY DAYS

When Dwight was about six years old, an old rail fence one
day fell upon him. He could not lift the heavy rails. Exhausted
by his efforts, he had almost given up. " Then," as he afterward told
the story, " I happened to think that maybe God would help me,
and so I asked Him ; and after that I could lift the rails,"

Another incident, which Mr. Moody has related, seems to
have made so profound an impression upon his youthful mind that
its influence in preparing his heart for the Gospel message cannot
have been slight. He himself has related the story in these words :

"When I was a young boy — before I was a Christian — I was in
a field one day with a man who was hoeing. He was weeping, and
he told me a strange story, which I have never forgotten. When
he left home his mother gave him this text : ' Seek first the
kingdom of God.' But he paid no heed to it. He said when he
got settled in life, and his ambition to get money was gratified, it

DWIGHT L. MOODY, from a photograph taken in Koston justafte
he left home to make his way in the world. Photographed from a pictur
hanging in the house of Mrs. Fitt, Mr. Moody's only daughter.

HIS EARL Y LIFE 5 T

would be time enough then to seek the kingdom of God. He went
from one village to another and got nothing to do. When Sunday
came he went into a village church, and what was his great surprise
to hear the minister give out the text, ' Seek first the kingdom of
God.' He said the text went down to the bottom of his heart. He
thought it was but his mother's prayer following him, and that
some one must have written to that minister about him. He felt
very uncomfortable, and when the meeting was over he could not
get that sermon out of his mind.

AGAIN ' SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD '

"He went away from that town, and at the end of a week went
into another church, and he heard the minister give out the
same text, ' Seek first the kingdom of God.' He felt sure
this time that it was the prayers of his mother, but he said
calmly and deliberately, ' No, I will first get wealthy.' He paid
he went on and did not go into a church for a few months,
but the first place of worship he went into he heard a minister
preaching a sermon from the same text. He tried to drown — to
stifle his feelings ; tried to get the sermon out of his mind, and resolved
that he would keep away from church altogether, and for a few
years he did keep out of God's house. ' My mother died,' he said,
' and the text kept coining up in my mind, and I said I will try and
become a Christian.' The tears rolled down his cheeks, as he said,
' I could not ; no sermon ever touched me ; my heart is as hard as
that stone,' pointing to one in the field. I couldn't understand what
it was all about — it was fresh to me then. I went to Boston and
got converted, and the first thought that came to me was about
this man. When I got back I asked mother, ' Is Mr. L- - living

in such a place?' ' Didn't I write to you about him ?' she asked.

'They have taken him to an insane; asylum, and to every one who

$-* HIS EARLy LIFE

goes there he points with his finder up there and tells them to seek
iirst the kingdom of God.' There was that man with his eyes dull
with the loss of reason, but the text had sunk into his soul — it had
burned down deep. O, may the Spirit of God burn the text into
your hearts to-night, When I got home again my mother told me
he was in his house, and I went to see him. I found him in a rock
ing chair, with that vacant, idiotic look upon him. As soon as he
saw me, he pointed at me and said : ' Young man, seek first the
kingdom of God.' Reason was gone but the text was there1.. Last
month, when I was laying my brother down in his grave, I could
not help thinking of that poor man who was lying so near him, and
wishing that the prayer of his mother had been heard, and that he
had found the kingdom of God."

It is doubtful, however, if young Moody had experienced any
real religious feeling up to the time of his conversion in Boston.
He was a boy like other boys — unlike the majority, too, in his
imperious will, his indifference to obstacles, his boundless energy.
He was as fond of mischief as the average boy. The influences of
a farm-boy's life, tempered though they were by the forceful direc
tion of a devoted mother, were not calculated to cultivate in him a
taste for the finer things of life. His passionate outbursts of
temper are still remembered by those who early came into contact
with him. His profanity is a matter of his own record. Still, he
was doubtless in this regard merely a type of his environment.
The notable thing about the boy was his force ; he bore in his
endowment great possibilities for good or ill.

His EARLY EDUCATION

Perhaps only twelve terms at the district school constituted
Dwight's early education. A smattering of "the three R's," a
iittle geography, and the practice of declamation made up the sum

HIS EARL Y LIFE 53

of his learning. The truth of the matter seems to be that he did
not study faithfully. It was only during his last term that he began
to apply himself with diligence, too late to make up for what he
had lost. His reading is described as outlandish beyond descrip
tion. With his characteristic tendency to jump directly to the
heart of a question, he never stopped to spell out an unfamiliar
word, but mouthed his sense of it without full dependence upon
his training, or made up a new word which sounded to his ear as
suitable as the original.

Of his experiences as a schoolboy Mr. Moody has given the
following in his sermon on " Law versus Grace :"

" THE LAW PARTY AND THE GRACE PARTY"

" At the school 1 used to go to when I was a boy, we had a
teacher who believed in governing by law. He used to keep a rat
tan in his desk, and my back tingles now [shrugging his shoulders]
as I think of it. But after a while the notion got abroad among
the people that a school might be governed by love, and the dis
trict was divided into what I might call the law party, and the
grace party ; the law party standing by the old schoolmaster, with
his rattan, and the grace party wanting a teacher who could get
along without punishing so much.

"After a while the grace party got the upper hand, turned out
the; old master, and hired a young lady to take his place. We all
understood that there was to be no rattan that winter, and we
looked forward to having the jolliest kind of a time. On the first
morning the new teacher, whom I will call Miss Grace, opened the
school with reading out of the Bible and prayer. That was a new
thing and we didn't quite know what to make of it. She told us
she didn't mean to keep order by punishment, but she hoped we
would all be good children, for her sake as well as our own. This

54 HIS EARL Y LIFE

made us a little ashamed of the mischief we had meant to do, and
everything went on pretty well for a few days ; but pretty soon I
broke one of the rules, and Miss Grace said I was to stop that
night after school. Now for the old rattan, said I to myself ; it's
coming now after all. But when the scholars were all gone she
came and sat down by me, and told me how sorry she was that 1
who was one of the biggest boys, and might help her so much, was
setting such a bad example to others, and making it so hard for
her to get along with them. She said she loved us, and wanted to
help us, and if we loved her we would obey her, and then every
thing would go on well. There were tears in her eyes as she said
this, and I didn't know what to make of it, for no teacher had ever
talked that way to me before. I began to feel ashamed of myself
for being so mean to any one who was so kind ; and after that she
didn't have any more trouble with me, nor with any of the other
scholars either. She just took us out from under the Law and put

us under Grace."

DEPARTURE FROM HOME

The circumstances which led up to the departure of young
Moody from home have been variously stated. He had come to
the age of seventeen. In those days a boy of seventeen was sup
posed to be ready to enter upon the serious business of life. New
ambitions were arising in Dwight's heart. Mr. Edward Kimball,
who afterwards led the boy to the Lord, is perhaps as well informed
of the circumstances of his life in Boston as any man now living.
He gave the facts as he was familiar with them at the time of, Mr.
Moody's death.

" To tell the story correctly," said Mr. Kimball, " I must go
back to Thanksgiving day forty-five years ago. A Thanksgiving
family dinner party was assembled at the Moody home, which was
on a farm a mile and a half from Northfield, Mass. At the table,

7/75 EARL Y LIFE

55

among others, were Samuel and Lemuel Holton, of Boston, two
uncles of the Moody children. Without any preliminary warning
young Dwight, a boy of about seventeen, spoke up and said to his
uncle Samuel : " Uncle, I want to come to Boston and have a
place in your shoe store. Will you take me ?" Despite the
directness of the question, the uncle returned to Boston without
giving his nephew an answer. When Mr. Holton asked advice in
the matter from an older brother of Dwight, the brother told his
uncle that perhaps he had better not take the boy, for in a short
time Dwight would want to run his store.

YOUNG MOODY LOOKING FOR A JOB

" Dwight was a headstrong young fellow who would not study
at school, and who was much fonder of a practical joke than he
was of his books. His expressed desire to go to Boston and get
work was not a jest that the boy forgot the day after Thanksgiving.
The two uncles were surprised when one day in the following
spring Dwight turned up in Boston looking for a job. His uncle
Samuel did not offer him a place. Dwight, when asked how he
thought he could get a start, said he wanted work and he guessed
he could find a position. After days of efforts, and meeting nothing
but failures the boy grew discouraged with Boston, and told his
uncle Lemuel he was going to New York. The uncle strongly
advised Dwight not to go, but to speak to his uncle Samuel again
about the matter. The boy demurred, saying his uncle Samuel knew (
perfectly well what he wanted. But the uncle insisted so that a
second time the boy asked his uncle Samuel for a place in his store.

" ' Dwight, I am afraid if you come in here you will want to
run the store yourself,' said Mr. Holton. ' Now, my men here
want to do their work as I want it done. If you want to come in
here and do the best you can, and do it right, and if you'll ask me

56 HIS EARLY LIFE

when you don't know how to do anything, or if I am not here, ask
the bookkeeper, and if he's not here one of the salesmen or one of
the boys, and if you are willing to go to church and Sunday school
when you are able to go anywhere on Sundays, and if you are
willing not to go anywhere at night or any other time which you
would not want me or your mother to know about, why, then, if
you'll promise all these things, you may come and take hold, and
we'll see how we can get along. You can have till Monday to
think it over.'

"'I don't want till Monday,' said Dwight ; I'll promise now.'
And young Moody began to work in his uncle's shoe store.

" A remark the boy's uncle made to me afterward will give an
idea of the young man's lack of education at this time. The uncle
said that when Dwight read his Bible out loud he couldn't make

o

anything more out of it than he could out of the chattering of a
lot of blackbirds. Many of the words were so far beyond the boy
that he left them out entirely when he read, and the majority of the
others he mangled fearfully."

CHAPTER IV

His Mother

DEVOTION to his mother was a duty and a privilege second
only to devotion to his God, in the mind of Mr. Moody.
When at home in Northneld, he never failed to look in
upon his mother in her cottage early every morning, to give her a
hearty greeting, and to see that she was provided with every com
fort and many luxuries.

When away, no matter how many times a day he preached,
nor how many informal meetings he personally conducted, a letter
was posted to his mother at frequent intervals in which she was
told at length of the success of the meetings.

G> O

A PICTURE NEVER TO P.E FORGOTTEN

During the last years of her life, when failing health prevented
her from attending public worship, the devoted son never forgot
the ao;ed mother, and he often arranged for her to hear the noted

o £>

speakers and singers of the conferences.

There is one picture associated with Northfielcl I can never for
get. It had to do with one of the summer conferences. Some one
had been asking about Mr. Moody's mother, and he had spoken to
a few of those who gathered about him and said, " We might have
a little service just at her house on the lawn, for she is not able to
be out : ' and so a number of distinguished Christian workers

' O

gathered just outside her window, sang the hymn she loved, prayed
God's special blessing upon her and her distinguished son, and then

(57)

58 HIS MOTHER

one after the other spoke some word of appreciation of their visit
to Northfield. I was standing just by Mr. Moody's side, and I
heard him say to one of his friends, " I always thought she had
such a beautiful face," and as he looked at her the tears started in
his own eyes, rolled down his cheeks, and he said with much emotion
to a distinguished English Christian standing by his side, " I think
she has been the best mother in the world."

His MOTHER'S BLESSING

Once again when many young men were gathered from all
over the eastern part of our country in the World's Students'
Conference, Mr. Moody said :

" You know my mother is an old lady. She is too feeble to
attend these meetings. She is deeply interested in this work, and
she has prayed earnestly for its success. I want her to hear some
of you speak and sing. We are going up the mountain this after
noon to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Meet me at my
house at three o'clock. We will have a little service there, and
then I want you to go on to my mother's home, and I want some of
you to speak, and we will all sing.

" I want you to receive my mother's blessing before we go to
the mountains to pray, for next to the blessing of God I place that
of my mother."

The three hundred anxious pilgrims who gathered on Mr.
Moody's spacious lawn that afternoon, and who, after a brief service
of song and prayer, journeyed on to the mother's cottage and later
to the mountain top, presented a picture never to be forgotten
by the members of that company.

Much that is here written is his own words concerning her.
" I have an old mother away down in the Connecticut Moun
tains," Mr. Moody used to say, " and I have been in the habit o/

6i

going to see her every year for twenty years. Suppose I go there
and say, ' Mother, you were very kind to me when I was young-
yon were very good to me ; when father died you worked hard for
us all to keep us together, and so I have come to see you,
because it is my duty.' Then she would say to me, ' Well, my son,
if you only come to see me, because it is your duty, you need not
come again.' And that is the way with a great many servants of
God. They work for Him, because it is their duty — not for love.
Let us abolish this word duty, and feel that it is only a privilege to
work for God, and let us try to remember that what is clone merely
from a sense of duty is not acceptable to God."

And so it was. Year after year, in the very heat of those
spiritual campaigns which brought him prominently before the peo
ple of the two continents, Mr. Moody would slip away regularly to
the spot where, amid the serene surroundings of the Northfield
hills, his mother sat with her thoughts upon him and his work,
praising God who had permitted her boy to become the instrument

of so much blessing.

HER PURITAN ANCESTRY

Betsey Holton, the mother of Dwight L. Moody, was a descend
ant in the fifth generation of William Holton, one of the first settlers
of Northfield. In fact, this ancestor was one of that committee of
the General Council of Massachusetts which laid out the plantation
of Northfield, after it had been purchased from the Indians in 1673.
The marriage of Betsey Holton to Edwin Moody united two strains
of old Puritan blood. Doubtless this lineage accounts in no slight
degree for the restless energy and dogged earnestness of the son,
Dwight.

" I always thought that Dwight would be one thing or the other,"
the dear old woman once remarked. Where others had failed to
see, she had early recognized the hardiness of the boy's character,

62 ffIS MOTHER

—a hardiness which she must have seen through its very kinship
with her own. For her schooling had not been easy. Left a widow
with nine children, a small house, and an acre or so of heavily
mortgaged land, she had taken upon her womanly shoulders the
full responsibility of bringing up her family. Tilling the ground,
and doing odd jobs for the neighbors, she continued to scrape
too-ether enough to keep her children fed and clothed, although

^ o

the margin between plenty and want was frequently so slim as to
bar out comfort. There were times when no food seemed forthcom
ing ; but a Providence whose care extends even to the sparrows did
not permit the burden to become too heavy for this widowed mother,
although her resources were often taxed to the utmost.

o

YOUNG MOODY AT THE VILLAGE SCHOOL

Every day she taught the children a little Bible lesson, and on
Sundays accompanied them to the Unitarian Sunday school. They
were sent, too, to the village school. Dwight was as loth as the
average young boy to endure the discipline of the school-room. It
is not hard to picture him " with shining morning face, creeping
like snail unwillingly to school." But the wise mother knew. Seeds
were beimr scattered in the fertile heart and mind of the boy ; and

£>

if they did not seem to sprout at once, perhaps it was for the very
reason that they had not been sown in a shallow soil.

The Rev. Dr. Theodore Cuyler, when he first met Mrs. Moody,
turned to her son, and said, " I see now where you got your vim
and your hard sense ! " Others remarked the same resemblance of
the son to his mother. I speak of this merely to make it evident
how much he owed her.

However completely she came into sympathy with her son's
work in later years, at the outset of his labors his mother did not
give him her sanction. She herself was a member of a

non-

HIS MOTHER 63

evangelical church. For a long time she did not even hear her son
preach. How he finally not only convinced her of his fitness for
his work, but also became the means of leading her into the higher
life has been related by a close friend of the family in the following

words :

His MOTHER'S CONVERSION

" In 1875 ne returned to his home in Northfield to preach,
shortly after coming back to America from one or his great London
successes. The family still lived on the old farm, and still drove to
town to Sunday meeting in the old farm wagon, just as they used
to do in the days gone by. Most of the members of the family
were going to drive to town that morning to hear Dwight preach.
The mother startled a daughter by saying to her :

" ' I don't suppose there would be room in' the wagon for me
this morning, would there ?'

" No one had ever thought of the mother unbending and go
ing to hear her son.

o

" ' Of course there will be room, mother,' said the daughter.

"And the mother was taken down to the church with the rest.
Mr. Moody preached from the fifty-first Psalm, and preached with
a fervor that was probably inspired by the presence of his mother.
When those who wished prayer were asked to arise, old Mrs.
Moody stood up.

"The son was completely overcome, and, turning to B. K
Jacobs, now of Chicago, said with emotion, 'You pray, Jacobs, 1

>, > »
can t.

When he returned to Northfield after some evangelical tour,
Mr. Moody would invariably drive directly to see his mother, to
receive her welcome, even before joining his immediate family.
Sitting in her sunny room the kindly, keen, old lady would give to
her son kernels of sound wisdom with the blessing of her approval.

64 ff/S MOTHER

She was permitted to remain in this world until her ninety-
first year. When at the last she began to sink, it was not thought
by those about her that there was any immediate danger, and Mr.
Moody, who was at the time conducting services in a distant city,
was not informed as to the state of her health. But toward the
close of a week of meetings the evangelist grew restless. He felt
a strange intuition that his presence was needed at home, and, for
no other reason, he canceled his engagement and started for North-
field. He arrived in time to receive her blessing.

At his mother's funeral, acting upon an impulse, Mr. Moody
delivered a touching tribute to her memory. Mrs. William R.
Moody had concluded her song "Crossing the Bar," when the
evangelist rose from his place with the family, and, bearing in his
hands the old family Bible, and a worn book of devotions, came
forward. Standing by the body of his mother, he said :

His TKIUUTK TO His MOTHER

" It is not the custom, perhaps, for a son to take part in such
an occasion. If I can control myself I would like to say a few
words. It is a great honor to be the son of such a mother. I do
not know where to begin ; I could not praise her enough. In the
first place my mother was a very wise woman. In one sense she
was wiser than Solomon ; she knew how io bring up her children.
She had nine children and they all loved their home. She won
their hearts, their affections, she could do anything with them.

' Whenever I wanted real sound counsel I used to go to my
mother. I have traveled a good deal and seen a good many
mothers, but I never saw one who had such tact as she had. She
so bound her children to her that it was a great calamity to have
to leave home. I had two brothers that lived in Kansas and died
there. Their great longing was to get back to their mother. My

HIS MOTHER f).

brother who died in Kansas a short time ago had been looking
over the Greenfield papers for some time to see if he could not
buy a farm in this locality. He had a good farm there, but he was
never satisfied ; he wanted to get back to mother. That is the
way she won them to herself. I have heard something within the

* o

last forty-eight hours that nearly broke my heart. I merely men
tion it to show what a character she was. My eldest sister, her
oldest daughter, told me that the first year after my father died she
wept herself to sleep every night. Yet, she was always bright and
cheerful in the presence of her children, and they never knew any
thing about it. Her sorrows drove her to Him, and in her own
room, after we were asleep, I would wake up and hear her praying,
and sometimes I would hear her weeping. She would be sure her
children were all asleep before she would pour out her tears.

IT is A GREAT THING TO HAVE Sucn A MOTHER

" And there was another thing remarkable about my mother.
If she loved one child more than another, no one ever found it out
Isaiah, he was her first boy ; she could not get along without Isaiah.
And Cornelia, she was her first girl ; she could not get along with
out Cornelia, for she had to take care of the twins. And George,
she couldn't live without George. What could she ever have done
without George ? He staid right by her through thick and thin.
She couldn't live without George. And Edwin, he bore the name
of her husband. And Dwight, I don't know what she thought of
him. And Luther, he was the dearest of all, because he had to go
away to live. He was always homesick to get back to mother.
And Warren, he was the youngest when father died ; it seemed as
if he was dearer than all the rest. And Sam and Lizzie, the twins,
they were the light of her great sorrow.

66 HIS MOTHER

She never complained of her children. It is a great thing to
have such a mother, and I feel like standing up here to-day to
praise her. And just here I want to say before I forget it, you
don't know how she appreciated the kindness which was shown her
in those days of early struggle. Sometimes I would come home
and say, such a man did so and so, and she would say, ' Don't say
that, Dwiirht; he was kind to me.'

o

"Ti-iE BIGGEST LOAD OF WOOD I EVER SAW"

" My father died a bankrupt, and the creditors came and swept
everything we had. They took everything, even the kindling
wood ; and there came on a snowstorm, and the next morning
mother said we would have to stay in bed until school-time, because
there was no wood to make a fire. Then, all at once, I heard some
one chopping wood, and it was my Uncle Sam. I tell you I have
always had a warm heart for that uncle for that act. And that
nio-ht there came the biggest load of wood I ever saw in my life. It

£5 O O

took two yoke of oxen to draw it. It was that uncle that brought
it. That act followed me all through life, and a good many acts, in
fact. Mr. Everett, the pastor of the Unitarian Church, I remember
how kind he was in those days. I want to testify to-day how my
mother appreciated that.

" I remember the first thing I did to earn money was to turn
the neighbor's cows up on Strowbridge Mountain. I got a cent a
week for it. I never thought of spending it on myself. It was
to go to mother. It went into the common treasury. And I
remember when George got work we asked who was going to milk
the cows. Mother said she would milk. She also made our clothes,
and wove the cloth, and spun the yarn, and darned our stockings ;
and there was never any complaining.

HIS MOTHER 67

" I thought so much of my mother I cannot say half enough.
That dear face ! There was no sweeter face on earth. Fifty years
I have been coming back and was always glad to get back. When
I got within fifty miles of home I always grew restless and walked
up and down the car. It seemed to me as if the train would never
get to Northfield. For sixty-eight years she has lived on that hill,
and when I came back after dark, I always looked to see the light
in mother's window.

IN TIME TO RECEIVE HER BLESSING

"When I got home last Sunday night — I was going to take
the four o'clock train from New York and get here at twelve ;
I had some business to do ; but I suppose it was the good
Lord that sent me ; I took the twelve o'clock train and got here at
five — I went in to my mother. I was so glad I got back in time to
be recognized. I said, ' Mother, do you know me ? ' She said, ' I
guess I do.' I like that word, that Yankee word 'guess.' The
children were all with her when she was taking her departure. At
last I called, ' Mother, mother.' No answer. She had fallen
asleep ; but I shall call her again by-and-by. Friends, it is not a
time of mourning. I want you to understand we do not mourn.
We are proud that we had such a mother. We have a wonderful
legacy left us.

" One day mother sent for me. I went to see what she wanted,
and she said she wanted to divide her things. I said, ' Well,
mother, we don't want anything you've got ; we want you. We
have got you, and that's all we want.' 'Yes, but I want to do
something.' I said to her, 'Then write out what you want, and I
will carry it out.' That didn't satisfy her. Finally she said,
' D wight, I want them all to have something.' That was my
mother, and that was the way she bound us to her.

68 HIS MOTHER

" Now, I have brought the old Hible, the family Bible, for it
all came from that book. That is about the only book we had in
the. house when father died, and out of the book she taught us.
And if my mother has been a blessing to this world, it is because
she drank at this fountain. I have read twice at family worship,
and will read here a few verses which she has marked.

VERSES SUE MARKED

" ' Who can find a virtuous woman ? for her price is far above
rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.'

" She has been a widow for fifty-four years, and yet she loved
her husband the day she died as much as sh* ever did. I never
heard one word, and she never taught her children to do anything
but just reverence our father. She loved him right up to the last

" « She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her

hands.'

" That is my mother.

" ' She considered! a field and buyeth it ; with the fruit of her
hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength
and strengthened her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise
is good, her candle goeth not out by night.'

"Widow Moody's light had burned on that hill for fifty-four
years, in that one room. We built a room for her, where she could
be more comfortable, but she was not often there. There was just
one room where she wanted to be. Her children were born there,
.her first sorrow came there, and that was where God had met her.
That is the place she liked to stay, where her children liked to
meet her, where she worked and toiled and wept.

" ' She stretcheth out her hands to the poor ; yea, she reacheth
forth her hands to the needy.'

"Now, there is one thing about my mother, she never turned
away any poor from her home. There was one time we got down

HIS MOTHER ~r

to less than a loaf of bread. Some one came along hungry, and
she says, ' Now, children, shall I cut your slices a little thinner and
give some to this person?' And we all voted for her to do it.
That is the way she taught us.

" ' She is not afraid of the snow for her household ; for all her
household are clothed with scarlet.'

" She would let the neighbors' boys in all over the house, and
track in snow ; and when there was going to be a party she would
say, 'Who will stay with me ? I will be all alone ; why don't you ask
them to come here ?' In that way she kept them all at home, and
knew where her children were. The door was never locked at
night until she knew they were all in bed, safe and secure. Nothing
was too hard for her if she could only spare her children.

I HONOR HER FOR THE PUNISHMENT I GOT
"The seven boys were like Hannibal, whose mother took him
to the altar and made him swear vengeance on Rome. She took us
to the altar and made us swear vengeance on whiskey, and every
thing that was an enemy to the human family ; and we have been
fighting it ever since and will to the end of our days.

" My mother used to punish me. I honor her for that. I do
not object to punishment. She used to send me out to get a stick.
It would take a long time to get it, and then I used to get a dead
stick if I could. She would try it and, if it would break easily,
then I had to go and get another. She was not in a hurry and
did not tell me to hurry, because she knew all the time that I was
being punished. I would go out and be gone a long time. When
I came in, she would tell me to take off my coat, and then she
would put the birch on ; and I remember once I said, ' That
doesn't hurt.' She put it on all the harder, and I never said that
the second time. And once in awhile she would take me and she
would say, 'You know I would rather put this on myself than 'to

72 HIS MOTHER

put it on you.' I would look up and see tears in her eyes. That
was enough for me.

" What more can I say ? You have lived with her and you
know her. I want to give you one verse, her creed. Her creed
was very short. Do you know what it was ? I will tell you what
it was. When everything went against her, this was her stay, ' My
trust is in God. My trust is in God.' And when the neighbors
would come in and tell her to bind out her children, she would say,
' Not as long as I have these two hands.' ' Well,' they would
say, 'you know one woman cannot bring up seven boys ; they will
turn up in jail, or with a rope around their necks.' She toiled on,
and none of us went to jail, and none of us has had a rope around
his neck. And if every one had a mother like that mother, if the
world was mothered by that kind of mothers, there would be no
use for jails.

'• Here is a book (a little book of devotions) ; this and the
Bible were about all the books she had in those days ; and every
morning she would stand us up and read out of this book. All
through the book I find things marked.

" Every Saturday night — we used to begin to observe the
Sabbath at sundown Saturday night, and at sundown Sunday night
we would run out and throw up our caps and let off our jubilant
spirits — this is what she would give us Saturday night, and it has gone
with me through life. Not all of it, I could not remember it all:

' How pleasant it is on Saturday night
When I've tried all the week to be good.'

" And on Sunday she always started us off to Sunday school.
It was not a debatable question whether we should go or not. All
the family attended.

" I do not know, of course, we do not know, whether the
departed ones are conscious of what is going on on earth. If I

HIS MOTHER 73

knew that she was I would send a message that we are coming
after her. If I could, I believe I would send a message after her,
not only for the family, and the town, but for the Seminary. She
was always so much interested in the young ladies of the Seminary.
She seemed to be as young as any of them, and entered into the
joys of the young people just as much as any one. I want to say to
the young ladies of the Seminary, who acted as maids of honor to
escort my mother down to the church this morning, that I want
you to trust my mother's Saviour.

" I want to say to the young men of Mt. Hermon, you are
going to have a great honor to escort mother to her last resting-
place. Her prayers for you ascended daily to the throne of grace.
Now, I am going to give you the best I have ; I am going to do
the best I can ; I am going to lay her away with her face toward

Hermon.

" SHE WAS TRUE AS SUNLIGHT "

" I think she is one of the noblest characters this world has
ever seen. She was true as sunlight; I never knew that woman to
deceive me.

" I want to thank Dr. Scofield for the comforting words he has
brought us to-day. It is a day of rejoicing, not of regret. She
went without pain, without a struggle, just like a person going to
sleep. And now we are to lay her body away to await His coming
in resurrection power. When I see her in the morning she is to
have a glorious body. The body Moses had on the Mount of
Transfiguration was a better body than God buried on Pisgah.
When we see Elijah he will have a glorious body. That dear
mother, when I see her again, is going to have a glorified body.
[Looking at her face ] God bless you, mother ; we love you still.
Death has only increased our love. Good-bye for a little while
mother. Let us pray."

CHAPTER V.

His Conversion

D WIGHT L. MOODY was not the boy to forget his com
pact with his uncle. He went to church every Sunday -
because he had promised to go,— attending the Mount
Yernon Congregational Church, of which the Rev. Dr. K. N. Kirk

was pastor.

Dr. Kirk was an excellent preacher, but young Moody was at
a stage when; all sermons sounded alike to him. Frequently he
would fall asleep during service, at least until an occasion when
he was suddenly awakened from his complete repose by a stern-
faced deacon, who, as he roused the lad from his slumbers, pointed
to Dr. Kirk, who was preaching- — as much as to say, " Keep your
eyes on him !" Thereafter Dwight remained awake. Moreover,
for lack of something else to do, he began to listen to the sermons.
" For the first time in my life," he said in later days, " I felt as if
the preacher were preaching altogether at me."

His FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH MR. E. 1 ). KIM BALI,

One Sunday the young man appeared in the Sunday school of

Mount Vernon Church. The superintendent, Mr. Palmer, to whom

he gave his name, took him to the class taught by Mr. Edward I).

Kimball, and he took his seat among the other boys. Says Mr.

Kimball, " I handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson

was in John. The boy took the book and began running over the

leaves with his finger away at the first of the volume looking foi

John. Out of the corners of their eyes the boys saw what he w.-w

74

HIS CONVERSION 75

doing and, detecting his ignorance glanced slyly and knowingly at
one another, but not rudely. I gave the boys just one hasty glance
of reproof. That was enough — their equanimity was restored
immediately. I quietly handed Moody my own book, open at the
right place, and took his. I did not suppose the boy could possibly
have noticed the glances exchanged between the other boys over
his ignorance, but it seems from remarks in later years that he did,
and he said in reference to my little act in exchanging books that
he would stick by the fellow who had stood by him and had done
him a turn like that."

This Sunday school teacher was not one of the ordinary type.
Mere literal instruction on Sunday did not satisfy his ideal of the
teacher's duty. He knew his boys, and, if he knew them, it was
because he studied them, because he became acquainted with their
occupations and aims, visiting them during the week. It was his
custom, moreover, to find opportunity to give to his boys an
opportunity to use his experience in seeking the better things of
the Spirit. The clay came when he resolved to speak to young
Moody about Christ, and about his soul.

JUST READY FOR THE LIGHT

'' I started down town to Holton's shoe store," says Mr. Kim-
ball. " When I was nearly there, I began to wonder whether I
ought to go just then, during business hours. And I thought
maybe my mission might embarass the boy, that when I went away
the other clerks might ask who I was, and when they learned
might taunt Moody and ask if I was trying to make a good boy
out of him. While I was pondering over it all, I passed the store
without noticing it. Then when I found I had gone by the door,
I determined to make a dash for it and have it over at once. I
found Moody in the back part of the store wrapping up shoes in

5

?6 HIS CONVERSION

paper and putting them on shelves. I went up to him and put my
hand on his shoulder, and as I leaned over I placed my foot upon
a shoe box. Then I made my plea, and I feel that it was really a
very weak one. I don't know just what words I used, nor could
Mr. Moody tell. I simply told him of Christ's love for him and
( he love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was of it. I
think Mr. Moody said afterward that there were tears in my eyes.
It seemed that the young man was just ready for the light that then
broke upon him, for there at once in the back of that shoe store in
Boston the future great evangelist gave himself and his life to Christ."
Many years afterward Mr. Moody himself told the story of
that day. "When I was in Boston," he said, " I used to attend a
Sunday school class, and one day I recollect my teacher came
around behind the counter of the shop I was at work in, and put
his hand upon my shoulder, and talked to me about Christ and my
soul. I had not felt that 1 had a soul till then. I said to myself :
' This is a very strange thing. Hen; is a man who never saw me
till lately, and he is weeping over my sins, and 1 never shed a tear
about them.' But I understand it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for men's souls and weep over their sins. I don't
remember what he said, but I can feel the power of that man's
Hand on my shoulder to-night. It was not long after that I was
brought into the Kingdom of God."

APPLIES FOR ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH.

One of his first steps after his conversion was to apply for
admission into the Mount Vernon Church.

It is frequently stated that after his application for member
ship in the Mount Vernon Church, he was looked upon so
unfavorably as a candidate that he was kept waiting for a year
before he was wanted admission. It has also been said, that even

HIS CONVERSION 77

after his acceptance by the church his remarks in the church
meetings were so far from edifying that his pastor was obliged to
suggest to him, that he could serve the Lord much more acceptably
by keeping silence.

While there is a foundation of truth in these statements, they
^must not be taken too literally. Mr. Moody was undoubtedly at
that time ignorant of many of the most important reasons of his
profession ; but Dr. Kirk's church was a revival church, and his
spirit was not such as to deny the opportunities of grace to any one
who deserved them. The Rev. Dr. James M. Buckley, editor of
the Christian Advocate, has written quite exhaustively on this
matter. He has said :

"Those sympathizing with his [Dr. Kirk's] peculiar work,
gathered about him. Among them were such men as Julius Palmer,
the brother of Dr. Ray Palmer, the author of ' My Faith Looks
Up to Thee' ; he was one of the deacons, and all the rest had the
same sympathies. Mr. Kimball was not only Mr. Moody's Sunday
school teacher, and, as Mr. Moody expressly informed us, the
means of his conversion, but was also one of the examining com
mittee. But the Mount Vernon Church did not receive a person
who could not furnish evidence that he was converted, even if he
was perfectly orthodox in doctrine.

TRUE EVIDENCE.

" About the time Mr. Moody was converted, a young man
came from Scotland with a letter from a Presbyterian church. He
could repeat the Shorter Catechism, answer all doctrinal questions
glibly, but when he was asked of his position before God as a
sinner and his conscious relation to Christ as a Saviour, he knew
nothing of it and made no reply, except that 'such questions were
never asked him before". He confessed that he had simply 'joined *

78 HIS CONVERSION

because he was advised and expected to do so. This young man
was advised to wait, and brethren were appointed to try to arouse
in him a consciousness of his need of a Saviour and of a work of
grace, and to point him to the Lamb of God. About the same
time, a young woman applied who was wholly in the dark on
'doctrines'; tender, tearful, hesitating, distrustful of herself, she
could not tell why she thought herself a Christian, but could only
say that she loved Christ and the prayer meeting. One of the
committee said, 'Do you love God's people because they are His?'
Her face brightened, and she said, ' O, sir, is that an evidence?'
' Yes.' ' Then I am sure I have that if I have no other, for I love
to be with Christians anywhere.' She was promptly received.

His FIRST EXAMINATION

" When Mr. Moody appeared for examination, he was eighteen
years old. He had only been in the Sunday school class a few
weeks ; he had no idea and could not tell what it was to be a
Christian ; even when aided by his teacher, whom he loved, he
could not state what Christ had done for him. The chief question
put to him was this: 'Mr. Moody, what has Christ done for us all
—for you — which entitles Him to our love ?' The longest answer he
gave in the examination was this : ' I do not know. I think Christ
has done a great deal for us, but I do not think of anything
particular as I know of.'

"Under these circumstances, as he was a stranger to all the
members of the committee, and less than a month had elapsed since
he began to give any serious thought to the salvation of his soul,
they deferred recommending him for admission to the church.
But two of the examining committee were specially designated to
watch over him with kindness, and teach him ' the way of God
more perfectly'.

HIS CONVERSION 81

"When he met the committee again no merely doctrinal
questions were asked of him ; but as his sincerity and earnestness
were undoubted and he appeared to have more light, it was decided
to propound him for admission. About eight years after this, and
when Mr. Moody had become prominent as an evangelist, he
expressed his gratitude to one of the officers of the church for the
course pursued, and said his conviction was that its influence was
favorable to his growth in grace. He also said he was afraid that
pastors and church officers generally were falling into the error of
hurrying new converts into a profession of religion. To a person
of our acquaintance Dr. Kirk himself referred with the deepest
grief to these imputations upon the Church, and declared them to
be without foundation in truth ; as well he mkrht. for if there ever

<_>

existed a man in New England who was free from the spirit of
'staid and stiff New England orthodoxy ', it was Dr. Kirk.

" As for the suggestion to say but little in prayer meeting, we
have little doubt that some one suggested that, for Mr. Moody has
told us of his utter ignorance of the evangelical system. He was
converted, he ' wished to do his duty ', he said, ' whatever came to
his lips ', knowing nothing about its consistency or inconsistency ;
but he acted on John Wesley's rule, ' Do every religious duty as
you can until you can do it as you would.' '

MR. MOODY'S LIFE IN BOSTON

One of those who knew Mr. Moody at the time of his con
version was Mr. Charles B. Botsford, of Boston. Shortly after
the death of Mr. Moody, Mr. Botsford related what he knew of
the life of Moody in Boston.

"I distinctly recall my first interview with Mr. Moody, early
in 1856," said Mr. Botsford. " It was at the close of one of the
Monday evening religious meetings of the Mt. Vernon Association

82 HIS CONVERSION

of Young Men, formed several years before by Dr. Edward N.
Kirk, for the benefit of young men of his church and congregation.
Antedating the Y. M. C. A. by several years, it continued a
vigorous life for several decades, and proved of great value.

" A literary meeting alternated with a devotional meeting. It
was at this, his first attendance, at one of the latter, that, in a
broken and trembling way, he earnestly stated his purpose to turn
over a new leaf and lead a Christian life. , When the meeting was
over I took him by the hand and conducted him for the first time
to the rooms of the Y. M. C. A., in the old Tremont Temple, to
attend, as was my custom, the 9 o'clock prayer and conference
meeting. Moody spoke, but much more zealously than grammatic
ally, and he continued to be an active participant in the meetings
from week to week.

" LET THE LEAVEN WORK "

" After a time, one of the most cultured members complained
to Mr. Moody's uncle, a shoe dealer on Tremont Row, between
Brattle and Hanover streets, that his nephew was altogether too
zealous and conspicuous in the Y. M. C. A. meetings, saying that
he wished in some way to have the zealot restrained. When con
sulted about the matter I said: 'No, let the leaven work!' The
world knows what Mr. Moody has since done, in, by and for Y. M.
C. A.'s, to say nothing of his other work.

"In the meantime I had taken Moody to a Sunday mormn-
devotional meeting, that I was accustomed to attend, in the vestry
of Dr. Neal's [Baptist] church, where the Boston University now
stands. At thai meeting, also, with its strong sectarian atmos
phere, Moody spoke, and so stumbled in absolute disregard of the
Pilgrim's English, that, in embarrassment, I bowed my head on the
rail of the seat before me. He continued there, also.

ins CONVERSION g

"It was from this church, later, that a good sister, more
zealous to steady and guard the ark of the Lord than to encourage
unlearned young men to become leaders in Israel, went to Mr.
Holton and said : ' If you have any interest in or regard for your
nephew, you had better admonish him not to talk so much, for he
is making a fool of himself.' But still the leaven worked.

'May 4, 1856, Mr. Moody united with the Mt. Vernon
Church, where he was a member of Mr. Kimball's class in the
Sunday school. He was not a constant attendant of the mid-week
devotional meetings of the church, for, as he expressed it, he did
not 'have liberty ' there in his utterances, and, naturally enough,
perhaps, for the atmosphere of the meetings was strongly intel
lectual and positively spiritual, with such leaders as Deacons Palmer,
Kimball, Pinkerton and Gushing, with Dr. Kirk, at the close, to
deepen and seal the impression."

A CHANGED LIFE

Concerning his relations to the Mount Vernon Church, Mr.
Moody afterward said : " When I first became a Christian, I tried
to join the church, but they wouldn't have me, because they didn't
believe I was really converted."

A number of years afterward, Dr. Kirk was attending the
anniversary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, which was held that year in Chicago. He was enter
tained by Mr. Moody, the man who as a boy had come into the
light, in some measure, under his influence, and he preached on
Sunday in the pulpit of his former parishioner. When he returned
to Boston Dr. Kirk called upon Mr. Moody's uncle, Mr. Holton,
and said : " I told our people last evening that we had every reason
to be ashamed of ourselves. That young Moody, whom we
thought did not know enough to belong to our church and Sunday

84 HIS CONVERSION

school, is to-day exerting a wider influence for the Master than any
other man in the great Northwest."

Speaking of his experience in passing from the life of sin to
the life of religion, Mr. Moody once said : " I used to have a
terrible habit of swearing. Whenever I would get mad, out would
come the oaths; but after I gave my heart to Christ, He took the
oaths away, so that I did not have the least disposition to take
God's name in vain."

At another time, when waited upon by a journalist, who
asked him for a sketch of his life, Mr. Moody said : " I was born
in the flesh in 1837 ; I was born in the Spirit in 1856. What is
born of the flesh may die ; that which is born of the Spirit will
live forever."

How MOODY REVENGED HIMSELF UPON THE DEACON

The Rev. Dr. Savage, of Chicago, used to tell of the way in
which Mr. Moody revenged himself upon one of the deacons who
had been instrumental in keeping him waiting for admission to the
church. Mr. Moody's action was, of course, good-natured, for he
not only bore no malice, but, on the other hand, was thankful for
the wisdom which had required of him some sane understanding
of his own state before he was allowed full fellowship with God's
people. The earnest inquirer finds only a stimulus to further
search when his own unfitness is made clear to him.

To return to the story. It was during the London campaign,
4nd in the midst, of one of the great meetings in Exeter Hall.
Mr. Moody, whose sharp eyes never missed a detail in the great
audiences which he faced, saw, away back under a gallery, his old
friend, the deacon. The good man was traveling at the time, and
had come to the meeting largely out of curiosity. Mr. Moody said
nothing until toward the close of the service Then he suddenly

HIS CONVERSION 85

exclaimed : " I see in the house an eminent Christian gentleman
from Boston. Deacon P., come right up to the platform ; the
people are anxious to hear you."

The deacon was far from eager to accept this hearty invita
tion, but he found that there was no alternative. So, mounting
the platform, he began to speak. He told of having been
acquainted with Mr. Moody during the evangelist's early life — of
the fact that they had been members of the same church. Here
Mr. Moody suddenly interrupted : "Yes, Deacon, and you kept me
out of that church for six months, because you thought I did not
know enough to join it." The deacon, at last succeeding in making
himself heard above the roar of laughter which greeted Mr.
Moody's sally, retorted that it was a privilege to any church to
receive Mr. Moody at all, even though with considerable trepida
tion, and after long endeavor to know him thoroughly.

How HE REPAYS His OLD SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER
A number of years after his own conversion Mr. Moody
found an opportunity to repay his old Sunday school teacher in kind
for the help which Mr. Kimball had given to him. After a service
in Boston a young man came to Mr. Moody and introduced him
self as a son of Mr. Kimball. " I'm glad to meet you," said Mr.
Moody. "Are you a Christian?" The young man admitted that
he was not, and Mr. Moody inquired of him as to his age. "I am
^seventeen," was the reply. "That was just my age, when your
father led me to the Lord," said Mr. Moody, "and now I want tc
repay him by leading his son to Christ."

The coincidence in age made an impression on the young
man. After a brief conversation, he promised to surrender his
heart to the Saviour, and a short time afterward Mr. Moody
received a letter from him, stating that he had found what he
had sought.

86 HIS CONVERSION

After his reception into the Mount Vernon Church, Mr.
Moody remained in Boston for about five months. The restraint
of his conservative surroundings lay heavy upon him. He yearned
for freedom— freedom to think, freedom to speak, freedom to
work. He must have had some consciousness of the great
intuitions, the great feelings, which were struggling in him to
burst forth into bloom, and he must have realized that the soil of
staid Boston was not stimulating to such a growth. He had come
into a new life ; his forceful nature was not the kind to wait for
circumstances to develop it. He required broad opportunity.

HE SEEKS His FUTURE IN THE WEST

His unrest finally decided him definitely to seek a future in
the West. His mother, it is said, did not approve of the move,
dreading, as do all good mothers, the change which would take her
son farther from her, and possibly fearing the dangers of a new
environment which might not prove wholesome. Any dread which
she may have felt was afterward proved to have been ill-founded.

Securing a letter from his uncle, Mr. Moody set out for
Chicago in September, 1856, and entered the Western Metropolis
with small store of earthly goods, but with a large fund of buoyant
hope and energy, and a devoted purpose to serve his Divine
Master.

CHAPTER VI.

Sunday School Work

WHEN young Moody arrived in Chicago, he presented a
letter which his uncle had given him to Mr. Wiswall, a
shoe dealer on Lake Street. The boy was not altogether
a prepossessing candidate for a position. He was boisterous and
uncouth, and it was with many misgivings that Mr. Wiswall took
him into his store. His employer's decision, however, was fully
justified by the young man's work. It was not long before young
Moody had the reputation of being the best salesman in the employ
of the firm. He especially delighted to take in hand customers
who were unusually difficult to deal with, and, while he never over,
stepped the line between honesty and deceit in his business
dealings, when it came to a contest of wits he was almost invariably

victorious.

GOOD PREPARATION FOR FUTURE WORK

It was not long before the growth of Mr. Wiswall's business
led him to open a jobbing department Mr. Moody was promoted
to a situation in the new department and in this wider opportunity
for the exercise of his business faculties, he continued to win
approval as a valuable assistant His work took him to the rail
road stations, hotels and other business places in search ol
customers, and doubtless did much toward widening his acquaint
ance, and adding to his experience in dealing with men. The
acquirement of practical knowledge of the best way to approach mer
was a wonderful preparation for the great work of his latfv years.

87

88 SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

A number of Mr. Wiswall's clerks slept in rooms in the store
building, an arrangement which naturally led to a fraternal inter
course. It is said that in the evenings these young men made it a
habit to enter into debates upon the live questions of the day— and
sometimes even questions which were not living issues. Politics,
V'.ieology, business, all supplied topics to these young orators, and
frequently discussions became very enthusiastic. The slavery
question was often mooted. My Moody was, as might be expected
from his vehement nature, an earnest participant in these debates.
Unembarrassed by the limitations placed upon him by lack of
education, he plunged boldly into whatever subject was under
discussion, and generally made his point. In theology the main
subject of debate was the old, old question, foreordination
versus free will. Mr. Moody had developed strong Calvinistic
tendencies, and he found a worthy opponent in one of his fellow
clerks who, by bringing up, was a Methodist. The question of
amusements was also taken up. Mr. Moody was strongly averse
to any frivolous form of amusement, or any amusement which
seemed to him frivolous. The story is told that he came into the
store one night from some religious meeting, and found two of the
clerks engaged in a game of checkers. He dashed the checker
board to the ground ; then, before any one could protest, dropped
upon his knees and began to pray. It must not be thought, how
ever, that he was entirely averse to healthful sports. On the
contrary, rough games and practical jokes were a keen delight to

him.

RECRUITING FOR THE CHURCH

Shortly after his arrival in Chicago, Mr. Moody united by
letter with the Plymouth Congregational Church, of which Dr. J.
E. Roy was at that time pastor. It was a hospitable church, and
Mr. Moody was not slow to find an opportunity to exercise his

SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK 91

desire to do practical Christian work. He rented five pews and
kept them filled with young men at every service. He also went
out and hunted up boys and girls for the Sunday school. The
statement has been made that he asked for a class in the Sunday
school but was refused. This is doubtful, for Mr. Moody himself
recognized and declared at that time that he could not teach. He,
however, took part in the prayer meetings, and in his work as a
recruiting officer for the church of Christ, began to ignore
denominational lines.

RECRUITING FOR SUNDAY SCHOOLS

It seemed as if no church could give him enough to do ; there
fore he began to attend a Sunday morning class in the First Metho
dist Church, and to work with its Mission Band, which was composed
of a number of devoted young men, who every Sunday morning
used to visit various public places and invite strangers to attend
church services. It will be seen that Mr. Moody's Christian work
was purely practical. This was a characteristic determined by his
temperament. Theorizing had no place in his energetic mind, but
his whole heart was bent to secure the best results from the means
at hand, and when means were lacking, to find them. We are
struck with his method of making use of every opportunity, how
ever slight. He never ignored small things ; he felt it as incumbent
upon him to help the clerk who worked beside him in the store,
and the stranger whom he met casually upon the street, as to
endeavor to sway large audiences from the rostrum. As a matter
of fact, it is doubtful if, in these humble beginnings of his efforts,
he had any realization of the great work that lay in store for him.
He simply saw men and children sinking in the moral lazaretto of
a great city and stretched out his hand to help them.

A scientific study of the principles of education has impressed
upon our minds the necessity of dealing with children, if we desire

92 SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

to effect any permanent change in the mental or moral condition of
the world; for the children of to-day are the fathers and the
mothers of the next generation. Without theorizing, Mr. Moody
must have had an understanding of this principle. It was not long
after he came to Chicago that he began to work among the chil
dren. His success in recruiting for the Sunday schools was won-
'derful. On one occasion he found a little mission Sunday school
on the North side, and offered to take a class. The superintendent
pointed out that they already had almost as many teachers as pupils,
but added that, if Mr. Moody would get his own pupils, he would be
at liberty to conduct a class. The next Sunday Mr. Moody appeared
with eighteen ragamuffins. They were dirty, unkempt, many of
them barefoot, but as the young teacher said, " each had a soul to

save."

His SUNDAY SCHOOL ON "THE SANDS

Mr. Moody's missionary explorations led him into the most
evil parts of the city. His face became familiar in the worst saloon
districts, among the sailors' boarding houses, and on the docks. It
was on one of these excursions that he fell in with Mr. J. B. Still-
son, a business man who was employing his spare time in the same
missionary work. The two men cast in their lot together, and,
according to one historian, during a single summer helped to recruit
twenty mission Sunday schools.

Mr. Moody recognized that the average mission school was
not calculated to reach the lowest strata of society. There was too
large a requirement of order, too little allowance for the homes
from which the pupils had come. Accordingly, he decided to begin
a mission school of his own. On the north side of the Chicago
River was a district called "The Sands", sometimes also known
as " Little Hell ". To-day, some of the finest residences of Chicago
stand there where, in the early fifties and sixties, crime and debauchery

SUN DA Y SCHOOL WORK 93

reigned supreme. It was to this home of vice Mr. Moody went
to begin his work. He found a deserted shanty which had form
erly been a saloon, and hiring this ramshackle place, started out to
drum up children to fill it. At first he found it hard to o-et at the

o

young street Arabs ; then he filled his pockets with maple sugar,
and, judiciously distributing it among those who promised to come,
soon had his little room overflowing with barbarians. One who vis
ited the school in those days has described his experiences. " When
I came to the little old shanty and entered the door," he said, "the
first thing 1 saw by the light of the few candles, was a man stand
ing up, holding in his arms a negro boy, to whom he was trying to
read the story of the Prodigal Son. A great many words the reader
could not make out and was obliged to skip. My thought was, If
the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for His honor
and glory it will astonish me ! When the meeting was over, Mr
Moody said to me, ' I have got only one talent. I have no educa
tion, but I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to do something-

J o

for Him.' I have watched him since, and have come to know him
thoroughly, and for consistent walk and conversation I have never
met a man equal to him."

MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY

There was probably never another school just like this school
on "The Sands" to which young Moody devoted his spare time.
Speaking from the steps of the hall entrance, the evangelist could
make his voice heard in the doors of two hundred saloons. At
first he had no seats for his school, and for some time none of the
other usual requisites ; no blackboard, no library, no maps ; but it
was a live school — in fact, it was about as much as the teachers
could do to keep the turbulent membership sufficiently quiet to sing
a little and hear a little talking. Mr. Moody was helped here by his
friend Mr. Stillson. As a cardinal doctrine they held that the worse

94 SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

a boy was the more necessity there was to keep him in the school.
There is a story of one young rough who defied for a long time all
efforts to tame him, and whose riotous behavior endangered the
existence of the school. Having meditated and prayed over the
matter all the week, Mr. Moody came to the school on Sunday per
suaded that there was but one remedy that would reach this case, and
that was a good thrashing. Coming up behind the young rowdy, he
seized him and pushed him through the open door of a little ante
room, then, locking the door, proceeded to business. The excitement
in the schoolroom was drawn off by singing until the two reappeared
after a somewhat prolonged and noisy recess in the anteroom. Both
were evidently well warmed up, but the humble bearing of the of
fending boy made manifest the result of the battle. " It was hard
work," remarked Mr. Moody, "but I guess we have saved him."
This proved to be true ; and, moreover, this exhibition of musculai
Christianity served as a strong claim on the admiration of the school ,
Mr. Moody had demonstrated his ability to keep order, and there
after found many helpers. One day an old pupil, coming up the
aisle, noticed a new recruit with his cap on. He snatched it oft, and
with one blow sent the offender to the floor. " I'll teach you to
keep your cap on in this school," was the explanation of the young
protector as he passed to his own seat with the air of one ready to

do his duty.

THE NORTH MARKET MISSION

After a while the little shanty became too small for Mr.
Moody's purpose, and, with the permission of Mayor Haines, the
school was removed to a large hall over the North Market. This
hall was generally used on Saturday evenings for dancing, and it
often took the whole Sunday morning for Mr. Moody to clean it
up so that it would be in condition for his use in the afternoon.
There were no chairs, so Mr. Moody set out to secure money to

SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK 95

buy them. He went to several rich men, among others to Mr.
J. V. Farwell, a prominent merchant. After receiving a contribu
tion, he asked Mr. Farwell what he was doing in a personal way
for the unsaved, and invited him to attend the mission. The next
Sunday Mr. Farwell appeared at the North Market School. The
scene, to his imagination, defied all description. Ragamuffins
were darting hither and thither, crying their street cries, and enter
ing upon all sorts of mischief, but from this state of confusion
Scripture readings, songs, and speeches occasionally rescued them.
Mr. Farwell made a speech, and at the close, to his great con
sternation, was nominated by Mr. Moody superintendent of the
school. The election was carried by acclamation before he had
time to object. This office, so suddenly pressed upon him, was
filled by Mr. Farwell for more than six years.

A PLAN THAT WORKED TO A CHARM

It was not easy to find suitable teachers for the classes which
made up such a school, and it was not always easy to get rid of un
suitable teachers, but a plan was hit upon that worked to a charm,
As no teacher could do such pupils good unless he could interest
them, a rule was made, giving the pupil the privilege, under certain
limitations, of leaving his class when he chose and going into
another one. The result was that the superintendent was relieved
from the unpleasant task of taking a dull teacher's class away from
him, for the class, one by one, quickly took itself away.

Mr. Moody put a vast amount of work into the school. His
evenings and Sundays were spent in skirmishing about 'The
Sands", looking after old pupils or hunting up new ones. Along
with the Gospel he gave a great deal of relief for the sick, the un
employed, and the unfortunate. He was the almoner not only oi
his own charity, but also of the gifts of the many friends who

96 SUNDA Y SCHOOL WORK

became interested in his work. His old employer has stated that as
many as twenty children used to come into the store at one time to
be gratuitously fitted with new shoes.

As the school became popular, interest and curiosity brought
many visitors, and it became easier to find teachers for the seventy
or eighty classes. The attendance at the school increased in the
most astonishing fashion. In three months there were 200 pupils ;
in six months 350, and within a year the average attendance was
about 650, with an occasional crowd of nearly 1,000. The city
missionary made objection to the wide range from which Mr.
Moody was now drawing his recruits, on the plea that he was in
fringing on the work of other missions, but the work of the North
Market School continued. No uniform lesson leaf was used in the
school, but each teacher and pupil was supplied with a copy of the
New Testament, and from this drew information and inspiration.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S VISIT

A notable event in the history of the school was the visit of
President-elect Lincoln, who came one Sunday at the request of
Mr. Farwell. When the carriage went to the house where Mr.
Lincoln was visiting, he left an unfinished dinner in order to keep
his appointment, and was hurried northward to the unsavory
district in which the North Market was situated. The President
elect was perhaps not accustomed to talk to Sunday schools ; at
any rate he requested that he should not be asked to make a
speech ; but when he was introduced to the spirited aggregation in
the North Market Hall, the enthusiasm was so great that he
yielded and spoke. His words were for right thinking and right
acting. When a few months later this man issued a call for

o

75,000 volunteers, about sixty of the boys who had heard him
that day in the North Market Hall answered. To them the

SUNDA Y SCHOOL WORK 97

words of the man who had told them of duty still rang through
the words of the head of the State.

Conversions and transformations were continually occurring
as a result of the work of Mr. Moody's school. More are related
than can possibly be mentioned here,

MANY TIMES IN DANGER OF His LIFE

It must not be supposed that in his peregrinations among the
lowly and the wretched, Mr. Moody always met with a welcome
reception. There were many times when he stood in danger of his
life. On such occasions he made it a principle to run away just as
fast as he could, and he generally escaped because he could run
faster than those who pursued him. One Sunday morning he was
visiting some Roman Catholic family, with the purpose of bringing
the children to the school, when a powerful man sprang at him
with a club. The man had sworn to kill him, but a hard run saved
the life of the young evangelist. Even after this attack he did
not desist in his visit to this house, but continued again and again,
until his tact and patience disarmed his adversary.

On another occasion, one Saturday evening he found in a house
a jug of whiskey, which had been stored there for a carouse the
following day. After a rousing temperance lecture, Mr. Moody
persuaded the women of the house to permit him to pour the
whiskey into the street. This he did before departing. Early the
next morning he came back to fetch the children of the place to
Sunday school. The men were lying in wait for him to thrash him.
It was impossible to get away, for he was surrounded on all sides,
but before they could touch him, Mr. Moody said, " See here, men,
if you are going to whip me, you might at least give me time to
say my prayers." The request was unusual ; perhaps it was for
that very reason that it was acceecled to. Mr. Moody dropped

98 SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

upon his knees and prayed such a prayer as those rough men had
never heard before. Gradually they became interested and then
softened, and when he had finished they gave him their hands, and
a few minutes later Mr. Moody left the house for his school, fol
lowed by the children he had come to find.

HE KNEW His WORK THOROUGHLY

Mr. Moody was not only busily engaged in Chicago, but early
in his missionary life he was called to speak in small Sunday school
conventions chiefly because he had already gained the reputation of
reaching the masses of poor children in the cities. He knew this
work thoroughly, and in his own way he could tell about it, not
only to the instruction but often to the amusement as well of his
audience. At one time he was invited to a place in Illinois and
was accompanied by a Christian Association secretary ; they two
were advertised to speak. The secretary, in speaking of it after
wards said, "If ever two poor fellows were frightened, it was
Moody and I." They reached their destination about two o'clock
in the morning, too early to sit up and too late to go to bed, but
they determined that they would spend all the time that was given
them in prayer. During the rest of the night they sought God for
power and guidance. Before the hour came when they were to
speak, Mr. Moody secured the use of a public-school room which
was quite near the place of the larger meeting. When asked what
he wanted to do with it, he said, " I want it for an inquiry meeting."
Both these young men were to speak, and each agreed that while
the other spoke he would pray for him. When Mr. Moody was
announced he seemed like one inspired. He pictured to them
their need of Christ to help them as Sunday school teachers ; told
them it was an awful sin to do their work in a careless manner, and
after an address of an hour called upon all who wanted to meet

SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK

him, and to know Christ, to come with him to the school-room next
door, where great numbers were helped. This was the beginning
of a widespread spirit of revival, but it was also the beginning of a new
life for Mr. Moody. From 1858 to 1865, Mr. Moody, Mr. Jacobs and
Major Whittle, who were closely identified in conventions held in
:different parts of the country, became deeply impressed with the
need of more of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The annual
convention was to meet in Springfield, and these three workers
were deeply concerned that it should be the best convention in the
history of the State. They reached Springfield before the associa
tion convened, and held revival meetings as a prelude to what was to
follow afterward. Seventy persons were converted. This became
the Revival Conference. The next year the Sunday school
workers met in the city of Decatur, and a record was brought up
of ten thousand persons brought to Christ in a year. From this
time on Mr. Moody was constantly invited to other States, and
from Maine to Texas, from Montreal to San Francisco, from St.
Paul to New Orleans, he went year after year, preaching and
praying, rousing the Christian Associations into activity, inspiring
the pastors to labor for revivals, helping the Sunday school
teachers to reach their scholars for Christ ; and in all his work as
an evangelist throughout the world, deeper impressions were never
made than in the first days of his active work as a Sunday school
teacher and leader.

CHAPTER VIL

The Young Men's Christian Association and the
Chicago Avenue Church

MR. MOODY had not been long identified with active Chris
tian work in Chicago, before he saw an opportunity for
service in connection with the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation. This organization had been established in Chicago as a
result of the great revival of 1857-8, but after a few years the inter
est in the daily noon prayer meeting began to wane. To increase
this interest impressed Mr. Moody as his duty. His abilities were
soon recognized by those in charge of the work, and he was
appointed chairman of the Visiting Committee to the sick and
to strangers. His work in behalf of the noon meetings was
blessed moreover with large results.

RESULT OF His FIRST YEAR'S WORK

He had found the Association made up of conservative men
of middle or advanced years, but his advent among them was, as
an officer of the Association has said, "like a stiff northwest
breeze," and under his influence the institution became free and
popular, and its influence was extensively widened. His abilities
were especially eminent in raising money, but of the thousands
of dollars he secured he would take nothing for himself. Among
other schemes devised by him was one which federated the mission
schools of the city under the Association, and brought them under
the care of the stronger churches. The report of the first year of
100

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION ioi

the work of his committee on visitation gives the number of
families visited as 554, and the amount of money used for charitable
purposes as $2,350.

Meanwhile, the growing strength of the North Market Mission
taxed the ingenuity of the young superintendent to provide room
for its expansion. He set himself to work to secure a suitable edi
fice, and, collecting personally about $20,000, saw a neat chapel rise
in Illinois Street, not far from the old North Market Hall. This
was in 1863. Mr. Moody had ever aimed, as the converts of the
Mission grew in number, to recommend them to regular church
homes, but an increasing unwillingness on the part of the converts
to leave the influences of his personal presence seemed to necessitate
the organization of a regular church to be made up of the converts

of the Mission.

THE ILLINOIS STREET CHURCH

'The Illinois Street Church " was therefore organized under
Congregational auspices. Members were baptized and received
into the church by regular pastors of other Congregational
churches, but the communion service was conducted by Mr,
Moody without reference to established forms. He was the
pastor of the church, although he never received ordination. For
this reason, probably, the church, although organized by Congrega
tionalists, was not reckoned a Congregational Church. Its disci
pline and confession of faith were made up with the end that no
true lover of the Lord should be kept from the fellowship of this
Christian band by any non-essential of doctrine or observance.

The membership of this church in the beginning was unique.
Almost every communicant had been rescued from degradation by
the work of the Mission. And it was a working congregation.
Labor was so divided that every member had something to do, and
every night saw some service in the chapel. The meetings

103 THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

seemed to be a continuous revival. Boundless energy and great
physical strength, with the constant dwelling of God's spirit
in him, alone enabled Mr. Moody to bear up under the great
strain. At times he would find himself completely exhausted and
.ilmost ready to give up, but a few hours of rest or a slight change
>[ occupation generally sufficed to put him very quickly on his feet
again.

Two HUNDRED CALLS IN A DAY

The story is tcld of how he made two hundred calls on New
Year's Day. " At an early hour the omnibus which was to take
him and several of his leading men was at the door, and, with a
carefully prepared list of residences, they began the day's labor,
The list included a large proportion of families living in garrets
and the upper stones of high tenements. On reaching the home
of a family belonging to his congregation he would spring out of
the 'bus, leap up the stairways, rush into the room, and pay his
respects as follows :

" ' I am Moody ; this is Deacon De Golyer ; this is Deacon
Thane; this is Brother Hitchcock. Are you well? Do you all
come to church and Sunday-school ? Have you all the coal you
need for the winter ? Let us pray ? '' And down we would all go
i;pon our knees, while Mr. Moody offered from fifteen to twenty
words of earnest, tender, sympathetic supplication.

' Then springing to his feet, he would dash on his hat, dart
through the doorway and down the stairs, throwing a hearty ' good
bye ' behind him, leap into the ' bus, and off to the next place on his
list , the entire exercise occupying about one minute and a half.

" Before long the horses were tired out, for Mr. Moody insisted
on their going on a run from one house to another ; so the omnibus
was abandoned, and the party proceeded on foot One after another

THE YOUNG MEN^S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION IO3

of his companions became exhausted with running upstairs and down
stairs, and across the streets, and kneeling on bare floors, and get
ting up in a hurry ; until, reluctantly, but of necessity, they were
obliged to relinquish the attempt, and the tireless pastor was left to
make the last of the two hundred calls alone. He returned home
in the highest spirits to laugh at his exhausted companions for desert
ing him."

The next year Mr. Moody went on foot through another such
day — reminding his friends that on the previous New Year they
had often felt obliged to leave the ' bus before reaching a house,
lest the sight of the vehicle should hurt the poor they visited,
as an apparent waste of money.

ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE Y. M. C. A.

The increase of the work of the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation during the Civil War called for increased accommodations.
Mr. Moody's success with his Mission, and his well-known energy
and boldness, led to the proposal that he be elected president of
the Association. His lack of learning and his bluntness caused
considerable opposition to his election, but he received a small
majority. A building committee was immediately organized. Mr.
Moody's plan was to organize a stock company, with twelve trus
tees, who should erect and hold the building in trust. The stock
was to bear six per cent, interest, from the completion of the build
ing, and the interest on the stock was to be paid out of the rentals
of such portions of the building as were not needed for the use of
the Association, and also from the rent of the great Hall. The
excess of the rentals over the interest was to be used to buy up the
stock, at par, in behalf of the Association. Mr. Moody succeeded
in placing the stock to the value of $101,000.

I04 THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

The new building was erected in Madison Street, between
Clark and La Salle Streets. The large hall had a seating capacity
of three thousand. There were in the building a large room for
the noon prayer meetings, a library, offices, etc. The hall was
dedicated September 29, 1867. The report of the treasurer, Mr,
John V. Farwell, on that occasion, showed that the entire cost of
land, building, etc., was $199,000. Stock had been subscribed to
the amount of $135,000; $50,000 had been loaned on mortgages.
The remaining indebtedness was at once cleared up by sub
scriptions.

DEDICATION OF THE NEW BUILDING

Among the speakers at the dedicatory service was Mr. George
H. Stuart, president of the United States Christian Commission.
His address sketched the history of the Association, and described
the possibilities that were open to its efforts. The effect of his
speech was marvelous. It seemed as if the words of this great
Christian man had loosened the heart-strings of every individual
in the large audience. The hall was still unnamed, but on Mr.
Moody's nomination it was christened " Farwell Hall," in honor of
Mr. John V. Farwell.

Under the management of Mr. Moody, Farwell Hall became
very popular. The daily noon prayer meeting was so well attended
that occasionally the one thousand seats in the prayer room were
not sufficient to hold the people, and it was necessary to adjourn
to the large hall. Monday evening a special meeting was held for
strangers. Every noon Mr. Moody would go to the street in front
of the hall a few minutes before the meeting, and endeavor to
send within as many of the passers-by as he could approach. Then,
as the clock struck twelve, he would hurry up the stairs and take
his usual seat, near the leader, where, if the meeting seemed to

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 105

drag or to require a stimulus, he would take it in hand and do
everything necessary to animate it

Mr. Moody began to be known in Young Men's Christian
Association work throughout the United States and Canada, and
his services were in frequent demand for conventions and revival,
services.

Four months after its dedication, Farwell Hall was burned, in
January, 1868. Mr. Moody did not lag when this catastrophe
overtook the enterprise in which he was bound up. Subscriptions
were opened immediately, and most of the original stockholders
came to the front with renewed support. On the old foundations
a new Farwell Hall was erected. It was dedicated in 1869, to an
only too brief period of noble service for the Master.

A GREAT RELIGIOUS CENTRE

Mr. Moody continued president of the Association for four
years. He then declined re-election, but consented to act as vice-
president, with Mr. J. V. Farwell in the chair. The Sunday
evening meetings in the new hall were wonderful. Mr. Moody
would there preach the same discourse he had delivered to his
congregation in Illinois Street in the morning. Such throngs
attended these evening meetings that they came to compose, with
one exception, the largest pro. 3tant congregation in Chicago.
The sermon was followed by an in^ 'ry meeting.

Farwell Hall soon became a great religious centre. That its
success as an institution was due in large degree to Mr, Moody
cannot be doubted. His energy made possible the erection of the
first structure ; his perseverance called forth the second, phoenix-
like, from the ashes of the first ; his devotion filled the prayer
meetings ; his faith led hundreds to a changed life ; and his direct
ness, his singleness of purpose, prevented any deviation of the

I06 THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

work from the paths of Christian helpfulness. The second Far-
well Hall went down in the great fire of 1871, but its work still lived.
Mr. Moody used to give an incident of his last service in
Farwell Hall on the night of the great fire. He said :

INCIDENT OF His LAST SERVICE IN FARWELL HALL
"The last time I preached upon this question was in Farwell
Hall. I had been for five nights preaching on the life of Christ.
I took Him from the cradle and followed Him up to the judgment
hall, and on that occasion I consider I made as great a blunder as
ever I made in my life. If I could recall my act I would give this
right hand. It was upon that memorable night in October, and
the Court House bell was sounding an alarm of fire, but I paid no
attention to it. You know we were accustomed to hear the fire-
bell often, and it didn't disturb us much when it sounded. I
finished the sermon upon 'What shall I do with Jesus?' And I
said to the audience, 'Now I want you to take the question with
you and think over it, and next Sunday I want you to come back
and tell me what you are going to do with it.' What a mistake !
It seems now as if Satan was in my mind when I said this. Since
then I have never dared to give an audience a week to think on
their salvation. If they were lost, they might rise up in judgment
against me, ' Now is the accepted time.' We went down stairs to
the other meeting, and I remember when Mr. Sankey was singing,
and how his voice rang when he came to that pleading verse :

"'To-day the Saviour calls;

For refuge fly.
The storm of justice falls,
And death is nigh.'

After the meeting we went home. I remember going down La
Salle street with a young man who is probably in the hall to-night,
aad saw the glare of flames. I said to the young man, ' This

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 107

means ruin to Chicago.' About one o'clock Farwell Hall went ,
soon the church in which I had preached went down, and every
thing was scattered. I never saw that audience again. My friends,
we don't know what may happen to-morrow, but there is one thing I
do know, and that is, if you take the gift, you are saved. If you have
eternal life, you need not fear fire, death, or sickness. Let disease
or death come, you can shout triumphantly over the grave, if you
have Christ. My friends, what are you going to do with Him to
night ? Will you decide now ? "

THE NORTH SIDE TABERNACLE

The Illinois Street Church was also burned in the great fire,
and Mr. Moody at once began the work of feeding and sheltering
the homeless. Complaints were made of his too bountiful distribu
tion, for he would refuse no one who asked. He therefore with
drew from the relief work, and went East, to hold revival meetings
and to raise money toward rebuilding his church. With the large
assistance of Mr. George H. Stuart and Mr. John Wanamaker, of
Philadelphia, he obtained three thousand dollars for the erection
of a rough struture in the burned district, not far from the ruins of
the old church. This " North Side Tabernacle," as it was called,
covered a plot of ground one hundred and nine feet long and
seventy-five feet wide. All around it were the ruins. There was
some doubt whether the situation of the Tabernacle would permit a
large attendance, but on the day of dedication more than one
thousand children came together.

The meetings in the Tabernacle were distinguished by a
remarkable revival. During the year following the fire eight
services were held every Sunday. A wide relief work was also
instituted by the indefatigable pastor. Mr. Moody had returned
from the eastern tour refreshed spiritually, and blessed by a large

io8 THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

access of power. He has told us how, while he was in New York-
City on that memorable journey, God revealed Himself especially
to his servant. This baptism of the Divine Love vivified his later
work and made it tell with the unconverted as never before. And
so, in the Tabernacle among the ashes, sprang up a wonderful
manifestation of God's presence, and hundreds were led to Christ.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHICAGO AVENUE CHURCH

The new church, which afterward came to be known as " The
Chicago Avenue Church", was partly erected in 1873. From that
time it was used by the congregation, a temporary roof being built
over the first floor, but not until 1876 was it completed, freed of
debt, and dedicated. Up to this time the preaching and pastoral
work was done chiefly by Mr. Moody and Mr. Watts De Golyer.
Since then the Rev. W. J. Erdman, the Rev. Charles H. Norton,
the Rev. G. C. Needham, President Blanchard, the Rev. Charles
F. Goss and the Rev. F. B. Hyde have occupied the pulpit and
acted as pastors. The present pastor is the Rev. Dr. R. A. Torrey.
The church has always maintained its early character as an
undenominational, evangelical and aggressive congregation. The
sittings and other privileges are all free, and the motto selected at
the organization of the church, and still inscribed over the main
entrance, is "Welcome to this House of God are strangers and the
poor." It has always been dependent upon the offerings of the
;>rople for its support, and the expenses are met through the
;y,V.cvr;atic weekly giving of the congregation

CHAPTER VIII,

Giving Up Business

IT is not hard to appreciate the straits to which Mr. Moody was
subjected by the conflicting- claims of his business and his mis
sion work. Only a man of boundless energy and fine physique
could have accomplished what he was accomplishing, His business
received its full share of his attention as formerly, but in his every
spare moment his mind was occupied by plans for the work at
North Market Hall, while every evening and every Sunday he
gave himself up wholly to his labors for the Master.

MOODY AS A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER

Meanwhile he had not remained with Mr. Wiswall. After two
years with his first friend, he entered the establishment of Mr. C. N.
Henderson, who had become acquainted with him at the Mission,
and had taken interest in the young- man and his work. This new

J o

connection forced upon him the work of a commercial traveler.
His evenings could no longer be given to mission wrork at home,
for the greater part of his time was spent out of the city. How
ever, no matter how far his travels might have taken him during
'the week, he never failed to return on Saturday night, that he
might be at North Market Hall on Sunday. It will be readily
understood that inasmuch as his business arrangements provided
for his return to the city only one Sunday out of four, the expenses
of his weekly trips would have been a serious drain upon his
slender financial resources, But the superintendent of the Chicago,

109

no

Burlington and Quincy Railroad, a man of generous impulses, who
felt deeply interested in the North Side Sunday school, finding that
Mr. Moody's presence was essential to the Sunday work, provided
him with a free pass over the railroad lines under his control, to
bring him home three Sundays out of the four.

Mr. Moody had not held his position very long before Mr.
Henderson died. In the changes which the removal of this "food

o o

man entailed in the house, Mr. Moody severed his connection with
the firm and removed to the establishment of Messrs. Buel, Hill,
& Granger, with whom he remained for about one year. More and
more was his heart wrapped up in his practical Christian work ;
business meant less and less to him. Finally he made his decision
and gave up secular business entirely that he might devote his
whole strength and time to practical work for the Lord.

" GOD WILL PROVIDE "

This was no sudden decision, no lightning conviction of a great
duty. On the contrary, the step was decided upon only after mature
deliberation and a thorough test of his fitness for his chosen work.
His first ambition had been to become a great merchant ; now this
was thrown aside, and when at last he bade good-bye to business, he
said to one of his friends, " I have decided to give to God all my
time ". " But how are you going to live ?" asked his friend. Mr.
Moody replied, " God will provide for me, if he wishes me to keep
on, and I shall keep on until I am obliged to stop."

There was no unpleasantness in his severance of the old business
connections. All his former employers spoke in the highest terms
of Mr. Moody and of his work with them. Said Mr. Hill, a member
of the last firm for whom he worked, " One day not long after he
left our house 1 ran across him, and I asked him, ' Moody, what are
you doing? ' ' I am at work for Jesus Christ,' was the reply. At first

GIVING UP BUSINESS

his answer shocked me a little, but after I had thought it over
I decided that it was a fair statement of the facts in the case. It
was true ; that was just what he was doing, and his work for the Lord
was as vigorous, as practical, as it had always been for other
employers." Mr. Hill added that Mr. Moody had left the employ
of his firm in the pleasantest circumstances, having retained his
Christian character unblemished. All of his old employers, as a
matter of fact, not only bade him God speed when he left them,
but kept some track of his future course, with the conviction, even
in those early days, that he would succeed in accomplishing great

things.

FREE TO DEVOTE His TIME TO His MISSION

It had not been difficult for Mr. Moody, during his years of
business life, to lay up a considerable sum of money out of his
salary, for his living expenses were very light and his frugality a
matter of record ; but a great part of what he earned went into
his mission work. Before leaving the world of business he set
aside a certain sum. Part of this money he invested, but he saved
out $1,000 to pay his first year's expenses. He was now happy.
Free to devote his time to his loved Mission, and to the Y. M.
C. A. work, which was becoming almost equally dear to him, and
conscious of the fact that he had in his pocket money to enable
him to accomplish many of his plans, he set out with a light heart
on his new life. And yet, it was not a new life, it was simply a
ripening of those seeds which had been sown back there in his
uncle's store in Boston when he first gave his heart to the Lord.

One of the first things he did was to invest part of his thou
sand dollars in a small pony. With the help of this animal he was
able to extend his missionary excursions over a much wider area, and
to accomplish much more than theretofore. The sight of Mr.
Moody on his pony became a familiar one in the poor districts of

II2 GIVING UP BUSINESS

Chicago. It is said that often after a Sunday morning hunt for
Sunday school recruits, he would be seen emerging from some
squalid street, surrounded by children, some of whom had clam
bered upon the pony with him, while others hung to the bridle
reins or marched behind in procession on their way to the Sunday

school.

His MEANS EXHAUSTED

Meanwhile the thousand dollars quickly vanished. It did not
prove enough to meet half the demands which the mission work
and various other deeds of chanty brought upon Mr. Moody.
Then the rest of his small fortune disappeared, and he found him
self reduced to the proverbial water and a crust. One of the few
books which he had read was the life of George Muller, whose
work of faith in England had impressed him so deeply that he
determined to follow that good man's principle and trust in the
Lord even for his sustenance. When the growth of the Y. M,
C. A. noon prayer meetings necessitated their removal to a large
backroom in the Eirst Methodist Church block, Mr. Moody betook
himself there, and, though at length brought to the necessity of
sleeping on the benches of the prayer room and living on crackers
and cheese, he kept on with his work, not even making his condi
tion known to his friends, who would have been glad to help him.
All this time he was collecting considerable sums for charitable pur
poses, but not one cent did he devote to himself. He had deter
mined to give his faith a thorough test. At times he must have
felt some faltering, but at those times the Lord always gave him
some reassurance.

After a time some of his friends began to wonder how he was
living, and were greatly astonished at the result of the investiga
tions. Discovering his poverty, they insisted upon supplying him
with the necessities of life. From this time on, trust in God

GIVING UP BUSINESS II3

always brought Mr. Moody an answer to his needs. This does
not mean that he was never tried, but simply that, taking every
thing into consideration, he was supplied comfortably, and some
times even bountifully. People, who knew him came to esteem it a
privilege to help him.

It is of interest here to give Mr. Moody's own narrative of
the incident which finally influenced his decision to leave business
for Christian work.

MOODY'S OWN NARRATIVE

' I had never lost sight of Jesus Christ since the first night I
met Him in the store in Boston. But for years I was only a
nominal Christian, really believing that I could not work for God.
No one had ever asked me to do anything.

14 I went to Chicago, I hired five pews in a church, and used to
go out on the street and pick up young men and fill these pews.
I never spoke to those young men about their souls ; that was the
work of the elders, I thought. After working for some time like
that, I started a mission Sabbath school. I thought numbers were
everything, and so I worked for numbers. When the attendance
ran below one thousand, it troubled me ; and when it ran to twelve
or fifteen hundred, I was elated. Still none were converted;
there was no harvest. Then God opened my eyes.

' There was a class of young ladies in the school, who were,
without exception, the most frivolous set of girls I ever met. One
Sunday the teacher was ill, and I took that class. They laughed
in my face, and I felt like opening the door and telling them all to
get out and never come back. That week the teacher of the class
came into the place where I worked. He was pale, and looked
very ill. ' What is the trouble ? ' I asked. ' I have had another
hemorrhage of my lungs. The doctor says I cannot live on Lake

II4 GIVING UP BUSINESS

Michigan, so I am going to New York State. I suppose I am

going home to die.'

"He seemed greatly troubled, and when I asked him the
reason, he replied : ' Well, I have never led any of my class to
Christ. I really believe I have done the girls more harm than
good.' I had never heard any one talk like that before, and it set
me thinking. After a while I said : ' Suppose you go and tell them
how you feel. 1 will go with you in a carriage, if you want to go.'

THEY SOUGHT SALVATION

" He consented, and we started out together. It was one of
the best journeys I ever had on earth. We went to the house of
one of the girls, called for her, and the teacher talked to her about
her soul. There was no laughing then ! Tears stood in her eyes
before long. After he had explained the way of life, he suggested
that we have prayer. He asked me to pray. True, I had never
clone such a thing in my life as to pray God to convert a young
lady there and then. But we prayed, and God answered our prayer.
We went to other houses. He would go upstairs, and be all out
of breath, and he would tell the girls what he had come for. It
wasn't long before they broke down, and sought salvation.

" When his strength gave out, I took him back to his lodgings.
The next day we went out again. At the end of ten days he came
to the store with his face literally shining. ' Mr. Moody,' he said,
' the last one of my class has yielded herself to Christ.' I tell you
we had a time of rejoicing. He had to leave the next night, so I
called his class together that night for a prayer meeting, and there
God kindled a fire in my soul that has never gone out. The height
of my ambition had been to be a successful merchant, and, if I had
known that meeting was going to take that ambition out of me, I
might not have gone. But how many times I have thanked God

D. L. MOODY AT THE AGE OF 35, from a steel engraving

GI VI NG UP B U SI NESS x j _

since for that meeting ! The dying teacher sat in the midst of his
class, and talked with them, and read the fourteenth chapter of
John. We tried to sing ' Blest be the tie that binds,' after which
we knelt down to prayer. I was just rising from my knees, when
one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher. Another
prayed, and another, and before we rose, the whole class had
prayed. As I went out I said to myself: ' O, God, let me die
rather than lose the blessing I have received to-night ! '

'The next morning I went to the depot to say good-bye to
that teacher. Just before the train started, one of the class came,
and before long, without any prearrangement, they were all there.
What a meeting that was ! We tried to sing, but we broke down.
The last we saw of that dying teacher, he was standing on the plat
form of the car, his finger pointing upward, telling that class to
meet him in Heaven. I didn't know what this was going to cost
me. I was disqualified for business ; it had become distasteful to
me. I had got a taste of another world, and cared no more for
making money. For some days after, the greatest struggle of my
life took place. Should I give up business and give myself to
Christian work, or should I not ? I have never regretted my choice.
O, the luxury of leading some one out of the darkness of this
world into the glorious light and liberty of the Gospel ! "

MR. MOODY'S MARRIAGE

It is time to speak of Mr. Moody's marriage. There was a
lady who for some years had been a helper in his Mission. His
first acquaintance with her dated from that little North Side
Mission Sunday school in which he was offered a class on condition
that he provide his own pupils. The interest of Mr. Moody for
this young lady, whose name was Miss Emma C. Revell, grew
deeper and deeper, and meanwhile her interest in him developed.

Il8 GIVING UP BUSINESS

It would hardly be thought by the average man of affairs, that
marriage was a safe step for a man who had thrown up all business
and had entered upon unsalaried mission work. But Mr. Moody
was living the life of trust, and the faith of Miss Revell was not
less strong. They were married August 28, 1862.

They made their first home in a small cottage. A hospitable
home it was, and a cheery one, and yet the little household was
sometimes in great straits. Even after his marriage, Mr. Moody
continued to refuse all offers of a salary. Often the family was in
sight of want, but the Lord never permitted real distress. A num-
ber of instances are related of the ways in which his trust in God

was honored.

A REMARKABLE AND SURPRISING GIFT

A remarkable way in which the Lord remembered Mr. Moody,

was by the gift of a new and completely furnished home. An old

friend had erected a row of fine houses, one of which he privately

set aside for Mr. Moody, free of rent, on the understanding that

the evangelist's other friends would furnish it. The enterprise was

taken up with enthusiasm, all unknown to Mr. Moody and his wife,

and the house was fitted up comfortably. Early on a New Year's

morning Mr. Moody and his family were captured and driven to

the house. When they entered they were surprised to find it full

of acquaintances and friends. Their surprise was turned to

gratitude and joy when a spokesman of the company handed to Mr.

Moody a lease of the house and the free gift of all it contained

This home was not long left to them, for the great Chicago fire

carried it away.

No Life of Mr. Moody would be complete without further refer
ence to his wife, who has been his constant companion in all rm
sorrows and his joys. She is of a retiring disposition, and yet in
that day of rewards when D. L. Moody is crowned, it is the opinion

GIVING UP BUSINESS n9

of his many friends who know whereof they speak, that Mrs. Moody
will have no small share of reward

Mr. Ira D. Sankey has said, "Amid all that has been said
about what has made Mr. Moody so great a man, I want to say
that one of the greatest influences of his life came from his wife.
She has been the break upon an impetuous nature, and she more
than any other living person is responsible for his success."

His WIFE AND HER INFLUENCE

She has been more than interested in his work from the begin
ning. In connection with his Sunday school work in Chicago, the
following incident is told : " A stranger who was visiting the Sunday
school in Chicago, noticed a lady teaching a class of about forty
middle-aged men, in the gallery. Looking at her and then at the
class, he said to Mr. Moody, ' Is not that lady altogether too young
to teach such a class of men ? She seems to me very youthful for
such a position.' Mr. Moody replied, 'She gets along very well,
and seems to succeed in her teaching.' The stranger did not appear
to be altogether satisfied. He walked about the school, evidently
in an anxious state of mind. In a few moments he approached the
superintendent again, and, with becoming gravity, said, ' Mr.
Moody, I can not but feel that that lady must be altogether too
young to instruct such a large company of men. Will you, sir,
please to inform me who she is?' ' Certainly,1 replied Mr. Moody,
' that is my wife.' The stranger made no more inquiries, and
nothing occurred to indicate the state of his mind during the remain
der of his visit "

One of the members of his family has said, " No man ever
paid greater homage to his wife than Mr. Moody. I never met
with a happier couple. In every way he deferred to her. She
answered all his voluminous correspondence. She was the person

I20 GIVING UP BUSINESS

to whom he always spoke of his plans and his work. No trouble
was too great for him. if he could save her any bother or every-day,
ordinary little troubles."

Mrs. Moody has done some remarkable work in the inquiry
meetings held in different parts of the country. One of my dear
friends is Mr. E. P. Brown, for a long time the editor of the
Ram's Horn. I knew him in the days of his infidelity. A more
bitter infidel I have never known in my life. He has told me how
one night he entered the Chicago Avenue Church that he
might criticise Moody in his article which he was writing for his
infidel paper. Mr. Moody's sermon was on the father of the
prodigal, and looking squarely into the face of my friend, he said,
" My friend, the father of the prodigal is the picture of God, and
as the father of the prodigal is waiting for his son, so God is wait
ing for you."

" I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HIM "

E. P. Brown was startled. He has since said : " I heard
the theologians talk about God, and I hated Him, but I had a
father and I knew what his love was, and I found myself saying,
If this is the true picture of God then I would like to know Him."
When the invitation was given for the inquiry meeting, E. P,
Brown accepted it, and it was Mrs. Moody who gave him help
which finally led him out of his darkness of unbelief and led him
into the glorious light and liberty in which he now stands as a son
of God.

This is but one instance. Hundreds of others might be
repeated. We can quite understand, therefore, how it is that from
the very day when D. L. Moody determined to give up his business
to the last moment of his life when he said good-bye to his beloved
wife, she was more helpful and inspiring to him than any other
person in the world.

GIVING UP BUSINESS

X3 1

Mr. Moody's family consists of three children.

William Revell Moody, his eldest child, has ever been the
constant companion of his father, who relied upon him. If a
father's mantle may fall upon his son's shoulders, William R.
Moody in his father's purpose and plan, ought to lead in the carry
ing on of his great work. He is a graduate of Yale and is a
consecrated Christian man with a great desire to do everything his
father could wish. He is happily married to the eldest daughter
of Major D. W. Whittle. It was with great pleasure that the
Christian world knew that in this way these two families so greatly
used of God were so happily to be brought into closer and more
sacred relations. Mrs. W. R. Moody is the author of the hymn
" Moment by Moment' ', and has been very useful in Christian service
both at home and abroad.

MR. MOODY'S FAMILY

Emma Moody Fitt, Mr. Moody's second child, was as near to
him as a daughter can be to her father. The most intense affec
tion made them one in their interests and work. She is the wife
of Mr. A. P. Fitt, for some time Mr. Moody's private secretary,
and latterly his valued helper in every way. I have heard Mr.
Moody say again and again, " I do not know how I should get
along, if it were not for Fitt." He has been the superintendent
and prime mover in the colportage work in Chicago, and Mr.
Moody's work in general owes much to his faithful, untiring and
affectionate interest.

Paul, the second son and youngest child, is a member of the
Junior Class at Yale College. An earnest, active Christian young
man, he is making his life tell for Christ among the students and giv
ing great promise of future usefulness in the world. Very many peo
ple look to him in future days largely to carry on his father's public
work.

CHAPTER IX.

Moody and Sankey

AN international convention of the Young- Men's Christian
Association was held at Indianapolis in June, 1870. Mr.
Moody attended. During the convention an early morning
prayer- meeting was conducted in a church adjoining the hall where
the convention was held. Mr. Moody led this meeting.

Ira D. Sankey, who at that time was Assistant Collector of
Revenue in New Castle, Pa., but whose interest in religious work
had made him an active worker in the field, had come to Indianapolis
to attend the convention. He had heard of Mr. Moody, but had
never seen him, and learning that the Chicago preacher was to lead
this morning meeting, he yielded to a strong impulse and attended.

MR. SANKEY'S FIRST SINGING AT A MOODY MEETING

When Mr. Sankey entered, the singing was being led by a man
who was dragging through a long metre hymn in the slow old-
fashioned way. Mr. Sankey was scarcely seated when some one
touched his elbow, and turning around, he discovered that he was
sitting beside the Rev. Robert McMillen, with whom he happened
to be well acquainted. Mr. McMillen whispered to Mr. Sankey
that nobody present seemed able to put any life into the singing,
adding, " When that man who is praying gets through, I wish you
would start up something."

Without waiting for any further invitation, Mr. Sankey arose
and sang with wonderful feeling,

122

MOODY AND SAN KEY 123

"There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains. ' '

The power and fervor of the singer's voice was such that the
congregation forgot to join in the chorus, and Mr. Sankey finished
the hymn by himself.

The effect of this song was not missed by Mr. Moody. At
the close of the service, when Mr. McMillen brought Mr. Sankey
forward, Mr. Moody stepped to one side and took the singer by
the hand. " Where do you come from ?" he asked. " Pennsyl
vania," replied Mr. Sankey. "Are you married or single?''
" Married ; I have a wife and one child." " What business are you
in?" "I am a government official connected with the Internal
Revenue service," answered Mr. Sankey, not realizing what motive
was subjecting him to such cross-examination.

A SUDDEN PROPOSITION

"Well, "said Mr. Moody, decidedly, "you will have to give
that up ; I have been looking for you for eight years." Mr. Sankey
stood amazed and was at a loss to understand just what Mr. Moody
meant by telling him that he would have to give up a comfortable
position, and he was so taken aback for a few seconds that he could
scarcely reply. At last, however, recovering from his astonish
ment, he asked the evangelist what he meant. Mr. Moody promptly
explained. "You will have to give up your government position
and come with me. You are just the man I have been looking
for, for a long time. I want you to come with me ; you can do the
s:nging, and I will do the talking."

The proposition did not sound particularly attractive to Mr.
Sankey, and he told Mr. Moody, that he did not feel he could
accept it and begged for time in which to consider the matter.

124

MOODY AND SAN KEY

Mr. Moody asked him if he would join him in prayer in regard to
it, and the singer replied that he would most gladly do so. Says
Mr. Sankey, " I presume I prayed one way and he prayed an
other ; however, it took him only six months to pray me out of
business." It was true that Mr. Moody was praying that Mr.
Sankey would see his way clear to do as he had asked, while Mr.
Sankey was arguing with himself against the proposition. This
first meeting between the two men was on Sunday. All that day
and night Mr. Sankey thought over Mr. Moody's words, but the
next morning found him still inclined to stick to the government
position with its assured salary.

A STREET SERVICE

Just at a moment when he was in considerable doubt as to
the suitable course, a card was brought him which on examination
proved to be from Mr. Moody. It requested him to meet Mr.
Moody at a certain street corner that evening at six o'clock. Mr.
Sankey did not know what he was wanted for, but he accepted the
invitation, and, accompanied by a few friends, met the appointment
promptly. In a few minutes Mr. Moody appeared, and without
stopping to speak, walked into a store on the corner and asked per
mission to use a dry-goods box. The permission granted, the
evangelist rolled a large box out to the edge of the sidewalk, and
then calling Mr. Sankey aside asked him to climb up and sing
something. Mr. Sankey complied. A crowd began to collect, and
Mr. Moody getting upon the box began to preach. Mr. Sankey
says of that sermon, " He preached that evening as I had never
heard any man preach before." The hearers, most of them working-
men on their way home from the mills and factories, were elec
trified. They hung on every word, apparently forgetting that they
were tired and hungry, and when Mr. Moody closed, which he was

MOODY AND SAN KEY 137

femed to do by the density of the crowd, he announced that he
would hold another meeting at the Academy of Music, and invited
the crowd to accompany him there. Arm in arm with Mr. Moody,
Mr. Sankey marched down the street singing hymn after hymn as
he went, the crowd following closely at their heels. Mr. Sankey
has since declared that this was his first experience in Salva
tion Army methods. The meeting in the Academy of Music
was necessarily brief because the convention was soon to come
together, oddly enough to discuss the question, " How shall we
reach the masses?" and as the delegates came in Mr. Moody, with
a short prayer dismissed the meeting.

MR. SANKEY JOINS FORCES WITH MR. MOODY

Although deeply affected by the power of Mr. Moody's inspir
ing message, Mr. Sankey was still undecided. He went home to
talk the matter over with his wife, and to her the proposed partner
ship seemed, at that time, an unwarranted and injudicious step, but
after several months, the influence of Mr. Moody's invitation still
working in him, he went by request to Chicago and spent a week
with Mr. Moody. For several days they worked together in church,
in Sunday school, in saloons and drinking dens, joining their gifts
of speaking and singing to bring light to the discouraged and the
sinful. When the week was over, Mr. Sankey had decided. He
sent his resignation to Hugh McCulloch, who at that time was
Secretary of the Treasury ; another veteran of the War was given
his place in the Internal Revenue Service, and Mr. Sankey joined
forces with Mr. Moody.

This was about six months before the great Chicago fire.
When that tidal wave of flame overwhelmed that part of Chicago
where Mr. Moody's work was especially located, and destroyed
his church and his home, the evangelist's plans were for a
time completely disarranged, and he went for a tour in the

128 MOODY AND SAN KEY

Eastern States, while Mr. Sankey returned to his home in Penn
sylvania. But when the new tabernacle sprang from the ashes of
the old, the two brethren once more began their labors, taking up
their lodgings in anterooms of the great rough building, and
throwing themselves heart and soul into the effort to bring the
unfortunate people to Christ. This work in the rough chapel
among the ruins was signalized by a great revival. While Mr.
Moody was on his second visit to Great Britain in 1872, Mr.
Sankey took charge of the meetings. Mr. Moody had gone more
especially to attend the Mildmay Conference in London. When he
returned, he found that Mr. Sankey had received an especial baptism
of the Holy Spirit, and that the blessings of his work had been
increased a thousand fold by the responsibilities which had been left
with him.

MR. SANKEY FOLLOWS MR. MOODY TO ENGLAND

It was about this time, possibly under the influence of this
second trip to England, that Mr. Moody decided upon that third
tour which was to bring to Great Britain a spiritual regeneration
such as had not been known since the days of John Wesley. Mr.
Moody said to his co-worker, " You have often proposed that we
make an evangelizing journey together ; now let us go to
England."

Again Mr. Sankey found himself in some doubt as to his
proper decision. It happened that he was then considering an
offer from Mr. Phillips to go to the Pacific Coast and give a series
of " Evenings of Song." Fortunately he again decided to follow
Mr. Moody. Possibly he was influenced in his decision by a
realization that if he went with Mr. Phillips he would be associated
with a man whose gifts were similar to his own, a condition which
might lead to difficulties, while if he went with Mr. Moody he
would have his own work to do entirely separate from the work of

MOODY AND SANKEY I29

Mr. Moody, although complementary to it. So attended by his
little family, he trustfully set forth with Mr. Moody and his family,
June 7, 1873, on a journey of four thousand miles.

The joyful, prayerful singing of the Gospel hymns by Mr.
Sankey was a revelation of unexpected truth and grace to the
people of the British Isles. In Scotland especially, the masses
were moved by him. With an indescribable impulse, the cautious,
distrustful followers of John Knox, worshippers who for genera
tions had been accustomed to reject as uninspired all other services
of praise than their own rude version of the Psalms, now listened
with delight to the music which fell like a blessing from the lips of
the most gifted Christian singer of the time.

SANKEY'S SINGING IN EDINBURGH

One of his hearers has thus described the impression made by
Mr. Sankey's singing in Edinburgh. " 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 Passeth By'. 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 draws 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 am
Chinking of singing ' I am so Glad ' to-night. ' O ! ' said the

1 30 MOODY AND

young man, 'please rather sing 'Jesus of Nazareth.' An old man
told me to-day that he had been awakened by it the last night you
were down. He said, 'It just went through me like an electric
shock.' A gentleman in Edinburgh was in distress of soul, and
happened to linger in a pew after the noon meeting. The choir
had remained to practice and began, ' Free from the Law, O,
Happy Condition.' Quickly the Spirit of God carried the truth
home to the awakened conscience, and he was at last in the finished

work of Jesus."

SANKEY'S FAVORITE HYMN

Mr. Sankey's hymns were gathered from a hundred sources.
A great many of them are to-day known by every child in the land
and are remembered by many other persons as means of grace in
their own conversions. Of all his songs the favorite was,
" The Ninety and Nine". This beautiful hymn has an interesting
little history.

While Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey were m the Highlands of
Scotland they were subjected to some criticisms because Mr. Sankey's
music was so much of a deviation from the established music of the
Scotch churches. Anxious not to offend the prejudices of any in the
multitudes whom they were meeting, Mr. Sankey cast about him for
a song which might satisfy not only the hearts, but the ears as well of
the rough shepherds of the Highlands. One day in the corner of a
newspaper he found the words of " The Ninety and Nine". They
had originally been printed in The Christian, of Boston, Mass.,
and were reprinted in England in The Rock. The melody came to
him like an inspiration. The first time he sang it, it was not even
written out. It is natural that a song like this should have ap
pealed to the shepherds of Scotland, to whom its sentiment came
with an especially pleasing force. It became their favorite among
Mr. Sankey's songs, and when he went to Ireland and England it

MOOD Y AND SAN KEY 1 3 1

was called for more, and appreciated more, than any other song in
his collection.

It was also said of the results of Mr. Sankey's singing, "The
wave of sacred song has spread over Ireland and is now sweeping
through England, but indeed it is not being confined to the United
Kingdom alone. Far away on the shores of India, and in many
other lands, these sweet songs of the Saviour's love are being sung."

"HE SANG THE GOSPEL "

It was not alone the novelty of his method that aroused
interest in Mr. Sankey's songs to such a high degree. He possessed
a voice of unusual purity and strength, and even when facing a
great congregation of seventeen or eighteen thousand people, could
make every word which he uttered so distinct that it was heard on
the very outskirts of the throng. His vocal method has been
criticised, undoubtedly with justice, but it can be said that, whether
his method was correct or incorrect artistically, it was at least
effective. Patti at her best could not move hearers with her sing
ing in the way that Mr. Sankey won the hearts of his audiences.
He literally, as he himself proclaimed, "sang the Gospel ".

This phrase, novel as it was, was criticised by many staid
conservatives in the matter of religion, but its truth cannot be

o

questioned. If it were not true how could it have 'been that so
many should have been led to Christ through the influence of that
marvelous singing. An English journal has told of a little girl
only ten years old who had listened with delight to Mr. Sankey's
singing. " O 1" she said, " How I love those dear hymns 1 When 1
am gone, mother, will you ask the girls of the school to sing the hymn.

* Ring the bells of Heaven !

There is joy to-day,
For a soul returning from the wild ;

See the Father meets him out upon the way,
Welcoming his weary, wandering child.' "

132 MOODY AND SAN KE±

The night before her death, she said, " Dear father and mother,
I hope I shall meet you in Heaven. You cannot think how bright
and happy I feel," and half an hour before her departure she
exclaimed, "O! mother, listen to the bells of Heaven, they are
ringing so beautifully." She closed her eyes awhile, but presently
she cried again, "Hearken to the harps, they are most splendid;
O ! I wish you could hear them," and then, " O ! mother, I see
the Lord Jesus and the angels. O, if you could see them too !
He is sending one to fetch me !" About five minutes before her
last breath she said, " Lift me up from the pillow ; high, high up !
O ! I wish you could lift me right up into Heaven !" Then doubt
less conscious that the parting moment was at hand, " Put me down
again, quick," and calmly, joyously, brightly, with her eyes upward,
as if gazing upon some vision of surpassing beauty, she peacefully
breathed forth her spirit into the arms of the ministering angels
whom Jesus had sent for her. How can we measure what the
voice of the singer had done for that little girl, y

A NOVELTY IN RELIGIOUS WORK

An innovation in Mr. Sankey's singing was the use of the parlor
organ to accompany himself. Wherever he went this little instru
ment was placed upon the platform for his use, and it is doubtful if
he could have found anything more effective for his accompaniment.
Criticised it was, for, like " singing the Gospel," it was a novelty in
religious work and, therefore, was frowned upon by those who felt
that established methods should never be violated. It was even
charged that he had been sent to England by a firm of organ
makers who paid him a large salary on the condition that he use
their organs in his services. This charge was denied both by the
organ makers and by Mr. Sankey, and it does not seem likely that
a man, who by agreement with Mr. Moody, turned over a fortune

MOOD Y AND SANKE Y l ^

in royalties on books of song to charitable and religious purposes,
would stoop to accept such an unworthy tribute.

At a children's meeting in Edinburgh in 1874, Mr. Sankey
related the following incident : " I want to speak a word about
singing, not only to the little folks, but also to grown people. Dur
ing the winter after the great Chicago fire, when the place was
'built up with little frame houses for the poor people to stay in, a
mother sent for me one day to come to see her little child, who was
one of our Sunday school pupils. I remembered the little girl very
well, having often seen her in our meetings, and was glad to go.

A LITTLE GIRL'S TESTIMONY

She was lying in one of the poor little huts, all the property of
the family having been destroyed by the fire. I ascertained that she
was beyond 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 beautiful smile on her face, she said, ' It is all well with me
to-day. I wish you would speak to my father and mother.' ' But/
said I, ' are you a Christian ? ' ' Yes.' ' When did you become one ? '
' Do you remember last Thursday in the Tabernacle when we had
that little singing meeting, and you sang, 'Jesus Loves Even Me?'
' Yes.' 4 It was last Thursday I believed on the Lord Jesus, and
now I am going to be with Him to-day.' That testimony from
that little girl in that neglected quarter of Chicago has clone more
to stimulate me and to bring me to this country than all that the
papers or any persons might say. I remember the joy I felt when
I looked upon that beautiful child face. She went up to Heaven,
and no doubt said that she learned upon earth that Jesus loved her,
from that little hymn. If you want to enjoy a blessing, go to the
couches of the bedridden and dying ones, and sing to them of
Jesus, for they cannot enjoy these meetings as you do, and you will
get a great blessing to your own soul."

j 34 MOOD Y AND SANKE Y

A story is told of a young Highlander who had lived far from
the Lord for so long that his pastor had come to believe that the
truth could not touch him, but one day he was found deeply
awakened. When asked what had brought about this change in his
feelings he said that it was the result of hearing his little sister

sing

"When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His Jewels. "

During the great revival in Scotland, a certain writer said,
" 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."

WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL RETURNS

Mr. Moody's preaching, Mr. Sankey's singing — how indisso-
lubly these two are associated in the minds of millions of people !
And how wonderful were the spiritual returns that this partnership
brought ! Often Mr. Moody's words would bring a sinner to the
point of conviction, and then the tender pathos of Mr. Sankey's
singing would let a great flood of blessing into that sinner's soul,
and the softening- influences would work until he would cry out in

O

his joy, " I am saved ! " And, on the other hand, when a meeting
had just begun, and away back in the farthest corners men were
sitting who had come in a scoffing mood, or out of curiosity, to hear
the evangelists, the preliminary song of Mr. Sankey would rouse
the attention of those persons, and they would try to get nearer the
platform, and by the time Mr. Moody was ready to speak, they
would have forgotten why they had come, in their eagerness to
hear the preacher's message.

Mr. Sankey's singing was as direct in its appeal to the in
dividual as Mr. Moody's speaking. Their was no sentimental

MOODY AND SAN KEY 137

clap-trap about either, in spite of the charge which we have fre
quently heard to that effect against the " Gospel hymns ". Music,
of all the arts, is now in the highest development. John Addington
Symonds in his story of the Renaissance tells us that the form of
art in which any given generation finds the most perfect expression
for its ideals of beauty depends upon the nature of the religious
feeling of that generation, Thus, the mysticism of the mediaeval
CrrBrch was typified in the symbolism, the lofty aspiration of
Gothic architecture ; the rich formalism, the sensuous comprehen
siveness of the Church of Rome in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries established the ideals and led to the feelings which were
spread in glowing colors upon the canvasses of the greatest painters
the world has ever known ; while, in present times, the develop
ment of religious life to a plane of lofty hope, brotherly love, and
a consciousness of salvation has found its highest expression in

music.

A BLESSED PARTNERSHIP

Music comes from the heart in a way that words cannot ; there
are times when its appeal is resistless, and so, for nearly thirty
years, to the sound sense of Mr. Moody's words, illumined as they
were by the reflection of a great heart, was added the appeal of
Mr. Sankey's song. Surely this partnership was blessed beyond
our comprehension.

It has been wonderful the way Mr. Sankey's song has been
carried beyond the mere locality of utterance. An illustration of
the way m which it heralded and accompanied the Gospel message
as sent out from the words of his brother evangelist is found in the
letter of a traveler who was going from England to France in 1875.
" It has been perfectly delightful," he says " to find traces of the
work everywhere. While waiting at - - I heard a porter filling
the whole station with the ' Sweet Bye and Bye.' As he came up to

138 MOODY AND SAN KEY

my carriage, I was struck with his bright, cheery face and spoke to
him. The man's face glowed when he talked of Mr. Moody and Mr.
Sankey. * * Sunday afternoon at - — , I was alone in

the reading room and began to sing to myself one of ' the hymns '.
Presently the door creaked, and on looking up I saw that a whole
bevy of maids had gathered and were listening attentively. It was
so unlike what foreign servants would do, I felt sure that they must
be English, and I knew that if I moved they would run away, so I
sano- on as if I had not seen them. Then an old gentleman came

o

in, and on my stopping, said, ' O ! don't stop, but please sing
'The Home Over There'. He went on to tell that he had been
sitting gloomily in his room when he heard a Sankey hymn. How
one is taught every day that one's ' times ' are not in one's own
hands ! I wanted to sing for my own selfish gratification ; but I
was shamed by being shown how it might be used, for others came
in after, and a band of us sang ' Hold the Fort', a specially neces
sary command it seems when traveling abroad."

CHAPTRR X.

Evangelistic Work in England, Ireland and

Scotland

WHEN Mr. Moody arrived at Liverpool, June 27, 1873, he
set foot upon English soil for the third time. His former
trips had been brief ; now he had come with a determina
tion "to win ten thousand souls for Christ." The first word
received on landing was disappointing. He learned that the two
friends who had invited him to England, the Rev. Mr. Pennefather,
rector of the Mildmay Park Church, in London, and Mr. Cuthbert
Bainbridge, an eminent Wesleyan layman, had recently died. A
third invitation had been given by Mr. George Bennett, Secretary
of the Young Men's Christian Association in York.

THE OUTLOOK NOT ENCOURAGING

Mr. Moody telegraphed to Mr. Bennett announcing his arrival
and readiness to begin work, but the reply stated that there was so
little religious warmth in York that it would take at least a month
to get ready for the meetings. Mr. Moody, however, was not
afraid of the prevalent spiritual frost. He telegraphed to his
friend, " I will be in York to-night," and at 10 o'clock in the even
ing arrived in that city, unheralded and unknown.

The outlook was not encouraging, but Mr. Moody sent for
Mr. Sankey, who had gone from Liverpool to Manchester, and the
meetings began at once. Only eight persons attended the first
meeting. The other meetings on this first Sunday betrayed a

139

140 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

somewhat wider interest, but during the following week the con
gregations were very small indeed. The second week was marked
by some improvement, and before the month was over, in spite of
the coldness manifested by the ministers of the place, the work
had made a considerable impression. The inquiry meetings were an
innovation in English services, but they orew in favor and became

»j> J ^>

more and more an important instrument of spiritual success.
The number of converts at York was in the neighborhood of two
hundred. The work closed with an all-day meeting, beginning
with an hour for conversation and prayer and continued with an
hour for praise, a promise meeting, a witness meeting, a Bible
lecture by Mr. Moody, and finally a communion service. The
meetings were chiefly held in chapels, the evangelist preferring
not to go to public halls for fear of seeming to neglect the rjegu-
larly established forms of worship.

SUNDERLAND

After attending some of Mr. Moody's meetings at York, the
Rev. Arthur Rees, a liberal Baptist clergyman of Sunderland,
invited the American evangelists to come and help him in his
work. Accordingly Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey began meetings
in Mr. Rees' chapel, Sunday, July 27th. Here, as at York, coldness
had to be delt with, and moreover the evangelists had been
heralded from the scene of their first labors by criticism rather
than by praise. Still from the first large congregations attended
the meetings, although there is little doubt that the early motive
of attendance was curiosity.

Gradually the people of Sunderland awoke. In order to
avoid the appearance of sectarianism, Mr. Moody had the meet
ings removed to the Victoria Hall, though overflow meetings were
generally conducted in various chapels.

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 141

Even after the power of the Spirit took hold of the people
of Sunderland, ministerial criticism of the evangelists' course
increased, but Mr. Moody was not without friends. None of the
attacks troubled him so long as the Holy Spirit was manifested in
the meetings and people were being converted. At the close of
the month the results were not what he had hoped for, but it is
interesting to note that long after the evangelists had left, and
when news of the great work of God through them in Scotland
came back to Sunderland, the city was stirred profoundly, and
moved to genuine revival power.

NEWCASTLE

By invitation of the Rev. David Lowe, Mr. Moody went from
Sunderland to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, spending a few days in
Jarrow on the way. lie was greeted at Newcastle by Mr. Thomas
Bainbridge, a brother of one of the friends who had invited him
to England.

At Newcastle the fire was kindled which was to mightily
move Great Britain. Ministerial opposition was overcome, five
of the principal chapels of the town being offered for the services.
Mr. Moody accepted the use of the Rye Hill Baptist Chapel, a
large edifice, and within a fortnight crowds were turned away for
want of room. All the neighboring towns and villages felt
the spiritual impulse, and in response to requests hundreds of
meetings were held outside the city by multiplying assistants of
the evangelist.

Mr. Moody, in order to prevent the exclusion of the uncon
verted by the crowds of Christians who attended the meetings,

* o '

now began to divide his congregations into classes, giving tickets
of admission to the various services. Meetings for merchants
were held in the Assembly Hall ; meetings for mechanics were held

I43 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

at the Tyne Theatre, and in each instance the size of the crowds
usually necessitated three or four overflow meetings.

The name and residence of every inquirer was made a matter of
record, and in order that assistants in the inquiry room should be more
fitted to the purpose, tickets were issued to clergymen and other men
of practical experience in Christian work, that they might help in
the great work of leading souls to Christ. At first most of the con
versions were among the educated classes, but afterward the work
became more general. The noon prayer meetings which had been
commenced previous to the arrival of Mr. Moody, by way of pre
paration, had grown to remarkable proportions, while Mr. Moody's
afternoon Bible readings drew even from the ranks of busy
merchants and professional men. Two whole-day meetings or
conferences were held. During the last week of the meetings, the
jubilee Singers began their connection with the work.

As a result of this month's work, hundreds of converts were
received into the churches, and the whole North of England was
aroused. Scores of Christian workers were sent out to carry the
good tidings to the remoter districts, and the stimulus to the
various churches proved unprecedented. Mr. Moody and Mr.
Sankey now moved toward Scotland, holding on the way brief,
though successful, series of meetings in a number of small cities.

EDINBURGH.

To understand the influence of the labors of Mr. Moody and
Mr. Sankey in Scotland, it is important to know something of the
rise and progress of her Christian character. This takes us back to
the Reformation, to the Christian organization of John Knox. In
all subsequent struggles Scotland realized that the work of the
Reformers had had much to do in fostering the zeal and spiritual
independence for which her people were ever distinguished.

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 143

Down to the close of the last century the light of the Reformation
shone clearly, but an eclipse came, and it was not until the appear
ance of the brothers James and Robert Haldane that the sun
again burst forth. These men, with Mr. Simeon, an evangelical
clergyman of Cambridge, were Scotland's first great evangelists.
In ten years they established more than one hundred independent
churches, providing also for the training of ministers. The next
era was the disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843. This,
strangely enough, proved to be the beginning of Christian union,
for non-conformist brethren offered to the ministers who had given
up their livings and entered the Free Church of Scotland the use
of their churches for half of every Sunday. Thenceforward there
was one body in Christian work.

Mr. Moody's meetings commenced late in November in the
Free Church Assembly Hall. From the first no place in Fclin-
burgh could contain the crowds. Three or four of the largest
halls and churches were constantly in use, and even then it was
necessary to come to the place of meeting an hour or two before
the appointed time in order to be sure of admittance. The con
verts were numbered by thousands. The awakening among the
nominal church members could hardly be described. As an ex
ample of the thoroughness of the work it is stated that at one
meeting, composed of sixty-six young men, sixty were converted
before they left the place.

The watch-night meeting, which closed the year 1873, was
perhaps the most remarkable service that had ever been held in
Edinburgh. For five full hours a great audience, many of them
obliged to stand, praised God and gave their testimony to the
work of His saving grace in them. The Christian Conference
on January 4th was attended by about 150 ministers; such a

144 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

meeting had never been seen in Edinburgh before. The fare
well meeting was held in the fields on the slope of Arthur's
Seat, there being no building which could accommodate the multi
tudes who wished to join in the last service of their brethren from
America. As a result of the work in Edinburgh fully 3,000 per
sons were received into the churches.

THE WORK IN SCOTLAND CONTINUED.

From Edinburgh Mr. Moody went to Dundee, January 2ist,
and for several weeks the visitations with which the Holy Spirit
had blessed other cities came to this old stronghold of Scottish
faith.

The meetings began at Glasgow on February 8th. Three thou
sand Sunday-school teachers surrounded the evangelists in the City
Hall at the first meeting. An hour before the time for the ser
vices such a crowd had assembled that four large churches in the
neighborhood were filled by the overflow. Mr. Moody had been
in Glasgow in 1872, when he had attracted no attention ; now from
the start the revival work exhibited a power almost unparalleled.
The Glasgow noon prayer meeting had been commenced during
the week of prayer for Scotland, which was held in Edinburgh a
month before the evangelists went to Glasgow. This preparation
was not in vain.

At first, church-going people were affected. Then the hand
of God touched the great masses of the population who were
without the fold. Meetings were held in the streets and squares
of the city ; fathers and mothers met to pray for the conversion of
their children ; children's meetings were also held. The great con
ference of Christian workers at the Kibble Crystal Palace in the
Botanic Gardens, April 16, renewed the vigor of all departments
of home missionary work in Scotland.

D WIGHT L. MOODY— Photograph from the painting presented to him by his English
friends in 1884. This photograph was made by our photographer at the home of Mr. Moody,
at Northfield, the day following the funeral, December 27, 1899.

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 147

The last meetings were the greatest of all. Going to the
evening service the carriage of Mr. Moody was almost blocked by
the dense throngs which surrounded the Crystal Palace, and, seeing
the multitudes, the evangelist determined to preach from the
carriage, as there were more without the building than within.
Those inside the palace, learning of the change of program, im
mediately joined the throng outside, and the service which followed
was one of wonderful effect. At the close of the discourse, Mr.
Moody invited inquirers to meet him at the palace, and this
great audience hall was filled. Large numbers gave themselves to
Christ. It was at Glasgow that Henry Drummond was drawn to
this great evangelistic movement.

While in Glasgow the evangelists made several brief excur
sions to neighboring cities.

THE TOUR IN THE NORTH

About the middle of May, Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey, after
a "tnree days' visit to Edinburgh, went northward through Scotland,
stopping in Perth, Montrose, Aberdeen, Inverness, and in some
other towns. To the very end of Scotland, to John'-o'-Groat's
house, the evangelists went, meeting crowds of people at every
/'lopping place, and holding service after service, generally in the
rpen air. At Aberdeen 12,000 to 20,000 people attended the out-
r'xDor services; at Inverness the meetings were held at the time of
Hie annual wool fair, and many were reached who had been spend
ing their lives beyond the reach of the churches. On returning
from the north, farewell meetings were held in some of the places
Vvhere the evangelists had labored.

THE EVANGELISTS GO TO IRELAND

Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey had received invitations from
many different quarters, and they now decided prayerfully that the

i48 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

greatest opportunity before them lay in Ireland. Accordingly they
bade good-bye to Scotland, and on September 6th, held the first meet
ing in Belfast, at Dougal Square Chapel. The second meeting
was held in a larger church, while the evening meeting was ad
journed to a still larger place of worship, with seating capacity for
about two thousand persons, which was only about one-quarter
of those who tried to gain admission. In fact, in Ireland the at
tendance upon the meetings was but a repetition of the crowded
following which had sought to come under the spell of the Ameri
can workers in Scotland. On Monday a noon prayer meeting was
commenced, and that, too, had to be adjourned to a larger building.
It became necessary here, as in Scotland, to divide the audiences,
so that men's meetings, women's meetings etc., etc., were held.
There were several great open air meetings. On one occasion two
hundred young men gave themselves to Christ.

The evangelists had been invited to Londonderry by a com
mittee of the Young Men's Christian Association, and there they
went for four days, beginning October nth, holding a number of
notable meetings, and returning to Belfast on the i5th, to hold
their farewell services there. The final inquiry meeting at Belfast
was attended by about 2,400 persons, admitted by ticket ; 2, 150 con
verts' tickets were given before the close of the evening service.

DUBLIN.

The difficulty of finding a place large enough for the meetings
had led Mr. Moody to name to the brethren at Dublin, as a condi
tion of his coming, the engagement of the Exhibition Palace. This
condition was met ; the Palace was engaged, and on October 24th,
Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey arrived in the Irish capital.

There were in Dublin only about 40,000 Protestants, out
of a population of 250,000, but the denominational line was

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 149

frequently crossed by the work of the evangelists. Indeed,
so deep was the encroachment of the revival upon the Roman
Catholic population, that Cardinal Cullen felt himself called
upon to interdict the attendance of his flock upon the Pro
testant meetings. In spite of this, many Roman Catholics were
converted. Mr. Moody was unable to see why the line be
tween Roman Catholicism and Protestantism should be observed
in his work any more than the lines between different Protestant
denominations. The fact that a man had a soul to save was a
sufficient call to enlist his energies.

At Dublin, the Bible readings were, perhaps, valued more than
any other of the services. One unique meeting was held for the
soldiers of the garrison of Curragh, who attended in large numbers
and were won by the stories and the earnest logic of the speaker.
An organized society of Atheists tried their hand at opposing Mr.
Moody by introducing their members into the inquiry meetings,
but the scheme was discovered, and the intruders were not allowed
to enter into debate or useless conversation.

The thoroughness with which the hearts of the Irish people
were touched was evidenced by their liberality in providing funds to
meet the expenses of the meetings. ,£1,500 were required, and
5,000 or 6,000 of the leading citizens of Dublin were invited by
circular to contribute. There were only two instances of per
sonal solicitation, but the money came in so rapidly that it was
difficult to keep track of it. Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey did
not work for pay ; they took whatever the Committees on Finance
in the various cities where they were conducting services regarded
as a suitable remuneration, — this in spite of the inevitable criticism
made by opponents of the movement that the evangelists were " in
the business for the money they could get out of it ".

i5o EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

Dublin was merely the center of the revival interest. All over
Ireland the spell was so powerful, that the mere announcement in a
village that some man who had been to the Dublin services would
tell what he had seen there, was sufficient to draw a great crowd.
The meetings closed on November 2Qth, after a conference of three
days, which was attended by about 800 ministers. The meeting for
converts on the second day of the conference called together about
2,000 persons. When their labors ended, Mr. Moody and Mr.
Sankey went once more to England, this time not unheralded.

In Ireland, as in Scotland, the spirit which they had aroused
continued to manifest itself in many increasing results.

THE EVANGELISTS RETURN TO ENGLAND

The first meetings of the new campaign in England, were held
at Manchester. Within a week it was said, " Manchester is now
on fire." The services here were not marked so much by that joy
ful spirit which had characterized the evangelism of Scotland and
Ireland, as by a solemn earnestness, and the influence of the meet
ings proper was extended in a great many practical ways throughout
the city and its environs.

An important result in Manchester was the impulse given by
Mr. Moody to the Young Men's Christian Association movement.
He held one meeting after which a large collection was given
toward a new building for the Association, and this sum proved the
nucleus of more than ,£30,000 which was ultimately raised for the
purpose. Nearly 500 names were added to the roll of active mem
bers of the Association.

SHEFFIELD AND BIRMINGHAM

Meetings were held in Sheffield, beginning on the night of
December 31, 1874. It was not easy to arouse the unimpressible
metal workers of Sheffield, and at first considerable disappointment

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 15 r

was felt in the results of the services, but it was not long before the
power of the evangelists' message became manifest.

Leaving Sheffield thoroughly awakened, Mr. Moody and Mr.
Sankey went to Birmingham where their meetings began on Janu
ary 1 7th, being held in the great Town Hall with its seating capacity
for 5,000 persons. In the evening the services were held in Ring-
ley Hall, a great enclosed area which was customarily engaged for
the annual cattle show. In spite of its accommodations for 10,000
or 12,000 persons, the immense building was thronged every even
ing, an hour before the time of service. The conference with
which the Birmingham meetings closed was attended by minis
ters from all parts of Great Britain. After the departure of the
"brethren from America", the work of grace continued just as it
had in every city which they had visited.

LIVERPOOL.

Mr. Moody came to Liverpool as an old friend. As the city
contained no hall large enough for his purposes, an immense tem
porary structure, called the Victoria Hall, had been erected. It
held about 10,000 persons, and the expense of building it was met
by voluntary contributions, no direct solicitation being made. This
was the first hall erected during the campaign especially for revival
services At the first meeting two-thirds of the congregation
were young men. The noon prayer meeting was sometimes at
tended by 5,000 or 6,000 persons. Eighteen services were held
each week in the Victoria Hall, and the Gospel was also carried
into the streets and byways, and missionary services were held in
warerooms and in stables, as well as in the open.

It was during one of the Liverpool meetings, that Mr.
Moody gave a remarkable exhibition of his organizing abilities. A
great meeting was being held and the theme for discussion was,

9

1 52 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

"How to reach the Masses". One of the speakers expressed the
opinion that the chief want of the masses in Liverpool was the
institution of cheap houses of refreshment to counteract the
saloons. When he had finished, Mr. Moody asked him to continue
speaking for ten minutes longer, and no sooner was this time up
when Mr. Moody sprang to his feet and announced that a company
had been formed to carry out the objects the speaker had advocated ;
that various eentlemen had taken 1,000 shares of £i each, and

o

that the subscription lists would be open until the end of the
meeting. The capital was gathered before adjournment, and the
company was soon floated, being known as " The British Work
men Company, Limited". It has not only worked a revolution in
Liverpool, but has paid a handsome dividend as well.

During the month at Liverpool, the number of persons con
verted, or awakened, ran into the thousands. The inquiry rooms
were invariably crowded.

THE LONDON REVIVAL.

"If I come to London," Mr. Moody had said, "you will need
to raise ,£5,000 for expenses of halls, advertising, etc." " We have
/i orooo already," was the reply. This shows the spirit in which
the efforts of Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey in the Metropolis of the
world were anticipated. The work of preparation had been carried
on by able committees. Preliminary daily prayer meetings were

crowded,

It was decided to attack the city in the four quarters. The
meetings began in the north and were held in the great Agricul
tural Hall. The congregations in this immense structure averaged
during the first week about 18,000 persons, but it was impossible
to make so large a number hear the preaching, and the size was
reduced, by means of temporary partitions, to the capacity of about

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 153

14,000, and even then it was constantly overcrowded. The inquiry
meetings were held in St. Mary s Hall, but so great was the curious
crowd, which blocked the adjacent streets, that it was found
advisable to remove these meetings to one of the galleries of the
Agricultural Hall itself.

The services were managed by a committee, with the assist
ance of seventy or eighty ushers. Interest increased weekly.
Sometimes 400 or 500 persons at one time would be conversing
in the inquirers' galleries about the salvation of their souls. As in
other places, the work began with the better classes, and was after
ward extended to the slums.

The campaign in the East End, which began five weeks after
the meetings in the North End, centered in Bow Road Hall, built
especially for the services, and designed to hold an audience of
10,000 persons. Overflow meetings were held in a large tent near
the building.

O

In the West End the services were held in the Royal Opera
House, where many thousands thronged the three or four different
meetings which were held each day. For several weeks Mr. Moody
divided his attention between the Opera House and the Bow Road
Hall.

It was at this time that the controversy arose regarding the
meetings at Eton. The patrons of the famous college which is
situated in that little town, did not wish their sons subjected to
irregular religious influence, and the matter was even taken up by
the House of Lords. The evangelists had been invited by a large
majority of the students in the college, but pressure in high quarters
made it inadvisable to accept the invitation in its full intent. A
meeting was held in the private grounds of a gentleman at Eton,
and there Mr. Moody preached to about two hundred of the college
boys, and two or three times as many citizens of the town.

154 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC.

In conducting the meetings in South London, a new hall,
erected for them near Camberwell Green, was occupied by the
evangelists. This structure seated about 8,000 persons. Here
the chief interest centered in the inquiry room, where the
spirit was as earnest and as deep as it had been in the other quarters
of the city. When Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey discontinued
services in one of the four quarters of the city, the meetings were
continued by others, and the fire which God had permitted the two
evangelists to kindle was not suffered to die out. The final service
was held July i2th, the evangelists having conducted 285 meetings
in London, and having addressed fully 2,500,000 persons. Mr.
Moody and Mr. Sankey hastily withdrew at the conclusion of this
last service, rather than face the ordeal of parting with so many
dear friends. This was ever Mr. Moody's custom.

The last meeting in England was held in Liverpool, and on
October 6th, attended by many loving prayers, Mr. Moody and
Mr. Sankey set sail toward the West, arriving in New York eight
days later.

CAN WE MEASURE THE RESULTS?

Lecky, the historian, calmly and dispassionately asserts that
the evangelistic labors of John Wesley and his co-workers, by lift
ing the moral tone of the common people, saved England from a
revolution. Mr. Moody may not have served as an instrument for
the accomplishment of so deep an economic purpose, but it is
certain that the regenerating springs of spiritual life, which God
used him to draw from the rock of indifference, refreshed and
revived a people fast tending to religious numbness. And nothing
is so dangerous as this apathetic numbness ; it has done more to
hinder the progress of salvation than all the active forces of the
devil put together

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN ENGLAND, ETC. 157

I am not prepared to deny that many who were awakened or
converted during Mr. Moody's labors in Great Britain went back
to their former walks soon after the immediate presence of the
evangelists ceased to be felt ; nor will I deny that much of the
work inspired by his efforts crystallized into conventional and
narrow forms ; but I believe from the bottom of my heart that the
movement blessed Britain as she had not before been blessed for
one hundred years, and I know that tens of thousands of persons
became better men and women for the effect of Mr. Moody's words
upon them. Through this man God led men to read their Bibles,
to live honestly, to rid themselves of besetting sins, and to place
their faith in Christ as a personal Saviour.

CHAPTER XL

Evangelistic Work in the United States

ON his return from Great Britain, Mr. Moody went to North-
field, there to spend some little time resting at his old
home and enjoying the companionship of his relatives.
It will be readily understood that although he had gone from the
United States two years before known to very few, the wonderful
results of his labors in Great Britain had made his name a house
hold word, and his fellow-countrymen awaited his active work in
this country not only with curiosity (which it must be admitted was
felt by a large body of unbelievers and indifferent ones) but also,
many of them, with a deep conviction that the Lord had raised
him up to lead the people in a great religious awakening.

GOSPEL CAMPAIGN IN BROOKLYN

The Gospel campaign in the United States began at
Brooklyn, on Sunday, October 24, 1875. The skating rink on
Clarmont Avenue, with its seating capacity of six thousand, was
secured for the use of the services. Preliminary work had been con
ducted in Brooklyn according to the system which Mr. Moody
invariably insisted upon, so that when he took up the work in
person, almost everything was already in full swing. A chorus of
two hundred and fifty voices had been organized to lead the music.
Interest accumulated with the progress of the services, and the
size of the audiences uniformly increased. Nothing in secular
affairs seemed capable of drawing off the public attention, not
158

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 159

even an exciting election, with its public meetings and torchlight
processions. The very first meetings brought together enormous
crowds. These audiences, it was surmised, might have been
attracted by curiosity ; but the novelty soon wore off, and yet the
weekday meetings at 8 A.M. and 7.30 P.M., overflowed and had to
be accommodated in neighboring churches. The " overflow
meetings continued as a feature of the work until the last. In the
second week, a woman's prayer meeting followed the morning
service, and a Bible reading was held in the afternoon, beside the
regular evening meeting. These additional gatherings were almost
as largely attended as the others. To all of these was added a
young men's meeting held at night after the evening service to
accommodate the clerks and other persons detained by business
during the earlier hours, and inquiry meetings were also held in
the adjoining churches. Still there was no falling off in the crowds
who could not find even standing room,

DIFFERENT APPEARANCE OF THE AUDIENCES

It is difficult to estimate the numbers who attended during
the meetings. Counting in the overflow meetings the audiences
must have included, especially toward the last, from fifteen thou
sand to twenty thousand per day. Perhaps a higher estimate
would be nearer the fact. As in Great Britain, different expedients
were employed to change the class attendance, — expedients which
would have been fatal to a less absorbing interest. To many of
the meetings in the Rink church-goers were not invited ; indeed
they were asked to stay away, and admission was procurable only
on the statement that a ticket was to be used by some unconverted
person. The different appearance of the audiences on successive
nights was fair evidence that they were not composed of the same
people.

i6o EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

The effect of the Brooklyn meetings was an awakening rather
than a great conversion of non-church-goers, and prepared the
churches for greater activity. As in England, the first work of the
evangelists fell somewhat short of that which was to follow. No
attempt was made to record the number of conversions, although
they were by no means few. A feature of the work was the hearty
and undivided support of the churches ; at one prayer meeting
nearly one hundred ministers were present.

During these meetings Mr. Moody sounded the keynote of his
theory, if such it may be called, of bringing about a great religious
awakening. He said to Henry Ward Beecher, "There is no use
attempting to make a deep and lasting effect on masses of people,
but every effort should be put forth on the individual."

The meetings closed November igth. At the final service the
building was crowded almost beyond its limit, while the streets
were filled with thousands of persons who were disappointed in their

endeavor to get in.

CAMPAIGN IN PHILADELPHIA

From Brooklyn Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey went to Philadel
phia and began their meetings in the old Pennsylvania Railroad
depot at Thirteenth and Market Streets, now occupied by Mr. John
Wanamaker as a great mercantile establishment.

The depot was situated in a dull and uninviting neighborhood,
comparatively deserted by night, and not very well lighted, and
when the suggestion was made that the property might be tempo
rarily renovated for an auditorium until the railroad company should
find a purchaser for it, there was considerable derision ; but President
Scott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, had a hearty and large way of
doing things, and he told the men who were giving their interest to
the proposed meetings, that they could have the use of the property
at the rate of one dollar per year, provided they were ready to get

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 161

out at a month's notice when the company should effect a sale. It
happened, however, that just about this time a Philadelphia mer
chant, Mr. Wanamaker, was laying plans to develop his busi
ness on a broader scale. He made the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company an offer for the old depot, and became its purchaser ; but,
.before proceeding- to occupy it, he consented that the interior
should be reconstructed temporarily for the revival services, of
which he had been one of the chief projectors.

PREPARATORY ARRANGEMENTS

About forty thousand dollars was spent in reconstruction and
equipment of the building. Chairs were provided for about ten
thousand persons, which leaves out of count the space upon the
platform occupied by a chorus of six hundred singers. The
expenses were met by voluntary contributions. Three hundred
Christians were chosen to act as ushers while a like number of
workers were selected to serve in the three inquiry rooms. The
original intention had been to engage the Academy of Music, but
this was overruled in favor of the depot, largely because of the
suggestion that the novelty of such an auditorium would alone
draw thousands of people.

The first day it rained ; moreover the burning of Market Street
bridge, the night before, had stopped the streetcars running on
the chief thoroughfare to the place of meeting. Still the great
improvised tabernacle was filled by an audience of 10,000. In
Philadelphia, as elsewhere, Mr. Moody began by seeking to arouse
the Christians to a sense of their responsibility. On one occasion,
he spoke of the " dumb people in the churches who had said
nothing for Christ for ten or fifteen years ", and of the " dwarfs
who had not grown since they were converted ". On the second
evening, a young men's meeting was conducted in Arch Street

i62 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

Methodist Church, by Mr. John Wanamaker. With a few excep
tions the clergy of the city took hearty interest in all the services.
Many of them, whose acquaintance with Mr. Moody's methods was
based entirely upon vague report, had looked forward with dread
of sensational methods, but the quiet yet thorough way in which
Mr. Moody entered upon his work brought to these doubters a
feeling of gratified disappointment. On November 26th, the morning
prayer meeting had an attendance of 8,000. A Methodist minister
said, " If we had a hundred Moodys and Sankeys in the country all
the Protestant sects would unite within ten years."

VARIETY OF SUBJECTS DISCUSSED

The last evening service of the eighth week was attended by
more than 13,000, while many thousands were turned away. The
regular meetings ended January i6th. However, a convention for
clergymen and Christian laymen was held January igth and 2Oth ;
these developed more especially into services of praise. At the first
meeting of the convention about 1,000 ministers and lay delegates
were present. Mr. Moody spoke first on " Evangelistic Services "
This was followed by " How to Conduct Prayer meetings " ;
il Inquiry Meetings — Their Importance and Conduct", and "The
Training of Young Converts and Lay Workers ". On the follow
ing day the subjects discussed were, " How Should the Music be
Conducted in the Lord's Work?" " How to Expound and Illus
trate the Scriptures" ; " How to Get Hold of N on-Church-Goers " ;
and " Our Young Men — -What More can We Do for Them ? " In
the evening, Mr. Moody spoke on " Daniel ". I mention these
subjects to give an idea of the variety of thought which made the
convention so helpful. Mr. Moody said that in all his experience
thus far he had never seen such services- as these in Philadelphia.
For fifty miles, around the city the country sent recruits, and

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 163

the total attendance during the nine weeks was estimated at
about 900,000. As a thank-offering a large sum was raised,
amounting to about $127,000. The total expenses of the meetings
were in the neighborhood of $30,000. After the evangelists had
departed chairs and other articles which had been in use at the
depot were sold at auction ; the chair in which Mr. Moody had sat
brough'-$55, as did also M. Sankey's chair. The principal employ
ment of the great thank-offering collection was to help the Philadel
phia Young Men's Christian Association complete its new building
in time for the Centennial Exposition, which began the same year.
The meetings in Philadelphia established Mr. Moody's leader
ship of the Lord's active army in the United States. His clarion
note had no uncertain sound.

THE GREAT CAMPAIGN IN NEW YORK

After leaving Philadelphia Mr. Moody took his family to
Florida and rested for a time before entering on the great campaign
in New York. But preparations in the metropolis were busily
going on. Gilmore's Concert Garden, which had formerly been
known as Barnum's Hippodrome, was rented for the services,
$1,300 being paid weekly for its use.

The meetings in the Hippodrome began February 7, 1876, at
8 P. M. More than $15,000 had been expended on the building
to make it completely serviceable. The crowds were handled by
500 ushers ; a choir of 1,200 singers was placed under the order of
Mr. Sankey ; several hundred Christian workers gave their services
to the inquiry rooms for inquiry work. There were, for work with
the unconverted, each day two general directors and sixteen Christian
leaders ; each leader had twelve to fourteen helpers, so that in each
of the seven inquiry rooms there were usually two leaders and
twenty to thirty helpers. At the first meeting 7,000 persons were

1 64 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

present in the main hall, and 4,000 others attending the overflow
meeting, while several thousand were left in the streets. The ser-

o '

vice was fittingly opened with silent prayer. What that movement
inaugurated for New York can never be estimated.

During the first week of services the aim was to arouse pro-
lessed Christians to a higher sense of their responsibilities. The
noon prayer meeting began on the second day, and at the prayer
meeting after the evening service that same day almost all of the
great audience who had listened to Mr. Moody's sermon on faith,
remained. More than two hundred Christians who wished their
faith quickened arose in response to Mr. Moody's question, and
fifty unconverted persons asked for prayer. On the fourth day
there were five distinct meetings, the aggregate attendance being
about 20,000. But Sunday was naturally marked by the greatest
crowds. On the first Sunday more than 25,000 persons attended the
meetings. There were on that day two exclusive services, one for
men and one for women. At the afternoon meeting for women, on
Sunday, February 2ist, 10,000 were present. At the evening meet
ing on that clay such numbers arose for prayer that Mr. Moody said,
' There are so many I can't count them ; truly, God is in this house."

GLORIOUS ENTHUSIASM FOR THE LORD

The last two days of the Hippodrome meetings, April 1 8th and
igth, were devoted to the Christian Convention with which Mr.
Moody's meetings generally ended. As a thank-offering the sum
of $135,000 was raised. The last meeting for converts was at
tended by between three and four thousand persons who were able
to testify to their conversion.

Both in extent of time and in the results accomplished the
campaign in the New York Hippodrome was perhaps the most im
portant ever conducted by Mr. Moody. In moving New York

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"

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 167

God moved the country, and the voice of the evangelists was heard
throughout the land. There was so little of the sensational about
the meetings that a narrative concerning them may seem mono
tonous, for the reason that one service so much resembled the
others. In each was manifested intense earnestness for souls, and
glorious enthusiasm in the work of the Lord.

It is not necessary to tell of all the great series of meetings
which Mr. Moody conducted. After leaving New York he went
by way of Augusta, Ga., Nashville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., St.
Louis, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo., to Chicago, and in all these
cities his labors were blessed with great results. His greatest meet
ings in Chicago, however, were not held until October, 1876, a date
from which they continued for some time. The campaign in
Boston began in the last of January, 1877. The Boston meetings,
like those in other cities, were a wonderful demonstration of God's
power. The assistance of the late Dr. A. J. Gordon and Miss
Frances E. Willard was especially helpful. Interest was so great
that a daily paper, The Tabernacle, was published to further the
work. Every home in Boston was visited by Christian workers.

IN BALTIMORE 1878

From this time Mr. Moody's activity seldom ceased. One
tour was followed by another, and hardly a city or town of any
great importance in this country has failed to receive through his
help a renewal of interest in spiritual affairs. The meetings in
Baltimore in 1878 were marked by such notable results that I feel
that possibly an account of them will most fittingly close this
chapter concerning Mr. Moody's evangelistic work in the United
States. After all there is space to do little more than indicate the
general nature of his services to the Lord.

;68 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

In the month of October, 1878 the services began in Balti
more. Mr. Moody had received a pressing invitation to visit
Cleveland, but before he would give his answer he felt led to visit
Baltimore. On his arrival he called into counsel some of the
leading laymen of the city, and after talking the matter over with
them, he was confident that God wanted him in that city. It was no
half-hearted service, and, when he came to do his work, he brought
to bear upon the city where he labored all his own personal influ
ence, and the blessing also of the presence of his family. So,
temporarily he removed from Northfield and came to dwell in Bal
timore. A committee of laymen was selected to have charge of
this work. The committee was as follows : Dr. James Carey
Thomas, Dr. P. C. Williams, Gen. John S. Berry, Mr. G. S
Griffith, Mr. Henry Taylor, Mr. George W. Corner, and Mr. A. M.

Carter.

EVERY EVANGELICAL DENOMINATION REPRESENTED

The following notice one day appeared in the daily papers :
•" D. L. Moody will conduct meetings for Christians at the Mount
Vernon Place M. E. Church, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday of this week, at 4 P. M. Subject: "The Holy Spirit." The
meetings in this church were simply preparatory to the great work
which was yet to follow. Every evangelical denomination in the
city was represented.

Special meetings for men were held in the Associate Reformed
Church, and noonday meetings were held in the Maryland Insti
tute. There were some notable experiences in these meetings.
Several gamblers were seated in one of their accustomed haunts
one evening when it was suggested as a joke that they go to hear
Moody. The proposition was agreed to. The meetings were being
held at that time in St. Paul's M. E. Church, South. At the close
of the meeting Mr. Moody started towards the gamblers ; they

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 169

immediately arose to leave the building. He called out to them,
" Don't go, men ; I want to see you," but they kept on going.
Following after them he called out, " Come back, young men, come
back ;" but they refused and left. A few days after this, one of
them, who belonged to a prominent family in the city, was taken
very sick, and as he lay upon his bed entirely helpless, was asked by
one of Mr. Moody's workers, if he would not come to Christ. He
made this promise : "If God will only allow me to leave this room
I will become a Christian." He finally recovered, and one of the
first things he did was to go to the meetings which were being
held in the Associate Reformed Church. At the close of the
preaching when the inquiry meeting was announced, Mr. Moody
started down the east side aisle where this man was sitting. As
he approached him he said, " I am glad to see you, I have been
looking for you several weeks." "Why, you don't know me, Mr.
Moody," said the man. "Yes 1 do," he answered, "you are one
of those gamblers I saw out at Dr. Cox's church." The man
fulfilled his promise to God by accepting Christ for his Saviour ;
gave a wonderful testimony of His saving power, and was instru
mental in the conversion of many others who had been gamblers

like himself.

"HE COULD NOT BURN THE IMPRESSION"

One great feature of Mr. Moody's work had always been the
singing, the wisdom of which may be seen in the following : While
he was holding services in the Monument Street M. E. Church,
a man addicted to drink and with no thought of God attended
one of the meetings. He was much impressed with the singing,
particularly with one hymn, " Come, O, Come to Me." He heard
the announcement for the day meetings, and he determined to
attend. As he entered the church Mr. Bliss was singing the hymn
above mentioned. The man bought a hymn book that he might

i yo EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

read the hymn for himself, and testified that he had no peace.
Finally he burned the book, but he could not burn the impression
that had been made by the Spirit. He then drank the harder, but
could not drown the impression. Time passed on ; one night he
wandered into the Methodist Church, and as he did so he heard
them singing again, " Come, O, Come to Me," and there that night
he obeyed the call and accepted Christ. The hymn was number
nighty-eight (88) in Gospel Hymns, No. 3. Mr. Moody always
Rpoke of him after that as No. 88.

During the meetings at Broadway M. E. Church, a pickpocket
entered the meeting for the purpose of relieving some one of his
gold watch, which he was not long in doing ; after procuring his
prize, he started to leave the church but was unable to do so, for
those who were in had to remain, and those who were out could
not get in ; he was therefore led to listen, was much impressed
with the sermon, and stayed for the inquiry meeting, where he
accepted Christ as his personal Saviour. The next day the door
bell of the parsonage was rung, and when the servant answered,
she found no one, but tied to the knob of the door was a package.
This when opened was found to contain a gold watch and chain,
and with it a note stating the facts, and asking that it be returned
to the owner, which was done. The repentant thief gave his name
and address, but asked that he might be forgiven, as God had

forgiven him.

"Do You WANT THIS SAVIOUR"

Dr. Leyburn's church (Associate Reformed), where the meet
ings, for men only, were held at 4 p. M. was the scene of many new
births. One day a man who had lost all through drink and who
had brought his family to the verge of starvation, was asked by an
unsaved man to go to hear Mr. Moody. At first he ridiculed the
idea, but finally said, " Can a fellow get warm there ?" (his feet

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 171

being out of his shoes). On being assured that he could, he went.
He was ushered to the third seat from the front. Mr. Moody took
for his text Matt. 1:21, " Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people from their sins." The man said to himself, "That is
what I need, some one to save me from my sins ; I have been
trying to save myself, and have made a miserable failure." When
Mr. Moody had finished his talk, he looked straight at the man,
and said, "Do you want this Saviour?" He answered, "I do."
Turning to one of the workers, Mr. Moody said, " Go talk to that
man." In a little while the worker said, "Would you like me to
pray with you ?" The man replied, " That is just what I have been
wanting you to do ever since you have been here." The worker
prayed, and a familiar expression with that man afterward was, " I
left my sins in the third pew of Dr. Leyburn's church." He became
a great worker for Christ, and is now a preacher of the Gospel.

" WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST "

In this same church a physician who was an infidel, attended
the services, simply through curiosity. Mr. Moody's text was,
" What think ye of Christ ?" The next day he attended again,
and Mr. Moody spoke on " Walking with God ". He began an
investigation to find if such a person did really live. This must be
done outside the Word of God as he did not claim to believe in the
Bible. The result of his investigation was the acceptance of the
Christ of God and Bible. Since that time he has been an active
Christian worker.

Perhaps no meetings were more interesting than those held in
the Maryland Institute at noon. At the door taking tickets was a
man who, but a few months before, was running a beer saloon in
East Baltimore. On entering, one who knew him said, "Why,
Tom, what are you doing here ?" His reply was, " O, I have given

172 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

up that business and accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, and now
I am a doorkeeper in the house of my God."

On the 26th of March, 1879, Detective Tod B. Hall, of the
Baltimore City Detective Force, entered the Institute looking for
a man with whom he had business, who, he was told, was in the
meeting. He was persuaded to remain and was ushered to a front
seat. He was much impressed with Mr. Moody's earnestness
and simplicity. The text was John III: 14, 15. "As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, etc." When he had finished his
sermon, Mr. Moody asked that all Christians rise, and many arose.
Then he said, " All those who believe that by putting into
practice what I have said they will receive the benefits of a saved
life, please rise. "

THE DETECTIVE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO RISE

He then and there believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and re
ceived Him as his personal Saviour. Passing out from the seats into
the aisle he was met by many who knew him, and to all he said, " It
is settled I am determined to live a different life the balance of my
days." | He entered the Institute to find a man, and found The
Man Chrirt Jesus, j His first act was to go to the City Hall, and
into the office where the detectives were at that hour of the day.
He told them what he had done, and how he proposed by God's
help to live, and then said, " Now, boys, all I ask is, don't ridicule
me, but give me your sympathy." He then and there started for
his home, and when he arrived he found a strange lady in the
house, and the devil suggested, " Don't say anything until this
strange lady is gone." In his own language, " I saw it was a trick
of the devil," and walking to the center of the room he said.
" Annie, I left you this morning not worthy the name of a husband,
not worthy the name of father to our children, but a little while

EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES 173

ago, at the Maryland Institute, I determined to live a different life ;
let us kneel clown and ask God to help me be a better man." They
did so, that being the first prayer ever offered by him in his home ;
when he arose his wife said, "ITod, if you have made up your mind
to be a Christian I will be one too ;" and they both took their stand
i for Christ the same day. And no one who visited that home after
that day, would doubt that Christ had an abiding place there.
In July, 1896, his wife took her departure to be with Christ;
as she bade him good-bye she said, " Tod, I'll wait and watch
for you, and give you a royal welcome when you come."

HP: LED SCORES OF MEN TO CHRIST

I know of very few men who have been more wonderfully
blessed in their Christian experience than Tod B. Hall. I have
seen him in my own church, and in other places, literally lead
scores of men to Christ.

In the same place one day, as Mr. Moody was working in the
after-meeting, he came to a man in the centre aisle and said, " Are
you a Christian ?" To this question the man replied, "Yes sir. I
am glad to say, Mr. Moody, I am." Passing on, he came to one
who was not a Christian. He suddenly turned to one of the ushers
and said, " Tell that man to come here" (referring to the one who
was glad he was a Christian). As he approached, Mr. Moody said,
"Sit down there and talk to this man." Whereupon the man re
plied, "You will have to excuse me, Mr. Moody ; that is something
I never do." Mr. Moody turned to him quickly and said, " Either
sit down and talk to that manv or else sit down and let some one
talk to you."

On Friday evening, May i6th, Mr. Moody preached his last
public sermon in the Mount Vernon Church, where nearly eight
months before he had begun the meetings. On the evening of

1 74 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

May 26th, after the usual meeting of the converts in the Y. M. C. A.
rooms, conducted by E. W. Bliss it was proposed that the entire
company go in a body to Mr. Moody's house on Lanvale street.
He was to leave the next day, and all wanted to show their love
in this simply way. On reaching his house they sang, " He
will hide us". Mr. Moody appeared and spoke loving words
in saying good-bye. One of the company then sang, " There's a
land that is fairer than day ". Mr. Moody then offered a fervent
prayer and said good-bye. The next day he left for his home in
Northfield.

CHAPTER XII

Mr, Moody In Two Wars

WHEN the Civil War broke out Mr. Moody was one of the
busiest men in Chicago. The Young- Men's Christian
Association work and his Mission were occupying his
time fully, but he and his associates were not slow to see the great
opportunity which the army camps afforded to reach throngs of
men who were not easy to approach under normal conditions.
Not long after the commencement of hostilities there came into
being two great organizations, the Sanitary Commission and the
Christian Commission — the one to look after the physical welfare,
the other to look after the spiritual welfare of the soldiers.

THE SANITARY AND CHRISTIAN COMMISSIONS.

The Sanitary Commission was the result of the federation of
the so-called " Soldiers' Aid Societies ", which had individually
already accomplished much good. At the outset the Government
had not approved of these societies, fearing the effect of their
operation upon the discipline of the troops, but, as their value
became more apparent, and after they had been consolidated in one
general organization, the field widened until the Sanitary Com
mission ranged in importance along with the Government Medical
Bureau.

The Christian Commission was projected by a convention,
held in Norfolk, Va., November 16, 1861, and Mr. George H.
Stuart, of Philadelphia, was elected president. Like the Sanitary

(175)

I76 MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

Commission it was recognized and countenanced by the Govern^
ment. Says one writer : " The Commissions aided the surgeon,
helped the chaplain, followed the armies in their marches, went
into the trenches and along the picket-lines. Wherever there was
a sick, a wounded, a dying man, an agent of the Christian Com
mission was near by." As often as possible the workers gave
Christian burial to the dead, and marked the graves so that later
they could be identified by the relatives or friends. Religious
services were conducted in camp or in the field ; religious literature
was distributed widely ; in short, every means was employed to turn
to the call of their Divine Master the attention of thousands of
men who had answered their country's call.

MR. MOODY'S ZEAL
The Chicago Youmr Men's Christian Association was one of

" ?5 <2>

many whose individual efforts in behalf of the soldiers led to the
convention which formed the Christian Commission. The devo
tional committee, of which Mr. Moody was chairman, began to
work immediately after the second call for volunteers, when the
oreat rendezvous of Camp Douglas was established near the
southern limits of Chicago. The committee was on the ground at
the arrival of the first regiment, and began prayer meetings at
once. Religious literature was given out among the soldiers, and
Sunday services were established where they could easily be
attended by the soldiers. The work spread so rapidly that the
committee was obliged to send out a call for assistants. One
hundred and fifty men, clerical and lay, responded, and eight or
ten meetings were held every evening in the different camps.
During the war the Association held more, than 1,50x3 services
in or near Chicago. The Association Chapel, built at Camp
Douglas in October, 1861, was the first camp chapel erected.

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS i?7

Soldiers who were converted at Camp Douglas went to the
front, and presently a call came to Chicago to send Christian
workers to the Union lines. Mr. Moody answered this invitation
in person, being the first regular army delegate from Chicago. His
earliest work in the field was with the troops near Fort Donelson,

Mr. Moody's idea of the best treatment for dying soldiers was
to carry to them the glad tidings of salvation and to point out to
them the open gates of Heaven. He maintained that the adminis
tration of physical comforts was comparatively an unimportant
matter. When death is a question of only a few hours and he
whom the dark angel is claiming is far from the path of righteous
ness, who will care to hear of temporal things while some friend
stands ready, to lead him back to the way of truth ?

EXPERIENCES FROM THE WAK

As long as the War continued Mr. Moody went back and forth
between Chicago and the various camps and battlefields. How
his experience was widened, how his faith was strengthened by the
visions of grace which God permitted him to see ! The triumphant
deaths which he and his fellow laborers witnessed are almost beyond
enumeration. Many were the assurances of salvation which came
to their ears from dying lips, and they saw hundreds of ashy
faces lighted up with a "light that never was, on sea or land". \\
was practical work, this. Often there was time only for a few
words of prayer, or a brief exhortation But God's blessing came
with the asking.

From the many stories which 1 have heard Mr. Moody tell of
his experiences during the terrible years of the war, I have selected
the following :

' I was in a hospital at Murfreesboro, and one night after mid
night 1 was woke up and told that there was a man in one of the

178 MR MOODY IN TWO WARS

wards who wanted to see me. I went to him, and he called me
' chaplain '---I wasn't a chaplain — and he said he wanted me to
help him die. And I said, 'I'd take you right up in my arms and
carry you into the Kingdom of God if I could ; but I can't do it ; 1
can't help you to die.' And he said, 'Who can?' I said, 'The
Lord Jesus Christ can — He came for that purpose.' He shook his
head and said, 'He can't save me ; I have sinned all my life.' And
I said, ' But He came to save sinners.' I thought of his mother in
the North, and I knew that she was anxious that he should die
right, and I thought I'd stay with him. I prayed two or three
times, and repeated all the promises I could, and I knew that in a
few hours he would be gone. I said I wanted to read him a conversa
tion that Christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul
I turned to the third chapter of John. His eyes were riveted on
me, and when I came to the i4th and 15th verses, he caught up
the words, ' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up ; that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.' He
stopped me and said, ' Is that there ? I said, 'Yes, ' and he asked
me to read it again, and I did so. He leaned his elbows on the cot
and clasped his hands together and said, ' That's good ; won't you

read it again ? ;

HE ENTERED THE KINGDOM OF GOD

" I read it the third time, and then went on with the rest of
the chapter. When I finished, his eyes were closed, his hands were
folded, and there was a smile on his face. O ! how it was lit up 1
What a change had come over it ! I saw his lips quivering, and \
leaned over him and heard, in a faint whisper, ' As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eter
nal life.' He opened his eyes and said, ' That's enough ; don't read

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS 179

any more.' He lingered a few hours, and then pillowed his head on
those two verses and went up in one of Christ's chariots and took
his seat in the Kingdom of God.

" You may spurn God's remedy and perish ; but I tell you
God don't want you to perish. He says, ' As I live I have no plea
sure in the death of the wicked.' ' Turn ye, turn ye, for why will

ye die ? ' '

A CHRISTIAN SOLDIER

" After the terrible battle of Pittsburg Landing, we were taking
the wounded down the Tennessee River to a hospital. I said to
some of the Christian Commission, ' We must not let a man die on
the boat without telling him of Christ and Heaven.' You know
the cry of a wounded man is ' Water ! water ! ' As we passed
along from one to another, giving them water, we tried to tell them
of the water of life, of which, if they would drink, they would never
die. I came to one man who had about as fine a face as I ever saw.
I spoke to him, but he did not answer. I went to the doctor, and
said : ' Doctor, do you think that man will recover?' ' No; he lost
so much blood before we got him off the field that he fainted while
we were amputating his leg. He will never recover.' I said: 'I
can't find out his name, and it seems a pity to let him die without
knowing who he is. Don't you think we can bring him to ? ' 'You
may give him a little brandy and water,' said the doctor • ' that will
revive him if anything will/

"TELL MY MOTHER I DIED TRUSTING IN JESUS"

" I sat down beside him, and gave him brandy and water every
now and then. While 1 was waiting I said to a man near by : ' Do
you know this man ? ' ' O yes, that is my chum.' ' Has he a father
and mother living?' ' He has a widowed mother.' ' Has he any
brothers or sisters ? ' ' Two sisters ; but he is the only son.' ' What

i8o MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

is his name ?' 'William Clarke.' I said to myself that I could not
let him die without getting" a message for that mother. Presently
he opened his eyes, and I said : ' William, do you know where you
are ?' He looked around a little dazed, and then said : ' O, yes ; I
am on my way home to mother.' ' Yes, you are on your way home,' I
said ; 'but the doctor says you won't reach your earthly home. I
thought I'd like to ask you if you had any message for your mother.'
His face lighted up with an unearthly glow, as he said: ' O, yes;
tell my mother that I died trusting in Jesus.' It was one of the
sweetest things I ever heard in my life ! Presently, I said : ' Any
thing else, William ? ' With a beautiful smile he said, ' Tell my
mother and sisters to be sure and meet me in Heaven ; ' and he
closed his eyes. He was soon unconscious again, and in a few
hours his soul took its flight to join his Lord and Master.

THE PRISON DOORS OPENED

'It was my privilege to go to Richmond with General Grant's
army. Now just let us picture a scene. There are a thousand
poor captives, and they are lawful captives, prisoners in Libby
Prison. Talk to some of them that have been there for months,
and hear them tell their story. I have wept for hours to hear them
cell how they suffered, how they could not hear from their homes
and their loved ones for long intervals, and how sometimes they
would get messages that their loved ones were dying, and they could
not get home to be with them in their dying hours. Let us, for
illustration, picture a scene. One beautiful clay in spring they are
there in the prison. All news has been kept from them. They
have not heard what has been going on around Richmond, and I
can imagine one says one day, ' Ah, boys, listen ! I hear a band
of music, and it sounds as if they were playing the old battle-cry of
the Republic. It sounds as if they were playing the 'The Star

\MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS X8t

Spangled Banner ! Long may it wave o'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave ! ' And the hearts of the poor fellows begin
to leap for joy, ' I believe Richmond is taken. I believe they are
coming to deliver us ; ' and every man in that prison is full of
joy, and by and by the sound comes nearer and they see it is so.
It is the Union army ! Next the doors of the prison are unlocked ;
they fly wide open, and those thousands of men are set free. Wasn't
that good news to them ? Could there have been any better news ?
They are out of prison, out of bondage, delivered. Christ came to
proclaim liberty to the captive. "

REMINISCENCES OF A VETERAN

A veteran of the war tells the following story, which, while
its Importance is slight , gives an idea of the interest aroused by
Mr. Moody's work.

" The death of Mr. Moody calls to my mind the first time I
ever saw or heard of him. It was at Murfreesboro, Tenn., in the
spring of 1862, when General Rosecrans was preparing his army
for an advance on Tullahoma. Moody came there under the
auspices of the Christian Commission. His preaching resulted in
quite a revival in a number of regiments and brigades, and caused
considerable excitement and great interest. General Alexander
McDowell McCook, who commanded one of the corps, became
much interested in the work. There was something of a rivalry
between a number of regiments as to which furnished the most
recruits to Moody's Christian army. They told a story on Colonel
Fred Kneffler, of an Indiana regiment, who was an enthusiastic
admirer and defender of his regiment and did not propose to allow
it to play second to any regiment in the army of the Cumberland.

" One day an officer of another regiment came over and
related in the hearing of Colonel Kneffler that the evening before

1 82 MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

some twenty converts had been baptized. This made the number
exceed the converts of Colonel Fred's regiment by some twelve or
fifteen. The Colonel immediately summoned his adjutant and in
his extremely German brogue — made more broken by the excite
ment under which he labored — ordered him to detail fifteen men
^and have them baptized without delay."

THE REVIVAL AT CAMP DOUGLAS

Mr. Moody was at Shiloh, at Murfreesboro, with the army at
Cleveland and Chattanooga ; he was one of the first to enter
Richmond with Grant's army, devoting himself there to the soldiers
of both armies without discrimination. But the greatest Christian
work with which he was connected during the war was the revival

o

among the Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas. This camp,
originally used for the instruction of Union recruits, was trans*
formed into a prison at the time when about 10,000 rebel captives
were sent there after the taking of Fort Donelson. The burden
of the souls of these men lay heavy on Mr. Moody's heart. One
day he secured a permit to visit them, and gave it to the secretary
of the Young Men's Christian Association, himself accompanying
him in the thought that as assistant to the other he might enter the
lines without a question. The guard refused to let both the men
in on one pass, Mr. Moody exhibiting in vain the can of oil which
he was carrying to furnish light for the service. But the officer of
the day, who overheard the conversation and came up to investigate,
recognized Mr. Moody and took him to headquarters, where
through the exercise of his official influence the young missionary
was given a pass to go in and hold meetings for the prisoners
whenever he might choose.

A few minutes later Mr. Moody and his friend, Mr. Hawley,
began their first meeting for the prisoners. Deep interest was

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS 183

manifested from the start. Meetings were held in the prison camp
thereafter every afternoon and evening. Great numbers were
soundly converted, and they were organized into a Young Men's
Christian Association. As large an opportunity as possible was
given them for Christian culture. In this revival work a great
many Christian ministers and laymen assisted.

WHAT HE DID FOR THE PRISONERS

The report of the Army Committee for the year 1865 shows a
distribution of 1,537 Bibles, 20,565 Testaments, 1,000 prayer books,
2,025 hymn books, 24,896 other religious books, 127,545 religious
newspapers, and 43,450 pages of tracts, besides 28,400 literary
papers and magazines. The Camp Douglas chapel was erected at
a cost of $2,300, and a soldiers' library and reading room were
furnished by the Association, in a building erected by the Christian
Commission. This was all in addition to the regular home work.

An employment bureau was established this year, chiefly for
the benefit of the many wounded soldiers who were continually
applying to the Association for assistance. Situations were found
tor 1,435 men, 124 boys, and 718 girls, besides transient employ
ment for many persons who were unable to get out to service.

All this work was clue in large part to the consecrated zeal of
Mr. Moody. He never would be limited to a certain line of
opportunity, but always took advantage of every chance to do
something for his Master. His work during the Civil War exempli-

o

fied all those qualifications of his which shone through his later and
more extended efforts, and it was for him, moreover, practically
the first recognition he received outside his own city of Chicago.

More than thirty years passed by before the United States
again found itself in arms. Like the Civil War, the War with
Spain was undertaken for the relief of an oppressed people. The

iS4 MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

opportunity for a Christian campaign in the army camps was as
great in 1898 as in 1861, perhaps greater, and the organized forces
of Christian workers were much more efficient at the outset in the
later year. This increased efficiency in Christian organization, who
shall say in how much it was due to Mr. Moody's service during

the long interval ?

IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN

April 25, 1898, three days after the President's first call for
volunteers, the International Committee of the Young Men's Chris^
tian Association met in New York City to discuss the situation,
and decided to undertake immediately a work among the soldiers
and sailors. The organization had the machinery necessary for
the undertaking. In nearly 700 cities throughout the country
there were local associations ; these in the several states were
united in state organizations, with state committees and state
secretaries, and were finally all bound together in an international

organization, with its international committee, sub-committees and
t>

secretaries. Accordingly, in order to promote united effort and
to secure effective co-operation, the international committee ap
pointed a sub-committee to organize and supervise the work, its
official title being " The Army and Navy Christian Commission of
the International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associa
tions." The work of the Commission was divided into three depart
ments : the Executive, for general supervision, with Colonel John
|. McCook as chairman ; the General work, for the direction of the
social, physical and regular religious effort, including the Bible
classes, with C. W. McAlpin as chairman ; and the Evangelistic
department, for the promotion of evangelistic effort in the different
camps, with D. L. Moody as chairman.

The Evangelistic department through Mr. Moody kept a force
of clergymen and evangelists in the field, co-operating with the

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS 185

regular religious work carried on in the tents. A careful and con
servative estimate shows over 8,000 soldiers who publicly professed
to accept Christ in all the meetings during the summer, while the
number of those stimulated in their Christian lives cannot be esti
mated. An interesting fact in this connection is that the regiments
that suffered most in the battles around Santiago were, with few
exceptions, the regiments that, when in Tampa, were encamped
around the threat canvas-covered tabernacle where were held

o

nightly services, some of which were attended by more than 2,500
soldiers, and where many of these men became Christians. One of
these companies went into the battle with seventy-six men, and
the next day, at roll call, only seventeen answered.

The work was established in the regiments of colored troops
at the various camps, with colored young men of influence and
ability in charge. This received the approbation of all students of
the race problem. A prominent colored minister, after watching
it carefully, termed it the " most practical and most helpful work I
have ever seen carried on among the colored people."

VISITATION OF THE SICK

In all the camps visitation of the sick was carried on, both the
camp secretaries and visiting evangelists taking part in this service

The following is one of many incidents : A new ward being
opened one day was at once filled with sixty-six invalid soldiers. Going
through the wards a worker came in contact with a sick boy from a
Pennsylvania regiment, and stopping to talk to him, found the boy
ready for the Gospel message. The boy said he came from a
Christian home and had a brother in the missionary field, but that
he had been a bad boy and had given his family much trouble.
After talking with him a while, he said to the secretary, " Do you
mean to say that I can be saved now and here?" The secretary

1 86 MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

assured him that such was the case, and opened to him the simple
way of salvation. Before the secretary left, the boy joined him in
prayer, praying for himself, and when he was leaving he said,
" Now, remember, chaplain, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my
personal Saviour, and in so doing you tell me I am saved." He
exacted a promise from the secretary that he would return during
the evening, and when he returned the boy greeted him cheerfully,
and said, " I am a very sick boy, but remember, whatever comes, I
tell you now that I have accepted Jesus Christ and am trusting
Him as my Saviour." The next morning, as the secretary made
his rounds, the soldier boy had gone to his long home.

ON SEA AND LAND

The Commission followed closely in the wake of the Army of
invasion, and pressed its work among the soldiers around Santiago
de Cuba. It followed General Miles' army to Porto Rico, and
with the third expedition to the Philippines workers and equip
ment were sent to render similar service.

The Navy Department at Washington supported the plan
cordially, although from the nature of the case it was not easy to
accomplish work on the ships. It was decided to place a represen
tative of the Commission on each ship that had no regular chaplain,
but the war was over so quickly that only one vessel was thus sup
plied. An idea of the feasibility of the work, however, is shown
in the following incident from the one worker's report :

" At first, as I started to go over the ship with other things, I
would fill my side pockets with copies of the New Testament,
and give a copy away now and then, after a special personal talk
with an open-hearted sailor or marine. As a matter of fact, I
thought there would be no general eagerness for the books, and so
great tact should be exercised in giving them out. I said to myself

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS 187

the first day, 4 These 300 Testaments will last through my entire
service,' but I was utterly mistaken. One day a marine said,
' What are those little books in your pockets?' I replied, 'Testa
ments.' Then he quickly said, ' Will you give me one ? ' I gave
him one, and by that time there was about me quite a crowd of
men who were off duty (I was below in their quarters), and they
all wanted the books. From that time I gave away fifty books a
day until they were all gone. One night I heard some one at my
window. I sprang up, thinking it was a marine after a drink of
ice-water ; but, to my surprise, a sailor was standing there in the
dark, like Nicodemus. He said, with some hesitation, 'Chaplain,
I am after one of those little Bibles.' '

All this evangelistic work was directed by Mr. Moody from
Northfield. His health made it inadvisable for him to go to the
front during the summer heat, so he planned to take the field in
person in the autumn. But when the autumn came the war was
over, and his presence was no longer necessary. To him, however,
belongs the credit of organization.

THE ARMY AND NAVY Y. M. C. A.

At the beginning of the war, the International Committee
undertook the task to which it had been manifestly called, with but
little, if any, thought of the far-reaching possibilities of the future.
When the war closed it was evident that a door of opportunity had
been opened for a permanent service to a large and important class
of young men. Accepting the responsibility of the situation, the
International Committee voted to make the work, so auspiciously
begun, a permanent feature of its plan and effort, and in September
1898, its Army and Navy Department was organized. The ninety-
seven army posts in this country, and such as may be established in the
new possessions, will form a field for extended effort, and already in

1 88 MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS

several of these, associations have been organized. The regimental
plan of organization is also being tested with good results. A compre
hensive plan of work covering the entire Navy has already been in
augurated. A Naval Young Men's Christian Association has been

formed.

STRIKING ILLUSTRATIONS

The following incidents illustrate the value of the evangelistic
work during the war with Spain.

" I'll never surrender to Spain," said a great stalwart soldier,
"but, boys, I'm going to surrender to Jesus Christ to-night."
What that meant in the way of moral courage few can understand,
facing as he did the jibes and sneers of his old companions.

At the close of a meeting in Camp Thomas theatre three
soldiers came to an association worker and said that a man who had
been converted a week before was sick, and wanted to see them.
They went up to his tent, and found him suffering terribly, but re
joicing that he had accepted Christ. He said several times, "Well,
I've lived right one week, anyway."

A young soldier from one of the Texas regiments was reproved
gently by the camp secretary for swearing and he immediately arose
and apologized, saying: "1 don't know why I utter these oaths
except that I am living in an atmosphere of obscenity and cursing ;
I never swore at home ; I trust you will forgive me, sir ; 1 did not
realize that you were present."

It was at the close of the service in the Third Brigade Young
Men's Christian Association tent, Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville,
Florida. A hundred soldiers had risen for prayers, and at least
fifty had come forward and given their hands in token of a surren
der to Christ as a personal Saviour. The benediction had been
pronounced when a bright-faced Virginia boy, nineteen years old,
came to the platform and said : "Won't you pray for me, sir r I want

MR. MOODY IN TWO WARS 189

to be a Christian here in camp." They knelt together, and others
gathered around until twenty noble fellows were in the group of
prayer. Nearly all confessed the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer and
went down to their tents rejoicing.

" GOD KEEP us FROM WAR "

From the activity which Mr. Moody displayed in the two wars
which were fought during his working career, it might be thought
that he was not averse to international conflicts. This was far from
true. It was simply that when war came he saw in it, and took
advantage of, an opportunity to do good. Just before the com
mencement of the Spanish war, in a meeting at Pittsburg, he told
his hearers what he thought of war.

"War, awful war!" he exclaimed. "Never has our country
had more need of your prayers than at the present time. God keep
us from war, if it be possible, and God keep hate of Spain out of
our hearts ! I have not met a man who served in the last war who
wants to see another. God knows that I do not want to see the
carnage and destruction that such a war would bring. God pity
America and Spain. There are many mothers who will be bereaved,
many homes broken up, if we have war. Have you thought of
this ? "

" Have you thought of this ?" No ; in the heat of prepara
tion, in our eagerness to avenge a wronged people, in all the excite
ment of what seemed to be a Divine call to arms, many of us did
not think of this. But the great, tender heart of Moody ached with
the sorrow of anticipation. He knew that nations are nourished
by the rain of mothers' tears ; he knew that sad-faced fathers to-day,
like Abraham of old, stand ready to offer up their sons on their
country's altar. And with a pity — dare I say it ? — a pity akin to the
pity of his Master, he yearned for his people.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Spiritual Side of Northfield

NORTH FIELD is beautiful for situation, and the words oi4
the Psalmist in Psalm xlviii : 2, " Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion," in the judgment
of many people could be applied to this center of influence in the
Christian world of to-day.

It is impossible to think of Northfield without thinking of Mr.
Moody, and equally impossible to consider for a moment the work
of D. L. Moody, without being compelled to give much considera
tion to his native town, the place he loved as few men love the

place of their birth.

A BEAUTIFUL PLACE

Independent of its spiritual attractions, there are few more
beautiful places ; the Connecticut River, bending here and there
between hill and vale, is more than interesting. The poet speaks
of " rivers singing their way to the sea ;" one can quite understand
how this expression could be used in this connection, for we quite
believe that it would be true of the Connecticut. And if the river
itself could speak it would tell many a story of lives that from
Northfield have sung their way on up to Heaven, and have started
the melody of song in many other lives as well. It is said that
Mr. Moody loved the view from his own house better than from
almost any other point of observation, and well he might. Dr.
Gordon once wrote of him, " Moody cannot endure the seashore ;
his green fields and ever shadowy hills and deep-rolling Connecticut

are his paradise."
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Northfield is a typical New England town. It consists practi
cally of one long street, on either side of which stand stately elms,
their branches meeting overhead and forming an arch, which has
ever increasing beauty for the lovers of the quaint old town. It
has ever been a very winsome place both because of the fact that
it is so far removed from the busy hum of cities as to make it rest
ful, and also because here within the boundaries of the town so
many people have seen themselves to be out of touch with God
and have come to know Him in all His fulness, and thus have
entered the life of blessing.

NORTHFIELD DEAR TO MR. MOODY

But Northfield was clear to Mr. Moody for more reasons than
one, and I am quite sure that he never thought of it, that there
were not more than a hundred reasons why it should be much to
him. He used to say that when the train left Greenfield, which
was not far away from his own home, he found himself so impa
tient to be with his loved ones that it was impossible to sit still,
and so he would frequently walk up and down the aisle of the car
until he was safely home.

The center of Northfield, to the pilgrim journeying thither
from all parts of the world, was the home of Mr. Moody himself,
and the visit to that home, and a vision of it, both within and
without, furnished one of the best comments on his life. Here
dwelt a man through whose hands millions of dollars had passed,
and practically none of it, though he had the best of right to a
portion of it, both legally and morally, was turned aside to give
him what the world would count luxuries. Tens of thousands of
homes are more beautifully and expensively furnished, but there
was an air about this heart of Northfield which one detected the
moment he crossed the threshold of the home — an air not of necessity

J94 THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD

associated with tapestries or pictures or paintings or furnish
ings ordinarily found in the homes of the rich, but which ever
comes, when Christ is the unseen guest and the head of the house.

Is IT ANY WONDER THAT HE LOVED NORTHFIELD?

The old home was much to the Great Evangelist because it
was his home. It was associated with his early struggles with
poverty, with his father and mother, so dear to him, with his own
immediate household, bound to him, it would seem, with ties
stronger than those that ordinarily unite the members of the
family ; with the students whom he loved and whom it was his
delight to help to gain an education. It was the scene of the be
ginning and the growth of the Bible Conferences, which have
yearly increased in influence and power until the whole Christian
world acknowledges its indebtedness to God for this fountain of
blessing. There, at Mt. Hermon, the site of the boys' school, was
started the Student Volunteer movement, which has been used of
God to send hundreds of young men and women to foreign fields,
and influenced hundreds more who now stand waiting for an oppor
tunity to go. Is it any wonder that Mr. Moody loved Northfield ?
We love it too because it is associated with his triumphs. " Tri
umphs over the obstacles which stood in the way of his buying
back his old home which had been lost by his father's failure in
business. Triumphs over the discouragements that stood in the
way of his giving an education to boys and girls who were poor, as
he once had been ; discouragements that would have defeated any
other man, and at last the scene of the triumphant and victorious
ending of his life and his glorious entrance into Heaven when he
said, " Earth is receding, Heaven is opening, God is calling, and I
must go."

^ SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHF1ELD 195

Northfield is known throughout the world also because of the
celebrated people whose names and words are interwoven in its
latter day history. But whoever has visited Northfield in the past,
or whoever may turn his face thither in the future, no name, how
ever great it may be, can ever outshine his of whom we write. He
was the gentlest, the kindest, the noblest Christian man it has
ever been our good fortune to meet. One of the most familiar
Northfield pictures was D. L. Moody sitting on the little porch in
front of his house early in the morning hailing passers-by in whom
he might have some special interest, directing this one, giving an
order to another one, until he would have transacted half a day's
business when others were just rising from their beds. I can hear
his voice now as I write, as it sounded out one morning not later

o

than 5. 30 o'clock, when I heard him calling, "Chapman, Chapman,"
and, looking out of my window of Weston Hall, saw him sitting in
his buggy ready for a drive, and then for an hour and a half we
rode up through his favorite glen past Dr. Pierson's summer home,
and the site where later Drs. Mabie and Torrey were to build.

His GREAT LOVE OE NATURE

His love of nature was manifest in every turn of the road. " Look
at that," he would say, and before us was a beautiful picture of a run
ning stream and bending boughs of trees, through which the morn
ing sun was breaking. " Listen," he would exclaim again, and the
whole of the forest on either side of the road seemed vocal with
the song of birds. " Isn't it beautiful," he would say over and
over. To take a morning ride with D. L. Moody was to see God
in all nature, but most of all was to feel His presence m the
remarkable personality of the man who sat beside you, imprrssing
you by his every word and gesture with the fact that he was abso
lutely surrendered to God.

I96 THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD

It always seemed to me that his favorite meal for guests was
breakfast. Happy that man who had an invitation to this feast of
the day, for he could then see D. L. Moody at his best in his home
life, and bow with him about his family altar, forth from which
streams of blessing had gone to the very ends of the earth.

Northfield is associated with certain other people whom Mr.
Moody was wise enough to call to his assistance and help. First
and foremost would be Major D. W. Whittle ; for next to Mr.
Moody, as a preaching evangelist, stands Major Whittle, a man of
plain speech and solid piety, whose words have been already owned
of God to the awakening of thousands of souls.

Major Whittle is a native of Vermont, is about sixty-three
years of age, and when Mr. Moody first met him was a resident
of Chicago, where he was converted, and united with the First
Congregational Church, under the pastorate of Rev. W. W.
Patton, D. D

Major Whittle was employed in the office of Fargo & Co.'s
Express until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted a
company in Chicago and joined the army as a captain of infantry.

During his army life he maintained his Christian profession,
and for a long time kept up a company prayer meeting,

At the close of the war he returned with the brevet rank of
major, and soon after was offered a situation as business manager
of the Elgin Watch Company, with a salary of five thousand dol~
lars a year, which he accepted.

His work as superintendent of the West Side Tabernacle Sun
day School, a mission opened by the first Congregational Church,
was greatly blessed, and for some time before his entrance upon
the work of an evangelist his services were in considerable demand
as a Bible reader and helper in revivals of religion.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD 197

At length feeling called of God to a wider field of Christian
labor, he resigned his position, with its ample salary, and gave him
self wholly up to Christ, trusting in Him for direction and support

Major Whittle is laid aside at Northfield now, his very presence
in the old town meaning a blessing to many. His ministry too has
been a benediction to all with whom he has come in contact. I
question if a more godly man lives to-day than this honored servant.

DR. A. J. GORDON

Next in importance, possibly, would be Dr. A. J. Gordon, the
honored pastor for so many years of the Clarendon Street Baptist
Church in Boston. Mr. Moody relied much upon him, often did
the great evangelist dwell upon his readiness to do any service, to
take any place, to stand in any gap. " I cannot thank you enough,"
he wrote one summer, when his absence had thrown the whole
charge of the Conference upon Dr. Gordon, " for your great help
at Northfield. All the letters I have got from there speak in the
highest terms of your generalship.

" I know of no one who could have taken your place.

" // will now answer the question ' What is going to become of
the work when I am gone ? ' '

The presence of such men as these made Northfield a heavenly
place in its atmosphere.

Mr. Moody never displayed greater wisdom than in his selec
tion of men to aid him in his Conferences.

" One of the interesting features of Dr. Gordon's later ministry
at Northfield was the evening baptism in the lake which has, since
his death, been called after his name. These services were of great
solemnity. The assembled people, the soft singing in the eventide
air, the majestic baptismal formula ' Know ye not that so many of
us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?'

I98 THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD

the face as it had been the face of an ange!, the broken waters, and
the resurrection chant at the end— these things can never be for-
jrotten by those who stood by the water's edge,"

REV. F. B. MEYER OF LONDON

Certainly no one has ever visited Northfield who has made a
deeper impression by his ministry, than the Rev. F. B. Meyer. He
is now the minister of Christ Church, London, having succeeded in
that historic pulpit Rev. Newman Hall, D. D., but he is known in
this country, because of the fact that he has led, by the direction of
the Spirit, thousands of people into the joys of the surrendered life,
and Mr. Moody will doubtless hear in Heaven words of appreciation
rf the fact that he ever secured Mr. Meyer for his Northfield work.

Time does not permit in this connection to mention the names
jf MacGregor and Morgan, Andrew Murray, Dr. Webb-Peploe and
hundreds of others of the real leaders in the Christian world to-day
They have counted it an honor to visit Northfield and give the very
best of their thought to help carry on a movement which was mani
festly of God.

There are many special incidents which have made Northfield
blessed in its memory. One is related by Mr. George C. Need-
ham, of the sainted A. J. Gordon of Clarendon Street Church.

"Dr. Gordon, unlike some Christians, believed there was
something always beyond. This he ever sought to attain. Some
years ago, during the first Northfield convention, he was desirous
to secure what he yet needed as a saint and servant of Christ.
Toward the close of those memorable ten days, spent more in
prayer than in preaching, my beloved friend joined me in a mid
night hour of great heart-searching and in-filling of the Spirit. He
read with peculiar tenderness our Lord's intercessory prayer of
John xvii. The union of the believer with Christ and the Father.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTH FIELD 199

as taught by our Lord in that chapter, called out fervent exclama
tions, while with deep pathos he continued reading. During united
prayer which followed, the holy man poured his soul with a freedom
and unction indescribable. I never heard him boast of any spiritual
attainment reached during that midnight hour. Soul experiences
were to him very sacred, and not to be rehearsed on every ordinary
occasion. But I have no doubt that he received then a divine
touch which further ennobled his personal life and made his ministry
of ever-increasing spirituality and of ever-widening breadth of

sympathy."

A STAR IN THE MIDNIGHT DARKNESS

One incident connected with my own Christian experience can
never be effaced from my memory. I was seated in my country
home reading the accounts of the Northfield conferences, before I
had ever thought of attending the same, when one sentence in an
address delivered by Mr. Meyer arrested my attention. It was
concerning the life of surrender, and the sentence was as follows :
" If you are not willing to give up everything to God, then can you
say, / am ivilhng to be made willing?" It was like a star in the
midnight darkness of my life and led to a definite surrender of
myself in October 1892. But after that there were still some dis
couragements and times of depression, and standing one morning
very early in front of Mr. Moody's house with the Rev. F. B.
Meyer, I said to him, " Mr Meyer, what is my difficulty ?" I told him
of my definite surrender and pointed out to him my times of weak
ness and discouragement, and in a way which is peculiar to himself
he made answer, " My brother, your difficulty is doubtless the same
as the one I met. Have you ever tried to breathe out six times
without breathing in once ?" Thoughtlessly I tried to do it and
then learned that one never breathes out until he breathes in, that
his breathing out is in proportion to his breathing in ; that he

200 THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF NORTHFIELD

makes his effort to breathe in and none to breathe out. Taking my
hand in his, my distinguished friend said, " it is just so in one's Chris
tian life, we must be constantly breathing in of God, or we shall fail,"
and he turned to make his way to Mr. Moody's house for breakfast
while I hastened up to my room in Weston Hall thanking God that I
had had a message better to me than any sermon I had ever heard.

Such incidents as these in the lives of thousands of ministers
make Northfield a place delightful to visit and Northfield meetings
a benediction.

A very wealthy family, the father and mother of which had
been frequent visitors at Northfield, could never induce the young
ladies of their home to go with them, their idea of a Bible confer
ence being such that they considered it a poor way to spend a
vacation ; but one summer, because of the description of the beauty
of the scenery, they consented to go. They were seated one morn
ing on the piazza of the Northfield Hotel with Mr. Meyer, when
something in his conversation led them to say that they would hear
him preach that morning. The power of God came upon one of
the young ladies and she returned to her room only to fall upon
her knees and definitely yield herself to God. She returned to
her home to engage most actively in Christian service. Shortly
after her return she was taken ill and died, and before her death
she called her mother to her room to say to her that she wanted
her to call to her room, before the funeral, every girl whom she
had ever known intimately and socially and to tell them that in
the little time she had known Christ fully she had had more joy
than in all her social life put together.

This is but one incident among thousands that could be related
concerning the influence of Northfield. Is it strange, therefore,
that many who love it can say as the Psalmist said of Zion,
" Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Northfield. "

CHAPTER XIV.

The Northfield Schools

A FAVORITE aphorism with Mr. Moody was, that "it is
better to set ten men to work than to do the work of ten
men ", and his institutions were every one of them founded
with this idea in mind. He ever had a great desire more thoroughly
to equip young men and women that they might more properly do
the work to which God had called them. In one sense Mr. Moody
was not an educated man, for, so far as the schools were concerned,
he had the scantiest equipment for his life work. This was always
a source of sincere sorrow to him, and he determined that others
should not meet this difficulty if he could prevent it, yet in the
very widest sense he was most thoroughly educated, and it was
entirely fitting that Professor Henry Drummond should speak of
him as "one of the greatest educators of his day."

His TRULY MARVELOUS EDUCATIONAL WORK

There is really no greater proof of Mr. Moody's breadth of
mind than that he should have started these different institutions.
I think he is the only evangelist in this country that has ever, to any
great extent, concerned himself with such matters, and since he is
easily the greatest evangelist that this country has produced in
modern times, it is all the more remarkable that in the very prime
of his life, and at the time when he was really at the height of his
success as an evangelist, he should give so much of his strength to

educational causes.

(203)

204 THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS

If there ever has been a disposition to criticise Mr. Moody's
latter day evangelistic effort, such criticism should always be
made in the light of his truly marvelous educational work. Per
sonally I do not think that he is rightly a subject for unfavorable
criticism in his last efforts along evangelistic lines, for whenever I
heard him, even to the very last, he always seemed to have a special
anointing of God upon him. But I have heard men say that his
special efforts in his last days were not to be compared with the
work of his earlier ministry. However, let me repeat again, that if
to his evangelistic work you add his educational interests, then each
succeeding day of D. L. Moody's life was greater than the day
that preceded it, and he was at the very zenith of his power when
God called him home. He knew that the object of Christianity
was to make men and women better in every way, and fit them, not
only with all their heart but with all their mind to serve their God
and their country, so he founded these institutions for the turning
out of such characters.

Henry Drummond has said, " his pupils should be com
mitted to nothing as regards a future profession. They might
become ministers or missionaries, evangelists or teachers, farmers

o

or politicians, business men or lawyers ; all that he would secure
would be that they should have a chance of becoming useful,
educated, God-fearing men and women." But he would help
them if he could to fill these positions to the glory of God.

NORTHFIELD MADE His PERMANENT RESIDENCE

On his return to America from Great Britain, Mr. Moody
went with his family to the home of his boyhood days. He
decided to make Northfield his permanent place of residence, and
he settled down to enjoy a period of rest before he formed new
plans for work. It was a time of real preparation for the future,

THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS 205

and the history of to-day proves that God was as truly speaking to
him then as to Moses when He was alone with him on the mountain.
During journeys over the hills about his native town, he met many of
the farmers' daughters, bright, intelligent girls, with ambitions ex
tending beyond the routine of the farm-house drudgery. They
appealed so strongly to him that he conceived the plan of a school
where such girls, possessed of moderate means, might receive a
careful training in the Bible and ordinary English branches. This
was the seed thought, and out of it has crrown the Northfield Semi-

<_> o

nary, Mt. Hermon, and the Northfield Training School.

PURCHASE OF GROUND AND OPENING OF THE SCHOOL

It has been said that this educational idea was not alone D. L.
Moody 's. A brother, not now living, Samuel Moody, an active, in
telligent man, had long desired the establishment of a High School
in his native place, and frequently talked of it. There is still another
thing that should be mentioned. At this time Mr. D. L. Moody
was deeply interested in the education of a young lady cousin,
whom he afterward sent to Wellesley College. This cousin, Miss
Fanny C. Holton, died in February, 1887, but her character, influ
ence and helpfulness had a most important relation to the origin of
the Northfield Seminary and to its entire history. In 1887, Mr.
Moody held meetings in Boston, and there met Mr. H. N. F.
Marshall, who was intimately connected with the founding of both
schools. It was Mr. Marshall who made the first purchase of
ground for the school.

In 1878, Mr. Marshall first visited Northfield, and this visit led
to the above-mentioned purchase of the sixteen acres of ground
nearly opposite Mr. Moody's house. In 1878 and 1879, while Mr-
Moody was working in Baltimore, Mr. Marshall again joined
him, and the project of the school for young ladies was further

206 THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS

discussed. A second lot of ground was purchased adjoining the first,
and on this the first recitation building was erected. In 1879,
during the summer, Mr. Moody altered his own house for the
accommodations of the pupils. A long wing, adjoining the house,
was divided into ten rooms for the accommodation of the students.
November 3, 1879, the school opened, not with eight or ten pupils,
as they had dared to hope, but with twenty-five, and until the reci
tation hall was finished, in December, the pupils studied in Mr
Moody's own home. Miss Harriet W. Tuthill came as the first
teacher and principal of the school. The price charged to every
pupil then, as now, was but $100, and applications came pouring in
from all parts of the country.

THREE GREAT ENDS IN VIEW

In this work of education there were three great ends which
occupied Mr. Moody's thought in addition to the natural educa
tional advantages. The first had to do with a better Biblical educa
tion, and his great object was to help and encourage them, and fit
them in the best way for a happy and useful life, to bring them in
close contact with the Fountain of Life, from which they might draw
freely for all their needs. The second end in view was to meet the
demand for trained women who would devote themselves to mis
sionary work, either at home or abroad, but more particularly
among the poor of the great cities. But a third object in founding
the school was that the buildings which should be erected for pur
poses of education should be available during the summer and va
cation months for another use. They could be used for gatherings
of persons who delighted to study the Bible, and also to confer
concerning matters touching the Kingdom of Christ. Mr. Moody
lived long enough to see these three ends more than fulfilled, and

THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS 207

great numbers of young women the country over bless God that he
waj ever used to inaugurate such a work in their behalf.

On the first day of April, 1880, ground was broken for
East Hall, and on the first of October the building was finished.
It became the home for sixty-three students. When the Hall was
opened Mr. Moody said, " I would like to give this Hall a motto,
and let it also be the motto of the school. Isaiah xxvii 13: 'I,
the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment ; lest any hurt
it, I will keep it night and day.' ' When this remark was made he
committed the building and school, in a special prayer, to the con
tinual service and never-failing care of God.

CONSTANTLY INCREASING

The second year of the Seminary began, with East Hall well
filled, and a large number of day scholars, while the third year
opened with every room that was obtainable more than crowded.
Not only was this building used, but while Mr. Moody was absent
in Great Britain, his own house was given up entirely to the use of
the school. The school has always been much like a home, and the
spirit of happiness and harmony, which is the real spirit of Christ,
has always prevailed.

The fourth year of the Seminary began with a new dormitory.
The building was named Bonar Hall, in memory of the visit made
to Northfield by Dr. Andrew Bonar. This structure was after
ward destroyed by fire. The school was constantly increasing in
numbers and widening its influence. In 1885, Marquand Hall was
formally opened. At the same time was celebrated the eightieth
birthday of Mrs. Betsey Moody, and the forty-eighth birthday of her
son D. L. Moody. In 1886 the corner-stone was laid of another
dormitory, holding forty-five pupils. It was finished in the summer
of 1887 at a cost of $25,000, and bears the name of Weston Hall.

2o8 THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS

It was this Hall that was set apart for the use of the New York
Presbytery at the last meeting of the Northfield Conference. In
the spring of 1887, the Talcott Library was built, the gift of
James Talcott, of New York, a trustee of the school, and the Rev.
Mark Guy Pearse, of England, made an address on this occasion.
But even though the buildings were constantly increasing, and were
not at all small in their dimensions, each succeeding year found them
filled to overflowing, until in the ninth year there were 252 boarding
pupils and eighteen teachers.

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINARY

In the judgment of many of his friends D. L. Moody never
performed a more important service than when he gave to the
world the Northfield Seminary. Other buildings than those
mentioned above have been erected, until to-day the school possesses
as many dormitories as any girls' school in the country. In addition
it has the Skinner Gymnasium, and the new Auditorium built by
Mr. Moody in 1894, to accommodate the increasing crowd at the
summer conferences. The buildings all possess a wide degree of
artistic beauty. The 270 acres belonging to the Seminary show
good results from the time and money expended on them. The
hillside, once so desolate, is covered with a beautiful turf. Well
built roads wind through the grounds and from ten to twenty men
are kept constantly employed. The entire production of the farm,
with the exception of a few apples, are used by the farm or the
school. While the price of board and tuition at the Seminary
from the outset has been $100 a year, as before mentioned, yet it
must not be supposed that this pays for the education of the girls.
In point of fact it covers not more than one-half the running
expenses of the school. The other half Mr. Moody became
responsible for, and he toiler! day and night, early and late, that he

THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS 209

might make the education of these girls possible, and the schools
a success.

I am very sure that no one could ever invest his money better
than to help in the memorial endowment fund which is now being
solicited throughout the country, that Mr. Moody's work may be
perpetuated and grow in increasing usefulness.

MT. HERMON

The plan for a school where boys could have a training in
elementary English branches and also the Bible, really dates back
to Mr. Moody's mission work in Chicago, and he never abandoned
his purpose. Four miles distant from the Young Ladies' Seminary,
on the opposite side of the river, the Mt. Hermon buildings,
composing the Mt. Hermon School for young men are to be found.
While the plan was conceived earlier it was carried out later than
that of the Northfield Seminary, but it is not to be placed second
in point of influence ; side by side these two institutions have come
alortg together to positions of influence and power.

In 1880 the ground for Mt. Hermon was purchased. Through
the generosity of Mr. Hiram Camp, Mr. Moody was fortunately
able to secure his farms, and subsequent purchases have put the
boys' school in possession of more than 700 acres of ground. The
price of board and tuition is the same as at the girls' school, and it
was Mr. Moody's plan to have the work of the house and the
farm performed by the boys themselves. For two years the school
numbered not more than twenty-five boys, the ages ranging from
eio-ht to eip-hteen. Two farm houses served as dormitories and a

o o

small building was erected to serve as a schoolhouse. It was soon
decided that better results would be obtained by admitting only
older boys, and the minimum age of admission was made sixteen.
In 1882 five brick cottages were built, four of which were used as

210 THE NORTH FIELD SCHOOLS

dormitories, and the middle one designed to serve as a kitchen
from which the meals were carried to the other buildings. Since
then there have been added a three-story recitation hall, dining
hall and kitchen, Crossley Hall and Silliman Science Hall.

Mt. Hermon gives a good education to boys who have been
deprived of earlier advantages, and who cannot attend more expen
sive schools. The industrial system of Mt. Hermon tends to
exclude undesirable students. In their spare time boys are allowed
to do overwork, for which they are paid. Many of the students
remain at Mt. Hermon throughout the year because they have no
homes, or because they desire to earn money. During the vaca
tion pupils pay three dollars a week for board. However, this is
not paid in money but in work.

THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN IN MOUNT HERMON

The educational plan in Mt. Hermon, as in all other insti
tutions associated with Mr. Moody's name, centres around the
Bible, and the results are apparent in the large number of students
engaged in home and foreign missionary work.

People sneered in the beginning at the idea of an uneducated
evangelist teaching the youth anything about education, but as the
buildings rose one after the other their sneers soon changed to
astonishment, and now one only hears words of praise for this
noble work. Mr. Moody had the most supreme faith in God as
touching this educational work at Northfield. He knew that God
had laid it on his heart, and was persuaded that He would help him
to carry it through.

I remember his telling at one time an incident which had to
do with the completion of one of the buildings. They were out
of money, and the work could not go on unless the money should
be provided, so he made his way up to his study, wrote the

THE NORTHFIELD SCHOOLS 213

strongest letter he could to a great business man, and told him
that he must have several thousand dollars at once. When the
letter was finished he put it on a chair before him and got down
upon his knees to pray God that this letter should accomplish the
object he had in mind. The letter went on its way and reached
-the business man in his home as he sat at the breakfast table. He
read it with indifference, and then for some reason read it the
second time, with a little bit of interest. For some reason he
could not explain he read it the third time, and then went to his
library and wrote a check for the full amount, saying in the letter
which accompanied the check, " for some reason unaccountable I
am unable to get away from your request, and I send you my
check as you desire. I am sending it to you from my home for
fear that I might change my mind when I reach my place of

business."

CONVINCING INCIDENTS

Incidents like this could be multiplied without number, and
when one looks at Mt. Hermon, studies its great buildings, familiar
izes himself with the number of lives that have come forth from
the school to make the world better and brighter, and then studies
the whole of Mr. Moody's plant, his first impression is one of
wonder and admiration, the second a feeling of gratitude that he
has an object lesson proving the truth that, if God only has His
way with His own, the day of miracles is not past.

I wish I might put into this chapter an appeal to philanthro
pists everywhere to support the work of this man who was sent
from God. I am persuaded that the blessing of God will be on one
who in any way answers the appeal sent forth.

There is a third institution at Northfield which should not be
overlooked. On Friday, June i, 1888, "The Northfield" was
opened to the public. It is a fine hotel, designed expressly to meet

214 THE NORTH FIELD SCHOOLS

the needs of the many who annually visit Northfield, who attend the
summer conferences, or as friends of the two schools. It was opened
with an overflow of guests. It was at this hotel that the friends of Mr.
Moody gathered on the night preceding his funeral and the evening
following it, and it is in this hotel that the Moody Training School for
Women meets.

THE NORTHFIELD TRAINING SCHOOL

In his work in Chicago, and in his evangelistic work throughout
the world, Mr. Moody had learned to appreciate the especial influ
ence of women in ministering to the poor. He also found that it
was almost impossible to secure the right standard of women to do
the work he had in mind. Sometimes their influence was marred
Dy inexperience, more frequently by lack of training. He deter
mined to start a training school, which city churches and mission
fields could draw upon, not for highly educated missionaries, but for
Christian women who could be trained especially in Bible knowl
edge and domestic economy.

The Northfield Hotel was an eyesore to Mr. Moody because
it was empty from October to the end of March. He determined
that this should not be so, and in 1890, the first term of the train
ing school began there. Fifty-six students took up residence at
once, and the next year the numbers were quite doubled. In addi
tion to systematic Bible study, the pupils are taught such branches
of domestic economy as will make them useful in their work with
the poor, and they are especially instructed in preparation of foods
for the sick.

It seems an incredible thing- that a man without education

o

himself, as the world speaks of him, should have been used of God
to establish a work which in many ways is the wonder of all who
see it, but it is an illustration of the fact, that we can do all things
through Christ which strengthened us.

CHAPTER XV.

The Northfield Conference and the Student

Volunteers

'HIS is a day in which God is using- in a very remarkable way
what is known as the Bible Conference. In many parts of
the country there are annual summer gatherings of Chris
tian people for the study of God's Word. The number is rapidly
increasing, and the growth of some of these conferences is really
remarkable. In a sense, at least, the Northfield Conference which
came out of the heart and the deep study of D. L. Moody, is
responsible for them all.

VARIOUS BIBLE CONFERENCES

There has been annually, until within the past two years, a
gathering of earnest, active Christians at Niagara, on the Lake, and
some of the most widely known Bible students in the country have
gathered there to consult together concerning the things of the
Kingdom. The teaching at this conference has been largely along
dispensation lines, and the prominent truth presented in all their ser
vices has been the return of the Lord, while the majority of thr
teachers at Northfield have not only accepted, but strongly advocated
the truth known as the " blessed hope ". Still Mr. Moody had one
characteristic which impressed itself on all his associates. He would
not exalt one truth at the expense of another, and so Northfield has
not been known as the place where any particular line of truth was
promulgated. If any exception could be taken to this statement it

216 THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE

would be in favor of those truths which contribute to the deepen
ing of the spiritual life.

Another widely known Bible Conference, which is certainly in
existence because of the influence of Northfield, is the Winona
gathering at Winona Lake, Ind. For five years the Christians of
the Middle and Western states in increasing numbers have gathered
there for the same kind of work that was clone at Northfield. Mr.
Moody has ever contributed to the effectiveness of the Conference
by sending such speakers as the Rev. G. H. C. MacGregor, the
Rev. G. Campbell Morgan, the Rev. F. B. Meyer, and the Rev.
J. G. Cunningham. The gathering has increased from thirty-five,
the first year, to more than 1,500 at the last annual meeting. I
desire personally to say that Winona owes to Mr. Moody more than

it can ever repay.

THE KESWICK MOVEMENT

One of the most celebrated conferences abroad is that which
meets in the early summer at Keswick, a town of Cumberland,
England, on the south bank of the Greta, twenty-four miles from
Carlisle. The first convention was held in July, 1875, an<^ was
only for the purpose of experiencing a fuller spiritual life. It has
been thought by many that the Keswick movement stood for the
promotion of the doctrine of "sinless perfection". This is most
untrue. It does stand for the very highest type of Christian living,
and in every way stands for the exaltation and manifestation of
Christ in the life. There are six successive stages that ought to
be indicated in connection with Keswick, for they have widely
influenced the Northfield teachers, especially those from abroad.
They are named in the order of their importance.

i. The definite and immediate abandonment of every known
sin or hindrance to holy living.

THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE 2I7

2. The abandonment and renunciation by faith of the self-
life, or the life, that centers in self-indulgence and self-dependence.

3. The immediate surrender of the will in loving and com
plete obedience to the will of God, separation for the purpose of
consecration.

4. The infilling of the Holy Spirit, or the claiming of the
believer's share in the Spirit's pentecostal gift of power for service.

5. The revelation of Christ as an indwelling presence in the
believer's soul and daily life, and as his actual Master and Lord.

6. Beyond these there is always a sixth and last stage of
teaching ~the privileges and victories implied in this higher or
deeper life, such as the rest life of faith, power over sin, passion
for souls, conscious fellowship with God, growing possession of
promises, and prevailing prayer and intercession.

THE PRE-EMINENCE OF NORTH FIELD

The basis of all this teaching is, as is very apparent, the con
viction that the average Christian life is too often grievously des
titute of real spiritual power and is essentially carnal ; and that it is
the duty and privilege of every child of God to enter at once into
newness of life, and to walk henceforth in the power of Christ's
resurrection.

But Northfield is pre-eminently, in the judgment of many peo
ple, the most important gathering of Bible students in this country,
if not in the world. Thousands of lives have been transformed, by
/the power of the Conference, and one of the most notable gather
ings in its history was that of last year when the entire Presbytery
of New York met and were assigned to quarters in Weston Hall,
attended regularly the services, and came back literally filled with
the Spirit of God, the result being that the whole city of New York
has seemed to feel the touch of the power that rested upon them ;
and there is scarcely a Presbyterian Church in the city that has not

218 THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE

had remarkably large additions as either a direct or indirect result
of this last summer Conference.

However much Mr. Moody's friends may have to say of him
in meetings in other places, it is certainly true that he was at his
best in Northneld at the Conference. There was no more inter
ested listener in all the audience than he. He was quick to notice
the impression the speakers made upon the people, and while he
was never what could be called a flatterer, yet when those whom
he had invited to be present helped the people he was the first one
to express his appreciation. As a rule he was at all the gather
ings.

THE BEGINNING OF THE CONFERENCES

A description of the Northneld Conferences necessitates refer
ring once again to the Round Top services, one of which is
described in another chapter. These meetings were held in the
evening, at the sunset time, and the influence upon all who gath
ered there was simply profound. I question if there is any work
that Mr. Moody was engaged in throughout the world in which he
was more interested than the Northfield Conference, a brief story
of which ought to be given.

The Northneld Conferences began in 1 880. Early in September
the buildings of the Seminary were thronged with three hundred
visitors. Among those who came was a delegation from Great
Britain. The first conference continued for ten days. The spin'1,
of the meeting was largely devotional, the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit being largely dwelt upon ; and the result was very impressive.
There was at that time no large auditorium in which the various
meetings could be conducted, so a large tent was pitched behind
East Hall, and there the exercises were held. The culmination of
the conference was pentecostal in its power, and the spiritual

THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE 219

refreshing which came at that time to many believers is still mani
fest in whatever they do.

In October, 1881, the second convocation began, continuing
through the month. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Bonar, of Glasgow,
Scotland, was the principal speaker, and among the others who par
ticipated were Dr. George F. Pentecost, Dr. A. J. Gordon, Dr.
James H. Brooks, Dr. E. P. Goodwin, Mr. George C. Needham,
and Major Whittle, besides many others whose names have since
come to be especially associated with Northfield work. There was
great variety in the services. The spirit of the second conference
was less devotional than the first, but was given more to doctrinal
and practical study, Most of the meetings were held in East Hall,
but in the afternoons the conference met in the Congregational
Church of the village, and occasionally in the open air. The inter
est deepened throughout the month.

How THEY HAVE GROWN

Shortly after this Mr. Moody went to England, and in his
absence no summer conferences were held at Northfield for three
years, and it was not until August, 1885, that the third convoca
tion was held. Mr. J. E. K. Studd of Cambridge University,
England, gave a fine impetus to the meeting, and Mr. John B.
Gough delivered during this month one of his last addresses. Dr.
A. T. Pierson and Dr. A. J. Gordon also helped to make the meet
ings signal in their influence.

And so, year after year, the Northfield Conferences have grown
in interest and attendance. The new buildings which, from time to
time, have been erected for the educational work of the Seminary
have much increased the facilities of entertainment for visitors, and
the new auditorium makes it possible to assemble a great thrc.ig
under cover. Still there are many who think that the open-aii

220 THE NORTH FIELD CONFERENCE

services have been more stimulating and helpful than any of the
others. The speakers have been drawn, as formerly, from the best,
and it is a privilege indeed to receive through association with such
men the best fruits of their own experiences. It has always seemed
to me that the genius of Mr. Moody shone more in his manage-
Iment of the summer conferences than in any other detail of his
work, and his earnestness and his devotion were ever so impressed
on all the services that no one could go away from a meeting with
out carrying with him a blessing. Mr. Moody's educational ideals,
which in their practical forms are visible to the visitor to the con
ferences in the noble buildings which crown the Northfield hills,
were epitomized in the work of the summer conferences.

THE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

Some time in the spring of 1886, with his customary foresight
and intuition in regard to what might advance the Kingdom of
Christ, Mr. Moody called to his side Mr. L. D. Wishard, then
college secretary of the International Committee of the Young
Men's Christian Associations of the United States and Canada.
As a result of the conference between these two men, Mr. Moody
invited each of the College Young Men's Christian Associations of
the country to send a delegate to spend a month at Mt. Hermon in
July of the same year, to study the Bible and methods of Christian
work adapted to college students. This invitation was accepted by
250 students, from about ninety different college associations.
The meetings continued from July yth to August 2d. The pro
gram of each day was as follows : From eight o'clock in the
morning the men considered informally for an hour some phase of
College Association work. At ten o'clock all met and listened to
addresses from noted speakers from abroad. Some time was also
given to those who desired to ask practiced questions, and these

THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE 223

were answered by Mr. Moody in his usual clear, direct manner.
In these meetings, as elsewhere, Mr. Moody was able to exercise his
wonderful ability to associate with himself a corps of prominent
Bible scholars and teachers.

A large number of Christian students were present who had
decided to devote their lives to the work in foreign missions.
These naturally met together in a common fellowship, and their
earnestness and devotion made from the outset a deep impression
on all. Their appeals on behalf of the claims of missionary work
on educated Christian young men also made a profound impression,
and many students were then and there led to express a willingness
and a desire to enter upon work in the foreign field.

MISSIONARY INTEREST AWAKENED

The interest awakened was fostered by two young men,
Messrs. Wilder and Foreman, who were led speedily to devote a
portion of their time as students to deepening and widening this
work among the students of the colleges not represented at Mt.
Hermon. This in brief, then, is how the Student Volunteer move
ment was born ; it came into being in connection with the first
Christian Student Conference ever held at Mt. Hermon, where Mr
Moody's school for boys and young men is situated.

Like many another thing for which Mr. Moody opened the
way, if he did not actually originate it, the Student Volunteer
movement has grown almost beyond comprehension. It assumed
organization in 1888, and has become a recognized factor and power
in the missionary life of the Church throughout the world, as
possibly no other single movement. Briefly stated, the four-fold
purpose of the organization is : First, to awaken and foster among
all the Christian students of the United States and Canada, intelli-
gent and active intere.st in foreign missions. Second, to enroll a

224 THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE

sufficient number of properly qualified student volunteers to meet
the successive demands of the various missionary Boards of North
America. Third, to help all such as pledge themselves to foreign
missionary work to prepare for their life work, and to increase the
co-operation of these young workers in developing the missionary
'life of home churches. Fourth, to lay an equal burden of responsi
bility on all students who are to remain as ministers and lay workers
at home, that they may actively promote missionary enterprise by
intelligent advocacy, gifts and prayers.

The Volunteer movement is not a missionary board. It
never has sent out and never will send out a missionary, for it is
simply a recruiting station. As in so many other ways, the wisdom
of Mr. Moody in calling to his side such men as L. D. Wishard,
C. K. Ober and John R. Mott, of the International Committee of
the Young Men's Christian Association, was soon manifest in the
progress of the movement, and these men have had much to do
with the rapid increase of the work during these last years.

THE GROWTH OF THE WORK

Some conception may be gained of the prodigious strides
which the organization has made when it is known that it already
has made itself felt in more than 1,000 institutions of learning.
Then it should be remembered that in many of these, perhaps
more notably in state, professional and independent institutions,
the subject of foreign missions was dealt with for the first time
when the representatives of the student volunteers began to
extend their efforts. It is safe to assert that where one student
gave this subject careful consideration before the movement began,
scores and scores have felt and thoughtfully considered the claims
of the world-wide missions since and through the ministry of this
work. It is said that the student attitude of many colleges, both

THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE 225

denominational and state, has completely changed, and certain it is
that no other subject has ever taken such a deep hold on the con
victions of college men, or has called forth from them such unselfish
devotion.

There are on the roll of the movement at this time about 4,000
students. Of this number about one-third are women and two-
thirds are men. Forty-eight denominations are represented.
Nearly 1,200 of the volunteers have already gone to the foreign
field. The number of students who now are planning to become
foreign missionaries is five times as great in the colleges of the
land, and twice as great in the seminaries, as it was before this
movement started. The Student Volunteers have also afforded
substantial aid in assisting to raise money, for whereas the colleges
formerly gave about $5,000 a year to foreign missionary work,
they now give more than $40,000.

SOME INDIRECT EFFECTS

It must be plain to any thoughtful person that the reflex influ
ence of this movement in the institutions of learning themselves is
simply incalculable. For every student who has offered himself to go
abroad, certainly one or more have been influenced to take up a
more aggressive Christian life at home. Development in Bible
study and in personal work for the salvation of their fellows on the
part of the students, as a secondary influence of this movement is
without any doubt one of the great evangelistic tendencies of the
century. At least indirectly, it may be traced to Mr. Moody.

One of the most wonderful things about the Student Volun
teer influence has been its effect upon the students of other lands.
Ten years ago the organization for the United States and Canada
was the only student movement in the world, employing the volun
teer methods, but now there are student volunteers in Great Britain,

22f. THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE

Scandinavian countries, Germany, France, Australasia, South
Africa, China, India and Ceylon. All the organizations express
their indebtedness to the American branch for the helpful and
practical influence it exerted in the formative periods of the work.
It is exceedingly significant that even the students of mission lands
have joined hands with the students of Christian lands in a deter
mined effort to preach the Gospel to all mankind.

In August, 1895, there was formed in the historic Vadstena
Castle, on the shores of Lake Vettern, in Sweden, a World's Student
Christian Federation. There were present official representatives
from America, Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, and Mission
lands. Mr. John R. Mott, in his "Strategic Points in the World's
Conquest," says, " Never since the Wartburg sheltered the great
German Reformer, while he was translating the Bible for the com
mon people, has a mediaeval castle served a purpose fraught with
greater blessing to all mankind."

A FEDERATION FOR THE WORLD

Since the formation of this federation it has been entered by
the representatives of five other countries, India, Ceylon, Scuth
Africa, China and Japan, so that practically all the countries, having
anything like a student volunteer movement, are now banded
together.

The first convention of the World's Student Christian Federa
tion was held in the United States, in July, 1897, in conjunction
with the annual conference of the American and Canadian Intercol
legiate Young Men's Christian Association, .at Northfield. In addi
tion to the 600 students who had come together from 136 universi
ties and colleges, there were present students and Christian work
ers from twenty-five other nations or races. Special meetings were
held on Round Top, the spot which is now especially consecrated

THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE 227

to Mr. Moocly's memory. Round Top is not less sacred because it
is the place where more students have dedicated their lives to the
extension of Christ's religion than any other place in the world.
Says Mr. Mott, " Day after day at sunset, the hundreds of delegates
from the ends of the earth met on this sacred mountain to lift their
eyes and look far beyond the beautiful Connecticut valley and the
distant green mountains upon the great harvest fields of the world,
and linger and listen to burning messages from their fellow students,
telling of the triumphs of Christ among their own people, and the
need of more men in the regions beyond."

PRAYER IN TWENTY-ONE LANGUAGES

The Federation delegates attended not only the large special
meetings over which Mr. Moody presided, but also the conferences
for the discussion of methods. One afternoon a pilgrimage was
made to Mt. Hermon, which, as the reader will remember, is several
miles from Northfield on the other side of the river The groves
and hills and river banks about Mt. Hermon are sacred, for it was
here that the Student Volunteer movement came into existence in
1886. Some who had attended that first wonderful meeting were
present to recount the experiences of those first days of blessed
surrender. Before the delegates left Mt. Hermon, Mr. Moody
called them together for the consecrating of the ground that had
been set apart as a site for a chapel. In a representative meeting
this plot was dedicated to God's service. Then the delegates offered
prayer in twenty-one different languages, and yet there was no con
fusion of tongues, for all were brought together in their common
love of the Master.

What will be the result of this movement we can only con
jecture, for it is yet in its infancy, but it is significant to note that
already it has brought together Christian students in all the world

228 THE NORTHFIELD CONFERENCE

as never before. It has made the various student movements
acquainted with one another. It has organized six great national
student movements, and has facilitated the organization of two
others. The last conference of the Federation was held in Eisenach,
at the foot of the famous Wartburg, in Germany, and was attended
\by students from twenty-four countries. Nearly 400 years ago, in
the castle which still crowns that storied mountain, a monk made a
consecration of his talents which blessed the world as it had not
been blessed before for many centuries. When Martin Luther
came down from that sacred hill he brought with him a Bible for
the people. The perverseness of the generation did not lead him
to dash his tablets to the ground as he descended, but instead they
went out through the land and gave men almost for the first time
an insight into the true teachings of our Lord. How fitting it is
that on this spot, hallowed by the memory of the great reformer,
the flower of the young men of to-day should pledge themselves to
devote their lives to carrying to all the quarters of the globe the
blessed Gospel !

CHAPTER XVI.

The Chicago Bible Institute

THE Chicago Bible Institute is one of the great monument,
which Mr. Moody has left for himself. That it was born in
prayer is proved from the words of an address which Mr.
Moody made at one of the last meetings of the World's Fair cam-
paign : " Little we thought, when we prayed some three or four
years ago for a Bible Institute near the church, that we should have
any such opportunity to preach the Gospel to the world as we have
had these last six months. We should not have been able to do
the work we have done during these past months but for the Insti-
tute and the three hundred workers who had gathered there from
every part of the country. No matter at what point the work has
been started, we have had force enough to carry it on. I believe that
it would have been utterly impossible to have carried on this work
without the help of the Bible Institute. It may oe that God raised
it up for such a time., even as Esther was raised up for the time of
her country's peril and need."

Tin-; NEED OK THE INSTITUTION

The need of an institution of this kind became evident to Mr.
Moody as he went about, holding evangelistic services in various
places. There was constant difficulty in getting persons who were
able to deal directly with inquirers or who were trained sufficiently
in the knowledge of the Word of Czod to point the soul to Christ.
In every meeting there would be great numbers of the poor and
of the outcast whose hearts would be reached by the message, and

229

230 THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

when there was any great number of such inquirers it was quite impos
sible for him to deal personally with them all. On one occasion, Mr.
Moody said, " One of the great purposes we have in view in the
Bible Institute is to raise up men and women who will put their lives
alongside the life of the poor and the laboring classes, and bring
the influence of the Gospel to bear upon them." Out of a little
Mission Sunday School, which had been organized by Mr. Moody,
orew the Chicago Avenue Church, and it was in this church that

£> ^* •*.

the first steps were taken toward the founding of such an institute
as Mr. Moody had in mind. In the spring of 1889, the Chicago
Evangelization Society came into existence, and Mr. Moody was
its president. From the experiment made at the church it was
clearly demonstrated that it would be possible to have a Bible In
stitute conducted on practical lines in the City of Chicago.
Ground and buildings near the church were purchased, and the
organization was effected in October, 1889, when the Institute
opened for regular work.

THE BEGINNING

At the beginning something like eighty students were enrolled,
fifty of them being men and thirty women. Three houses had
been already purchased by the Institution, and another brick struc
ture was at once begun, which was finished the following year. The
attendance during this year was three times as great as the first
year. The students came from all parts of the world. They helu
religious opinions of every type, and they came to the Institute with
different objects. Some of them intended to continue their studies
after leaving the Institute; others expected to enter immediately
upon active work when they left. Indeed, there were many pastors
of churches, who came there in order that they might increase their
knowledge of practical ways of working in their own churches.

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 233

Perhaps in no institution of the country would there be manifest a
more intense zeal for work than would be found there. The main
object of the institution was both practical and simple ; it was to
give all the students a thorough working knowledge of the Scrip
tures, in order that they might be equipped for personal Christian
work, and at the same time have their own spiritual lives stimulated.
There are, in all, accommodations for about three hundred
students. The two departments are kept separate except at the
time of lectures, when all come together in the lecture hall of

the main building.

THE OBJECT IN VIEW

One is not a guest at the Institute for any great length of
time without discovering the object which the Institute has in view.
He will see here 200 or 300 bright and earnest Christian young
men and women from all parts of the world. As a rule, they come
from that class of people which the Institute is training them to
help.

They have no fortune back of them, few of them have had the
advantages of an education beyond that afforded by the common
schools. They come there with strong convictions that God has
called them to some special service which needs special training
such as the Institute can give them. One feels the influence of the
spiritual atmosphere which pervades the Institute as soon as the
door is opened to receive him, and, if he were spending some little
time among-- these young people so consecrated to their work,
he could not come away without having received great personal

blessing.

THE ORDINARY ROUTINE

The ordinary routine of the Institute is systematic and orderly
to a high degree. The hour for breakfast is seven o'clock. All
take part in asking God's blessing upon the food, for grace is

234 THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

"sung" and not "said". When the breakfast is finished the chairs
are pushed back from the tables and a short exposition is made of
the Scripture chosen for the morning devotions. As a rule this
Scripture is read by Mr. John H. Hunter, who has a general over
sight of the men's department ; if not by him, then by some one of
the visiting lecturers who is living temporarily at the Institute. At
eight o'clock they assemble for prayer, and at nine o'clock the
young men and young women assemble together for the first
lecture of the day. From ten to eleven o'clock the time is given
to thorough instruction, under competent teachers, in vocal and
instrumental music. The second lecture hour is at eleven o'clock,
and dinner at 12.30. At four o'clock in the afternoon comes the
fourth lecture, and the evenings are invariably taken up by the
students who are assigned to various places for practical work. It
would seem to be one object of these students to bring theory and
practice close together, for as in the morning they are shown where to
find the Scriptures which would point the way to Christ, they are
in the evening sent out with those same Scriptures to make a prac
tical application of them upon the unsaved.

THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF THE WORK

The practical part of the education which is given to those
who study here is of the most important character. Every student
is required to do a certain proportion of practical work each week
that he is in the Institute. Sometimes he will be obliged to visit
the homes in some section of the city designated to him. At
other times he will be obliged to organize and carry on cottage
prayer meetings. Then, nearly all the missions of Chicago are
supplied more or less by students from the Institute. Children's
meetings are held, industrial schools are also carried on, and in
almost every case where students are sent to conduct meetings

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 235

they are obliged also to hold inquiry meetings, so that they yrt
hold not only of theories, but also are shown how to put these
theories into operation.

The course of study is most varied, though the main object
constantly adhered to is that all the students may get a thorough
knowledge of the Word of God and be taught how they may skill
fully apply it. The doctrines of the Scriptures are studied in a
thorough and careful manner. Several books are taken up and an
analytic study made of these. Each year some of the best known
Bible students of the country are brought in to reinforce the regular
staff, and these give daily lectures on some biblical theme. As I
have before stated, one of the most impressive features of the
Institute life is the spiritual atmosphere which pervades it.

TOUCHING REQUESTS FOR PRAYER

After the supper hour, and just before the students scatter in
all directions to visit the homes and missions and other places of
assignment, they meet together for prayer, and those who have
some special burden upon their hearts send up a written request to
the leader. It is most touching sometimes to hear the words of
these requests for prayer. Sometimes they are like this, " Please
pray for that unsaved man with whom I am to speak to-night ; "
or " Pray for me that I may conduct the services in my mission to
night in all the power of the Holy Spirit ; " or " Pray for me that
I may be led to do the right thing in striving to arrange for that series
of cottage meetings." One by one these requests are read by the
leader, and then the most fervent prayers are offered up that
these desires may be heard and granted. The students insist upon
it, that they have the most remarkable answers to prayer, and no
one could be present at one of these meetings and notice the
nature of the requests, and the fervent spirit in which they are

236 THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

presented to God, without believing that these prayers would be
answered.

The teacher from the outside has, as a rule, rare opportunities
to get into close and intimate relationship with the young men of
the Institute. If he can succeed in interesting these men with his
Bible theme, he will be sure to be visited by large numbers, some
times as many as twenty, who come to him for some further light
upon questions which are troubling them. The students are
frank and open-hearted, and are earnestly seeking whatever light
God will give them. They seem to have a burning desire to be
fitted properly for any work to which God may call them.

The Rev. R. A. Torrey, who is the superintendent of the
Institute, is without question the most capable man that Mr. Moody
could have found for this very important position. He has pre
eminent endowments which qualify him in a very special manner to
conduct this work which has been in his charge from its inception.
He is a man of most delightful spirit, and has a profound knowl
edge of the Word of God, which he has wrought up in a most
thorough form, and which is with intense earnestness taught the
students, who are subjected to a very thorough examination at the
end of their course.

MR. TORREY'S INFLUENCE UPON THE INSTITUTE

Mr. Torrey is not only the superintendent of the Institute,
but also the pastor of the Chicago Avenue Church. He is lovecl
by all the students, who accept as absolute his word, from which it
is dangerous for any strange teacher to digress.

He has had from the beginning a most profound influence
upon the character of the Institute, as well as of the students who
have gone from it. These students are trained for special spheres
of work, spheres which would never be filled, if it were necessary to

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 237

depend upon the ordinary theological seminaries. The theological
student prepares himself for the ordinary ministry ; those who
come to the Moody Institute are seeking to become pastors' assist
ants, mission workers in the slums, secretaries to Young Peoples'
Societies or Young Men's Christian Associations, Sunday school
workers, and evangelists. That there is need of such workers is
clearly evident from the large number of requests which are con
stantly coming in to the superintendent for men to supply vacancies.
It has been impossible hitherto to meet the demand, but neverthe
less, year after year, there has been put into the world by this Insti
tute a large number of consecrated Christian workers for fields
which are considered by no means easy.

A STEADY INCREASE

The Institute is accomplishing the very object which Mr.
Moody had in mind at the time of its organization, This object
has been held to unswervingly from the beginning, and in the ten
years' history of the Institute it would be impossible to overesti
mate the value of the work which has been accomplished by it.
Steadily from' the beginning, the number of students in attendance
has increased, and this increase is noticeable not only in the men's
department, but also in the women's department.

During these first ten years of its organization nearly three
thousand students have studied at the Institute, and at least a
third of these are now engaged in active Christian work throughout
the country. The Institute has not only provided home workers,
but is represented also by a large number in the field of foreign
missions, and some of those who have come from foreign lands to
be educated here have returned to their own homes and are loyally
serving Christ there.

238 THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

Since the organization three other buildings have been pur
chased for the work of the Institute, and in connection with the
Institute a Colportage Association has been established, which
has published millions of books, and distributed them widely in all
parts of the world. The purpose of this Association is to send out
sound Christian literature at low prices. The work has no denomi
national connection, and all Christians are expected to give their
sympathy and co-operation to the work in order that the vast influ
ence of vicious literature, which is now so widely circulated, may be
counteracted. Thousands of these books are distributed free, and
it has been the special desire of Mr. Moody to put these books
within the reach of the prisoners in the penal institutions of the

country.

LET us MULTIPLY Sucn INSTITUTES

So long as the Institute endures, it cannot be said of Chicago,
at least, that there is not a large number of intelligent, consecrated,
Christians who are both willing and eager to go down in the slums
and dark places and put their lives alongside the lives of the outcast
and fallen. So deeply impressed was Mr. Moody with the impor
tance of this work that he thought it desirable that such institutes
should be started in other sections of the country, and I believe that
he cherished the hope that, at no distant day, there might be insti
tutes of this character in all of our great centres of population. It
is the unique and splendid work which is being accomplished by
the Institute that kept it close to Mr. Moody's heart, and just so
far as our sympathies go out toward the poor and the unsaved
masses, we will seek by all the influence we possess to perpetuate
this, and to multiply in our land institutes of a similar character.

It is most interesting to notice the peculiar and deep influence
which Mr. Moody had, not only upon the students in the Institute,
but also upon those who gathered together at Northfield and Mt.

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 239

Hermon. Not always at once were students drawn to him, but it
would not be long before his tremendous magnetism would be felt
in their lives. He held a unique position in all the schools that
were under his direction ; both at Northfield and Chicago he came
to be regarded as a father, and no one would be able to estimate

o

the influence exerted upon the character of the students by Mr.
Moody 's broad sympathy.

THE INSTITUTION WAS BORN OF NECESSITY

While the Northfield schools were ever near to his heart, there
was a special sense in which the work that was being carried on at
the Institute appealed to him. Possibly too, his heart was drawn out
more toward the Chicago work, because this more than the other de
pended upon the personal interest of Mr. Moody for its maintenance.
It is in no sense a theological seminary ; it was never designed to be ;
it was not even designed to supplement the education that might be
obtained at a theological seminary. The institution was born of the
necessity of bringing into the field workers who would be skilled to
meet the needs and difficulties of those who never would come with
in the reach of the graduate of the theological school.

If, however, the Institute does not cover the ground of theoret
ical study, which is ordinarily taken up by the technical school, it is
nevertheless in its own way giving a thorough training for those who
are to do a special work in the world. The Bible itself is the book
upon which the attention of the student is constantly centred. The
book is approached from various standpoints. All the great doctrines
are most carefully and systematically taught the students. It would
be a strange thing for any young man or woman to pass through
the course of studies without having at the end a very clear concep
tion of the great truth of salvation ; and also a clear idea as to how
salvation might be presented to other men. Whoever has had the

24o THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

privilege of working in the Institute of Chicago, or in any other
place where graduates of this institution have assisted in the work,
would see as no other how much real value lies in an institution of
this kind. It would not be too much to say that the effectiveness
of any evangelistic campaign would be quadrupled if there could be
distributed through the audience a number of trained workers such
as are to be found in the Chicago Bible Institute.

THE WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT

The splendid services of Mrs. S. B. Capron, for so long the
superintendent of the womens' department, ought not to be passed
by without notice. Coming as she did, enriched in experience, she
brouo-ht a peculiar ability and a devotion of spirit to the work of
the Institute. The same delightful spiritual atmosphere which
pervades the men's department, is noticeable in the buildings of
the women's department. These consecrated young women are,
by no means, behind the young men in their zeal for the work
which is laid out for them. They, too, are sent out upon the streets
to work. They go to the police stations ; they are to be found in
the halls and tents ; they go from house to house in visitation of
the poor and the sick, and are especially equipped with the right
answer for those who may be inquiring the way of salvation.

As a rule the students are assigned to their different sections
in pairs. They hold a mothers' meeting on Wednesday at the
Institute and, in their house to house visitation, invite the mothers
to this meeting, telling them to bring their children too, and
these little ones are entertained and taught by kindergarten
methods, while the poor mothers have their bodies refreshed and
their souls brought into contact with a higher spiritual plane.
Then they are invited also to the great Sunday afternoon Bible
class, to which they come, and again the children are taken care of

REV. R. A. TORREY, Superintendent ot the Moody Bible Institute.

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE 243

in the primary departments. Often they can be induced also to
attend the evening service, and all these tremendous results are
being achieved, home and character being transformed by this
noble band of young women who have given up their whole lives
to consecrated service of this kind.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT'S CHARACTER

The object of the Institute is not altogether defined by, or
limited to, the study of the Bible or practical Christian work.
There is another design, namely, that the character of the students
themselves may be developed on spiritual and symmetrical lines.
Many a one has come to the Institute with little conception of
the possibilities lying within himself, or of the possibilites of service
lying without him, who here, under the spiritual influence of the
home, has had these things dawn upon him and has gone forth with
some wide and noble plan of action.

No wonder that this Institution, with its noble aim and its
already accomplished good, was the joy and delight of Mr. Moody's
heart. It means the perpetuation of that work to which he had
consecrated his own life ; it means that after him will be raised up
generations of men and women who will, so far as God will give
them strength, do what he has done, by putting their lives along
side the lives of the poor and wretched and miserable and outcast.
No man in all the world has so closely touched the lowly classes as
did Mr. Moody. It might almost be said of him as it was said of his
Master, " The common people heard him gladly," and his great
desiorri in the establishing of the Bible Institute was that it might

o o

ever be in the interests of the common people. In the interests of
the common people it has been and doubtless will continue to be,
lor whatever of training may be gained by the students is immedi
ately utilized, not in the behalf of the rich, but in behalf of those

244 THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

whom sin has marred, and who are in special need of personal
sympathy such as they can give. Nowhere in all the world will
there stand a whiter monument to the memory of Mr. Moody than
this great training school of Christian workers. This is no finished
work but one that will live on, and one which, by reason of its
peculiar need, will have a peculiar claim upon the sympathy and
prayer of those who are interested in it

It was one of the cherished desires of Mr. Moody's heart that
this Institution might be put upon a basis that would make it pos
sible for the work to continue without a constant appeal to its
devoted friends for an annual deficit. No more fitting tribute can
be paid to the founder of the Institution than to fulfill this desire
of his heart, and raise a sufficient endowment to perpetuate this,
one of his greatest works.

At Mr. Moody's special request, I, a few years ago, became
Vice-President of the Bible Institute. He was desirous at that
time that I should give much of my life to it, and I was very
strongly tempted to do so. But the call of duty was clearer in
another direction, and so I was obliged to turn aside, although
nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to have been
associated with him in this o^reat work. I desire to commend it to

O

my readers everywhere, and I believe the blessing of God will be
especially upon them, if they should help, not only with their
prayers, but by the contribution of their money, to the firmer
establishment of this important work. Young men and women
who could not possibly secure training for Christian work else
where, have been given opportunities for study here, and to my
personal knowledge hundreds of them have been helped by Mr.
Moody when there was no one else to help. I pray God, that in
Chicago the Bible Institute may ever stand as a memorial of the
work of this consecrated man of God.

CHAPTER XVII.

The World's Fair Campaign

WHEN the World's Columbian Exposition became an
assured fact, and Chicago was finally selected as the
place of the celebration, Mr. Moody was quick to notice
the possibility which would arise to carry the Gospel to the multi
tudes likely to be attracted there. Other men might have been
blind to this, but not this mighty man of God. When he came to
Chicago his mind was clear as to the necessity of a wide oppor
tunity for evangelistic movement, and he was in a position to com
mand the services of those men upon whom God had set the
special seal of His approval. His heart had for some time been
fixed upon this work, as is evident from the address he made after
his memorable experience on the steamship Spree, in which he says :

A Vow TO GOD

"As I was preparing to leave London after my last visit there,
I called upon a famous physician. He told me that my heart was
weakening and that I would have to ease up on my work, that I
would have to be more careful of myself ; and I was going home
with an idea that I would ease up a little. During the voyage, the
announcement came that our vessel, the Spree, was sinking, and we
rolled there for two days helplessly. No one on earth knows what
I passed through at the thought that probably my work was
finished, and that I would never again have the privilege of preach
ing the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; and on that first dark night after

245

246 THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN

the accident, I made a vow that if God would let me live and bring
me back to America, I would go back to Chicago, and at this
World's Fair, preach the Gospel with all the power He would give
me. And God has made it possible for me to keep that vow during
the past five months. It seems as if I went to the very gates of
Heaven during that two days on the sinking ship, and God per
mitted me to come back and preach His Son a little longer." After
landing on these shores he went to his Northfield home, and having
brought the students of Mt. Hermon and Northfield together at
six o'clock in the morning, he said to them, " If you have any
regard for me, if you love me, pray for me that God may anoint
me for the work in Chicago ; I want to be filled with the Spirit
that I may preach the Gospel as I never preached it before ; we
want to see the salvation of God as we have never seen it before."
Not only to the students of Northfield and Mt. Hermon did
he emphasize the importance and value of prayer, but he insisted
upon it in other directions so that in all regions there was rising
continuous prayer that the blessing- of God might be poured out
upon the unsaved masses wrhich would throng the streets of
Chicago.

THE FIRST MEETING OF THE CAMPAIGN.

It was a most fitting thing that the first meeting of this cam
paign should be held in the Chicago Avenue Church, known as
Moody's church. On the first Sunday of May, which was bright
and beautiful, a great congregation came together in the church
and waited patiently for the appearance of the evangelist. He
came in, followed by Mr. Sankey and other distinguished leaders.
When the time arrived for Mr. Moody to speak, he took for his
theme the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. If, in his
description, he pictured the elder brother as the meanest man on

THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN 247

earth, and unworthy of a father's love, on the other hand he
showed how graciously God received those who, through repenting
of their sins, turned back to Him. The yearning of his own heart
that the lost sinner might be found, was a key note, and gave the
characteristics of all the sermons that were subsequently preached
by Mr. Moody and his co-workers in this campaign. All were
animated with the one spirit, that Christ might be presented
lovingly, earnestly, and persistently as the friend of sinners. The
vast number of those who accepted the invitation invariably offered,
shows how God set His seal to simple testimony of this character.

A MARKED CHARACTERISTIC OF His FAITH.

Afternoon services were held in this same church, and again
there was another crowd to hear Mr. Moody, who spoke on the
subject of Praise. He had such a full assurance that God would
send a wave of blessing over the city that his heart was filled with
praise in anticipation of it. The invariable desire on the part of
Mr. Moody to praise God with his whole heart for anticipated
blessings was one of the marked characteristics of his faith. This
is as rare as it is beautiful, and it was the theme of that afternoon
meeting. At night the church was thronged again, while services
were also held in other places. Special meetings in different parts
of the city were also conducted by the students of the Institute.
So passed the first day of the great campaign in Chicago. The
sins and sorrows of the city lay like a heavy burden on Mr.
Moody's heart, and it became evident, as his plans matured, that
his design was not merely to reach the multitude of strangers who
were pouring into the city, but that he might also influence the
citizens themselves. The moral condition of the city was beyond
description. Sunday was the great holiday of the week ; all the
places of amusement were open ; the worst features of a Sunday

14

248 THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN

on the Continent were observed, and nothing" but the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit could check the tide.

It is no easy matter to plan and carry into execution the
details of a great campaign like this, but Mr. Moody was in per-
feet command of the situation. He spent hour after hour waiting
upon God, and God in response opened door after door of oppor
tunity. Difficulties vanished as they were approached, and what
had seemed to be utterly impossible was accomplished. As the
days went by the magnitude of the work was very much increased.
The great buildings were secured in different sections of the city,
theatres, halls, churches and missions were opened. The large
circus tent of Forepaugh was also secured. Five other great tent
tabernacles were moved from section to section, and sometimes
great crowds assembled in the open air. Speakers were assigned
to these places, and day after day for months there went out a
testimony for God such as perhaps no other city of the world

has had.

SON<;, A FEATURE OF THE MEETINGS

Mr. Moody had surrounded himself with a company of men
with whom it was one of the greatest privileges to be associated.
The men most used of God in evangelistic work went there, as well
as a large number of others who had been gifted with the power
of Gospel singing. The singing was one of the strong features in
all the meetings, and contributed largely to their success. Mr.
Moody always made the most careful arrangements for the song
services in connection with the meetings. Indeed the singing was a
feature of no small importance in all these meetings. Where it
was possible, great choirs were organized under skilfull directors,
and these, together with great congregations who were once
wrought up into the spirit of praise, would fill the buildings with
such music as is rarely heard. Wherever Mr. Moody conducted

THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN 249

evangelistic services he paid the same careful thought to the ser
vices of praise, and the meetings in the Chicago campaign will by
many be remembered best for the magnificent singing.

As a rule when the services of the day were over, Mr. Moody
would meet with his co-workers at the Bible Institute. Each
ispeaker, as he came in from some different section of the city, would
be greeted with a cordial word from Mr. Moody and an inquiry as
to the nature of the services. Almost without exception, the re
ports were of the most encouraging character. Not only were the
audiences large, but often the aisles were filled with chairs, great
crowds as well being turned from the doors, unable to get in. Of tea
the report was that large numbers had definitely accepted Christ.

THE REPORTS OF CO-WORKERS

At all such reports Mr. Moody's face would be lighted up
with a look of intense pleasure. From the beginning, the only
reason that he had for holding these services was in order that
sinners might be saved. While he was always glad if Christians
were reached and lifted up into a higher level of experience, still
the deeper joy came to his heart when some lost man or woman
might be through his, or his colleagues', preaching led to accept
Christ. Rarely an evening passed that such news was not brought
in to the great joy of Mr. Moody. God had so singularly owned
the work from the beginning that scarcely a meeting passed with
out some being led by the Spirit of God to a definite surrender of
themselves to His service. It was a privilege to look upon Mr.
Moody's face when these reports were brought in by different
speakers. When the last one had reported, the meetings would
close with praise and prayer. No one who was privileged to attend
these after-services in the Institute will ever forget the delight
ful fellowship of these godly men. They had come from all parts

250 THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN

of the world. They had been most largely used of God, and were
men of wide and varied experiences. The evening would be spent,
not merely in the giving of reports of the special services from
which they had <:ome, but other things drawn out of past experi
ence .would b? brought in, so that one would feel that he was in
some special way connected with the carrying out of God's purpose,
as he might listen or contribute something to these meetings.
By reason of the work connected with the meetings them
selves, the men might come in very much exhausted, yet, after such
a meeting as has been spoken of, there would come a sense of a new
baptism of the Spirit, and in their waiting upon God there would
be a renewal of strength for whatever service might lie before them.

THE MONDAY CONFERENCES

In accordance with the custom of the Institute, Mondays were
set aside as days of conference and rest. Mr. Moody would meet
the workers from all parts of the city and put to them questions as
to the results of the week's work. These meetings, by reason of
the suggestions and comments that were offered, were not only
deeply interesting, but also exceedingly profitable. Mr. Moody
himself would put questions to those who had been conducting the
meetings. He would inquire about the progress of the work, ask
the number of people that had been present, and how many of
them had made up their minds to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
He would also want to know the different nationalities that might
be represented, as to the proportion of the working men and of the
poor, desiring to learn, if possible, how many of those attending
were representatives of visitors to the World's Fair. Then
these workers would be asked to give their opinion as to the
value of the meetings compared with others which had been held
by these same workers at other places. Questions of this kind,

AN AUTHENTIC PORTRAIT OF D. L. MOODY, from a photo-
graph taken in Paris, and loaned to one of our authors, Dr. H. M. \Vharton,
by Mrs. Moody.

THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN 253

and answers given by trained and skillful workmen, would bring
out the most useful suggestions. It was also discovered that at the
tents, congregations were a thousand or more at the evening
services, and perhaps half as large in the day services. These
audiences were made up not only of Protestants but also of Roman
^Catholics. In some sections, the neighborhood being almost
altogether Roman Catholic, perhaps more than three-fourths of
the great audiences would belong to that faith. In some of the
tents were large numbers of workingmen who would sit with
intense interest expressed in their faces, and when the invitation
was given, individuals among these would make decision for Christ.
As a rule, all the churches in the immediate vicinity of the
tent meetings were in perfect sympathy with the work, the ministers
attending the meetings and sitting on the platform, and the largest
number of workers were secured from these churches.

MEETINGS FOR CHILDREN

Some of the most interesting reports were made concerning
the children's meetings. Oftentimes Sunday school teachers would
be drawn to these meetings where they would find their classes
assembled, and in many instances, if the members of the class were
not reached, Sunday school teachers would be, and those who had
not hitherto made a profession of faith would come out definitely
for Christ in these meetings.

In all the sections where these meetings were held, the spiritual
power of the neighboring churches was intensely magnified. The
prayer meetings of the local churches grew in attendance, and the
Sunday services were far better attended than ever before.

It was most interesting also to hear the reports of the men
who had charge of the great meetings in the theatres. Sometimes, as
for example at the Empire Theatre, nearly the whole congregation

254 THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN

would consist of men only, and a very large proportion of these
men would be not only out of work, but- drinking men. For these,
temperance meetings were held, and hundreds of pledges were
signed by these men, while hundreds of others yielded them
selves altogether to Christ.

o

GREAT THRONGS AT THE MEETINGS

While there were large audiences at nearly all the services,
some of them reached enormous proportions. Dr. J. Munro Gibson,
of London, who was associated with Mr. Moody in his campaign,
said on returning to London, " While the Fair grounds were quite
deserted on Sundays the churches were full. There was little use
trying to get into the churches where Mr. Moody or Mr. McNeill
preached uniess you went an hour or two before the time, but even
with only a preacher of ordinary abilities the church would be filled,
not only in the morning but also at the evening service, and
it is not an easy thing to secure a good attendance for evening ser
vices in Chicago." It was not only on Sunday nights, but on week
nights as well. Many of the great buildings were thronged long
before the hour of opening. At the Haymarket Theatre, in West
Madison Street, where Mr. Moody was to preach, a great throng
would stand in the streets long before the doors were opened, and
when they were opened every available inch of space would be filled in
an almost incredibly short time, and those who failed to gain entrance
would be directed to some place for an overflow meeting, to which,
however, they could by no possibility be induced to go until assured
that Mr. Moody would speak there.

Perhaps the most extraordinary meetings in point of number,
were those held in Forepaugh's circus tent, and those in Tattersall's
Hall. When Mr. Moody was arranging to secure the use of the
mammoth tent, he had difficulties in making an agreement with the

THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN ~55

manager, who expected Sunday to be his great day in Chicago, but
he was finally prevailed upon to allow him the use of it for Sunday
morning, reserving Sunday afternoon and evening for his show.
When these arrangements were being made, one of the circus men
contemptuously asked him if he supposed it would be possible to
get an audience of 3,000. What must have been his surprise when,
arriving on the scene Sunday morning, he found assembled a
vast congregation of 18,000 people, whereas the attendance at the
circus in the afternoon and evening was so poor that the perform
ances had to be given up altogether on Sundays. This was perhaps
the greatest throng that attended any one service. After an hour
of singing by the great choir and congregation, Mr. Moody spoke
from the text, " The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost." His whole being seemed to be under the control
of the power and Spirit of God, and never perhaps did he speak
with so much earnestness as to this vast multitude.

ENCOURAGING FEATURES OF THE WORK

It was at this service that the pathetic incident happened where
a little child was lost, and Mr. Moody taking the little one in his arms
made an effort to discover the parents. As the anxious father made
his way toward the platform, Mr. Moody, still holding the child, said,
with tears streaming down his cheeks, " this is what Jesus Christ
came to do, he came to seek and save sinners, and to restore them
to their heavenly Father's embrace." It was a most solemn service
and will never be forgotten by any one who had the privilege of
attending.

Toward the close of the meetings Mr. Moody said, "We have
to-day everything to encourage us, and nothing to discourage us.
This has been by far the best week we have had. The Gospel has
through this agency been brought to 150,000 people during the

256 THE WORLD'S FAIR CAMPAIGN

week. I have never seen greater eagerness to hear the word of
God. The largest halls are too small for the crowds that come to

o

many of the services. One night, for instance, on my way to the.
Fair Grounds, I beheld one of the most beautiful sights I have ever
seen on earth. It was a wonderful display of fireworks and illum
inations, tens of thousands of people gazing on the scene. It
seemed useless to expect any one to come away from that scene and
sit down in a tabernacie to hear the Gospel ; but the house was
filled, and we had a blessed meeting. The following nights though
cold and rainy, with a damp, uncomfortable room, the people
crowded in until every inch of space was occupied. I thank God
that I am living in Chicago to-day ; these have been the happiest
moments of my life ; what a work He has given us to-day ; what
encouragements He has given us ; how He has blessed us. Per
haps never in your life will some of you have an opportunity to do
as much for Christ as now.

Though it required a vast sum of money, Mr. Moody was equal
to the occasion, and raised every dollar. Northfield was deeply in
terested in the work, and contributed largely. The work being pre
sented by Dr. Gordon, of Boston, a contribution of about $10,000
was sent to Mr. Moody from Northfield after Dr. Gordon's appeal.
Mr. Moody himself had great skill in getting good collections. When
he had to leave the Haymarket Theatre, he said to the audience,
" How many people believe we ought to go on ? Just lift your
hands." And when they had their hands up, he said, " Now put
them down deep into your pockets, and help us to carry it on."

No work of this kind can be measured in terms of money. I
am sure that in the days to come there will still be great harvests
gathered from this sowing, and this World's Fair campaign will
doubtless be numbered among the greatest ever conducted by
Mr. Moody.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Last Campaign

THE last public appearance of Mr. Moody was in Kansas City,
Missouri. He began a series of meetings there November
12, 1899. Earlier in the autumn a meeting of the ministers
of the evangelical churches had sent an invitation to the great evan
gelist to captain a religious campaign in the young and vigorous
western city. The preliminary discussions of the proposed meet
ings afforded proof of the confidence reposed in Mr. Moody by
many men of many minds. About him the religious forces of the
city crystallized with enthusiasm. His name was a power, making
for Christian unity. The executive committee of ministers repre
sented the Presbyterian, Methodist. Episcopal, Congregational,
Christian, Methodist Episcopal, South and Baptist denominations.

How THE EXPENSES WERE DEFRAYED.

When the laymen were informed of the proposed meetings they
sent word to the ministers that they would raise the funds neces
sary to defray all expenses — a pledge that was abundantly fulfilled.
Several of the large business establishments announced that they
\vould pay for one day each the rental of the hall where the meet
ings were held. The general gratification over the coming of Mr.
Moody was a splendid testimonial to his recognized leadership in
soul-winning.

Mr. Moody arrived in the city on Saturday morning, in readi
ness to inaugurate the campaign on the day following. Immediately

(257)

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after breakfast he went with members of the local committee, to
have a look at Convention Hall, the mammoth building where the
meetings were to be held. He stood upon the stage and tried his
voice. He was more than satisfied with the result, cleclarino- that

o

he had come 1,500 miles from New York to find the best hall he
had spoken in in this country. The hall had been dedicated only
in February of that year. It has a seating capacity of between
15,000 and 20,000. In the interior there are four floors command-
ing the stage, and here the famous evangelist in his last meetings
preached the Gospel to some of the largest audiences ever reached
at one time by his voice.

MR. MOODY'S LARGE HUMAN INTEREST.

One secret of Mr. Moody's hold upon the public was illustrated
by a characteristic conversation on the occasion of his first visit to
Convention Hall. He had a large human interest, even in secular
movements and institutions. One of the reporters of the party
said to him : " Do you know, Mr. Moody, how this building was
put up? Do you know what it means to this city?" "No," said
Mr. Moody, "I supposed some wealthy man owned it." " Kansas
City owns it, " was the answer. " Nearly every man and woman,
and hundreds of children contributed to its building, and own stock
in it. It was built by the gifts of the poor, as well as of the rich.
It was built voluntarily by the people, and not by taxes. And it
stands to-day as it stood the day it was finished, without a dollar of
debt."

At once Mr. Moody was intensely interested and demanded
the story of the building. It was given him. "That is the sort
of thing that annihilates anarchy," said Mr. Moody, in a burst of
enthusiasm. " When I laid eyes on the hall, I said that there was
no other such hall in this country. But now that I know the

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sentiment and feeling that have been put into the hall, I know there
is no other such building in the world. Do you know that when
men are induced to unite as this city has united, where all classes
of people behave as if they had common interests, a great lesson
has been taught. The value of your hall, it strikes me, is not in
dollars and cents, but in its moral significance. I did not believe
that such a thing could be done in this generation. It has never
been done before." It was this cordial sympathy and hearty
appreciation of everything that influenced or manifested the life of
a community that made the people feel that Mr. Moody was one
with them, and upon this common ground of vantage he gained
the public ear for his message.

THE FIRST SERVICE AT KANSAS CITY.

The first meeting of the memorable series was held on Sun
day afternoon. The singing was led by a great chorus of more
than 500 voices, organized for the occasion. This was in charge
of Prof. C. C. Case, who accompanied Mr. Moody. In his
characteristic way Mr. Moody said, " There's good material in
that choir. They sing famously well. At first, I am told, there
was some difference between the Methodists and Presbyterians in
the manner of their singing. The Methodists sang fast, and the
Presbyterians sang slow. The result was peculiar. But we have
taught them to pull together pretty well now." Another feature
of the singing that pleased Mr. Moody was an Old Men's Quar
tette, which sang several times.

The happy faculty possessed by the evangelist of securing
desired action on the part of a vast audience, was shown in this first
meeting in connection with the singing. The hymns to be used
were printed in sheet form, and were in the hands of the audience.
The noise made in handling them threatened to drown the

26o THE LAST CAMPAIGN

speaker's voice. Just before he began his sermon Mr. Moody
said : "All who have sheet hymns please hold them up high." At
once 5,000 hands were uplifted, holding the rustling sheets of
paper. The effect was that of a Chautauqua salute. " Now shake
them," he said. They all did, and the result was an indescribably
noisy confusion. " Now sit on them," he said, with a laugh. " I
only wanted you to see what a noise they would make, if you kept
handling them." The result of this felicitous admonition was a

o

reign of silence.

The service was to begin at three o'clock, but before that time
the great auditorium was filled, and it was necessary to close and
lock the doors. Several thousand people were turned away. At
night an overflow meeting crowded the Second Presbyterian
Church near by, and great crowds of people went home, unable to
get into either meeting. There had been notable gatherings in the
great Convention Hall on former occasions, but even the dedication
services, with the attraction of Sousa's Band and the appeal to civic
pride, failed to bring together such a throng as that assembled to
hear the man of God preach his plain, direct Gospel. It was the
greatest meeting in point of attendance in the history of the
Mississippi Valley. It was evidence of the fact that, as some one
has said, " man is incurably religious," and of the further fact, that
there is attractiveness in the message of a recognized ambassador

for Christ.

DEEP EFFECT OF THE OPENING SERMONS.

The subject of the opening sermons, afternoon and evening,
was the same, " Sowing and Reaping." Mr. Moody looked down
into the thousands of upturned faces, and amidst intense silence,
began the delivery of his last series of sermons by saying: "In
after years, as you go by this building, I want you to remember
this text that I am going to read to you. I pray that God will

RECENT PICTURE OF MR. MOODY IN HIS ROAD WAGON. It was with this wagon that the

noted preacher went to market, and sometimes met the students at the depot and hauled them

up to their boarding-houses.

AUDITORIUM HALL. Main building of the Northfield Schools

THE LAST CAMPAIGN 263

write it on every heart. It appeals to men and women of every
sort and condition ; to the priests and the ministers and the
reporters : ' Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.' ' Then followed
such a sermon as has won thousands for Christ. Terse, direct
sentences, freighted with convicting truth, were dropped deliber
ately from his lips. He was the master of the assemblies. The
people sat in rapt attention, and upon their faces could be traced
the effects of varying phases of thought. Toward the close the
preacher made an appeal, tender as a young mother's love, and
unnoticed tears fell from thousands of eyes. In solemn silence, at
the last, the benediction dismissed audiences whose souls had been
stirred to deepest depths.

APPEALS TO THE UNCONVERTED

The meetings on Monday fulfilled the expectations aroused by
Sunday's services. Following the evening sermon an after-meeting
was held in the Second Presbyterian Church, just across the street
from Convention Hall. The church was crowded, many standing.
As Mr. Moody took his place, the old hymn, "Just as I am," was
sung, and then, with no preamble, he began one of his face to face
dealings with inquirers. In a simple, conversational way, he pre
sented the truth, just as though he were sitting by the side of each
one before him. He closed with an effective incident from his
army experience, illustrating his appeal. Then the evangelist
paused a moment. The church was still. The ticking of the
clock could be distinctly heard. Then he spoke :

"Will any one say he will trust Christ ? If so, say ' I will'."
He paused, but no reply came, and then again he put the question

264 THE LAST CAMPAIGN

quietly, " Who will say he will trust Christ ?" A moment of
silence again, and far back in the church there came a low, but
firm, response, " I will." At the sound Mr. Moody advanced
quickly to the edge of the platform, and with his eyes questioned
those before him. The responses came fast and faster, and in a few
minutes fully fifty had said " I will." The after-meeting on Tues
day evening was a repetition of the one the night before. It was
marked by the conversion of one of the most prominent business
men of the city. His action, which was without reserve of any
sort, made the timid confident, and the result was decision on the

part of many.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

On Wednesday came the first indications of a break-down.
The great strain of speaking twice a day in so large a building as
Convention Hall began to tell on Mr. Moody. After the night
meeting he told the ministers that he was almost exhausted ; that he
must have some rest, and that it would be impossible for him to
lead the inquirers' meeting in the church. He went at once to his
room at the Coate's House, that he might rest and be ready for the
great meetings of the next day. On Thursday afternoon he gave
signs of exhaustion, though anything like a total physical collapse
was not apprehended. To a sympathetic inquiry on the part of
one of the city ministers, who asked him how he felt, the answer
was, " Not big." At night his appearance had changed. His face
was flushed, and he perspired profusely. He appeared at times
hardly able to support himself, and it seemed sometimes as though
he would fall from weakness. The pauses after making his
telling points were lengthened, but otherwise his presentation of
the truth was as usual. "Then cometh the end." The benediction
was pronounced. The public personal work of Dwight L. Moody
was finished.

THE LAST CAMPAIGN 265

For tens of thousands of people whose lives were touched by
the evangel of this soul-winner every incident of that last day will
possess a deep interest. There was one circumstance of the after
noon that, in the light of what followed, seemed prophetic in its
significance. When Mr. Moody sat in his chair, so tired, during
the song service, before beginning his sermon, he asked Mr. Case to
sing "Saved by Grace," Fanny J. Crosby's beautiful hymn. In it

is the stanza :

" Some day the silver cord will break,

And I, no more, as now, shall sing ;
But O, the joy when I shall wake

Within the palace of the King.
Then I shall see Him, face to face,
And tell the story, Saved by Grace."

But if Mr. Moody had any premonition of the approaching end,
it passed away as he became possessed of his subject, " The Grace of
God." He warned the older Christians to avoid living in the past.
He denounced the pessimistic tendencies of those who were sure
the former days were better than these. " I have no sympathy," he
said, "with the idea that our best days are behind us. In a hope
ful, cheery mood he spoke of the shock he had experienced some
time before, when he picked up a paper and saw himself alluded to
as " old Moody." " Why," he said, " I'm not old. I'm only a baby
when considered in comparison with the great eternity which is to
come."

The last sermon on Thursday night was on the parable of
" The Great Supper." In it he dealt especially with the excuses
men made for staying out of the Kingdom of God. Mr. Moody
closed his sermon in a peculiarly effective way. He said that, if an
excuse were written out by one of the reporters, asking God, " I
pray Thee have me excused from the marriage feast," that no one
in the house would sign it. If the note were written to go direct to

266 THE LAST CAMPAIGN

God, " I will be there," all would want to sign it. " Now," said the
preacher, "how many will accept this invitation? How many will
say, ' I will ? ' ' Then, as a number responded, the request was
repeated. Still he lingered, his energies exhausted, and made one
more appeal. " I'll wait a few minutes longer to see if anyone
else, any man, woman or child, will say the word. I could stand
here all night and listen to these ' I wills.' ' So he went away to
his long rest with the sound of " I will " spoken by those who were
moved by his words still in his ears.

UTTERANCES DURING THE LAST SERMON

Some of the utterances of that last day are peculiarly worthy
of preservation. Among them were such statements as these :
" I've worn God's yoke for over forty years, and I've always found it
easy." " There's nothing sweeter than to obey God's will. He is
not a severe task-master." "You may trust God. I can believe
in God rather than in D. L. Moody. My heart has deceived me a
thousand times, but God has never deceived me once." " If you
have a good impulse act on it. Don't be afraid. I say that most
of the good done in the world is done by men who act on im
pulses. I am sixty-two, and I have acted on impulses all my life.
I never made a mistake by acting on an impulse I felt to be good."
" The natural growth of the Christian is toward more kindness
and a more beautiful nature. Have you ever noticed how many
old people seem cross and crabbed these days ? That is because
they have not been good Christians." " I am not old. I'm only
an infant compared with the ages that will roll over me when I
am gone." " Those who live in Christ will live forever. The glory
is not past, but to come."

Friday morning, toward noon, Mr. Moody went out driving.
He came back thoroughly exhausted. Not until then did he

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relinquish the hope of preaching that day. He sent for one of the
ministers of the committee, Rev. Dr. Matt. S. Hughes, of the
Independence Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, to preach that
afternoon, saying, as he made his request, with a flash of his old
spirit, " You Methodists are always prepared to preach." Mr.
Moody told those who were near him that he had never felt so
feeble before. For the first time in forty years he was obliged to
abandon his services. He had not been able to lie in bed for
three nights, but had taken all his rest in his chair, sleeping only a
few minutes at a time. It was decided, upon consultation with his
physician, Dr. Schauffler, that he should go home at once.

Mr. Moody was sitting in his armchair. He was breathing
heavily, and his face seemed puffy and bloated. He said his limbs
were swelling, and he had a feeling of oppression about his heart.
" I'm afraid I shall have to give up the meetings," he said. " It's
too bad." He was silent. " It's the first time in forty years of
preaching that I have had to give up my meetings." He did not
say anything for a while. Then he spoke in a low voice. " It is
more painful to me to give up those audiences than it is to suffer
from my ailments." How regretfully he relinquished his labors !
But he could at least lay down his life with the knowledge that his
steps had never lagged.

BACK TO NORTHFIELD

An effort was made to get a special car, but none being avail
able at once, the Gospel car, " The Messenger of Peace," belonging
to the American Baptist Publication Society, and in charge of Rev.
S. G. Neil, the railroad evangelist, was offered for the trip to
Northfield. At nine o'clock on Thursday evening, accompanied by
a physician and friends, the homeward journey was begun. The
next day a cheery telegram came from Mr. Moody, saying that he

15

268 THE LAST CAMPAIGN

had had the best night for a week, and thanking " the good people
of Kansas City for all their kindnesses ".

Charles M. Vining tells an interesting story of the trip home
with Mr. Moody. When the train pulled into Detroit it was over
an hour late, and unless at least half of this time could be made up,
the eastern connection for the through Boston train could not be
made. As the train was standing in the station at Detroit, the
engineer came back along the train until he reached the Gospel
car. " Whose car is this ?" he asked one of the party who was
standing outside. " It's a special taking Mr. Moody, the evangelist,
to his home," was the reply. " Where has he been ?" came the
question. " He was holding meetings in Kansas City, where he
was taken ill, and now we are taking him home. We are about an
hour late, and if we don't make up the time, we won't make the
proper connections for Boston." " Look here," said the engineer,
" fifteen years ago I was converted by Moody, and I have lived a
better and happier life ever since. I didn't know Moody's car was
on to-night, but if you want me to make up the time for you I'll do
it. Just tell Mr. Moody that one of his friends is on the engine
and then hold your breath." As soon as the train got clear of the
city the engineer pulled the throttle open, and it is said that he
made the fastest time ever made over this division. Connections
were made, and when the party awakened the next morning they
were on the Boston train. When Mr. Vining left East Northfield
for Kansas City, Mr. Moody said : "Tell them they have caged
the old lion at last."

While the influences of his work were still active in the
churches of the city, came the tidings that he had entered into rest,
and Kansas City, the recipient of his latest toil, bowed its head in
sorrow over the common bereavement that had come to the
Christian world.

CHAPTER XIX.

Mr. Moody as an Evangelist

IN the ancient Church there were men whose special call and
labors were to save her decaying life from extinction, and rein
force it with fresh spiritual power. If time permitted, the names
of patriarchs and prophets in the Old Testament might be men
tioned, and the names of New Testament apostles might be
spoken, for all of these were evangelists in the truest sense of the
word. The word "evangelist" means "the bringer of good tid
ings." This being true, D. L. Moody was an evangelist in the
truest sense of the word. The office, being of divine appointment
is distinct from that of the pastor, the teacher, and the prophet, and
as a rule in all the history of the Church has been given to those
who have no stated pastoral charge, but have traveled from place
to place as they had opportunity to work.

HE LED THEM TO CHRIST

Among all the men whom the world has ever known as evan
gelists D. L. Moody takes no secondary place. One has but to
study the history of the Church to learn the value of regligious
awakenings in general, and he who states that their effect upon the
Church is not helpful makes a statement which cannot be supported
by the facts. I once heard Mr. Moody say that when some one in
the City of Boston had criticised the meetings he had held, he
determined that he would go back to the city and call for all those
who had been converted in his meetings to be present at a service

269

270 MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

which he would announce. The great building was filled to over
flowing and at least ten years after his services had closed he had
the joy of hearing literally thousands give testimony to the fact
that he had led them to Christ.

A little before the middle of the eighteenth century began
what may be called the First Era of Revivals in this country, part
of a religious movement that affected and moulded in a most re
markable manner the entire English-speaking world for three-
quarters of a century.

The leaders of this movement in England were Whitefield and
the Wesleys. The leader in America was Jonathan Edwards.

REMARKABLE REVIVALS IN AMERICA

* " The second Era of Revivals in this country dates from
about 1797. Among the honored leaders in the earlier phase of
the movement were Dr. Edward Dorr Griffin and President
D wight, associated with such men as the elder Mills. In its later
phase, in what may be called the supplement to the Revival of
1797, the revivalists Nettleton and Finney were prominent."

It is an interesting fact in revivals that they frequently succeed
some great calamity. It was so with the wonderful work of grace
known as The Revival of 1859. The churches, to an alarming
extent, were characterized by indifference and conformity to the
world. Speculation was running rife, and men were entering
recklessly in the race for riches. As a natural result, frauds and fail
ures were very common, and in a day the most fanciful dreams
would perish and millionaires would become paupers.

But God was working in it all, and as a direct result there
was a call sent forth to the Christians of the Nation for united
prayer, and the result was the mighty awakening.

*" The Church in America and its baptisms of fire/" by D. S. Gregory.

(Copyright.)

D. L. MOODY SPEAKING IN COOPER UNION HALL, NEW YORK, IN 1896.
" I want you to pray earnestly for the text I tried to bring out yesterday. It has gone into all tin
morning papers. Just the text; no matter about the sermon. — 'Whatsoever a man soweth that als«
shall he reap.' There will be millions of people see that text to-day."

MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST 273

Its history can never be known perfectly. It is written in Hea
ven, and when we stand there we shall know the full story.

But no history of revivals in this generation would be complete
without due consideration being given to the man whose name is a
household word, and who has been a blessing to Christians through
out the world, Mr. Dwight L. Moody.

Mr. Moody may be regarded as being, in his career and
work, the representative of lay activity in the work of evangeliza
tion — especially of the Young Men's Christian Association as
embodying and organizing this activity. That association had
largely to do with opening the way for him into the various
churches and communities in the early stages of his work, and with
awakening and sustaining enthusiasm in his various evangelistic

enterprises

REPRESENTATIVE EVANGELISTS

It would be difficult to imagine men more unlike than these
representative evangelists. Jonathan Edwards was a mighty logi
cian, and his great theme was The sovereignty of God's Grace in the
Salvation of Sinners.

His sermons stirred the souls of men to their very depths, and
sometimes resulted in remarkable outward manifestations of feel
ing, as when, during the preaching at Enfield, of the sermon enti
tled ' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' the audience rose
up in agony to cry out for mercy.

George Whitefield was an orator of great power. Indeed,
many of those who heard Whitefield regarded him as the most
eloquent of men, and the traditions of the remarkable effects
produced, not only by his sermons but by the very tones of his
voice, are still handed down.

Dr. Asahel Nettleton was very different from either of the
two just mentioned. The following general estimate of his life has
been given by some one :

274 MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

Dr. Nettleton's life was marvelously useful and helpful. I
never heard the opinion expressed that he was either a great or a
very learned man ; but I never heard those who knew him inti
mately question his goodness. He was a most godly man, serious,
circumspect, discreet, and gifted with rare discrimination, enabling
him to know and read men, and greatly aiding him to adapt himself
and his instructions to men in their various moods, with their dif
ferent peculiarities, prejudices, conditions, and prepossessions. He
had power to prevail with God and man. His rare success is not
to be attributed to his greatness, nor to his native sagacity, nor to
the happy combination of gifts constitutional or natural, nor to
everything combined in him, so much as to his holiness. He walked
with God, knew and trusted God. He had a mighty faith. He
found out how much God loved men, and he was brought into
sympathy with God for the salvation of men. His perception of
the guilt and doom of sinners was intense and absorbed him. He
was a man whose religious development would lead him to cry out
while prostrated on the cold ground at the midnight hour, " Give

me souls or I die ! "

CHARLES G. FINNEY

Charles G. Finney was still another type of man, but few
men have been more mightily used of God than he. Sometimes he
could proceed no farther in the service than the reading of his text
when the power of God would fall upon his audience and scores of
people would profess conversion.

But with all their greatness none of them outshine Dwight L.
Moody, who stands out among all men as God's chosen instrument
to show what one consecrated layman may accomplish when filled
with the Holy Ghost.

He was mightily moved when Henry Varley, the English
evangelist, said to him as they were visiting at a friend's house

MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST 275

together in England some years ago : "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 commence that wonderful series of labors in Scotland
and England. Mr. Moody said to Henry Varley on returning to
England, " Those were the words of the Lord through your lips to
my soul."

Strangers sometimes thought him difficult to approach, and he
was, if you were trying to seek him out to say flattering words to
him ; but no man in all the world was more approachable than he
when he knew that you had an unselfish desire with him to extend
the bounds of the Kingdom of God.

ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO His WORK

Mr. Moody was especially adapted to his work, first, because
he was pre-eminently practical in this practical age. He was most
direct in his speech ; every one knew exactly what he meant ; there
was no mistake in his utterance. His energy was literally bound
less ; day and night and night and day he toiled, never seeming to be
weary. His earnestness and enthusiasm were contagious and wher
ever he found an audience dull and lifeless he had only to speak to
them a few minutes until they were ready to do anything that he
might command. He preached to larger crowds than any man in
his generation, and yet it was ever his object and aim to reach the
individual rather than the people in a mass. He was a born organ
izer, and in this century which has been specially distinguished for
its progress in organization he took high rank. He was the world's
greatest evangelist because with all these qualities he knew men
through and through, and he was able to move them at his own will.

2 76 MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

A distinguished southern Presbyterian minister writes me the
following, which illustrates my thought.

" I first knew Mr. Moody in Louisville, Kentucky during a
great campaign that he was conducting there. I first had some
conversation with him in regard to some work which we were
getting on foot at the time. I found him a most sympathetic
listener, and wonderfully helpful, but the moment any allusion was
made to his own work, and what great things it was doing for
Louisville he instantly shifted the conversation.

AN EMBARRASSING INCIDENT

"After the work had been in progress for some days, and the
great Tabernacle on Broadway had been crowded from day to day,
and at every meeting, an incident occurred which troubled me
greatly, and which I did not fully understand until many months
later. The after-meeting was held one morning in the Warren
Memorial Church. At the conclusion of the service a great many
workers in the meeting tarried for a moment of conference. A
gentleman approached Mr. Moody, ' See this group of ladies on
the right of the platform, they are among our prominent women of
the City, and supports of our movement, both with their means and
their personal work. They have not yet had the pleasure of shaking
hands with you, and they have tarried for this purpose.' 'Where
are they?' asked Mr. Moody. The gentleman pointed them out,
saying, ' I will tell them you will see them in a few moments.'
And in a little while I saw Mr. Moody reach under the pulpit
stand for his little felt hat, go out a back door, and taking a cab,
drive to his hotel.

" The ladies waited for some time, and finally left with the
greatest feeling of indignation, and many, of them, declaring that
they would not again be seen in the meetings, and work with a

MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST 277

man who could be so rude. I confessed I was puzzled myself, and
did not know what explanation could possibly be offered for the

strange action.

o

" Some year or so after this I was in Chicago with him on the
platform. Again a woman came to the foot of the stair, and said
she wished to see Mr. Moody. ' He was used of God for the sal
vation of my husband, I want to shake hands with him, and tell
him how grateful I feel toward him.' I said, 'Why certainly, wait
and I will see that you have the privilege of seeing him,' when
finally I called his attention to her, and when she had given him
her reason for wishing to shake hands with him, without one word
he turned and left her. Again, I thought, here is a type of the
same thing we saw in Louisville. I comforted the poor woman

as best I could.

GUARD AGAINST FLATTERY

" A few days later in his conference with young men, he spoke
of how we should guard against flattery, and how many strange
things we had to do, to prevent the devil's getting a hold upon us.
After this conversation I told him of the injustice I had done him
in my mind, in the incidents above alluded to. His explanation
was very brief, but equally satisfactory and to the point. ' If I had
shaken hands with those women,! wouldn't have been half through
before the devil would have made me believe that I was some
great man, and from that time I would have to do as he bid.

" I was present with him in a meeting for a month after this
time, and studied him in the light of this explanation, and no one
thing has ever helped me more to explain his closeness to God, and
his humility of Spirit than the facts alluded to."

His messages had no uncertain sound, concerning the Gospel.

He believed that men were lost without Christ. He told the
story of the mother who came into the Eye Infirmary in Chicago

278 MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

and said : " Doctor, there is something wrong with my baby's
eyes." He described how the doctor took the child in his arms and
carried it to the window, looked at the eyes only a moment, then,
shaking his head, gave the child back again to its mother. " Well,
Doctor, what is it?" she said. "Poor woman" he replied, "your
baby is going blind ; in three months' time he will be stone blind,
and no power on earth can ever make him see." Mr. Moody told
how the mother held the baby close against her heart and then fell
on the floor with a shriek, crying out, " My God ! My baby blind !

My baby blind !"

ON SUDDEN CONVERSION

I can see his face now as he said, the tears rolling down his
cheeks : " Would to God, we might all be as much moved as that
when we know that our friends are spiritually blind as well as lost ! "
Because he believed this, he preached as he did, and it was this
spirit that literally drove him to Kansas City to preach his last
sermon, and then turn his face home to die. He believed in instan
taneous conversion ; he had no patience at all with the man who
thought he must grow better to be saved. He once said :

" When Mr. Sankey and myself were in one place in Europe, a
man preached a sermon against the pernicious doctrines that we
were going to preach, one of which was sudden conversion. He
said conversion was a matter of time and growth. Do you know
what I do when any man preaches against the doctrines I preach ?
I go to the Bible and find out what it says, and if I am right I give
them more of the same kind. I preached more on sudden conver
sion in that town than in any town I was in, in my life. I would
like to know how long it took the Lord to convert Zaccheus ?
How long did it take the Lord to convert that woman whom He
met at the well of Sychar ? How long to convert that adulterous
woman in the temple, who was caught in the very act of adultery ?

MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST 279

How long to convert that woman who anointed His feet and wiped
them with the hairs of her head? Didn't she go with the Word of
God ringing in her ears, ' Go in peace?' "

He was a master in the conduct of evangelistic meetings. I
well remember, during the recent Armenian massacres, some one
interrupted him in one of his services, saying, " Mr. Moody, I want
to ask permission to present a petition, and to ask the people to
sign it. This petition is to be sent to the President of the United
States, asking him to take some action which may help to stop this
dreadful slaughter of innocent people."

The man who made the request, was of considerable promi
nence, and many a leader would have yielded to his entreaty,

A BETTER PLAN

But Mr. Moody was always true to his convictions, and said,
" My friend, I have a better plan than yours. I always believe in
approaching any difficulty by the way of the throne of God. Will
some one lead us in prayer?" It is sufficient to say that there
was no petition presented, and everybody was satisfied, that his
was the better way.

He was at his best in the Inquiry Meeting. He knew just
what Scripture to use, and it was a rare privilege to be anywhere
near him when he talked with one who wanted to be a Christian.

He was never easily discouraged ; circumstances that would
greatly hinder others, had no effect upon him, except to lead him
closer to Christ. Mr. William Phillips Hall, the Business Men's
Evangelist, relates the following :

In Mr. Moody's early evangelistic career, he began a series of
meetings in a church across the sea. There was nothing remarkable
about the first service except that it was formal and cold. In the
evening the attendance had increased, and when the invitation was

28o MR. MOODY AS AN EVANGELIST

given to those to stand, who desired to express an interest in their
souls' salvation, so many stood that the evangelist feared they had
not understood his invitation, so he gave it again more plainly, only
to have a larger number stand. And when the after-meeting was
called, there was a most remarkable manifestation of the power of
God, and it was the beginning of a great and memorable work of

grace.

AN INCIDENT FROM His EARLY CAREER

One of the members of that church went home to tell an
invalid member of the family, that two Americans, by the names of
Moody and Sankey, had conducted services in the church that day.
The invalid burst into tears, and reaching for her purse took out a
piece of an English newspaper, which contained the large announce
ment that Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey were being
greatly used of God in Chicago. So she had read it and had cut
it out of the paper, and from that moment began to pray that God
would send those two men to her church.

I have heard Mr. Moody relate the incident myself and then
say :

" I believe when the rewards are given out in Heaven, that
that invalid woman will share with us in the glory and honor of
that grand campaign."

No one this side of Heaven can ever estimate the number of
people he won to Christ in his evangelistic services. It has been
estimated that he preached to millions. It is safe to say that he
must, under the power of God, have led hundreds of thousands to
a decision.

^ <?/ (*

PSALfiS, XCT.-

£&«£/<>
^ -rr I'SALM XCT. |.r,.w.».

• XlE (hat dn-cik-th* in the seeret place I g?-**-j?'8

<K of the Most Hi*h, shall P abide under tho ' 4J»- -'-5-

• ebadow* of t he Almighty, i 0 *•<*•

U^ 21 will say of the Loa0, -7/ff it my i <l's. 57. 1.
<Jv(v refuge, nnd my fortress : my God ; in :
V> him will F trust,

> 3. Surely •* ha shall deliver thee from -m.m. 7.
yw tho snare of the fowler, a»,l from the: '"e"Jrr
\~ noisome pestilence. ' ,**;.', '-''

x, 4 JIo shall cover thee with his feathers, \ '-^.19.6.

\and under his wines shalt thou trust: his ,4 p., 331 s 6
truth xhnll >'>/• >!>•/ shield and buckler, i j i>9. «. <;.

•to 5 Thou* sOmft not be afraid for the
terror by night, nor fur the arrow Ikul

, 13 Those that lie planted in the ho..w
'(of the LOUD shaii tfourish In the COHH«
i (of our God.

n,:e -. I hcj shall be fat and y flourishing,
i". To shew that the LORD is uprielil .

S flieth by da.,

C 2fi>? for the pestilence Ma/ walkcth
* in darkness, »<w for the destruction /A«< , ™ Je- ,]. .,-
h wastoth at noonday. I . Or ?« ' .7,' '

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, nnd ' "ir;
ten thousand at thy rirfht hand; iut it j ' ^. T"''
shall not ivme nigh thee. I ?L ii''r

8 Only* with thino eyes shalt thou be-!

told, and se<? tho reward of the wicked. | •«•*. »• «.

9 Because then hast made the Jjoi;t>, : r G
,- which ?'.>• my refuge, even the Most Iii.

thy habitation, IpDe.

JO There* shall no ovil befall thee, neiflicr , >
^Imli any p!a?i.ie cvnui ttigli-thy dvveUiua. ; 6 ,-
H For" he shall give bis an«ei.< ciiaiv1 i-
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up iu ifieir hands, ; ' ' -°-
Jest thou dash thy foot against ft stone. ' | * lir. a'J>-

13 Thou' shall tread upon the iiou and j r Job S>. 5.

-<H Because he hath set hi* loru upon! ,-r ... ?,',
10. therefore will I ddkcc_Jiim : I_»iil f „ r.' „' X *'

tie, iiiSJjJiflLJaiOjkiiKiiJiiii'/ \- iAUi f » Is' «' '
set {um~g ause ie hulli known I .

••MMMMHMMV .' ^ Ifltillft 0,

•Pr. 3. 2.

t P*. '.i'-' fi
R«.s. 11.
' I's. H7. 1.

I'SALiI XCir. I rKi. 4. n.

T A P*»lnj or Sooe for tb« 8»t)l>ath d«y. |«K»>. 39. 21
JLT* is a good M<»;; to give thanks ui;t<» "•>'>• :i- '-•
the Lo«n, and to sing praiit-s unto th.' " '-" :!- '-'•*•
name, O .Most Hujh :

2 'io shew forth thy Jovinrt;:. '
the morning," and thy fattltfulneas * every ''
niglit, 4 i »i

•'} Upon an. instrumaat of ten string!*, j ';<
and upon (ho p.tnltery ; v uf»on tho 1
with "a soJurnn sotand.

•I Ffir thou, LOUD. ha«t m-. •!•
through thy work ; I wilLtrr.: .
vrorks of thy hii!i'!.'i.

5 () LOKD, how (jrent aro t!iy vrorki ! ; ,j j,,}, f
«»^ thy t!»oim-hta' arc very

« A H- i

doth a f

JLHE» LOKI> reicneth; lie i» 'pMhe-J
with majesty: the l.ouu is clothed with
strength, ,,-hfrf!rith he ha»h Rinle,! hi,"i
c-innot'l'''-^0 I/11"0 " 5t:a'!isllet1' th:'t it.
-2 Thy throne' it established «of old •

'•• •: ' '.-til-.ii.

i;!'ti-d up, O I.IIKTJ,

iloo.l- lift up their wares.

4 The' Loun on tagh Is mwhticr t!r\n
the noise of many waters, ve<;, th-t,i t'-'p
mi^lity waTes of the sea.

£ Thy testimonies are very nre: }|.,V-
ness1* becometh thine liou-e, (.)
b for ever.

O LOUD 'H5od," to" wh,.m-» TCmnaa
th; O (.;,„!, \n w!K,;u vi-: Ivi''-
bcloiweth, »shcw thvself.

2 Lift, up thyself, thou judsro of tlie
earth : render a reward to the proud
, 3 LOEB, how long' shall tho wicked. •
j how long shall the wieked triumph ?

4 Hot? Imii shall they iittet and -sp.-ik
bard' things? and all the workers of ini
quity boast themselves?
_ 5 They break in pieeoo thy ) ;
LORD, and atlli.-t thine heritage.

and murder the t'athiTl.-^s.

7 Yet thev say. The l.our. sliall not see
nt-ither >h:ill the Cud of.hi.-ob reu

8 Understand" >e bnitUh an

!» lie* th.-i't'p'.aiited' tho ear, shall 'iv"-,,t
hear? he that iV-rrtied tlie eve shall h<>

ft "Hut tiu.

l''»r, In, tliino et
jo, tbin<5 <-i>
wwrkcrx of iniquity <> M

A PAGE FROM MR. MOODY'S BIBLE, containing the gist Psalm with his original annotations.
It was from this page that Mr. Moody preached his famous " Life and Death " sermon, and it is also from this
that he spoke to the passengers on board the steamship Spree in November, 1892, while crossing the Atlantic
from London to New York, when it was thought that the steamship was about to founder. Photograph was
taken by permission of Mrs. Fitt day before the funeral.

CHAPTER XX

His Bible

MR. MOODY loved his Bible. He knew it so well that his
eyes and fingers could find any passage that he wanted
from Genesis to Revelation, and it mattered not how hur
riedly he was speaking, it was as easy for him to find the text he
wished as for the master musician to find the notes on the key
board of a piano, and yet, he tells us himself that, when he first
entered the Sunday-school class in Boston, he did not know the
difference between the Old Testament and the New.

MORE THAN PRECIOUS TO HIM

The Bible as a book was more than precious to him. His
own Bible was a storehouse of richest treasure. He was never
heard even by his closest friends to make a play on Bible words
and phrases, and he was always quick to rebuke those who did.
He really had no patience at all with the so-called higher criticism
of God's word. He was one day approached by a newspaper
reporter who asked for some word from him regarding the higher
criticism. " I'm not up to that sort of thing," he said, with a
twinkle in his eye. "You see, I never studied theology, and I'm
precious glad I didn't. There are so many things in the Bible that
everybody can understand .that I'm going to preach about them
until they are exhausted, and then, if I have any time left, I'll take up
the texts I don't understand." " Aren't you ever asked to discuss
difficult passages of Scripture?" was the inquiry. " Mercy, yes,'

283

284 HIS BIBLE

answered Mr. Moody, " almost every day, but I always answer
people just as I have answered you, and tell them that there is
satisfaction and consolation enough in the promises of the Saviour,
all that anybody can want. The single verse, ' Come unto Me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,' con
tains all the theology and religion that I need, or any other man
or woman."

The page taken from the Bible he studied, and giving us a
picture of his notes made on the ninety-first Psalm, is but an illustra
tion of the entire book. Almost every page contained an illustration
or reference to an incident which shed light upon the truth of God.

A VALUABLE ADVICE

Years ago Harry Moorehouse, the English Bible reader, said to
him while visiting his church in Chicago, "If you will stop preach
ing your own words and preach God's Word, you will make
yourself a great power for good." This prophecy made a deep
impression on Mr. Moody's mind, and from that day he devoted
himself to the study of the Bible as he had never done before.
He had been accustomed to draw his sermons from the experiences
of Christians and the life of the streets, now he began to follow
the counsel of his friend, and preach the Word.

His first series of sermons on characters of the Bible was
preached during the summer before the Chicago fire, and at once
attracted great attention. He also began to compare Scripture
with Scripture. " If I don't understand a text," said his friend
Moorehouse, " I ask another text to explain it, and then, if it is too
hard for me, I take it to the Lord and ask Him to explain it for me."
This method Mr. Moody adopted, and this was one of the secrets
of his power. He was mighty in the Scriptures, and spoke as with
authority from God.

HIS BIBLE 285

He had a large library at his house at Northfield, much of
which had been presented to him by admiring friends ; but it is safe to
say that there are not half a dozen books in the world, besides the
books of the Old and New Testaments, of which he could give the
names and a general outline of their contents ; hence there was
room in his head for God's Word, and with it he kept himself con
tinually full and running over. His method of Bible study was like
the method of a humming bird studying a clover blossom. From
the cells of sweetness down into which he thrust his questions and
his prayers, he brought up the honey which God has stored away ;
he reveled in the profusion and preciousness of the promises, like a
robin in a tree full of ripe cherries. It was enjoyable just to see
how heartily he enjoyed the Word of God, and almost convincing to
see with what absolute faith he clung to it for his own salvation, and
with what absolute assurance he urged others to do the same. To Mr.
Moody the Word of God was food, drink, lodging, and clothes ; he
climbed by it toward Heaven, as a sailor climbs the rigging ; it was an
anchor to hold him ; a gale to drive him ; it was health, hope, happi
ness, eternal life.

COMMENTS ON HOPE AND FAITH

It was by his loving, prayerful, trustful study of the Scrip
tures that he had acquired his skill as a practical commentator.
Take, as a specimen of his off-hand comments, this from one of
the Bible readings on Hope : " Hope is the anchor of the soul. Now
none of you ever saw an anchor but was used to hold something
clown. It goes down to the bottom of the sea, and takes hold oi
the ground, and holds the ship to it. But this anchor, this hope,
is to hold us up: it enters within the veil; it takes hold of the
throne of God."

On the text, " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God," he said : " A great many people are mourning

286 HIS BIBLE

their want of faith ; but there is no wonder that they haven't
any faith ; they don't study the Word of God Hew do you
suppose you are to have faith in God when you don't know any
thing about Him ? It is those who haven't any acquaintance with
God that stumble and fall ; but those who know Him can trust Him
and lean heavy on His arm. If a man would rather read the Sunday
newspapers than read God's Word, I don't see how Christ is going
to save him. There is no room in him for the Gospel when he has
filled himself with the newspapers. For years I have not touched
a Sunday newspaper, or a weekly religious paper either, on Sun
day. Some people lay aside those religious papers for Sunday
reading, but that is not a good way. Let us lay aside all other
reading for one day in the week, and devote ourselves to the study
of God's Word. But you say, ' O, we must study science and
literature, and such things, in order to understand the Bible.' What
can a botanist tell you about the ' Rose of Sharon ' and the ' Lily
of the Valley ' ? What can the geologist tell you about the ' Rock
of Ages ' ? What can the astronomer tell you about the ' Bright

and Morning Star ' ?

GET RID OF DOUBTS

" A good many people are asking, ' Will this work hold out ?'
Now I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but there is
one thing I can predict, and that is, that every one of these
young converts who studies his Bible till he learns to love it better
than anything else, will be sure to hold put ; the world will have no
charms for him. What all these young converts want is to be in
love with the Word of God ; to feed upon it till it comes to be
sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

"One day when my old employer, C. N. Henderson, was send
ing me out to make some collections, he gave me some notes on
which he had made some private marks. Some were marked ' B'.

HIS BIBLE 287

bad, and I was to get anything I could for them. Others were
marked ' D ', doubtful ; I was to get all the security 1 could. And
others were marked ' G ', good, and these I was to treat accordingly.
Now people take God's notes or promises, and some of them they
mark ' B ', because they don't believe in them ; others they mark ' D ',
because they don't feel sure of them ; but if there happens to be
one which has been fulfilled to themselves, that one they mark ' G '.

" Now that isn't the way to treat God's promises. You ought
to mark every one of them G-O-O-D, good. Heaven and earth
shall pass away before any one of them shall fail. If we could only
get these Christians out of Doubting Castle, how rich they would
be, and what a work of grace there might be. O, these Devils,
Ifs ! When shall we ever get rid of them ?"

Mr. Moody's Bible was a real storehouse of treasure. Every
page of it was marked — almost every verse had some special illus
tration connected with it, so that he had only to open the book to
have a perfect flood of light upon its pages. It was for this reason
that he was always helpful and always interesting.

The following is one of his most characteristic statements,
and really was the beginning of my marking my own Bible. He
always practiced what he preached, and he advised other people to
mark their Bibles because it had been such a blessing to him :

" When the preacher gives out a text, mark it ; as he goes on
preaching, put a few words in the margin, key-words that shall
bring back the whole sermon again. By that plan of making a few
marginal notes, I can remember sermons I heard years and years
ago. Every man ought to take down some of the preacher's words
and ideas, and go into some lane or byway, and preach them again
to others. We ought to have four ears — -two for ourselves and
two for other people. Then, if you are in a new town, and have
nothing else to say, jump up and say : ' I heard some one say so

16

HIS BIBLE

and so ; ' and men will always be glad to hear you if you give them
heavenly food. The world is perishing for lack of it."

He had many references to the twenty-third Psalm; this is
one of the best. "I suppose I have heard as many good sermons
on the twenty-third Psalm as on any other six verses in the Bible.
I wish I had begun to take notes upon them years ago when I heard
the first one. Things slip away from you when you get to be
fifty years of age.

" With me, the Lord.
" Beneath me, green pastures.
" Beside me, still waters.
" Before me, a table.
" Around me, mine enemies.
" After me, goodness and mercy.
" Ahead of me, the house of the Lord.

" ' Blessed is the day,' says an old divine, 'when Psalm twenty-
three was born !' It has been more used than almost any other
passage in the Bible.' '

Mr. Moody was never more interesting, than when giving his
Bible readings. He could hold his great audiences spellbound with
his plain, practical, and yet powerful interpretations of the Scrip
ture. He had no use at all for the so-called higher criticism. At
one of the last conferences held in New York, he said to a company
of ministers :

"I don't see why you men are talking about ' two Isaiah's ;
half the people in the country do not know that there is one
Isaiah yet; let's make them know about one, before we begin to
tell them about two."

The last conversation of any length, that I had with him, he
must have talked for half an hour, concerning his absolute confi
dence in the Bible and his growing love for it.

M

CHAPTER XXI.

His Co- Workers

R. MOODY was a great general not only in faculties of
organization, but also in his shrewd choice of the right men
for the right work. Thus, from the beginning of his labors,
he associated with himself the most competent assistants, and it is
by no means depreciatory of his own efforts to say that his success
was in no small measure dependent upon those who helped him.
It is not depreciatory, I say; for one of the greatest gifts is this
ability to choose worthy helpers. Napoleon could not conduct in
person all his campaigns, but he surrounded himself with a staff of
generals so brilliant in their abilities that they were able to help
him maintain his prestige for fifteen years.

IRA DAVID SANKEY.

In speaking of Mr. Moody's co-workers, I realize that space is
obliging me to leave out the names of many who are worthy of
mention, so I have endeavored to confine my choice to those whose
names are most prominently associated with his work in the ears of
the public. One name is indissolubly connected with Mr. Moody's,
and of its bearer I would speak first-

Ira David Sankey was born August 28, 1840, in the village of
Edinburgh, in western Pennsylvania. His parents were Methodists.
His father was well-off in worldly circumstances, and in such good
repute among his neighbors that they repeatedly elected him mem
ber of the State Legislature ; he was, moreover, a licensed exhorter

in his own church.

(289)

29o HIS CO-WORKERS

From childhood Ira was known for a joyous spirit and trustful
disposition. The gift of singing developed in him at a very early
age. Reared in a genial, religious atmosphere, liked and respected
by all who knew him, he lived on, till past his fifteenth year, before
he was converted. His conviction occurred during a series of
special services, and after a week's hard struggle he found peace in
accepting Jesus as his Saviour. Soon afterward he joined the church,
and, about the same time, his father having removed to Newcastle,
he entered the Academy at that place. The young man had de
veloped from his gift of song a rich talent of expression, through
his wonderful voice, of the hymns of the church. After his con
version it became his delight to devote this precious gift to the ser
vice of the Lord, and it was his continual prayer that the Holy Spirit
would make use of the words sung to the conversion of those who
flocked to the services. Before he attained his majority, he was ap
pointed superintendent of the Sunday school, which contained more
than 300 pupils. His singing of Gospel invitations in solos dates
from this time. The faith of the singer was rewarded with
repeated blessings. A class of seventy Christians was committed
to his charge, a responsibility which made him a more earnest
student of the Bible. The choir of the congregation also came
under his leadership.

Elsewhere in this book is described the meeting between Mr.
Moody and Mr. Sankey and their subsequent labors together. It
is sufficient to add concerning Mr. Sankey that his gift is still used in

the service of his Master.

PAUL P. BLISS

There are many who still remember the shock to Christian
workers throughout the country when on the night of December
29, 1876, Mr. Paul P. Bliss and his wife perished in the terrible
railroad accident at Ashtabula, Ohio. They had been spending

o

Is

HIS CO-WORKERS 293

the Christmas holidays in Pennsylvania, and, leaving their little
ones at the house of a relative in Avon, N. Y., set out for Chicago
to help Major Whittle in the revival work which was following the
great meetings of Mr. Moody in that city. After they started on
their journey, Mr. Bliss telegraphed to Major Whittle, " We are
going home to-morrow." They did go home — to their home
above.

P. P. Bliss, like his associate in Gospel songs, Mr. Sankey,
was a native of Pennsylvania. In early life he had few opportunities
for culture, but, through a noble nature, God helped him to a place
of great usefulness. He was married young, and through the
influence of his wife, who was possessed of deep religious principles,
was converted and led to consecrate his gifts to the service of his
Master. Moving to Chicago, he united with the First Congrega
tional Church, where, for many years, he was leader of the choir and
superintendent of the Sunday school, also becoming widely known
by his work in musical conventions. His voice was a rich baritone.
As a composer he will long be remembered ; he was the author of
many of the best known Gospel songs, such as, " Hold the Fort,"
"What Shall the Harvest Be," "More to Follow," "Only an
Armor Bearer," " Let the Lower Lights be Burning," " Pull for

the Shore," etc.

MAJOR D. W. WHITTLE

When Major Whittle entered upon revival work Mr. Bliss
decided to give up business and accompany him. During the
years 1874-6, they traveled together through the West and South.
Mr. Bliss devoted his share of the royalty from the Gospel Songs,
a sum amounting to more than $60,000, to charity ; this in spite of
the fact that he had no private fortune. During the last three
months of his life, in connection with Major Whittle, he held
revival services at Kalamazoo, Mich., and afterward at Peoria, 111.

2Q4 HIS CO-WORKERS

The voice of this sweet singer still lives in his songs, for those who
heard him will never forget the pleading, tender, sympathetic quality
of his voice. No singer in the history of evangelistic work has
made a deeper impression on the Christian world.

Major D. W. Whittle was for many years a well-known business
man of Chicago. His prospects were large, and he had won a wide
reputation for integrity and ability, when he gave up everything
that might be counted of worldly advantage to enter upon evangel
istic work. He was known, in earlier years, in his connection with
Mr. Bliss. His career during the past few years is well known to
the public ; for a long time he has been one of Mr. Moody's valued
helpers, and the tie between the two men was cemented the more
closely by the marriage of Major Whittle's daughter, Mary, to Mr.
Moody's son, Mr. Will R. Moody.

Major Whittle is especially at home in the inquiry room.
The exercise of marvelous tact, and the use of excellent judgment,
make his personal instruction clear as well as convincing, and his
sympathy and love for those whom he tries to serve are unmistak
able. Of special value were his services during the recent war
with Spain. He toiled when he was too weary to preach, but
always with that zeal which has so commended him to churches
everywhere. I do not think I have ever known a more godly man.
I never think of him without blessing.

HENRY VARLEY.

Mr. Varley was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1835. In
boyhood his health was poor, and he came especially under the
influence of 'his mother, who, although she died when he was only
ten, gave him from her own strong nature and training the founda
tions of good character.

HIS CO-WORKERS 295

It was not long after that he began to live in London, barren
\jf worldly possessions and condemned to very many trying
experiences. At fifteen he was converted, and scarcely a year later
made his own first public address in the large Sunday school of the
John Street Church, with which he had united. From this time
various services yielded occasion for the development the gifts
which the Lord had placed with His young servant.

He was only nineteen when he secured a business partnership,
but in 1854 he went to Australia to the gold fields. There he
would preach on Sundays, and about the glowing fires in the even
ings would lead his rough comrades to approach their Father's
throne in prayer. He did not succeed as a miner, and soon
returned to Melbourne. In spite of flattering business offers he
went back to London, where, in 1857, he married a daughter of his
friend and former employer. Mr. Varley then purchased a large busi
ness at the West End of London, where for many years he resided.
His position as preacher to a regular congregation began in 1859,
and the spirit of revival soon appeared in his meetings.

THE FREE TABERNACLE OPENED

In 1862 was opened the Free Tabernacle, Notting Hill, to the
erection of which Mr. Varley had consecrated the first ,£1,000 he ever
made in business. In a short time 600 or 700 believers were gathered
into the fellowship of this church. For twenty years Mr. Varley
was the pastor of this people. The building was enlarged later to
make room for hundreds who had been clamoring unsuccessfully
for admission. It is now known as the West London Tabernacle.
In 1868 Mr. Varley disposed of his large business and gave him
self up entirely to religious work. From that time his revival
efforts throughout the world are common knowledge. His work
\n Melbourne, Australia, in 1877, w^ never be forgotten, and his

296 HIS CO-WORKERS

services in New York filled the great Hippodrome in Madison Square.
In 1883 he resigned his pastorate in order to devote his whole
strength to evangelistic work.

It was Mr. Varley, who suggested to Mr. Moody, that God
was waiting to find a man through whom He might speak to the
world. On the day when Mr. Moody receives his reward, Henry
Varley will have no small share in it.

JOHN McNiiiLL

Visitors to the great World's Fair at Chicago will never forget
the great midday meetings conducted in Central Music Hall by the
Rev. John McNeill. He is a Scotchman of the true type, as one
writer says, with a converted soul, a granite mind, and a great big
loving heart. Essentially, he is a man of the people and has no
use for ecclesiastical formalism. In his introduction to one of the
volumes of Mr. McNeill's sermons, the Rev. Dr. A. T. Pierson
says ; '' Some men, like their Master, cannot be tied ; John McNeill
is one of them. He needs no introduction. On both sides of the
sea he has won men as any man will win them who thinks and
speaks in dead earnest. There is a great difference between having
to say something and having something to say. He has shown that
he has much that is worth saying, and therefore much that is worth
hearing. Those who read his sermons will not need to be told that
the man who followed Dr. Dikes at Regent Square, is a free, fresh,
truthful, helpful preacher."

It was found in Chicago that some people were forgetting the
World's Fair in their great desire to hear John McNeill speak at
Central Music Hall. He is considered by many to be the greatest
preacher that has ever come to our shores from abroad. He is a
delightful man socially, and wins all to him, as they hear him talk
in his own inimitable way.

HIS CO-WORKERS 297

Daniel B. Towner was born in Rome, Bradford County, Penn
sylvania, March 5, 1850. As a boy he began the study of music with
his father, who was a teacher of music, and at nineteen he began to

o

teach singing classes. From 1873 to 1875 most of his time was
devoted to conducting musical conventions and institutes. In this
work he was eminently succesful. In Cincinnati, in 1885, Mr.
Moody held a series of meetings. Mr. Towner was assisting in
the music, and the evangelist saw in him a man whose services
would be invaluable. From that time Mr. Towner was associated
with the work of Mr. Moody. He has a baritone voice of wonder
ful power and compass, and his heart is in the work. As a com
poser of Gospel music he ranks among the best. Mr. Towner is a
most accomplished musician, and his voice has a sweetness about it
that is never lost, even under the stress of continuous and exacting

service.

GEORGE C. STEBBINS

Another singer who is known wherever the Gospel message is
carried by song is Mr. George C. Stebbins. He is a native of New
York State, and was born February 26, 1846, of Christian parents,
the hallowed influence of whose lives is in his work to-day. At
twenty he took charge of a choir, and also taught singing school for
several years. At twenty-three he was converted. In 1869 he
moved to Chicago and was soon employed by the First Baptist
Church to lead the choir. During this time he met Mr. Moody,
and often sang with Mr. Sankey and Mr. Bliss, who were his per
sonal friends. Going to Boston for the further culture of his voice,
he was employed in Dr. Gordon's Church, the Clarendon Street
Chapel, where he remained one year, when he went to Tremont
Temple as director of music. Becoming more deeply interested in
the evangelistic work, he joined the rank of singing evangelists,
and on the death of Mr. Bliss was called upon to aid Major Whittle

igS HIS CO-WORKERS

in Chicago. For a long time he was associated with Dr. George
F. Pentecost. He accompanied Mr. Moody to California, and was
with him in 1892 in closing his work in Great Britain. Mr. Steb-
bins wrote many of the best known songs in the Gospel Hymns,
among others, " Saviour, Breathe an Evening Blessing," " Must I
Go and Empty Handed," "The Home-land," etc. But I doubt
not he will be longest known as the author of " Saved by Grace."
Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins sing together beautifully, and of all my own
assistants none have been more helpful than these sweet singers.

FERDINAND SCHIVEREA.

As a younger man Ferdinand Schiverea was an actor, but he
was led providentially to attend a meeting which Mr. Moody was
conducting in Brooklyn. There the Spirit of God took hold of
him mightily. For days he had no rest, but finally the light came.
He went at once to his mother with the news and she said, " I have
asked God for this, dear child ; I have given you to God,
and He has just done what He said He would, if I only
would believe." The first effort of Mr. Schiverea was to lead his
brothers to Christ. He then reached out for the neighbors, and
every night for months held services of prayer in a small rear room
in his poor home. During all this time, and for four years, he
worked in a large furniture house, packing goods for shipment.
The first work that God especially blessed him in was in Brooklyn,
where for twelve months he held meetings nearly every night. He
has labored in the principal cities and towns of the United States,
as well as in most of the important cities and towns in Canada. In
Toronto alone he held twenty different series of meetings. Mr.
Schiverea is particularly strong in his ability to reach the masses ;
he is now in the very midst of his useful life, and his " love abides
in strength." There is a future of increasing usefulness before him.

HIS CO-WORKERS 299

He was a particular favorite with Mr. Moody, who never lost
an opportunity to say a kind word about his work.

H. M. WHARTON.

Of the men who stood very close to Mr. Moody, none
was more highly esteemed by him, than the subject of this
sketch. They came together first in a southern city where
good words concerning Dr. Wharton had been spoken to Mr.
Moody by the people of the city, and he did with him what he
frequently did with many others — called him out of the audience
and insisted that he should preach, and then announced that
he would conduct subsequent services. I first saw these two
men of God together in the days of the World's Fair, when Dr.
Wharton always sat on Mr. Moody's right. He is an inimitable
story-teller, and Mr. Moody's sides would shake and the tears run
down his face as Dr. Wharton would tell some of his southern
experiences, or recall some of the events of his boyhood days. As,
for example, when he told one morning, which happened to be his
birthday, of his great delight in the workmen that were digging
some ditches near his boyhood's home. A large number of Irish
men were in the company, and young Wharton had been punished
for staying too long in their presence. He had been designed by
his family to preach, and after the punishment he declared that he
would not be a minister, but surely intended to be an Irishman. I
can see Mr. Moody laugh now, as the story was told. Dr. Wharton

* O J

is a magnificent preacher, and one of the best evangelists in the
country. He has made himself poor in taking care of orphan
children both at L LI ray and in other places, and the blessing of God
mil surely ever abide upon him. Mr. Moody considered him one
of the most skilful workers in the after-meetings he had ever come

300 HIS CO-WORKERS

in contact with, and to his ability in this direction I bear hearty

testimony.

R. A. TORREY

Mr. Torrey was born January 28, 1856, in Hoboken, N. J.
At fifteen he entered Yale College, and four years later the Yale
Theological Seminary, whence he was graduated in 1878. During
his last year in the Seminary he worked for six weeks in the inquiry
room in Mr. Moody's meetings in New Haven. In 1882 he
resigned his charge and went to Germany for a year of study.
Returning in 1883, ne accepted a pastorate in Minneapolis, becoming
later the superintendent of the City Missionary Society in that
city, and after a time founded an independent people's church.
Several years later he accepted the invitation to become superin
tendent of Mr. Moody's Bible Institute, entering on the charge
in 1889. Most of the phenomenal success of the Institute is due
to his wise administration. He was very close to Mr. Moody
during the later years. No man, really, had Mr. Moody's confidence
more completely, and justly so, for no man could ever be more
loyal to another than R. A. Torrey to D. L. Moody.

A. C. DIXON.

Dr. Dixon is a typical southerner, fiery, intense, dramatic, elo
quent. His father was a frontier preacher, and the son was con
verted and joined his father's church when eleven years old. At
fifteen he entered Wake Forest College, and after graduation de
cided to study law, but the need of some country churches in his
neighborhood persuaded him .to accept the ministry of different
congregations. During nine months he baptized 100 converts.
After an incumbency of three years in a small church he entered
upon a new charge in Asheville, N. C., where, within three months
of his aggressive ministry, 250 persons were converted. Three-and-

HIS CO-WORKERS 303

a-half years later he was elected president of the Wake Forest
College, but he declined the election, accepting instead the pastor
ate of a large Baptist church in Baltimore. His church began to
expand, and soon a large tabernacle had to be erected to accommo
date the crowds who pressed forward to enjoy his ministry. Later
he was called to Brooklyn, where he has already won a high position
as preacher and pastor of his church. Dr. Dixon is a man of deep
convictions. The Bible is to him the book of life. He is a man
of prayer, a believer in the Holy Spirit, tender and gentle in deal
ing with inquirers, ever beseeching sinners to become reconciled to
God. Mr. Moody was devoted to him, and had the greatest confi
dence in his ability.

HENRY DRUMMOND.

The death of Henry Drummond a few years ago took from the
world a gentle, ministering spirit whose influences had been turned
to Christian work by the help of Mr. Moody's meetings in Glasgow,
twenty-six years ago. What this one man, who was led to the
Master by Mr. Moody, accomplished in his too brief period of ser
vice, it is impossible to estimate, but his forceful words, and the
example of his shining life, have been an inspiration to thousands.
He was born in 1851, in Sterling, Scotland. He was well educated,
and prepared himself for the ministry. His culture was wide
Science unlocked her doors to him ; advanced thought had no terrors
for him, — nor did these work any insidious undermining of his faith.
When Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey were conducting their great
mission in Scotland, Henry Drummond felt the burden of their
message and became an earnest assistant at the meetings. He was
one of the band of helpers who followed in Mr. Moody's wake, and
aided in continuing the work which the evangelists had begun. In
later years he traveled widely, visiting the United States, and
spending some time in East Central Africa. In 1877 he became

304 HIS CO-WORKERS

lecturer on Natural Science in the Second Free Church College in
Glasgow. He was the author of a number of important books,
most of which tended to disabuse the public mind of any supposed
conflict between science and religion. Acquaintance with him was
a great stimulus to his friends. Several times he worked with
Mr. Moody, and his opinion of the great evangelist was apparent
in the words he uttered a few weeks before his death in 1897. He
said, " Moody was the biggest human I ever met." And D.
L. Moody was heard to say again and again that he loved Henry
Drummond.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN.

Mr. Morgan was born December 9, 1863, at Tetbury, Glouces
tershire, England. He was of nonconformist ancestry, his father
being a Baptist minister. The young man was educated at Chel-
tingham, and at twenty was appointed to a mastership in the
Jewish Collegiate School in Birmingham. Three years later he
abandoned his profession of teaching to become an evangelist.
He went to Hull to hold services for two weeks, but they proved
so successful that they ran for many months, and he finally left,
in 1887, on account of ill health. He continued his evangelistic
work, however, and at last became pastor of the Congregational
Church in Stone, in 1889, and in 1891 pastor of the Rugeley Con
gregational Church. In 1893 he went to Westminster Road
Church at Birchfield, a suburb of Birmingham. It was in 1896,
while pastor of this church, that he first went to the United States,
and visited Northfield. In 1897 he became pastor of the New-
court Congregational Church, Tollington Park, London. He
visited Northfield in 1897, 1898 and 1899. Mr. Moody had the
greatest delight in Mr. Morgan's ability. He had him travel
through many of our cities in September and October of 1899

HIS CO-WORKERS 305

The last time I ever saw Mr. Moody was when he was sitting on
the platform with Mr. Morgan.

GEORGE H. MACGREGOR.

Mr. Macgregor was born in Scotland thirty-six years ago.
His father was a minister. The boy attended the University of
Edinburgh and New College of Divinity in the same city, and
even before he completed his theological studies he was called to a
church in Aberdeen, in 1888, gaining experience which proved
invaluable. In 1889 he visited Keswick, and under the influences
of the dwellers on that consecrated ground came into a closer walk
with God. In 1891 he was invited to the Keswick platform. Mr.
Macgregor bears in his style all the evidences of his fine culture,
a culture which, like that of Henry Drummond, is consecrated to
the Work of God. His zeal is inspiring. As a winner of souls he
is not excelled. I do not think any one has ever visited Northfield
who was really more helpful to the people than Mr. Macgregor.
He is a most charming man, and as thoroughly consecrated as any

one I have ever met.

F. B. MEYER.

Mr. Meyer began his ministry twenty-seven years ago, in
Richmond, Surrey, England, even before he had completed his
studies, which he was then carrying on at Regent Park College ;
but after his graduation he went as assistant to the Rev. C. M.
Birrell, of Pembroke Chapel, Liverpool, and later transferred his
interests to York, where, during the meetings of Mr. Moody and
Mr. Sankey, in 1873, the young minister was profoundly stirred by
the message of the American Evangelists. Mr. Meyer is best
known, aside from his spiritual literature, as pastor of Christ
Church, West London. This great institutional house of God was
completed twenty-two years ago to perpetuate the Surrey Chapel

3o6 HIS CO-WORKERS

work of Rowland Hill. Mr. Meyer followed Dr. Newman Hall in
this pastorate. Dr. Hall was the successor of James Sherman,
who, in his turn, succeeded Mr. Hill. It is doubtful if any other
church in the world employs so wide a range of activities as Christ
Church, London.

Mr. Meyer's name is known wherever the English language is
spoken, and Bible students everywhere are devoted to him, for his
own as well as his work's sake.

CHAPTER XXII.

Three Characteristic Sermons

IF one has known Mr. Moody for any great length of time, there
are three sermons which doubtless would come before his mind
as being more intimately associated with the great evangelist
than any other sermons he has preached.

The first has to do with the love of God.
The second, with the excuses of men.

The third, with his special appeal made to men in every part
of the English speaking world on " Sowing and Reaping."

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE SERMONS
The first sermon is remarkable because for a long time Mr.
Moody felt called to preach the law, and was constantly crying
out, after the manner of an Old Testament prophet, against sin,
but under the influence of Harry Moorehouse, as suggested in
another part of this volume, he seemed to come out from under
the power of law into the power of grace, and his preaching
was altogether different.

His sermon on the excuses is very characteristic of him, and
one has but to shut his eyes as he reads, to see the greatest evan
gelist of the generation pleading with men, as he alone could
do, — now moving his audience to tears, and then almost instantly
having them convulsed with laughter, but as a result of it all, lead
ing multitudes to Christ.

The third sermon is one which a host of men throughout the
world will ever remember. It was the first sermon I ever heard
17

3oS THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

him preach. Under the power of it, I saw my own heart as never
before, and under the power of the Holy Ghost, as manifested in
the preacher's sermon, I began to feel the power of Christ to make
me clean.

The sermons follow in the order mentioned :

GOD'S LOVE
I have often thought I would like to have but one text , and

O

if I thought I could only make the world believe that God is love,
I would only take that text and go up and down the earth trying
to counteract what Satan has been telling them — that God is not
love. He has made the world believe it effectually. It would
not take twenty-four hours to make the world come to God, if you
can only make them believe God is love. If you can really make
a man believe you love him, you have won him ; and if I could
only make people really believe that God loves them, what a rush
we would see for the Kingdom of God ! Oh, how they would
rush in I But man has <£ot a false idea about God, and he will

o

not believe that He is a God of love. It is because he don't
know Him.

Now, in Paul's farewell letter to the Corinthians, in the I3th
chapter, 2d Corinthians, he says : " Finally, brethren, farewell. Be
perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace,
and the God of love"-— he calls Him the God of love — "and
peace shall be with you." Then John, who was better acquainted
with Christ, telling us about the love God has for this perishing
world, writes in this epistle, in the evening of his life, these words
" Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and ever)/
one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, and he that
loveth not knoweth no God, for God is love." We built a Church
in Chicago a number of years ago, and we were so anxious to

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 309

make people believe that God is love, that we thought if we could
not preach it into their hearts, we would burn it in, and so right
over the pulpit we had the words put in gas jets, " God is love,"
and every night we had it there. A man going along there one
night glanced in through the door and saw the text. He was a
poor prodigal, and he passed ou, and as he walked away, he said to
himself, " God is love ? No. God is not love. God does not love
me. He does not love me, for I am a poor, miserable sinner. If
God was love. He would love me. God is not love." Yet there
the text was, burning down into his soul. And he went on a little
further, and turned around and came back and went into the meet
ing. He didn't hear what the sermon was, but the text got into
his heart, and that is what we want. It is of very little account
what men say, if God's word only gets into the heart. And he
stayed after meeting was over, and I found him there weeping like
a child ; but as I unfolded the Scripture, and told him how God
had loved him from his earliest childhood all along, the light of the
Gospel broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing. This
would be the best meeting to-day we have had yet, if wr could
only make this audience believe that God is love.

Now turn a moment to the I3th chapter of John's Gospel, first
verse : " Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew
that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world
unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world
He loved them unto the end." His love is unchangeable. That
night He knew very well what was going to happen. Judas had
gone out to betray Him. He knew it. He had already left that
little band to go out and sell Christ. Do you tell me Christ did
not love Judas? That very night He said to him, "Judas, what
thou doest, do quickly ;" and when Judas, meeting Him in the
garden, kissed Him, -and He said, " Betrayest thou thy Master

3io THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

with a kiss ?" was it not the voice of love and compassion that
ought to have broken Judas' heart ? He loved him in the very
hour that he betrayed Him ; and that is what is going to make hell
so terrible, that you go there with the love of God beneath your
feet. It is not that He don't love you, but you despise His love.
It is a terrible thing to despise love. He loved them unto the end.
He knew very well that Peter was going to deny Him that night
and curse and swear because he was mistaken for Jesus' companion.
He knew all His disciples would forsake Him, and leave Him to
suffer alone, and yet He says He loved them unto the end. And
the sweetest words that fell from the lips of the Son of God were
that night when they were going to leave Him. Those words that
fell from his lips that night will live forever. How they will live
in the hearts of God's people ! We could not get on very well
without the i4th of John and the I5th and i6th. It was on that
memorable ni^ht that He uttered those blessed words, and on that

O

very night that He told them how much God loved them. It
seems as if that particular night, when He was about to be deserted
by all, His heart was bursting with love for His flock.

Just let us look at the i6th chapter and the 27th verse and see
what He says : "For the Father Himself loveth you because ye
have loved me and have believed that I came from God." I don't
know but what Christ felt that there might be some of His dis
ciples that would not love the Father as they loved Him. I
remember for the first few years after I was converted I had a
good deal more love for Christ than for God the Father, whom I
looked upon as the stern Judge, while I regarded Christ as the
Mediator who had come between me and that stern Judge, and
had appeased His wrath, but when I got a little better acquainted
with my Bible those views all fled. After I became a father, and
woke up to the realization of what it cost God to have His Son die,

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 313

I began to see that God was to be loved just as much as His Son
was Why, it took more love for God to give His Son to die than
it would to die Himself. You would a thousand times sooner die
yourself in your son's place than have him taken away. If the
executioner was about to take your son to the gallows, you would
say, " Let me die in his stead , let my son be spared." Oh, think
of the love God must have had for this world that He gave His
only begotten Son to die for it, and that is what I want you to
understand. "The Father Himself loveth you because you have
loved Me." If a man has loved Christ, God will set His love upon
him. Then in the i /th chapter, 23d verse, in that wonderful
prayer He made that night, " I in them, and Thou in Me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know
Thou hast sent Me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me."
God could look down from Heaven and see His Son fulfilling His
will, and He said, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." But when it is said, "God loved us as He loved His
own Son," it used to seem to me to be downright blasphemy, until
I found it was in the Word of God. That was the wonderful
prayer He made on the night of His betrayal. Is there any love
in the world like that ? Is there anything to be compared to the
love of God? Well may Paul say, " It passeth knowledge."

And then, I can imagine some of you saying, " Well, He
loved his disciples and He loves those who serve Him faithfully,
but then I have been untrue." I may be speaking now to some
backsliders, but if I am, I want to say to everyone here : " The
Lord loves you." Now, it says in John, first chapter : "He loved
them unto the end." That is, His love was unchangeable and you
may have forgotten Him and betrayed Him and denied Him, but
nevertheless He loves you, He loves the backslider. There is
not a man here that has wandered from God and betrayed Him

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

but what the Lord Jesus loves him and wants him to come back.
Now in this i4th chapter of Hosea He says, " I will heal every
backslider. I will love them freely." So the Lord tells the back
sliders, " If you will only come back to Me I will forgive you." It
was thus with Peter who denied his Lord ; the Saviour forgave him,
and sent him to preach His glorious Gospel on the day of Pente
cost, when three thousand were won to Christ under one sermon of
a backslider.

Just turn to the 3ist chapter of Jeremiah and the 3d verse.
" He hath loved us," he says, "with an everlasting love."

Now there is a difference between human and divine love.
The one is fleeting, the other is everlasting. There is no end of
God's love. I can imagine some of you saying: "If God has
loved us with an everlasting love", why does it say that God is angry
with the sinner every day?" Why, dear friends, that very word
"anger" in the Scriptures is one of the very strongest evidences
and expressions of God's love. Suppose I have got two boys, and
one of them goes out and lies and swears and steals and gets drunk ;
if I have no love for him I don't care what he does ; but just because
I do love him it makes me angry to see him take that course, and
it is because God loves the sinner that he gets angry with him.
That very passage shows how strong God's love is. Let me tell
you, dear friends, God loves you in all your backslidings and wan
derings. You may despise His love and trample it under your feet
and go down to ruin, but it wont be because God don't love you. I
once heard of a father, who had a prodigal boy, and the boy had
sent his mother down to the grave with a broken heart, and one
evening the boy started out as usual to spend the night in drinking
and gambling, and his old father as he was leaving said, " My
son, I want to ask a favor of you to-night. You have not spent an
evening with me since your mother died, and now I want you to

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 315

spend this night at home. I have been very lonely since your
mother died. Now, wont you gratify your old father by staying at
home with him ?" " No," said the young man, " it is lonely here,
and there is nothing to interest me, and I am going out." And
the old man prayed and wept, and at last he said, " My boy, you
are just killing me, as you have killed your mother. These hairs
are growing whiter, and you are sending me, too, to the grave."
Still the boy would not stay, and the old man said, " If your are
determined to go to ruin, you must go over this old body to-night.
I cannot resist you. You are stronger than I, but if you go out
you must go over this body." And he laid himself down before
the door, and that son walked over the form of his father, trampled
the love of his father under foot and went out.

And that is the way with sinners. You have got to trample
the blood of God's Son under your feet if you go down to death,
to make light of the blood of the innocent, to make light of the
wonderful love of God, to despise it. But whether you do or not,
He loves you still. I can imagine some of you saying, " Why does
He not show His love to us?" Why, how can it be any further
shown than it is? You say so because you won't read His Word
and find out how much He loves you. If any man will take a
concordance and run through the Scriptures with the one word
" love," you will find out how much He loves you ; you will find out
that it is all one great assurance of His love. He is continually
trying to teach you this one lesson, and to win you to Himself by
a cross of love. All the burdens He has placed upon the sons of
men have been out of pure love, to bring you to Himself. Those
who do not believe that God is love are under the power of the
Evil One. He has blinded you, and you have been deceived with
his lies. God's dealing has been all love, love, love, from the fall
of Adam to the present hour. Adam's calamity brought down

^6 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

o

God's love. No sooner did the news reach Heaven than God came
down after Adam with His love. That voice that rang through
Eden was the voice of love, hunting after the fallen one — " Adam,
where art thou ?" For all these thousand years that voice of love
has been sounding down the ages. Out of His love He made a
way of escape for Adam. God saved him out of His pity and love.
In the 63d chapter of Isaiah, and the 9th verse, we read : " In
all their affliction, He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence
saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them ; and
He bare them, and carried them all the days of old." In all their
afflictions He was afflicted You cannot afflict one of God's
creatures without afflicting Him. He takes the place of a living
father. There a man has a sick child burning with fever. How
gladly the father or the mother would take that fever and put it
into their own bosoms. The mother would take from a child its
loathsome disease right out of its body, and put it into her own-
such is a mother's love. How she pities the child, and how gladly
she would surfer in the place of the child ! That illustration has
been often used here — "Asa mother pitieth her children." You
cannot afflict any of God's creatures, but God feels it. The Son
of His bosom came to redeem us from the cares of the world. I
do not see how any man with an open Bible before him can get up
and say to me that he does not see how God is love. " Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man will lay down his life for
his friend." Christ laid down His life on the cross, and cried in
His agony, " Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."
That was wonderful love. You and I would have called fire down
from Heaven to consume them. We would have sent them all
down into the hot pavement of hell. But the Son of God lifted
up His cry, " Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

I hear some one say, "I do not see, I do not understand how
it is that He loves us." What more proof do you want that God
loves you ? You say, " I am not worthy to be loved." That is
true. I will admit that. And He does not love you because you
deserve it. It will help us to get at the Divine love to look a little
into our own families, and at our human love. Take a mother
with nine children, and they are all good children save one. One
is a prodigal, and he has wandered off, and he is everything that is
bad. That mother will probably love that prodigal boy as much or
more than all the rest put together. It will be with a love mingled
with pity. A friend of mine was visiting at a house some time
ago, where quite a company were assembled and were talking
pleasantly together. He noticed that the mother seemed agitated,
and was all the while going out and coming in. He went to her
aside and asked her what troubled her, and she took him out into
another room and introduced him to her boy. There he was, a
poor wretched boy, all mangled and bruised with the fall of sin.
She said, " I have much more trouble with him than with all the
rest. He has wandered far, but he is my boy yet." She loved him
still. So God loves you still.

That love, it ought to break your hearts to hear of, and it
ought to bring you right to Him. You may say you do not deserve
it, and that is true ; but because you do not deserve it, God offers
it to you. You may say, "If I could get rid of my sins, God
would love me," In Revelation, ist chapter, 5th. verse, it says:
"Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood." It does not say He washed us from our sins and then loved
us. He loved us first, and then washed us clean. Some people
say, you must turn away from sin, and then Christ will love you.
But how can you get rid of it until you come to Him ? He takes
us into His own -bosom, and then He cleanses us from sin.

318 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

He has shed His blood for you ; He wants you and He will redeem
you to-day if you will.

An Englishman told me a story once that may serve to
illustrate this truth, that God loves men in their sin. He does
not love sin, but He loves men even in their sin. He seeks
to save them from sin. There was a boy a great many years ago,
stolen in London the same as Charley Ross was stolen here. Long
months and years passed away, and the mother had prayed and
prayed, as that mother of Charley Ross has prayed, I suppose, and
all her efforts had failed, and they had given up all hope ; but the
mother did not quite give up her hope. One day a little boy was
sent up into the neighboring house to sweep the chimney, and by
some mistake he got down again through the wrong chimney.
When he came down, he came in by the sitting room chimney.
His memory began at once to travel back through the years that
had passed. He thought that things looked strange and familiar.
The scenes of the early days of youth were dawning upon him ;
and as he stood there surveying the place, his mother came into
the room. He stood there covered with rags and soot. Did she
wait until she had sent him to be washed before she took him into
her arms? No, indeed; it was her own boy. She took him to her
arms, all black and smoke, and hugged him to her bosom, and shed
tears of joy upon his head. You have wandered very far from Him ;
there may not be a sound spot upon you, but if you will just come
to God, He will forgive and receive you.

There is a verse in Isaiah xxxviii, — the iyth verse, — that
I think a good deal of. It reads : " Thou has in love to my
soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast
all my sins behind Thy back." Mark you, the love comes
first. He did not say that He had taken away sins and cast
them behind Him. He loved us first, and then He took our

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 319

sins away. I like that little word m-y "my" there. The rea
son we do not get any benefit from Scripture is because we are
always talking about generalizations. We say : " God loves nations,
God loves churches, and loves certain classes of people. But here
it reads: "Out of love to my soul He has taken all my sins and
cast them behind His back." If they are behind His back they are
gone from me forever. If they are cast behind His back, how can
Satan ever get at them again ? I will defy any fiend from hell to
find them. Satan can torment me with them no more.

There are four expressions wherein God put our sins away.
The first is, He has blotted out our sins like a thick cloud. You
remember, don't you, how in the morning we wake and sometimes
find the sky covered with clouds, and by the afternoon there is not
a cloud to be seen. Can any one tell where the clouds go to ?
They vanish and we see them no more, and no one can tell what
has become of them. God has blotted out our sins like these
clouds. Another verse is : "I will remove them as far as she east
is from the west," Another is: "I will roll them into the depths of
the sea." And there is this one which reads: "Who will take
them out of love to my soul and cast them behind his back." They
are gone through time and eternity. Bear in mind, it is out of love
He does it, not out of justice. It is not justice we want, but mercy.
God feels wonderful love, which it ought to break every heart here
to contemplate, and the love of God ought to sweep over this audi
ence, and bow every head here to-night, and fill our hearts full of
gratitude and praise that God so loved us, and gave himself for us.
It says in Galatians, 26. chapter, 2oth verse, " Who loved me and
gave Himself for me." Take that verse in Isaiah, "Who loved my
soul " and put it with this verse, "Who loved me and gave Himself
for me," and you have it all. Christ shed every drop of his precious
blood for sinners. Some people say "only one single drop of

3 20 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

Christ's blood is enough to cleanse you from sin." It is not true.
If one drop would have done it. He would have shed but one drop ;
but it took every drop of blood that His life had, and He gave it all
up to save us. Paul says, " He loved me and gave Himself for me,"
and so Paul loved Him in return. If you could but get that thought
in your mind that Christ has loved you so much as to give Himself
for you, you cannot help loving Him in return.

EXCUSES OF MEN

"And they all with one consent began to make excuse." — St. Luke, xiv., part of iSth verse.

We read in the i4th chapter of Luke that Christ is invited by
one of the chief Pharisees to take supper with him on the Sabbath.
I think by reading it carefully you will find it was a snare that the
Pharisees were setting for Christ, that they were trying to get Him
into some trouble, in order to get some reason that they might put
Him out of the way. The law was that a man should not work on
the Sabbath day, and the Pharisees were all the time bringing
charges against Christ, because He was, as they said, working on
the Sabbath ! And so this Pharisee invited Him to his house, and
there was a great company there. They had a certain man there
who had the dropsy. Undoubtedly they had sent a servant out to
get the man in so as to have him ready for the occasion. They had
him sitting right opposite to Christ. Christ said to the Pharisees
and the others sitting by, " Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day ?" And there wouldn't one of them answer Him a word.

One after another, I can imagine, looked down, and it was as
if they had said, " Keep still now," and they held their peace. Christ
said to the man who had the dropsy, " You may be healed," and the
man got up and walked home a perfectly sound man. Christ said
to the Pharisees, "If any of you have an ass or an ox fallen into

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 323

the pit, will you not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?"
And they said not a word. They knew very well that if any of
them had an ox or an ass fallen into the pit they would save him if
it was on the Sabbath day. But they said nothing. They were
all the time putting questions to Him ; but see how Christ answered
all these questions. It would be well for you to take your Bible
and go through the Scriptures and see with what wisdom and tact
those questions were answered that were put to Christ.

He said to the Pharisees gathered there — for he noticed that
there was a great rush to see who was going to get the best seats.
There they were pushing and elbowing each other back in order to
get the best seats. Christ said, " Let me give you counsel. When
you are invited to a feast take the lowest place. Do not be so
ambitious to get the best place, to get to the head of the table ;
because if you get there, and a more honorable person comes, the
head of the feast will make you sit further down, and you will be
mortified and ashamed." Then He turned to the chief of the
Pharisees who invited Him and said: "When you get up a feast,
do not go and invite the rich, or you will be looking for them to
invite you again." Isn't it the same thing to-day in the world ?
When people get up a feast, they invite the rich and influential, so
by that means they will get into society, and their invitations will
be returned. But, He said, go to the lame, the halt, the dumb, the
blind, and ask them, and you will be well rewarded for what you do
by our Father in Heaven. A man sitting at the table burst out and
said, " Blessed is the man that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of
God." Then Christ said, " A certain man made a great supper
and bade many ;" here He described the great spiritual feast — "and
sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden,
' Come, for all things are now ready.' And they began to
make excuses." They made excuse. They did not have any to

324 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

offer without making them. " And they all with one consent began
to make excuses." A man gets up a feast, and his friends make no
excuses ; but God gets up a feast, and not only prepares a table,
but He goes forth and invites them all to come. They cannot go ;
they would like to go, they say, but cannot possibly, they have so
much to do. Let me show you what these excuses are, and you will
see on the face of them that they are downright lies. The Scrip
ture says, " One after one they began to make excuses." If those
men had been invited to go out and walk, if they had been invited
to go to a hospital to witness some terrible operation, or if they had
been invited to an execution, they would have had some reason for
giving excuses ; but these men were invited to a royal feast. It is
not often that common people like us get an invitation to a royal
feast. If Queen Victoria were to invite us to a feast at Windsor
Castle, do you suppose we would not regard it as a great honor ?
Do you suppose you would make excuses ? O, my friends, I have
an invitation to-day that is a thousand times beyond that. It is
from the very King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is the Mar
riage Supper of God's own Son. Blessed is he that shall be at the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb. He wants to see you all there.
The invitation is to every one here. All are invited — the lowest,
the highest, the richest, the poorest, all can come if they will.

Do you ever think what would take place in a city like New
York if God should take men at their word when they make
excuses, and should say to-night, "Well. I will excuse you," and so,
with one stroke of Providence should sweep them all away, and
cease to care for those who refused Him? Why, the grass would
right away begin to grow in your streets. There would be very
few stores open to-morrow. Most of the merchants would want to
be excused ; their stores would be closed up, every solitary one of
the.m. The rurnsellers would all want to be excused. You cannot

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 335

find a rumseller in all New York but wants to be excused. Every
man that is carrying- on a dishonest business would want to be
excused. I do not think there would be any crowd here to-morrow,
if that should take place in the next twenty-four hours. What
desolation would reign in the streets of New York, and how many
of all classes would make excuses ! If I should step down from
this place, and go right down the aisle among the audience, begin
ning with that little boy, and asking every one down the line, if
you had not an excuse, how many of you would not have them ?
You would begin to find one before I got to you, and if you could
not find one, you would make up one, and if you could not easily
think of one, Satan would help you to get up one.

Let us take up the excuses of those three men mentioned here.
The first man had bought some ground, and he must needs go and
see it. Why didn't he see the ground before he bought it ? If he
had been a good business man, he would have seen it first. If he
had been, he would have been looking at the title. That would
have been the better way. But he said he must go and see his
ground. He had an invitation to the supper, and said, " I would
like to go, but I cannot." And he said to the servant, "Tell the
Lord I would be delighted to be there. I do not know anything
that would please me more than to go, but business is so pressing
it will be utterly impossible for me to go." If the devil can only
get us off into some cradle of excuses and rock us off to sleep, that
is all he wants. If would have been better if this man had been
honest and said to the servant, " Tell the Lord I don't want to go
to the feast." It is better to be honest than to seek a refuge of
lies and false excuses.

And the other man could not accept the invitation either. I
suppose he thought to himself, " How shall I get out of it ?" So he
said, " I have just bought five yoke of oxen. I will give them as

326 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

my excuse." I suppose, perhaps he asked his wife, "What shall I
tell him ?" Perhaps his wife told him, " Say you have just bought
five yoke of oxen, and that you have to go and prove them." Now,
why didn't he prove them before he bought them ? And besides,
did he not have plenty of time to prove them ? It was not necessary
for him to go just at the hour of the feast to prove his oxen. He
manufactured the excuse. The third man's excuse is more absurd,
if possible, than the others. He said, " I have just married a wife."
What difference did that make about his going ? Why didn't he
take his wife along ? You can see that that excuse was a down
right lie. So these three men made excuses, and when the
messenger came back and gave them to the Lord, he said, " Not
one of those that were bidden and have refused shall taste of my
supper. Go and get the beggars from the highways and hedges,
and the tramps and the poor, the lame, the maimed, the dumb, the
blind, and if these men won't accept the invitation, let those who
will, come." Let those that will accept of the invitation and press
into the Kingdom. Thank God that His Gospel is for the poor as
well as for the rich. If the rich won't have it, thank God that the
poor are pressing into the Kingdom.

I want to call your attention to the fact, that since these 1900
years have worn away, men are becoming very wise, or think they are,
and they say, " We have now outgrown this old Bible, and are now
living in a more intellectual age. Men are wiser than they used to
be. They have got a great deal more culture ; they have a great deal
more refinement." But, my friends, with all your culture and all your
refinement, can you find one man who has any better excuse than
these three men had ? I have met hundreds here in New York, in
the inquiry room and outside of it, during the past few weeks, and
I have yet to find the first man who has a better excuse. My

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 337

friend, what is your excuse ? Have you got a better one ? Why
do you not accept the invitation ? God invites you.

I have often heard people say " I would like to be a Christian
very much, but O, it is so hard to serve God." Is that true? Is
God a hard master ? Is the devil an easy one ? Is it true that
those who have served both masters have found that God is such a
hard master? Is He austere? Does He require us to perform
more than we can? Does He reap where He has not sown ? O, ye
saints of the living God, is that your testimony? There never was
a greater lie forged in hell and told on earth, than that. " The way
of the transgressor is hard." Ask the men in prison, ask the
drunkard, if the way of the transgressor is one of ease.

Go down to the Tombs. I am told that that little bridge over
the prison yard over which the prisoners are led has written on
one side the words, "The way of the transgressor is hard." If that
is not true, how do they dare put it on there ? They ought to take
it off. There is not a man in all New York but knows as he goes
down deep in his heart that the way of the transgressor is hard.
On the other side of that bridge it is written, " The Bridge of
Sighs; " and over that the young men pass every day, and every
one of them will testify that that portion of the Bible is true where
it says the way of the transgressor is hard. So don't give that as
an excuse.

There is another class that say, " I believe that. I believe the
most delightful service in the world is serving Christ. That is not
my excuse, but my excuse is this : There are so many things in
that Bible that are dark and mysterious. I don't understand the
Bible from Genesis to Revelation. If I could understand the
Bible on reading it through once, I could accept the invitation ;
but there, are so many dark and mysterious things that I cannot
accept the invitation," and so we find a good many giving the Bible

18

328 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

as an excuse. I contend there is no book under the sun that has
been so misjudged as the Bible. Of all the skeptics and infidels I
have ever met, I have yet to meet the first one that has read the
Bible through from beginning to end. Now, if a book comes out
and you have not read all of it, and you are asked your opinion of
it, you say, " I have not read it through yet, and don't like to
express my opinion until I have more carefully read it." But peo
ple are not afraid of expressing their opinion of God's book after
having read a few chapters, and because they don't understand
what they have read, they condemn the whole.

I have a boy about say four or five years, and I send him
to school to-morrow, and he comes home, and I ask him,
" Willie, can you read and write and spell ? Do you understand all
about geometry? Have you finished your algebra?" "Why,
papa," he says, "why do you talk that way? I have been all the
time trying to learn what A, B and C are." " What ! " I say,
" have you not finished your education ? I will take you right away
from that school if you have not." Now there is just as much reason
in my doing that as there is in a man's taking up the Bible and
condemning it before he has studied it, and that excuse that these

O

men are giving that they cannot accept the invitation because they
don't understand the Bible, will not stand before Christ's tribunal.

When they go up and stand before the Lord they will say, " I
was very anxious to accept the invitation to be at the marriage ser
vice of your Son, but there were many things in the Bible that were
dark and mysterious, and so I could not accept the invitation.'*
That excuse sounds very well here, but up there you can't tell that
You will be speechless when you stand before God's bar.

"Well," says another, "my trouble is not with the Bible,
which I believe in from end to end, nor do I have any trouble
about that other excuse about serving Christ: but the trouble I

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

have is in seeing so many hypocrites, and I am not going to join
the Church, there are so many hypocrites. I know a person who
cheated me out of $5. and that same person pretends to be a Christ
ian, and so you must not ask me to associate with hypocrites."
Well, I say, if you don't want to associate with hypocrites, you
had better get out of the world as soon as you can. You will find
one hundred hypocrites outside of the Church where you will find
one in it. If you don't want to associate with hypocrites, you had
better accept this invitation at once. If I ever find a man who is
a hypocrite, and betrays the cause of Christ, it only makes me
want the love of Christ all the more, and I want to serve Him all
the better. Because this or that man is untrue, is it any reason
that I should like less the cause they betray ? That is no excuse
either, then. It is a personal, an individual matter with you. Sup
pose almost all men on the face of the earth are hypocrites, it is
no sign that I or you should be so. Is that any reason why you
should not become Christ's follower?

There is a young man over there who says, " Mr. Moody has
not touched my case at all. My trouble is different. I would like
to become a Christian, but if I become one, I am afraid I won't
hold out." That is a very common excuse. We have it in the
inquiry room every night. " There is no one in New York that
feels more anxious to become a Christian than I do," said a young
man the other night, "but I am afraid that I will not hold out."
Now, is it our work to keep ourselves, or is it the work of the
shepherd to keep the sheep ? The keeper of Israel never slumbers
and sleeps, and is not the God of Israel able to keep us ? The
work of the shepherd is to take care of the sheep, and not the
sheep to take care of the shepherd.

Now the question comes, will you trust Him to-day? You
will be able to stand if God stands with you. When I was talking

330 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

with that young man, it reminded me of a boy whom I knew some
years ago, whose father was a miserable drunken wretch and infidel,
and he would not allow a praying man under his roof, for he said
a man that prayed was nothing but a blackhearted hypocrite.
Somebody got hold of his little boy, and got him into the Sabbath
school, and he was converted. One day afterward, the old man
caught him praying, and he caught him by the collar and jerked him
to his feet, commanding him with oaths never to be caught doing that
again, or he would have to leave home forever. Twice after that
he caught him in the act of praying, and the last time told him to
leave his house forever. The little fellow packed up his things in
a handkerchief, went down into the kitchen where his mother was,
and bade her good-bye, then went and bade his little brother and
sisters good-bye, and as he passed his father on his way to the door,
he reached up his arms to put them around his father's neck, and
said, " Good-bye, father. As long as I live, I will pray for you,"
and he went down the street, but he had not gone a great while,
before his father came after him, and said, "If that is Christianity,
I want it." And the boy went back and prayed with his father, and
led him to Christ. So you see you cannot give any excuse for not
coming to Jesus, so accept His invitation this hour and be saved.

But there is another excuse, and a good many of the young
people give it. I have no doubt many of these little boys and girls
here say, " I don't want to be a Christian, for if I do, I shall have
to be gloomy." I know that was one of my excuses before I was
converted. I thought if I became a Christian, I had got to put on
a long face, and walk on through the world, looking neither to the
right nor to the left, and have no more joy until I got into the
other world. In other words, that Christianity was to make me
sad and gloomy and despondent. But no ; that is not religion, for
religion should make you happy and joyful. See this man on the

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 333

way to execution. A pardon from the Governor is put into his
hands, and the poor man goes home to his family. Do you think
that is going to make him gloomy ? That is what the Gospel is.
A pardon comes from the throne of Heaven, and that is not going
to make us gloomy, is it ? If a man dying for bread is given bread,
is that going to make him gloomy ? That is what the Gospel is—
bread to the soul. If you give water to a man dying of thirst, a
clear draught from the spring, isn't that going to make him happy?
Christ is the water of life. My friends, it does not make people
gloomy. It makes people gloomy to want Christ. There are many
who profess Christianity that don't have a living Christ in them,
and those are the people who are gloomy. But when Christ is
with us a living well of water gushing up, it is a living well of glad
ness. And so, little boy, little girl, young man, young maiden,
don't give that for an excuse. Don't say, "I will not accept of this
invitation because it will make me gloomy and sad." That is not
the experience of the true Christian. If you want to see a person
truly happy, with a joy that the world does not know anything
about, you must go to those that have been Christ's, and have
caught the spirit, for He brings us joy and true peace and happi
ness.

Then another thing. There are a great many men that want
to come, and they say, " Wait until I am a better man, and then I
will come." I never knew a man to be saved that came to Christ
in that way. You cannot make yourselves any better. You can
not cleanse yourselves. Every day and hour that you are staying
from Christ you are getting worse instead of better. The very act
of your staying away is a sin, and so instead of trying to get better
and get ready to come, just come as you are and be clothed with
the garments of salvation. He will clothe you with His own right
eousness. I noticed when our war was going on, men used to come

334 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

to enlist, and the man who came with a fine suit of clothes on, and
the hod-carrier in his dirty garments, would both have to take off
their clothes and put on the uniform of the Government. And so,
when men go into the Kingdom of God, they have to put on the
livery of Heaven. You need not dress up for Christ, because He
will strip you when you come and put on you the robes of His
righteousness. My friends, you cannot stand before God in your own
righteousness. Come to God as a poor beggar, and He will have
mercy upon you.

I heard some years ago of an artist who wanted a model
for the Prodigal. He went to many institutions and prisons,
but could not get a man who suited his ideas of the Prodi
gal. One day, however, while walking down the street, he met a
poor miserable tramp, and he suited the artist's eye, so he asked
him if he would be willing to sit for his portrait. The tramp said he
would, if the artist would pay him for it. The artist promised and
set a day and hour for him to come. At the appointed time,
when the artist was sitting in his studio, the man came in, but he
was so well dressed, the artist didn't know him, and told him he
had no appointment with him. When the beggar told him the cir
cumstances, the artist said, " What have you been doing ? " "Why, '
said the man, " I thought if I was going to sit for my portrait, I
would get a new suit of clothes." " Ah," said the artist, " you wont
do ; I wanted you just as you were." So, when you go to Christ,
go just as you are, with all your rags, your filth, and your sin, and
He will receive you. I don't care how bad you are. He came for
that purpose, and there is not a man or woman in this hall to-night
that is so bad that Christ would not have you if you will only come.
You may be a thief, a drunkard, a libertine, polluted with sin, and
corrupt as the devil would have you, and yet the Lord Jesus Christ

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 335

will receive you if you will just come, and come without delay, just
as you are.

But I need not go on enumerating excuses ; if you drive a
man from behind one excuse, he takes immediate refuge behind
another. If you drive him from that, he gets behind another like
a flash. You cannot exhaust excuses. They are more numerous
than the hairs upon your head. I will tell you what you can do
with them. You can take them up and bind them in one bundle,
and mark it, " Lies, lies, lies," in great big letters. God will sweep
away those refuges of lies. It is only a question of time. By and
by you will be left without an excuse. He that believeth not, will
be without God, without hope, without excuse. Do not think of
giving excuses here. If you have any excuse that you call good,
if you have any excuse that you think will stand the light of eternity
and of the judgment day, if you think you have any excuse that
God will accept, do not give it up for anything I have said. Take
it into the grave with you. Let it be buried with you, and when
you come before Him, tell it out. If not, then give your excuses
to us here to-day. It is easy to excuse yourself into hell, but you
cannot excuse yourself out of it. It is easy to take a seat here,
and to make light of everything you hear, and go away laughing
and scoffing at the whole thing ; but ah, it will be terrible to stand
before God without an excuse.

One of the most solemn things in Scripture is that not
one of these men that were bidden to the feast of the Lamb
and refused should taste of the supper. That is to say, that
God would excuse them, taking them at their word. It will
be a terrible thing to be excused from that feast. Do you really
want to be excused? Is there a man or woman here that
will say honestly that he or she would willingly be excused ? Why
not accept of the invitation now ? Let the plough stand in the

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

furrow, let the oxen stand in the stall until you accept the invita
tion. Let your business go until this question of eternity is settled
with you. It is better for you to press into the Kingdom than it is
for you to attend to any other duty. That is the first thing. A
man must first attend to the soul's salvation. If your wife won't
•40, leave her at home. If you cannot get your family to join you,
go alone. Make up your mind that to-day you will be up and
pursuing that one object. If your companions make light of it, let
them do it. It is Christ that invites you. Did you ever stop to
think who will be there ? Not one who has washed in the blood
of the Lamb will be missing on that occasion. I would rather
have my heart torn out of my body here on this platform, and go
from here right straight to Heaven and be with Him at last, than
live a hundred years and lose that opportunity. I want to be at
the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I want to sit with Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. I want to be in the presence of the King of
Kings Do not make light of it.

I can imagine some of you saying, " I never yet got so low
that I have been willing to make light of religion and serious
things." Let me ask you : Suppose a man invites me to his house.
Suppose he sends me a note and invites me to dinner with him,
and I read it and simply tear it up or throw it aside and pay no
more attention to it. Is not that making light of it ? How many
will thus walk out of this hall, and make light of everything they
have heard ? Suppose here we just write out a refusal of the
invitation. "To the King of Heaven: While sitting in the
church on a beautiful day, January, 1899, I received a pressing
invitation from one of Your servants to be present at the marriage
supper of Your only begotten Son. I pray Thee accept my
excuses." Now, who would come forward and take a pen, and dip
it in the ink and put his name to that ? I can imagine you saying,

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

337

" Let this right hand forget its cunning and this tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth, before I would be guilty of such a thing ;
ten thousand times, No !" But I will tell you what you will do.
You will get up and go out and make light of the whole thing.
Let us write out an acceptance : " To the King of Heaven : January,
1899. While sitting in the meeting, I received a very pressing
invitation from one of Your messengers to be present at the
marriage supper of Your only begotten Son. I hasten to reply.
By the grace of Gocl I will be present." Who will sign that ?
Will you say from the depth of your heart, " I will do that ?" Some
one up there says, " Yes, I will." Thank God for that ! Why
should not the one person speak for the whole audience ?

REAPING WHATSOEVER WE SOW

" ]?e not deceived : God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." — Galatians, 6th Chapter, "jth
and 8th verses.

It is very easy for us to deceive ourselves and one another,
and there is a good deal of deception in the world. But you
cannot deceive God.

When we try to deceive Him, we are thinking all the time
that He is like us. We are tolcl in Jeremiah that "the heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Any man who
leans on his own understanding will be deceived. How many times
have we deceived others, and because we succeeded in doing so,
thought we could deceive God ; but we cannot do it. You may
mock us, but whatever you do in that way, don't mock God. I was
reading some time ago of a young man who had just come out of
a saloon. He had mounted his horse. As a certain deacon
passed on his way to church he followed the deacon and said,

338 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

" Deacon, can you tell me how far it is to hell ? " The deacon's
heart was pained to think that a young man like that should talk
so lightly ; he passed on and said nothing. When he came round
the corner to the church he found that the horse had thrown that
young man, and he was dead. So you may be nearer the judg
ment than you think. Now, in the first place, a man expects to
reap. That is true in the natural world. Men are sowing and
planting, and what for ? Why, to reap. And so it holds true, you
will find, in the spiritual world. Not only that,, when he sows he
expects to reap more than he sows, and the same that he sows. If
he sows wheat, he doesn't expect to get potatoes ; if he wants
wheat, he sows wheat. If a man learns the trade of a carpenter,
he doesn't expect to be a blacksmith. It says in the 5th chapter
of Matthew : " Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com
forted. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
See how God has dealt with the nations. See if they have not
reaped what they sowed. What has become of the monarchs
and empires of the world ? What brought ruin to Babylon ?
Why, her king and people would not obey God, and ruin came
upon them. What has become of Greece and all its power? It
once ruled the world. What has become of Rome and all its great
ness ? When their cup of iniquity was full, it was dashed to the
ground. What has become of the Jews ? They rejected salva
tion, persecuted God's messengers, and crucified their Redeemer,
and we find eleven hundred thousand of them perished at one
time. O, my friends, it is only a question of time !

Look at the history of this country. With an open Bible our
forefathers planted slavery ; but judgment came at last. There is not
a family North or South that has not to mourn over some one taken
from them. Instead of that war humbling us, how defiant we became.

O

Look and see how crime has increased during the past few years.

I

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 339

Ah, this fair republic will go to pieces, if there is not more right
eousness ; it will perish like the other nations, if we don't repent
in time. I happened to be in France in 1867, and I confess I could
not tell the difference between Sunday and any other day ; and did
not God punish France for her sins ? She went down from her high
station very quickly. But a few years ago she stood shoulder to
shoulder with the leading nations of the earth.

Why have those nations fallen ? Just because God made them
reap what they sowed. Now if a man sows for this life, why, he will
reap in this life ; and if he sows for eternity, he will reap in eternity.
If he sows to the Spirit, he will have his harvest up yonder. If he
sows to the flesh he will reap disappointment and despair ; he will
reap gloom, and death and hell ; but if he sows to the Spirit, he
will reap joy and peace and long-suffering and gladness, for these
are the fruits of the Spirit ; and not only that, but he has everlast
ing life. Now just ask yourself to-night what are you sowing?
Are you sowing for time, or are you sowing for eternity ? Are you
sowing good seed, or are you sowing bad seed ?

You must remember the judgment sometimes comes down
very suddenly, and sometimes it is deferred ; but all through Scrip
ture we find that God deals in grace before He deals in judgment.
I have showed you that God dealt in judgment with Lot, and what
a bitter end his was. Just take up your Bible, and, all through it,
you will see that God deals in grace and government. Take that
priest of His, Eli; he had two sons who didn't care for God. He
failed to bring them up right. They sold what was offered to God,
and became very wealthy ; but they were slain in battle against
the Philistines, and Eli himself, when he heard the news, fell back
and broke his neck. God sent a message twenty years before that
sentence was carried out, that judgment would come. Look at
the sons of Jacob. They sold Joseph and deceived their father

340 THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

Twenty long years rolled away, and away down in Egypt their sin
followed them ; for they said : " We are guilty of the blood of our
brother." The reaping time had come at last for those ten boys
that sold their brother. If God will punish His own priest, Eli,
one of His own children, won't He punish those who have not
accepted the offer of salvation ?

Mr. Moody proceeded at length to show that Jacob and
David, though children of God, were severely judged in this life
for their sins, and so continued. So keep this in mind that God
has got a government. He may forgive us, He may give us eternal
life, but it is the law of high Heaven that a man must reap what
he sows.

Now bear in mind that these three men were men of grace.
We will see them in Heaven, there is no doubt about that. Now
some of you will say, "If God is going to forgive me my sins, how
does he make me reap what I have sown ?" Well, I will illustrate
it. Suppose I send out a man to sow wheat ; he neglects to do his
duty and sows tares. When the wheat grows up I find it out, and
call him to account. " Well, to be honest with you," he says, " I
got mad and sowed a lot of tares, but I am very sorry for it." I
forgive him for sowing the tares, but when the reaping time comes,
I make him reap them. Why, one of those men who spoke here
to-day was a drunkard for thirty years. I have no doubt his sins
are forgiven, but O, how he is reaping what he has sown ! His
.wife and his children are away from him ; he has not seen his little
boy for fifteen years ! I see a man in this audience to-night, and
O, how he is reaping, how I pity him. A few months ago he was
in a happy home in England. He gambled his employer's money
all away, and now he is an exile, a stranger in a strange land. God
may forgive him, but he must reap what he has sown. Some men
think that is hard, but it cannot be otherwise.

THE COUNCIL MEET, showing stone pulpit from which Mr. Moody spoke to the students in camp.

HOTEL NORTHFIELD. Used as home of the Northrield Training School in w.nter.

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 343

I tried to help a poor man in Philadelphia. He had been in
prison, and I could not help but try to lift him up. He betrayed
my confidence, so we don't know whom to help. Now suppose
here is a father ; he has got a boy who has gone out and stolen
some money. His conscience is thoroughly roused, and he goes
and confesses it. "Yes, my boy," the father says, "I will forgive
you, but you must go and confess it." He don't want to do that,
but he must do it ; he has got to reap what he has sown. Do you
think God would punish Jacob and his own children and let
unbelieving sinners go unpunished ? Do you think the ten thou
sand rumsellers of New York are not going to be punished ? I
would not take the place of one of them, if you gave me all the
world. Look at that little, weak, pale, thin girl, only six or seven
years old ; she went into a saloon and went to the bar and said to
the saloonkeeper : " O, sir, don't sell papa any more liquor, for
we are starving." The rumseller ordered her out. You think
there was no God to witness that ? O, there is a just God yonder,
and men are going to be gathered there to give an account of their
stewardship by and by. Do you think that libertine who has gone
and lied to that lady, and then ruined her and fled — do you think
he is going unpunished ? He may escape the law on earth, but he
will be tried at God's bar, bound hand and foot, and cast into hell.
There is a day of grace now. He will forgive you the sin, though
He will make you reap what you sow. He will give you your
eternal life, if you will only come to Him and confess your sin, and
is it not the very best thing you can do to come to God to-night ?

While preaching this sermon in a western city, and saying
over and over the text, " Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also
reap," one man in the audience was deeply impressed. He sought
Mr. Moody at the close of the sermon, and when he could speak to

344 T PI REE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS

him, he said, " I am a defaulter. I have taken a great amount of
money from my old place of employment in the State of Missouri.
I have a wife and three children, and under your sermon to-night I
have been convicted. Now what must I do ? The penitentiary
faces me if I return to Missouri." Mr. Moody said to me, when
the man came to me I was on the eve of telling him instantly to go
back and confess his sin and pay the penalty, but when I thought
of my own wife and three children, I said, let me think about it
until to-morrow, and then see me at my hotel. I met him next day
at the hotel, and as soon as he entered my room, he said, " The
question is settled. I have decided to go back." Sometime after
ward when he had been sentenced to the penetentiary, he wrote
me a letter in which he said that he had gone back to his old home ;
had stolen into the city in the night-time and after the children were
asleep, had gotten into his house. He desired to spend a few days
in fellowship with his wife, and he knew, if the children were aware
of his presence, that the law would come down upon him, and so
he remained hidden in his own home. Each night, when his wife
would put the children to bed, he would stand near the door of an
adjoining room and listen to their prayers and innocent talk. Final
ly he said, " Mr. Moody, I heard my little boy say, ' Papa does
not love us any more ; he has gone away, and he never writes us.
I am sure he doesn't love us,' and Mr. Moody," said he, " I thought
my heart would break, but it is true, as you have said, I am reaping
what I have sown." He confessed his sin ; was sentenced to the
penitentiary and was pardoned out, after some little time of penal
servitude.

Mr. Moody was one day giving this illustration in the State of
Missouri, and he said, " Some people have been disposed to ques
tion the truth of this." When he made that statement, a gentleman

THREE CHARACTERISTIC SERMONS 345

arose in the audience and said, " I am a former Governor of
the State of Missouri." It was Governor Francis, who was speak
ing. " I can vouch for the truth of all Mr. Moody says, for I par
doned the man out myself." " But, in the sad story of the broken
hearted man," said the great evangelist, " we have a perfect illustra
tion of the text, ' whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' "

CHAPTER XXIII.

His Best Illustrations

MR. MOODY was a master in the use of illustrations. He'
saw in everything on which his eye rested something, that
would make the Word of God more easily understood.
What other men would pass by, he seized upon, and, under his
skillful touch, told in his inimitable way, it became powerful in
illustrating the statements of the Bible. His illustrations always
moved him, and for that reason they took firm hold upon his hear
ers. I have, again and again, seen the tears roll down his face as he
would tell some touching story of a father's love for his child, or
give some wonderful picture of the passing of a saint into the
presence of God. There are those who criticise the use of illustra
tions in sermons, but Jesus used them, and was ever and again
saying, " Whereunto shall I liken it," and would then tell the story
of a prodigal son, or a broken-hearted mother, or a demoniac boy
— " and the common people heard him gladly "

THE FERVOR OF His ELOQUENCE

The Honorable James A. Mount, Governor of Indiana, thus
writes of him :

" I unhesitatingly pronounce Dwight L. Moody the greatest
preacher of the century. Classical scholars and literary critics
may not agree with this estimate. Mr. Moody did not preach to
please the ear, but to save the soul, yet he moved thousands
to repentance by the fervor of his eloquence and the earnestness of
his appeal.

346

HIS ILL USTRA TIONS 34?

" He had a message from the Holy Spirit to dying men, and
with love to God and love to men he delivered that message. More
enduring than if perpetuated by marble shaft will be the name of
Moody, for it is embalmed 'in the memory of loving hearts whom
he led out of darkness into light, and from the power of sin to sal
vation through faith in Christ. ' He being dead yet speaketh'."

And whatever may be given by men as the secret of his power
as a preacher, all will agree in this, that his superb power in the
use of illustration, contributed, in no small degree, to his ability to
hold and to sway the millions of people to whom he preached.

The following illustration I have often heard him use :

It is said that Whitfield once preached a sermon, in the midst
of which a sudden thunder storm of terrific force burst upon them,
and, taking advantage of the storm to illustrate the Judgment, the
effect of his preaching was profound. A request was sent to him to
print the sermon for distribution ; he agreed to do so on condition
that the thunder storm be printed with it.

To appreciate D. L. Moody's illustrations you should have
seen his audience moved by them, and you should have looked up
into his face, all aglow with the power of his message, as I have
done in the use of my story here given. The following are only a
few of the hundreds he used when I have heard him preach :

INFIDEL BOOKS

People read infidel books and wonder why they are unbelievers.
I ask, why do they read such books ? They think they must read
both sides. I ask, if that book is a lie, how can it be one side ? It
is not one side.

Suppose a man tells 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.

19

348 HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

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 around with such stories.

DOUBTS

I remember laboring with a man in Chicago. It was past mid
night before he got down on his knees, but down he went, and was
converted. I said : " Now, don't think you are going to get out oi
the devil's territory without trouble. The devil will come to you
to-morrow morning and say it was all feeling; that you only
imagined you were accepted by God. When he does, don't fight
him with your own opinions, but fight him with John vi. 37 : "Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' Let that be the
"sword of the Spirit."

"The struggle came sooner than I thought. When he was on
his way home the devil assailed him. He used this text, but the
devil put this thought into his mind : ' How do you know Christ
ever said that after all ? Perhaps the translators made a mistake.'
Into darkness he went again. He was in trouble till about two in
the morning. At last he came to this conclusion. Said he :
' 1 will believe it anyway ; and when I get to Heaven, if it isn't
true, I will just tell the Lord / didn't make the mistake— the trans
lators made it.'

LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING

A few years ago, at the mouth of Cleveland harbor, there were
two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower
lights ; and to enter the harbor safely by night, vessels must sight
both of the lights.

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS 349

These western lakes are sometimes more dangerous than the
great ocean. One wild, stormy night, a steamer was trying to
make her way into the harbor. The captain and pilot were
anxiously watching for the lights. By and by the pilot was heard
to say, " Do you see the lower light ?"

" No," was the reply : " I fear we have passed them."

"Ah, there are the lights," said the pilot ; " and they must be,
from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. We have
passed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into
the harbor."

What was to be done ? They looked back, and saw the dim
outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky. The lights had
gone out.

" Can't you turn your head around ?"

" No ; the night is too wild for that. She wont answer tG
her helm."

The storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They
tried again to make for the harbor, but they went crash against the
rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped ; the great
majority found a watery grave. Why ? Simply because the lower
lights had gone out.

Now with us the upper light is all right. Christ himself is
the upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is,
Keep the lower lights burning ; that is what we have to do.

THEY ARE OLD ENOUGH.

I have no sympathy with the idea that our children have to
grow up before they are converted. Once I saw a lady with three
daughters at her side, and I stepped up to her and asked her if
she was a Christian.

" Yes, sir."

350 HIS ILL USTRA TIONS

Then I asked the oldest daughter if she was a Christian. The
chin began to quiver, and the tears came into her eyes, and she saidi

" I wish I was."

The mother looked very angrily at me and said, " I don't want
you to speak to my children on that subject. They don't under
stand." And in great rage she took them away from me. One
daughter was fourteen years old, one twelve, and the other ten, but
they were not old enough to be talked to about religion ! Let them
drift into the world and plunge into worldly amusements, and then
see how hard it is to reach them. Many a mother is mourning
to-day because her boy has gone beyond her reach, and will not
allow her to pray with him. She may pray for him, but he will not
let her pray or talk with him. In those early days when his mind
was tender and young, she might have led him to Christ. Bring
them in. " Surfer the little children to come unto Me."

Is there a prayerless father reading this ? May God let the
^rrow go down into your soul ! Make up your mind that, God
helping you, you will get the children converted. God's order is to
the father first, but if he isn't true to his duty, then the mother
should be true, and save the children from the wreck. Now is the
time to do it while you have them under your roof. Exert your
parental influence over them.

" FOR CHARLIE'S SAKE."

Some years ago at a convention, an old judge was telling about
che mighty power Christians summon to their aid in this petition
"for Christ's sake;" "in Jesus' name;" and he told a story that
made a great impression on me. When the war came on, he said,
his only son left for the army, and he became suddenly interested
in soldiers. Every soldier that passed by brought his son to
remembrance ; he could see his son in him. He went to work for

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS 353

soldiers. When a sick soldier came there to Columbus one day,
so weak he couldn't walk, the judge took him in a carriage, and
got him into the Soldiers' Home. Soon he became president of
the Soldiers' Home in Columbus, and used to go down every day
and spend hours in looking after those soldiers, and seeing that
they had every comfort. He spent on them a great deal of time
and a great deal of money.

One day he said to his wife; " I'm giving too much time to
these soldiers. I've got to stop it. There's an important case
coming on in court, and I've got to attend to my own business."

He said he went down to the office that morning resolved in
future to let the soldiers alone. He went to his desk, and then to
writing. Pretty soon the door opened, and he saw a soldier
hobble slowly in. He started at sight of him. The man was
fumbling at something in his breast, and pretty soon he got out
an old soiled paper. The father saw it was his own son's writing.

" Dear Father :—

"This young man belongs to my company. He has lost his leg
and his health in defense of his country, and he is going home to
his mother to die. If he calls on you, treat him kindly,

"For Charlie's Sake."

" For Charlie's Sake." The moment he saw that, a pang went
to his heart. He sent for a carriage, lifted the maimed soldier in,
drove home, put him into Charlie's room, sent for the family
physician, kept him in the family and treated him for his own son.
When the young soldier got well enough to go to the train to go
home to his mother, he took him to the railway station, put him in
the nicest, most comfortable place in the carriage, and sent him on
his way.

" I did it," said the old judge, "for Charlie's sake."

354 HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

Now whatsoever you do, my friend, do it for the Lord Jesus'
sake. Do and ask everything in the name of Him "who loved us
and gave Himself for us."

A BEAUTIFUL LEGEND.

There is a beautiful tradition connected with the site on which
the temple of Solomon was erected. It is said to have been
occupied in common by two brothers, one of whom had a family,
the other had none. On this spot was sown a field of wheat. On
the evening succeeding the harvest — the wheat having been
gathered in separate shocks — the elder brother said to his wife :

" My younger brother is unable to bear the burden and heat
of the day ; I will arise, take of my shocks and place with his
without his knowledge."

The younger brother being actuated by the same benevolent
motives, said within himself ;

" My elder brother has a family ; and I have none. I will
arise, take of my shocks and place with his."

Judge of their mutual astonishment, when, on the following
day, they found their respective shocks undiminished. This trans
pired for several nights, when each resolved in his own mind to
stand guard and solve the mystery. They did so ; and on the
following night they met each other half-way between their respec
tive shocks with their arms full. Upon ground hallowed by such
associations as this was the temple of Solomon erected — of the
world ! Alas ! in these days, how many would sooner steal their
brother's whole shock than add to it a single sheaf !

44 DINNA YE HEAR THEM ? "

During the Indian mutiny, the English were besieged in the
city of Lucknow, and were in momentary expectation of perishing
at the hands of the fiends that surrounded them. A little Scotch

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

lassie was in this fort, and, while lying on the ground, she suddenly
shouted, her face aglow with joy :

" Dinna ye hear them comin' ? dinna ye hear them comin ' ?

" Hear what ? " they asked.

" Dinna ye hear them comin ? "

She sprang to her feet. It was the bagpipes of her native
Scotland she heard. It was a native air she heard that was being
played by a regiment of her countrymen marching to the relief of
those captives, and these deliverers made them free.

Oh, friend, don't you hear the voice of Jesus Christ calling to
you now ?

k< THROW THE REINS TO CHRIST '

An interesting story is told of Professor Drummond. He was
staying with a lady whose coachman had signed the pledge, but
afterward gave way to drink. This lady said to the professor,
" Now this man will drive you to the station ; say a word to him if
you can. He is a good man and really wants to reform ; but he is
weak."

While they were driving to the station, the professor tried to
think how he could introduce the subject. Suddenly the horses
were frightened and tried to run away. The driver held on to the
reins and managed them well. The carriage swayed about, and
the professor expected every moment to be upset, but after a little
the man got the better of the team, and as he drew them up at the
station, streaming with perspiration, he exclaimed : " That was a
close shave, sir ! Our trap might have been smashed into match
wood, and you wouldn't have given any more addresses."

"Well," said Professor Drummond, "how was it that it did
not happen ?"

14 Why," was the reply, "because I knew how to manage the
horses.''

356 HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

"Now," said the professor, "look here, my friend, I will give
you a bit of advice. Here's my train coming. I hear you have been
signing the pledge and breaking out again. Now I want to give
you a bit of advice. Throw the reins of your life to Jesus Christ."
And he jumped down, and got into the train.

The driver saw in a flash where he had made the mistake, and
from that day ceased to try to live in his own strength.

A REMARKABLE PICTURE

Some years ago a remarkable picture was exhibited in London.
As you looked at it from a distance, you seemed to see a monk
engaged in prayer, his hands clasped, his head bowed. As you
came nearer, however, and examined the painting more closely, you
saw that in reality he was squeezing a lemon into a punch bowl.

What a picture that is of the human heart ! Superficially
examined, it is thought to be the seat of all that is good and noble
and pleasing in a man ; whereas in reality, until regenerated by the
Holy Ghost, it is the seat of all corruption. "This is the condem
nation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light."

" HE Is MY BROTHER"

A fearful storm was raging, when the cry was heard, " Man
overboard ! "

A human form was seen manfully breasting the furious ele
ments in the direction of the shore ; but the raging waves bore the
struggler rapidly outward, and ere the boats could be lowered, a
fearful space separated the victim from help. Above the shriek of
the storm and the roar of the waters rose his rending cry. It was
an agonizing moment. With bated breath and blanched cheek,
every eye was strained to the struggling man. Manfully did the
brave rowers strain every nerve in this race of mercy ; but all their

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS 357

efforts were in vain. One wild shriek of despair, and the victim
went down. A piercing cry, "Save him, save him !" rang through the
hushed crowd ; and into their midst darted an agitated man ; throw
ing his arms wildly in the air, shouting, "A thousand pounds for the
man who saves his life ! " but his staring eyes rested only on the
spot where the waves rolled remorselessly over the perished. He
whose strong cry broke the stillness of the crowd was captain of the
ship from whence the drowned man fell, and was his brother.

This is the feeling we should have in the various ranks of
those bearing commission under the great Captain of our salva
tion, " Save him ! he is my brother."

The fact is, men do not believe in Christianity because they
think we are not in earnest about it. When the people see that
we are in earnest in all that we undertake for God, they will begin
to tremble ; men and women will be inquiring the way to Zion.

A FRAGRANT ACT

There is a preacher in Edinburgh, but I never think of him as
a preacher, although he is one of the finest preachers in Scotland.
There is just one act associated with that man that I will carry in
remembrance to the grave.

There is a hospital for little children in Edinburgh, and that
great minister, with a large parish and a large congregation, goes one
afternoon every week and sits down and talks with those little
"children — a good many of them there for life ; they are incurable.
One day he found a little boy, only six years old, who had been
brought over from Fife. The little fellow was in great distress be
cause the doctors were coming to take off his leg. Think how you
would feel, if you had a little brother six years old and he was taken
off to the hospital, and the doctor said that he was coining forty-
eight hours afterward to take off his leg !

358 HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

Well, that minister tried to comfort the boy, and said : " Your
father will come to be with you."

" No," he said, " my father is dead ; he cannot be here."

"Well, your mother will come."

" My mother is over in Fife. She is sick and cannot come."

The minister himself could not come, so he said, " Well, you
know the matron here is a mother ; she has got a great big heart."

The little chin began to quiver as the little boy said : " Perhaps
Jesus will be with me."

Do you have any doubt of it ? Next Friday the man of God
went to the hospital ; but he found the cot was empty. The poor
boy was gone : the Saviour had come and taken him to His bosom.

One little act of kindness will often live a good deal longer
than a most magnificent sermon.

CALLING ON GOD

Some old divine has pictured Peter preaching on the day of Pen
tecost. A man pushed his way through the crowd, and said, " Peter,
do you think there is hope for me ? I am the man who made that
crown of thorns and placed them upon Christ's brow ; do you think
He will save me ?"

"Yes," said Peter, " 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved.' You are a 'whosoever;' if you call He
will hear your cry. He will answer your prayer and save you."
The man might have cried then and there, and the Lord
saved him.

Another man pushed his way up and said to Peter, " I am the
man who took that reed out of His hand, and drove it down upon
that cruel crown of thorns, sending it into His brow; do you think
He will save me?"

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS 359

"Yes," said Peter, "He told us to go into the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature, and He did not mean any to
be left out ; salvation is for you. He did not come to condemn
men ; He came to get His arm under the vilest sinner and lift him
up toward Heaven."

Another man, elbowing his way through the crowd, pushed up
to Peter, and said, " I am the Roman soldier who took the spear
and drove it to His heart, when there came out blood and water;
do you think there is hope for me?"

"Yes," said Peter, "there's a nearer way of reaching His heart
than that ; ' whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved.' ' And the Roman soldier might have cried then and
there, and might have obtained forgiveness and salvation.

If the Lord heard the cry of those Jerusalem sinners whose
hands were dripping with the blood of the Son of God — if He
heard their cry and saved them, do you not think he will hear your
cry and save you ?

A PENALTY NECESSARY

A person once said to me : " I hate your God ; your God
demands blood. I don't believe in such a God. My God is merci
ful to all. I do not know your God."

If you turn to Lev. xvii. u, you will find why God demands
blood : " For the life of the flesh is in the blood ; and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls ; for
it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the souls."

Suppose there was a law that man should not steal, but no
penalty was attached to stealing ; some man would have my pocket-
book before dinner. If I threatened to have him arrested, he would
snap his fingers in my face. He would not fear the law, if there
was no penalty. It is not the law that people are afraid of ; it is
the penalty attached.

360 HIS ILL USTRA TIONS

Do you suppose God has made a law without a penalty
What an absurd thing it would be. Now the penalty for sin is
death ; " The soul that sinneth it shall die." I must die, or get
somebody to die for me. If the Bible doesn't teach that, it doesn't
teach anything. And that is where the atonement of Jesus Christ
comes in.

GRIP OF PROMISE

Mr. Moody once told me that he was conducting meetings in
Scotland, passing through an inquiry meeting he saw two little
girls crying as if their hearts would break. He stopped long
enough to ask them their difficulty, and one of them replied that
she wanted to be a Christian. The great evangelist took his Bible
and, opening it at the fifth chapter of John, the 24th verse, he
asked her if she could receive that, and, with her face brightening,
she said she thought she could and would. The next night,
passing through the same room, he saw the same two girls upon
their knees, and one of them crying bitterly. He was greatly
perplexed, and, coming near enough to hear their conversation, he
heard the child of the night before saying to her companion, " I
say, lassie, you do just as I did, grip a promise and hold on to it,
and he will save you, for he saved me." And this is true not only
for the Scotch girl, but for every one who will simply take God's
Word and trust Him fully.

ONE YEAR'S RECORD

The following illustration of Dr. Gordon was much loved by
Mr. Moody.

Very tiny and pale the little girl looked as she stood before
those three grave and dignified gentlemen. She had been ushered
into the Rev. Dr. Gordon's study, where he was holding counsel
with two of his deacons, and now, upon inquiry into the nature, of

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS 363

her errand, a little shyly preferred the request to be allowed to
become a member of his church.

"You are quite too young to join the church," said one of the
deacons, "you had better run home, and let us talk to your
mother."

She showed no sign of running, however, as her wistful blue
eyes traveled from one face to another of the three gentlemen
sitting in their comfortable chairs ; she only drew a little step nearer
to Dr. Gordon. He arose, and with the gentle courtesy that ever
marked him, placed her in a small chair close beside himself.

" Now, my child, tell me your name, and where you live ?"

" Annie Graham, sir, and I live on K — Street. I go to

your Sunday-school."

"You do ; and who is your teacher?"

" Miss B— — . She is very good to me."

" And you want to join my church ? "

The child's face glowed as she leaned eagerly towards him,
clasping her hands, but all she said was, "Yes, sir."

" She cannot be more than six years old," said one of the dea
cons, disapprovingly.

Dr. Gordon said nothing, but quietly regarded the small, earnest
face, now becoming a little downcast.

" I am ten years old ; older than I look," she said.

" It is not usual for us to admit anyone so young to member
ship," he said, thoughtfully. " We never have done so ; still—

" It may make an undesirable precedent," remarked the other
deacon.

The Doctor did not seem to hear, as he asked, " You know
what joining the church is, Annie?"

" Yes, sir ; " and she answered a few questions that proved she
comprehended the meaning of the step she wished to take. She

364 HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

had slipped off her chair, and now stood close to Dr. Gordon's
knee.

•' You said, last Sabbath, sir, that the lambs should be in the
fold ."

" I did," he answered. " It is surely not for us to keep them
out. Go home now, my child. I will see your friends and arrange
to take you into membership very soon."

The cloud lifted from the child's face, and her expression, as
she passed through the door he opened for her, was one of entire
peace.

Inquiries made of Annie's Sabbath school teacher proving satis
factory, she was baptized the following week, and, except for
occasional information from Miss B., that she was doing well, Dr.
Gordon heard no more of her for about a year.

Then he was summoned to her funeral.

It was one of June's hottest days, and as the doctor made his
way along the narrow street on which Annie had lived, he wished,
for a moment, that he had asked his assistant to come instead of
himself, but as he neared the house, the crowd filled him with won
der ; progress was hindered, and as perforce he paused for a
moment, his eye fell on a crippled lad crying bitterly as he sat on a
low doorstep.

" Do you know Annie Graham, my lad ? " he asked.

" Know her, is it, sir ? Niver a week passed but what she
came twice or thrice with a picture or book, mayhap an apple for
me, an' its owin' to her an' no clargy at all that I'll ever follow her
blessed footsteps to Heaven. She'd read me from her own Bible
whiniver she came, an' now she's gone there'll be none at all to help
me, for mother's dead an' dad's drunk, an' the sunshine's gone from
Mike's sky with Annie, sir."

HIS ILLUSTRATIONS

A burst of sobs choked the boy. Dr. Gordon passed on, after
promising him a visit soon, making his way through the crowd of
tear-stained, sorrowful faces. The doctor came to a stop again in
the narrow passageway of the little house. A woman stood beside
him drying her fast-falling tears, while a wee child hid his face in
her skirts and wept.

" Was Annie a relative of yours ?" the doctor asked.

" No, sir ; but the blessed child was at our house constantly,
and when Bob here was sick she nursed and tended him, and her
hymns quieted him when nothing else seemed to do it. It was just
the same with all the neighbors. What she's been to us no one but
the Lord will ever know, and now she lies there."

Recognized at last, Dr. Gordon was led to the room where the
child lay at rest, looking almost younger than when he had seen her
in his study a year ago. An old bent woman was crying aloud by
the coffin.

" I never thought she'd go afore I did. She used to run in
regular to read an' sing to me every evening, an' it was her talk an'
prayers that made a Christian of me. You could a'most go to
Heaven on one of her prayers."

" Mother, mother, come home," said a young man, putting his
arm around her to lead her away. " You'll see her again."

" I know, I know ; she said she'd wait for me at the gate," she
sobbed, as she followed him , " but I miss her sore now."

A silence fell on those assembled, and, marvelling at such testi
mony, Dr. Gordon proceeded with the service, feeling as if there
was little more he could say of one whose deeds thus spoke for her.
Loving hands had laid flowers all around the child who had lead
them. One young girl had placed a dandelion in the small waxen
fingers and now stood, abandoned to grief, beside the still form that
bore the impress of absolute purity. The service over, again and

366 HIS ILL USTRA TIONS

again was the coffin lid waved back by some one longing for one
more look, and they seemed as if they could not let her go.

The next day a good-looking man came to Dr. Gordon's house
and was admitted into his study.

" I am Annie's uncle, sir," he said simply. " She never rested
till she made me promise to join the church, and I've come."

Dr. Gordon sat in the twilight, resting, after his visitor had
left. The summer breeze blew in through "he windows, and his
thoughts turned backward and dwelt on what his little parishioner
had done.

"Truly a marvelous record for one year. It is well said,
Their angels do ever behold His face."

CHAPTER XXIV.

Revival Conventions

JN the early days of Mr. Moody's evangelistic experience,
frequent revival conventions were held, when questions were
asked by the people and answered by the great leader, as a
result of which hundreds of Christian workers were instructed in
the special conduct of evangelistic services, and many minis
ters went out to do the work which they felt themselves before
unable to perform. No wiser counsel was ever given. I remem
ber in one of these conventions, Mr, Moody spoke as follows :

WHAT is EVANGELISTIC SERVICE?

" Some one said to me, ' What do you mean by evangel
istic services ? Is not all service evangelistic ? And what do
you mean by preaching the Gospel ? Are not all services in
the churches and all meetings preaching the Gospel?' " By no
means. There is the greatest difference. There are really three
services in every church ; at least there ought to be ; there is wor
shipping God ; this is not preaching the Gospel at all. We come
to the house of God to worship at times when we meet around the
Lord's table. Then there is teaching, that is building up the church,
but it is not preaching the Gospel. Then there is the proclaiming
the good news to the world, that is, to the unsaved ; that is really
Gospel preaching. Now the question we have before us is how can
these services be conducted to make them profitable ? Well, I
should say first of all, you must make them interesting. If people
go to sleep in church, they certainly need to be roused up, and if
20 367

368 REVIVAL CONVENTIONS

one method fails, try another, but I think we ought to use our
common sense in all this work. We talk a great deal about this,
but I think it is about the least sense we have, especially in the
Lord's work. This preaching to empty seats don't pay. If people
do not come to hear us, let us go where they are, and I have come
to this conclusion, that if we are going to have successful Gospel
meetings, we have got to have a little more life in them. Life is
found in singing new hymns. For instance, I know some churches
that have been singing about a dozen hymns for the last twenty
years, such hymns as " Rock of Ages," "Jesus, Lover of my Soul."
These hymns are always good, but we want a variety. We want
new hymns as well as old ones.

WE WANT NEW HYMNS

I find it wakes up a congregation tremendously to bring in
now and then a new hymn, and if we cannot wake them up by
preaching, let us sing the Gospel into them. I believe the secret
of John Wesley's success was that he sent every man to work as
soon as he was converted, and if people cannot speak, let us make
them sing.

Then, again, the question is asked as to whether we ought, in
holding revival services, to change the minister every evening ? I
frequently receive letters telling me about special meetings, how
the people turned out well, but there were no results, and I found
out that they had a Methodist minister one night, a Baptist minis
ter another, an Episcopal minister another, a Congregational minis
ter another, in order to keep all denominations in, and the result
was, they preached everybody out of doors. One man gets the
people all interested, and just at the point where he needs to con
tinue his own ministrations, another steps in, he goes out, and
the people frequently go out with him. Then these meetings

REVIVAL CONVENTIONS

ought to be made short. I find a great many are killed because
they are too long. The minister speaks five minutes, and a minis
ter's five minutes is generally ten, and his ten minutes quite often
twenty, and the result is often long sermons drive people out of
the spirit before the meeting is over. When the people leave they
are glad to go home, and ought to go home. Now, you send the
people away hungry and they will want to come back. There was
a man in London who preached in the open air until everybody
left him, and somebody said, " Why did you preach so long ? " and
he said, " I thought it would be a pity to stop while anybody was
listening." It is a great deal better to cut right off. Then the peo
ple will want to come back.

THE MOST APT REPLIES TO QUESTIONS

At this point, Mr. Moody paused for questions, and he was
always at his best when answering these questions in such services.
He had the keenest mind and the most apt replies possible.

Q: — Would you start a meeting where there is no special
interest in the church ?

Mr. Moody: — Certainly I would. So many people are saying
to-day that they are waiting for God to favor Zion, and the fact is
God has been waiting to favor Zion ever since Pentecost. They
have no calendar in Heaven. Gocl can work one month as well as
another, and he is always ready when we are ready.

Q: — Suppose a minister is interested, and there is no special
feeling among the people. Would you call in outside help ?

Mr. Moody: — That is a very important question. If I were
a minister in a community or a church, and could not get more than
one or two to sympathize with me, I would just get them around
to my study, and we would pray and go forth in the name of the

370 REVIVAL CONVENTIONS

Lord, and say, " We are going to have a meeting." Three men
filled with the Spirit of God can move any town in this country.

Q: — Suppose the congregation is alive and the minister is
dead?

Mr. Moody: — Then let the congregation go on without the
minister.

Q: — Suppose the minister wont permit them?

Mr. Moody: — He cannot prevent it. A man that wants to
work for God can do so ; nobody can stop him.

Q: — Suppose there is a difficulty in the church which cannot
be removed ?

Mr. Moody: — I do not know of anything that is too difficult
for God. The trouble is we are trying to remove these difficulties
ourselves instead of going to God in prayer.

Q: — Why was it the Lord Jesus could not do anything at
Nazareth ?

Mr. Moody: — On account of their unbelief, but that was the
world, not the Church.

Q: — Is it best to put the test question in a church, asking those
who are anxious to arise, or rather to go to another room ?

Mr. Moody: — I think so. If any man is going to be saved,
he is going to take up his cross, and if it is a cross, I would like to
ask him to do it. What you want is to get them to do something
they dont want to do, and it is a great cross generally for people
to rise for prayer, but in the very act of doing it, they are very
often blessed. I do not think I should attempt to have meetings
without the inquiry-room. People are impressed under the ser
mon, but what you want is to deal with them personally. Here
and there one is converted under the sermon, but for every one
converted under the sermon, hundreds are converted in the inquiry-
room.

REVIVAL CONVENTIONS 373

Q: — Do you advocate " anxious seats?"

Mr. Moody: — -I would rather call it seats of decision ; but in
union meetings you know we have to lay aside a good many of the
different denominational peculiarities. The "anxious seat" is
known to the Methodists, but if we should call it that, the Pres
byterians would be afraid, and the Episcopalians would be so
shocked that they would leave, and I find in the union meetings,
it is best to ask them to go right into the other room, and talk to
them there.

Q: — -What would you say to a person who replies, " I can be a
Christian without rising for prayer " ?

Mr. Moody: — I should say, most certainly he could, but as a
general thing, he won't.

Q: — What method would you recommend to get people on
their feet to testify for Christ ?

Mr. Moody: — In the first place, I would bury all stiffness. If
a meeting has a formal manner, it throws a stiffness over it, so
that it would take almost an earthquake to get a man up, but
if it is free and social, just as you would go into a man's house
and talk with him, you will find people will appreciate it and
get up.

Q: — If the world has got in and is stronger than the church,
what then ?

Mr. Moody: — Then I would organize another church. The
mistake in all this is in taking unconverted people into the Church.
We really must be more careful.

Q: — How far is it wise to encourage young converts to labor
with inquirers in the inquiry-room ?

Mr. Moody: — I always encourage them. I believe a man who
has been a great drunkard, for instance, and been reclaimed, is just
the man to go to work among his class.

374 REVIVAL CONVENTIONS

Q : — When a man feels he must preach the Gospel, and the
church doesn't want to hear it, must he go out ?

Mr. Moody : — A great many have got the idea that they can
preach the Gospel, when they cannot, and some have got the idea
that they cannot preach the Gospel, and they can to a certain class,
and then they are just the ones to speak in that church. Now, I
have tried that. When I was first converted, I thought I must talk
to them about Christ, but I saw they did not like it, and finally
they came and told me, I could serve the Lord better by keeping
still. Then I went out into the street, and God blessed me, and I
got to preaching before I knew it. If the people don't want you,
don't force yourself upon them. Go out and preach to the ragged
and the destitute.

Then some question was asked about the inquiry-meeting, in
the conduct of which Dwight L. Moody was a master. To this
inquiry Mr. Moody made answer: "If the ministers would en
courage their members to be scattered among the audience, to
never mind their pew, but sit back by the door if need be, or in
the gallery, where they can watch the faces of the audience, it
would be a good thing. In Scotland I met a man who, with his
wife, would go and sit among the people, as they said, to watch for
souls. When they saw anyone who seemed impressed, they would
go to him after the meeting and talk with him. Nearly all the con
versions in that church during the last fifteen months had been made
through that influence. Now, if we could only have from thirty to
fifty members of the church, whose business it is just to watch for
those who are impressed, and lead them into an inquiry meeting
when the pastor announces it, the results would be magnificent.
The best way in our regular churches is to let the workers all help
pull the net in. When the people have come into the after-ser
vice, let some one who knows his Bible sit down beside them and

REVIVAL CONVENTIONS ,-c

o/o

give them God's Word. I have very little confidence in the man
who simply states his own experience, for, as a rule, that experi
ence might discourage the one to whom he speaks, but if he
points out God's Word, the Spirit is pledged to apply that word
to the seeking soul, and the result is salvation.

It is an awful thing for a man to preach a sermon on coming
to Jesus and then dismiss his audience without giving them a
chance to come. Instruct your people in the knowledge of God's
Word, and teach them how to explain that word to the man who
is saying, " What must I do to be saved ?"

CHAPTER XXV.

How to Study the Bible

NO more interesting services were ever conducted by Mr.
Moody than his Bible Readings.

I remember riding on the train with him at one time,
and as we came into New York City, where he was to conduct a
service, I said to him, " let me see your Bible," he had it in his
hands, turning over the leaves, he laughingly replied, " Oh, no, if
I should give you this, you would have my sermon for to-night, and
then you might preach it before I could." And yet no one was more
willing to give help to others than Mr. Moody. He was always
receiving from his friends, but he was ever giving to them in return ;
and as for myself, it has been difficult for me to preach without
saying, " Mr. Moody said this," or " I once heard Mr. Moody say,"
and I have ever found that illustrations on which he had set his seal
of approval, were received by all classes of people as authentic.

Mr. Moody was peculiar in this, that however many times you
might hear him say anything it never lost its freshness, and some
how you felt that you were hearing it for the first time.

The following is a characteristic Bible reading — the theme
being one, in which he was always at his best :

A CHARACTERISTIC BIBLE READING

In Ephesians, 5th chapter and i8th verse, we are commanded

to be filled with the Holy Ghost. A person who is full of the

Holy Spirit deals much with the Scriptures. One of the things

we lack in the present day is more Bible study. I think this nation

376

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE ,_

is just waking up to the fact that we have had a famine. It is not
the man now that makes a fine oration in the pulpit so much as it is
a man that expounds the Word of God that we need. A boy
once asked another boy how it was that he caught all the pigeons
that were in the neighborhood. He said : ' Well, I tell you, it is
because I feed them well.' If you feed the people well they will
come ; and people have got tired hearing a little more or less elo
quence. The preachers have hitherto used the Bible merely as a
text-book. They have taken their texts out of the Bible, and they
have gone all over Christendom for their sermons. The result is
that our churches are weak in spiritual power. But it is beginning
to improve already. The churches are not now hunting after a
man that will make a grand oration, so much as they are for a man that
will unfold to them the Word of God. That is what the people
want. If they can only get back to the Word of God, then we
will have not just here and there a revival, but we will be in a
revival all the time. The church will be constantly in a revived
state. It is those Christians that are feeding on the Word of God
that are revived all the while. There is something fresh about
them, and people are glad to hear them talk.

" THAT BOOK MADE ME A GOOD MAN "

As we come to study this Word of God, we want to keep in
mind that it is the Word of God, not the Word of man ; and that
as the Word of God, it is true. I think the colored man was about
as near the truth as one need be, when some infidel came to him
and told him the Bible was not true. ' That Book not true ?
Massa, I was once a murderer, and a thief, and a blasphemer, and
that Book made me a good man. That book must be true! If
it is a bad book, it could not make such a bad man good.' That
is argument enough ; we do not need any more. Look around us ;

378 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

if a man becomes a profligate, he begins to talk against the Bible ;
if he is upright he takes it as a lamp to his feet. We are never
afraid of a man that tries to live according to the teachings of this
book. This book is God's Word, and it will stand. Over the new
Bible House recently built in London, England, are written these
words, ' The Word of the Lord endureth forever.' That building
will pass away, that city may pass away, like Babylon and Nineveh,
and other cities that once flourished, but the Word of God shall
endure forever. Not one word that God has spoken shall fall to
the ground. We want also to bear in mind that the Bible is not a
dry, uninteresting book, as a great many skeptics try to make out.
They say, ' We want something new ; we have outgrown that.'
Why, the Word of God is the only new book in the world. All
that the newspapers can do is to tell of things as they have taken
place, but the Bible will tell of things that will take place. We
do not consider the Bible enough as a whole. We just take up a
word here and a word there, and a verse here and there, and a
chapter here and there, and never take it up in any systematic
way. We, therefore know very little about the Bible. I will
guarantee that the bulk of Christians in America only read the
Bible at family worship ; and you will notice, too, that they have to
put in a book-mark to tell where they left off the day before. You
ask them an hour after what they have read, and they have for
gotten all about it. Of course we cannot get much knowledge of
the Bible in that way. When I was a boy I worked on a farm, and
I hoed corn so poorly that when I left off I had to take a stick and
mark the place, so I could tell next morning where I had stopped
the night before. If I didn't, I would likely as not hoe the same
row over again.

In order to understand the Bible we will have to study it care
fully. I was (old in California that the purest and best gold that

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE 3?9

they get they have to dig the deepest for ; and so, in studying the
Bible, we must dig deep. And there are a great many Christians
walking on crutches in their Bible studying. They do not dare to
examine for themselves. They go wondering what others say,
what Edwards says, what the commentators say. Suppose you
look and see for yourselves. God has given you your own mind
to use. If we will go to the Word of God, and be willing to be
taught by the Holy Ghost, God will teach us, and will unfold His
blessed truth to us.

There are three books that every Christian ought to have, if
he cannot have but three. The first is a Bible — one with good
plain print that you can easily read. I am sick of these little fine
types. It is a good thing to get a good-sized Bible, because you will
grow old by and by, and your sight may grow poor and you won't
want to give up the one you have been used to reading in after it
has come to seem like a sort of a life-long companion. The next
book to get is Cruden's Concordance. You cannot get on very
well in Bible study without that. There is another book printed
in this country by the Tract Society called the Scriptural Text
Book. It was brought out first in London. These three books
will be a wonderful help to you in studying the Word of God.

Do NOT READ THE BIBLE TO EASE YOUR CONSCIENCE

Another thing : do not read the Word of God as I used to,
just to ease your conscience. I had a rule to read two or three
chapters every day. If I had not done it through the day, I would
read them just before I went to bed to ease my conscience. I did
not remember it perhaps an hour, but I kept the rule. You will
never get much out of it in that way. It is a good way to hunt
for something when you read it. Two words will give you the key
to the whole Bible — Christ and Jesus, The Christ of the Old

380 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

Testament the Jesus of the New, and the two books explain
each other. You may search for these words in your study.

Some time ago I went through the building where Prang's
chromos are produced in Boston. They were bringing out a
chromo of a prominent public man, and he showed me this picture
in its different stages of progress. In the first stone there was no
trace of a man's face ; only a little tinge of color that did not sug
gest any shape. I saw the next stone, and still no face, and the
third, and so on, and not until the fourth or fifth stone was there
any likeness of a face at all. After a little it began to show, and
yet not until I came to the fourteenth or fifteenth stone did it look
at all like the man himself, and not until the twenty-sixth stone did
it look as natural as life. That is the way it is when we read the
Scripture. We take it up and do not see anything in it ; we read it
again, but see nothing. Again and again, and after you have
read it twenty-five times, you will see the man Christ Jesus
stamped on every page.

STUDY ONE BOOK AT A TIME

The Old Testament was written only to teach us who Christ
was. Moses, the law, the prophets, they all testify to Christ.
You take Christ out of the Old Testament and it is a sealed
book to you. It has been a great help to me in studying the
Bible to study one book at a time. Suppose you spend six
months reading Genesis. Getting the key of that, you get the
key to the whole Bible. Death, resurrection, and the whole
story are told in Genesis. All in types, to be sure, and shadows
that are brought out further on. There are eight great beginnings
in Genesis — the beginning of creation, the beginning of marriage,
the beginning of sin and death, of sacrifices, of the convenant, of
the nation, and human race and Hebrew race. Take up these

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE 383

eight beginnings, and see what they teach, and this key will unlock
to you the rest of the Bible.

If you just take the Bible itself alone, without any other book
to help you to interpret it, one passage will explain another. In
stead of running after the interpretations of different men, let God
interpret it to your soul. As Stephens said, Do not study it in the
blue light of Presbyterianism, or the red light of Methodism, or
the violet light of Episcopalianism, but study it in the light of
Calvary. One man says, " I am a Romanist, and it has got to teach
what Romanism teaches ; " another says, " I am a Protestant, and
it has got to teach me what Protestantism teaches." Take it up in
dependent of these, and after you have dug its meaning out for
yourself it will be so much sweeter to you.

TAKE THE BIBLE TOPICALLY

Another way is to take it up topically. Suppose you spend
three or four months reading all you can find about love ; after that
you will be full of love. Then take the word grace, and run
through the Bible, reading all there is about grace. After I had
been studying grace for two or three weeks, I got so full that one
day I could not stay in my study any longer, and went out on the
street and asked the first man I saw, if he knew anything about
the grace of God. I suppose he thought I was crazy, but I was so
full I had to talk to somebody. Then take up the subject of
the blood, then the subject of Heaven. Some are troubled abouti
assurance, and do not know whether they may have assurance of
being saved or not ; but take up the Bible, and let God speak to
you about it. If you go into court, you will find that the lawyer
just gets all the testimony he can on one point and he heaps it be
fore the jury. If you want to convince men of any grand truth,
just stick to that one point. Take up the Word, and get all the testi-

384 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

mony you can. Bring in Moses and David and Joshua, and ever)/
apostle you can, and make them testify. If you read all the Bible
says of forgiveness, before you have studied it a week, you will want

to forgive every one.

NOT ENOUGH BIBLES

People do not have enough Bibles. Once in my own Sunday
school I asked all the children who had on borrowed boots to rise ;
no one rose. Then I asked all those who had on borrowed coats
to rise ; no one rose. Then I asked all those who had borrowed
Testaments in their hands to rise, and they all went up ; and I said
I want you all to bring your Bibles with you, and about two months
after that it would have done your soul good to see every child
come with a Bible. A great many people carry their hymn-books,
but it is better to carry your Bible. When I was in Scotland I had
to keep my eyes open, and preach exactly according to the Word,
or some old Scotchman would rise and draw his Bible on me, and I
would know it pretty quick. A man got up in Parliament a few
years ago and made a grand speech full of eloquence, that took
over four hours. He carried all the people with him in one voice.
When he got through a man got up and read two or three lines of
the law of England, and bursted the whole speech in a minute.

Some men are very eloquent when there is not one word of truth
in what they say, but you cannot know it, because you have not the
Bible knowledge. There are a good many people who wonder that
they do not have joy in their religion. The reason is that they do
not feed upon the Word ; that is where they get the joy. If we
neglect the manna that God has given us for our soul's nourish
ment, of course we won't have joy ; but people whine and say it is
a great mystery to them that they do not have joy as others do.
See how happy some are ! Why ? They feed upon the Word of
God. That is why. They are not living upon the old stale matter

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE 385

of the conversion that they had long ago. It makes me sick to
hear men tell how happy they were long ago when they were first
converted. The idea that they should not be happier since then !
We ought to grow in grace and be advancing. Suppose I should
keep telling my wife, " I loved you very much when I married
you !" That is the way many treat the Lord, telling Him how
much they loved Him once.

HAVE A BIBLE You CAN MARK

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 mark your texts in it and know where to look for
them at any time, and they will all be glad to see you in any
prayer-meeting. There will be something fresh about you that
will make you always welcome.

An Englishman said to me, " Did you ever study the book of
Job?" "No," I said, "not particularly," "You ought to," said

386 HO IV TO STUDY THE BIBLE

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 per.
feet man untried ; the second head represents his fall ; the third
says " The wisdom of the world came to restore Job." You can
not," he said, " find any wisdom in all the books equal to the wisdom
of those three men, but they could not help poor 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 perfection. 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 treatment. 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
Presbyterian Church and be glad to get him.

GOD SPEAKS

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 difierent man; his self-righteous
ness 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

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE ,8

flippant and glib, and say, Why does God do this and why does God
do that ? God alone restores Adam to his lost state, and in his resto
ration 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.

JESUS THE KEY TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

Up to this point I have tried to show you that Christ was the
key to the Old Testament, now I will show that Jesus is the key to
the New. Christ was tempted as we are, but He had not the same
enemy to overcome. He that knew no sin took upon Him ours.
One of the saddest mistakes that young converts make, is that of
merely feeding upon sermons instead of the Word of God. You
know it is quite an event in the family when the child gets so it can
feed itself. We want to learn as quick as possible to feed ourselves.
If we will only take our Bible and make up our minds that we will
depend upon our own study of the Bible, He will help us under-
stand it. If we try to study it in one way, and we find we do not
like it, let us take up another, and if that fails, try another. Some
time ago my wife was very anxious that I should learn to like
tomatoes. She liked them and she wanted me to like them. So
she got me to try them, first raw, with vinegar, and sugar and
pepper, but I could not bear them ; then she fixed them another
way, but still I could not eat them. One day I came home, and
she said, " I have cooked the tomatoes a new way." Well, I tried
them again once more, and I thought they were the best things I
ever tasted. So, if you take up the Bible one way and don't like it,
take it up another way, and keep trying until you find a way in
which it will unfold itself to you. You won't find people that are
in love with the study of this Word carrying a dime novel through
the street. They won't walk up Fifth Avenue with a trashy book
in their hands. They will be reading books that will help them

388 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

understand the Bible. You will be so anxious to get off alone and
have a feast upon it, that you will have to reprove yourself for not
going out and working more.

THERE is DANGER ON THAT HEAD

There are a great many who are all the time feeding upon
the Word — not in this country, I am sorry to say. I would rather
be as they are elsewhere than as they are in this country, where
they neither feed on the Word, nor study either. But some people
are always taking in, taking in, and not as if they intended to give
it out. Some one said we ought to fill our minds like they fill a
vessel in the Mississippi river. A vessel goes up the Mississippi
river, and takes in its cargo on the way, always with a view to
takino- it out. They put the freight that is coming out first on top.
So let us store away our knowledge with a view of getting it out
again, and not just to lumber up our heads with a lot of stuff that
we never intend to use. Let us try to put these truths where we
can get them out and give them to some one else. Now, I see
some people who are here every night. They get the best seats
every solitary night, and for the last six weeks they have been here
every night, regularly. And when they go into the inquiry-room,
you cannot get a word out of them ; they won't as much as lift a
little finger ; their arms are folded. They are always standing
round the building an hour before the doors are open. Here they
are every night, always taking in and never giving anything out.
But if we get a good thing let us go and give it to some one else.
Some one said he always studied the Bible with three R's in his
mind — Ruin, Redemption, and Regeneration. When I open the
Word of God I keep that idea in view. There are three corner
stones that a man must know— first, that he is ruined, or he does

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

not want a redeemer; second, there is redemption through the
blood; and third, regeneration by the Holy Ghost, born of the
Spirit.

THE FOUR .GOSPELS

I have in my Bible here the keynotes to the four books of
the New Testament. I will give you my idea of a few of them.
Matthew, when he wrote about Christ, writes of Him as the Son of
David. He writes from the standpoint of a man that had belonged
to the government. If you want to find out about Christ as the
Son of David, you will have to turn to Matthew. These four men,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, wrote from different standpoints.
Matthew brings out Christ as the Royal Son of David, as the Heir,
as Abraham's successor, or from the line of Abraham to take the
throne of David. Mark takes Him as a servant. You will find
Him going here and there as a servant doing His master's will.
Luke brings Him out as the Son of Man, as coming in contact with
man; and then we find in the Gospel of John he brings Him out
as the Son of God. Luke and Matthew and Mark do not go and
trace Him back as John does. John goes past Adam and Abraham
and Zachariah and Malachi — sweeps past them all, and brings Him
out of the bosom of the Father ; and he has with one stroke of the
pen settled the question of the divinity of Jesus Christ. No one
can read the Gospel of John and believe it, and still doubt the
divinity of Jesus Christ, and believe Him to have been a mere man.
He spoke of Him as the Son of God, a stranger starting out in the
world alone. All through John, He was meeting sinners alone.
He met Nicodemus alone, and the woman at the well. I have been
interested, some time ago, in taking up for study the characters
that had personal interviews with the Son of God. There were
nineteen. Peter had two such interviews. No one knows what

390 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

they said Take up the history of these nineteen persons and see
how they were blessed, unless, indeed, they rejected Him, as

Pilate did ?

ONE WORD AT A TIME

Take one word at a time, and run through the Bible and read
all you can find on that point. Take words " I Am." When the
Lord sent Moses to Egypt, Moses was reluctant to go, and he said
as a last excuse, " If I tell them that I have been sent, whom shall
I tell them has sent me ?" And the Lord said, " Tell them I Am."
Some one said that was the same as a blank check given to Moses ;
and that when he got down in Egypt and they wanted water, he
just filled in the check with water, and they got it. Take the word
"verily" of St. John. Whenever you see that word, you may feel
sure there is some great truth coming after it. Some time ago I
was blessed in taking up the seven blessings of Revelation for
study. Some people say you cannot understand Revelation.
They say the deep theologians can understand it, but common
people cannot. Why, it is the one book that tells of the downfall
of the devil, and the devil does not want us to find that out, so he
says to us, "You cannot understand Revelation." It is the one
book in the Bible that opens with a benediction. It tells us of the
marriage supper of the Lamb. We get a great deal in Revela
tion that is not found in any other part of the Bible. All Scripture
is given by inspiration, and all is profitable for reproof and correc
tion, that a man of God may be thoroughly furnished. We want
to take the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Do not let us join the
unbelieving, scoffing world that says we cannot understand Revela
tion. " Blessed are those that watch. Blessed are those that keep
from the world. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for
they shall rest from their labors Blessed are they that have part
in the first resurrection." Let us have a part in the first resurrection

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE ^ji

And the last is, " Blessed are they that shall be at the man
riage supper of the Lamb." Take these seven blessings and put
them together and study them.

Six THINGS WORTH KNOWING

I take up one chapter in the Epistle of John with the word
14 know." There are six things worth knowing. The first verse and
third chapter says, " We know He is manifested to. take away sin."
That is what Jesus came for. We know it because God said it.
Some people say it makes no difference what a man believes if he is
sincere in his belief. Why it makes all the difference in the world.
What we believe we know to be true. We are not deluded and
deceived into believing it. The Spirit of God has borne witness to
its truth.

Take the third thing worth knowing, in the i4th verse. " We
know that we have passed from death unto life." How many in
this audience to-night know that. Suppose I should ask this audi
ence, how many could say they knew it ? Some people think it is
not the privilege of any one to know that. But this is a great mis
take. If I did not know it now I would not go to my dinner this
day or to my bed this night until I did know it. It is worth know
ing. Christ came to call us from death to life. Do you think we
have to go on in this terrible uncertainty not knowing whether we
are saved or not. God does not leave us with that uncertainty.
But if you have malice and hatred against some one, that is a sure
sign that you have not got the spirit of Christ. You may know
you have not been born of God, for God is love.

The fifth thing worth knowing is in the 24th verse, "We know
that He abideth with us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." If
we are out backbiting our neighbors, and living like the world, it is
good evidence that we have not been born of God.

392 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

The sixth thing worth knowing is the best of all. It is in the
2d verse: " Beloved, now are we the sons of God." John wanted
to disabuse them of the idea that they were not sons of Heaven.
I heard a man pray in a prayer-meeting : " When we come to die
may we be the sons of God." But " now are we the sons of God,"
it says. "It does not yet appear what we shall be," The world
does not yet -know the difference, but it will be revealed by-and-by.
There was a little boy in Boston who was probably the richest per
son in all Boston. The little child did not know that he was heir
to a great estate. So, Christians, many of them, don't know that
they are heirs to all things. We will come into possession of our
inheritance by-and-by. What God wants is to have us live for that
inheritance. He has had it in store for us where He dwells. Satan
cannot get there to get it out, though he would like to if he could.
It is kept for us, and He keeps us for it. The day I first got
hold of those truths I could not hold my peace. When people
came in I said to them, '• I have got some honey out of the rock,'
and I gave it to my friends. So we can help one another in our

wilderness journey.

WHOM is IT WRITTEN TO?

The power of the Holy One is unlimited. If you have rela
tives who have no faith, and they are running down these meetings,
do not get discouraged. The Lord God is able to save them. In
the first twelve chapters of John, you will find Christ dealing with
sinners altogether. In the 8th chapter of John, they are going to
tell Him that they doubt His word. In the loth chapter, He is
going to have His sheep in spite of those unbelieving Jews. In the
iith chapter, the Jews are going to put Lazarus out of the way,
because on account of Lazarus's testimony all men were believing.
From the I3th to the i/th chapters, you will find Christ dealing
with His Church. When you take a chapter like that, you should

HOW TO STUDY THE filHfJi

consider whom the chapter is addressed to. We would not have
any trouble about the doctrine of election if we considered that it
was addressed to the Church, to believers. Suppose I should find
a dispatch on the floor, saying, "Your wife is dead," I would say,
" My wife dead! How can that be, and I not know of it ?" But sup
pose I should find on the back of the envelope that it was addressed
to some one else, and not to me, the case would be different. We
must understand whom it is written to. The whole Bible is not
directed to sinners. A good deal of it is addressed to certain
classes and individuals, and a great deal is addressed to the whole
world. In the i3th of John, he has Christ dealing with the disciples.

How CHRIST DEALT WITH SINNERS

There are certain passages addressed to the wicked, and certain
passages to God's people. Very often a sinner will get hold of some
comforting word addressed to a Christian, and he will go and take
comfort in it when he has no right to, any more than I would have
a right to read some one's letters. In the i ;th chapter of John,
Christ is with the Father. In the iSth chapter of John, Christ is
in the hands of His enemies. And so you just take any one book
and divide it up like that. Take the subject of the gifts of Christ
and, with the word gifts, learn all that is written of the gifts of
Christ and the gifts of Satan. For Christ's gifts there are the
bread of Life and the Holy Spirit and peace, and joy, and love,
and mercy, and the morning star, and mansions. Take these gifts
and put them down, and then put down beside them the gifts of
Satan for serving him, and compare them. See if you will turn
your back upon all these blessed gifts of God for the sake of the
few fleeting moments of time here, and the baubles which, when
you have got them, do not satisfy you.

394 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

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 ;th 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
not very respectable, but He gives her the water of life. We can
not find any class of people in New York that has not its represen
tative 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 the child was nearly well, and that it was better from the
seventh hour, when he had spoken to Christ.

"TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK "

If some poor tramp should read these words who has not got
any friends, or anywhere to lay his head, 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 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

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE 395

not know ; I have covered up my sin. I wish there was some
thing 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 sayest 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.

M

CHAPTER XXVI.

His Creed- -Three Cardinal Truths

R. MOODY was the most faithful advocate of every truth
presented in the Word of God. He seemed to have the
most wonderful conception of all the great principles under
lying the plan of salvation. His belief in the atonement was never
to be shaken, and his uncompromising position as touching the
inspiration of the Scriptures was always commented upon by those
who heard him preach for any length of time, but there are three
special truths with which his ministry was particularly identified
in the judgment of many of his friends.

His VIEW CONCERNING THE WORD OF GOD.

The first was his view concerning the Word of God in itself.
The last time I heard him speak in Philadelphia he said : " It is al
ways the greatest pleasure to me to speak on the subject of the
Bible. I think I would rather preach about the Word of God
than anything else, because I think it is the best thing in the world,
and we cannot possibly overestimate the value of Bible study.
One must keep constantly drinking at this fountain if he is to be
used of God. A man stood up in one of our meetings and said he
hoped for enough out of the series of meetings to last him all his
life. I told him, that was perfect nonsense ; he might as well try to
eat enough breakfast at one time to last him his lifetime. These
meetings are a failure, if they do not bring you in touch with God's
Word, and enable you to drink deeply there." When I was with him
in Pittsburg, I took the following notes from his morning address.
396

HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL. TRUTHS 397

" We do not ask men and women to believe in the Bible with
out inquiry. It is not natural to man to accept the things of God
without question, and, if you are to be ready to give an answer or
a reason for your faith to every one that asks you, you must first
of all be a diligent student of the Word of God yourself. Do not
be a doubter because you think it is intellectual. ' Give us your
covictions,' said a German- writer; 'we have enough doubts of
our own,' and if you are filled with the Word of Gocl there will
not be any doubts. But some one will say, ' I wish you would
prove to me that the Bible is true.' My answer is, the Book will
prove itself if you will let it. There is real power in it. ' For
this cause also we thank God without ceasing, because when ye
received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not
as the word of men, but as it is, in truth, the Word of God, which
continually worketh also in you that believe.'

" It is not the work of men to make other men believe ; but it
is the work of the Holy Ghost. It is an awful responsibility to
have a Bible and to neglect its teachings. What if Gocl should
withdraw it and say, I will not trouble you with it longer ?

WHAT To Do WITH DIFFICULT PASSAGES

" But some one else asks, 'what am I going to clo when I come to
a thing that I cannot understand ?' I answer, ' I thank God that
there are heights in it that I have never scaled, and depths in it
that I have never sounded, because if I could understand it all, I
would know that a man not greater than myself had written it. When
it is beyond me in places, I know that God must have written it.
' It is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible must have come
from God, that the wise men in all the ages have been digging
down into it, and never yet have sounded its depths.'

HIS CREED—THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

" A man came to me with a difficult passage some time ago
and said, ' Moody, what would you do with that ? ' I answered, ' I
don't do anything with it.' ' How do you understand it?' I don't
understand it.' 'How do you explain it?' 'I don't explain it.'
' Well, then, what do you do with it ? ' 'I don't do anything with
it.' ' But you believe it, don't you ? ' ' O, yes, I believe it, but
there are lots of things that I believe that I cannot understand and
that I cannot make plain. I do not know anything about higher
mathematics but I believe in them, with all my heart. I do
not understand astronomy, but I certainly believe in astronomy.'

He was always most intense when he said, " But somebody
will say, 'You surely do not believe in the story of Jonah and the
whale. That's entirely out of date.' I want to say most emphatically
that I do believe it, and when men turn away from this story, I
think it is the master stroke of Satan to try to make us doubt
the resurrection, for Jesus used it as an illustration of this doctrine.
The book of Jonah says, 'God prepared a great fish to swallow
Jonah.' Couldn't God make a fish large enough to swallow him ?
If God can create a world out of nothing, I think he can create a
fish large enough to swallow a million men. Don't you ?

DON'T CUT ANYTHING OUT OF THE BIBLE

" Then there are other people who say, ' I believe in the Bible,
but not in the supernatural side of it.' They go on reading the
Bible with a pen-knife, cutting out this and that and the other
thing. Now, if I have a right to cut out a certain portion of the
Bible, I think my friend has the same right, and you would have a
queer book, if everybody cut out what he wanted to. Every liar
would cut out everything about lying. Every drunkard would cut
out what he did not like. It is a most absurd statement for a man
to say he will have nothing to do with the supernatural. If you

HIS CREED—THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 399

are going to throw off the supernatural, you might as well burn
your Bibles at once. For if you take the supernatural out of the
book, you take Jesus Christ out of it.

" Then, I want to say, also, that it is absurd for any one to say
that he believes in the New Testament and not in the Old. Do you
not know that of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, it is
recorded that our Lord made quotations from over twenty? Over
800 passages in the Old Testament are quoted or mentioned in the
New. In Matthew there are about 100 quotations from twenty
books in the Old Testament. In Luke, thirty-four quotations from
thirteen books, and in John eleven quotations from six books. In
the four Gospels there are more than 160 quotations from the Old

Testament.

CHRIST PREFERRED TO THE OLD TESTAMENT

"If the Old Testament Scriptures are not true, do you think
Christ would have so often referred to them, and said, ' The Scrip
tures must be fulfilled,' and, if He could use the Old Testament,
let us use it. May God deliver us from the one-sided Christian
who reads only the New Testament and talks against the Old.

" It is a great thing to study the Bible. I once heard Dr.
Pierson say there are four things necessary in studying the Bible :
Admit, submit, commit and transmit.

" First : Admit its truth.

" Second : Submit to its teachings.

" Third : Commit it to memory, and

"Fourth: Transmit to someone else.

"And, if we are to study the Bible, there are three books which
I think every Christian ought to have. First is a Bible with large
print ; the second, a Cruden's Concordance ; the third, a topical text
book ; and if we have these three books, anyone of us might
become successful students of this old book.

400 HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

" Dr. Pierson also says, whenever we read any portion of the
Bible we ought to remember the five P's :

" Place where written.

" Person by whom written.

" People to whom written.

" Purpose for which written.

" Period at which written.

" Let me indicate some suggestions:
ist. Always carry a Bible with you.
2nd. Mark it.

3rd. Set apart a portion of each day to study it.
4th. Ask God to open your eyes to its truth.

5th. Believe that God wrote this word to you, and act ac
cordingly.

6th. Commit some portion of the Bible to memory each day.
7th. Do not be satisfied with simply reading a chapter daily; study
the meaning of at least one verse in it.

" But remember this, that the Bible is every whit inspired. God
has said it, and God always speaks the truth. ' Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away.' '

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

The second great cardinal truth with which Mr. Moody was
so closely identified in his world-wide ministry was the second
coming of Christ. He firmly believed that Christ was coming
before the Millennium, and not after it. He was never more elo
quent than when he was speaking of prophecy and its fulfillment.
"Some people tell us," he said, "that it is useless to try to understand
prophecy. ' The Church is not agreed about it ; better let it alone,
and deal only with those things that have been fulfilled.' Paul did
not say that. He said, 'All Scripture is profitable.' If these

//AS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRU7HS 4Oi

people are right, he ought to have said, ' Some Scripture is profit
able, but you cannot understand the prophecies, so better let them
alone.' 'And you can't understand about this second coming,'
what nonsense this is! If God did not mean to have us study the
prophecies, He would not have put them in the Bible. Some of them
have been fulfilled. Some are being fulfilled, and all shall be. The
three great comings are foretold in the Word of God. First, that
Christ should come ; that has been fulfilled. Second, that the Holy
Ghost should come, and that has been fulfilled. Third, that our
Lord should return from Heaven, and for this we are told to watch
and wait.

" Whoever neglects this truth has only a mutilated Gospel, for
the Bible deals not only with the death and sufferings of Christ,
but also of his return to reign in honor and glory. His second
coming is mentioned and referred to over three hundred times, and
yet I was in the Church fifteen or sixteen years before I ever heard
a sermon on it. Every church makes much of baptism, but in all
of Paul's epistles baptism is spoken of only thirteen times ; the
return of the Lord fifty times.

"We are also told in the Scriptures just how He is to come. The
angel said, in like manner as you have seen him go. We know
that He went up with His flesh and bones, and we certainly know
that when He comes back again, He shall come just as He went
away from His disciples ; but it is also true that of that day and
hour no man knoweth, but it is well for us that we do not know. If
Christ had said, ' I will not come back for eighteen hundred years,'
none of His disciples would have begun to watch for Him until
the time was near. The last chapter of John gives us a text
which seems to settle the whole matter. Peter asks the question
about John : ' Lord, what shall this man do ? ' Jesus said unto him,
' If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? Follow

402 HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

thou me.' Then this saying went abroad among the brethren that
that disciple should not die. They certainly did not think that the
coining of the Lord meant death. There was a great difference
between these two things in their minds, and when any one says
that the coming of Christ means the death of the Christian, he has
only to put this thought into the Bible as he reads, to see how ridicu
lous it is. Look at that account of the last hour of Christ with
His disciples. What does He say to them ? ' If 1 go away I will
send death for you to bring you to me, or that I will send an angel
after you?' Not at all. He says, '/will come again and
receive you unto myself.'

WILL THE WORLD GROW BETTER OR WORSE ?

" Some people shake their heads and say that this thought is
too deep for the most of us ; such things ought not to be told to
young converts. Paul wrote these things to young converts
among the Thessalonians, and I believe there is no Christian
to-day, whether he be young or old, but what he can get a great
inspiration out of this truth. At one time I thought the world would
grow better and better until Christ could stay away no longer, but
in studying the Bible, I do not find any place where God says so.
I find that the world is to grow worse and worse, then, after a
while, Christ is to come in power and glory. Some people think
this is a new and strange doctrine, but 1 say that it is not. Many
of the most spiritual men in the world are firm in this faith.
Spurgeon preached it, and I know of no reason why Christ might
not come before I finish this sermon.

"There is another thought I want to bring to your attention,
and that is, that Christ will bring our friends with Him when He
comes; all who have died in the Lord are to be with Him when
He descends from His Father's throne into the air. ' Behold, I

HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 403

come quickly,' said Christ to John. Three times it is repeated in
the last chapter of the Bible, and almost the closing words of the
Bible are the prayer, ' Even so, come, Lord Jesus.'

" The world waited for the first coming four thousand years,
and then He came. He was here only thirty-three years and went
away, when He left us a promise that He would come again, and,'
as the world watched for His first coming, so we wait for His ap
pearing the second time unto salvation. But you also read, ' for
in such an hour as we think not, the Son of Man cometh.'"

THE WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST.

The third great truth for which Mr. Moody stood, and of
which his own great life was a powerful illustration was the truth
touching the work of the Holy Ghost.

" When I was first converted, I spoke in a Sabbath school, and
there seemed to be a great deal of interest, and quite a number
rose for prayer, and I remember I went out quite rejoiced ; but an
old man followed me out — I have never seen him since. I never
had seen him before, and don't even know his name — but he
caught hold of my hand and gave me a little bit of advice. I
didn't know Avhat he meant at the time, but he said, ' Young man,
when you speak again, honor the Holy Ghost. ' I was hasten
ing off to another church to speak, and all the way over, it kept
ringing in my ears, ' Honor the Holy Ghost,' and I said to myself,
' I wonder what the old man means.' I have found out since what
he meant, and I think that all that have been to work in the vine
yard of the Lord have learned that lesson, that if we honor Him
in our efforts to do good, He will honor us and work through us ;
but if we don't honor Him, we will surely break down.

" The only work that is going to stand to eternity is the work

done by the Holy Ghost, and not by any one of us. We may be used
23

404 HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

as His instruments, but the work that will stand to eternity is that
done by the Holy Ghost; and every conversion in these meetings,
that is not by the power of the Holy Ghost, will not stand. They
may be impressions that will last for a few weeks or months, but then
they will pass away like the morning cloud ; and I firmly believe
that if a man or woman be not converted by the Holy Ghost, we
will not see them in Heaven.

THE HOLY GHOST A PERSON

" I really believe I was a Christian ten years before I
believed it. I went into a church once and heard an old
minister say that the Holy Ghost was a person. I thought
the old man was wrong, and could not believe that the
Holy Ghost was a person. I did not know my Bible then as well
as I do now, but I went home and got my Bible, and went to work
to study it out ; and I have been thoroughly convinced ever since
that the Holy Ghost is a person as much as God the Father is, and
as much as Jesus Christ the Son is. Some may say that it is a mys
tery, and there are a good many things that are mysterious on their
face. Now turn to the i4th chapter of John, i6th and lyth
verses : ' And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit
of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not,
neither knoweth Him ; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you.'

Now, if the Holy Ghost were not a person, Christ would not
have said ' Who.' To be sure He is a spirit, but at the same
time He is a person, the same as God the Father is. God is a
spirit, and yet He is a person. Three times in this last verse it
says 'Him' and once 'Who.' Then in the 26th verse of the
same chapter: 'But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,

HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 405

whom the leather will send in my name,, He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have
said unto you.' Then there are a good many other verses, and I
want to call your attention to one or two more, just to show this
fact, that Me is a person. Whenever Christ spoke of the Holy
Ghost, He always spoke of Him as 'He' or 'Him,' and we
won't honor the Holy Ghost unless we make Him a person, and one
of the persons of the Trinity — the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

THE REAL FRUIT is LOVE.

" It is the work of the Holy Ghost to impart love. Just turn
to Romans v. 5 : ' And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which
is given unto us.' The real fruit that we look for in a young
convert is love , and I think it is one of the strongest proofs that
this religion of Jesus Christ is divine, that it is the same all the
world over. Even in the heart of China you will find, if a man is
converted, he will love his enemies. The love of God is in that
man's heart. What do we as Christians feel and want to-day ?
What is the great lack of the Church ? Why are so many com
plaining about the coldness of the Church? It is because we have
not got this love. If the Holy Ghost is a power in the Church, shed
ding abroad love in our hearts, there won't be any complaint.

" A great many Christians are like Lazarus when he came
forth — he was bound hand and foot ; but Christ said, ' Loose him
and let him go.' And so Christians want to feel that liberty they
should feel when Christ calls them to be His disciples. Wrhere the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Many think to themselves
before they get up to speak : ' Mow, what will Mrs. B. say when I
get up, if I don't talk as well as the minister ?' and ' Oh, if I could

|o6 HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

talk as well as Brother A., wouldn't I give my testimony quickly !
But I haven't any eloquence, and cannot speak like an orator."

" Don't you know, my friend, it is not the most fluent man that
has the greatest effect with a jury ? It is the man who tells the
truth. And in speaking of your experience, God will help you if
you trust in Him, and you will find after a simple trial that you
have perfect liberty. The trouble is we have a great many Chris
tians who have only got as far as the 3d chapter of John, and so
far as liberty to come out and speak up for God is concerned, they
don't know anything about it. We want this spirit of liberty so as
to be qualified for God's work. A friend of mine told me once
that when he went to a boarding-house he could always tell who
the boarders were, for they never alluded to family matters, but sat
down to the table and talked of outside matters ; but when the son
came in, he would go into the sitting-room to see if there were any
letters, and inquire after the family, and show in many ways his
interest in the household. It doesn't take five minutes to tell that
he is not a boarder, and that the others are. And so it is with the
Church of God. You see these boarders in church every Sunday
morning, but they don't take any interest. They come to criticise,
and that is about all that constitutes a Christian nowadays. They
are boarders in the House of God, and we have got too many
boarders. What we want is liberty.

How THE JUDGE BECAME A WORKING CHRISTIAN.

" A friend of mine asked a judge in his church to go out to a
schoolhouse in the country with him one day, where he was going
to preach. He said to the judge that he would like to have him
go, and the judge said he would like to go along. He told the
judge he would like to have him speak to the people. The judge
said, 'Oh, I could not do that.' 'Why can't you? You can

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, EAST NORTHFIELD, which Mr. Moody attended and where the

funeral services were held.

HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 409

speak in your court well enough without any trouble. Why cannot
you speak here? Suppose you just try it?' When they got out
there, the judge refused to do so, but the minister said, ' I want to
put the judge into the witness box and question him.' And the
judge got his lips open at last, and told how he was converted, and
;how the Spirit of God came down upon him. And there was a
mighty power in what he said, and the result was that many were
converted, and the judge has been a working Christian ever since.
I think there are hundreds bound, as he was, by station.

"A man who had been a professing Christian for three years I
met at a meeting, and I knew he had been a professing Christian, and
I supposed, of course, he had prayed in public. I noticed that he
hesitated when I asked him, but he rose, and as soon as he opened
his lips, the words came easily. I heard him tell a friend afterward
that that night he felt as if he had been converted a second time.

THE HOLY GHOST TESTIFIES OF CHRIST.

" I believe the world would have forgotten Christ's death as
soon as they forgot His birth, if it had not been for the Holy
Ghost. It had only been thirty years since His birth, and all those
wonderful scenes had happened in Bethlehem and it was well
known in Jerusalem ; yet, it seems to have been forgotten until
Christ came. And they would have forgotten His death if it had
not been for the Holy Ghost. He came to testify for Jesus Christ
that He had risen. He saw Him in Heaven, and He came to tell
us that He was there at the right hand of God. He convinced
men on the day of Pentecost, three thousand of them. He does
not talk of Himself, but of Christ. In the I5th chapter of John,
the 26th verse, it says, ' But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.'

4 TO HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

"A man came to me the other day and said he was going 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, that he should go and see my wife and
should begin to talk 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 Chris
tians 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.

THREE CLASSES OF CHRISTIANS.

"It seems to me that we have got about three classes of Chris
tians. The first class in the 3d chapter of John, were those who
had got to Calvary and there got life. They believed on the Son
and were saved, and there they rested satisfied. They did not
seek anything higher. Then, in the 4th chapter of John, we come
to a better class of Christians. There it was a well of living
water bubbling up. There are a few of these, but they are not
a hundredth part of the first class. But the best class is in the 7th
chapter of John, ' Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.'
That is the kind of Christian we ought to be.

" When I was a boy, I used to have to pump water for the
cattle. Ah, how many times I have pumped with that old right
hand until it ached ! and how many times I used to pump when I
could not get any water, and I was taught that when the pump was
dry I must pour a pail of water down the pump, and then I could
get the water up. And that is what Christians want — a well of
living water. We will have plenty of grace to spare ; all we need
ourselves and plenty for others. We have got into the way now of

HIS CREED—THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 4II

digging artesian wells better. They don't pump now to get the
water, but when they dig the well they cut down through the
gravel and through the clay, perhaps one thousand or two thousand
feet, not stopping when they can pump the water up, but they cut
to a lower stratum, and the water flows up abundantly of itself. And
so we ought, every one of us to be like artesian wells. God has got
grace enough for every one of us, and if we were only full of the
Holy Ghost what power we would have ! The influence of these
meetings would be felt through the whole country. A learned doctor
said once, speaking of Christ's holiness, ' You fill a tumbler of
water to the brim and then just touch it, and the water flows out ;
and so Christ was so full of truth that when the woman touched
Him, virtue flowed out and healed her.' Every one of us should
be as full of the Holy Ghost as this, and then men will see that we
have an unseen power. We must not be satisfied with just having
life, but we want this power. How many times we have preached
and taught, and it has been like the wind ! And why ? Because our
hearts were not full, and we did not have that anointing.

WE HAVE TO BE VERY HUMBLE.

" Some one asked a minister, if he had ever received a second
blessing since he was converted. ' What do you mean ?' was his reply,
' I have received ten thousand since the first.' A great many
think because they have been filled once, they are going to be full
for all time after ; but O, my friends, we are leaky vessels, and
have to be kept right under the fountain all the time in order to
keep full. If we are going to be used by God we have to be very
humble. A man that lives close to God will be the humblest of
men. I heard a man say that God always chooses the vessel that
is close at hand. Let us keep near Him. But we will have to
keep down in the dust ; God won't choose a man that is conceited.

412 HIS CREED— THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS

The moment we lift up our head and think we are something and
somebody, He lays us aside. If we want this power, we have to
give God all the glory. I believe the reason we do not get this
power more than we do, is because we do not know how to use it.
We would be taking all the credit to ourselves and saying, ' Don't
I do a great work?' and begin and boast about it. There are
hundreds and thousands I believe that God would take up and use
and give us a great baptism if we would only give Him the glory.
We have not learned the lesson of humility yet, that we are nothing
and God is everything."

A BLESSED EXPERIENCE.

In the city of Glasgow, some years ago, Mr. Moody related an
incident which is given here in his own words, from which we get
a glimpse of his superior life, and from which we are led to believe-
that in this, as in everything else, he was a great illustration of the
truths he taught to others :

" I can myself go back almost twelve years and remember two
holy women who used to come to my meetings. It was delightful
to see them there, for when I began to preach, I could tell by the
expression of their faces they were praying for me. At the close
of the Sabbath evening services they would say to me, ' We have
been praying for you.' I said, ' Why don't you pray for the peo
ple ?' They answered, 'You need power,' 'I need power,' I
jsaid to myself; 'why, I thought I had power.' I had a large Sab
bath school and the largest congregation in Chicago. There were
some conversions at the time, and I was in a sense satisfied. But
right along these two godly women kept praying for me, and their
earnest talk about ' the anointing for special service ' set me think
ing. I asked them to come and talk with me, and we got down on
our knees. They poured out their hearts, that I might receive the

HIS CREED—THREE CARDINAL TRUTHS 413

anointing of the Holy Ghost. And there came a great hunger
into my soul. I knew not what it was. I began to cry as I never
did before. The hunger increased. I really felt that I did not want to
live any longer if I could not have this power for service. I kept on
crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well,
one day, in the city of New York— O, what a day ! I cannot
describe it ; I seldom refer to it ; it is almost too sacred an experi
ence to me. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for
fourteen years. I can only say, God revealed himself to me, and I
had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay
His hand.

"I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different;
I did not present any new truths, and. yet hundreds were converted.
I would not be placed back where I was before that blessed experi
ence if you would give me all Glasgow. It is a sad day when the
convert goes into the church, and that is the last you hear of him.
If, however, you want this power for some selfish end, as for exam-
pie, to gratify your ambition, you will not get it. ' No flesh,' says
God, 'shall glory in my presence.' May he empty us of self and
fill us with His presence."

The Funeral

IT would be difficult to imagine a more representative company
of Christian workers than that which assembled about the
casket holding all that was mortal of him who was said by
many to have been the most remarkable man of this generation.
The friends had been gathering for two days. The Holiday joys
in their own homes and the natural desire that every man has to
be with his own family at such a season of the year could not keep
them from paying this last tribute to the man who had been a
friend, indeed more than a friend to every one of them ; for, if ever
any one came to know D. L. Moody well, he loved him. Paul
once wrote in his Epistle to the Philippians, " I thank my God
for every remembrance of you," and all who came close to this
man of God could write the same concerning him.

So LIKE MR. MOODY HIMSELF

The Hotel Northfield had been opened by the family of Mr.
Moody for the accommodation of those who would come to the
services, and Mr. Ambert G. Moody, his nephew, who has been so
closely associated with Mr. Moody's Northfield work, was there to
receive the coming friends and bid them welcome, just as his dis
tinguished uncle would have had it done. It was so like Mr.
Moody himself to care for the comfort of these sad-hearted pil
grims. I found myself, as I was planning for the journey and had
received notification that the Northfield was opened for us, saying,
414

THE FUNERAL 415

" Well, that is like him in all his careful thought for others. I
suppose that he has ordered that the house be thrown open, and
that it be made comfortable for all who would accept the invitation
to come," and then it came to me like a shock that D. L. Moody was
dead, and could care for us no more except as the influence of his
sainted memory would guide and control for many a long day.
Many of his co-laborers were in Northfield the evening of Christ
mas Day, and the life of this dear friend was talked over ; always
with love, and frequently with tears blinding the eyes of those
who would attempt to speak. Those who were qualified to testify
told of his last days and the closing hours of his life. One said,
" It was just such an experience as we would have supposed he
might have. It was glorious."

His LAST MOMENTS AND His WILL

Another told how just before the last he said, " Can't a
man die sitting up as well as lying down," and when the doctor
said yes, they took him up and let him rest for a moment
or two in his chair, but it was only for a little while, and then
they put him back again in his bed. It was the last time he
was to rise, and he who told it said with a sob, " I cannot bring
myself to realize that he has gone from us." Another told how,
when he was aroused from his stupor and saw all his loved ones
about him, he said in his old way, so characteristic of himself,
"What's going on here," and when they told him that he had been
worse for a little time, and that they had come to be with him, he
closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep again.

Still another told of the will he made, unlike any other will
that any man had ever made ; when he gave the care of Mt. Hermcn
to his son, William R. Moody ; the Northfield Young Ladies'
School to the care of Paul, his son, a junior in Yale ; the special

416 1HE FUNERAL

oversight of the Bible Institute to Mrs. Fitt and her husband, Mr.
A. P. Fitt, the latter having for years been Mr. Moody's closest
and most confidential helper, particularly in the Bible Institute in
Chicago and the Colportage Library work. The Northfield
Training School was to be the care of Mr. Ambert G. Moody, his
•nephew. And when something was said about Mrs. Moody, he
had said she was the mother of them all, and they must all care for
her. An old friend gave the account of his words to his boys
when he said, " I have always been an ambitious man, not ambi
tious to lay up money, but ambitious to leave you all work to be
done, which is the greatest heritage one can leave to his

children."

A TRIUMPHANT PASSING AWAY

Still another gave the picture of his last hours. No more
memorable sentences on one's deathbed have ever been spoken.
It was just such a triumphant passing away as his dear friends would
have wished. Where have you ever read better sayings than
these :

" Is this dying ? Why this is bliss.

" There is no valley.

" I have been within the gates.

" Earth is receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling; I
must go."

And when he went away from them for a little time and came
back, he said that he had seen his loved ones in Heaven, giving
their names, and when it was suggested that he had been dream-
jng, he assured them it was not so, but that he had actually
been within the gates of Heaven. Thus his noble life went out,
but he being dead yet speaketh, and is continuing to speak, and
tens of thousands rise up to call him blessed. Such intimate asso
ciates as Mr. Ira D. Sankey, Mr. George C. Stebbins, Rev. George

THE FUNERAL 4T<;

C. Needham, Prof. W. W. White, Mr. William Phillips Hall, Mr.
John R. Mott, Mr. Richard C. Morse, Rev. George A. Hall, and
many others talked until the evening was gone, and then retired
each to feel that his was a personal bereavement, because D. L.
Moody was dead.

WANTED TO SEE His FACE ONCE MORE

Special trains were run from the surrounding New England
towns, and they were filled with people who wanted to see his face
once more. Farmers drove from distances of twenty miles away
that they might pay respect to the memory of him in whom they
all believed. The students were many of them away for their
Christmas vacations, but there was a sufficient number present to
bear his body from the house, which had become so much a part of
himself, to the church in which he was so deeply interested.

At last the day of the funeral came. It was a sad company of
friends that met in the Grand Central Station in New York City
the morning of the funeral. There was the Hon. John Wanama-
ker, who had been in close fellowship with him for years ; the Rev.
A. C. Dixon, D.D., who had been as near to him in Christian work
as any man in the country, who showed by every expression of his
face that he was in sorrow, yet " not as others who have no hope ; "
Mr. and Mrs. Janeway, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, devoted
friends of the great Evangelist for years, and intimately and offi
cially connected with the Northfield work. There were very many
others, but notably, there was the veteran evangelist, the Rev. Dr.
E. P. Hammond, who had known Mr. Moody as long as any one in
the company. It was a sad group of people that journeyed toward
the little town where the devoted friend was lying dead. Many of
them had not seen Northfield in winter. They had visited it when
the trees were in full foliage, when the grass was green on the hill-

420 THE FUNERAL

sides, and when the birds sang- their joyous welcome, but at this
visit all nature seemed in sympathy with the many who sorrowed
because their friend was not, but rejoiced as well because God had
taken him, and because of the abundant entrance o-iven him into

o

His presence.

At last the church was reached. Special seats were reserved
for the late coming friends, and the most memorable funeral service
in all the experience of the most of those who knew him began.

During the morning Mr. Moody's family had been with the
body, which had been lying in the death-chamber since the time of
death. But soon after ten o'clock the body was laid in the heavy
broadcloth casket and removed to the parlor of the home, where a
simple service of prayer was conducted by Mr. Moody's pastor,
the Rev. C. I. Scofield, assisted by the Rev. R. A. Torrey, of

Chicago.

FUNERAL SERVICES AT THE CHURCH

At the close of this service the casket was placed on a massive
bier, and thirty-two Mt. Hermon students bore it to the Congrega
tional Church, where it was to lie in state. During the next three
hours fully three thousand persons looked for the last time at the
face of the great, good man. The casket was placed directly in
front of the altar, and around it were banked many floral tributes.

The gathering at the church for the funeral service at 2:30 was
notable. Men from all walks of life — clergymen, business men,
tillers of the soil — -came side by side to pay a last tribute. The
services were as simple and as impressive as if he himself had planned
them. The voice of the loved one was still, but his presence was felt.

The hymn, " A Little While and He Shall Come," was followed
by the Rev. C. I. Sconeld's prayer. The Rev. A. T. Pierson read
the Scripture lesson from II Corinthians, iv. ii. This was followed

THE FUNERAL 42T

by a prayer by Rev. George C. Needham, after which the congre
gation sang "Emmanuel's Land," the music being directed by Mr.
A. B. Phillips, Professor of Music in the Northfield Institute.

The Rev. Dr. Scofield then pronounced the eulogy, saying:

•" We know,' 'We are always confident,' That is the Chris-
ti.-in attitude toward the mystery of death. ' We know,' so far as
the present body is concerned, that it is a tent in which we dwell.
It is a convenience for this present life. Death threatens it, so far
as we can see, with utter destruction. Soul and spirit instinctively
cling to this present body. At that point revelation steps in with
one of the great foundational certainties and teaches us to say
We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis
solved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.'

' There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. But
that is not all. Whither after all shall we go when this earthly
tent dwelling is gone ? To what scenes does death introduce us ?
What, in a word, lies for the Christian just across that little trench
which we call a grave ? Here is a new and most serious cause of
solicitude. And here again revelation brings to faith the needed
word : ' We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body and to be at home with the Lord.'

' Note, now, how that assurance gives confidence. First, in that
the transition is instantaneous. To be absent from the body is to
be at home with the Lord. And secondly, every question of the
soul which might bring back an answer of fear is satisfied with that
one little word 'home.'

"And this is the Christian doctrine of death. 'We know/
'We are always confident.' In this triumphant assurance Dwight
L. Moody lived, and at high noon last Friday he died. We are not
nut, dear friends, to mourn p defeat, but to celebrate a triumph.

•123 THE FUNERAL

He 'walked with God and he was not, for God took him.' There
in the West, in the presence of great audiences of 12,000 of his
fellow-men, God spoke to him to lay it all down and come home.
He would have planned it so.

" This is not the place, nor am I the man to present a study of
the life and character of Dwight L. Moody^ No one will ever
question that we are laying to-day in the kindly bosom of earth
the mortal body of a great man. Whether we measure greatness
by quality of character or by qualities of intellect, Dwight L. Moody
must be accounted great.

"The basis of Mr. Moody's character was sincerity, genuineness.
He had an inveterate aversion to all forms of sham, unreality and
pretence. Most of all did he detest religious pretence or cant.
Along with this fundamental quality, Mr. Moody cherished a great
love of righteousness. His first question concerning any proposed
action was : ' Is it right ? ' But these two qualities, necessarily at
the bottom of all noble characters, were in him suffused and trans
figured by divine grace. Besides all this, Mr. Moody was in a
wonderful degree brave, magnanimous and unselfish.

" Doubtless this unlettered New England country boy became
what he was by the grace of God. The secrets of Dwight L.
Moody's power were : First, in a definite experience of Christ's sav
ing grace. He had passed out of death into life, and he knew it.
Secondly, Mr. Moody believed in the divine authority of the Scrip
tures. The Bible was, to him, the voice of God, and he made it
resound as such in the consciences of men. Thirdly, he was bap
tized with the Holy Spirit, and he knew it. It was to him as definite
an experience as his conversion. Fourthly, he was a man of prayer ;
he believed in a divine and unfettered God. Fifthly, Mr. Moody
believed in work, in ceaseless effort, in wise provision, in the power
of organization, of publicity.

THE FUNERAL 423

" I like to think of D. L. Moody in Heaven. I like to think of
him with his Lord and with Elijah, Daniel, Paul, Augustine,
Luther, Wesley and Finney.

" Farewell for a little time, great heart, may a double portion
of the spirit be vouchsafed to us who remain."

The next address was by the Rev. H. B. Weston, of Crozier
Theological Seminary, Chester, Pa., who said :

REV. H. B. WESTON'S ADDRESS

" I counted it among one of the greatest pleasures of my life
that I had the acquaintance of Mr. Moody ; that I was placed under
his influence, and that I was permitted to study God's words and
work through him.

" He was the greatest religious character of this century.
When we see men who are eminent among their fellows, we always
attribute it to some special natural gift with which they are endowed,
some special education they have received, or some magnetic per
sonality with which they are blessed. Mr. Moody had none of
these, and yet, no man had such power of drawing the multitude.
No man could surpass him in teaching and influencing individuals
— individuals of brain, of executive power. I am speaking to some
of such this afternoon. Mr. Moody had the power of grouping
them to himself with hooks of steel, and many of them were good
workers with him many years ; and they will carry on his work
now that he has passed away.

" Mr. Moody had none of the gifts and qualifications that I
have mentioned: no promise, and apparently no possibiltity, in
his early life ; no early promise, if he had any promise, of the life he
had to lead. What had he ? There was nothing1 else as inter-

o

esting in Northfield as Mr. Moody to me. I listened to him with
profound and great interest and profit, as the one who could draw

424 THE FUNERAL

the multitude as no one else in the world. He entered fully into
the words, ' Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' So he fed upon that
word ; his life was instantly a growth, because he fed on the Word
of God, so that he might have it ready for every emergency.

" Ail this was not for himself, but for others. He did not
study the Bible for himself alone, but that he might add to his
stock of knowledge. He did not study his Bible in order to criti
cise, but to make men partakers of that light which had enlarged
his own soul, and that, I appeal to you, was the first desire of his
heart, that other men might live.

" With this one conception in his heart he dots his plain all
over with buildings which will stand until the millennium. His soul
was full of joy, and that definite joy finds its expression like the
Hebrew prophet. I don't think he himself sang, but he wanted the
Gospel sung, and I used to listen to song after song and remember
all the time this was simply the expression of that joy that welled
up in his heart, the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"You remember last summer how hopeful he was, constantly,
as he compared himself to ' that old man of eighty years, and I am
only sixty-two, and I have so much before me to live for.' Because
D. L. Moody had mastered, or the power of Christ had so mastered,
every fibre of his being ; because of that completeness of consecra
tion — -I hardly dare say it — were Jesus Christ given the same body,
the same mental caliber and surroundings, He would fill up his
life much as Moody did, and that is the reason to-day that I would
rather be Dwight L. Moody in his coffin than any living man on
earth."

The next speaker was the Rev. R. A. Torrey, who said :

" It is often the first duty of a pastor to speak words of comfort
to those whose hearts are aching with sorrow and breaking

THE FUNERAL 425

underneath the burden of death, but this is utterly unnecessary to-day.
The God of all comfort has already abundantly comforted them,
and they will be able to comfort others. I have spent hours in the
past few days with those who were nearest to our departed friend,
and the words I have heard from them have been words of ' Rest
in God and triumph.'

REV. R. A. TORREY'S ESTIMATE OF MR. MOODY

" As one of them has said : ' God must be answering the
prayers that are going up for us all over the world. We are
being so wonderfully sustained.' Another has said : ' His last four
glorious hours of life have taken all the sting out of death/ and
still another, ' Be sure that every word to-day is a word of triumph.'

" Two thoughts has God laid upon my heart this hour. The
first is that wonderful letter of Paul in I Corinthians, xv. 10 : 'By
the grace of God I am what I am.' God wonderfully magnified
His grace in the life of D. L. Moody. God was magnified in his
birth. The babe that was born sixty-two years ago — the wonderful
soul was God's gift to the world. How much that meant to the
world ; how much the world has been blessed and benefited by it
we shall never know this side the coming of Christ. God's grace
was magnified in his conversion. He was born in sin, as we are,
but God, by the power of His word, the regenerating power of His
Holy Spirit, made him a mighty man of God. How much the con
version of that boy in Boston forty-three years ago meant to the
world no man can tell, but it was God's grace that did it.

" God's grace and love were magnified again in the development
of that character. He had the strength of body that was possessed
by few sons of men.

" It was all from God. To God alone was it due that he dif
fered from other men. That character was God's gift to a world

426 THE FUNERAL

that sorely needed men like him. God's grace and love were mag
nified again in his service. The great secret of his success was
supernatural power, given in answer to prayer.

" Time and again has the question been asked, What was the
secret of his wonderful power ? The question is easily answered.
There were doubtless secondary things that contributed to it, but
the great central secret of his power was the anointing of the Holy
Ghost. It was simply another fulfilment by God of the promise
that has been realized throughout the centuries of the Church's his
tory: 'Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost shall
come upon you.'

" God was magnified again in his marvelous triumph over death,
but what we call death had absolutely no terrors for him. He
calmly looked death in the face and said, ' Earth is receding.
Heaven is opening. God is calling me. Is this death ? It isn't
bad at all. It is sweet. No pain. No valley. I have been
within the gates ! It is beautiful. It is glorious. Do not
call me back. God is calling me.'

" This was God's grace in Christ that was thus magnified in our
brother's triumph over that last enemy, Death. From beginning
to end, from the hour of his birth until he is laid at rest on yonder
hilltop, Mr. Moody's life has been a promulgation of God's ever
lasting grace and love.

" The other thought, that God has laid upon my heart in these
last few hours are those words of Joshua i. 2 : ' Moses my servant is
dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this
people, unto the land which I do give to them.'

" The death of Mr. Moody is a call to his children, his asso
ciates, ministers of the Word everywhere, and to the whole
Church : ' Go forward. Our leader has fallen.' ' Let us give up
the work,' some would say. Not for a moment. Listen to what God

THE FUNERAL 429

says : ' Our leader has fallen. Move forward. Moses my servant
is dead, therefore arise, go in and possess the land. As I was with
D. L. Moody, so I will be with you. I will not fail thee nor for
sake thee.'

" It is remarkable how unanimous all those who have been asso
ciated with Mr. Moody are upon this point. The great institutions
that he has established at Northfield, Mt. Hermon, and Chicago, and
the work they represent, must be pushed to the front as never
before. Many men are looking for a great revival.

" Mr. Moody himself said when he felt the call of death at
Kansas City : ' I know how much better it would be for me to go,
but we are on the verge of a great revival, like that of 1857, and I
want to have a hand in it.' He will have a mighty hand in it.
His death, with the triumphal scenes that surround it, are part of
God's way of answering the prayers that have been going on for so
long in our land for a revival.

" From this bier there goes up to-day a call to the ministry, to
the Church : ' Forward ! ' Seek, claim, receive the anointing of
the Holy Ghost, and then go forthwith, to every corner, preach in
public and in private to every man, woman, and child the infallible
Word of God."

THE WORDS OF BISHOP MALLALIEU.

The Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, bishop of the Methodist church,

said :

' ' ' Servant of God, well done,

Thy glorious warfare's past,
The battle's fought, the race is won,
And thou art crowned at last. '

" I first met and became acquainted with him, whose death we
mourn, in London in the summer of 1875. From that day, when
he moved the masses of the world's metropolis, to the hour when

430 THE FUNERAL

he answered the call of God to come up higher, I have known him,
esteemed him and loved him. Surely we may say, and the world
will endorse the affirmation, that in his death one of the truest,
bravest, purest and most influential men of this wonderful igth
century has passed to his rest and his reward. With feelings of
unspeakable loss and desolation we gather about the casket that
contains all that was mortal of Dwight L. Moody. And yet a
mighty uplift and inspiration must come to each one of us as we
think of his character and his achievements, for he was :

'One, who never turned his back but marched breast forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph. '

"In bone and brawn and brain he was a typical New Eng-
lander ; he was descended from the choicest New England stock ;
he was born of a New England mother, and from his earliest life
he breathed the free air of his native hills and was carefully
nurtured in the knowledge of God and the holy traditions and
histories of the glorious past. It was to be expected of him that
he would become a Christian of pronounced characteristics, for he
consecrated himself thoroughly and completely and irrevocably to
the service of God and humanity. The heart of no disciple of the
Master ever beat with more genuine, sympathetic and utterly
unselfish loyalty than did the great, generous, loving heart of our
translated friend. Because he held fast to the absolute truth of
the Bible, and unequivocally and intensely believed it to be the
unerrant Word of God ; because he preached the Gospel rather
than talked about the Gospel ; because he used his mother tongue,
the terse, clear, ringing, straightforward Saxon ; because he had
the profoundest sense of brotherhood with all poor, unfortunate
and even outcast people ; because he was unaffectedly tender and
patient with the weak and sinful ; because he hated evil as

THE FUNERAL 431

thoroughly as he loved goodness ; because he knew right how to
lead penitent souls to the Saviour ; because he had the happy art
of arousing Christian people to a vivid sense of their obligations
and inciting them to the performance of their duties ; because he
had in his own soul a conscious, joyous experience of personal
salvation — the people flocked to his services, they heard him gladly,
they were led to Christ, and he came to be prized and honored by
all denominations, so that to-day all Protestantism recognizes the
fact that he was God's servant, an embassador of Christ, and
indeed a chosen vessel to bear the name of Jesus to the nations.

" We shall not again behold his manly form animated with life,
hear his thrilling voice or be moved by his consecrated personality
but if we are true and faithful to our Lord, we shall see him in
glory, for already he walks the streets of the heavenly city, he
mingles in the song of the innumerable company of white-robed
saints, sees the King in his beauty, and waits our coming. May
God grant that in due time we may meet him over yonder."

DR. CHAPMAN'S ADDRESS.

The Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman of New York, the next speaker,
said :

" I cannot bring myself to feel this afternoon that this service
is a reality. It seems to me that we must awake from some dream
and see again the face of this dear man of God, which we have
so many times seen. It is a new picture to me this afternoon. I
never before saw Mr. Moody with his eyes closed. They were always
open, and it seemed to me open not only to see where he could
help others, but where he could help me. His hands were always
outstretched to help others. I never came near him without his
helping me."

432 THE FUNERAL

At this point the sun came through a crack in a blind, and the
rays fell directly on Mr. Moody's face, and nowhere else in the
darkened church did a single beam of sunshine fall.

" The only thing that seems natural is the sunlight now on his
face. There was always a halo around him. I can only give a
slight tribute of the help he has done me, I can only especially
dedicate myself to God, that I, with others, may preach the Gospel
he taught.

" When I was a student, Mr. Moody found me. I had no
object in Christ. He pointed me to the hope in God ; he saw my
heart, and I saw his Saviour. I have had a definite life since then.
When perplexities have arisen, from those lips came the words,
' Who are you doubting ? If you believe in God's Word, who
are you doubting ?' I was a pastor, a preacher, without much result.
One day Mr. Moody came to me, and, with one hand on my shoul
der and the other on the open Word of God, he said : ' Young
man, you had better get more of this into your life,' and when I
became an evangelist myself, in perplexity I would still sit at his
feet, and every perplexity would vanish just as mist before the rising
sun. And, indeed, I never came without the desire to be a better
man, and be more like him, as he was like Jesus Christ. If my
own father were lying in the coffin I could not feel more the sense
of loss."

REV. A. T. PIERSON'S ADDRESS.

The Rev. A. T. Pierson spoke next, saying :

" When a great tree falls, you know, not only by its branches,
but by its roots, how much soil it drew up as it fell. I know of no
other man who has fallen in this country having as wide a tract of
uprooting as this man who has just left us.

" I have been thinking of the four departures during the last
quarter of a century, of Charles Spurgeon of London, A. J. Gordon
of Boston, Catherine Booth, mother of the Salvation Army, and

THE FUNERAL 433

George Miiller of Bristol, England, and not one made the world
wide commotion in their departures that Dwight L. Moody has
caused.

" Now, I think we ought to be very careful of what is said.
There is a temptation to say more than ought to be said, and we
should be careful to speak as in the presence of God. This is a
time to glorify God.

" Dwight L. Moody was a great man. That man when he
entered the church in 1856 in Boston, after ten months of proba
tion, was told by his pastor that he was not a sound believer. That
pastor, taking him aside, told him he had better keep still in
prayer meeting. The man the church held out at arm's length has
become the preacher of preachers, the teacher of teachers, the
evangelist of evangelists. It is a most humiliating lesson for the
Church of God.

"When, in 1858, he decided to give all his time, he gave the
key to his future. I say everything D. L. Moody has touched has
been a success. Do you know that with careful reckoning he has
reached 100,000,000 of people since he first became a Christian?
You may take all the years of public services in this land and
Great Britain, take into consideration all the addresses he de
livered, and the audiences of his churches, and it will reach
100,000,000. Take into consideration all the people his books
have reached and the languages into which they have been trans
lated; look beyond his evangelistic work to the work of education,
the schools, the Chicago Bible Institute, and the Bible Institute
here. Thousands of people in the world owe their hope to Dwight
L. Moody who was the means of their consecration.

" I want to say a word of Mr. Moody's entrance into Heaven.
When he entered into Heaven there must have been an unusual
commotion. I want to ask you to-day whether you can think of

434 THE FUNERAL

any other man of the last half-century whose coming so many souls
would have welcomed at the gates of Heaven. It was a triumphal
entrance into glory.

" No man who has been associated with him in Christian work
has not seen that there is but one way to live, and that way to live
wholly for God. The thing that D. L. Moody stood and will
stand for centuries to come was his living only for God. He
made mistakes, no doubt, and if any of us is without sin in this
respect, we might cast a stone at him, but I am satisfied that the
mistakes of D. L. Moody were the mistakes of a stream that over
flowed its banks. It is a great deal better to be full and over
flowing than to be empty and have nothing to overflow.

" I feel myself called to-day by the presence of God to give eye
that what is left shall be consecrated more wholly to him. Mr.
Moody, John Wanamaker, James Spurgeon (brother of Charles),
and myself were born in the same year. Only two of us are still
alive. John Wanamaker, let us still live wholly for God."

REV. H. M. WHARTON'S WORDS

The Rev. H. M. Wharton, of Philadelphia, spoke in behalf of
the southern States. He said :

" I am sure, dear friends, that if the people of the South could
express their feeling to-day, they would ask me to say we all loved
Mr. Moody ; we did love him with all our hearts. It seems to me
that when he went inside the gates of Heaven he left the gates
open a little, and a little of the light fell upon us all.

" As I go from this place to-day, I am more convinced that I
desire to live and be a more faithful minister and more earnest
Christian, and more consecrated in my life. We will not say ' Good
night, dear Mr. Moody,' for in the morning we will meet again."

THE FUNERAL 435

As Mr. Wharton ceased, Mr. William Moody rose in the
pew, and said he would like to speak of his father as a parent. He

said :

MR. W. R. MOODY'S TRIBUTE TO His FATHER

" As a son, I want to say a few words of him as a father. We
have heard from his pastor, his associates and friends, and he was
just as true a father. I don't think he showed up in any way bet
ter than when, on one or two occasions, in dealing with us as chil
dren, with his impulsive nature, he spoke rather sharply. We
have known him to come to us and say : ' My children, my son,
my daughter, I spoke quickly ; I did wrong ; I want you to forgive
me.' That was D. L. Moody as a father.

" He was not yearning to go ; he loved his work. Life was
very attractive ; it seems as though on that early morning as he
had one foot upon the threshold it was given him for our sake to
give us a word of comfort. He said : ' This is bliss ; it is like a
trance. If this is death it is beautiful.' And his face lighted up as
he mentioned those whom he saw.

" We could not call him back ; we tried to, for a moment, but
we could not. We thank Gocl for his home life, for his true life,
and we thank God that he was our father, and that he led each one
of his children to know Jesus Christ."

MR. JOHN WANAMAKER'S REMARKS

Dr. Scofield then called upon the Hon. John Wanamaker, of
Philadelphia, who said :

" If I had any words to say, it would be that the best commen
tary on the Scriptures, the best pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ,
were in our knowledge of the beautiful man who is sleeping in our
presence to-day. For the first time I can understand well the
kind of a man Paul was, and Nehemiah, and Oliver Cromwell. I

436 THE FUNERAL

think of Mr. Moody as a Stonewall Jackson of the Church of God
of this century. But the sweetest of all thoughts of him are his
prayers and his kindnesses. It was as if we were all taken into his
family and he had a familiarity with every one and we were his
closest friends.

" There is not any place in this country where you can go with
out seeing the work of this man of God. It seems to make every
man seem small, because he lived so far above us, as we crept close
to his feet. It is true of every one who sought to be like him.

" I can run back into the beginning of his manhood, and there
have the privilege of being close to him. I can call up personal
friends that were at the head of railroads, that were distinguished
in finance and business, and I declare to you, great as their succes
ses were, I don't believe that there is one of them who would not
gladly have changed place with D. L. Moody.

" The Christian laborer, I believe, to-day looms up more lumi
nous than any man who lived in the century. It seems as if it were
a vision when the one who has passed away stood in Philadelphia
last month, when, on his way to Kansas City, and, with tears in his
eyes, he said to me with a sigh : ' If I could only hold one great city
in the East before I die, I think it might help other cities to do
the same.' Still trusting God, he turned his back on his home and
family, and went 1,000 miles carrying that burden, and it was too
much for him. A great many of the people of the sixties are quit
ting work, and if anything is to be done for God, it is time we con
secrate ourselves to Him."

SENIOR GLEN, EAST NORTHFIELD, where Mr. Moody met the students of the Senior Class at
6 A.M., daily during the sessions o"f the school.

ROUND TOP. The Hill where Mr. Moody frequently held Meetings, and where he now lies hurried.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Roundtop, where Mr. Moody Loved to Speak and
where he was Buried

THE funeral services in the church were over. In every way
it was the most remarkable gathering that could possibly be
imagined on any such occasion, and one friend was heard to
say to another as we passed out of the Congregational Church,
" I would not have missed this privilege for any consideration.
My faith in God and in His promises is stronger to-day than ever;
my fear of death is all taken away. Did you ever in all your
experience attend a service in which the power of God was more
mightily manifest?" One distinguished man said to a brother
minister as they walked in solemn procession toward the grave,
" If it had been possible to repeat that service with all its attend
ing circumstances and surroundings in all the cities of the land,
D. L. Moody would have been greater in his death than in his life,
and thousands and tens of thousands would have been brought to

Christ."

A MOST NOTABLE SERVICE

It was a notable service because there was a spirit of victory
in it all. From where we sat on the platform we could look down
into the faces of those who had been bereaved, and while there
were marks of tears upon their faces, yet there was such evident
joy in the thought that they had had him so long, and that he had
brought so much of blessing into the lives of countless numbers of
people, that one really forgot that he was attending a funeral and

439

440 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

thanked God that he was sitting together with dear friends in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

It was notable also, because not very often on funeral occasions
do the bereaved ones join in the singing of the hymns, and yet at
this funeral very frequently you could see that the lips of the
members of the family were moving, and you knew they were
singing the songs that Mr. Moody loved, and singing them just in
the way that would have been pleasing to him.

A RAY OF SUNLIGHT

It was notable also, because of the fact that just in the midst
of the services one single ray of sunlight from the setting sun
came through the window, but the only face in all the building that
was touched with the glory of that streak of light was the face of
the man of God lying in his coffin. It was just what all could have
wished for him, for to those who knew him and loved him, there
was always a kind of a halo of glory about him, and this touch of
sunlight was just a hint to us as to how his face would appear when
in the better country we should see him once again with the
redemption body transfigured into the likeness of Christ. I seri
ously question if any man in the present generation ever walked
closer with God than did Mr. Moody. He was my ideal in this
respect as in many others. His was a story like that of Enoch of
old, and when he died we could understand it all, he simply was
not, for God took him.

All the funerals associated with Mr. Moody's family have ever
been most touching. When his mother was carried to the tomb,
she was not taken away until her son had said what only a devoted
and godly son could say concerning the life of a consistent Chris
tian mother, and of her it was true as the wise man said, " Her
children rise up and call her blessed."

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 441

When the children of his eldest son, Mr. W. R. Moody, were
buried, once again did he speak such words as he only was able to
speak. Quite recently, at the funeral of Irene Moody, he said the
most touching words concerning his love for his grandchild, told
how she had always greeted him with a smile, and then told how
she had influenced his life as very few people had — no one could
have said these words with such tenderness and sweetness as
Mr. Moody, but it was just like him to say them for the grief of
his son was as if it had been his own.

While holding services in my Church, Rev. 13. Fay Mills spoke
concerning the funeral of the brother of Mr. Moody, as contrasted
with the funeral of Mr. Robert Ingersoll's brother, and the picture
is most striking in its contrasts :

A MOST STRIKING PICTURE

" It was in June, 1879. This brother had died in Washington,
and Colonel Ingersoll stood by the coffin and tried to read his
address, which he had carefully prepared. His voice became
agitated, his form trembled, and his emotion overcame him.
Finally he put down the paper, and, bowing himself upon the
coffin, as if he would throw his arms about it, he gave vent to
uncontrollable grief. When at last he was able to proceed he raised
himself up, and among other words he said these : ' Whether in
mid-ocean or 'mid the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck must
mark at last the end of each and all ; and every life, no matter if
its every hour be filled with love and every moment jeweled with
a joy, will at the last become a tragedy as sad and dark and deep
as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death.
* * * Life is a dark and barren vale between the cold and ice-
clad peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond

442 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

the heights. We lift our wailing voice in the silence of the night,
and hear no answer but the bitter echo of our cry.'

"Could ever words more sadly hopeless have been uttered at
a time like that ? And then he added what to me were the most
pathetic words of all— something about ' hope trying to see a star,
and listening for the rustle of an angel's wings.'
" Mrs. Browning most truly writes :

" 'There is no God,' the foolish saith,

But none, ' There is no sorrow. '
And nature oft in bitter need

The cry of faith will borrow.
Eyes which the preacher could not school,

By wayside graves are raised ;
And lips cry, ' God be pitiful!'

Which ne'er said, ' God be praised!'

" I think I should like a greater comfort and a better hope

than that.

His BROTHER'S FUNERAL

" Dwight Moody had a brother, and after his own conversion
he earnestly pleaded with him, until the brother also yielded him
self to Christ, and became such an earnest worker that he was the
means of leading a number of his friends at his home into the
kingdom. And then this brother died and was buried. A few
years ago", Mr, Mills said, "as I spent a day in Northfield, and was
driven through its beautiful streets by one of the old residents, I
said, ' I wish you would tell me something about Mr. Moody that
may not be generally known.' And as we passed the old white
Church he said, ' I remember his brother's funeral.' He said that
there were a number of ministers in the pulpit, and that after they
had finished the usual services and the coffin-lid was about to be
put in its place, Mr. Moody arose, and stepping forward from the
seat where he had been sitting, with a shining face, he laid one

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 443

hand upon the coffin, and then, lifting the other, he poured out
such a stream of thanksgiving unto God for the life that was gone
and for the wonderful comfort and joy and hope that came to him
in Jesus Christ, that it was said by this onlooker that it almost
seemed as if the heavens were opened and they could see the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
At last he ceased, the coffin-lid was placed in its position, and the
body was carried out and laid in the grave. On one side of the
sepuicher stood a large number of young men, many of them led
to Christ through the influence of this one who was gone, and they
held in their hands beautiful white flowers, which they cast down
upon the coffin in token of the glorious resurrection. And on the
other side of the grave stood Mr. Moody ; and he said that as he
stood there and thought of how his brother, being dead, was yet
speaking, he felt that if he were silent the very stones would cry
out, and he cried with a loud voice, ' Glory to God ! Glory be to
God ! O death where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy

victory?'"

ON THE PROCESSION TO ROUNDTOP

When the last hymn had been sung on this day of the funeral
of D. L. Moody, the audience was requested to remain seated until
the family had passed out and also until the pallbearers had taken
from the Church the precious remains of this servant of God. As
we passed along in solemn procession towards Roundtop, it was
my privilege to hear something of the conversation of those who
followed the students who had been given the privilege of bearing
him to his tomb. One gentleman said to his friend, " When Mr.
Moody's little grandchild was buried only a short time ago, the
students carried her from the house to her grave, and Mr. Moody
said to his son, ' I think I should like to be carried like that my
self,'" and so the students bore him carefully to the place where

24

444 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

he is to rest until the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and
he shall rise.

Roundtop was reached in the dusk of that winter day. The
grave was lined with evergreen, and the resting place made as com
fortable as possible. After a moment's gazing at the grave, all
but the immediate family and the specially invited guests were
requested to withdraw, but before they went away some one started
the following old hymn which Mr. Moody ever loved to have sung
in his meetings. One voice was added to another until at last a
oreat volume of son^ rose towards God :

o o

Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high ;
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide.

Till the storm of life is past ;
Safe into the haven guide,

Oh, receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have 1 none,

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee :
Leave, oh, leave me not alone,

Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,

All my help from Thee I bring ;
Cover my defenceless head

With the shadow of Thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want ;

More than all in Thee I find ;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,

Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name,

I am all unrighteousness :
Vile, and full of sin I am,

Thou art full of truth and grace.

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 445

Plenteous grace with Thee is found —

Grace to cover all my sin :
Let the healing streams abound ;

Make me, keep me pure, within.
Thou of life the Fountain art,

Freely let me take of Thee ;
Spring Thou up within my heart,

Rise to all eternity.

\Vith heads solemnly bowed for a moment, the benediction was
pronounced, and all that was mortal of D. L. Moody, the greatest
evangelist of modern times, and one of the best men that ever
lived was lying in the grave

A PLACE OF BLESSING

Roundtop has ever been a place of blessing to the Northfield
visitors. There each evening, when the conferences are in session,
as the day is dying out of the sky, Bible students gather to talk of
the things concerning the Kingdom. At this point many of the
young men and women of the various students' gatherings, which
have been so intimately associated with Northfield, have decided
their life work, and forth from this point they have gone to the
ends of the earth to preach the Gospel. The old haystack at
Williamstown figures no more conspicuously in the history of mis
sions than Roundtop figures in the lives of a countless number
of Christians throughout the whole world.

A. J. Gordon, of sainted memory, delivered some of his most
telling addresses from this point. I recall one evening when he spoke
of the Lord's return, and just as he finished he stood for a moment
with his kindly face, all aglow with the power of his theme, and
said, " I wish He might come now," and as we looked towards the
west and saw the sunset glow upon everything it came to us as a
regret that the Lord did not come at that instant, and that we

446 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

must go down from this mount of privilege to work and to wait,
possibly through weary years until He should appear.

From this point Mr. S. H. Hadley, Jerry Macauley's successor
in the old Water Street Mission has told the story of his remarka
ble conversion, until people first sobbed in sympathy for him
because of all that he had suffered through strong drink, and then
praised Gocl that He had raised him up such a miracle of grace and
such a monument to His keeping power.

Here Mr. John Willis Baer has met the young people who
were seeking to know what they must do to be used of God, and
under the influence of the Spirit of God has pointed many a young
man and young woman to the Spirit of God who could fill their
lives and make them useful in every way.

Indeed, every visitor to Northfield journeys to Roundtop, and
every speaker at Northfield counted himself fortunate if he were
permitted to gather the people about him and speak as once the
Master did when He went up into a mountain.

ROUNDTOP PARTICULARLY IDENTIFIED WITH MR. MOODY

But Roundtop is particularly identified with Mr. Moody himself.
It is situated just back of his home. It was the place where
often he used to go for meditation and prayer, and whatever it has
been to friends of Northfield in the past, it shall be more sacred to
them in the future, because it is the last resting place of the man
whom they devotedly loved.

I recall one picture which can never be effaced from my
memory. It was just at the close of one of the first days of
the Northfield conference proper when it was announced
that Mr. Moody would lead the Roundtop services, and as we
were all gathered together singing, he came up. I can see him as
plainly as I see my friend of to-day. He was carrying a chair in

- \

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

his hand upon which he was to sit in the midst of his people.
He had his old, worn Bible in the one hand, and with his face
beaming with delight because so many people were there at the
beginning of the conference, he said, " I will ask Mr. Jacobs to
sing," and the great strong voice of the singer sounded out from
that hilltop and came back to us like an echo from the hills, until
some of us wondered whether we were in the body or not.
" Now, some one lead us in prayer," said the leader. " Now, let us
sing," and there altogether we sang, he keeping time with his
hymn-book. The hymn was " Christ Returneth " :

It may be at morn, when the day is awaking,

When sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking,

That Jesus will come in the fulness of glory,
To receive from the world " His own ".

Chorus —

O Lord Jesus, how long, how long

Ere we shout the glad song,

Christ returneth ; Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen.
Hallelujah, Amen.

As the blessed words rolled out from the lips of those assem
bled there on that sacred hill, I remember how transported we
all were with the bliss of that great truth, " Christ returneth !" The
faces of those about me shone with joy, and there before us sat our
beloved leader, the great factor of modern evangelism. He always
seemed ready for Christ's coming, and I doubt if his joyful demeanor
would have altered in the least, if at that moment the Heavens had
opened. He was always ready because his consecration of himself
to God was renewed with every breath, and attested by each suc
ceeding act in his life.

When the singing was at an end, Mr. Moody opened his Bible,
and said : " I have come up to-night, dear friends, in a spirit of
praise and thankfulness, to give you just a few nuggets from the

450 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

margin of my Bible ; you can take them down if you like, and if I
go too fast for you just stop me." I stood just behind his chair,
and beginning at Genesis he turned over the pages of his Bible,
and quickly I wrote down what he had to say. The following is
almost an exact report of that Roundtop meeting, and everything
recorded here I have, at one time or another, heard him say :
" Turn to Genesis and put this down," he said.

GENESIS.

Adam illustrates Human nature.
Cain " The carnal mind.

Abel The spiritual mind.

Enoch Communion.

Noah " Regeneration.

Abraham " Faith.
Isaac Sonship.

Jacob. Service.

Joseph Suffering and glory.

" Now, let us go on to Exodus the third chapter, maybe you
would like this.

Objections raised by Moses for declining and avoiding God's
call:-

Lack of fitness. V. 1 1.
" " words. V. 13.
" " authority. Chap. 4 : I.
" " powers of speech. 4 : 10.
" " special adaptation. 4:13.
" " success at first attempt. 5 : 23.
" " acceptance by Israelites. 6:12.

" Have you ever noticed the seven feasts in Leviticus, twenty-
third chapter ? I have long had it in my Bible,

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 45I

"Seven feasts : —

1. Sabbath — Rest.

2. Passover — Death of Christ

3. First-fruits — Resurrection.

4. Pentecost — descent of the Holy Spirit.

5. Trumpets — Ingathering- of Israel.

6. Atonement — -Mourning for sin.

7. Tabernacles — Christ's indwelling in the Christian.

" Sin is an awful thing, let every man make a note of this,
Joshua 7:21.

"Steps in Achan's sin :—

1. 'I saw.'

2. ' I coveted.'

3. ' I took.'

4. * I hid.'

Compare Eve, Gen. 3:6; Ananias, Acts 5 : i-io.
" How mean was the sin of Achan ! He saw the Babylonish
garment, and all the soldier in him withered up and he became a
sneaking thief.

" Here is a good thing on forgiven sin. Psalm 32.
"Seven steps to blessedness of forgiven sin : —
Conviction. Vs. 3, 4.
Confession. V. 5.
Forgiveness. V. 5.
Prayer. V. 6.
Protection. V. 7.
Guidance. Vs. 8, 9.
Joy. Vs. 10, 11.

"Here are seven things God will do for the believer. I find
ih^m in the gist Psalm.

'I will deliver him.' Vs. 14, 15,

452 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

' I will set him on high.' V. 14.
' I will answer his call.' V. 1 5.
' I will be with him in trouble.' V. 15.
4 1 will honor him.' V. 15.
4 1 will satisfy him.' V. 16.
' I will show him my salvation.' V. 16.

" Now let us find something in the New Testament. Look
at Matt. 7.

"In this chapter we have :—

Two gates — strait, and wide ;
Two ways — broad, and narrow ;
Two classes — many, and few ;
Two destinations — life, and destruction ;
Two trees — good, and corrupt" ;
Two fruits — good, and evil ;

Two things done to trees — hewn down, and cast out •
Two houses ;

Two foundations — rock, and sand ;
Two builders — wise, and foolish ;
Two storms ;

Two results— the one house stood, the other fell
" I found this somewhere ; does anyone want it ?
"Christ was foretold to : —

Adam — as a man. Gen: 3:15.
Abraham — as to His nation. Gen. 22 : 18.
Jacob — as to His tribe. Gen. 49 : 10.
Isaiah — as to His family. Isa. 11 : 1-5.
Micah — as to His town. Micah 5 : 2.
Daniel — as to His time. Dan. 9:25.
Mary — as to His person. Luke i: 30.

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 453

By angels — as to His date. Luke 2:11.
By a star — as to His birthplace. Matt. 2 : 9.
" Here is an outline for a sermon. Let the ministers put it
down. Luke 10 : 42.

' One thing is needful ' — the Gospel.

1 One thing I know.' John 9 : 25.

' One thing have I desired.' Ps. 27 : 4.

'One thing I do.' Phil. 3: 13, 14.

' Not one thing hath failed.' Josh. 23 : 14.

' Be not ignorant of this one thing.' 2 Peter 3 : 8

'One thincr them lackest.' Mark 10: 21.

o

" Here is something about the Prodigal Son." Luke 15.

His condition — ' in want.' V. 14.

His conviction — 'came to himself.' V. 17

His confidence — 'I will arise.' V. 18.

His confession — 'I have sinned.' V. 18.

His contrition — 'no more worthy.' V. 19.

His conversion — ' He arose and came.' V. 20.
"Turning-points in his life :—

Sick of home. Vs. 12, 13.

Homesick. Vs. 17-19.

Home. Vs. 20-24.

Sequel. Vs. 25-32.
"Six cases of men 'afar off' from God: —

The prodigal. Chap. 15 : 13.

The rich man. Chap. 16 : 23.

The ten lepers. Chap. 17: 12.

The publican. Chap. 18 : 13.

The beggar. Chap. 18 : 40,

Peter. Chap. 22 : 54.

454 ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED

" God's Word gives us a picture such as we find in no other
place, turn to John, sixth chapter.
" Seven classes of people :
r Curious. V. 2.

2. Admiring. V. 14.

3. Greedy. V. 26.

4. Skeptical. V. 36,

5. Murmurers. V. 41

6. Scoffers. V. 52,

7. Backsliders. V. 66..

" I have found much help in Hebrews. Note this : —

Sin is met by Atonement. Chap, i : 3.

Guilt is met by justification. 2 : 9.

Defilement is met by sanctification. 2:11,

Alienation is met by reconciliation. 2:17

Temptation is met by succor. 2:18.

" Christ communicates eternity of existence to everything he
touches : -

His throne is for ever and ever. Heb. i : 8.

His salvation is eternal. 5 : 9.

His priesthood is unchangeable. 7 : 24,

His redemption is eternal. 9:12.

His inheritance is eternal. 9:15.

His kingdom cannot be moved. 12 : 28

His covenant is everlasting. 13 : 20.

" The key word of Hebrews is ' better ; ' see how many times it
occurs.

Better hope. Chap. 7 : 19-

Better Testament. 7 : 22.

Better covenant. 8 : 6.

Better promises 8 - 6

ROUNDTOP, WHERE MR. MOODY WAS BURIED 455

Better sacrifices. 9 : 23.

Better substance. 10 : 34.

Better resurrection. 1 1 : 35.

Better country. 11 : 16.

Better things. 12 : 24."

When it was too dark for him to see, the well-marked Bible
was closed, and he offered such a prayer as I have rarely heard,
thanking God that He had permitted us to come to Northfield, and
asking Him that He might make it more of a blessing than ever
before in all its history. This is but a specimen service of Round-
top, and if the trees which stand there could speak, they would tell
as thrilling a story of scenes witnessed there as has ever been
pressed into human language, and now from this time on, pilgrims
will journey to Northfield and to this the new heart of the old
town, because in this grave lies the body of a man who yielded
himself absolutely to God, who had only one supreme desire, and
that was that he might glorify Him. The words of the poet
certainly describe him in his life :

" The strong man's strength to toil for Christ,

The fervent preacher's skill,
I sometimes wish but better far

To be just what God will.
No service in itself is small,

None great, though earth it fill,
But that is small which seeks its own,

That great which seeks God's will. "

D. L. Moody was a mighty man, because, he sought, as nearly
as any man I have ever seen, to do the will of God.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Memorial Services

THE announcement of the death of Mr. Moody was a shock to
many thousands. Numerous telegrams of condolence which
were sent to the bereaved family from all the quarters of
the world expressed but faintly the sense of loss which affected not
only those who had known him personally, but also a great follow
ing of those who had known him only through his work. Hun
dreds of memorial services were held. The great meeting in New
York, on Monday afternoon, January 8, 1900, brought out so much
of interest in regard to Mr. Moody and in regard to the sentiment
entertained toward him on all sides that I believe an account of
the services worthy of permanent record in this place.

THE GREAT MEETING IN NEW YORK

At the hour appointed for the opening of the services, Mr.
Wm. E. Dodge, the presiding officer, announced a favorite hymn
of Mr. Moody's, " In the Cross of Christ I Glory." After the
singing, the Rev. Dr. A. T. Pierson read a number of selections
from the Bible, being those verses of which Mr. Moody was
especially fond. The Rev. John Balcolm Shaw then led in prayer.

Dr. David H. Greer then spoke. He said :

"In the history of the Church of Christ very few ha-ve
touched so many hearts and -influenced so many lives as the dear
friend we come to remember and to thank God for to-day.

" I am sure it is no exaggeration to say that if all those whom
456

^ ~i
IS

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OE-'

Bg.

MEMORIAL SERVICES 459

he has led to a better life were to be gathered together, a half-
dozen halls of this size would not hold them. In the tender
services held at Northfield last week, Mr. Moody's pastor said, that
they were not gathered to mourn a defeat but to rejoice in a
victory. So to-day there is not the note of sadness in our gather
ing nor a funeral gloom. We are gathered together this afternoon
only to thank God with all our hearts for so fruitful and successful
a life, and to pray that that influence which he exercised while here
among us, shall continue. He is not dead, he has gone to the
better life above, and he lives with us to-day and will live on, by
his example and by the inspiration that came from his words and

his life.

His CONVERSION LIKE THAT OF ST. PAUL

" When Mr. Moody became a Christian man it was like the
conversion of St. Paul, — clear, decisive, and full. When the
blessed message came to him, that God had offered pardon and
peace and life here and eternal, he accepted it in all its fullness,
and he wondered with great astonishment that anyone could turn
away from such a message and such an offer, and he longed to
bring men to accept it and believe in it. From the very beginning
his theology was very simple. His creed was : ' God so loved the
world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him shall have eternal life.1 And this message he
repeated with all his courage and manliness and strength through
all his life, and so earnestly that it told wherever he carried it.

" Mr. Moody's early work was a very simple one. He had very
few opportunities of education. At that time he had no gift of
utterance, but he found fellowship and help in the Young Men's
Christian Association, and he commenced his work among a few
poor children in Chicago when he was a mere clerk there. I
remember nearly forty years ago going with him one Sunday

46° MEMORIAL SERVICES

morning to that poor little school across the river, and I caught
sight then of the peculiar character of the man, his directness,
manliness, and hence his great influence upon those children and
upon their parents.

' There were two early influences that directed his life more
than any others. One was the companionship and help that came
to him from the brotherhood of the Young Men's Christian
Association. All his life he acknowledged that as having formed
part of his character, and all his life he was a warm friend of the
Associations and aided them in every way. But the stronger and
greater influence was his beginning to study the English Bible.
He had the idea that a great many other good men have that, if
God wanted him to do work and speak for Him, God would put
words in his mouth. In his earliest efforts his talks were repeti
tions of each other, and without much effect. A kind, earnest
Christian man who influenced him very much talked with him and
urged him that, if he wanted to do God's work, he must fit himself
in the best way for such service and prepare himself to do his
Master's work. He urged him, therefore, as the best means for so
fitting himself, to study the Bible. Mr. Moody paid heed to the
advice ; he shut himself up for a long time and devoted himself to
a thorough and intense study of the Bible. From this study he
acquired two qualities, which in later years added much to his
power : first that clear-cut, plain, simple, Anglo-Saxon of the King
James version, which gave him such immense power over people
everywhere ; second, he acquired from his study of the Bible an
arsenal of promise and warning, which he used through all his life
with magnificent power and effect. There was something wonder
ful about his simple directness. To you, my friends, who are here
this afternoon, I could give you, by the hour, instances of the keen
way he went to a point. I remember when I first met him in

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Chicago he went to call on one occasion on a leading merchant
and most influential man in that city, and when he went out he
turned to him and baid : 'If you were only a Christian man, what a
grand influence you would have in this great city ! ' That man has
been a communicant of the Church for years, and he was Moody's
best friend for many years afterward. There was a manliness
about Moody, a hatred of cant and mere religious form. He had the
most intense and superb enthusiasm of any man I ever knew,
tempered by strong human common sense. He had a wonderful
intuitive knowledge of men.

" We all know very much of his wonderful successes as a
preacher, but those who knew him best and were closest to him
know that the great power of his life was in personal conversation
with men. The greatest sermon I ever heard from Mr. Moody
was one night when we were coming along Madison Avenue at
half-past twelve o'clock, going home from one of those great meet
ings in Madison Square. We had been kept there by those who
insisted upon getting advice from Mr. Moody, and, as we were
moving along, a gentleman came up from behind and said, ' Mr.
Moody, how shall I accept Christ and change my life ? ' He
turned in the moonlight, and standing there on the corner he said
a few sharply-cut, kindly words, and he put the truth so earnestly
to that man that there was no getting away from it, and the man's
heart was changed from that day.

" I was privileged to be with him at those great meetings at
the Haymarket, London, and what struck me and surprised me
most was the number of educated and cultivated people who came
there — the large number of literary people who came there to hear
Mr. Moody. The great majority of them did not believe in
religion, and they came to hear and enjoy his clean-cut English
phraseology. His work at Cambridge and Oxford and in the

462 MEMORIAL SERVICES

universities was simply wonderful. When he went to Oxford and
Cambridge they determined to run him out of the town ; they did
not want that kind of a man there, and before they knew him and
had heard him they were utterly opposed to his methods. But his
courage and his straightforwardness conquered them, and the
number of young men, not only in those universities but over all
the world, whose lives have been influenced for the better by Mr.
Moody's work we will never know until we get into another and
better world. His schools at Northfield are models of organization
and thoughtfulness. I trust that they will be carried on as a
memorial to him.

" What touched me more than anything else in Mr. Moody's
character was his extreme modesty about himself. He was the
most masterful man I ever knew ; when it came to the guidance
and instruction of others, he was like a general, managing his army ;
but when it came to himself he was a most modest man. I was
privileged to be in the house with him during all the time of those
great meetings at Madison Square. I never heard him appreciate
himself once ; you would never have known he had anything to do
with those meetings ; time after time he said to his friends : ' My
only wonder is that God can use so feeble an instrument as I, to do
his work.' His views became broader as he grew older, and his
prejudices, of which he had many in his early life, were thrown off.
I have heard him say, ' I am ashamed of myself ; you know I have
always talked about the extravagance and worldliness of the women
in New York ; it has been the theme of many of my talks in many
places, but I have been here now several days ; I have been on the
East Side and on the West Side ; I have been where the schools
are which these women are conducting, and I want to say that I
have never known so much self-sacrifice and devotion as is shown
by these women, and I am ashamed of what I have said.' I have

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heard him say, ' You know that I have had great prejudice against
the Roman Catholic Church, but I am ashamed of it ; I have had
some opportunity of noting lately that among the churches where
Christ is preached there is none where He is preached so simply
and where His cross is held up as it is in the Catholic churches.'
I mention these incidents simply to show how he had thrown off
his earlier prejudices."

The next speaker was to have been the Hon. John Wana-
maker, but illness prevented his attendance, and at his request Mr.
Sankey was asked to take his place. After leading the hymn,
"Saved by Grace," Mr. Sankey gave the audience an account of
the funeral services at Northfield and the incidents attending that

ceremony.

MR. JOHN R. MOTT'S ADDRESS

Mr. John R. Mott, the next speaker, one of the leading Chris
tian Association workers in the world said :

" Among some people the impression exists that Mr. Moody
did not exert a great and marked influence upon thinking young men
and women. This is a great mistake ; there is no class over which
Mr. Moody exerted a greater and more helpful or more continuous
influence than over the students of this and other countries. He
was one of the main factors of that great spiritual awakening at
Princeton in 1876 and 1877, resulting in the conversion of 100 young
men, and marked the impulse of the movement that led to the
Christian Association among the colleges of this country and
Canada. When the suggestion was made that an actual conference
of college men should be held, it was the influence, co-operation,
and leadership of Mr. Moody that made it a fact, and the gathering
at Mount Hermon in 1886, which has since convened from year to
year, has extended from Northfield to other parts of the country ;
until now we have some 1,200 young men from the universities and

2K

464 MEMORIAL SERVICES

colleges meeting together every year in the United States and
Canada, and nearly 1,000 college women, while the movement has
spread from this country into Great Britain, Switzerland, France,
Germany, Australasia, even into China and Japan, and year by year
the inter-collegiate gatherings are held for the training of young
men and young women for leadership in the work of Christ.

" Possibly no greater influence has gone out from Mr. Moody's
life than that of these conferences. Be it understood that these
are conferences, not of the rank and file of the students, but of the
young men and women selected by the other students to become
leaders in the organized work of Christ in the colleges and univer
sities. Yale will send this year fifty, or one hundred, young men to
be leaders in the committees and Christian societies; Harvard will
send a large delegation, and Princeton will send hardly less than
forty. Bryn Mawr and other young women's schools will send their
full delegations to take their part as leaders in the work of Christ.
The Student's Volunteer Mission movement had its origin in these
meetings, and under the leadership of Mr. Moody. God used Mr.
Moody for the purpose, and he seemed to generate the atmosphere
which created this Divine movement as projected into foreign fields.
The great increase in our Bible classes from 2,000 to 12,000 within
a comparatively short time is traceable directly to these annual con
ferences under Mr. Moody's leadership. There is no sign which is
attended with greater promise to the Church of God than this one.

" By his services to students, has the work of evangelism been
most advanced. The greatest revivals ever known at Oxford and
Cambridge were led by Moody. The most notable awakening at
the University of Virginia was during the work of Mr. Moody.
The last work among students which he performed, the last work
of this description, was at the Yale revival, where twenty or thirty
young men acknowledged their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Who

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can measure what he accomplished ! Henry Drummond worked
among students, and we might add twenty other names ; and many
of these men to-day are having access to lives and hearts of col
lege men in this and other countries for the reason of Mr. Moody's
lasting influence upon them.

" You ask me what is the secret of this influence of his among
thinking young men and young women. I find it more espec
ially in his matchless knowledge of the human heart. After that it
seems to me that his most marked influence v/as in his wonderful
honesty. If he didn't know a thing he said, ' I don't know.' That
gave him the intelligent confidence of the students. Then again
his freedom from cant or professionalism gave them additional
confidence in him. I have known students to go to his meetings
in a critical frame of mind with the purpose of analyzing his
methods ; I have seen them subdued, almost without exception, by
his matchless sympathy and heart power. He appealed to the
heroic and self-sacrificing- in young men, and then there was over
all this and through it all that without which his results and work
would be unexplainable, the fact of his abounding fidelity and
spiritual life, due to the fact that he was a God-possessed man. I
find in these the secret of his great success.

" It was most proper and fitting that his body should be
placed at rest on Roundtop ; that one spot in all the wide world
most gloriously and sacredly associated with his teachings and the
influences of his life-work.

"His going from us leaves a great gap ; but I am reminded
of the words of Henry Drummond on the death of a friend, when
he wrote to a classmate : ' We must close up the ranks and work
hard.'1'

The Chairman introduced the Rev. Dr. Theodore Cuyler as one
of Mr. Moody's earliest friends and co-laborers. Dr. Cuyler said :

466 MEMORIAL SERVICES

" The most unique and extraordinary Gospel preacher that
America has produced in this century has gone up to his resplen
dent crown. It was accorded to our Moody to meet and influence
more men and women than any other man in modern times. Spur-
geon, in his fearless way, spoke once a week, but Moody spoke
seven times a week — to 40,000 or 50,000 souls in a week. Our
dear brother was more endeared to us because he was such a
thorough typical American. He had tasted of the soil, and smelt
of the New England fields.

DR. CUYLER COMPARES MOODY AND LINCOLN

"If I were called on to name the two most typical Americans
of the century-men who have risen from obscurity to world
wide renown — the one a brilliant statesman and the other a
model preacher — I should not hesitate to name Abraham Lincoln
and Dwight L. Moody. When a nation's life is to be pre
served and its liberties maintained, Almighty God calls a poor
boy from the log cabin in Kentucky ; cradles him in the school of
hardship and gives him the Great West for his only university, »
and then annoints him to lead us through a sea of blood to the
Canaan of freedom. In like manner God called the humble
farmer boy from the banks of the Connecticut, gave him as his
education only one book — the book which schooled him with the
spirit of Jesus Christ — and then sent him out as a herald of salva
tion. Lincoln and Moody were alike in the gift of a remarkable
common sense. Neither one of them ever committed a serious
mistake. They were alike in being masters of simple, strong,
Anglo-Saxon speech, the language of the Bible and of Bunyan,
the language of the plain people. Lincoln's heart gushed out in
sympathy to all sorts and conditions of men and made him the
best loved man in American history. Moody's big loving heart,

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MEMORIAL SERVICES 469

fired with a love of Jesus Christ, made him a master of human
emotions, touching the fount of tears in thousands of hearts, and
often bringing weeping multitudes before his pulpit. Finally,
Lincoln, the liberator, went up to his martyred crown, holding the
shattered manacles in his hand. Moody, the liberator, the liber
ator of immortal souls, fell the other day as a martyr from over
whelming work — went to be greeted at the gates of glory by the
thousands he had led from the cross to the crown.

" Ere I take my seat, let me say what may not be known to all
of you. On the Sabbath before our brother started for Kansas
City he delivered his last sermon in New York in yonder Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian Church. In that discourse, as if already the
preliminary shadow was falling, he uttered this wonderful sentence :
'You may read in the papers that Moody is dead ! It will not be
so ! God has given me the gift of life everlasting.'

"Thank God, Moody is alive! Moody lives! His spirit is
to-day in this hall where he lifted up Jesus. I hear that trumpet
voice calling on the pastors and churches of New York to seek the
seat of prayer, the baptism of fire, that shall kindle this city and set,
perhaps, the nation aflame.

" One other message and I am done. Our beloved brother
who has just left us said : ' Five and twenty years ago, in my
native village of Northfield, I planted two Christian schools for
the training of boys and maidens in Christian living and consecra
tion as teachers and missionaries of J-esus Christ. I bequeath as
my legacy those training schools for Jesus to the churches of
America, and I only ask, I only ask that visitors to the beautiful
native village where I shall slumber on consecrated ground, when
they go there shall not be pained by the melancholy sight of the
ruins of these schools, but rather that they shall be rejoiced by
seeing them as two glorious lighthouses of the Lord beaming out

470 MEMORIAL SERVICES

truth and kindness over the world.' My beloved brother, the
answer of the Churches of God in America will be : ' We will ! We
will ! We will perpetuate those training schools of Jesus as a
splendid, magnificent, fervent memorial of our beloved Dwight

Lyman Moody.1'

MR. R. F. CUTTING'S REMARKS

The next speaker was Mr. Robert Fulton Cutting. He said :
" It is a good many years since I last saw Mr. Moody, in his own
home, surrounded by his family, and I have been a great deal
richer man since I had that experience. I do not know any man
who touched me more than he did. He lacked many of those
elements of eloquence which go to make up a great public speaker.
He did not have much of poetic fire, glowing rhetoric, or elocu
tionary cadence, but his manner was so direct, so straightforward,
so honest, that he seemed to speak to everything human in his
audience — everything that was righteous. He seemed to know
mankind as very few people do. And he came to this knowledge
not by exhaustive analysis, not by psychological formula;;, but he
seemed to be able to see into a man's heart because of the
transparency of his own nature ; because he was so unconsciously
honest, so perfectly frank, so courteous, that men and women
showed to him what they would not show to others, because they
could not hide it from him. He knew mankind, he knew what
human life was, and the brilliancy of his own work shone through
and through them.

" I was especially impressed at the Northfield conference by
one incident. Mr. Moody had been speaking at one of the meet
ings, and had gone to one of the rooms. Mr. Sankey, who will
probably remember the incident, gave out as one of the hymns —
one, I think, that belongs to the old Gospel Hymn Book No. 2, — 'I
feel like singing all the time.' ' I only give that hymn out because

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471

Mr. Moody has left the room ', he said. ' He won't let me sing that
hymn ; he does not believe in singing all the time.' So ifwas that Mr.
Moody knew perfectly well that the men or women whose lives were
made up of uninterrupted singing knew very little of the gravity of
human life, and was waiting for experiences which would temporarily
chill them. He gained access to the hearts of men and women
because he dealt with them in a common-sense way. That is the
way he completely disarmed all criticism. No man who has
played so large a part on the stage of our religious history was so
far above criticism as was Mr. Moody. He knew only one doc
trine — that ' God so loved the world that He gave his only begot
ten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but
have eternal life.' He knew only one heretic in the world, and
that was the unconverted man or woman. Every man with the
love of God in his heart was at home with him. In the midst
of all his successes, what a wonderful testimony it was to that
man's greatness that he never seemed to have any perception
of himself. Like the great master, Michael Angelo, he always
so arranged the lights in his life that his own shadow should
not fall upon his work. He did not know himself. He knew
his field ; he knew his God ; but he did not know himself,—
because he forgot himself when he first made up his mind what his
life work was to be. That was the source of his power.

" We are going now to lay our little tributes upon his tomb.
If he is gone out of our natural life, he has not gone out of our
eternal memories. What he has done for us in making us richer,
we will endeavor, in our way, to do for others also."

The Rev. Dr. David J. Burrell, of the Marble Collegiate
Church, was the next speaker. His words were :

" A good man has gone and we cannot be sorry. We cannot
the liturgy of death, ' Man that is born of woman is of

472 MEMORIAL SERVICES

few days and full of trouble ; he cometh up as a flower and is cut
down.' We are saying, ' Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is
within me bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and
forget not all His benefits.' It was a wonderful death, was it not ?
' Earth is receding ; Heaven is opening; God is calling.' Was he
thinking of the poet's words :

" 'The world recedes ; it disappears ;

Heaven opens on mine eyes ; mine ears

With sounds seraphic ring ?
Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly !
O grave where is thy victory,

O death, where is thy sting ? '

" It should have been a wonderful death, for it was a wonderful
life that went before it. As I have been sitting here, the words that
Dr. Pierson read out of Moody's book have been hammering at my
heart, ' One thing I do ; one thing I do.' This was the domina
ting power in Mr. Moody's life, an absolute singleness of purpose.
He looked into the face of Jesus Christ, who came into the world
to do one thing ; and, following the Master's text, he said, ' This
one thing I also do.'

" I met Mr. Moody when I was a Theological student, thirty-
one years ago, in Chicago. I roomed in Farwell Hall, in which
Mr. Moody preached, and his apartments were on the floor below
me. The Hall took fire one morning, and burned slowly but
surely through the forenoon. I busied myself in removing per
sonal effects and otherwise, until at last, driven out, I found myself
coatless and hatless in the street. A cordon had formed around in
front, but there stood Mr. Moody with a bundle of handbills
under his arms ; he called me, saying, ' Take these and distribute
them.' I looked at the bill. It read, ' Our Beautiful House is
Burned ; The Noon-day Meeting will be held at the Clark Street

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Methodist Church.' I asked, ' Where are your wife and chil
dren ?' He replied, 'I saw them safe.' 'And your personal
effects?' ' O, never mind them,' he said, 'Our meeting must go
on.' This was the spirit of the man, 'One thing I do.'

;< We cannot better perpetuate his memory than by copying his
enthusiasm. I mean to build him a monument, please God, in my
ministerial life, by devoting myself most earnestly to the Master's
work. I believe I shall love the Bible better, because he loved it
so ; I believe I shall honor the Holy Ghost more, because he
honored Him so ; I believe I shall look more affectionately upon
the Face so marred, yet so divinely beautiful, because he loved
it so. My brethren in the service of Christ, if we revere the
memory of this man, let us do the one great thing with more
earnestness than ever.

" 'Time worketh; Let me work too !
Time undoeth ; Let me do !
Busy as time my work I'll ply
Till I rest in the rest of Eternity.

Sin worketh ; Let me work too 1
Sin undoeth ; Let me do !
Busy as sin my work I'll ply
Till I rest in the rest of Eternity !

Death worketh ; Let me work too !
Death undoeth ; Let me do !
Busy as death my work I'll ply
Till I rest in the rest of Eternity. ' "

DR. DIXON'S ELOQUENT TRIBUTE

The Rev. A. C. Dixon, who for years had been close to Mr.
Moody, was the next speaker. He said :

' There was no need that D. L. Moody should ever perform a
miracle. He was a miracle. Miracle is God at work ; and God

474 MEMORIAL SERVICES

Almighty worked through Dwight L. Moody, who showed to the
world, as it seems to me no other man has shown in this generation,
the difference between influence and power. He began without in
fluence ; he became influential through power. He did not magnify
the influences of power and of money and of organization, education
and position ; but his trust was in God, and the power of Moody's
life was God Himself at work. Jesus was not a man of influence ;
He made Himself of no reputation but of power. Paul and Silas
did not have enough influence to keep out of jail, but they had
power enough after they were in jail to shake the doors open and
walk out ; and Moody was gifted with the power that could shake
the doors open. I always felt when I left Moody, not like praising
Moody, but like praising God. It seemed to me that I could feel
and see the throbbing of God, of God's love, God's sympathy,
God's great-heartedness, as I came in contact with this wonderful
man. He incarnated those words : ' God is able ; God is powerful,
all powerful.' And God did mighty works through Moody because
of his belief. He enabled God — I speak it reverently. Omnipo
tence stood helpless because of unbelief ; but God worked through
Moody because he believed. I saw some time ago a great steam-
engirie, throbbing with power, but it could do nothing because a
bolt was broken and the power was cut off. Moody furnished the
bolt ; he linked himself with Almighty God, and God worked
through him because he trusted in His word and in His Spirit and
in His Son.

"The life work of our friend was so simple. He had a heart
that took him into the great assemblies, into the great cities, the
great countries and the great world, making not only a sphere but
an atmosphere for Jesus. We speak of the modesty and humility of
Moody ; and the philosophy of his humility, I am impressed, was
this : He always stood in the presence of some great undertaking,

MEMORIAL SERVICES 475

some wonderful unfinished work of God, and the work before him
was so big that he could hardly see Moody ; he could simply see
the work to be done and the God that could do it, and he felt hon
ored in being the instrument of God in its execution. Brethren,
he always considered himself as the mere instrument of God, and
he never thought to take any of the glory of his work to himself.
I am afraid that many of us are too well satisfied ; we get puffed up
with vanity and pride, with the little bit that we have done ; we have
not undertaken enough for God. Moody fought for evangelization
of the cities and of the world, and if God will lift us unto his feet
and just let us see Him as Moody saw Him, we shall be humiliated,
expecting a blessing from Him.

" I believe in the educational work established by Mr. Moody.
God prosper the schools ! May God lead some of the millionaires
to lay millions upon that altar, and do it quickly, the more quickly
the better for the glory of God. But education with Mr. Moody
was the result of evangelism, and not evangelism the result of
education. Education was an incident of his life, and education
was established through his evangelism ; and my prayer is that
Moody may be projected into the future, and that those schools
may be supported by evangelism. Not only by wealthy men
giving their millions, but by pastors praying for them, do I hope
that this two-fold work of Moody's will be continued until we shall
meet him in glory.

"'Within the next twelve months,' if Moody were standing
on this platform, I believe he would say, ' Within the next twelve
months we shall preach the Gospel to every creature in Greater
New York.' Let that be the watch-word for 1900! The politicians
can reach all the voters in three months, and I believe that Chris
tian people can reach every sinner in Greater New York within
the next twelve months. We can bring the Gospel to the people

476 MEMORIAL SERVICES

in the home and on the street — the Word of God Himself — and
the work of the Church will make God wake them up. Let us
bring- the Gospel to the people everywhere — in the homes, in the
churches, in the theatres, on the streets. If we are to perpetuate
Moody's work, it will be by taking Christ into the homes and the
hearts of the people.

" Remember the Word of God to Joshua, the man who was to
meet danger : ' Be strong and of good courage ; ' and it needs
courage to meet swords and bullets. Remember God's words to
Solomon, the man who was to meet difficulties in building the
temple : ' Be strong and of good courage ;' and it takes a finer fibre
of courage to meet obstacles than to meet bullets, it takes more
real bravery to overcome the obstacles that beset the Christian's
path than to climb San Juan Hill or storm Manila or Santiago ; it
takes more than courage to meet the obstacles and labor of carry
ing the Gospel to the millions. Moody never faltered under
difficulty, because he believed his God was equal to any emergency.
Listen to these words of God, ' Moses, my servant, is dead ; arise
therefore and pass over Jordan.'

" God help us to carry on the work that he laid down and do
it in the strength of his Almighty God !"

THE CHARACTERIZATION BY DR. BUCKLEY

The Rev. Dr. J. M. Buckley then spoke as follows :
'' We go to the Bible for sublime passages, and those who
understand the great book go to it for strange passages. The
strangest memorial note in all literature is to be found in the Bible
concerning a certain king who reigned in Israel eight years, and the
epitaph proposed for him is this, ' and he departed without being
desired.'

MR. MOODY'S BIBLE showing marks and annotations by the evangelist.

MR. MOODY'S DOG. Everyone who saw the evangelist on the streets of Northfield during
recent years will remember this faithful dog, always at his heels.

MEMORIAL SERVICES 479

" What a contrast between such a career and that which has
called us here ! Our friend died when he was most desired ;
desired to maintain those wondrous Bible Conferences ; desired as
a nucleus of undenominational activity ; desired to sustain those
educational institutions which he had founded ; desired to raise up
more workers imbued with his spirit ; desired to dart to and fro
through the country to awaken communities, to snap the chains of
conventionalism, to elicit and evoke the tremendous latent forces of
the Church, and to unite Christians in the only way in which they
can ever be united ; — by a firm and unswerving belief in the funda
mental principles of the Gospel he developed, and in active, soul-
saving, consecrated labor. At this hour D. L. Moody was called
away.

" To attend a meeting of this sort sometimes produces sin
gular effects. Persons are heated by the Scriptures, and by their
own rhetoric, until at last one would think it a jubilation, and from
a great memorial meeting in this city a gentleman retired saying,
' I was sad when I went there, but I don't know now that it makes
any great difference.' According to these speeches, God is going
to take care of His own work. The fact is the New Testament
never teaches that we should not be sad. On the contrary, when
Epaphroditus was sick, St. Paul wrote to the Philippians and told
them that Epaphroditus longed after them because they had heard
that he had been sick. And the Apostle said, ' indeed he was sick,
nigh unto death ; but God had mercy on him, and not on him only,
but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.' The real
feeling is midway between jubilation and the sorrow of the world
that worketh death. It is a great loss ; to human eyes it is a dread
ful and in a certain aspect of the case an irreparable loss.

" How are we going to prove that any preacher has the Spirit
of God ? Will oratorical preaching, will pathetic preaching, will

480 MEMORIAL SERVICES

persuasive preaching demonstrate that he has the Spirit ? Is the
power of discerning- spirits left in the Church ? Did not some of
the most famous evangelists the world ever saw fall into the very
depths of iniquity and sin ? Did not the author of that wondrous
hymn, ' Come, ye sinners, poor and needy', spend twelve years in
the most dreadful depth of depravity, and go mourning all his days
'after he emerged from it? Have we not in our day known men
absolutely to renounce the doctrines they held when they were
most prosperous as evangelists, and confess with brazen face that
in the very midst of their greatest efforts and success they did not
believe what they were supposed to believe ? How then shall a
man prove that he has the Spirit of God ? He must prove it by
a long career, by a spotless reputation, by meeting men face to face
as well as upon the rostrum, and by the men who have slept with
him, and traveled with him, and prayed with him, and suffered in
evil report as well as in good report. These men must stand up,
and be able to declare in the face of God, and in the presence of
men, that this man all through this period lived as he professed,
prayed as he professed, preached as he professed, denied himself
as he professed. And then, if God gives such a wondrous death
to that man as this, we have evidence probable and conclusive that
he was a man of God.

" But, my brethren, you cannot undertake to show that D. L.
Moody did just what any other man could do, if he only had
enough of the Spirit. Could God do as much by Peter in the
same way that He could with Paul? What kind of a speech
would Peter have made at Mars Hill to the Epicureans and the
Stoics ? He would, perhaps unconsciously, unless a special miracle
had been wrought, have gotten himself into very great difficulty.
He did it on several occasions, and had not learned better until
the threshold of the crucifixion, when he smote off an ear in the

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excess of ill-regulated zeal. The fact in the case is that God by
nature endowed Mr. Moody in an astonishing- manner with regard
to his mere body. There was a man in Connecticut who loved
and adored Mr. Moody, and he invariably amused himself in this
way, sitting in the cars. When Mr. Moody came in he would say,
•Do you know him ? That is Huntington, the greatest railroad
man in this country.' Never did he hear one word of question
from the men who had never seen Huntington. At other times
he would suggest he was a Western Judge. In every case every
man seemed to think it exactly right. They saw that tremendous
head, monster chest, prompt, intense, direct action, a man obviously
born to command. This same man invariably told people after
ward before they left him, for he was a Christian, ' No, that is
not Mr. Huntington ; it is Mr. Moody ;' and their curiosity was
greatly excited. But D. L. Moody never reminded any other man
of another man, in the ordinary sense of the term. All the
humility of Mr. Moody was1 before God. He never was humble in
his dealings with Mr. Sankey. He never was humble in his deal
ings with any man that he undertook to deal with. If ever there
was a man self-confident under God, D. L. Moody was the man.

" Physically many men reminded other men of Mr. Moody.
That undefinable personality that will not show in a photograph,
and cannot be painted in oil, was in Mr. Moody, and it went out of
his eyes, and out of his head. He came up to me one day in a
parlor car, and struck me on the shoulder and said, ' You look
about the same as you did when,' — and he mentioned a long period
of time that need not be repeated here. A man came up and said,
'Who was that?' Said I, 'That is D. L. Moody.' 'I thought/
said the stranger, ' it was Henry Wilson,' and there was a very
great physical resemblance between the Vice-President and Mr.
Moody.

482 MEMORIAL SERVICES

" Then this man had what is seldom found in men inclined to
corpulence, — immense activity. He was more active than the
average man of medium size.

" He could improve, and that was one of his glories. Two
hundred years from now the extreme higher critics will be trying
to prove that there were two Moodys, and they will do it by
getting up the language word by word, and sentence by sentence,
that Mr. Moody used when he began in Chicago. They will make
a parallel of that with the highly improved style of his later years.
Some persons say Mr. Moody was not a cultivated orator. Note
that passage quoted by Drummond, observe that when in London
he described the ascension of Elijah several parliamentary orators
arose to their feet and looked in the air after the ascending
prophet. Take his sublime eulogy of Joseph of Arimathea,
delivered in this house less than a year ago. Not far from yonder
box sat a bishop noted for sound judgment, and he said, ' That is a
piece of work any man might be proud of.'

" Nearly twenty-five years ago the gentleman who presides
to-day sat on the platform in the Hippodrome. A very strange
scene took place in the City of New York. We have read the
Arabian Nights' entertainment, we remember that a certain Caliph
used to go about in disguise, and marvelous are the extraordinary
tales told of him. But at that time New York beheld an emperor,
an emperor of a great territory, which is to be in the future one of
the greatest empires of the world, unless it remains permanently
republican. I refer to Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil. He
went on the platform and took the seat vacated by Mr. Dodge and
sat there. Two-thirds of the audience knew who he was, but the
man of the occasion was Mr. Moody, and he was preaching then
and there. What did he do ? Did he exhibit that fawning and
obsequious bow that many persons do when the President appears,

MEMORIAL SERVICES 483

or even a Secretary of State ? Mr. Moody never referred to Dom
Pedro, but he introduced into the midst of his discourse these
words: 'What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with
Jesus? An emperor cannot buy Heaven, but he can have it as a
free gift,' and after he said that he paused, and Dom Pedro bowed
his assent, and afterwards remarked to the gentleman who wrotet
the account, ' That is a man to be heard and to be believed.'

' Mr. Moody was a personality. That personality is now
invisible. It will disappear. You and I will remember him, and
those who have seen him will remember him, but we belong to a
vanishing generation. Who can go through Westminster Abbey
without a guide-book, and know much about a great many that are
there ? Very few. The personality of Mr. Moody will be totally
forgotten, as has been the personality to a large extent of Jacob
Knapp, and of Charles G. Finney, and a great many others ; to
the present generation they are but names. There is but one way
to prevent the personality of Moody from entirely disappearing. It
is by the perpetuation of those schools, and the maintenance of their
spirit. God forbid that those schools should ever follow in the
wake of Harvard Divinity School and of some others ! Mr. Moody
had his prejudices, but I heard him declare that he would fellow
ship with everybody who believed himself a sinner and trusted in
Christ. ' But,' said he, ' God being my helper, I never will fellow
ship a man who denies the Deity of my God and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, or sneers at His atonement.'

"There was a man who spent his life in traducing the Bible,
in caricaturing the ministry, in making audiences as large as this,
laugh at our holy faith. That man boasted that he would have his
stenographer with him when he died, that none could misrepresent
his last words. He had a painless death. He never had to meet
the king of terrors. No man whispered in his ear, 'You are about

484 MEMORIAL SERVICES

to die. Does your faith sustain you ? ' He died and left the most
deplorable scene of unconsolable grief that the world ever saw.
Our Moody was told that he must die. What then ? O, the
blessing of the manner of his death to the Church ! God showed, I
believe, in a peculiar way for the Church and for him that
( Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.'
There is something worse in this world than agnosticism, something
worse than blank infidelity. It is the practical effects of a belief
that we cannot be sure of the future. There are some hopeless
words from ' In a Persian Garden', that I heard sung with sweeter
voices than are often heard in the sanctuary, at a private entertain
ment, and at the close a young lady was heard to say, ' Well, perhaps
that is all there is to it.'

" There were those in the time of Paul who said, ' Let us eat,
drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die.' Ah, if there were no
life afterward I too would drink anything that would make me
oblivious of my doom ! But listen ! listen ! listen ! ' I heard a
voice from Heaven saying to me, Write : Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them.'

" Farewell, beloved brother ! Farewell, stalwart friend ! Fare
well, all men's friend ! WTe shall see thee at last, but not in the
flesh; for didst thou not thyself say, 'My body to the dust, my
soul to the God who crave it.'

O

At the conclusion of Dr. Buckley's remarks, Mr. Sankey sang
a memorial hymn, written by him for the occasion, the whole
assemblage joining in the chorus. The ceremonies were then
closed with the benediction by the Rev. J. Balcolm Shaw.

CHAPTER XXX,

Appreciations by Eminent Friends

THE estimation in which Mr. Moody was held by his co-
workers, and others who knew him, will testify perhaps most
fittingly to his wonderful personality. Many of the follow
ing tributes were written in response to inquiries made by The
Christian Endeavor World.

" He was a convincing example of the priesthood of the
people, and led out the laity into fields of unsuspected Christian
usefulness. Edwards, Payson, Caughey, Inskip, Moody: the
greatest of these was Moody."— Rev. D. H. Moore, D. D., Cincin
nati, Ohio.

" Mr. Moody was a man of the utmost sincerity, clear faith and
strong constitution. He knew men, and was a man of common
sense. He was a preacher, simple, direct and interesting. I
believe that he gave a strong uplift to the religious life of America
and Great Britain."— William Lawrence, Protestant Episcopal Bishop
of Massachusetts.

"In the most entire and utmost way, Mr. Moody exhibited and
lived for and preached Jesus Christ at once God and Brother. His
success in that preaching is only an illustration of the fact that
such Gospel appeals to and meets as nothing else can, the needs of
the human heart. His last words were: 'The earth recedes.
Heaven opens.' Those may be our last words also if, as he did
we trust and serve his Lord, who is at once Lord and Brother."—
Rev, Way land Hoyt, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.

485

486 APPRECIATIONS B} EMINENT. FRIENDS

" IN Christ

His life was a good fight of faith.
His work was a long labor of love.
His death was a full triumph of hope.
His memory is a strong inspiration to service.
His reward is an inheritance of glory

With Christ."
— Rev. Henry Van Dyke, D. D. New York, N. Y.

" He is, in my opinion, the greatest evangelist since White-
field, and since the Apostle Paul there has been no man who has
preached to so great a multitude and led so many to Christ. To
the end of time Mr. Moody's teachings will last. The simplicity
of his words went direct to the heart of common men. His con
scientiousness, his enthusiasm, his inspired common sense, his kind
ness — all made him especially fitted for his work." — Rev. Newell
Dwigkt HUlis, D. D., Brooklyn, N. Y.

" He was, under God, the prime inspirer and director of the
evangelistic trend, which has marked the last third of the nine
teenth century. He has done more, than any clergyman or layman
of his generation in changing the style and method of the pulpit
and in making it, as it ought to be, more direct, practical and sym
pathetic. To say that Mr. Moody was an uneducated man is wide
of the mark. He was well educated, although self-educated,
through the constant use of all the varied resources, which lay
around him, for thorough and continuous preparation for his
divinely designated mission." — Rev. Robert Hunter, D.D., Philadel
phia, Pa.

" I have known Mr. Moody for twenty-five years, and have
met him on many occasions. He was one of the purest and truest
men I ever knew. He was a most thoughtful and careful student

REV. F. B. MEYER, OF LONDON.

APPRECIA TIONS B Y EMINENT FRIENDS 489

of the Bible. He was a great friend of young men, and his influ
ence over them was remarkable. He was a devoted and laborious
worker, and, so far as I know, the money he received nearly all went
to aid poor young men or struggling colleges or churches. Mr.
Moody was a remarkable reader of human nature and seemed intui
tively to understand how to apply the truth to men in keeping
with their disposition and nature. The Church of Jesus Christ has
lost one of the most effective workers it ever had in the death o/
Mr. Moody."— Rev. 1. W. Joyce, D.D., LLD., Bishop of the M. R
Church,

" Mr. Moody was a man of tender compassion and unbounded
sympathy, of deep humility and abounding charity, of tireless
energy and unflagging hope. Faith in a God who answers prayer
and who can save the most hopeless, faith in the Bible as the Word
of God from the beginning to the end, faith in the present power
of the Holy Spirit, was the secret of his strong, beautiful and won
drous service." — Rev, R. A. Torrey, CJiicago, III.

" Mr. Moody has taken his place among the immortals. In his
own sphere his work was owned by God as truly as was that of Mr.
Spurgeon in his sphere. Mr. Moody gave great prominence and
power to the work of the laity. He emphasized the gentler rather
than the sterner elements of the Gospel. His ministry was one of
declaration rather than one of argumentation. His educational
work is the most enduring feature of his unique service and his
consecrated life." — Rev. R. S. Mac Arthur, D.D., New York , N. Y.

" In the death of Mr. Moody, the world suffers a loss which
no other man's services, however invaluable, can neutralize. His
speculations concerning things beyond this earth were not pecu
liarly his and were not the measure of his great worth. His value
was his amazing gift for identifying the whole human side of his
religion with the whole human side of his life, and for kindling

49o APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS

other souls from the fires of his mighty devotion. May these
things live after him forever." --George W. Cable, Northampton,
Mass.

" My heart aches over the loss that comes to us in the death
of Mr. Moody. He has always been an inspiration to me in prepar
ing hymns for gospel work ; not that he was a musician or claimed
to be, but I early learned to prize his judgment as to the value and
usefulness of a hymn for the work. What moved him was sure to
move others, and what failed to do so could be safely omitted. I
have esteemed it one of my highest privileges to share in preparing
songs for his work, and, now that he has gone, how lonely it
seems ! "- -James Me Gr ana/tan, Kinsman, O.

" D. L. Moody believed the Bible to be the Word of God, and
preached its truths with the authority of a messenger intrusted
with a revelation. He believed in the Holy Spirit, and depended
upon Him for power. His love for Jesus was a passion ; and he
loved people, good and bad, because Jesus loved them.

"In the inner circle of his family and intimate friends he was
as tender as a child, or gentle as a woman, at times as frolicsome as
a boy, and as cheerful as morning sunshine. There was' in him a
rare union of spiritual fervor and common sense. His enthusiasm
never ran away with his judgment. He was truly great in the
Christlike sense of ministry to others." — Rev. A. C. Dixon, D. D.,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

" The rounded fulness of Dwight L. Moody's life is answer to
the oft-repeated question, Is life worth living? It is not worth
living if lived for self ; it is if lived for others. And, when I think
of the countless many who have been lifted to higher things by his
earnest words and self-denying life, I am sure that his life was
worth living. Only the recording angel can tell the number of

AP PR EC I A TIONS tt Y EMINENT FRIENDS 49I

those who, when the news of his death was telegraphed, responded
with the expression, unrecorded on earth, ' Thank God for Dwight
L. Moody's life!'

" His end was peace. His message to all is service. 4 Whoso
ever will be chief among you let him be your servant.' The world
needs a successor. Who will he be ? "-—David J. Brewer, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Coiirt of the United States, Washington, D. C.

" He preached a positive Gospel to an age of doubt, and
moved the popular heart and life as no other man of the age has
done, unless it be Charles H. Spurgeon. The great preacher was
ever true to the Bible doctrines concerning God, sin, punishment,
repentance, Heaven and hell He stood firmly for the divinity of
Christ and the inspiration of the Scriptures and the authority of
the Book of books. He was a large-hearted, sympathetic, noble,
manly man. His Gospel was full of sunshine and joy. 'God is
love' was the magnet which he used to draw men to Christ and a
new life. His power was due to his positive faith, his life in close
touch with the spirit of God, his rare good sense, his sympathy
and love for all classes, his insight into human nature and his

o

ability to manage men. He has shown what one can be and do
who is wholly devoted to God and his work." — Rev. P. H. Swift, D.D.,
Chicago, III.

"Very few men have been so close to the strength and weak
nesses of humanity. He saw and dealt with all classes — the high
and the low, the rich and the poor — and as he came close to them
they also were drawn close to him. This was because all believed
in his love and truth, in his sincerity and absolute unselfishness.
This was never shown perhaps to a greater degree than in the early
life of this association, when full of faith, hope and perseverance
he gave to this organization that spiritualizing force which is to-day
the great source of strength and vitality.

492 APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS

"Two of my childish recollections of Sunday are of sitting in
oner of the pews of the old 'spotted church,' as it was called, and
going with my father to the mission Sunday school in North Market
Hall, where Mr. Moody was the chief spirit. I remember how he
inspired me with confidence as a child, and how my love and
respect grew with the passing years." — J. V Farwell, Jr., Chicago, III.

" Any tribute I might give to the memory of Mr. Moody
would be largely influenced by personal affection as well as admira
tion, for during the well-nigh quarter of a century I have been
associated with him and his work, both my love and my admiration
for him have grown with the passing years, and his taking away
therefore comes as a personal grief.

"He combined in a most extraordinary degree great strength
and force of character with great sympathy and tenderness of
heart, and with these a most generous nature, always considering
the welfare of others rather than his own comfort and happiness.

" It may be truly said of him that ' a prince in Israel has fallen.'
and those who know him best and are best able to estimate his ser
vices to his generation will say, \vhat they believe time will reveal
to all, Dwight L. Moody was one of the greatest men of the century
now closing."- — George C. Stebbins, Brooklyn, N. Y,

" The lines along which he won success are worthy of very care
ful attention. First, his life was a constructive force. He was in the
world to build up, construct, to save. He could say, with Christ :
'I am come not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.' He
dealt with the positive, the known and settled in religion.

" Second, he was thoroughly sincere. He believed his messsage
to be absolutely true. There was no doubt in his heart, consequently
none found expression on his lips. He was evidently so honest, so
true, outspoken and frank that all men were convinced that he

APPRRCIA TIONS B Y EMINENT FRIENDS 493

believed through and through every word he preached, and that he
loved his fellow-men and desired their salvation above everything
else ; and that he was in the work, riot to satisfy a selfish ambition,
or for ease or fame, but because from conviction he had to be
there.

" The next element of power in Moody was a childlike simpli
city that was marvellous. He was a man of remarkable wisdom,
but there was no cunning in him. He was as absolutely free from
duplicity as a man can be." — Rev. Charles C. Earlc, Boston, Mass.

" His life was spent for Jesus Christ, his Master. Self was
kept back, while Christian power within was his guide.

" God chose Moody, I have no doubt, because there was in
his nature all the fire and enthusiam that would break out and
electrify mankind. He was anxious for the souls of men. Moody
was a layman, but his ministry has been as successful as any man
in orders. Others have saved their hundreds, he his thousands.
Moody was a born leader and was one of the greatest generals we
have ever had. If he had been a soldier he would have stood side
by side with Grant or Wellington.

" Moody unified humanity. He wanted all denominations to
get together. He knew that the way to have a union was not by
creeds but by work. Let us take Moody's idea of work as a unify
ing force." — Rev. George C. Lorimer, D.D., Boston, Mass.

" Dwight L. Moody was as undeniably the most extraordinary
Gospel preacher that America has produced in this century as
Spurgeon was the most extraordinary that Britain has produced.
Both had all Christendom for their congregations. I am glad that,
like Abraham Lincoln, he never went to any college ; both formed
their own racy Saxon styles for themselves.

" With my beloved Brother Moody I had much personal inti
macy for twenty-eight years. He delivered his first Bible readings

494 APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT EMENDS

in our little mission chapel in the winter of 1872. A few months
later, when I was in London, he came into my room one day and
said, ' They want me to stay and preach here ; what shall I do ? '
My quick answer was, ' Come.' He went with Mr. Sankey, and
thus began his world-wide career in Britain.

" One of his last sermons was delivered from my old pulpit
here a few weeks ago. I said to him, ' Last night you were at your
best; you were not talking to Christians, but calling the unconverted
to Jesus ; stick to tJiat as long as you live.' Who will be the Elisha
to follow our translated Elijah ?" — Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D.,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Dwight L. Moody, the most divinely ordained Christian evan>
gelist of the nineteenth century, sleeps well. He was girt with
greatness all around. A great intellect was his. F'or, although
unlearned in the classics and sciences, he was deeply schooled in
the science of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, whom to know
aright is life eternal. Other knowledges than this pass away, and
are liable to puff up while they last.

" Mr. Moody's greatness of intellect was evidenced by the fact
that his sermons repeated a thousand and more times were always
as fresh and fascinating as they were at first. Only extraordinary
minds can speak often on the same theme without becoming
stale. He had also a great heart. He loved everything that was
good. I do not believe he ever felt hateful toward any man. Su
premely he loved Jesus Christ as we read of Him in the Word.
Mr. Moody was as certain that the Holy Scriptures, as we have
them, were fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, as he was that his
pulse-beat came from his heart's throb. I recall no other one in
my day whose departure and 'abundant entrance' above have
brought Heaven so sensibly near. He was the friend of the whole

APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS 495

world, and all lands will lament the loss of his measureless influ
ence for human welfare." — Rev. John Lindsay Withrow. D. D.,
Boston, Mass.

" Moody and I met for the first time in Cleveland, East Ten
nessee. It was about the middle of April., 1864. I was bringing
together my Fourth Army Corps. Two divisions had already
arrived, and were encamped in and near the village. Moody was
then fresh and hearty, full of enthusiasm for the Master's work.
Our soldiers were just about to set out on what we all felt promised
a hard and bloody campaign, and I think were especially desirous
of strong preaching. Crowds turned out to hear the glad tidings
from Moody's lips. He showed them how a soldier would give his
heart to God. His preaching was direct and effective, and multi
tudes responded with a confession and promise to follow Christ.

" From that time on throughout his useful career I have had
association with him. On the steamer Spree, during our remark
able wreck and rescue, I was with him. Who could have held up
Christ with more fearlessness and fidelity than he did then to over
seven hundred passengers ?

"In Chicago he acted as a general, and I became his subor
dinate during the World's Fair. Thousands upon thousands
crowded the theatres, tents, halls, churches, and other public
buildings, by his provisions, to hear the simple Gospel.

" His work, again, in our war with Spain, by sending evangeli
cal speakers to the front, whom he knew the soldiers would heed
and hear, will never be measured by us who were mere helpers.
He planned, selected his messengers, and sent them, and raised
funds to give to our soldiers the bread of life.

" With tears we read his last words : ' Heaven opens. Earth
recedes. God is calling me.' But O the triumph, Stephen-like, of
such a departure."- — General O. O. Howard,, Burlington^ Vt.

496 APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS

" I first knew Mr. Moody in 1857. It was at a Sunday school
convention at a Clark Street mission in Chicago that I met him.
He was then twenty-one years old, and was jusf entering the career
in which he has done so much of good. He was a stout, robust,
ardent young fellow, shaking hands with everybody and smiling on
them in his cheerful way, and the smile was not put on either — it
was genuine.

" I crossed the continent with him in 1871 to attend the Cali
fornia Sunday school Convention, and again in 1872 I crossed the
Atlantic in his company when he first went to London to hold
evangelistic services. At the invitation of Mr. Buley, the originator
of the Dublin tax system, and a philanthropic gentleman of large
means, I spent several days at Mr. Buley's home, near Dublin, in
company with Mr. Moody, and there I became better acquainted
with the man himself. Since then I have met him many times.

" Mr. Moody was bold, courageous in his advocacy of the
things which he believed. He did not know what self-conscious
ness was. He was never embarrassed — at least he never showed it.
He had unlimited faith in the divine power to carry him through
difficulties. To be sure he sometimes failed in his plans — things
did not go just as he wanted them to, but he never worried over
such things. Once in Ireland I made fun of some of his old stories.
I said, 'See here, Moody, I have heard you tell these same stories over
and over again, and now I'd like to hear some new ones.' He
looked at me in a hurt sort of way and with tears in his eyes he
said, 'Don't say that. I have to use them.' I made up my mind
then that if any man could use an old sword as effectively as D. L.
Moody did, I would never criticise him for it.

" While fixed in his own faith, he was liberal towards people of
diverse faiths. Once in Chicago he went to call on a Roman Catho
lic bishop. ' I have talked religion with almost everybody,' said

APPRECIA TIONS B Y EMINENT FRIENDS 499

Moody, ' and I thought I would come and talk to you.
Besides, some of your boys throw stones at a mission over on the
north side.' 'That's very wrong in them,' said the bishop, 'and I
will tell them they must not do so.' So they talked about religion
for a while, and Moody said, ' You pray, bishop ? ' ' Yes, said the
bishop.' ' Let's pray now,' said Moody, and they did, and they
parted fast friends. Moody had largeness of soul while he had
positiveness of faith. It would be good if we had more like him.

" No man has died in this codntry in years for whom there has
been a wider, greater, intenser affection than there was for Dwight
L. Moody."— Rev. John H. Vincent, D.D., L L. D., Bishop of the
M. E. Church.

" i. A man of prayer — the chief secret of his wisdom, useful
ness and success.

" 2. A man of the Book — unwearied in Biblical study, he wore
out several Bibles ; absorbed the very atmosphere as well as the
spiritual texts of Scripture.

" 3. A man of soundest evangelical faith, with a mighty grasp
of essentials in the answer to the question, ' What must I do to
be saved ? '

"4. A man of extraordinary practical sagacity, organizing
power, and aptness for leadership. He used to say that it was bet
ter to set ten men at work than to do yourself the work of ten men.
But he was accustomed to do both.

" 5. A man of combined courage and tenderness — bold as any
lion, tender as any drop of dew.

" 6. A man endowed by his unusually powerful but balanced
emotions with greatness of character, and by his caution and trench
ant common sense with strategic strength of character.

14 7. A man of commanding spiritual manliness, everywhere
inspiring confidence.

500 APPRECIA TIONS B Y EMINENT FRIENDS

" 8. A man of remarkable business and executive talent, he
was trusted by men of affairs.

" 9. A man working easily with associates whose endowments
filled out his own, like Professor Drummond and Mr. Sankey, the
three together making a globe of capacities and aptitudes for the.
work they undertook.

" 10. A man whose career has been a spiritual link between
England and America and all English-speaking lands. Mr. Moody
has had no equal as an evangelist since President Finney was laid in
his grave ; and, as he had no real predecessor like himself, so he is
not likely to have a successor. The Chicago and the Northfield
schools ought to continue through his sons his unmatched work. ' I
wonder,' said a young minister to Professor Park, 'that Providence
can accomplish so much through a man of only moderate endow
ments.' ' I wish to speak respectfully of Providence,' said Professoi
Park, in reply, 'but I call Mr. Moody a great man.' ' I wish I had
your shoulders,' said Mr. Gladstone. ' I wish I had your head,'
said Mr. Moody, in answer."-— Joseph Cook, L L. D., Boston, Mass.

" My acquaintance with Mr. Moody runs back forty years or
IT ore, when he was just emerging from business and attracting
attention in Chicago by his resolute and resistless efforts in religious
woik. We came together often. My house was his home, especi
ally after the Chicago fire, when he walked out from his flame-lit
hou ;e with his little family, saving nothing but his personal Bible.
We were together several months at the time, and gathered the
mon£y mainly in New England for the rebuilding of the Illinois
Street Mission. Soon after the fire he made the acquaintance of
Mr. Sankey and founded the connection with which work in Eng
land began at York

•'Stretching over the years that intervened, up to Monday
night, November i3th of this year, I have enjoyed the inspiration of

APPRECIA TIONS B Y EMINENT FRIENDS 501

his life. The freshest memory I have of him is the night above
referred to, when he got off the Pennsylvania Railroad train to keep
an appointment he had made with me by telegraph, to spend a short
time between trains on his way to Kansas City for his last meetings.
I remarked that same night, after he had left me, how heavy a
burden seemed to rest upon his heart as he said again and again :
' I wish that I might be moved of God to move one large Eastern

o o

city. For I think if one Eastern city could be thoroughly revived,
the others would feel the influence and be stirred likewise.' As 1
looked into the face of the man, whose eyes and voice were full of
tears, it seemed as if a prophet like unto Elijah had come back
a^ain. He left behind him that night his comfortable home at

£>

Northfield and the hospitality which so many friends would have
been ""lad to give him ; laid himself down in a sleeping-berth of a

O O 1 O

Pullman car, rattling over a thousand miles to Kansas City ; and
rose with a heavy load of concern for the kingdom ot his Master,
and under the weight of it he staggered into his grave.

"In summing up the distinctly great things of this great cen
tury no man stands out more prominently who has spent so many
continuous years in superhuman labor for the public good as
Dwight L. Moody, the Christian American layman. Uncrowned,
without title of any kind, he wears the first honors among the men
who loved their fellow men." — The Honorable JoJin IVanamaker.

"In D. L. Moody's death the world has lost one of the most
remarkable men of the century. He was especially distinguished
for his great devotion to the cause of Christianity and of preaching
the o-ospel to the world. To me one of his most distinguishing charar-

O 1

teristics was his consecrated common sense ; this, together with a
burning zeal for winning men to the service of Christ, and his ability to
do the work of ten or a dozen ordinary men, made him the nnost
successful and powerful evangelist of his day. He was as tender as a

502

APPRECIATIONS BY EMINENT FRIENDS

woman, and yet as strong and brave as a lion. It was my happy
lot to have been with him for over twenty-eight years, in our own
country and in lands beyond the sea ; and my love and admira
tion for him increased as the years passed by.

" The news of his death came as a great shock, as we had been
led to believe that he was slowly gaining ground and likely to'
recover. A week before he passed away, I went to Northfield to
see him, and, if possible, to cheer him up, but found him so weak
and nervous that I decided not to risk an interview, lest harm might
come to him ; and thus I failed to bid him good-by. The last time
I saw and talked with Mr. Moody was on the occasion of his last
visit to Dr. John Hall's church in New York City. We spent most of
that Sabbath day together talking over the work in this country, and
also the old days of our labors together across the sea. He seemed
quite happy as we spoke of many kind friends with whom we had
worked in Great Britain ; but, when I suggested to him that we
might go once more to that country and hold a few farewell meet
ings, even for a month or two, an expression of sadness came into
his face such as I had seldom seen before, as he said, ' I should like
to go, but I have a feeling that I shall not live to cross the sea
again.' This was the first intimation I had ever received that he
had any thought that he might not be with us long. Little did I
dream that I was having my last talk with my beloved friend.

" It is a pleasant thought that Mr. Moody's body has been laid
to rest on beautiful 'Round Top,' where he has spent so many of1,
the happiest hours of his life with those who had gathered there to
hear his words of wisdom and grace. This spot might very appro
priately be called Missionary Hill, for it is believed that from it
more young men and women have decided to go to foreign lands
as missionaries than from any other single spot in the world." — Ira
D. Sankey , Brooklyn, N. 1 "

CHAPTER XXXI

Editorial Estimates of His Character.

FEW men who have labored in the field of evangelism have
won their deserved recognition so completely as Mr. Moody.
Association with Mr. Moody very quickly convinced
one that he stood pre-eminent among millions for his earnestness,
his singleness of purpose, his unaffected piety, — for all that combina
tion of principles and faculties which went to make up his marvel
ous personality. But it was not necessary to be associated with
him to understand in some measure his greatness. His work
stands as a monument to abilities which were far above the ordin
ary. Tens of thousands of men cry out, " He helped me !" Great
buildings in various parts of the country attest his foresight in
educational matters, and the practical bent of his mind.

His GREATNESS RECOGNIZED EVERYWHERE

These visible signs, this great mass of cumulative evidence of
his greatness it is impossible to ignore. Even persons who were
so unfortunate as not to come into sympathy with his efforts can
not refuse to recognize that he accomplished, with God's help,
great things for the betterment of mankind.

Here, then, I quote a few extracts from editorials in various
journals, published immediately after Mr. Moody's death. The
unanimity of opinion is remarkable. I doubt very much if any
other great man who has died within the past few years has
received after his death such a shower of glad tributes. Those
27 503

504 EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

who have followed Mr. Moody's career know how well deserved
the tributes are, and yet, how much they fall short of recognizing
the full measure of his greatness.

" Mr. Moody undoubtedly exerted a powerful and stimulating
influence, not only on the masses but on many of those who were
his superiors in birth, breeding or intellect."- -The London Spectator.

"Wherever Moody spoke, whether in his own country or in
other English-speaking lands, he invariably commanded attention
and aroused interest. He retained to the very last of his public
career the qualities which marked him from the outset as a potent
preacher." — The Boston Globe.

" Mr. Moody's claim to greatness did not rest on his intellectual
strength, but on his goodness. The standard of his character
was his unqualified and immovable faith in God and in the Bible.
With this faith he combined simplicity, honesty, sincerity, humility,
zeal, an abhorrence of egotism, and a broad charity."- -The Chicago
Inter- Ocean.

" His going leaves a great void behind, and the world will seem
lonely without him to many in every land. His death will send a
wave of sincere sorrow over millions of humanity without distinc
tion of race, creed or church. Here was a man whose soul was
pure goodness, who was ruled by loftier motives than commonly
govern men, whose crown was Christlike character, and men, even
irreligious men, instinctively yield his memory the homage of their
respect and reverence. "-—The Presbyterian Banner.

" Mr. Moody's life teaches us that, while the Church needs schol
ars, what she needs most of all is the impulse of Christian devotion,
that force which compelled St. Paul, and has compelled a thousand
others in all branches of the Church on whom was laid the burden
of a lost world, and who have said, ' Woe is me if I preach not the
Gospel.' Mr. Moody's life was well filled out with work nobly

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER 505

accomplished, and his death was the fit end of a life of faith and ser
vice. His memory is one of the treasures of the Christian Church."
— The Independent.

11 He combined, as only his countrymen can, a remarkably keen
business intelligence with unflagging enthusiasm. To the last he
was very much what he had been at first ; he attempted to be no
more or better ; he had no precise " views " or " opinions " about
abtruse matters ; and probably he did not himself know very well
whether he was a Calvinist or not, or what were his exact theologi
cal bearings. But some gift within him, some influence which he
gave out, had more efficacy with certain minds in certain moods
than learning or eloquence or wit or pathos. The note of sincerity,
the unflinchingly literal way in which he took things which others
understood symbolically or spiritually, had a prodigious effect on
people who wanted to see and hear and touch with their hands ;
people by no means necessarily unintelligent." — The London Times.

" According to common agreement, Mr. Moody was not a great
preacher, so far as greatness depends upon and is manifested in exten
sive learning or lofty flights of eloquence. There was in his appeals
to sinners that mysterious something which is expressed neither
in fine phrases nor in deep philosophic reflections. His magnetism
and convincing force seem to have lain in an earnestness which left
no doubt, and which affected the emotions like a whirlwind. By
his death the evangelization movement has sustained a tremendous,

o

perhaps irreparable, loss."- —The Baltimore Herald.

" Chicago at one time claimed this mighty preacher. But when
he died the whole world claimed him, so wide was the range of his
evangelizing activities. He stirred the hearts of the two great
English-speaking nations with his militant enthusiasm. He was the
field marshal of the hosts that cling to the belief that the Gospel
itself suffices for all the spiritual needs of humanity. The moral

506 EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

effect of his life-work upon humanity was greater than that of any
other man of the nineteenth century."-- The Chicago Times-Herald.
" Mr. Moody's strength lay in his simplicity and his earnest
ness. He has been described as magnetic, but simple earnestness
always is magnetic. He had the faculty of impressing his hearers
with his absolute and undeviating belief in the truth of all he said.
He went straight to the point. There was no concession to
oratorical effect or to literary polish. He said nothing simply
because it sounded well, confining himself to straightforward, fear-

*z> o

less statements of what he believed and what he wanted others to
believe, and such apparent absolute faith necessarily carried con
viction with \\."-—Thc Chicago Evening Post.

"He preached the Bible only and he lived in accordance with
his preaching. For dogma, he cared little and in theology he was a
tyro. He never preached over the heads of his audience. The
wayfarer, though a fool, could not fail to understand him, and his
£arnestness was so great and his personal appeal so forcible that
every one felt Moody was talking to him alone. Such honesty,
sincerity and strength of purpose could not but have their reward,
and few expounders of divine truth have looked upon a harvest so
rich in sheaves as his."- — T/ie Chicago Tribune.

" He seemed to care little for any business but his Master's.
It was this unflagging energy, this faith in his vocation, that brought
him the confidence of men to whom like energy and faith had
brought, like success in the pursuit of wealth. He combined
strangely the old and the new. He was perhaps the last great
revivalist on the old theological lines, and he was the first to use
wholly n^odern methods of publicity and appeal. In his earnest
ness, his unselfishness and his sanctified common sense he was one
of the most remarkable men of our generation, for whose life the
world haii been better." — The Churchman.

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER 507

' What was the secret of his power? First and foremost, il
was his intense religious earnestness. He knew God. The vision
of the Eternal had risen in his soul. This deep and definite experi
ence was an offset to his lack of literary culture. It made him pro
foundly anxious to do something for the souls of his fellow-men
Nature had endowed him also with a sturdy and sober common-
sense. He cut no fantastic tricks, adopted no sensational methods,
avoided even the appearance of smartness, and relied solely on the
truth of God as spoken in plain and simple words and as vivified
by the Holy Spirit."--/^? Nashville Christian Advocate.

" The story of the outward life of such a man as Mr. Moody
can be condensed after a fashion into a paragraph, and this has fre
quently been clone ; but the ramifications of its influence no pen
can describe, no imagination can conceive. Its effect upon theology
have been its least effects ; but they have been incalculable. For
though Mr. Moody has done little directly to change the theologi
cal thought of his time, he has done a great deal to inspire its
religious life : and those who" believe that theology must always be
the outgrowth of religion will believe that his theological influence
is far greater and far more wholesome, because more vital, than
either he or his contemporaries have imagined. "--The Outlook.

" In nearly all the great cities of this country and in many of
the towns of Great Britain, the footsteps of Dwight L. Moody
have been marked by the upspringing of schools, of helpful
agencies, of aids to raise the fallen, to lighten the dark places, to
help human beings in all that makes for righteousness. Although
a lay evangelist, he was a great preacher, eloquent, soul-stirring,
convincing and ministering to others the faith that made him whole,
but great as he was as a preacher, he was greater as a worker, and
his works live after him, vitalized and given enduring substance by
the spirit which created them."- — The Philadelphia Telegraph.

5o3 EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

" Farewell, Brother Moody ! Thousands upon thousands
will mourn thy departure ; thousands upon thousands will look
back to the time when they were first warned to return to the fold
by the words of entreaty, while future generations will be blest by
the influence of thy searching teaching of the truth as it is in Jesus.
The Church will learn all too soon of the greatness of the prophet
who has left them. But all work for the Master is done under
human conditions ; the man passes, his work abides. So it will be
now ; Moody has ceased to live in the flesh, but he lives in his
work, and the results of his wonderful teaching will be felt by suc
ceeding generations."- — Christian Work.

" Mr. Moody was a wonderful leader of men. Everywhere he
went he set others to work for Christ. No one was so bad as to be
repulsive to him, and no one was so wise or good that he did not
venture to approach and use him to further his service for Christ.
Thousands of waifs rescued from rags and wretchedness are useful
men and women because Mr. Moody put his arms of love around
them and lifted them up. He has builded many structures in many
cities, where young men and women gather to work for and worship
God. But his noblest monument is made of living stones builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. His life can
best be summed up in one sentence : He was a wise winner of
souls. " — The Congrcgationalist.

•" Mr. Moody was not only sincere; he was intensely in earnest.
He not only implicitly believed in the truth of the doctrines which
he expounded, but he was firmly convinced that the acceptance of

those doctrines by the men and women whom he addressed was the

•

most important thing in the world ; that every other interest was in
comparison trivial and without consequence. He believed, more
over, and he believed it in all humility, that he had been com
missioned from above to go about the world delivering the message

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER rOQ

0 J

of the Gospel. He felt himself to be a Heaven-appointed minister

to convince humanity of sin and point out the way of salvation."

The Philadelphia Inquirer.

" He commanded the respect and confidence of men of other
religious faiths and beliefs, and even of the non-religious classes, by
his sturdy common sense, his geniality and whole-heartedness, and
by his freedom from all cant and affectation. He lived the religion
he professed, and practiced what he preached. In speech and
manner he was simple, clear, and direct ; he understood the
common people because he was always one of them in thought and
feeling, and among them his greatest and most enduring work was
done. The world is a far better and happier world to-day because
of the life of Dwight L. Moody. He will live long in the grateful
and tender memory of mankind." — Leslie s Weekly.

" He never made any serious mistakes. There was no flaw in
his character. He commanded an absolutely universal respect.
Rich and poor, high and low, learned and illiterate, cherished
almost exactly the same feelings toward him. The kind of
influences which he began to put forth in Chicago forty years ago
went on growing and extending to the day of his death — and
to-day, as tidings of his death are borne to every part of the Eng
lish-speaking world, his influence will seem to be greater than ever.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the coming century will be in
certain pervasive and vital respects appreciably different from what
it would have been were it not for the distinctive spiritual and
moral forces which Moody imparted and put forth."- -The Chicago
Record.

" A rugged simplicity and absolute sincerity were the chief
elements in his character. No one ever detected in him a suspicion
of cant. It might have been said of him, as Mirabeau said of
Robespierre, 4 That is a dangerous man ; he believes every word

5io EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

he says.' For the ' drill and pipe clay ' of the clerical profession,
as Robertson phrased it, Mr. Moody had nothing but contempt,
and his own unconventional ways, in the pulpit and out of it, did a
great deal to break down the stilted ministerial tradition. Nor
were the changes in his own style of work, as the years passed by,
without great significance. From being a mere evangelist, going
from city to city to address vast and emotional audiences, he
became, by chief intention and main use of time and strength, a
Christian educator. His educational institutions at Northfield, so
remarkably planned and endowed, he regarded as the crowning
work of his life."--7^<? New York Nation.

" ' By their fruits shall ye know them.' Judged thus, Mr.
Moody's career takes saintly rank. Possessed of a marvelous
personal magnetism, an earnestness that was irresistible, and an
enthusiasm that defied the flight of time, he took his faith in
Divine guidance in one hand and his faith in mankind in the other,
and, so armed, hurled the full force of his splendid powers against
the cohorts of evil. He could not fail. The measure of his
revealed success will challenge the admiration of posterity.

" ' The measure of his revealed success.' But what of the
unrevealed ? Its measure was never known, even to himself. It
remains a mystery lodged beyond the stars He drew the scoffer.
He startled the dormant conscience of carelessness, and stirred the
soul of the evil-doer. He wrought blessings innumerable in garret
and in mansion. He labored apart from the church, yet impelled
toward the Church hundreds of thousands whom the Church had
not reached."- — The New York Mail and Express.

" No one could visit North America within recent years with
out feeling that Mr. Moody was one of the great personalities of
the continent — and that not only as an evangelist or the representa
tive of evangelical religion, nor even as an organizer of education,

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER 511

but for his own self's sake as a man who lived his faith, and who
lived it with extraordinary force of character and wisdom. * *
What I feel to be our sorest loss in the death of this great and
good man is that we shall no more have his large heart and large
mind in the reconciliation of those divisions of opinion among
Christian men which are so strong and in some quarters so bitter
at the present day. No one could have assisted reconciliation so
much as D. L. Moody. Yet it seems wrong to be envious even to
this extent, when we have so very much to thank God for in the
influence and results of His servant's life." — Prof. George Adam
Smith, in The British Weekly.

' The death of D. L. Moody is an almost irreparable loss to
evangelical Christianity. He was probably the greatest religious
revivalist of the present century. Yet that fact hardly gives a true
indication of the widespread influence he exerted over the lives of
multitudes of men and women in the Old World as well as the
New. Even as a revivalist he differed widely from the old-time
revivalists of the last generation, who terrified the sinner into
repentance by holding him over the precipice where he could see
the lurid fires of the pit seemingly eager to envelop him. Mr.
Moody doubtless held exactly the same beliefs as to the character
and duration of future punishment as his predecessors did. But,
without, perhaps, being exactly conscious of the fact, the seeming
harness of this dogma was softened by his profound belief in the
goodness and love of God. It was upon that thought he most
often dwelt, never failing to bring it in even when he referred to
the certainty of future punishment. This characteristic of his
exhortations separated him widely from the revivalists of the past,
and gave his teachings a much more general acceptance than was
accorded to previous evangelists. "--The New York Tribune.

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

" He was very simple, absolutely earnest, without self-conceit
or pretence or cant. He had power ; he used it with all his might
according to his knowledge and his lights. Nearly all of us came in
time to see that the work was good and the results very valuable ;
that Moody, however he did it, took hold of the people that
needed attention, stirred them up to good purpose, and brought
them something that made them better. The English-speaking
world long ago recognized him as a great force, and one that made
for righteousness and the essentials of true religion. Not all of
us are desirous to be good ourselves, but most of us are at least in
favor of other persons being good. So, nearly all of us have been
in favor of Mr. Moody, and respected him and his work, and
honor his memory now that he has gone. He was one of the pre
eminently successful men of the century, and what he accom
plished he did without much help from education, and without
favor or aid save what his manifest deserts won for his work. He
simply forgot himself, and took hold. He never let go, and he
never remembered himself enough to distract his attention from
the work his heart was in." — Harper s Weekly.

" Mr. Moody was not a man to whom theological subtleties had
any charm. But his convictions never halted. What he believed,
he believed with heart and soul. He might have been wrong in
premise and deduction, he might have been old-fashioned in theory,
but in spirit he was always right and strong, and he had almost a
prophet's gift in the potency of his messages. No one could long
be in contact with his honesty of purpose, his unqualified self-conse
cration, his boundless zeal and prophetic spirit without being
moved by these qualities. His influence was not only national,
but international. He was as notable a force in Great Britain as
in the United States. He possessed great personal magnetism,
which, combined with his religious enthusiasm, whose sincerity no

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER 513

one questioned, gave him a power of persuasiveness which was
wellnigh irresistible.

:< While not reckoned among the clergy, or caring to be, he was
yet a powerful inspiration to the profession. He will be missed and
mourned by the churches as profoundly as by the common people,
who regarded him almost as their Moses. His educational work in
his native town might well stand as a monument of noble achievement.
But that was among the least of the things that he did in his
Master's name and for His cause. He was a living Gospel, and his
death, with its peace and joy, seemed to partake of the beauty and
splendor and awe of a transfiguration.''--/^ Boston Transcript.

"Mr. Moody was a great evangelist, and he did a great work.
An unordained and essentially popular preacher, who felt that his
commission to win souls was in his love for Christ and his desire to
serve Him — he reached thousands who were not likely to come
under the influence of others, whose belief in Christianity he
quickened from a dull acceptance of doctrine into a living power.
Earnest in his own convictions, 'and gifted with a remarkable talent
for enlisting the interest and sympathy of his hearers, he was a
speaker of unusual effectiveness. Direct and simple in his utter
ances; not always grammatical; fond of anecdote and homely illus
tration ; emotional, sometimes to an extreme — such was Dwight L.
Moody as the leader of countless public meetings. He filled
churches and audience-rooms because the people believed he had a
message to deliver ; as for himself, he believed that that message
was of tremendous consequence. His methods have been criti
cized, but, certainly, he was not open to the charge of being
insincere. His whole life was given to doing what he felt to be
his highest duty. To this task he brought native ability, and a
constantly increasing knowledge of the ways to make that ability
count for the most."- -The Hartford Courant.

514 EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

" Men are also asking the secret of Mr. Moody's power. Four
words sum it up : Common Sense and Consecration. He had many
striking characteristics, but through them all shone his spirit of
consecration. He was simple ; a child could understand his sermons.
He believed in the power of stories ; if they caused laughter or
weeping, he took advantage of the smiles or the tears to press home
the Gospel message. He was a man of faith, faith in God and man.
He looked for the best in men, and they responded by giving him
their best. No one could hear him in private conversation or on
the platform without recognizing his intense earnestness. What
ever he did, he did with all his heart, and he was able to inspire
others to similar devotion. Some people called him narrow ; they
little knew that, if he had used his powers in other directions, he
would have been as successful in conducting a great financial ven
ture, or planning a military campaign, as he was in leading men to
accept Christ as their Saviour.

" Mr. Moody believed the Bible from cover to cover, and he
believed in the fundamental doctrines of Christ. ' People ask me,'
he said one time, ' If I believe in the " higher criticism ". How can
I when I don't know what it is ? They ask me if I think there were
two Isaiahs. Before taking up that question seriously, I believe we
should try to see what the prophecy itself contains. ' ' Why do you
go to hear Moody ? ' said a scoffer contemptuously to a fellow club
member. 'You don't believe what he preaches.' 'No, but he
believes it with all his heart, and it is refreshing to meet such a
man in these days of doubt and uncertainty. '

" Mr. Moody was an optimist. Elijah on Carmel was his
ideal ; he had little patience with the prophet under the juniper
tree. He was a sincere man. While looked upon as a leader, his
daily prayer was that God would keep him humble. To know him
was to love him ; thousands of people in every part of this country

EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER 515

and in Europe, and hundreds of missionaries in foreign lands, have
lost a personal friend in his death. He was a good man. and faith
fully served his generation. "--The New York Observer.

"Mr. Moody was not only reverential, but humble. He was
not only humble, but tolerant. He improved very much under
travel, under intercourse with able minds, and under the study of
vast throngs, as so many units. The consequence was that from a
lone exhorter he became a great leader, from a great leader he rose
to be an organizer of much skill, and he topped both functions with
that of an educator on distinct lines, at needed work, and upon a
vast scale. We are regarding him entirely from the human point
of view, for the purpose of this consideration, and we are noting in
him exactly the qualities which would have made him successful in
other undertakings. His qualities were not unusual. His use of
them was extraordinary. The high purpose to which he applied
them was ennobling and uplifting. The singular simplicity, candor
and gentleness of his spirit were remarkable, considering the power
he wielded, the influence which he commanded, the support which
he received and the praise, whether interested or disinterested, of
which he was the subject. * * * His field was the world, and
to do good his religion.

" He made haste slowly. He died on the heights, but he
started on the plains and had a hard passage through valleys
and up mountain steeps, before he walked with God. Without
more than elementary education, utterly without training, destitute
of experience, simply aflame with spiritual purpose, he had to vin
dicate himself, he had to create for himself a way, and he had to
do so against a critical, cultivated and combined class, the reverend
clergy. They did not relish an unlettered lay intruder. They were
justified in their instinctive disrelish. Of most lay intruders the note
is arrogance, the method burglarious, the self-confidence unabashable

5i 6 EDITORIAL ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

and the ignorance unteachable. Of this lay intruder nothing
like that could be said. He was altruistic, he was modest, he was
hungry to learn, he was deferential to knowledge, what he acquired
he held, what he held he increased, and what he increased and made
his own he made also the precious possession of others. The
greatest of lay workers became the master of lay workers, their
monitor and their model, and this at first uneducated man estab
lished institutions for Christian instruction which taught the use of

o

the tools of spiritual knowledge as aptly and as thoroughly as the
use of the tools of any other knowledge is anywhere taught. "-
Brooklyn Eagle.

CHAPTER XXXII.

The Personal Side of Mr. Moody.

V

HE was a remarkable man in all ways, not the least of
which was his appearance. He was not a striking figure so
far as stature was concerned, for he was rather below the
average in height, but he was a marked man in a crowd, and every
one turned to look at him because the very atmosphere that
surrounded him was commanding. He has been likened to Gar-
field, in his massive frame ; they had the same smiling features, the
same facility of anecdote, and the same effect of sincerity in every
thing they said or did. Their style of oratory was almost identical,
and both possessed the rare gift of captivating people at first sight.
Mr. Moody was very quick at repartee. An (nteresting
incident is related of his meeting with Mr. Gladstone. Heartily
grasping Mr. Moody's hand the old statesman said, " I wish I had
your body." Mr. Moody replied, " I wish I had your head.'" Mr.
Gladstone responded, " I mean I wish I had your lungs ;" to v> hich
Mr. Moody again replied, "I wish I had your brains," and wUi*
hearty good wishes they parted.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Mr. Moody had a wonderful voice. He could easily hold the.
attention of thousands, and yet in conversation there was a pathos
and tenderness in his inflections that was most fascinating. He
had a most attractive face ; it was kindly and helpful in its every
expression.

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

He was fond of telling how his picture once did duty for that
of Rutherford B. Hayes. During the Hayes campaign a big
Republican rally was held in Fort Wayne. Ind. Everything was
ready, when it was suggested that the meeting would be incom
plete without a picture of General Hayes. This brought out the
discovery that, although around the walls of the room were hung
the pictures of many celebrities of the day, that of Hayes was not
among them, nor could a picture of him be found. One of the
members of the committee on arrangements, a sign painter, who
had a natural gift of drawing, found a copy of Harper 's Maga
zine on the table in which was a small cut of Mr. Moody. He
decided it was enough like Hayes to make a copy from, and in
half an hour he had a good sized sketch, and labeled the product
"Rutherford B. Hayes". It was hung on the stage, and the
speakers of the evening pointed to it as they referred to "that
statesman," etc. Finally the joke leaked out in the crowd, and
almost resulted in breaking up the meeting. Mr. Moody was
informed of the affair, and told it to President Hayes.

His HOLD UPON His FRIENDS

It has been said that he was dictatorial, sometimes extremely
so, and it must be confessed that he did insist on his own way ; but
then, he had studied his work ; he knew men, and he knew what
would tell with them, and it was a rare thing ever to find him
mistaken in his judgment. But even though he was brusque,
sometimes almost to the point of rudeness, it is a mighty tribute to
the power of his influence over men that he instinctively drew
them about him. One of his English friends said of him, " He
may make doorkeepers of us, or even door-mats, if he likes, and
we will love him." And another has said of him, " Dear old
Moody ! We all love him, but some of us don't like him." He was,

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 519

however, the most tender-hearted man I have ever known. Dr.
George F. Pentecost has well said of him, " Intentionally he never
wounded any one ; he simply lacked perception, and did not put
himself in the other man's place."

His heart was big enough to take in the whole world, and his
sympathy with mankind was genuine. An instance of this occurred
in New York. While he was in the midst of a sermon a baby
commenced to cry, much to the annoyance of some of the audience,
who darted cruel looks at the innocent child and the embarrassed
mother. The mother waited for a favorable opportunity to go
out, but Mr. Moody told her to remain where she was ; he guessed
his lungs were stronger than the baby's, and if any didn't like it, they
could go out.

At the close of the service he made the unique announcement
that the next afternoon he would preach to mothers with babies in
their arms, and no one unaccompanied by a baby would be
admitted. Never before was there such a gathering. The scene
touched the heart of the great preacher, and his words the hearts
of the mothers. Mr. Moody said afterward that a good many of
the women present must have borrowed babies for the occasion.

His CHARMING SOCIAL SIDE

He was perfectly delightful socially ; he was as genial a man
as I have ever known. He would laugh till the tears rolled down
his face at some story which he might have heard again and again.
He found his recreation in helping others, for he was a tireless
worker in one ferm or another, yet he was never so happy as when
he was making others' burdens easier to bear.

From the very day that D. L. Moody came before the eyes of
the Christian world, the same characteristics that made him great
in later days, were exhibited. He was one of the most conscientious
28

520 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

men I have ever known, and if he felt that anything was his
duty, nothing in the world would make him so miserable as to feel
that he must leave it undone, and nothing made him so happy as
to feel that he could perform it quickly whatever the cost. If he
ever wronged any one, he was the first to make that wrong right,
i Mr. Moody seldom preached a sermon without emphasizing
the fact that true happiness and the richest blessings will never be
realized by a professed Christian, if at any time he has wronged a
fellow-man and has not made an honest attempt to clear up the
wrong, or if he does not perform, willingly and promptly, known
duties. That the great evangelist made this teaching one of the
cardinal principles of his own life is clearly demonstrated by the
following incident, related by him in an address to a body of
students at Northfield.

A SINGULAR INSTANCE OF His KINDLINESS

" You can never accomplish much in your Christian life until

you get right with your fellow-men as well as with God, and until

'
you perform your duty as it comes to you. Let me give you an

experience that I had a few mornings ago. I always get up early,
and devote the first hour of the day to my Bible. This morning I
sat down at my desk to study as usual. In a few minutes I chanced
to look out of the window, and I saw a young fellow with a heavy
valise on his back, walking toward the railroad station three miles
away. If I thought about it at all, I thought he was one of the
students going for an early train. I turned my eyes to my Bible,
but, try as hard as I might, I could not fix my mind on what I
read with my eyes.

" I looked out of the window again. Something said, ' You
ought to take that boy to the station.' I tried to persuade myself
that it was not my duty. I made another effort to study, but it

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 521

was of no use. I jumped up and hurried to the stables, hitched up
a horse, and drove rapidly until I came up to the boy. I took him
and his baggage in and drove to the station. After giving the boy
Godspeed and receiving hearty thanks for my kindness, I drove
home, and went to my study. I took up my Bible, and I didn't
have the slightest trouble in fixing my mind on my work."

I drove with him one morning while he was making some
final preparation for the coming of the students to their annual
conference, when we stopped at a little patch of corn, and he said,
" I hoed two rows of corn here this morning before you were up."
I have never been able to get out of my mind the imaginary
picture of D. L. Moody, with coat and vest off, hoeing corn at

Northfield.

His EXTREME MODESTY

With all his greatness he was one of the most modest men
that you could possibly find. Other men might have been turned
with the flattery of the people, but extreme modesty was a striking
characteristic of the evangelist's personality. His phenomenal
successes in many lines left him a man devoid of all desire for
notoriety and fame.

Although thousands of persons would travel long distances to
hear him preach, still he invariably maintained that there were any
number of ministers who could excel him as a preacher, and he
was always willing and eager to give place to others. During the
Northfield Conferences, at which, in the minds of the people in at
tendance, he was the central figure, Mr. Moody seldom preached,
unless to take the place of some speaker who was unable to meet
his appointment, or unless urgent requests from the audience were
repeatedly sent to him. Asked once why he did not speak more
often at the conferences, the evangelist replied :

523 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

" Oh, you can hear me any time. I want you to hear these
noted men that I have brought from over the sea."

Again, when urged to preach, he made this announcement
from the rostrum one morning :

" I don't want to take the time of these dear brothers who
have come so far to speak to us. I have received a good many
requests to preach. If you really want to hear me you will be
willing to get up early for the privilege. Meet me here in the
auditorium at 7 o'clock to-morrow morning, and we will have a
Bible talk together."

Despite the numerous other sessions during the day, these
sunrise services were continued during the rest of the conference,
and each session was largely attended by those eager to catch
every syllable that fell from Mr. Moody 's lips.

His WONDERFUL UNSELFISHNESS

He was absolutely unselfish. During the first visit of Messrs.
Moody and Sankey to Great Britain they were in need of a book
of songs to use at the meetings. No publisher would bring out
the book, although Mr. Moody offered to give it to any one who
would print it and give him what copies he wanted to use. Finally
he was compelled to have the book printed at his own expense.
It has since attained a larger circulation than any other publication
except the Bible, and is one of the best paying literary properties
in the world. Every dollar of the profits of the book has gone to
charity in one form or another.

Mr. Fleming H. Revell has said : " Some years ago, some of
the papers began to say that Mr. Moody was making a good thing
financially of his reputation. As a rule Mr. Moody never paid
no attention to criticism. He was wont to say that no two people
thought alike of everything or received always the same impression.

TODD B. HALL. The celebrated Detective and Evangelist, converted in the meet
ings conducted by Mr. Moody in Baltimore, in 1878.

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 535

He was friendly toward the public press, claiming that it was a
great educator and a great power in the spreading ot both secular
and religious knowledge. But he was deeply grieved at this. He
referred to the criticisms one day in the pulpit here in Chicago.
There were tears in his eyes, and his voice quivered as he spoke.
'As I know my heart before God/ he said, ' I have never let the
desire for money determine my conduct in any way. I know I am
weak and sinful in many ways, but the devil has not that hold upon
me. I have never profited personally by a single dollar that has
been raised through my work. It hurts me, above all other things,
to be charged with this. May God forgive those who say this
of me.' "

Mr. Revell added, that though Moody received over $125,000
from royalties on his work, he had never used a penny of it for per
sonal purposes, reserving it all to further his work. " Mr. Moody was
a good financier," he said. " He took great care of his money, but
not to save it and build a fortune. Rather he desired it to use in
his work. I fully believe he died a poor man."

ANECDOTES OF His EARLIER YEARS OF SERVICE

Dr. Edward Eggleston has told the following stones about
Mr. Moody : " I have heard Mr. Moody tell how while in the Chris
tian Commission service he was propounding his thorough question
to a Tennesee planter, but, as the man was deaf, the repeated
vociferation of ' Are you a Christian ? ' failed to bring a reply.
Turning to the black man who stood by he asked, ' Is your master
a Christian?' ' No, Massa, he is a Presbyterian.'

" It was not uncommon in those days for Mr. Moody to assail
suddenly a strange young man with this blank query. Of course,
he soon became noted for his zeal and eccentricity. A young man
from the country who had held a situation in the city for just three

526 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

weeks, was thus accosted by him in the street, ' Are you a Chris
tian?' He replied, 'It is none of your business.' 'Yes it is.'
' Then you must be D. L. Moody,' said the stranger.

" 'Madam,' said Moody to an Irishwoman, ' Won't you go to
church to-night?' 'Whose is it? Is it Moody's Church?' ' No,
it is God's Church, but Moody goes there.' ' Troth, thin I won't
go.' With this she began to charge Moody with divers crimes, not
knowing to whom she spoke. ' You better be careful,' said he
presently, ' my name is Moody.' ' Tut, tut ', said she with Irish dex
terity and effrontery, ' I know'd Moody afore you was born.' '

A volume could be written of the things which the friends of
this mighty man of God -have said since his death. The words of
two representative men may, however, with peculiar appropriate
ness be presented.

THE SIMPLICITY OF His HABITS AND TASTES
The Rev. George F. Pentecost has said : " Had he lived in the
early days of Israel's trials, he should have judged Israel, and deliv
ered them out of the hand of their enemies. He was like Gideon, and
his latent powers were known only to God. He was the most reti
cent man I ever knew. One of his marked characteristics was his
strong, practical common sense and fine knowledge of men. Once
in the Boston Tabernacle, just before going on the platform, some
one came to see him. ' There is a man outside wishes to see you.'
'Well,' said the evangelist, 'I have no time to see him.' 'But,'
replied the usher, ' He says he must see you.' ' What kind of a
man is he ? ' ' He is tall and thin, with long hair.' ' That settles
it," said Mr. Moody, ' I don't want to see any long-haired men nor
short-haired women.' It was a rare thing for him to make amis-
take in any of the men gathered about him.

" He had the simplest habits and tastes. He spent money
lavishly on other people — almost none on himself. I consider him

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 527

the world's greatest evangelist, and he has influenced more people
for God than any other man in modern times."

The Rev. G. Campbell Morgan has said of him : "My personal
acquaintance with Dwight Lyman Moody was not of long duration
according to the measure of the calendar. If, however, 'we could
count time by heart throbs,' then I might claim to have known him ;
for it has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to have
come very near him in the ripest years of his life.

" I first saw him in 1883 during his second visit to Birmingham.
Bingley Hall was being crowded by day with eager crowds who had
come by train from the whole surrounding district. The city was
moved to its very centre. The impression of those days, therefore,
is that of the man in the midst of the rush of work. He was keen,
alert, forceful. No detail of arrangement escaped his notice. A
vacant seat, the opening and closing of doors, a tendency to drag
the singing, all these he noted and uttered directions about. Yet
he was by no means a man who cared for detail's sake. The greater
was ever the reason for the less, and the less was important only as
part of the greater. The supreme passion of his life was the win
ning of men for Christ, and no detail that would hinder or help
was too small for consideration.

How HE APPEARED IN His NATIVE TOWN

" In 1896 I visited the States for the first time. Among other
work, I had promised Mr. Moody to speak at the Chicago Insti
tute to his students. The Northfield Conference was in session,
and I managed to get a few hours there. Arriving late at night, I
found my quarters and retired. The next day was a field day for
me, and a revelation. I attended meetings from morning till
night. Everywhere Mr. Moody was the moving spirit. Bright,
cheery, and yet in dead earnest, he seemed to make everything go

528 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

before him. In the intervals of the meetings he gave me a drive
round the campus in his buggy. Every point of interest was
pointed out, and in a few brief words the story of how the different
buildings were erected was told. Passing one house, he said,

^> <->

' People sometimes ask me how I found Northfield ? I tell them
it found me. I was born there.' Suddenly he pulled up his horse
to speak to a group of children. ' Have you had any apples
to-day ? ' said he. ' No, Mr. Moody,' they replied. ' Then go
down to my house, and tell them to give you all you want.' Away
they went, and so did he, both happier. Down a narrow lane he
drove next, and through a gate to where a man was at work in a
field. ' Biglow,' said Mr. Moody, 'it's too hot for you to work
much. Half a day's work for a day's pay, you know, while this
heat lasts.' I sat by his side and watched, and began to under
stand the greatness of the man whose life was so broad that it
touched sympathetically all other phases of life.

MR. MOODY AS HOST

" After the evening meeting, at his invitation, I gathered with
the speakers at his house. Then, for the first time, I saw him in a
new role, that of the host. He sat in his chair at the head of the table
and helped the ice-cream, directed the conversation, and listened
with the patience and simplicity of a child to every word that others
spoke. That night the talk turned on the most serious subjects, the
inner life of the people of God and its bearing on the work of the
churches among the people. As we broke up I went to bid him
good-bye, as I was to depart by an early train on the morrow. ' O ! '
said he, ' 1 shall see you in the morning ; you are to preach at ten
o'clock.' That was my first notice. What did I do ? I preached,
as he told me, as others and better men have ever been glad to
do. That was his way. He printed no programme of the North-

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

field Conferences. He gathered around him a band of teachers
and speakers, and then as the days moved on he manipulated them
according to the necessities of the case. After speaking next
morning I hurried away, but in that brief stay Moody had become
much to me. Strong, tender, considerate, from that day I more
than reverenced him, I loved him."

In the summer of 1897 I was asked to go to Kinsman, Ohio,
to fill an engagement which properly belonged to Mr. Moody, but
he was so busily engaged with his own Northfield work, and was
so fearful of taking a long journey in the heat of summer, that
Professor James McGranahan insisted that I should come to Kins
man to speak to thousands of people who gathered every summer
on the Fair grounds. Mr. Moody had started this meeting two or
three years before, and he insisted that it should not be given up.

' PRAYER SAVED THE SHIP '

When I reached the beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. McGrana
han I found that my helper in the meeting was to be that
grand old hero of many a battle-field and devoted soldier of the
cross, General O. O. Howard. Sitting together with the friends
who had come in from the surrounding country to attend the
meeting, the name of Mr. Moody was mentioned, and General
Howard said, " I was with him on the steamship Spree, when, Mr.
Moody says, ' God heard our prayer and saved the ship.' A good
many people have criticised this statement," said General Howard,
" and there was much controversy in the newspapers ; but Moody
always believed it. Over 700 people were with us on the ship.
One morning, about daybreak, I was awakened by a sound like an
explosion, and I heard the people rushing along the halls, and then
some one said the main shaft had been snapped asunder, and falling
down had made a break in the ship. The passengers were terror-

530 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

stricken. The bulkheads were quickly closed, and the bailing and
the pumping began, but when they reached the third compartment
of the ship, they found it almost impossible to clear it, and the aft
part of the ship was sunk to the gunwale. Mr. Moody, with his
son, I found on deck. He was lying back in a chair looking very
ill, but after a moment he said, ' General Howard, won't you come
with me ?' And followed by his son we made our way to the state
room, and there he fell upon his knees and prayed as only he knew
how to pray. He told the Lord that He was the God of the sea,
and asked Him that, like as He had stilled the Sea of Galilee, He
might save these people in peril on the ship. He asked the Lord
to send him a ship to take them safe home that they might finish
their work; and when he had prayed, and his son had followed, he
opened his Bible and read the ninety-first Psalm, and then said,
' This Psalm is just made for this occasion, isn't it ? '

A SERVICE OF PRAISE ON THE STEAMER

" After that he was always surrounded by a company of people,
giving help wherever help could be given. When Sunday morning
came he gathered the people in the dining saloon, and conducted
the service in his own inimitable style, and alter forty-eight hours
of drifting, a ship came hurrying over to us to take us safe home.
Mr. Moody led a service of thanksgiving and praise, and preached
as I never had heard him preach before. That is the story of his
sending the cable ' Prayer saved the ship.' '

There was a hush on the little assembly, and I know of one at
least who offered up a prayer of thanksgiving that D. L. Moody
had not only helped save the people on board the Spree, but had
been used of God to save thousands of others just as truly drifting,
and whose case was just as apparently hopeless.

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 531

The Rev. F. B. Meyer, of Christ Church, London, knew Mr.
Moody most intimately, and loved him not only for his work's sake,
but also because of the peculiar charm and fascination of his great
personality. He has recently said in an English paper :

"To have known D. L. Moody, and come within the range of
his strong personality, has been to many men one of the most
influential factors in their character and life-work ; and it is not
easy for such to imagine a world from which the inspiration of his
presence has been withdrawn. It is still less easy under the im
mediate sorrow of such a bereavement to characterize this natural
prince and leader of men.

How MR. MOODY FIRST BLESSED MR. MEYER'S WORK

" I met him first in York, in 1873, on his arrival with Mrs.
Moody and his two eldest children. Accompanied by Mr. and
Mrs. Sankey, they had come to our country, as it appeared, by a
divine prompting, and had just landed at Liverpool. Some time
before, the secretary of the Y. M. C. A. had impressed upon him
the two words, " Bennett, York ; " and not knowing where else to
turn, two of his friends having suddenly died, Moody telegraphed to
Mr. Bennett, saying, ' I will be in York to-night.'

" This was Saturday. On the following day he preached at
the chapel built for the Rev. James Parsons, and then occupied by
the Rev. John Hunter (now of Glasgow). During the following
week he held evening services in the old Londal Chapel, and noon
prayer meetings at the Y. M. C. A. After two or three days with
the Wesleyans, he came to the Baptist Chapel, of which I was
minister, and conducted meetings there for about a fortnight, with
ever-increasing numbers and marvelous results. He and Mr.
Sankey have often spoken of that little vestry, where we three
spent much time in prayer, little weening that the earnestness of

532 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

our desires and intercessions were the travail pangs of so great a
spiritual movement as followed.

" All who have heard him will recall the quiver in his voice
when he told some pathetic story ; but I never guessed the inten
sity of his tenderness till I saw him with his grandchildren. He
used to drive them about in his carriage, or carry them in
his arms.

" One of the most striking incidents in my memory was when
he stood with them beside his mother's grave, in a summer sunset,
and asked us to pray that they might be in the coming century
what she had been in this. And when little Irene was dying, he
used to be on the watch below her window to keep all quiet, would
steal down from the meetings to hear the latest news, would be the
nurse and playmate of her little cousin, that all might devote them
selves to the chamber of sickness.

MR. MOODY'S SURE FAITH

" He never wavered in his attachment to the great fundamen
tals of the Gospel. His sermons on the Blood, the Holy Spirit, the
Love of God in Jesus Christ, were great testimonies to the mighty
truths which have been the theme of every revival of evangelical
religion. There was no uncertain sound in the Gospel as he
preached it, and it was the power of God unto salvation to tens
of thousands.

" What a welcome he must have received as he entered
Heaven ! Surely an abundant, a choral entrance must have been
ministered unto him by myriads who are there, because of the
message uttered in burning acccents by his lips."

I am delighted thus to quote Mr. Meyer. I know of few men
better qualified to speak than he. While in conversation the other
day with Mr. Fleming H. Revell (Mr. Moody's brother-in-law),

REV. H. M. WHARTON, D.D., author of "A Month with Moody, in Chicago," and
for many years a most intimate friend and co-worker with Mr. Moody.

THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY 535

he said to me. "If you would like to find in print a good description
of Mr. Moody's last hours and his triumphant entrance into the
presence of God, you have only to read the closing lines of Bun-
yan's Pilgrim's Progress, for in the passing over of Mr. Stand-fast,
there is the most striking description of the passing away of Mr.
Moody." For the help of my readers I here quote it.

" When Mr. Stand-fast had thus set things in order, and the

o

time being come for him to haste him away, he also went down to
the river. Now, there was a great calm at that time in the river ;
wherefore Mr. Stand-fast, when he was about half-way in, stood a
while, and talked to his companions that had waited upon him
thither. And he said, ' This river has been a terror to many ; yea,
the thoughts of it have also frighted me ; but now methinks I stand
easy ; my foot is fixed upon that on which the feet of the priests
that bare the ark of the covenant stood while Israel went over
Jordan. The waters, indeed, are to the palate bitter, and to the
stomach cold ; yet the thought of what I am going to, and of the
conduct that waits for me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing
coal at my heart. I see myself now at the end of my journey ; my
toilsome days are ended ; I am going to see that head which was
crowned with thorns, and that face which was spit upon for me. I
have formerly lived by hearsay and faith ; but now I go where I
shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose company I
delight myself. I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of ; and
wherever I have seen the print of His shoe in the earth, there I
have coveted to set my foot, too. His name has been to me as a
civet-box; yea, sweeter than all perfumes. His voice to me ha?
been most sweet, and His countenance I have more desired than
they that have most desired the light of the sun. His Word I did
use to gather for my food, and for antidotes against my faintings.

536 THE PERSONAL SIDE OF MR. MOODY

He hath held me, and hath kept me from mine iniquities ; yea, my
steps hath He strengthened in His way.'

" Now, while he was thus in discourse, his countenance changed,
his strong man bowed under him ; and, after he had said, ' Take
me, for I come unto Thee ! ' he ceased to be seen of them."

And so I bring my tribute to a close, thanking God, now, as I
thanked Him at the beginning, that I have had the privilege of
writing ; and saying of Mr. Moody yet again — he was the best
friend I ever had, and more helpful to me than any other man that
ever lived in all my knowledge of the world. Other men have
known him longer than I, but no one, I am sure, could ever have
been more helped by him. I say of him as Paul said of the Philip-
pians, " I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Personal Reminiscences of D. L Moody

BY REV. II. M. WHARTON, D, D.

ABOUT twenty years ago, having just concluded in the city of
Alexandria, Virginia, the second evangelistic meeting I had
ever held, I determined to go to Baltimore in order to hear
Mr. Moody, whose fame as a worker for Christ in the salvation of
men was filling the world. Mr. Moody was spending the winter in
the city of Baltimore, and I found difficulty, being an entire
stranger, to gain access to the crowded building the one afternoon
it was my privilege to hear him.

By good fortune, I met a minister with whom I had become
acquainted some months before. He took me through the pastor's
study to the platform. It was in this study that I saw Mr. Moody
walking back and forth, his hands behind him, and apparently in
deep thought. He shook hands with me, and with hardly an
exchange of words put into my hands several circulars which he
asked me to give to others as I went home. I found it to be a
call to Christian workers to go forth into the harvest field. He
preached that afternoon on Repentance, and I well remember
something of the sermon, and especially his illustrations.

The years passed on and I became pastor in the City of
Baltimore. One afternoon, I think it was in, 92, I was standing
in front of Mr. Moody in the great Cyclorama Building, where
thousands had assembled for services, the choir was singing,
and I think the Scriptures had been read. I did not, of course,

537

538 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY

suppose that he would recognize me, and was surprised when
he looked down and said suddenly, " Come up on the plat
form." As I was sure he did not know me, I turned to a minister
at my side, a prominent pastor of the city, and said, " He is calling
you." He started to the platform when Mr. Moody said he
wanted me, and as soon as I walked up, he said, " I want you to
speak to the people right away." With hardly any notice at all I
made some remarks, and before I left that afternoon he had asked
me to go to Chicago. It occurred to me afterwards that he had
possibly heard that I had been doing some evangelistic work and,
being told that I was in the audience, called me up, and was taking
a sample to find if I would do as a Chicago worker.

A CLOSER PERSONAL ACQUAINTANCE
It did not take him lono- to make a decision when facts were

d>

before him. Upon my arrival at Chicago it was a great privilege to
know that one of the blessings in store for me was a closer personal
acquaintance with Mr. Moody. Three times a day, with few excep
tions, I sat by his side at the table, and was often in his room, which
was regarded as headquarters. Ever)' night when we came in from
our places of preaching— halls, churches, tents, theatres, we would
meet around a large table in his room and enjoy refreshments and
a most delightful social hour, as we discussed the work of the
Master, or indulged in innocent jest and merriment. Mr. Moody
was fond of a joke. He would tell a good story, and no man had
a keener relish for it than he.

It is said of Spurgeon that there was such a hearty good
humor about him, and over all and through all such an atmosphere
of genuine piety, that, though he had convulsed a party by a
lively joke, he could turn at once and say, " Now let us have a
word of prayer," and all go smiling into the father's presence

Z ££J/J\JSCEA'CES OF D. L. MOODY 559

It would seem altogether the right thing to da The same may
be said of Mr Moody. And it mattered little if the laugh turned
on himself, he enjoyed it iust the same,

A GOOD STORY

Here is one I heard him tell one day at the table. First speaking

". - ..-.: -\7 :-.- :t~.- •:.-.- V :.. > ._ ^T .: ;. . -

S*

Barnes, oi Kentucky-, he said : - 1 got him here to preach once manv
years ago. \\ e worked hard and lived on bread and cheese. One ni^ht
when I was absent he preached a sermon on ' The De\-il ! ' I
:asisted that he must repeat it for my benefit, and I worked up a
crowd for Saturday night. I had been out ail day trying to raise
money, and came home at live o'clock tired and huncjTv. In addi
tion to the crackers and cheese I bought some bologna sausage. 1
never tasted anything better than that bologna, and I iust ate it
until I didn't want any more. That night I was to preside
and I sat behind Barnes. H - . .-.--.:

before I got so sleepy I could not hold my eyes open any
way I could iix it. I got out a pin arid stuck myself with it, but
nothing would do. I had been banging the people a good deal for
going to sleep, and when they saw me it was all they wanted. They
would not keep still Barnes saw something was the matter. He
could not get hold of them, and by and by he turned and looked
at me, and saw what was up. The next day someone said some
thing to Barnes about it, he said. • Well. Moody is pretty hard to
down; but last night the devil and bologna did the work for him." '
It was comlortmg to hear Mr. Moody say that he also put people
to sleep sometimes- Well, so did Paul and may be you have also.
If you are a preacher, then you know yourself.

Mr. Moody was a great general He was a great thinkei, and
planned his work even to the smallest details. He looked after

540 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L, MOODY

the food and rest and recreation of his workers. Even his car
riage horse must have at least one day's rest in seven. It did
not matter to him what day you took as Sabbath or rest day, but
it must be one in seven. He was the only one who did not rest as
much as he should. I organized a strike one day, and informed
him that if he did not take a day in seven we would go out on
a strike and walk the streets until he gave in. When we came
from our work that night we found he had rested, and I told him
the threatened strike was having good effect.

ALWAYS READY FOR A PLEASANT WORD

Everybody loved him, men, women and children. Although
he had enough on his mind to keep a dozen men busy, he so
arranged that the work was easily divided out, and he stood at the
helm. But he was always ready to have a pleasant word with man,
woman or child as they chanced to come his way. Nothing could
be more enjoyable than his evening chats with the workers as they
came in from their fields in all parts of the city to give an account
of their labors. — a picture in minature of the time when we shall
all go from the harvest field home to meet our great Leader
and Commander, and tell him of the joys and sorrows, the trials
and triumphs of our life work "on earth.

Mr. Moody was a wise level-headed man. He had a great
deal of common sense. You could hardly get an off-hand expres
sion of opinion from him. He heard what others had to say, but
reserved his judgment until all the facts were before him ; then
when he spoke it was worth hearing. His conduct with reference
to the Congress of Religions was a noticeable instance. When
this ecclesiastical menagerie, gathered from all quarters of the
globe, made its appearance, Mr. Moody was asked again and again
to take part. He only replied that he had his hands full of work,

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY 541

and declined to go. When it seemed to some of us that our Lord
was belittled and disgraced by the motley crew who disported
themselves upon the platform day by day in the wonderful " Par
liament," we suggested that we should attack them all along the
line. Mr. Moody was very emphatic in his instructions. " Preach
Christ," said he, "hold up Christ; let the Parliament of Religions
alone, preach Christ." And he was right. The many-colored
bubble burst, and went to thin air. It will hardly be known in his
tory. Christ lives and reigns; let us live for Him and preach His
blessed Gospel.

MR. MOODY WAS A FINE BUSINESS MAN

Mr. Moody was a fine business man. If he had turned his
attention to earthly, instead of heavenly things, he would have
been a millionaire many times over. He had the happy faculty of
dispatching business with great ease and rapidity, and was wise in
the selection of his assistants. Over each department there is a
head, whom he has chosen for that special work, and the work goes
on well through and through. He looked after the smallest matters.

o •_>

The seating of the congregation, ventilation, arrangement of the
singers, collections, all passed under his observation and direction.
He was a great advertiser. He was one of the children of light,
who have learned from the children of this world. The newspapers,
street cars, bill posters and ticket distributors were all brought into
requisition. One night when he was going to preach in the
Standard Theatre — one of the hardest places — he went into bar
rooms and said, " Moody is going to preach in the theatre to-night,
come in." They recognized him and prepared to go. The results
proved his wisdom. Some Christian people seem to think that it
is only necessary to open the church doors, and the outside world
will break its neck trying to get in. Not so. The most attractive
thing to the common mind is a circus. Men, women and children,

542 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY

old and young, white and colored, will run after it, and spend their
last dimes ; and yet, when the circus comes, they plaster the country
and paint the towns red with their advertisements. Let the people
of God learn a lesson.

Mr. Moody had a great deal of "snap,"-— I hardly know
what else to call it. If he could not make things, like his Master,
he could make things move, and that comes next to making
them. He never allowed a service to draof, — no, not for an

o '

instant. No awkward pauses, nor weary moments of inordi
nate suspense. He went right on from one thing to another even
unto the end. I have gone with him to a great theatre building,
when we were the first in the house, except the employees who
look after the building. As soon as the people came rushing in,
he was ready to start the singing. Not that he sang himself.
He could make "a joyful noise unto the Lord," and as a
gentleman remarked when asked what he thought of his singing,
" I could at least say I never heard anything like it." He would
call out the numbers of the hymns, and he well knew when the
singing was good. Sometimes he would call for one part of the
congregation to sing, then another, then all, till they would make
the house fairly tremble with the thunder tones of praise. Then
several prayers, then his own sermon, usually from twenty to thirty
minutes, and then close with prayer. Perhaps he would have one
or two sermons more of similar length, as was often the case in

o

Chicago meetings.

His GREAT FAITH

And what faith he had! He believed in the Bible from "back
to back" to use his own expression. One night I heard him preach
on the ark. " Come thou, and all thy house into the ark." He
said some infidel perhaps has come in here, and will say, ' What
does Mr. Moody want to talk about that for? Nobody believes

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY 543

the ark story now.' Well, if you don't, you can't believe Christ.
The Son of God endorsed it. 'As it was in the days of Noah, so
shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man.' A good many
preachers these days are trying to cut certain things out of the
Bible ; they had better leave the pulpit. They are doing more
harm than good. Some say, ' I don't believe the fish story about
the whale swallowing Jonah.' There is no trouble if you bring
God on the scene. He who made the earth could make a whale big
enough to swallow a man or a man big enough to swallow a whale."
Mr. Moody believed in the constant presence and guidance of
the Holy Spirit. He was a worker together with God in every
thing. It was thrilling to hear some of his prayers with those who
worked with him. On Sunday morning he would call to God for
a blessing, and when the day was done, and all met in his room,
how sweet it was to kneel and be led by him in a prayer of thanks
giving for the victories of the day. With happy hearts we said
" Good night," and sought our rest, rejoicing that we had been
engaged in the best and most glorious work on earth.

A DAY OF HELP AND REFRESHING

A few summers ago, while preaching in New London, Conn., I
concluded one Monday morning to go and spend a few hours at
Northfield, without letting Mr. Moody know it, my sole purpose
being to get a day of help and refreshing from the services he was
conducting at that time. It was August, and one of his most
important conferences was in session. About ten o'clock I went to
the auditorium, and took a seat far back in the great congregation,
just inside the door in fact, and enjoyed one of his delightful and
helpful addresses. He seemed unusually well, and full of whole
some truth, which he imparted to the great joy of his large audi
ence. After the services were over, I stepped outside the door and

544 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY

went to the Northfield Inn, intending to get my dinner and go
back to the auditorium for a little while, then take the five o'clock
train for New London, and on to Baltimore ; when after dinner
some one came to me and said that I was wanted at the telephone.

The well-known voice of Mr. Fitt greeted me with the startling
information that Mr. Moody sent his regards, and said he wanted
me to speak on the platform at four o'clock, at Roundtop at six,
and again at eight in the auditorium. He would not listen though
I urged that I must leave on the five o'clock train. Finally, however,
he made a compromise by Mr. Moody proposing to send his car
riage and take me out driving, bring me back to the auditorium in
time for the services, and then to the train if I must go. To one
who has been through the vales, and over the hills of beautiful
Northfield, it is needless to say that in company with my good
friend, Mr. Fitt, we had a charming drive, and a little after four
o'clock made our way to the auditorium. When we entered, Mr.
Moody called me to the platform saying, " I have been trying to
get Dr. Wharton here for some time. He is here now, and we will
keep him." Turning to Mr. Stebbins, he said, " You look out for
that side of the platform, and I will take care of this, so he shall
not get away to-day." He then announced that I would speak at
six o'clock, and again at eight. There was only one thing to do,
and that was as all others who came within his reach had to do,
obey his commands; and it was always for the best that we did it.

The six o'clock meeting at " Roundtop," known as the open
air meeting, was largely attended, and to me exceedingly enjoyable.
Mr. Moody sat beside me on the grass, and led in prayer just before
the address. Elijah on Mount Carmel, pleading with his God was
not nearer the heart of his Father in faith and acceptableness, I am
sure, than he, as he led us all in prayer that beautiful evening.
We had a fine meeting that night in the auditorium and several

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF D. L. MOODY 545

interesting addresses were made, after which, at Mr. Moody's kind
invitation, we went to his house, where, in company with a number
of others, a social hour was much enjoyed.

Mr. Moody was not easily discouraged, nor unduly elated.
With all the activity of his great soul, there was still a calmness
and courage characteristic of him that at once inspired hope, and
kept us all at our best all the days and nights of toil. It was my
privilege to be associated with him in the Central Palace Hall, in
New York City, where thousands of people assembled every day
to listen to his preaching. It was an unusual meeting in many
respects, beginning in the early morning and continuing without
intermission, throughout the day, until ten o'clock at night. There
were many interesting conversions in those meetings, and the words
which went abroad throughout the land must have accomplished
great things. At the hotel many of his co-workers were enter
tained, and the brief intervals of personal intercourse were always
heartily enjoyed. He would invite us to his room in the morning
where, with Mrs. Moody and his daughter and others, he engaged
in a daily worship before beginning the duties of the day. Hand
ing me one of Henry Drummond's books one day with an inscrip
tion in his own hand to Mrs. Wharton, he turned the leaves rapidly
and said, " Look at this," and showed me a paragraph where
Drummond speaks of passing to the end of a journey of life, and
then, " Isn't that good, Wharton, going to the Father, going to the
Father." He has ^one to the Father ; he went before we wanted

o

him to go, and as it seems to us the burning and shining light was
consumed all too soon. Still the Father called, and when he went
away, he said we must not call him back, and we will not. He can
not return to us, but we may go to Him, and in that blessed land
we shall meet to part no more. Thanks be unto God, who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XXXIV

A Month with Mr. Moody in Chicago

BY REV. H. M. WHARTON, D. D.

IT was a magnificent opportunity. The year of 1893 would find
Chicago, the great city of the West, crowded day by day with
hundreds of thousands of people coming and going from all
parts of our own country, and from every nation under the sun.
Mr. Moody was no prophet, but he was quick to see an opening
for usefulness, and ever ready to grasp an opportunity for doing
good. He saw before him an occasion similar to the Pentecost at
Jerusalem, but on a much larger scale. In fact, the wonderful event
at Jerusalem, when the Spirit descended upon the assembled disci
ples, and they went forth to meet and preach to the crowds coming
up to the Holy City was but a prophecy of that which came to pass
in the city of Chicago. Mr. Moody laid his plans with unusual
wisdom and foresight. When the World's Fair opened, and the
people poured in from all quarters of the earth, he was there to
meet them with a force adequate to the demands of that teeming
multitude. A brief outline of this plan will be of interest.

OUTLINE OF His PLAN.

Wherever it was practicable, he grouped the churches, includ
ing as many as possible in the arrangement ; the members were
asked to come together in one of the largest of the group, and
there met for worship and work. Services were held at night, and
visitors who were staying in the neighborhood had ample notice
that they might attend an interesting Gospel meeting. All available
546

A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO 54;

public places, halls, theatres, and other buildings, which could
be used for public worship, were secured without regard to cost.
When the theatres could not be had for the afternoons and even
ings, they were secured for noonday services, and for Sunday
meetings. The people of the great city seemed not only willing
but anxious to do everything in their power to add to this wonder
ful movement for the Gospel of Christ, and for the salvation of
souls. Perhaps one of the most interesting features was the tent
work. This may be better understood by a simple description of
a tent service.

DESCRIPTION OF A TENT SERVICE

After supper in the men's department of the Bible Institute,
about 100 men are on their knees for a few minutes. Brief,
burning, pointed prayers ascend. God is counted on to stand
by them in their work. Then, rising, they scatter to mission
and tent, going in some cases four, five, and even six miles,
each with his Bible and little package of tracts, those contain
ing plenty of Scripture being preferred. Meanwhile, in the
Ladies' Home, fifty young women have been making similar pre
parations. One party is going to the big tent on Milwaukee
Avenue, where Mr. Schiverea is holding meetings. On the
street cars no time is lost. A young woman opposite speaks to the
tired shop-girl at her side, opens her Bible, and points her to Him
who said, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest ; " but the girl must get off at the next
block. She slips the tract " God's Word to You," into her hand
with a kind pressure, and asks her to read it. A pleasant smile,
and a Good Night, and the seed is sown. Meanwhile, the young
men are not idle. A tract is handed to a fellow-passenger — a kind
word is spoken— and soon they, too, are talking of that wonderful

548 A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

Saviour. A man on the platform has secured the attention of the
conductor, who seemed under conviction. But we have reached
our destination, and step from the cars.

Before us is the tent, brilliantly lighted. We enter, and over
head is a great arch of canvass, supported by three centre-poles
and smaller ones about the sides — an auditorium accommodating
1,300 people, and seated with canvas benches.

The little party kneel in prayer for the presence and power of
the Holy Spirit. Then some take their places upon the platform,
to sing the Gospel, some stand ready to welcome and seat the audi
ence, and others go out upon the streets, with cards of invitation
to bring in the passers-by.

From our seat on the platform we watch the audience come in.
First, a hesitating group of ragged little ones, then some young
"toughs," with mischief in their faces are passed from one usher to
another, who will keep his eye upon them. Next a mother with a
baby in her arms, a laboring man in gingham shirt and no collar,
fathers and mothers with their little ones — so they gather — largely
an audience of respectable working people, for this is the character
of the neighborhood ; but the " tough " element is not wanting.
The blue coat of a policeman seen at the door makes it easy to
preserve order. The police of Chicago have proved good friends
of this work, and some of their hearts have been found tender as
well as brave.

A GRAPHIC ADDRESS

A Gospel hymn opens the meeting, and how these people
sing! A solo from an Institute lady, full of the Gospel message,
more hymns, a duet, prayer, and the evangelist begins to speak.
Tenderly, lovingly he deals with the people — -unsparingly he deals
with their sins. The trace of the actor still lingers in his graphic

A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO 549

illustrations, largely drawn from his own experience ; but so anxious
is he that all be to the glory of God that he uses these with more
and more care every year.

The address is short, and a hymn of invitation to Christ is
sung by the same soloist as before, and then the speaker begins to
ask those who wish to turn from a life of sin to God, to rise. Here
and there they rise to their feet, the Institute workers marking them
carefully. Then the leader says that all may go who wish to do so.
but that a short after-meeting will be held for those, who choose to
remain. A large part of the audience stay, .md the workers thread
their way among them, sitting down by thost who have risen, and
trying from the Word of God to show the way of salvation, often
finding among those who linger, deep conviction of sin without the
courage to rise and manifest the interest felt. At a late hour the
party are once more on the cars, singing the Lord's songs as they
take the long ride home.

THE WORKING FORCE.

From a very wide acquaintance all over the Christian world,
Mr. Moody selected his helpers. He secured men of experience,
who had been blessed in other work without regard to age, denomi
nation or education. What he wanted was men who believed the
Gospel with all their hearts, who worked under the power of the
'Spirit of God, and who could tell plainly and simply the story of
redeeming love. Mr. Moody always attached fully as much impor
tance to the singing as to the preaching of the gospel, and in
arranging his plans, sought out the best Gospel singers he could
find, whether men or women, and applying the same rules to them
as to the preachers, his selections were along the same line. The
great purpose of his heart was to put before the people the way of
life, and in the inquiry meetings, never to give up a soul while it

55o A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

yet remained in darkness, but to labor on until the seeker had found
his Saviour. Without comment as to the wisdom of his plan, the
results testified in unmistakable terms, that it was the one way to
reach and save the many who came under the preaching of the
Word, and there is no question that the results of the campaign dur
ing the World's Fair in Chicago were far more extended than at
Pentecost in Jerusalem, for while hundreds and even thousands
returned from the Holy City to their homes with a blessing, tens of
thousands went from Chicago to all parts of the earth, net to tell
simply of the wonders of the World's Fair, but the glories and the
joys of redeeming love. I might relate many incidents of this
work if time and space would allow. Let it be said, however, that
from the lowest dens of vice in the slums of the city, to the highest
in culture and position, the burning words of the evangelist reached
the hearts of the people, whether these words were said or sung, and
the whole city throbbed with the blessed impulse of Divine power.

MY ARRIVAL IN CHICAGO

Many months before the beginning of the campaign, I met
Mr. Moody and he engaged my services. During the spring of
1893, while holding meetings in the state of Texas, a telegram
from him was received, announcing a number of appointments for
me in Chicago on the following Sunday, according to our agree
ment made some time before. I had planned my arrangements to
suit so that my meetings were closing at the time his message was
received. Leaving immediately for Chicago, I arrived on Saturday
night, and stopped at the Palmer House, and notified Mr. Moody
that I was on hand and ready for duty.

Sunday morning early, I was informed that a gentleman
wished to see me in the office of the hotel, and on coming, down I
met a handsome, young, blue-eyed Irishman, who said he had come

A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO 55 r

to take me to preach at Haymarket Theatre. It was my first meet
ing with one who became my genial and fast friend at that time,
and such has been our relation ever since. He informed me that
he was in this country a brief time, as he then thought, but soon
changed his mind, for he succeeded in winning the heart of Miss
Moody, and is now one of the leading workers in the great institu
tions which were established by her father. All of us know
Mr. A. P. Fitt, who for years has been at the head of some of the
most important branches of a great work.

MY FIRST SERVICES IN CHICAGO

On arrival at the Haymarket Theatre that Sunday morning
the crowd seemed to be as great in the street as in the house, and
it was with difficulty that I could get to the platform, where Mr.
Moody greeted me most cordially, and in a few minutes introduced
me, and requested me to speak. Immediately upon conclusion
of my sermon, he again took the great audience in hand, and turn
ing to me said, " Please go across to the Empire Theatre, and
address an overflow meeting there. I will join you in a few
minutes." It was quite as difficult to get out as in, but I soon
found myself landed on my feet upon the stage in the Empire
Theatre, where the people were already joyfully singing under the
leadership of my good friend George C. Stebbins. In due time Mr.
Moody came on the platform, having spoken in the Haymarket
Theatre, and preached in the Empire Theatre with unabated power
and zeal.

The meeting over, we went to a convenient hotel, where
we had a hasty lunch, and from there up Michigan Avenue to Im-
manuel Church at three o'clock where another large audience was
assembled, and we spoke again, I first, Mr. Moody following. The
service here ended, and with but little rest we went for refreshment,

552 A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

then made our way along State Street to Central Music Hall,
arriving before any of the audience. Soon after we walked upon
the platform, Mr. Moody began to arrange for the -service. The
doors were opened, the people came pouring in, and a few of the
singers had arrived and were on the stage. There was no organist,
and no leader for the time, but our great evangelist, never waiting
a moment for anything when there was work to do, turned to me,
and said. " Wharton, can't you start a hymn ?" Taking up some
familiar hymn, we sang while the people crowded the building. In
a few minutes the choir had assembled, the leader was present, and
the great throng joined heartily in praising God. At this service,
the order was reversed, Mr. Moody preaching first, and I am sure
that, never in my life, have I listened to a more powerful sermon
than was preached by him on that occasion to the great waiting

throng.

A MOST POWERFUL SERMON

His theme was " Daniel," and he carried us by the won
derful power of his imagination through all the scenes of that re
markable life, culminating with the miraculous delivery from the
den of lions. Who can have forgotten his impersonation of the
king, as looking down into the den of lions, he calls to Daniel, " O
Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions ? " And then the
reply of Daniel that comes up from the lions' den, " O king, live
for ever.

" My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths
that they have not hurt me, forasmuch as before Him innocency
was found in me ; and also before thee, O king, have I done no
hurt." The whole audience was subdued under the mighty power
of the Holy Ghost, and their hearts were melted in sweet fellow
ship and love. We went away feeling that we had been close to

A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO 553

the throne, and had heard and seen strange things that blessed
Sabbath day.

It will be for others to tell of his great achievements, and to
account, if they can, for the secret of his power and his wonderful
success. To me the great personality was the incarnation of love,
and although he might at times impress one with a brusqueness
which was almost abrupt, back of it all was still beating a great

loving heart.

THE CHICAGO BIBLE INSTITUTE

Our headquarters during this campaign were at the Bible
Institute, one of the well-known schools already referred to for
teaching and training in the Scriptures and evangelistic work.
This Institute was the outgrowth of many years' thought on Mr.
Moody's part upon the needs of the working people and the poor
outcast. He saw that men and women were needed to go among
these people and do heart to heart work, so that by the Word of
God and the power of the Spirit, they might, by their sympathy
and love, brinof them to Christ and to nobler lives. These must

O

be searched out and trained, and material was abundant, but it
required a vast deal of wisdom in one to select the proper material,
and to secure workmen to prepare this material for successful ser
vice. There are also many who have been called of God into the
Christian work at a period of life too late to take a regular college
course, but who could, by the help of the Bible Institute, be quali
fied for great usefulness ; and then there are persons who wish to
devote their time to Gospel work while pursuing some other

calling.

ITS AIM AND METHOD OF WORK

It was to meet all these demands that the Institute was
established. It has sought to send out men and women who have
a thorough consecration, intense love for soul's, a good knowledge

554 A MONTH WIT PI MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

of God's Word, and especially how to use it in leading them to
Christ, untiring energy, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The
method of training is by the study of the Bible and music, and
actual work in leading men to Christ. The Institution is located
in the heart of Chicago, and has from its beginning been under the
management of Rev. R. A. Torrey, a man in every way qualified
for this important work. When I reached the Institute the Monday
following the day I have been describing, they sent me to a room
which was to be my home for the next month. As I entered this
pleasant little " Prophet's Chamber," I looked around for pictures,
but discovered only one little motto on the wall, neatly framed,
and these were the simple words, " GET RIGHT WITH GOD." My first
impulse was to kneel down and ask God's blessing that I might be
right with Him, and that He would use me in the work upon which
it had been my privilege to enter. The very atmosphere of this
place is one of worship and work. You can hear the songs of
praise at almost any hour of the day. Little meetings are held in
the rooms, or a special sermon or lecture in the chapel, and sweet
social seasons when they are gathered around the tables in the
dining-rooms, or in Mr. Moody's great reception room. It was al
ways sweet and restful during the hours between the times of actual

service.

THOUSANDS SAVED

The Institute is a hive, where the workers are coming and
going, the difference being the bees go out, gather their honey and
bring it home, while here the honey is gathered and carried
abroad, where it is dispensed to those who will receive. The
workers went forth every day and gave what they had gotten, to
return in the evening all full of the sweet consolation that " It is
more blessed to give than to receive."

A MONTH WITH MR. MOODY IN CHICAGO

555

I count it one of the greatest blessings of my life to have parti
cipated in the great battle among the multitude that filled Chicago
daring the most successful Exposition the world has ever known ;
and when the glorious end shall come, I believe it will be found
that during this period of six months' work thousands were saved
by the preaching of Christ in these meetings, and not only this, but
that Christians from all parts of the earth went back to their homes
strengthened and blessed, clothed anew with powers of the unseen
world, to work for the Kingdom of God more earnestly and faith
fully than ever before. And besides all this, the evil influences
that were counteracted, and the good influences that went forth, will
bless the world to the end of time. God be praised for this true
believer and consecrated Christian man, who, like his Master,
loved the world, and gave himself for it, and now, having finished
his work, has passed through the gates of glory, and wears a crown
of righteousness and victory forever.