Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1875 — MOODY AND SANKEY. [ARTICLE]

MOODY AND SANKEY.

Messrs/Moody and Sankey have closed tlieir labors in Brooklyn. On Sunday, Nov. 21, they ( began their meetings in Philadelphia, where a large buihlinj; capable of seating 8,000 persons has been fitted up for their use. Speculation upon the probability of their success in the United States has been set at rest by the fact of their success. The same crowdingof the people to listen, the same easy control of vast audiences, the same power of makinginstant impressions which marked, their progress in England are visible here at home. It is probable, therefore, that effects produced on the other side of the Atlantic will be paralleled in the cities of their own country. They have been most fortunate in touching a wide circle of social and denominational sympathies. Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, English Churchmen, Roman Catholics, Baptists,#. Congregationalists and Methodists have alike borne testimony to the deep impression made by their preaching and song. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave Messrs. Moody aud Sankey a kind word of approval; at their meetings in the West End of London Dukes "and Duchesses and other titled persons were frequently seen in the boxes of the operahouse, which had been temporarily leased for religious worship; while at the East End, the most poverty-stricken of the population of the great metropolis filled the building extemporized for their accommodation. Mr. Saukey’s songs became so popular in London that they could be heard every day in the streets; and when lie visited Switzerland and Germany he found that French and German versions of them were in the hands of thousands of the people. The interest awakened by these evangelists being, therefore, so general, it may not be amiss to present the readers of Harper's Weekly a fuller account of their history than has hitherto been practicable iq its columns. Dwight L. Moody, the leader in this joint partnership, was born in Northfield, Mass., in 1837, and is now in the thirty-eighth year of his age. His 1 parents were Unitarians. His early advantages were very few and these but little improved. In his seventeenth year he entered his uncle’s shqe/store in Boston, and while there became a member of Mount Vernon Congregational Sundayschool. When lie first applied for menbership in the church on a profession of faith his understanding of the truths In which he professed belief was thought to be so imperfect that his admission was postponed for a year. In March, 1&56, he was examined a second time and received into church fellowship. His first efforts to express himself in religious meetings .were most unfortunate. Kind friends advised him to refrain aud informed him that he had no capability for public; speaking. He was rebuffed in this manner over and over again. Nowise discouraged, but determined to seek a place whcreUiis efforts to do good would meet a better reception, he removed to Chicago in the latter part of 1856. Here he quickly offered. his,services as a teacher in a missionschool anu was told that he might have’a bench if lie would procure the scholars. On the following Sunday he entered the sc bool-room with eighteen boys, whom he had picked up in thC streets." Very soon he established a mission-school of his own in a dancing saloon known as the “ North Market Hall.” After the dancers had left on Saturday nights Mr. Moody and his friends would spend several hours in cleaning the room up and making it fit for religious worship. This school rapidly increased until it numbered over 1,000 scholars. Jojin V. Farw.eli, tli# well-knoWii dry-goods merchant and Mr. Moody’s fast friend, was its Superintendent. Mr. Moody’s mode of working was sc direct and individual, and at times uso • reckless of consequences, that before long all Cliicago knew him,‘well. People of all sorts hailed him as “ Brother Moody.” Some nicknamed him “Crazy Moody;”

but as his efforts to do good, though intensely earnest, showed in the end sound sense, this epithet soon fell away from him. ItTnay be imagined that he had at times some, hough experiences. On one occasion he was cornered in a room by three men, who threatened to kill him. “ Give me,” he asked, “ a chance to say my prayers, won’t you?” The request was granted, and by the time the prayer was over the men were subdued. He trained a choir of young people, and* with them visited drinking saloons, where, after singing sonVe hymns, he would offer prayer. The story is told that on one occasion he entered a drinking den, and said: “Would you like to have a song, gentlemen?” Permission was given, and the children sang, to the great satisfaction of the listeners. . “Now,” said Mr. Moody, “we will have a word of-prayer.” “ No prayer here,” was the universal shout. “O yes,” replied the undaunted evangelist, “we’ll have a few words of prayer,” and offered up some earnest petitions. He then invited all to go to his meeting, and quite a number followed him. Sunday was his chief recruiting day. He would start out early iu tlie morning and hunt the streets over for neglected children, and make his appearance at last with a whole troop of them at the schobl-room door.

In 1858 Mr. Moody became a member of the A'oung Men’s Christian Association of Chicago, served it as city missionary, and finally became its President. Under his energetic direction the new association building was put up. During the war lie was much in the army, preaching to and holding meetings with our soldiers. By the year 1803 a building was erected for his use in Illinois street, Chicago, at a cost of $20,000. Here Mr.. Moody gathered a church of 300 members, and presided over a flourishing Sunday-school. The great fire of 1871 swept away this structure and his home near l>y, leaving him, as he said to a friend, nothing but “ his reputation and liis Bible’.” A temporary building was reared a few weeks after,' capable of accommodating 1,500 persons, and known as the “ North Side Tabernacle.” Air. Moody did not, however, confine himself to this place, but organised open-air meetings in the neighborhood. Children’s and mothers’ and sewing-meetings were also held in this temporary house of worship. Chicago is full of stories of Mr. Moody’s adventures. The street Arabs know right well who he is. A minister who was encaged in distributing tracts rebuked some boys for their profanity. “ Say, mister,” replied one of them, “do you belomr to Brother Moody?” At one time he met in the street several acquaintances, all men of the world, “ Friends,” said Mr. Moody, “ we may never meet again. Here is an alcove. Let us have a prayer.” As they stood lie offered a short petition, and then left them with a gentle parting word. Mr. Sankey is younger than his associate by three years. He was born in Western Pennsylvania in 1840, of Methodist parentage. He became a member ol the church at the age of fifteen, and was soon known as a sweet and effective singer. lie and Mr. Moody first met at a National Convention of Young Men’s Christian Associations,' held at Indianapolis. Finding themselves to be of one mind, they associated together for religious work, and spent many months in Chicago and other cities of tlie Union. Mr. Sankey’s power is to tie found in a rich voice, a distinct articulation, and tlie feeling with which he renders the sentiment of his songs. The critical and the uncritical are alike moved by his simple melodies, which arc now as familiar to all English-speaking peoples as household words.

The burning of Mr. Moody’s place of worship in 1871 and the consequent suspension of liis labors appear to have directed his attention to England. He had been invited to go thither by Mr. Pennefather, of London, and Mr. Bainbridge, of Newcastle, In June, 1873, the two evangelists entered Liverpool.% Their first efforts to secure public attention in this not at all successful. Their Messrs. Pennefather and Bainbridge, had both died, so that they were left without the important co-operation which they had expected. From Liverpool they proceeded to York and Sunderland, where they fared but little better. In August they began their work in Newcastle. Here they were fortunate in securing the hearty co-operation of the resident ministers. Tim services quickly became so attractive that two were held simultaneously each evening. On Wednesday, Sept: 10, Mr. Moody tried in this city the experiment of an all-day meeting, each hour being devoted to a special topic. For six hours the place, of assembling was thronged, and the interest in the exercises rose higher and higher until the close. During their stay in Newcastle the evangelists made short visits to Darlington, Stockton, North and South Shields and Carlisle. At the closing meetings the whole population of the city seemed to be moved. Several meetings were held at the same time on the last evening, and were protracted to a late hour. When the evangelists went to the railway station crowds accompanied them to say at the last moment farewell. Great numbers had professed conversion. In November, 1873, Messrs. Moody and Sankey proceeded to Edinburgh. The fame of their great success in Newcastle had preceded them. Invitations jo visit the Scoleh capital had been sent, so that tlieir welcome was perfectly assured. The impression made here may be best judged from a circular which w-as sent to every minister in Scotland. Among the signers of it were Profs. Blaikie, Calderwoou aud Cliarteris, Drs. Duff', Hanna, Andrew Thompson and many others as well known in the Christian world. Among the rest they say: “God is so affecting the hearts of men that the Free Church Assembly IlaiJ, the largest public building in Edinburgh, is crowded every day With a meeting for prayer, and that build.ing, along with thq Established Church Assembly Hall, overflows every evening, when the Gospel' is preached. The hall of the Tnlbooth Church and the Free High Church are nightly attended by anxious inquirers. All denominational and social distinctions arc entirely merged.” This testimony to the success of Messrs. Moody and Sankey from the -leaders of the churches of Scotland, men of learning and good judgment, could not have been elicited had the work of the evangelists been characterized by rant and unseemly excitement. For nearly two months the people of Edinburgh attended da>ly religious services, tilling often three or four public buildings at the same hour. The conversions reported numbered many hundreds. Mr. Sankey’s music was everywhere spoken of as a new revelation of the possibilities of Christian song. i The greatleffect of the preaching of Mr. Moody in Edinburgh opened his way to every part of Scotland. Invitations’accordingly came to him and his associate from ail the principal cities. Ashort visit

was paid to Dundee, and early in February, 1874, they began in Glasgow with a meeting of 3,000 Sunday-school teachers in the City Hall. In the evening of the same day both the City Hall and three neighboring churches were filled with eajmr listeners. In Glasgow Mr. Moody had the co-operation of such men as Principal Fairbairn, Dr. Andrew A. Bonar, Dr. Cairns, of Berwick, and Dr. Buchanan. Separate meetings were held for men, women and children. To afford accommodation for the great crowds, the Crystal Palace, the, largest public assembly-room in Scotland, was opened; 6,000 persons were at times packed within its walls. At one meeting, in addition to this number, a vast multitude, estimated at 15,000, filled the open space around this edifice, and was addressed effectively by Mr. Moody. During his stay in Glasgow Ihe held a Christian Convention which was attended by 5,000 persons, among whom were 2,000 ministers and office-bearers of the churches in Scotland and the north of England, «* I' l may be readily supposed that >lr. Sankey’s singing was, in Scotland a muchdiscussed topic. The Scotch have, until recent years, adhered to the exclusive use of psalms in public worship; they have objected, too, to the presence of musical instruments in their churches. They are a musical people, as their stirring ballad poetry well attests; but the religious ballad set to the strains of a secular melody is somethingtliey have not heretofore known. A Scotch writer in analyzing the effects produced by Mr. Sankey saief that “ what he sang was nothing new to the people, but his manner of singing, w-as very new indeed.” The music was much of it familiar, but had never before been associated in their hearing with religious sentiment. His earnest endeavor to impress the message contained in each song excited their admiration. They saw in Mr. Sankey a singling preacher, just as they recognized in I Mr. Moody a speaking preacher. From Glasgow the evangelists proceeded to Paisley and Greenock, where, during their short stay, the same effects of their preaching and singing were produced as in other cities, "in the latter part of May they returned to Edinburgh. In the two months’ interval daily meetings had/ been maintained in the Scotch capital, with a large attendance of worshipers. On Thursday, May 21, a farewell meeting was held “ in a natural amphitheater on the way to St. Anthony’s Well, in the Queen’s Park.” Between 10,000 and 11,000 persons were here collected together. “It was an impressive sight,” says one who was present,to see masses oi human beings hanging" on or sitting on the shelves of the rocks, and to ail-appearances in the clefts behind tlie~ preacher.” In the Presbyterian General Assemblies held that year in Edinburgh frequent reference was made to the extraordinary interest awakened by Messrs. Moody and Sankey in the minds of the people of Scotland’. The Rev. Dr. Stewart, the Moderator of the Free Church Assembly, said, in bis opening address: “The result of this blessed visitation has been tlie healing of breaches aniong beloved brethren and the producing,®! such union ot heart and co-operation, among the godly and earnest-minded laborers in all our churches,as warrant tlie hope oi union on a broader basis than we had even dreamed of.” *

During the summer of 1874 tliev visited Dumbarton, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, lluntly, Naira and Elgin. At Aberdeen 10,000 persons flocked “to the National Amphitheater on the Broadh'iU.K where a platform had been erected for the speakers and the choir. Here during the long June evening Mr. Moody addressed an audience whiclrwas made up of representatives of all classes of society. The last sermon in Scotland was delivered at Rothesay, on the 3d of September, by the sea-side. It may he safely said that the influence of the visit of Messrs. Moody and Sankey was felt throughout all Scotland, by high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant. Increased and systematic effort was made to reach the neglected classes of the people. Christian associations of all kinds became more active, and the union of the churches, which had been much discussed, became a visible fact.

Crossing over to Ireland, the evangelists appeared next in Belfast, where they spent several weeks. In this city upward of 2,000 persons professed to have been persuaded by them to enter upon a Christian life. After a brief visit to Londonderry they reached, Oct. 24, the capital of Ireland. Extensive preparations liad_been made for tlieir reception. The Exhibition Building, which, it is said, will hold 10,000 persons, was, placed at their disposal . Mr. Moocty was welcomed to Dublin bv a minister of the Irish (Disestablished) Church, and was aided during his stay by ministers of all denominations. In this city the population, without distinction of creed, appeared to be drawn to the Exhibition Building. It was ■ said that “ Protestants and Roman Catholics, Christians and Jews, Presbyterians, Methodists, Moravians, Arians and Quakers,” were all to be found in the audiences. The Nation , one of the., Roman Catholic organs of the city, called upon its readers to show all respect to the religious .feelings of their Protestant lellow'-citizens—in a word, “ to do as they would be done by.” As many as 2,000 converts were reported in Dublin. At the close of his stay here Mr. Moody held a convention of three days’ duration, winch was attended by 800 ministers from all parts of Ireland, besides thousands of the laity. The topics discussed related to the reaching of the masses and the best modes of perpetuating the religious interest awakened in Ireland. Manchester was visited on the 29th of November, and meetings began in FreeTrade llall. In this city Alt. Mood}' adopted the plan of a house-to-house visitation. The largo *“ Ordnance Alap” of AlanchesLtr was divided into fifty districts, and each district put in charge of a superintendent, under whom were placed enough visitors to reach every house. A leaflet containing a hymn and a short address was left witfFeach family as an introduction to a subsequent call and conversation. The evangelists remained irrt Alanchester till the last day of the year. The outpouring of the people to see and hear them was but the repetition of that which characterized their visits to the .cities of Scotland and Ireland. Sheffield, Birmingham and Liverpool were successively visited in the early part of 1875 with the same results. In Birmingham, Bingley Hall was used, no one church being large enough; in Liverpool, a building known as Victoria Hall, and seating 8,000 persons, for the occasion. Mr. Saukey’s songs were soon heard in the shops of these great cities. Air. Aloody took pains in England, as he had done in Scot 1 ami, to imptess his views of Christian work on conventions of ministers and lay Christians. In one of these he answered the question so often asked, “ How to reach the masses,” in a single sharp sentencS—“ Go and fetch them.” By the time Alessrs. Aloody and Sankey I were ready to go to London the attention

of the whole u. nited Kingdom had been aroused. Tlie pre, ’ mra^ on s made for them were commensuratt. Wl, k tlle great extent df the city and the Vi. stness °f its population; 1,500 ministers m tlie Protestant denominations met in aO, ance °i their arrival to consult upon the lx * s } methods of, co-operation with them. A special committee, headed by a mapped the city into visitation districts. A central office opened by the co.’ 71111 ' 1^ 0 directed district superintendents, yvlio in turn directed the work of the compi. uies of visitors. Agricultural Hall, IslingL >n < wliich will hold 17,000 persons, was prt. *- ■vided with 15,000 cliair% and at the first

meeting all these and, in addition, all standing spaces were occupied. Mr. Moody’s plan contemplated a meeting of one month’s duration in each district of London-north, south, east and west. On March 10 a daily prayer-meeting was also opened in Exeter Hall, which was crowded in every part. In three days’ time it was estimated that as many as *BO,OOO persons in all had been present at these assemblies. On Sunday, Starch 14, a meeting for women only was held in the Agricultural Hall, and in the evening one for men. Both times it was filled. The interest once awakened showed no perceptible decline, but rather increased day by clay. Her Majesty’s Opera-House was leased for the meetings in the West End of tlie metropolis, and was muse for seven weeks. On one occasion 1,500 blirid persons were brought there together. After Sir. Sloody’s address Sir. Sankey sang for them “Jesus of Nazareth Passetli By” with touching effect. The four months spent in London were completed in the summer at Camberwell Green Hall, on the South Side. On the 12tli of July the last meeting was held in Slildmay Hall; 700 ministers were present, as were also the Earls of Shaftesbury and Cavan, and Slessrs. Slorlev, McArthur and • Cowper-Temple. Thanks were freely tendered to Slessrs. Moody and Sankey for their labors in England ; ample testimony was borne to their disinterestedness; and in this manner the work which began in the summer of 1873 with an attendance ot four persons was closed. A proposal to present to the evangelists a testimonial was met by them with a prompt negative. What they have undertaken to do since their return home is sufficiently well known to the readers of this paper. Invitations more than they can accept have poured in upon them. The whole country wishes to see and hear the men who have to such a remarkable degree drawn to themselves the attention of the English-speaking world.

The two evangelists have created a strong conviction of their sincerity, and this fact-aids thejn wherever they go. Very many who do not agree with them theologically are wholly indisposed to quarrel with their efforts to do good. Everyone is willing to see his neighbor become better, and everyone understands that a bad man changed to a good one is a positive gain to society. It is admitted, too, that the pastors of the churches, do as much as they may, tail to reach more than a minority of the people. They stand ready to preach and teach Christianity to all who come to them; Air. Moody’s plan js to go after those who don’t come. His method of labor suggests that something is needed to supplement our routine pulpit ministrations; not, indeed, to supersede them, for, after all, it is by the “ line upon line,” the processes of instruction patiently carried on through years, that the community is trained up in the practice of Christian morality. No man appears more ready to admit this fact than Mr. Aloody liimself; he subordinates his work to that of faithful pastors, and in this shows his eminent good sense. Nor should the fact that these remarkable effects have been produced by men who make little pretension to culture dis ; credit culture as an essential element in Christian teaching. Mr. Aloody shows every day his obligations to the labors of thoughtful and devout scholars. The theological ideas which lie uses have received their precise statement, guarded by needed limitations, from men of another class who have preceded bird. And this must be the case with regard to any teaching which touches- the highest interests of mankind. Clear definitions of our obligations to God and to man are not framed in a few minutes or a few hours of time. They have come to us from the labors of the cultivated who have meditated much' on human duty, and have devoted their lives to ascertaining the meaning of the Bible, which is for Protestants the supreme authority. I-n all the schools of theology the scholars have shaped into exact propositions the statements which are handled with more or less effect by the teachers of the people. Ever since the world began, the man of unhesitating, unquestioning.faith has been a power. He who has a belief on which be is ready at any moment to stake his life will always find some of his fellows to follow him. To Air. Aloody Christ’s life on earth, death for men, resurrection, ascension to heaven, and coming again for a final judgment of the human race are facts so real that they not only control his own conduct, but excite in him an intense desire to create his conviction of their reality in the minds of others. There is obviously in his faith nc pretense of belief, no half belief, no mixture of trust and distrust in equal or unequal portions. His confidence in the statements of the Bible gives him momentum, and drives him right onward. His vivid realization of Scripture story makes him dramatic, and enables him to present the events of remote ages as though they belonged to the life of our day. His favorite Scripture character, Daniel, is as near to his mind as though Chaldea were Illinois and Babylon Chicago. He has this quality in common with all religious leaders, some of whom hawe been learned, and some quite the reverse. Loyola’s vision of the Virgin, which summoned him to duty, was just as certain to his Soldierly mind as the word of command from a superior officer. In Air. Aloody’s case the majority of the people of the United States more or less share in his convictions of religious truth. The nominal Christianity of the country repeats the creed which is for him so full of meaning. He aims, therefore, to give vitality to the half-dormant sense of obligation which lies imbedded in the conscience of almost everyone who listens to him, and to make it operative in daily life; aud for this his earnestness, shrewdness, patience and tact admirably fit him. His companion’s music is not of a very high order, .perhaps, but it stirs the feelings. Ever since the Hutchinsons went through the country embodying in song the moral ideas of New England it has been certain that a school of music would arise whose office it would trc to give voice, in like manner, to the popular religious ideas accepted by Americans. Air. Sankey found this music to 10s hand, and has beeome its best-known exponent." It is possible that the two evangelists will have a host oDimitatqrs; anu the imitators will most probably show a great falling off from tge originals. Perhaps this liability mtif be sufficiently guarded against by the churches; but the desire to imitate will no doubt be very strong, and

may in time discredit popular evjn.?elism. it is not clear, either, that the classes most in need of reformation at e reached by Mr. Moody; for many of these Christian labor needs to be more strictly personal. Shame, remorse and bitterness against a world which has always turned to them its cold side will keep thousands from even so popular a resort as tlie rink. For all such will be required an energetic application of Mr. Moody’s formula: “Go and fetch them.”— Georye JR. Croohslm Harper's Weekly.