MOODY AND SANKEY 1891-2 MISSION IN SCOTLAND
THE CAMPBELTOWN MISSION.
Mr Moody is deeply attached to old friends. Among the many true and tested friends of bygone years are Mr and Mrs Peter Mackinnon, who have not only entertained the evangelists at their Argyllshire home but have worked earnestly in their meetings in London and elsewhere. Mr Mackinnon met them in London soon after their arrival, and invited them to visit Campbeltown, pending other arrangements. It was thought that rest might be combined with work, but of the former the evangelists have found little. To men of such abounding vitality as Mr Moody, variety in work is excellent recreation, and, thanks to the planning energy of Mrs Mackinnon, that variety has not been lacking. By a free use of the telegraph, she arranged for the meetings at Killean and at Southend, noted in a later part of this report. The carriage drives, undertaken, happily, in fine, bracing weather, enabled our American brethren not only to visit outlying places with the Gospel message, but made them acquainted with some very interesting facts in the past religious history of Scotland. The Kintyre peninsula is by no means so thickly peopled today as it has been in former times, but there are still remaining some descendants of those who fled thither from Ayrshire during the persecutions of the Covenanting days. The ecclesiastical records go much further back than that, and throughout the peninsula there are frequent antiquarian traces of the labours of that great preaching friar, St. Colomba. Southend is the modernised name for Kilcolmkill, of St. Colomba's time, and the adjacent "mull," or point, was the Epidium Promontorium of the ancient Romans.
On Friday, Nov. 13, the evangelists, accompanied by Mrs Mackinnon and Mr and Mrs Oatts, of Glasgow, drove to the famous Mackrihannish Links, perhaps the largest golfing ground in the kingdom. A fine hotel and a number of modern villas have been erected here, and the splendid qualities of the air, purified by the sweeping Atlantic breezes, enhance the growing attractions of this remote and restful corner of Scotland as a summer resort…
Mr Moody, especially, revels in abundance of fresh, keen air, and he expressed in no stinted terms his enjoyment of the long drive northwards along the western rockbound coast of Kintyre laved by the blue Atlantic, and giving distant views of Islay, Jura, and some of the lesser isles of the South-west.
The meeting at Killean was held in the very pretty Mission-room attached to the estate of Mr J. M. Hall, who, with his sister, has done much for the social and spiritual welfare of the dwellers in that district. A very few hours' notice was all that could be given, but it was sufficient to enable Mr Hall to publish abroad widely the fact of the visit of the American brethren. The room was well filled, and the hour was a singularly impressive one. Probably the majority of those present threw aside their daily tasks in order to be present, but they must have felt amply rewarded in the stimulus conveyed through the burning speech and the moving song of the two evangelists. At the close of Mr Moody's address, which was as earnest and impassioned as though he was facing an audience of ten thousand instead of some sixty or seventy persons, the call for a confession of soul concern was well responded to. Mr Moody and Mr Sankey had to return as quickly as possible for the evening meeting at Campbeltown, but certainly their flying visit to the country folk about Killean will be long remembered.
On Tuesday morning, the evangelists were again under way, and reached the village of Southend in good time for a meeting in the new U.P. church, summoned by Mr Young, the minister, chiefly by postcard late the previous evening. Considering the circumstances, the attendance was good, a number of the congregation having
FORSAKEN THEIR FARMING DUTIES
and driven to the place of meeting. We heard one "knight of the road" lodge a good-humoured complaint next day to the effect that he could do very little business, as his customers had gone off to hear Moody and Sankey. The former preached his best, and the close proximity to the ocean suggested to Mr Sankey the appropriate hymn, "Throw out the Life-line," which he has been singing frequently and with rousing effect. Among the congregation were two of the Faith Mission evangelists, who had been holding meetings in the sparsely populated district for some time, and to whom the sudden appearance of the renowned Gospellers seemed as refreshing and invigorating as an Atlantic breeze. At the close of the Southend meeting, Mr Young, the pastor, warmly expressed the gratitude that he and his fellow minister of the Established Church felt for the unusual event that had stirred the placid life of the parish. He told how he had met Mr Moody in Farwell Hall, Chicago, twenty-two years ago, and prayed that the delightfully simple message they had heard might bear abundant fruit. From Tuesday onward, the meetings in Campbeltown were held both afternoon and evening: The afternoon Bible Readings were fairly well attended, and the richly suggestive expositions of Mr Moody were much enjoyed. On the Monday evening he had spoken powerfully on the endowment of the Spirit for consecration of heart and for power in service. This subject he followed up the next afternoon by an incisive and practical address on "The Elements of True Prayer. Wednesday afternoon's subject was "Christ as a Shepherd," a message fraught with practical bearing on the daily life and walk of the believer.
Thursday being the half-yearly horse fair and feeing market at Campbeltown, there was great invasion of the peninsula. The sturdy rustic damsels, dressed in garments of bright blue or scarlet, bonnetless, and in some cases with ruddy bare arms. promenading the narrow streets in groups, presented a most picturesque appearance. On these occasions, the friends of the Y.W.C.A. provide a social cup of tea for their girl visitors in rooms at Lochend, when the opportunity is seized of giving them some friendly and serious counsel. For this there is need enough, in view of the temptations to indulgence in strong drink that abound in the town. We are bound to say that, so far as our observation went, the youths who had come from the country in shoals, monopolised this unhappy indulgence. It was truly painful to witness the extent to which these mere lads had succumbed to the influences of the potent liquid, and were thus early laying the foundations of a dishonoured present and a darkened, ruined future. In order to catch as many visitors as possible, a service was arranged in the large Victoria Drill-hall for half-past two. A free distribution of slips and personal invitations in the streets secured a large and miscellaneous congregation, to whom the Gospel was faithfully preached and sung. Mr and Mrs Oatts of Glasgow, who had come down on the Tuesday to render help in the mission, were very active. Mr Oatts scoured the thoroughfares with bills and persuaded many to attend the meeting. Mrs Oatts sang and spoke to the girls who gathered in the YMCA rooms. One of Mr Sankey’s solos was the “Ninety and Nine," the notes of which pealed through the great spaces of the building with wonderful effect. Mr Moody's sermons on ‘Christ saving and seeking the lost’ held the closest attention of the motley throng and altogether the special effort had its full reward. The seeds of Gospel truth were plentifully sown and watered with the earnest, beseeching prayers of the Christians present, and watered with the earnest, beseeching prayers. Many stayed at the close for some friendly conversation.
All the week meetings were held in the fine Lochend Free Church, the pastor of which, Mr McQueen, worked with a will, and spared no effort in order to bring his fellow townspeople within the scope and influence of the movement. One difficulty that M. Moody has in these short missions is the choice of subjects that will so focus, and condense the spiritual influences at work as to bring the bearers to the point of conviction and of decision. He was manifestly guided in this respect, and the large after-meetings held in the lecture-hall showed that a spirit of soul concern was present in large measure. It is impossible to tabulate results, but probably the best result is the fact that the local ministers and workers are banding themselves together to continue the special effort. We trust that they will reap largely as the fruit of so much faithful sowing and prayerful watering of the seed,
FIGHTING THE WHISKY FIEND,
Campbeltown, with its twenty-two distillers, might aptly be named "Whisky town,” at the same time, we do not know that there is more actual drunkenness among the inhabitants than in other Scotch towns of the same size. The publicans impartially exhibited the posters of the mission in their windows. The temperance sentiment, it is said, has a good hold of the more educated classes; but the fact that the profession of Christianity and the possession of office in the churches by whisky manufacturers are not thought incongruous must inevitably hypnotise the conscience and deaden the sensibility to the fearful havoc wrought by the drink. Mr Moody has not gone out of his way to denounce the trade and the traders, but when occasion arose he expressed himself faithfully and boldly on the subject. Occasion did arise more than once. On the Tuesday evening a man under the influence of the drink repeatedly interrupted Mr Moody in his discourse. The preacher was in no way disconcerted, but with fine generalship pushed home the advantage which the incident afforded him. He appealed to the Christian churches to step out of their slumberous indifference, and seek to redeem these poor victims of the fiery cup.
Thursday evening’s meeting was marked by a very striking and dramatic episode that will be memorable in the experience of every worker present. The facts are worth narrating with some fullness. Mr Moody was about to commence his sermon when a man in the audience, evidently in the grip of the drink fiend, startled the crowded congregation by loudly requesting Mr Sankey should sing "The Ninety and Nine,” adding that he was "the worst man in Campbeltown.” Mr Moody promptly told the interrupter that his request would be granted, and asked him to keep perfectly quiet while the hymn was sung. Mr Sankey thereupon sang the well-known hymn with more than usual feeling, having asked the people to pray that this lost one might be brought home by the heavenly Shepherd. The man remained quiet throughout Mr Moody's sermon, which was singularly impressive one based on the words, "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.” When the after-meeting was held the drunken man was handed over to Mr Oatts, who had a long conversation with him in one of the anterooms. By this time the man was considerably sobered, and seemed anxious to renounce his evil ways and give his heart to God. Mr Oatts prayed with him and gently guided him in prayer on his own behalf. He was then taken into the larger inquiry meeting that Mr Moody might see him and give him a parting word of counsel. After prayer Mr Moody suggested to him that he should at once sign the total abstinence pledge, as an indication of his desire by God's help, to turn over a new leaf. Mr Sankey took him into another room for this purpose. Again they knelt down for prayer, and for about ten minutes the man poured out his heart in supplication. The bench in front of him was wet with the tears that streamed from his eyes while he cried to God to save him from the depths into which he had fallen through strong drink. He rose and signed the pledge with a trembling hand, and Mr Sankey wrote his own name on the pledge as an attesting witness, and also wrote a verse of the "Ninety and Nine," which he had sung, which seemed to please the poor man very much. All this time his only son, a bright Christian youth of eighteen, was standing by encouraging his father and joining in prayer on his behalf.
During the man’s conversation with Mr Sankey, it transpired that he had started out that evening with some small article of apparel belonging to his wife, intending to pawn it for a few coppers with which to obtain a dram. He was passing the place of meeting when he heard the singing, and (as he described it) a voice seemed clearly to say to him, “Go in and hear Moody and Sankey. He replied, “I will." He thereupon entered the church and cried out as we have already narrated.
The man and his son were about to leave the meeting to go home when it was discovered that he had left his hat and the little bundle of clothing in the larger inquiry-room. On entering that room with Mr Sankey, it was found that Mr Moody and a group of ministers were engaged in eager discussion with another man under the influence of drink who had found his way to the after meeting. This man was stoutly resisting all the arguments brought to bear upon him to sign the pledge and give up the drink. On ascertaining what was going on, the first man went up to his fellow-victim of the drink and begged him to sign the pledge. The other replied that he would not. He then urged him to get down on his knees and pray to God. This also the man stubbornly refused to do. “Then I will pray for you,” and with all the zeal of a new-born recruit, he knelt at a bench beside his brother sinner and prayed at some length in most eloquent and pathetic terms, making a lavish and wonderful use of scriptural phraseology in his heartfelt petition. It was a scene never to be forgotten. The other man seemed to remain as hard as steel, and, after some further conversation, the first man went home, leaving his impenitent friend sarcastically answering all the arguments and entreaties addressed to him by the interested group of workers. It was well on to eleven o'clock before the second man was let go, but as far as we could learn, no saving impression was made upon him. He is well known in the town, and we can but pray that in more sober moments he will yet repent and turn to God.
The last Bible Reading on Friday afternoon in Lorne St Free Church was on “Obedience” and Mr Moody's words were very comprehensive, deep-cutting, and far reaching. He dealt some straight blows at the prevailing industry of the town-distilling. Speaking on the necessity of whole-hearted obedience, he said that if there were anything in one's business that was not right, true obedience demanded that it should be given up. If a man could distil whisky to the glory of God let him go on distilling. Let him manufacture thousands of barrels of whisky and send them out to Africa or China and pray that God would make them a blessing to the people there. Let them send hundreds of barrels of whisky and a couple of missionaries along with them and pray for God's blessing on both- if they could.
THE CLOSING MEETING
of the mission was held on Friday evening: The church was so packed that the large number of very young people present had to be drafted into the lecture hall, where Mr Watts conducted the service, being joined later on by Mr Sankey. It was found that many of these boys and girls had really given up their young lives to God and, were seeking to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Some two years ago, Miss Tyson, from America, held a mission in Campbeltown for young people and the fruits of her earnest labours are yet apparent. The proportion of children who attended the meetings last week was larger than we remember having seen at any mission of the size.
It is impossible to describe the intensity and earnestness of Mr Moody's final message to the Campbeltown people as he pressed home the truths of the Gospel, and urged his hearers to close with the offer of Christ. The after-meeting was crowded and a very solemn time it was. Then came the lingering good-bye, and many expressions of personal thanks to the Evangelists for their visit.
THE GOSPEL IN SONG
has been well to the front during the week. Mr Sankey's solo sermons have been as telling and powerful as ever. He sang many favourites and some new ones that are sure to become favourites when they are familiar. Mrs Oatts assisted Mr Sankey and also sang solos, while the most efficient local aid was given in the service of praise. Mr Sankey has met with several friends in Campbeltown who were brought to the turning-point of decision for Christ by one or other of his songs heard on previous visits to Scotland. They are now earnest Christian workers. These instances of fruit appearing after many days is a source of great encouragement to the singer to go on planting the seeds of saving truth in the minds and hearts of the masses through the vehicle of sweet song.
Mr Moody and Mr Sankey left Campbeltown by the steamer at eight o'clock on Saturday morning. A number of friends were there to say farewell among them being the hero of the Thursday evening meeting who seemed quite a new man. As he stood on the quay waving a heartfelt goodbye to those on the receding boat, Mr Moody constrained to remark to a bystander on the deck that it was worthwhile coming all the way from America to influence that one man for God and for eternity. Saturday was an exceptionally lovely day, one of calm after a week of storm. The evangelists and their travelling companions were able to enjoy to the full the manifold delights of the sail through some of the most varied and beautiful coast scenery of which Scotland can boast. Gourock and Glasgow were duly reached, and after a flying call on the venerable Dr. Andrew Bonar, the American friends left for Ardrossan at four o'clock to enter on the second mission of their third British campaign.
From, "The Christian," November 25th, 1891
THE AYRSHIRE MEETINGS.
The evangelists will clearly not have much leisure during their brief visit to the county of Ayr. The Ayrshire Christian Union is a very live institution, and has brought the Christian workers near to each other not only in heart but in united effort. Thus the way of the evangelists has been well prepared, and the conditions are of an unusually favourable kind. Among active workers of the district is Mr John Galloway, of Kilmenny, Ardrossan, and he is entertaining Mr Moody and Mr Sankey. All of the evangelical denominations are heartily uniting, and there is every prospect that the work of the week will be harmonious and fruitful.
Sabbath morning is usually given to rest when the workers have travelled all day on the Saturday, but in this case both were at their post in the forenoon and continued till the evening hour. Ardrossan and Saltcoats being only about a mile apart, the meetings are distributed between the two places. Rev J. D. McCall's Parish Church,
Ardrossan was occupied in the morning, while Saltcoats claimed the workers' afternoon and evening in the Free and Established churches respectively. During the rest of the week there will be afternoon Bible-readings in the Free Church, Saltcoats, and evening Gospel meetings in the New Parish Church, Ardrossan.
On Sabbath morning Mr Moody preached powerfully on "Assurance"—a quality not too common in Scotland, where it considered, especially in the northern Highlands, that certainty of salvation is presumption. Some of the causes of this religious indecision were pointed out, e.g., a spirit of doubt and a lack of love for the brethren. On the latter point the preacher was severe on the quarrelling and backbiting among fellow-Christians that seems so sadly prevalent in these days, and that is the direct foster-parent of infidelity. The Agnostic and the light literature that is largely read was also heartily condemned. Mr Moody departed somewhat from his usual custom at the afternoon meeting in asking, before his address, for a show of hands as to those who were professed believers. Seeing that there were a good many who did not respond, he directed his remarks to the unsaved on regeneration. There was an overflow in the evening at the West United Presbyterian Church, Saltcoats, where Mr Sankey took charge. At both places after-meetings were held, and the reaping work was well begun.
Mr Moody addressed the noon prayer meeting at Glasgow on Tuesday, the Christian Institute being crowded. Mr Campbell White presided, and a warm welcome was given to the evangelist. Before the meeting, Mr Moody met the Glasgow and Edinburgh Committees to discuss the arrangements for Scotland. It was decided that the remainder of the year should be given to places about the north of Inverness; after the New Year, Aberdeen will be visited, and other places, as the progress of preparation may point the way.
The week's work at Ardrossan and Saltcoats has been marked by many signs of real spiritual awakening and decision, as well as much refreshing of God’s heritage. A very happy spirit of union has prevailed among the ministers and workers, and during the latter half of the week much reaping work was done In the inquiry-room. The crowds that attended have been large, and they were gathered from a wide area. Every day numbers drove to Ardrossan from places beyond walking distance, and a specially late train to Kilwinning enabled the travellers there to attend the evening meetings and return home the same night.
Moody's addresses have been perfect marvels of impassioned utterance and burning appeal. On the Monday evening, in the Parish Church, Ardrossan, he spoke to workers, and a double portion of the Spirit seemed to rest on him. His words flew right and left like red-hot balls of fire. The remaining evenings were given to expositions of the Gospel, or, rather, to a driving home of the truths with which the people are so familiar. For Mr Moody is fond of telling Scotch congregations that it is not theology they need so much, or even Gospel preaching, as the resolve to act up to and live out the knowledge they have. His appeals, therefore, have been addressed to the heart rather than to the head. He has held up a living Christ, and with all the energy at his command has invited his hearers to lay hold on Him by faith, not only for pardon and peace, but for power to overcome sin and to testify to others of His redeeming love and grace.
The crowds were so large on the last evenings that Mr Moody had to request some of the Christian people to gather in the adjoining hall for prayer and vacate their seats for late comers, who would probably be of the careless class. From the pressure that was needed to effect this one would have supposed that few Christians were present; but there is much excuse for the desire, even among well instructed believers, to hear the evangelists as often as possible, and to drink in some of the inspiration that is conveyed through their speech and song. At these prayer meetings, held while the service was in progress in the church, many touching petitions were presented for the conversion of relatives and friends. When the after-meetings came to be held in the hall, the prayer meeting was transferred to the church.
INQUIRY-ROOM INCIDENTS.
The later inquiry meetings were very solemn seasons. On the Thursday evening the number of those who rose to confess decision for Christ was particularly large. At such a time many a strange and interesting chapter of the great drama of human life is revealed. It fell to the lot of one worker to converse with a middle-aged woman who seemed in much anxiety. The tears fell as she sat quietly and listened. Presently, Mr Moody stood up on a seat and asked the workers to stop conversation.
After a few simple and earnest words of guidance to the inquirers, he called for open Confessions of Christ. The responses came quickly. The woman referred to hesitated for a while, and then rose in her place to indicate that her mental struggle was over, and that she wished to take her stand. During the after conversation it was discovered that she was the mother of eight children, one of whom was present. Her husband, she said, was a Christian, and he was also in the room. When the worker asked her to point him out, she looked round, and there he was almost at her elbow. He had evidently been watching the course of events, and in reply to a remark of the worker, said: "Has she come home at last? She has been long prayed for." One can faintly imagine the joy that would reign in that home when husband and wife returned to it with both faces turned Zionward.
THE BIBLE READINGS
in the Free Church, Saltcoats, on the weekday afternoons were full of interest. They were very largely attended, numbers of ministers coming to them from the surrounding country. At the last meeting, on Friday afternoon, some twenty ministers might have been counted around the pulpit, besides others scattered through the church. One afternoon, Mr J. M. Scroggie, the evangelist who was conducting a mission near Kilmarnock, was present and led the meeting in earnest prayer.
Mr Moody took for his subject on three afternoons the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Book of Acts. These addresses were packed full of good things and intensely searching in their application to the everyday life and testimony of the Christian. Prayer meetings were held at the close of each Reading, when the burdens of many hearts for the conversion of friends were gathered up and laid on the mercy-seat.
The original programme of the Mission only included Ardrossan and Saltcoats, but Mr Moody's
WONDERFUL APPETITE FOR WORK
Active workers and singers from Ardrossan went out and visited many of the homes, inviting the people to attend just as they were. We heard a devoted young married lady (who is a great blessing to many), who went into some of the public houses with the invitation. enabled him to meet the wishes of friends at Stevenston, a town of considerable size beyond Saltcoats, and chiefly inhabited by miners and their families, and workers in Frobel's explosive works. Two meetings were held there at noon on Wednesday and Friday in the U.P. Church and Free Church, respectively.
In one place they asked her to sing. She at once gave them "The Ninety and Nine," which completely melted down her rough audience. Here, as elsewhere throughout Scotland, the drink curse was awfully prevalent, and its fatal effects on domestic life were frequently unfolded in after-meeting conversations. Many working mothers attended the meetings, babies and all. On the whole, the babies were good, but such small interruptions as they made were turned to splendid account by Mr Moody, whose great and tender heart always goes out to the helpless infants. In some cases where the babies could not be taken to meeting, lady workers undertook to nurse them, and the mothers were able to go. At the Friday's meeting, Mr Moody's discourse on the love of God was one of overwhelming pathos and power; it was a study to observe the faces of the many grave and reverend pastors present as they listened to the moving speech of the fiery ambassador of the Cross who had come among them. The after-meeting, though very short, was a time of real decision to many.
One of the ministers present was Rev John Robertson, of Gorbals, Glasgow, who offered prayer. He was also at the evening meeting in Ardrossan and conducted an overflow in the hall. Mr Sankey's part in the Mission was well sustained, his solos, new and old, being as finely sung and as impressive as ever. He received every assistance from a well-trained local choir. The Ardrossan friends are continuing the meetings, and we trust they will have a great reaping time.
From, "The Christian," December 3rd, 1891
OPENING MEETINGS AT INVERNESS.
The friends at Inverness were among the first to call for the services of Messrs Moody and Sankey after their arrival in Scotland. It was because of their earnest importunity and evident preparedness that a jump was made from the southwest to the north. The Highland capital is blest with some very live ministers, and all the pastors of the town, with a singular exception, have united in the call,
Rev Dr. Black, of the Free High Church, was so anxious that the meetings should have a good start that he paid a flying visit to Ardrossan last week to secure Mr Moody's consent to the arrangements of the local committee,
Saturday last was spent in travel from Ardrossan to Inverness, Nevertheless, Sabbath afternoon found them busily at work in a mass meeting gathered in the hall of the new market, the largest place of concourse in the town, with a good deal of standing room, must accommodate more than a couple of thousand persons.
Meetings were held afternoon and evening. At both services the hall was crowded out, and overflows were held in Dr Robson's U.P. Church, on the other side of the street.
The big hall was very draughty, and is not heated, so that the comfort of the audiences could scarcely be secured. But Mr Moody seemed to have no difficulty holding the close attention of the great multitude. If we may trust the occasional census returns that are issued as to Church attendance, the common people are ceasing to find any attraction in the ordinary services of the sanctuary. We do not attempt to lay our finger on the source of the prevailing indifference, but it is clear enough that people will flock to hear a man who speaks to them as if he meant business, in a language they can understand, and with a message that meets their common need. There is no element of novelty now in the meetings of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey, but we can detect no trace of any failing interest in their work among the masses wherever they go.
It was really a wonderful and inspiring sight that greeted the eye from the back of the platform on Sunday evening. All round the great building there was a deep fringe of standing listeners, but their riveted attention and interest showed no signs of faltering throughout Mr Moody's discourse. It was an extremely powerful one, it is true, and the subject, "Sowing and Reaping," was one that comes home to all sorts of hearers.
Mr Moody stood on two chairs near the back of the platform, so as to reach the corners of the hall with his voice. His home-thrusts and appeals were intensely searching, and one could scarcely understand the possibility of anyone remaining unconvinced of the eternal, unspeakable truth of the apostolic text: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap." Owing to the coldness of the building no second meeting was held, but many lingered as long as possible, and seemed quite loth to leave. The large overflows in Dr Robson's Church were, of course, equally favoured with the big hall as to Mr Sankey's presence, and the singing evangelist had a very busy afternoon and evening. He not only sang in both places at the two services, but spoke on both occasions in the church, assisted by Dr Black and other friends. Mr Sankey's words in the evening, interwoven with bits of personal experience and with telling illustration, were most impressive. The day's engagements were altogether memorable, and furnished an earnest of still greater things during the succeeding days for the revival and increase of true religion in this community.
INCIDENTAL NOTES.
The noon meeting at the Glasgow Christian Institute, addressed by Mr Moody, to which a brief reference was made in our report last week, was in many respects noteworthy All the public notice given was an advertisement in the morning papers, but that was enough to crowd the building, while the platform was thronged with ministers and well-known workers from Glasgow and Edinburgh.
One of the speakers was Rev John Smith, of Edinburgh, who told of a very hopeful and interesting movement that had spontaneously sprung up among students in that city. Some two hundred of them, joined by Christian businessmen, are meeting for an hour early every morning, to pray for a manifestation of the spirit's power. Mr Moody's address was on Prayer. He pointed out that, before all the great epochs of his life, Jesus Christ spent some time in prayer, and it was in answer to believing prayer that bygone revivals of spiritual religion had come. In the later part of the meeting there were some delightful experiences related by ministers and others as to definite answers to prayer. In a movement like this, incidents of a deeply encouraging kind frequently come to light.
SIX DAYS WORK IN INVERNESS
The beautiful capital of the Scottish Highlands is a busy centre during the tourist and shooting season. Visitors pass through it from all parts of the civilised globe, including many of our American cousins, who are great travellers. During the dull damp months of November and December the town relapses into comparative stagnation. The visit of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey has roused it from its winter dormancy, and for a week the Music Hall, in the centre of the town, has been a rallying ground for great crowds of people night after night. This is Mr Moody’s third visit and Mr Sankey’s second, but on no former occasion have they been more heartily welcomed or their labours more honestly appreciated.
It has certainly been refreshing to a degree to see how local leaders of religious thought and life have gathered round the evangelists and co-operated with them in this special Gospel campaign. The minister is still a great power in the North of Scotland and when the chief under-shepherds unite one can count pretty surely that their flocks will follow suit – for a time at any rate. Of course, Mr Moody and Mr Sankey know nothing of denominations in their work, but party feeling runs high just now in these northern parts, in church as well as in political life. The great question of Disestablishment looms up and its spectre cannot be exorcised. All the more credit we say to those who differ strongly and honestly as to this and other subjects, that they have agreed to let subjects of contention be covered out of sight by the rising tide of spiritual concern and of common interest in the evangelisation of the people. One pastor in the town, it is true, has to the sorrow of many of his best shown no active sympathy with the movement, though he has not publicly opposed. The commonly-accepted explanation is that as one of the ultra-conservative school of ecclesiastics, he rejects the use of “human hymns" so-called, and the introduction of instrumental music in the service of praise and of Gospel song. Prejudice lingers long in places remote from the throbbing cosmopolitan centres of life, and the "kist of whistles,” is still a bugbear to many honest, earnest and saintly people. However, if this good pastor has carefully abstained from participation in the past week’s work his congregation has not. It has been a curious experience to some, if not most, of the workers in the inquiry-room these bygone days to find that nearly all those with whom they conversed, and on whom they pressed religious decision, reported themselves as attenders at this minister's church. We merely record the fact and abstain from comment upon it.
In most respects one of these special missions is wonderfully like another, and the task of the systematic chronicler is rendered very difficult if he wishes, Athenian-like, to "tell some new thing." At the same time, the good old Gospel has this marvellous charm about it - that it is ever new; and if any living man has the gift of investing it with perennial freshness, in its spoken form, that man is Mr Moody. It is manifest that in his multifarious and unceasing activities, little time is left him to "study up” new discourses, or even greatly to vary the phraseology of those which have proved such powerful instruments for good in his past evangelistic work. There is not a spice of exaggeration in the statement that during the Inverness Mission his addresses have held the large and diverse audiences spellbound. But there is really no mystery about it - no secret that is hard to discover, and harder still to understand. The simple explanation is that he preaches a full-orbed Gospel, and he preaches it as if he believed it, and had proved, experimentally and otherwise, its saving potency for all sorts and conditions of men. Moreover, he preaches it so simply and plainly that the most unlearned wayfaring men can grasp its meaning, and can see the wisdom of complying with its sanctions and demands.
And that is what many have been doing. For the first evening or two the reticence and stiffness of the Scotch religious nature asserted themselves, but the later inquiry meeting in the United Presbyterian Church (which is just across the street from the Music Hall) were times of blessed ingathering. There have been no great overflows, though on several evenings at the end of the week the crowds were so large that Mr Sankey retired after singing his solos in the mass meeting and took charge of an overflow in the church. There he was helped by local and other friends. Mr Sankey's Gospel songs have been sung with much feeling and power, softening the hearts of the charmed listeners, and preparing them to bow before the strenuous and loving appeals for instant decision that came from the speaking evangelist.
The ministers of the town, reinforced by others from more or less distant places, night by night clustered on the platform and led the meetings in earnest prayer while they listened to the words of their “lay” brother as intently and gladly as though he were a Socrates and a Demosthenes, a John the Baptist and a Paul, rolled into one.
And many a plain home-thrust has been given by Mr Moody to the ministerial mind and conscience. The thorough sincerity of the speaker dissolves all idea of taking offence, though no class of men are more sensitive to criticism and more tenacious of their ecclesiastical prestige. What an untold boon it would be for Scotland if all the occupants of its pulpits were fully inoculated with Mr Moody's keen common sense, his plain fearless speech, his large-hearted sympathy and humanity, and his quenchless zeal!
THE BIBLE READINGS
were all held in the afternoons in the Established High Church, of which Rev Dr. Norman McLeod is pastor. During previous visits of the evangelists, the ministers of the National Church in Inverness did not show any sympathy with their work.
Therefore we suppose that never before in the history of the venerable building have its walls resounded with "the music of the Gospel " sung in the sweet and melting strains that Mr Sankey has at command; never before have they heard such a rush of heart-moving utterance as that of Mr Moody, while he spoke of the conditions of true prayer, of the rest that Jesus gives, and of the necessity of open confession of Him before men. One very interesting feature of the afternoon meetings was the presence each day of some sixty or seventy young maidens— pupils in the Royal Academy - who were conducted thither in a body by the lady superintendent of the school. To these young people Mr Moody now and then spoke specially with much tender earnestness. Surely the memories and sacred influences of these pathetic counsels will abide with them and do much to colour their future lives.
MR MOODY AND SCOTCH WHISKY.
If this tour through Scotland were remarkable for nothing else, it would be memorable for the repeated attacks Mr Moody has made on the baneful drinking customs of the country. Most places have something peculiar to themselves, but this habit of indulgence in strong drink seems common to all. We are sometimes told that it is the lack of cheerful, comfortable homes that drives men to the public-house. There may be something in it, but, generally speaking, it is a poor and extremely partial excuse. There is many a home in Inverness, where comfort and even plenty reigns, that is yet cursed by the liquor habit to an extraordinary degree. The evangelists have been charmed with the natural beauties of the city; Mr Moody admits that it is second only to Northfield. But like every other visitor who is able to see beneath the surface of its social life, they are grieved and horrified at the prevalence of the drink fiend. One hears on every hand of young lives ruined, of hearts broken, and of homes blighted, by the ruthless destroyer. And so Mr Moody has never missed an opportunity of girding right valiantly at the Giant Alcohol, that is slaying its victims on every hand; he has dealt it some powerful blows. His appeals have been mainly to the members of Christian churches, so many of whom by their encouragement of the social use of intoxicants, keep the evil well alive. Scotch whisky, its drinkers, and its sellers in the town have had a poor time of it these past days. Many young people who have attended the meetings, and have received a deep and true spiritual stimulus, are closely related to those engaged in the traffic, and they have felt extremely uncomfortable under the scathing words of this preacher of righteousness and sobriety…
An extra meeting was held in the Music Hall on Friday at noon, with the view of catching some of the country folk present in the town that day, when the second feeing market of the November term, called "Rascal Fair," was held. There was a good gathering and Mr Moody's message was a very urgent one. A drinking man has found his way into the hall and after some interruptions, he left with a companion. Mr Moody made it a text of a very impassioned exhortation, and made a break in his address to offer earnest prayer for the poor man. This meeting for the country people in other respects was an interesting and hopeful one.
From, "The Christian," December 10th, 1891.
A MEETING AT ARDERSIER
was arranged for the forenoon of Thursday, in response to a request from the Free and U.P. ministers. Mr Moody and a party of friends drove the ten miles to the village of Campbeltown, where the Free Church was well filled. Mr Moody preached for nearly an hour, and at the close he had the satisfaction of seeing quite a number of the congregation enter the little lecture-hall behind for brief personal conversation, and in most cases for decision. The lack of assurance as to salvation is woefully common in many parts of the North, and this timidity is sometimes fostered by the absence of definite pulpit-teaching on the point. The result is a stunted and fruitless profession. Mr Moody's happy presentation of Bible-teaching on this point should prove one of the best antidotes to such God-dishonouring views of his message of salvation.
A special meeting for the converts and others interested was to be held in Victoria Hall on Monday evening, with the view of shepherding and caring for those who were spoken with in the inquiry meetings, and whose addresses had been taken. The use of the hall was freely granted for this purpose by Mr Charles Innes, a well-known local politician, who some years since had formed an acquaintance with Mr Sankey on board an Atlantic steamer. He was present at one of the Music Hall meetings and was apparently much interested in the visit of the two American brethren. pathetic counsels will abide with them, and do much to colour their future lives.
WHAT CAN BE DONE IN SIX DAYS.
The stay of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey in this country will be brief at the longest, and the only way to cover the largest amount of ground will be to have short missions - not more than six days at any one place. We have been accustomed to think that little can be done, within the compass of a week, in bringing about a religious awakening; but that may be because of our little faith. We have not yet reached the height of possibility as to what can be done in a short mission when the Christians in any place are of one heart and mind, and have beforehand prepared the way for the special workers. With a view to get some valuable hints and suggestions in this line for friends elsewhere, our representative interviewed Rev Dr. Black and Rev Mr Connell, the two most active ministerial workers in connection with last week's mission in Inverness. In reply to his inquiries the information given was in substance as follows:-
First and foremost, the ministers of the town pledged themselves to friendly and united approval of and participation in the mission - with the one exception already referred to. Then it was agreed that union prayer meetings should be held each evening through the week preceding the mission. These meetings were held in a different church each evening. In this way the mission was thoroughly made known, the hearts of all church members were knit together in desire and in holy believing expectation. A good Gospel choir was formed and drilled by the best available teacher. The town was divided into districts, and visitors - both ladies and gentlemen - called on all the residents, rich and poor, with notices of the coming meetings. By this and other means the way was well prepared.
The Inverness friends are strongly of opinion that, wherever practicable, the opening meeting of a week's mission should be held on the Sabbath in some large and neutral place of meeting. This gives the work a good start, marks it off as unsectarian, and gives a tone to all the meetings that follow. The results in the case of Inverness seem to justify the plans adopted. The two ministers referred to are of opinion that the fruits of the week's meetings already ascertained are larger and more satisfactory than in any former mission in the town. As to the following up of the special effort, it is felt that unless a capable evangelist can be had to continue the meetings, it does not serve much good purpose to keep up the nightly gatherings when the chief workers have passed on. The converts, of course, must be followed up and passed on to the care of the respective pastors who are in sympathy, according to church connection. Where that is not all that can be desired, it may be advisable to appoint devoted lady-visitors to call on the converts and seek by personal conversation to strengthen them in the step they have taken.
From, "The Christian," December 10th, 1891.
A BUSY DAY AT DINGWALL.
A Glasgow paper remarked, one day last week, that there was much curiosity and some anxiety as to the reception the evangelists would get at Dingwall. This was presumably because the Free Church minister had taken up an unfriendly attitude to Messrs Moody and Sankey's mission. If there had ever been any real anxiety on the point, however, the three crowded meetings of Sunday settled the question. Provost Ross, one of the Free Church elders, had a seat on the platform of the Established Church in the evening.
The Dingwall meetings, morning and evening, held in the Established Church, of which Mr Macallister is the pastor. He welcomed Mr Moody to the town seventeen years ago, and he is as warm-hearted as ever. The evangelists are the guests of Mr Arras, a farmer, near Dingwall, and a leading Christian worker in the district.
The morning meeting was a very full one, and Mr Moody's sermon on "Regeneration" was a plain and deep-cutting utterance. He was very strong on the question of human responsibility in the matter of repentance and faith, and doubtless in the eyes of some of his hyper-Calvinist hearers his words savoured of flat heresy. Mr Sankey grandly sang "Man of Sorrows," and "When the mists have rolled away." The prejudice against an instrumental accompaniment is pretty dead now in the Established Church, though in many of the Free Churches it is well alive.
This was manifest in the afternoon, when the service was in the Free Church, Maryborough, a village three miles distant. Rev Mr Mackenzie, the pastor, probably stands alone in his Presbytery in welcoming the evangelists. Mr Moody proceeded thither at the close of the morning service in Dingwall, but Mr Sankey rested. There was a very good congregation, and the sermon on the forsaking of sin as a prelude to salvation was listened to with the deepest attention. Some heavy blows were dealt in the course of the discourse at the drink traffic. Mr Moody told of a Scotch distiller with whom he had lately conversed, and who had boasted to him of having given 130 tons of coal to the poor, as though that could be a set-off against the havoc he had wrought through his "hellish business," as Mr Moody bluntly calls it.
The arrows of protest were, of course, shot at a venture, but in more cases than one they found their mark. All the three sermons of the day were memorable for the way in which the evangelist found occasion to condemn "the infernal stuff." Somebody, he seems to feel, must speak out, and he does not shrink from the task. In the evening the Established Church was crowded an hour before the time of service, and there was an overflow in the Masonic Hall, whither Mr Sankey went, after singing two solos in the church, and where he again sang and spoke. Mr Moody preached for nearly an hour and a half on “Sowing and Reaping.” Many stood in the lobbies and aisles all the time, and the atmosphere was anything but invigorating, but there were no signs of fatigue or restlessness. In a twenty-minute' after-meeting Mr Moody again spoke, and much impression was evidently made by the liberal seed-sowing of the day.
Only two days are left for reaping in Dingwall, as the workers pass on to Tain on Wednesday. Afterwards, they visit Invergordon, Cromarty, Fortrose, Nairn, Wick, Thurso, Helmsdale, Brora, and Gospie, that will bring them up to Christmas.
THE CAMPAIGN IN ROSS-SHIRE.
The county of Ross is famous, historically and otherwise, among Scottish shires. In bygone days it produced not a few defenders and expounders of the Reformed faith, who were giants among their fellows. The name of Hogg stands out in the records of Covenanting days, as of one who would not bow the knee to Erastian Prelacy, and who suffered for his fidelity to enlightened conviction. Later, and within living memory, there came Macdonald of Ferintosh, Stewart of Cromartie, Sage of Resolis, Macrae of Knockbain, and other " Men of the North," who were not only great in power of popular address, but rich in intellectual gifts. Ferintosh and other parts of the county had been the scenes of remarkable movements of spiritual revival. This northern district, therefore, has an unusual wealth of historic religious memories. Today Ross-shire is, perhaps, more noted for its fertile farms than for pulpit orators and philosophers; but there are among its preachers and Christian laymen many good men and true, as the American evangelists have experienced in their rapid Gospel tour through its borders last week.
Much could be said of the special difficulties that have been encountered. The Celtic is a prevalent type among the native population, and the modern men of that ilk retain much of their superstitious reverence for the antiquated in matters of religious form. Some of these ancient preferences have been crystallised into principles that are placed on a par with their belief in the inspiration of Scripture. Such things would scarcely be worth referring to in a report like this were it not that unworthy prejudice hinders that manifestation of unity which ought to characterise all true Christians in hastening and helping on a special effort for the reviving of spiritual life and the bringing of the unsaved multitudes into the valley of decision.
It is more pleasing to turn to the meetings themselves, and here we can state that there has been the most ample ground for encouragement. At Dingwall the evangelists experienced the first approach of genuine winter weather. One evening there was a sudden fall of snow that made locomotion disagreeable to the healthy and even perilous to the delicate. Still the people came out in large numbers, and they always drank in the speech of Mr Moody and the song of his fellow evangelist. The same may be said of the two meetings at Tain on Wednesday. The people of that ancient burgh had exceptional opportunities of attending, for all the public schools got half-holiday, and the shops were shut at an early hour. There was a very good audience in the afternoon in the Town Hall, while in the evening the large parish church was crowded, a thing probably unique in its history; certainly unique since Disruption days. The two services of the following day in Rev Colin Sinclair's fine Free Church were fully attended, as were also the two on Friday in the Established and Free Churches of Cromarty. The primary object of the week's work - that of gathering large masses of men and women to hear the simple Gospel message - was therefore amply fulfilled.
There is no one to whom the gift of "thought reading" would be of more value than to the reporter of evangelistic gatherings. If he possessed it what a romantic story he could weave out of the tangled skein; the play and interplay of emotion, of silent criticism, of self-accusation, of self-excusation, of melting down, of stiffening up, of yielding to the Spirit's striving, and of resisting or grieving that Spirit away. How often it is sadly true of those that are impressed by faithful Gospel appeal and testimony. that "he who hesitates is lost." After all it is well for our peace of mind that we cannot read the thoughts and intents of the hearts of our fellows. One day, when we can bear it, the pages will be unfolded for all to read.
PULLING THE NET.
At Mr Moody's meetings everything works up to this. But the inquiry meeting does not seem to be an indigenous institution in most parts of Ross-shire soil. That is scarcely to be wondered at if the prevalent public teaching approaches to that of a well-known minister now deceased, who would plainly tell his hearers that they had not in themselves power to accept the Gospel message in a saving way; and who would never personally press its acceptance on an anxious one because that would be interfering with the sovereignty of God! At Dingwall Mr Moody and the other workers had hard work to extract from those who remained for the after-meetings any indication of their real feelings. Yet the power of God was manifestly present to convict and to convince, though the process did not always appear to go on to its proper fruition. When the special meetings closed, however, a goodly roll of names of those who had either decided to receive God's gift or were desiring to do so, was secured. At both meetings in Tain, Mr Moody essayed to draw the net, and if the number of the fishers had been nearly equal to the number of fish not unwilling to be caught, the haul would have been more gladdening. As it was the cases of interest were fairly numerous. The lack of workers was also felt at the evening meeting in Invergordon, where nearly everybody stayed for the second meeting. The ascertained results, it may fondly be trusted, were not equal to the results unascertained "by a good deal," as Mr Moody is wont to phrase it. Cromarty came out well, on the whole, by comparison, in the matter of its after-meetings, which were held both afternoon and evening.
The inquiry-room work in the North is strangely fascinating in the insight it affords into the workings of the human heart, and the extraordinary excuses that are offered for not closing instantly with the offer of salvation. One will tell you, while anxiety is written on every feature of the countenance, he is "waiting for the promptings of the Spirit." Another is "waiting for the power." Thus the responsibility is cast back in God's teeth, and despite is done to the Spirit of Grace, who is ever striving with the sons and daughters of men. Or another will say that "he feels so unworthy," putting out of sight the fact that the unworthy are the very ones to whom the worthiness of the Divine Saviour is offered. "How do I know that I am one of the elect?" was a reason seriously advanced by a young and very intelligent lady to one who urged her towards decision. Her troubled face showed that she longed for assurance and rest of soul but this insubstantial ghost of "fore-ordination barred the way. When a middle-aged woman was asked to trust the naked of God, her answer was, "I will try." These are samples of the many hiding places into which those who are truly anxious for salvation will run in the hour of their soul-crisis. The prevalence of this type of excuse is a grave impeachment of the current pulpit-preaching. How one longs that every ambassador of Christ would imitate Mr Moody in calling on the unsaved to come out of their refuges of lies, and accept God's gift "right here this very minute." Is it possible that the real hindrance must be moved a step further back, and placed to the account of defective college training? One thing is as clear as a sunbeam - that so long as people are instructed from the pulpit that they have not the power to accept salvation the moment it is offered to them, just so long they will remain in the darkness and the misery of doubt, and their testimony will be not only useless, but positively mischievous.
Notwithstanding this dead wall of uncertainty that one finds erected among them in the north of Scotland, it has been most encouraging to find that many have stepped clear into the light. A single day's visit to a town hardly enables the workers to find out all these cases, but at Dingwall, where the Mission extended to three days, the good Lord gave not a little encouragement. Much, of course, depends on the way in which the
FOLLOWING UP
of the special gatherings is attended to. That part of the work is being vigorously looked to. Mr W. Robertson, of the Carrubber’s Close Mission, has been in attendance from Ardrossan onwards, and has done valued service in helping the local friends to gather and garner the young converts and others at Inverness on Monday week. Then he came on to Dingwall and guided the workers there in the same direction. On the last evening of the Dingwall meetings Mr Moody got Mr Robertson to tell something of his own conversion, and the recital proved very helpful. The Dingwall friends have been singularly active and earnest in the after-glean - having held successive meetings last week for instructing and edifying the converts. Some who were still halting when the evangelists left for the north have since come out and confessed Christ openly. The earnest workers there, of whom there are not a few, are "as happy as the day is long," to quote the words of one, in finding that the work is being consolidated.
The "Committee of Religion and Morals" in the Free Church of Scotland has come splendidly to the help of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey. They have released several pastors for the work of going before and also of following after the American brethren. Rev J. J. Mackay, Trinity Church, Glasgow a most energetic and successful pastor, has wondrously helped the work, more especially at Invergordon.
He addressed several meetings there before the great gatherings of Thursday, and his messages were greatly owned of God. Mr Sinclair, the pastor of the Free Church, speaks most enthusiastically of his visit. He was to preach at Tain on Sabbath; at the time of this the results of his labour there were not known.
Another co-worker has been Rev W. Johnstone, of Marnock, a little town, some ten miles from Banff, famous in Disruption annals. Mr Johnstone prepared the way at Cromarty, then passed on for a couple of meetings at Tarn after Messrs Moody and
Sankey had left, proceeding thence to Invergordon for Sabbath. Mr Robertson, of Carrubber's Close, was at Cromarty on Sabbath on the same errand of keeping alight the flame.
FORTROSE,
a Ittle town on the eastern shore of the Black Isle, and ten miles from Cromarty, was favoured with a visit from Mr Moody on Saturday. On account of a slight indisposition, and as the weather was very wintry and rough, Mr Sankey
slipped the Cromarty and Fortrose meetings, and on Friday went on to Nairn to rest there till Sabbath. Mr Moody was driven to Fortrose on Saturday forenoon, and spoke to a very large gathering in the Free Church. People had come from the adjoining villages of Avoch and Rosemarkie, as well as from Cromarty. Both the
Established Church ministers and the Congregational pastor of Avoch were on the platform. This little town was almost virgin soil in the matter of special evangelistic work, and Mr Moody's visit, though of the shortest, will long be a memorable one. At the close of his hour's address, the whole of the congregation stayed for a second meeting. Some considerable time was spent in personal conversation, and the truth seemed to have taken such a hold that Mr Moody ascended the pulpit again, and still further explained to the people the way of life. Perhaps for a single meeting, the circumstances and probable outcome have never been more hopeful in all Mr Moody's career as an evangelist. Following up is to be vigorously sustained, and much fruit is yet expected.
THE CHILDREN
have not been forgotten on this Ross-shire tour. At Tain, in the afternoon, Mr Sankey, having sung two solos in the Town Hall, sang at a meeting of young people in the United Presbyterian Church, which was also addressed by the pastor of the church and Mr Robertson. Mr Sankey taught the young people to sing his new song, “Throw out the Life-line," and it was taken up very heartily. At Cromarty, also, there was a children's meeting, conducted by Mr Robertson and others. Many young folks, of course, attended the great public meeting, and they were among the most attentive listeners. Numbers of them remained for the after-meeting, and it was refreshing to see the simplicity with which they responded to the invitations of the workers. In one meeting a fresh looking fair-faced lad of thirteen sat between his father and mother. On being spoken with he showed considerable anxiety, and said he was quite willing to give himself to the Saviour. His father was appealed to that he might give his boy a gentle push towards the clear light of trust and assurance. To the astonishment of the worker the father replied, "Don't you think he is ‘most too young?” Who can wonder that a brood of doubting Thomases is continually growing up when such an attitude is taken by Christian parents.
SOWING AND REAPING.
The crusade against whisky went on all the week without a break. Even if Mr Moody were not himself all alive about it, the subject is continually forcing itself on him. On the Monday afternoon at Dingwall a stalwart man, with piercing eye and rugged countenance, entered the Established Church while Mr Moody was speaking. Some of the workers, seeing that he was the worse for drink, sought quietly to persuade him to leave. He returned, however, and finally sat down near the door, keeping pretty quiet meanwhile. At the close of the service Mr Moody made pointed reference to the condition of the poor man, who had been muttering, as clearly as he could through his cups, "I'm reaping what I sowed; I'm reaping what I sowed.' He had heard the discourse of the previous evening, and not even the whisky could banish the text from his mind. Mr Moody offered special prayer for the poor victim and asked Mr Sankey to have a talk with him. After some conversation he was safely conducted to his place of lodging close by.
In the evening he appeared again, sobered down, accompanied by his wife. Both earnestly conversed with and pressed to give themselves to the Saviour. They signed the temperance pledge, and things began to wear a hopeful aspect. The man attended both services next day, and professed his determination, by God's help, to lead a new life. He and his wife moved on to Inverness the day after the meetings closed. Through the kindness of some Dingwall Good Samaritans his immediate wants were provided for, and he has since found work in Inverness, where, it is hoped, he will retrieve, to some extent, at any rate, his lost position. He is said to be well connected, and was once studying for the medical profession, but he got caught in the maelstrom of intemperance, and fell so low that he was doing any odd jobs that he could secure in the intervals between his drinking bouts.
SINGING THE GOSPEL.
Slowly but surely the music of the Gospel is making its way through the crust of prejudice that prevails so largely in these northern regions. It is getting to be felt and recognised that Mr Sankey's part in the work is no mere performance, but is the vehicle for an enlightened, expressive, and telling presentation of the Gospel story, and of the primal elements of Christian testimony. There are whole expanses of distinctively Christian thought and experience that find no expression in the good old Hebrew Psalter, and which have found articulation in the "hymns and spiritual songs" of modern times. To deny these a place in our Divine praise and our mutual exhortation is equivalent to saying that we have not escaped from the legalism of the old dispensation. Mr Sankey by his songs, sung and printed, is bringing about a wholesome reformation,and is helping to create a rejoicing as well as a believing church. A well-known worker in Ross-shire, who had hitherto shared the common distrust of this new-fangled agency, has not hesitated to express his conviction that the solo singing of these sweet experimental and hortatory songs, with a soft voice-sustaining accompaniment, are an undoubted channel of grace.
It is often forgotten that these Songs and Solos are very varied in character and are well fitted to convey truths suited to all the moods and tenses of the Christian life. Many choir conductors have regarded them as being all of the light and airy sort, and have sung them accordingly, much to their detriment. There is great room for improvement in the rendering of these songs by evangelistic choirs, so as to make the highest possible use of them. Much more intelligence and judgment, as well as more skill and consecration of musical talent, are needed in many cases before the resources of modern hymnology are exhausted. Mr Sankey's visits and his unique rendering of these sacred lyrics are bringing about the dawn of a brighter day in the matter of Gospel sermon in song.
From, "The Christian," December 10th and 17th, 1891.
A SABBATH AT NAIRN
A three-day mission in this flourishing seaport and fashionable resort was well begun on Sabbath last. There has been much hearty union among pastors and people in smoothing the way for the evangelists. All the ministers are in full sympathy except the incumbent of the Established Church. Mr Moody preached in Mr Lee's spacious and handsome Free Church in the forenoon on “the Holy Spirit as a Power for service” He was guided so as to meet objections, to disarm criticism and to prepare the hearers for the more direct Gospel preaching of afternoon and evening. For these two latter occasions the services some of the other churches were given up so that all could be concentrated in the Free Church. There were vast congregations. Mr Sankey had recovered to a large extent and sang with much power, especially in the evening, when he gave a fine rendering of the old favourite, “What shall the harvest be?” Mr Moody’s sermons at both services were marked by all his intensity of thought and forcefulness of expression. There was a large second meeting in the evening, and in a third meeting inquirers were conversed with. The influenza plague is right in Nairn at present, and the fact that a young man had succumb that day, announced by Mr Moody, in closing his evening sermon, served to heighten the impression made during the day. A large children’s meeting in the evening was addressed by Mr Sankey and other friends
Between Christmas and the New Year Messrs Moody and Sankey will have meetings at Elgin, Forres, Keith and Huntly. The week of prayer will be given to Aberdeen.
THE SCOTTISH CAMPAIGN.
Mr Moody is proceeding through the northern parts of the kingdom on his evangelistic quest almost by forced marches. In fact, he is the modern Hannibal of Evangelism, and there is no danger of him seeking to winter in any Scottish Capua.
It is only the naked truth to say that he is the best possible illustration of his own remark, that a Christian ought not to have a lazy hair in his head or a lazy bone in his body. He seems to enjoy addressing as many meetings as he eats meals in a day, with, perhaps, a couple of after-meetings thrown in. When ten o'clock comes he is a little weary and fagged out, but eight a.m. next morning finds him refreshed and recreated, and ready to raise the chorus of his favourite hymn—
Then shall my heart keep singing.
This gem of sacred song is one of those that Sankey has lately secured. It was immensely popular at the recent Northfield Convention, and its catching refrain became the watchword of the hundreds of young men and maidens at Mount Hermon and Northfield. Mr Moody's preference stamped it with universal approval, and the young ladies of the Seminary harmoniously struck it up when their beloved "D.L." made his appearance at morning worship, and it was sung as a serenade the evening before the evangelists' departure for Europe. At Mr Moody's suggestion the song is given on another page, and he hopes it will be sung around thousands of Christians' hearths and dinner tables at this social and festive season. It is this buoyancy and cheerfulness of spirit that enables Mr Moody to go through his herculean labours as he seeks to wake up the drowsy Christians, sound forth the Gospel call to the unsaved, and then passes on to another town or centre of population.
THE TIDE OF BLESSING
swells as the Mission proceeds. Argyllshire and Ayrshire gave the first droppings of the shower. Inverness and Ross shires showed an advance. Nairn was yet more manifestly fruitful in proportion. Caithness overtopped all the rest with its three days at Wick. At the moment of writing, the Thurso work is still in the womb of the future, but hope runs high. All these things show that the heritage of God in northern Scotland has grown weary, and is longing for times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. A competent observer gives it as his solid belief that never since the memorable days of '59 have there been such widespread tokens of desire and expectation as to coming blessing.
NAIRN AND CAWDOR.
On Monday of last week the evangelists rested. Even in these short and dark December days, Nairn is a pleasant place to live in. The ozone from the ocean is not too keen; the fine stretch of sandy beach tempts the sojourner to healthy and appetising strolls; and the climate is so mild that plenty of roses have been blooming right along till the severe frost of last week blackened the petals somewhat.
Some enthusiastic Nairnites are bold enough to declare that those who winter in the Riviera, instead of patronising this “Brighton of the North," are to be charged with folly, both as to health and as to prodigality of purse. However, that may be, the Nairn climate last week was as changeable as any chameleon could desire; one forenoon it was freezing hard, but between the afternoon and evening meetings it was a perfect downpour of blinding, sleety rain.
On Monday evening there was a very interesting prayer meeting in the lecture hall of the Rev A Lee’s Free Church, the pastors presiding. A stream of earnest prayer went up for heart-whole consecration among the Christians, and for a breaking down among the careless and the undecided. Mr W. Robertson, of Edinburgh, told of some memorable seasons at Carrabber's Close, when the assembled Christians were led to see that the command, "Be filled with the Spirit" is as binding as any other. Mr Moody related the case of a young lady typewriter in Chicago, who got a baptism of the Spirit, and for the last five years has been a very successful soul winner. Mr Moody urged that the free use of the blessing we have got is the surest way to get more.
Influenza has been very rife in Nairn, and no doubt that, as well as the weather affected the attendance at the meetings, which, nevertheless, - was large.
It was delightful to see the spirit of cordiality and brotherly feeling shown among the ministers of the town. Mr Lee, of the Free Church, is a man of indomitable energy and of deserved influence in the community. His excellent management of this Mission, and the way in which he drew his brethren in the ministry around him greatly conduced to the smoothness and the success of the work. The young pastors of the United Presbyterian and Congregational churches, Messrs Macmillan and Martin, were also very active in their co-operation. On Tuesday afternoon there was a well-attended Bible reading, when Mr Moody spoke on "Grace for Service." The home-thrusts as to the loss in public testimony through inconsistencies in private life were keen and many. At the close Mr Sankey sang a couple of solos, one of them being the favourite already referred to, "Then shall my heart. keep singing." Mr Moody assumed the role of choirmaster and got the congregation to chime in the chorus till they had pretty well mastered it.
MR SANKEY
was quite refreshed by the day or two's rest in Nairn, while his colleague was hoisting the Gospel standard and rallying the Christian friends at Cromarty and Fortrose. On Saturday evening, Mr Sankey was present at a crowded meeting of seamen in Nairn. He sang the new song, "Throw out the life-line," and the sea-going audience took it up very heartily. He also taught it to a gathering of children in one of the meetings held for them in the lecture hall of the Free Church. This hymn has become quite popular, and the fact that the great majority of the meetings have been held close to the coastline has added point to the lesson it teaches. There have been many inquiries for it; friends will be glad to know that it, and a number of other fresh songs are just issued by the publishers of this journal in a sixpenny book under the title of " New Hymns and Solos." It will be found to contain many other beautiful gems of sacred song that will be sung as solos during the present visit of Mr Sankey.
"FIRE IN THE PULPIT."
One of the most interesting meetings of this northern tour was that held on Tuesday noon in the Free Church at Cawdor, a pretty village some five miles from Nairn. The day was very frosty, and the temperature low. By the hour appointed the lower part of the church crowded with country folk, many of whom had come considerable distances. Mr Moody drove out from Nairn with a party of friends; and as he was entering the church he inquired of a companion if there would be a fire in it. To have a church open in the dead of winter without a good-going stove seems a thing incredible to a North American. The friend replied, "No, there is no fire in church; you will have to kindle it in the pulpit." In commencing his sermon Mr Moody repeated the remark, and then proceeded to say that he had chosen a text which of itself ought to warm up the coldest heart. The text was, " God is love," and the sermon was one of the most thrilling and moving utterances that the present writer has ever heard from Mr Moody's lips - and that is saying a great deal. In the course of the sermon the preacher spoke of the sovereign grace of God in putting away human sin – behind his back, into the depths of the sea, and SO on. Rev A. Lee, of Nairn, and Rev W. Ross, of Glasgow, were sitting just below the pulpit, and to these Mr Moody appealed in confirmation of what he was saying, "Where are your sins, Mr Lee?" "Behind God's back." "Where are your's Mr Ross?" "In the depths of the sea.
"Is it presumption to believe it?" "It is presumption to doubt it." How the sedate and sober-looking rustics gazed and listened! But Scotch congregations, in any case, are splendid listeners. At the close of the sermon, everybody stayed for the second meeting. Some friends. Went through the crowded pews, and sought to engage the people in personal conversation with more or less success. After a time, Mr Moody re-entered the pulpit and pressed home on the patient, but very reserved audience, the acceptance of the truths he had been proclaiming concerning the love of God. Fortunately, a series of special following-up meetings is to be held at Cawdor when the fruits of this hour's work will, no doubt, come to light. The Established Church Minister of the parish was present, and Mr McNeil, the Free Church pastor, is very warm in his sympathies.
THE CLOSING AFTER-MEETING
at Nairn was one to be long remembered. The weather that evening was execrable, but there was a large turnout, and Mr Moody's final message from the pulpit was as full of pathos and power and importunate entreaty as he could make it. The lecture hall was fairly well occupied for the after-meeting, and Mr Moody spoke again with great simplicity, but with deep feeling, as he gently strove to woo his hearers into a conscious experience of God's forgiving love. He sounded out that passage from Isaiah xii., which he is so fond of quoting, "Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid.” When the supreme moment came for testing the positions of the inquirers, the responses poured in with a rapidity and volume that must have been quite overwhelming to any Mr Little Faith who chanced to be present. Rows of young people rose in quick succession and told out firmly and deliberately their determination to “trust and not be afraid’ Some who had been prayed with and spoken to most earnestly during the preceding two days yielded up their wills and came out clearly as confessors of Christ. "There was great joy in the city" that night, and Mr Moody must have felt that it was a happy send off to the cold and distant north.
The Nairn mission was continued on successive evenings by Rev J.J. Mackay, of Glasgow, and Dr. Black, of Inverness, and the fruits, as reported, were very encouraging indeed.
From, "The Christian," December 17th and 24th, 1891.
WICK AND LYBSTER.
The lengthy and tedious journey from Nairn to Wick occupied nearly all the daylight hours of Wednesday, and there remained a very brief period for rest before the evangelists found themselves face to face with a magnificent assemblage of over 2,000 human beings in the Old Free Church of Wick. It is a great square structure used now only in the summer season for meetings of fishermen, of whom so many repair this port to pursue their hazardous and uncertain calling. Mr Sankey had never visited Caithness before, and there was much evident expectation as to this part of the service. The singer was in excellent form, notwithstanding the long, weary journey, and the two songs he sang resounded with wonderful effect through the wide spaces of the building. Mr Moody's address on the qualifications for effective service was a very wise and helpful keynote to the Mission. There is no space to enter on details of the work on the succeeding two days, but, as we have already stated, the breaking down among the people under the preaching and the song was very cheering. There were large after-meetings in the new Free Church each evening, and many souls professed to enter into light and liberty. The people who live in this northernmost corner of Scotland are largely of Scandinavian extraction, and show a distinct contrast to the Ross-shire folks in freedom of utterance with respect to religious emotions and convictions. Special Gospel effort also has been much more common. This tends to familiarise the people with the aims and methods of such work, and breaks down the high walls of distrust and icy reserve that prevail among the Highlanders pure and simple. At the closing meeting - a very crowded one — on Friday evening, many throughout the great building spoke out right manfully, and said that, by the grace of God, they purposed being present at the marriage supper of the Lamb. The second meetings were divided up into third meetings for men and for women, where Mr Sankey, Mr Robertson, of Edinburgh, and other workers were kept busy till a late hour. The Christians who were not accustomed to inquiry-room work stayed in the large building and joined in prayer for a present blessing on the seekers in the adjoining church. There were two afternoon Bible Readings, and these were, as always, seasons of much stimulus and refreshing to believers. The Wick work, so well begun, is to be kept up by a series of meetings, which Mr Merton Smith will conduct. The little band of earnest young men in the town look forward to these meetings with much hope, as they look back on the visit of the American friends with unfeigned gratitude.
From, "The Christian," December 24th, 1891.
"The Religious Condition
Of the People."
BY REV. DR. ELDER CUMMING, GLASGOW.
1. The title of this article, though not perhaps very happily expressed, is one that has become familiar in some parts of the kingdom, and is known in Scotland as a subject which has been recently remitted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to a special Commission for examination and report. As I shall not have occasion to refer again to this Commission, it may be sufficient to say that it has officially visited many of the Presbyteries of the Church, has taken evidence on the social and ecclesiastical evils of the day, and is still engaged in the prosecution of its work.
What has been found in Scotland in large centres like Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, is equally or still more true of England. Of course, Ireland is a case so special that it is not possible to deal with it in the same category. But at the close of the present year and the opening of another, it may not be inappropriate or unimportant to look for a little at some of the evils which affect the religious condition of the people of England and Scotland alike.
2. The great outstanding fact, then, which covers many others, is that multitudes of the people everywhere in our country have
FALLEN AWAY FROM THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
The old remedies which presented themselves for this state of things used to be the building of more churches and their equipment with the necessary agents and agencies. But we have now come to much more radical and elementary questions,
which go far beyond any remedy by church machinery. While the salvation of individual souls and lives is as possible, patent and certain as ever, the condition of the nation is quite a different matter: and whether it is possible to bring it, or to bring it back, to the feet of Christ is, I venture to say, the great Christian problem of to-day.
3. When we begin to think upon the question, we soon discover that the problem is a spiritual one. That is the central truth concerning it. This is no doubt apt to be overlaid and to some extent forgotten, among the many other questions which rise up side by side with it. Poverty, suffering, families dwelling in a single room, sickening stories of shame and evil, drunkenness and vice, disorder and crime; these are some of the troubles which are stirring around us, and which are apt to take away attention from the real matter in question, which is, after all, a spiritual one.
4. Then, we must remember that it is not the problem of any particular Church. We cannot look at it in any such contracted way; it is the common difficulty and reproach of all the churches of Christ in the land. Some churches may have laboured in the field more earnestly than others; some may have succeeded better, or, perhaps, I should say, have failed less notably than others; but all the churches have lived in the midst of it, have seen it going on, have contributed directly and indirectly to the present condition, have found what they can and what they cannot do. In other words, the condition of the country today is the result of the labour, or the want of labour, of all the Christian churches alike. It is no longer, if it ever was, a question between the National and the Dissenting Churches, which may breed strife and give rise to jealousy, but it begins to be one that threatens the apparent truth, reality, and efficacy of the Gospel itself! We must shake ourselves clear, therefore, of any mere ecclesiastical spirit in looking at it, and much more of an attempt to make capital for any church out of anything that may be done. Such attempts would, indeed, only intensify the evil and render the cure more hopeless.
5. These things being so, and our recognition of them having prepared us to look at the whole question broadly and in a right spirit, it is well that we should now ask what the origin and explanation of the circumstances are, and what are the special evils which mark them. Only by so doing shall we be able to speak with any profit of a remedy.
6. First and foremost of all our national evils is that of
INTEMPERANCE,
of which it is difficult to speak in terms that are too strong or exaggerated. This is a national habit of long standing which is not, perhaps, so prevalent among the wealthier classes as it used to be, but it certainly prevails more generally among the rest. The habit has greatly increased, and has gone far to demoralise whole masses of the people. The records of every court in the country from the highest criminal jurisdiction to the police courts of the city, tell the same tale of the ruin that has been wrought. The poverty, the sickness, distress, the vice, the crime, the lunacy which have their sources in it, or are aggravated thereby, have been differently estimated in percentages more or less imaginary; but well-informed men are agreed that this one source of evil is equal in the effects produced to all others put together. And were it not that intemperance shades off by insensible degrees, of less and more, into habits of moderate drinking practised by many and good and excellent men, the community would no doubt long ago have risen up against the sin of drunkenness, and have taken any means, however violent, to banish it from their midst.
7 A second evil is the neglect, which has become common, of the services and ordinances of the Church. And here of course i mean to speak of all branches of the Church of Christ. This is marked by two features. In some quarters it means a total renunciation of church-going. There are multitudes, to be counted in a large city by tens of thousands, —nay, alas! this is far below the mark— the statements with regard to some represent hundreds of thousands - to whom the proposal to go to church would be taken as the grimmest joke, going too far even for a joke. Twenty years have passed since some have gone there; others have never seen the inside of a church all their lives; and this, which is true of one city, is a fact common to all. Then, there are thousands whose visits to a church are once or twice a year, on some special occasion. It is difficult to get the exact truth on such matters; but I suppose it could not be denied that there never is a Sunday in many of our large towns in which as many people are in church as those who on that day are in none!
This is partly owing, no doubt, to the fact of irregular attendance, which is another evil which is growing rapidly. All over this is a marked feature. In the East-end it is customary to make the beginning of the Lord's Day one of rest, so as only to be in time for afternoon service; in the morning church is empty In the West-end it is customary to attend in the morning, and then to walk, or stay at home, or to go to the club, in the afternoon. In other cases, the whole day is spent in idleness, and some sort of service is attended in the evening. Also, a taste is growing for special services, rather than for those of an ordinary kind, and for something in them which shall interest, stimulate, and even amuse.
8. In addition to what has been said about church-going, we must look at the amount of
SABBATH-BREAKING
and kindred evils which have become common. Of course, all these things are connected with each other, but we shall not be able to understand any of them, unless we look at them separately as well as together. There is nothing so dull as continued idleness; and with those people who are ceasing to go to church, or to have any pleasure in worshipping God, the question must rise - what are we to do with ourselves? Something must be invented to occupy the time! Music seems an unfailing resource with many. But in a climate like ours it is impossible to arrange beforehand for much of it out of doors. Hence, concerts are demanded. But sacred music is dull, or soon becomes dull when there is much of it, and general concerts are quite in sight. Theatres must follow, if men give way to the movement. Take away the principle on which Sabbath-keeping rests - the authority of God, and the benefit of men in worshipping Him, according to his command—and a full flood of secularism is let loose!
9 It must, I think, also be borne in mind that there is now throughout the country a deal of
UNBELIEF AND SCEPTICISM,which never before existed to such an extent. It is more widely spread than ever it was, both among the intellectual and the ignorant. It exists now side by side with much vigorous, earnest, and unmistakable piety, which does not make it impossible. It is no longer ashamed of itself - speaking only in whispers and in confidential circles where it will be treated as a secret — but has almost grown proud, and is at least quite fearless in its open expression. And it is no longer expounded in only a few learned and long treatises, possessed by few, but is made known largely to all classes by the power of the press in magazines and newspapers where it may be read by thousands both of old and young. The result has been, no doubt, the formation, if not of a public opinion, yet of a sort of public sentiment, that the sacred questions concerning God and the soul are all open to controversy and dispute - are no longer matters which everyone is expected to receive; but are subject to the opinion and judgment of every man, whatever be his learning or qualifications.
10. Again, there now exists a spirit which it is difficult to define, and which reaches out to almost all subjects as well as to Christianity -- a spirit which may be called a personal independence of opinion carried to excess —
A REVOLT AGAINST AUTHORITY
of all sorts, which goes into disorder, both in State and Church. It may be only a temporary condition, out of which men will soon come; and it is traceable, perhaps, to an undue timidity and submission in the past, from which it is a reaction. But meantime it is taking shape in many ways - here in politics, there in social life, again in opinion, and once more in revolution. All over the world, that has been a marked feature of the last twenty years. It may be traced in almost all countries, whether they be civilised or barbarous, but chiefly in the former. What are called Socialism, Fenianism, and Nihilism are various exponents of it in the framework of modern life.
And it has also developments affecting churches and Christianity, which make it one of the great component parts of the problem of the day.
11 It is also important to remark that these combined circumstances have not developed under a condition of carelessness and inaction in the Church of Christ itself. On the contrary, while by no means perfect, the churches have been for the most part alive. There have been life and vigorous action in every one of them, though not in every part of every one. Had the evils in question been the outcome of a dead Church, then the solution would have been simple, and the remedy not far to seek. But it has not been so. Activity has been the rule in most of the churches. Church extension was never more vigorously prosecuted. In the face of a vigorous Church and of a deep and widespread movement towards personal holiness, the national evils to be deplored in the country have continued and increased.
12 We have not yet finished the dark and gloomy catalogue of the sins and shortcomings of the nation at the present time; but what we have still to say on that subject, and on the prospect for the future, must be reserved for a second paper.
In the meantime, and at the close of the year, is it not matter for real, serious repentance, on our faces before God, that we - this favoured nation - should have come to our present condition? Is there not here a call to prayer? And in that universal week of prayer, so soon again to be held over the Christian world, is it not fitting that its opening day of Confession and humiliation should become a real one for our national sins? Is not God calling us to this as with the sound of a trumpet?
From, "The Christian," December 31st, 1891
MEETINGS AT LYBSTER.
Before his settlement at Nairn, Rev Alex Lee spent three years in the quiet village of Lybster, on the Caithness coast, thirteen miles south of Wick. Mr Lee retains a warm corner in his heart for his old parish, and he persuaded Mr Moody to hold a service there during the Wick Mission. To forward matters Mr Lee himself accompanied the evangelists to Wick and lent a hand in the work there. On Thursday morning, Mr Moody, Mr Lee, and Mr Robertson drove from Wick and reached Lybster to find the Free Church filled with a waiting audience, gathered from the village and the surrounding countryside. It is a great crofter region, and thickly-peopled. Mr Moody preached on “regeneration," and not even the most rigid "constitutionalist” -could have found fault with his glowing presentation of this foundation doctrine. Great attention was paid, and evident impression made through the crust of reserve, generations thick, was not to be broken in one hour. Mr Lee arranged to remain overnight and hold a service in the evening when the people flocked out again in crowds to hear their old pastor. His earnest appeals took effect, and there were a good many inquirers; some entered into the light and joy of assurance and trust. Mr Moody was so attracted by the promise of the occasion that he took another long drive next morning and preached again to a large congregation when the fire was fairly kindled. The Iocal pastor, Mr Mathieson, will have assistance in fanning the embers into a flame, which it is hoped will long continue to burn. These breakings up of new ground are greatly enjoyed by Mr Moody who revels in the joy of sounding forth with clarion notes the Gospel message in places where the monotony of a double Sabbath “diet” of worship has never been broken in upon.
From, "The Christian," December 31st, 1891.
THE VISIT TO THURSO.
Saturday was a day of real and greatly-needed rest with the evangelists, as the journey was so short. The Wick friends had planned several pieces of work for that day, but Mr Moody, remembering he was mortal was obliged to say, No… Seventeen years ago Mr Moody made a short visit to the town, of which many have still fragrant recollections. Here, as everywhere else throughout Scotland where one or both of the evangelists have been, one meets with some who received such a blessing then as has coloured all their intervening life and testimony. When Mr Moody was here the pastor of the first Free Church, Dr Ross Taylor, was a man well stricken in years. He is still in the pastorate, having attained the patriarchal age of eighty-six, and having laboured in the Gospel in Thurso for the long period of sixty years - a thing unique, we should imagine, in modern church annals. There is talk now of appointing a colleague and successor.
SABBATH'S MEETINGS
were six in number. At the morning hour of service Mr Moody preached to a large concourse in Mr Miller's established church, where a specially erected platform had superseded the pulpit; while Mr Sankey and Mr Robertson took part in an interesting service for young people in the West Free Church. In the afternoon Mr Moody faced a densely crowded congregation in Dr Taylor's Free Church. In his discourse he smote the drink traffic and traffickers hip and thigh. With his quick eye he discerned the way in which his words of rebuke had struck home, but that did not abate the boldness of his testimony. At the same hour Mr Sankey and Mr Robertson assisted the pastor in addressing a large and deeply interested assemblage in the Established Church. Mr Sankey sang for the first time two of his new songs in the little book already referred to in this report – “What a wonderful Saviour” (No 5) and “Our Saviour King” (No 54). The grandly majestic chorus on the latter is sure to find a lodgement in memory and heart.
In the evening a united meeting was held in the Parish Church, which was crowded out long before the appointed time, The passages being thronged with people who stood through the long service. The overflow was accommodated at the West Free Church, where Mr Sankey and Mr Robertson took part. To the immense throng in the Parish Church, Mr Moody preached on the rest that Jesus gives. The throng was melted down under his appeals and incidents. Almost everyone stayed to the second meeting, when Mr Moody again explained the way of salvation, the people hanging on his words. By and by the congregation had to be dismissed, but some adjourned to the vestry for personal conversation, which was continued for some time. It was a very hopeful day for Thurso.
A very remarkable requisition has been sent to the evangelist from Aberdeen that is signed by no less than 83 ministers in the city and neighbourhood belonging to the Established, Free, United Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist, Wesley, Episcopalian and Evangelical Union churches. With such a spirit of union existing, surely the stay of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey in the granite city during the Week of Prayer will make the New Year a memorable one in that community. The evangelists have received some pressing invitations to be present at anniversary gatherings in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere. With a short time at their disposal, it is manifestly out of the question that they should be diverted from the proper object of their mission to attend meetings of that kind. Will friends make a note of this?
CHRISTMAS WEEK IN THE FAR NORTH
We have come to associate the Christmas time with holiday making and the loosening of the bands of daily work. Not so Mr Moody – on this occasion at any rate. Perhaps he and his fellow workers have never had a fuller and busier Christmas week since they started out on their Mission as heralds of that blessed gospel that was first proclaimed on the first Christmas Eve. A brief diary of the five days – Monday to Friday inclusive – will have its interest for the sympathetic reader. The weather was simply splendid throughout – bright and bracing with a cloudless sky. At Halkirk and Brora no instrumental help was provided, and Mr Sankey was not present at those places. It need scarcely be said that many were disappointed, but in these northern parts the general good has to give way to the prejudices and fancies of a select few. There are signs however that the coming generation will strike off the shackles of “use and want” and claim for themselves the enjoyment of that liberty which belongs to the dispensation of Grace.
MONDAY
This morning Mr Moody and his party drove from Thurso to Castleton, 5 miles distance. It is a small town of 1,000 inhabitants, its principal industry being connected with a quarry of Caithness paving stone. The Free Church pastor was unfriendly, in more than a passive way, but some of his people arranged for the meeting, which was held in the Established Church. The building was well filled even at that early hour on Monday forenoon. Mr Sankey was in excellent voice and his two gospel sermons in song fell on very attentive ears. Mr Moody put all his heart into his hour’s talk on “Seeking the Lord.” If there had been time for an after-meeting many would certainly have welcome personal conversation, for the spirit was manifestly at work convicting of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come. Castleton was the most northerly point reached by the evangelist; though the physical temperature was cold, the hearts of the people were by no means so hard to ‘thaw’ as one of your contemporaries stated last week.
In the afternoon, Mr Moody spoke on “Assurance” to a fairly good congregation in the West Free Church, Thurso. On this subject of Assurance a little incident, related that same day to Mr Moody by a country minister, tells its own tale. This minister was catechising the children of his congregation and one question was, “What is the outward sign of an inward Faith?” Nobody out of the Highlands of Scotland would ever guess the answer, which was “Doubts and Fears!” Another little incident for which the present writer can personally vouch, shows that the responsibility for such an extraordinary doctrine does not rest with the juveniles. At a meeting in the church of which this same minister is the pastor, the names were being taken of those who were anxious to have further light and guidance in spiritual things. An old man, who desired to give his name, said he was an elder in the church. “But surely you’re not an anxious inquirer. Are you not a Christian?” “Weel I’ll not be so sure aboot it!” Such a fact as that goes a long way to explain the present religious condition of the North of Scotland.
Monday evening saw a great audience in the Established Church of Thurso. At the close of his powerful gospel appeal, Mr Moody divided the forces for the second meeting. The women remained in the church and were spoken to and dealt with by Mr Johnstone of Marnoch, who had come on from Brora; the men were asked to go to the Free West Church, a few minutes walk away. Here Mr Moody took the reins and quite a number of men, more or less young, gave outward token of soul concern.
TUESDAY
Another glorious winter day. After a drive of 5 miles Mr Moody preached to a large assembly in the Free Church at Halkirk. The people in this village seem to understand the fitness of things, but they have planted a distillery and poor house very near to each other. It afterwards transpired that Mr Moody had the manager of the distillery among his interested hearers. It need hardly be said that the preacher did not spare the strong drink; but this whiskey god is so securely seated in the affections and tastes of the people (not excluding the ministers by any means) that it will need many sermons to dethrone him. A deep impression was made by the single service at Halkirk, if one might judge by the attitudes of the congregation at its close.
The subject for the afternoon Bible Reading in Thurso was “Prayer”, and it was a season of much refreshing to the Christians present. Mr Moody’s words on mutual forgiveness as one of the elements and essentials of true, effectual prayer were with power and did not lack their application. Mr Moody sang the touching home song, “My mother’s prayer”, and many a chord of bygone memory seemed to be struck.
The closing evening meeting in the Parish Church was very large. Mr Moody chose a topic that he is fond of having for a final message, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Mr Sankey’s song, “Not far from the kingdom”, was a powerfully moving keynote; it was the first time he had sung it in Scotland. In an early part of the service, Mr Moody gave a few interesting details of his Bible training Institute in Chicago, for which he is very anxious to secure some promising recruits during his present visit to Scotland. He is planning great things for the World‘s Fair of 1893 and he wants to enlist helpers now, who after a year’s practical training in the Institute, may be ready to step into the ranks of those who will do battle with all the varied forms of evil that are likely to concentrate themselves in Chicago on that occasion.
The closing after-meeting in Thurso West Free Church was perhaps the very best that Mr Moody has had during the Scottish campaign, so far as human calculation can go. The body of the building was well filled with those who had come over from the Parish church. After some brief counsels from Mr Moody, the enquirers were split up into sections. Mr Sankey had a very interesting group of young women in a side room. Mr Robertson dealt with a number of young men in another room. The other workers had plenty to do in conversing with those who remained. The reaping work went on for a considerable time, and there was every indication that the feet of many waiverers and many timid ones were that night firmly planted on the heavenly way, with their faces Zionward. There is a fine band of earnest and enthusiastic young men at Thurso, with Mr W Campbell at their head and they took hold of the work in a very delightful fashion. Without casting any needless reflections on the attitude or the zeal of the pastors in the North of Scotland, one may safely assert that if these recognised spiritual leaders of the people had thrown themselves into this special effort with all the abandonment and self-effacement that characterised the Christian young men of Wick and Thurso, much greater things would have been, and would yet be, accomplished. It was not far from the midnight when the last workers left the building that Tuesday evening. The work in Thurso will not be allowed to subside and we hope to hear for months to come that the fruits of this earnest effort to stir the spiritual life of the community are still manifesting themselves.
From, "The Christian," December 31st, 1891.
WEDNESDAY
Soon after 8 o’clock, the evangelists had left Thurso and were steaming southward towards Golspie, a little town that lives under the shadow of the Duke of Sutherland‘s fine castellated mansion at Dunrobin. A meeting had been convened here at 11:30 in the Drill Hall. The evangelistic party, reinforced at Helmsdale and Brora ‘en passant’, alighted at the Dunrobin private station and made a hurried tour of the Castle grounds, that look very beautiful in the sunshine, even at this period of the year. A goodly company had gathered for the meeting. Mr Sankey sang and Mr Moody delivered his sermon on “Sowing and Reaping,” one of the most effective in his repertoire for breaking down and producing conviction of sin. Some parts of this discourse had a special application to Golspie that could not fail to be recognised by all who are cognisant with the facts of recent history in high social circles. Mr Moody also took occasion to administer another severe “whack” at the whiskey traffic. This sermon affords the best possible opportunity for telling whiskey sellers that apart from the general religious and temperance point of view, they cannot afford to carry on the infernal trade. If they ruin other men’s sons by what they vend, someone else will certainly ruin some son or a relation of theirs. All through Scotland there had been instances of this coming to light. Through some hitch in the arrangements, only a single meeting could be given to Golspie, but the one will not be forgotten. Rev Dr Joss and Rev John McKenzie, of the Established and Free Churches, were both present and showed much friendly interest in the work. Mr McKenzie was present the following day at Brora and Helmsdale and got a good share in the blessing that flowed all around.
From Golspie, the Evangelists retraced their steps to Helmsdale where two meetings were held – in the Drill Hall in the afternoon and in Mr Grant’s fine new Free Church in the evening. There were good attendances and the Word, both spoken and sung, was with power
THURSDAY
Three services again today. In the morning Mr Moody and several friends proceeded by train to Brora, where a meeting was held in Mr Murray’s Free Church. The message of the evangelist on repentance was sent home with marvellous force and tenderness and the hearts of the people were reached. Returning to Helmsdale, Mr Moody was only in time to take his place in the pulpit of the Free Church, where he preached on the Divine love. Mr Sankey charmed everybody by his rendering of “My ain country” and “Behold what manner of love.” The closing meeting at Helmsdale was large and a great throng pressed into the Lecture Hall for the after-meeting. The process of drawing the net does not seem to answer in Helmsdale; though there was evidently a good deal of impression among the people, they lack the courage to manifest their interest in any tangible way. Perhaps they have not been educated at all in that direction, or there may be causes for it that do not appear on the surface. The fact abides that, though the preaching was as much in the demonstration of the Holy Ghost as at other places, the responses were far below those of any other place visited.
FRIDAY – CHRISTMAS DAY
So far as Mr Moody was concerned this was the crowning day of the week. Mr Sankey was feeling the need of rest and went on to Elgin to prepare for the work of the Sabbath. Mr Moody had resolved to give Christmas Day to work. The weather in the north was so beautifully fine that the idea was suggested that he might drive along the coast instead of going by train. Accordingly, an early start was made. The day was lovely and the drive was much enjoyed. It lay uphill and down dale, over the Ord of Caithness, down into Berriedale, a seat of the Duke of Portland, where a brief halt was made. In the space of 15 minutes, two prayers were offered, a psalm sung, and Mr Moody had explained the plan of salvation with several illustrative stories. Then the journey was resumed and about noon Lybster was reached. Here Mr Grant of Tain had gone two days before and was taking hold of the work, which had gone on in a very encouraging way since Mr Moody’s previous visits. On very short notice, a large and most interesting meeting was held, showing a great advance in warmth of feeling as compared to the first gathering. Wick was reached soon after three, the drive having extended to nearly 40 miles. A Bible reading was held in the Free Church and a mass meeting at night in the large old building where Moody had preached a week before. There was some joyous reaping done in the after-meeting and Mr Moody had no occasion to regret the retracing of his steps. Mr Merton Smith is meeting with a good deal of encouragement in his work of following up.
Early next morning, Mr Moody left Wick and travelled south, reaching Elgin, after a short break for refreshment at Inverness, soon after sundown.
From, "The Christian," December 31st, 1891.
SUNDAY IN ELGIN
The last Sabbath of the year. Three sermons from Mr Moody, one of which would’ve been a good days preaching work, as modern preaching goes. In Morayshire not only is the outward temperature much more genial than in the extreme north, but one seems in a different zone, ecclesiastically and religiously. The people down this way are much more in the current of revived life and are fully alive to the need of such special efforts. Elgin was the residence of the late Brownlow North and the scene of his remarkable conversion. It has been blessed with many earnest and evangelistic pastors in bygone days and thus the way of our American brethren was well prepared.
At the morning diet of worship Mr Moody preached in Rev Mr Cowan‘s Free Church, giving the large assembly a pathetic Christmas discourse from the words “There was no room for Him in the inn”. To a packed congregation in the afternoon he spoke on the need of the Holy Ghost for service. As his burning sentences rang out over the hushed assembly, it seemed as though the heavenly gales of which he spoke had begun to blow. The impression made by the discourse cannot be described in words, but it was evident that God had mightily helped his servant in setting forth the duty and privilege of the believer placed as a beacon light in this dark world of sin. At night, the spacious Established Church in the centre of the town was crowded almost to suffocation, aisles and passages being densely packed. The sermon was on “Sowing and Reaping” and was followed by a large after-meeting, at which Mr Moody explained, in very clear and simple words, the Way of Life. The throng was so great that there was no hope of doing any effective personal work and so the people were dismissed with the words of appeal and exhortation and invitation still sounding in their ears.
Mr Sankey was present at a children’s service in the forenoon and took part in it with the Provost of the town, under whose auspices it is regularly held. The singing evangelist also had his full share of work, afternoon and evening, filling up the measure of the Gospel testimony rendered to the community throughout the day.
Rev John McNeill intends joining the evangelists at Aberdeen on Saturday to cooperate with them in the mission in the Granite City
ELGIN AND DUFFTOWN
The second day’s meetings in Elgin were noteworthy for the attendances. The congregation in the Established Church on Monday afternoon was far the largest that has come out to a weekday Bible reading since this tour commenced. In the evening the great church was about full. Mr Moody’s sermon was on “Excuses.” In this discourse he threw out a very wide net that seemed fitted to catch all sorts of people, as the very excuses that people offer were set forth and shown to be inadmissible.
A recent curious experience of Mr Moody furnishes him with a fresh illustration showing the perversity of the human heart. The last person he spoke to in the inquiry room in one of the towns visited was a man of 80 years of age, who, by his force of character had risen from the position of ploughman to that of landed proprietor. His world prosperity however, had not given him rest of soul or power over sin. This evening Mr Moody had a long talk with the man, striving to set the truth of salvation clearly before him. Some words of Christ were quoted, but the man replied that Mr Moody was not Christ and that Christ himself must speak to him. Peter‘s testimony was cited, but the same objection was raised. The man seemed to be expecting some special revelation of the truth through his mind and heart, but it was only a shuffle so that he might salve his conscience for refusing to accept salvation on God‘s terms. His parting compliment to Mr Moody was to the fact that he was much too conceited a person to do him any good!
The immediate reaping work at Elgin cannot be said to have been extensive. Not that there were not plenty of anxious souls, but the convenience for sifting the congregation is so it’s to find them out we lack. There is no lecture hall or building adjacent to the established church, where inquiry meeting work could be carried on. One can hope that the following up time, maybe one of rich harvesting. Rev Simeon McPhail, of Liverpool, once Pastor of the Free High Church of Elgin, is a man of intense zeal and courage. He has complied with a pressing request that he should continue the special effort in his old town throughout this week. He will be warmly welcomed and supported by the local workers and great hopes are cherished as to the issue. Mr Moody has remarked that he never preached on “Excuses” without hearing of some results and he was not without this experience at Elgin. Indeed, one young lady was so deeply influenced that she came to the railway station next morning to thank the preacher for his words. She confessed she was not a believer but was desiring to be led into the Light and that she will.
From, "The Christian," January 7th, 1892..
A FLYING VISIT TO DUFFTOWN
was made by Mr Moody and Mr Sankey on Monday afternoon. The meeting was conveyed at very short notice, but the public hall was crowded by the dwellers in this quiet Banffshire village and the surrounding district. Dufftown is happy in having two such pastors as Rev James Smith, of the Free Church and Rev Mr Cumming of the Established Church, who sustain towards each other most brotherly of relations and work hand-in-hand for the spiritual good of the people. No doubt these two faithful under Shepherds will see to it that the impressions made by the meeting will be fostered. Mr Moody’s sermon was on the love of God, and it is impossible to conceive of that gospel message being delivered without finding deep lodgement in many a heart.
From, "The Christian," January 7th, 1892.
ONE DAY IN FORRES
The evangelist reached Forres on Tuesday forenoon in the midst of a snowstorm. The snow soon passed away, but left the roads sloppy enough to discourage ordinary churchgoers. It was the weekly market day and that probably swelled the big gathering that filled the fine Mechanics Hall. A more eager and attentive audience the evangelist could not have wished, and Mr Moody tested their attention pretty well, for he spoke over an hour. To a still more crowded company in the evening he preached on Confessing Christ. This duty and privilege he pressed home with great power. The weather had not improved towards evening and the distance to the hall and the Baptist Church for the after-meeting may have prevented many from taking the step that the preacher so fervidly urged. The workers were kept busy however, till a late hour, and real solid work was done for eternity.
The Forres meetings were attended by numbers from distant places, among them being a goodly contingent from Nairn, who drove home through the storm. There was an unusually large muster of ministers, who, it is to be hoped, will carry away some of the holy fire generated by the proceedings of the day, and give it scope in their own spheres of work.
From, "The Christian," January 7th, 1892
KEITH AND HUNTLY
With one day at Keith and two at Huntly the evangelists closed their work for 1891. Keith has been generally regarded as an out of the world, barren kind of region, where the hearts of the community are as callous as the country is bleak and bare. However, that may be, the brief visit of Mr Moody and Sankey was the most hopeful in character. Probably the reason is to be found in the fact that for some time special gospel has been carried on there by the Hon Miss Waldegrave, Mrs. Stewart of Logie, Mr Butland and other friends. The afternoon and evening meetings of Wednesday last week were held in the Free Church, of which Mr Fitzpatrick is pastor. In the evening there was an overflow in the adjoining hall where Mr Sankey took part. At an after-meeting many were found seeking to know more perfectly the way of life.
The last day of the old year and the first day of the new year were given to Huntly. Here the evangelists were on what may be called classic ground in the history of modern Scottish revival movements… On their visit to Huntly seventeen years ago, Mr Moody and Mr Sankey spoke and sang the Gospel in the park, but on this occasion, of course, the services had to be indoors. The Established Church, where the meetings were held, is a very large structure, and at the six o'clock meetings its capacity was well taxed. The early meetings were at noon on both days, and even then there were large attendances with a great muster of pastors from the surrounding districts. It need scarcely be said that Mr Moody's addresses were most powerful, and the songs sung by Mr Sankey greatly moved the hearts of the people. In addition to the four meetings mentioned, the evangelists conducted a watch-night service in the last hour of the dying year. Mr Moody spoke of some "new things” that belong to the Christian life, and when the lapse of time had shown that 1892 was born Mr Sankey sounded forth his fellow-worker's favourite song,
‘Then shall my heart keep singing.’
The evangelists went straight from a large after-meeting on Friday evening direct on to Aberdeen, where they rested on the Saturday, preparatory to the work of the present week. What may be the final outcome of their seven weeks' work in Scotland at the close of 1891 eternity alone will reveal, but certainly they have spared no pains and no effort to make it fruitful in good to souls and glory to their Divine Master.
From, "The Christian," January 7th, 1892.
SABBATH AT ABERDEEN.
On Saturday the chief workers were cheered by the arrival on the scene of Rev John McNeill. He has been suffering rather severely from cold contracted in London. His share of the work will be largely regulated by the development of circumstances; he is ready to go wherever he is most needed, and where his presence will help most effectually to fan the flame of Gospel fire throughout old Scotland.
A ROUSING TALK TO WORKERS.
Sabbath morning broke bright and beautiful over the cold grey streets of the granite city. The air was piercingly cold, but the hearts of the Christian people of the town were warm enough to prompt them to flock in crowds to the Music Hall, which was quite filled, galleries and all, soon after 9.30 a.m. There must have been present about two thousand of the very pick and flower of Aberdeen believers. Messrs Moody, Sankey, and McNeill were supported on the platform by an array of local ministers and magnates, and there were a goodly number of ministers also scattered through the great congregation. It was a most inspiring sight to see such a concourse of earnest-minded men and women out early on a winter morning. After prayer by Mr McNeill, Mr Moody, Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, and others, Mr Sankey grandly sang "Throw out the Life Line." The Music Hall is very defective in its acoustics for speaking, but Mr Sankey's wonderful voice rang through in a way that was quite thrilling. He also sang "When the Mists Have Rolled Away," the fine choir and great organ taking up the chorus.
Mr Moody's half-hour talk was on God's commission to Moses, as recorded in Exodus iii., and the various excuses that Moses put forward for not yielding instant obedience. The address sparkled with good things, characteristic of the evangelist's simple faith and a zeal that is undismayed by seeming difficulties. Mr Moody showed how Moses had to be taught that God can use the most humble instrument that is fully surrendered to Him. The lack of this spirit of humility and the strife as to who shall be greatest is one of the chief hindrances in the Church at the present day. Every true Christian worker must stoop to conquer. Moses pleaded that he was slow of speech, but God showed him that eloquence was not needed. We have too many silver-tongued orators, said Mr Moody; the Lord deliver us from mere human eloquence! Too often it is a snare and hinders a man's usefulness. What we need is to give the people God's word and let Him speak through us. A story was told of a stammering man out in the Western States who was converted through his little girl, who went to Sunday school. He was afterwards instrumental in the planting of twelve hundred Sunday schools, of which many developed into flourishing churches. An earnest closing appeal was made to Christians to listen to the call of God and to obey it. He will excuse us from his service if we insist on being excused, but we shall miss the luxury of doing good now, and we shall miss the crown hereafter.
The Scottish National Union of Young Men's Christian Associations and Fellowship Unions and Associations issue a letter, in which they say:- 'We would remind our members that, the last National Conference in Glasgow, the delegates with one voice expressed their satisfaction at the prospect of an early visit to Scotland of our honoured and beloved brethren, Mr Moody and Mr Sankey. We cannot but regard it as a direct answer to many prayers, and as fulfilling the longing desires of many hearts, that their labours in Scotland should have come so immediately upon the National Week of Prayer on behalf of Young Men. We would see in this coincidence a call from the Lord to our Christian young men everywhere to continue in prayer and to co-operate heartily for the conversion of young men in those places which our brethren may visit. Our work in Scotland owes much to the previous visits of our brethren, many members of associations having shared largely in the marvellous blessing which attended their labours. In the name of the National Union, we earnestly request you to unite with us in waiting upon the Lord for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit, that their labours at this time may result in the conversion to Him of thousands of our young men and others, and the quickening of believers.'
—Yours in the Lord's service,
JOHN PAIRMAN,
JOHN STEVENSON
Please read this letter in your association meetings, and have it exhibited in your place of meeting.
THE MUSIC HALL MEETINGS,
afternoon and evening, were crowded—in the one case with women and the other with men. Mr Sankey gave two solos to each congregation, and then left for the overflows in the Free West Church. Mr Moody preached splendidly on both occasions, the only drawback being the difficulty of hearing his words, owing to the wretched acoustics of the hall. There were large second meetings. In the afternoon, many requests for prayer on behalf of unsaved friends were presented, and subsequently a large number rose for prayer on their own behalf. At a third meeting, on the orchestra, personal conversation was held with inquirers, and fruit was gathered. The second meeting in the evening was drafted into the Christian Institute adjoining. Mr Moody addressed the men for some time, being joined later on by Mr McNeill and some others. Personal effort again followed, and though the crust of reserve seemed very hard to break, it cannot be doubted that good and real work was done in leading men to spiritual decision. It was a fall Sabbath for Mr Moody, who had preached at eleven o’clock in Free St. Clement's Church, and thus took a leading part in no less than six different meetings during the day. But his labours were not in vain in the Lord.
GOOD THINGS FROM MR MCNEILL.
Afternoon and evening, Rev John McNeill preached to crowded overflows in the Free West Church, the congregations being composed of both sexes. In the afternoon the preacher made an overpowering appeal to timid Christians to declare themselves on the side of Jesus Christ; the text was 1. Chron. xii. 32: "At the time, day by day there came to David, to help him until it was of great host like the host of God.” As it was with David, so (said Mr McNeill) it is with the cause and Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
He is not always to be in the background. This is a day of revival, and Christ is saying to the men and women of Aberdeen: "Are you for me or against me? Take your side and stick to it." The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is today the one great going concern, whether in Aberdeen or in London, with all its massive wickedness and indifference. Let the people of Aberdeen catch the spirit and enthusiasm of the hour. If they were tempted to be ashamed of Jesus, let them forever give up their shame. Pray, what is there to be ashamed of in Him? Why should any young fellow blush like a boarding-school miss if somebody should say he has been converted? Men were not ashamed of their sweethearts, or wives of their husbands; why should they be ashamed of Christ? There is nothing to apologise for in Him or in his glorious Gospel. Young people like to belong to a big thing; if ever they were drawn to a big concern, let them come out openly and boldly for Christ. The longer he lived the longer he was amazed that Christ should condescend to take their help and should want for it.
A PARABLE OF SALVATION.
At night, Mr McNeill took the story of blind Bartimæus and expounded it in a most sparkling and delightful way as a picture or parable of the way of life, drawing a contrast between the rich young ruler and the blind beggar, both mentioned in the same chapter. He said that if the first was stripped of his accidental wealth, there was little to choose between them. Coming to Christ it is sometimes an advantage to be poor; there is less to give up. Bartimaus was free from many of the hindrances that might keep back a substantial Aberdeen businessman. In referring to the cry for mercy of the beggar when Jesus was passing by, he said that though he liked things done decently and in order he felt strongly that it would be no violation of decorum if there was more downright clamour for salvation. If one of them should cry out there in the church, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me," God would not consider it an innovation or an interruption. It would break in upon the thrice accursed routine of going to church and coming from church with dry eyes and drier heart. Earnestness about salvation is not unnatural or unbecoming, it is the stifling of soul need that is unreal and vulgar and false to the core. If salvation is worth having at all, surely it is worth asking for, as though it were really wanted. The crowd wanted to shut the mouth of Bartimæus, and the crowd wants to do so still. If there are signs of true soul-earnestness the cry is raised, "Silence, it is not refined nor aesthetic." The organ or the choir may play and sing as loud as anything, but the cry of the perishing sinner is to be scouted and scowled down. But let no anxious one be afraid of the cold shoulder or the wet blanket, even though it might be administered by their own minister. God would feed the flame of their heavenly desire till full satisfaction came.
Mr McNeill asked young converts if they heard people talking scornful things about the Moody and Sankey business, about him, to turn round on them and ask what they stand in the thick of it and rebuke the scoffers. The preacher closed a very telling gospel sermon by appealing to his hearers to imitate Bartimæus, to strip themselves of their garments of self-righteousness, and come to Christ for healing.
Very beautiful and pathetic was the picture he drew of the man with his restored sight, gazing on the Christ who healed him, "Jesus is a grand sicht for sair e'en." He could imagine that up in heaven Bartimaus kept as close to the Saviour as he could; he would be one of those who "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."
Mr Sankey's Gospel Songs in the Free West Church were very telling, and fitted in well with the preaching. Everybody seemed to be of opinion that Sabbath was a day of great privilege for Aberdeen. Certainly, the spirit of hearing was wonderful. Of a truth, the good old Gospel has lost none of its power to attract, to charm, and to save.
The Aberdeen papers of Monday give copious and good accounts of the Sabbath meetings. The ‘Scottish Leader’ continues to do yeoman service to the good cause throughout the country by its full and special daily reports, written with great care and ability by Mr F. Lawrence, who has been specially commissioned to describe the meetings from Nairn onwards.
Mr Moody and Mr Sankey expect to proceed next week to Montrose, Arbroath, and Forfar, going the following week to Kirkcaldy, Dumfermline, and other places in Fife. Mr McNeill's future plans are not yet definitely arranged; they will depend on the development of the Aberdeen work.
A WEEK'S WORK IN ABERDEEN.
It is necessary to change the heading of these reports, since the chief human agents in the work have become multiplied by two. Mr McNeill's accession was chronicled last week; a fourth worker is now in the field in the person of Mr J. H. Burke, an American Gospel singer whom Messrs Moody and Sankey sent for to assist. He reached the north of Scotland towards the end of the week--in time to be introduced by Mr Sankey to Aberdeen audiences, and to show that he has distinct gifts in proclaiming the Gospel through tuneful and artistic song. He has a rich and finely cultured tenor voice and sings with great expression. For the present he will accompany Mr McNeill.
In attempting to chronicle within a brief compass the past week's work in Aberdeen, one's greatest difficulty is the
EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES.
The whole of this issue might not unprofitably be occupied with a record of the sayings and doings of the week. Perhaps the first thing to be noted is the firm hold that the old Gospel has on the minds and hearts of these shrewd, hard-headed Aberdonians. Towards the end of the week Mr Moody said he had been told when he arrived in this country, that he would find “a new Scotland"; such had not been his experience. Certainly, the aspect of Aberdeen during these past days gives no colour to the assumption that the Gospel which Mr Moody preached in bygone days has been shorn of its power to attract. Weather is supposed to affect the attendance at religious meetings, even in church going Scotland. The weather of the last week has been as wild and wintry in the north of Scotland as the most ardent Esquimaux might desire. Yet, day after day, and twice a day, the frost-bound and wind-swept streets of the city have been thronged with men and women flocking to church or hall simply to hear the old, old story of Jesus and his love rung out in clarion notes either in sermon or in song. That is a phenomenon which modern philosophers, advanced theologians, and higher critics may be left to explain to their own satisfaction—or otherwise.
One cannot but feel that it has been a day of gracious visitation for "Aberdeen and twal' mile roun'," as the proverbial phrase goes. How far Aberdeen will know and will profit by this visitation, it is not within the province of any human observer to say. There is this hopeful element in the case-hopeful, at any rate, in Mr Moody's view. He sometimes remarks, as the result of long experience, that when God is working with saving power in the hearts of the people, the devil is busy propagating lies. Last week there was served up in the Scotch Press an ample dish of canards, baseless rumours - “the chatter of irresponsible frivolity" - and ignorant, uncharitable criticism. So, one may confidently believe that God has been doing great things in setting free for his service many hitherto bound by the chains of sin or held back by prejudice and indifference. Mr Moody's unfailing answer to all “the chatter" referred to is -
'Then shall my heart keep singing.'
With two preachers of such originality and force as Mr Moody and Mr McNeill addressing great audiences pari passu, there is great temptation to enter on
COMPARISONS AT ONCE UNFAIR AND ODIOUS.
God does not repeat himself, and the speaking gifts with which He has endowed both these servants are distinctly apart, though equally effective for the one supreme end of rousing sinful men and women out of their sleep of indifference and slothful Christians out of their beds of ease and selfish unconcern. Mr Moody almost glories in the fact that he cares little for what is known as "systematic theology." He leaves that branch of human thought (or speculation) to specialists. He loves to declare the sovereign love of the Father for a lost world; to lift up in the most comprehensive terms a living and ascended Christ - once the Sin Bearer of the whole race, and now the Saviour of all who will come to Him for pardon, peace, and power.
He exalts the Holy Spirit as the present Witnesser of Christ, and the effectual, ever-willing agent of salvation. Such is his simple but sufficient creed, as it comes out in his public teaching; and he severely fights shy, as a rule, of controversial doctrine.
Last week, however, he gave one afternoon his Bible reading on "The Blood," showing from the cumulative teaching of Jewish type and symbol and ritual, how God was preparing the world for the advent of Him who by the one sacrifice on Calvary made full atonement for the sins of Adam's race, and in whom God was reconciling the world to Himself. Though he does not often touch on disputed doctrines, Mr Moody has no sort of sympathy with any so-called Gospel that minimises or leaves out of view the Cross of Christ and all that it signifies. There have been many expressions of pleasure and gratitude, on the part of ministers and others, at the evangelist's restatement his staunch, unfaltering belief in these foundation truths of justification by atonement and sanctification by the gracious working of the Holy Ghost. And Mr Sankey, who has the best possible right to speak on the point, affirms that his fellow-worker never preaches on "The Blood" without seeing many seals to that ministry of reconciliation.
MR. MCNEILL'S ADDRESSES
during the past week have been the theme of much admiring comment. Indiscriminate eulogy of his utterances would be neither good for the gifted preacher himself nor glorifying to God. With the fine gold of his fearless and powerful speech there is an admixture of alloy that time and experience may be trusted to purge. But the fact remains that Mr McNeill, by consent of unprejudiced preaches of this time, is one of the few great preachers of this time. Mr Moody is not addicted to gush, and he is unstinted in his words of praise with respect to the discourses of his young fellow evangelist. It has really been a noteworthy sight to see day after day the large and growing group of ministers who have attended the Belmont-street Congregational Chapel and the Free West Church afternoon and evening, and have listened with a dazed and wondering eagerness to the glowing periods of Mr McNeill. In his hands the pages of the good old Book have become luminous with new beauty and pregnant with meanings and lessons undreamt of before. His forte lies in translating the sacred narratives and writings into the vernacular of today. And no subject seems to come amiss to him. He is equally effective in closely knit argument and in popular appeal. Throughout his discourses there runs a vein of subtle sarcasm or of flashing and unstrained wit that does more execution in paving the way for the serious aspects of truth than tons of lumberous logic could accomplish. More need not be said with respect to the peculiar qualities of Mr McNeill's preaching, as these pages will contain from week to week condensed notes of his rousing and sparkling addresses. Of course, they suffer much from condensation - even when reported fully, the expressive play of feature, the intonations of a rich and plastic voice, and the inimitable gestures are lacking. Mr McNeill has great power in putting his hearers into a corner, and shutting them up, so to speak, to an immediate acceptance of the truth. If he becomes as great an adept in the work of the after-meeting, he will prove a mighty evangelising instrument in the hand of God. During the past week he entered heartily into the work of the inquiry-room, not only at his own meetings, but at those held by Mr Moody.
THESE AFTER-MEETINGS
are, of course, the crux of evangelistic work, and it is a matter greatly to be deplored that many Scottish ministers, speaking generally, do not seem to be at home in personal dealing with anxious souls. It will need a thorough and radical upheaval in methods of college training before a better state of things prevails; and the man or men who will bring about this ecclesiastical earthquake will be far greater benefactors to the race than if they were to discover the long-sought-for "philosopher's stone." Much reaping work has been done in Aberdeen, both afternoon and evening, but much more might have been done if adequate arrangements had been made for inquiry-room accommodation, and for furnishing an army of trained workers of both sexes. Some of the cases of soul-concern and soul-decision met with have been intensely interesting, but there is no space for details.
A VISIT TO HADDO HOUSE
was one of the interesting items of the week. It was not in the original programme, but Lord and Lady Aberdeen were so importunate in their entreaties to Mr Moody and Mr Sankey to help in the public opening of a new hall, erected close to the family mansion, that they at last consented. The only condition exacted was that the Aberdeen meetings should not be interfered with, and, through the generous arrangements of the Earl and Countess, this was carried out. The evangelists left Aberdeen by special train after the close of the Music Hall meeting on Wednesday evening and were driven from the Udny Station to Haddo House, where they rested for the night. The snow drifts had blocked up the country roads, but Lord Aberdeen was equal to the emergency; he had a gang of his men out with the snow plough at three o'clock on Thursday morning, and before dawn the principal roads for many miles around were passable, either for foot or vehicle traffic. Thursday was a glorious day overhead though bitterly cold, and soon after eleven o'clock a large company had come from far and near to be present at the inauguration of the beautiful hall which his lordship has erected under the shadow of his own residence for the holding of religious, social, and other meetings among his tenantry. A contingent of the Aberdeen choir went out to help in the song and were hospitably entertained by Lord and Lady Aberdeen. The Earl introduced the speaking by one of his hearty and neatly-expressed speeches. Mr Moody preached the Gospel with great unction and charm of manner, and Mr Sankey made the rafters ring with his melodious song. The evangelists returned to town by carriage and special train, just in time to be at the opening of the three o'clock meeting in the South Parish Church. They will retain very happy memories of this flying visit. On the previous Sunday evening Lord Aberdeen had given an interesting detailed account, at a meeting in his private chapel, of the leading facts in Mr Moody's career and of the work of his schools at Northfield and Chicago.
MR MCNEILL AND ABERDEEN STUDENTS.
The students in Aberdeen University got a taste of Mr McNeill's peculiar qualities as a speaker on Saturday forenoon, when some 450 of them, drawn from all the “faculties," assembled to hear him in the Natural History classroom of Marischal College. Professor Cowan presided, and in a few graceful, laudatory sentences introduced the preacher-visitor. Before Mr McNeill entered the room the students were frisky enough after their kind, but all fears of any unseemly ebullition of youthful spirits soon vanished when he rose to address them. His text was "The beginning of miracles " at Cana of Galilee, and he swayed them at will with apparent ease. Humour, argument, pathos, and direct Gospel appeal were blended throughout with sacred skill. He showed that though this was the beginning of miracles with Christ, no man can say where the Lord's miracles are to end. Every single conversion is a miracle as wondrous as the turning of water into wine. His exposition of the phrase "the wine failed" (R.V.) was wonderfully fine and telling. He pointed out how all through human life the wine of health, of intellect, of moral conduct, of social happiness, fails; and how Christ alone can make up for the failure. He closed with an eloquently expressed and profound passage from one of Browning's poems, and the crowd of clever young Aberdonians dispersed in a much more subdued frame of mind than they had assembled an hour before.
From, "The Christian," January 7th and 14th, 1892.
SABBATH IN MONTROSE.
On Saturday evening Mr Moody and Mr Sankey bade farewell to the Granite City, and after an hour's run found themselves in Montrose, The snow was falling thickly, but on this coastline there has been no blocking of roads and railways such as the evangelists would experience, if they were still in the far north. Ross-shire, Sutherland, and Caithness are now having such a wintry visitation that one feels deeply thankful for the favourable weather that prevailed when Mr Moody and his helpers were in these parts of the country.
Looking at the day as a whole, the engagements of Sabbath last in Montrose were marked by exceptional promise and potency as to their outcome. The simple enumeration of the meetings held will show what a busy day it was for the two evangelists. At 9.30 in the morning they were driven a mile and a half to the fishing quarter at Ferryden, where the first meeting was held. Mr Moody preached on the compassion of Christ, one of the most heart-moving and effective in his large repertoire of sermons. He had to hurry off to preach at St. George's Free
Church at eleven, and left Mr W. Robertson, of Edinburgh (who has rejoined the party), to follow up with a second meeting. Mr Sankey sang his now famous solo "Throw out the Life Line,” and the seafaring audience very speedily picked up the swinging chorus. Mr Moody's third address was given in the afternoon at St. John's Free Church, which was crammed. He spoke on "Assurance." At an after-meeting in the Evangelical Union Chapel the net was cast, and some at any rate were brought to land.
In the evening an immense concourse of about three thousand people were squeezed into the parish church and listened with rapt and awed attention to a discourse on "Sowing and Reaping." At the same hour an overflow was held in
St. George's Free Church. It was addressed by the pastor, Mr Forgan, Mr Robertson, and Mr Sankey, who had repaired thither after singing two solos in the parish church. The combined after-meeting held in the Congregational Church was very large, and, humanly speaking, most fruitful as large numbers responded to Mr Moody's heart-stirring appeals for the indication of spiritual concern, and the hour was late before the last of the inquirers left the lecture-hall behind, into which they were drafted from the chapel. The spirit of decision was blessedly apparent and highly encouraging as the outcome of one day's work.
REV JOHN MCNEILL,
according to the reports in the Aberdeen papers on Monday, also had a busy time there on the previous day. He preached three times to great crowds, the evening meeting in the Music Hall being crowded out long before the hour fixed for the service. The three subjects were: Doubting Thomas, the Choice of David as King, and Zaccheus. As may be imagined, these old-world narratives found a powerful modern setting at the hands of the preacher, and were made to illustrate in a marvellously graphic way the Divine dealings in grace alike with saint and sinner.
From, "The Christian," January 7th, 1892.
THE WEEK IN FORFAR
The second and closing day at Montrose was not unworthy successor to the first. Having a few days to spare before beginning a mission in Glasgow, Mr J.M. Scroggie, of Haddington, joined the evangelists on Monday and lent a hand. Considering the severe weather, the company that gathered in the afternoon in the parish church was very large. Mr Moody was led to choose the subject that he has not preached on before during this campaign – the parable of the rich man who essayed to build bigger barns for the storage of his much good goods just when he was about to leave them all, and given an account of his stewardship to God. The discourse delivered in unusually subdued tones was a powerful exposure of the folly of straining every nerve to accumulate the perishing and vanishing possessions of this world, while the greater riches of the heavenly life are utterly neglected. By illustration and by example this truth was pressed home very closely and the hour was a very solemn one.
In the evening before beginning his farewell discourse to a gigantic congregation Mr Moody made a warm appeal to the rich citizens of Montrose to support the local YMCA and furnish it with a suitable building. He said he hoped the time would soon come when Scotland’s wealthy Christians would invest their money in such institutions that would live after them as streams of blessing to society, rather than accumulate great fortunes, perhaps to be squandered by and cause the ruin of those who inherit them.
The last after-meeting in the Congregational Church was a time of busy and joyous in gathering. The Montrose friends are taking some steps to perpetuate the interest. A week’s mission is being held in one of the churches during the present week by Mr Smith, an Aberdeen evangelist.
From, "The Christian," January 21st, 1892.
ARBROATH AND BRECHIN
were the scene of the evangelists’ labours on Tuesday and Wednesday. There is not much to be said about Brechin, where a single meeting in the Cathedral on Wednesday morning was all that could be given. There was a large attendance. It is an interesting fact that many employers of labour in the town permitted their workers to attend the meeting without any loss of payment. Mr Moody‘s address was chiefly directed to stirring up the Christians in the district to united effort in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The work at Arbroath was of an exceptionally encouraging kind. The ground had been well prepared and the people flocked to the meeting in great numbers. So great was the interest that separate services were arranged in the evening for men and women so as to draw as many as possible within the circle of influence. Mr Sankey, Mr Scroggie and Mr Robertson all took their share in the conduct of the meetings and in the inquiry room work, which was extensive, speaking by comparison with some other places. If the visit of the evangelists could have been longer, there is no doubt the mission would quickly have broadened and deepened in volume and in results. It remains for the local friends to follow up and to garner the fruit that may yet appear.
From, "The Christian," January 21st, 1892.
FORFAR
was visited on the two closing days of the working week. Since the days of Duncan Matheson, at any rate, this community seems to have been regarded as an exceptionally difficult and flinty-hearted one in the matter of gospel effort. Indeed, there is a current saying to the effect that however remiss the enemy of souls might be in regard to other places, he has “kept his thumb on Forfar”. What malign or deadening influences may be at work it is impossible for a passing stranger to say. At any rate, the two evening meetings in the Established Church were very large and the spirit of hearing was manifest. The after-meetings in the Congregational Church were not, perhaps, so large in proportion as in some other places, but God was evidently owning the faithful messages of his servants and the workers had to deal with some very interesting cases of soul anxiety and decision.
From, "The Christian," January 21st, 1892
SABBATH AT KIRKCALDY
The county, or ‘Kingdom” of Fife has been very earnest in its desire to obtain a visit from the American brethren and it will not be possible for them to comply with nearly all the requisitions sent in, as one brief week can only can be given to the shire. As the largest central population, Kirkcaldy had the two opening days of the week assigned to it and the meetings of Sabbath showed every indication of universal and genuine interest. At 9:30 in the morning the Bethelfield United Presbyterian Church was the scene of a splendid gathering of Christian workers, to whom Mr Moody gave the address which is briefly reported in a preceding column. During the forenoon the evangelists rested and in the afternoon they spoke to a large congregation in the Parish Church of Dysart, which is the northern end of “the lang toon.”
Sabbath evening services are not customary in the churches of Kirkcaldy and so all the people were free to be present, so far as space would allow, at the special Gospel meetings arranged for in the Parish Church and in the St Brycedale Free Church close by. Soon after 6 o’clock the Parish Church, where Mr Moody was to speak, was crowded out and the overflow was very speedily filled St Brycedale to the doors. Probably many hundreds went away disappointed. Mr Sankey, having sung his couple of solos to Mr Moody‘s vast audience, proceeded to the Free Church, where he sang again and also addressed the congregation, several ministers also taking part. At the close Mr Sankey conversed with a number in the church and found not a few who had either decided for Christ or anxiously seeking the way.
In the course of his powerful address, Mr Moody caused some sensation by his strong remarks on the whiskey cast. He cried aloud and spared not and when he saw that some of his audience looked very strange, he did not hesitate to say so. Would to God Scotchman had some of the patriotism of which Mr Moody speaks and which ought alone to prompt them to fight this national evil that seems to have laid its evil hands on every community in the old land of Bibles and covenants.
A great proportion of the audience stayed for the second meeting, and to them Mr Moody declared the way of life as plainly as words could make it. Then the workers spent some time in personal converse with those who were in soul anxiety. The Kirkcaldy friends, in concert with the Edinburgh committee, had been having special preparatory meetings, some of which are said to have been very fruitful. They have also arranged for following up by a week of services, conducted by Rev John Robertson of Glasgow. Mr Robertson, in the days before he was known to fame, was for some time engaged in school teaching in the "lang toon," and there are many who remember him in that capacity. Much interest will attach to his meetings.
From, "The Christian," January 21st, 1892.
MR MCNEILL IN ABERDEEN.
Throughout the past week Mr McNeill has kept the fire of spiritual interest well alight in the northern city by his remarkable addresses given twice a day during the week.
Large crowds continued to go and hear him, and at the evening meetings in the Music Hall numbers have manifested spiritual concern by rising for prayer. On Wednesday evening last week Mr McNeill preached in the North Parish Church in the east end of the city. A good proportion of the congregation were apparently of the genuine bourgeois type, and the preacher's words were such as would appeal to their peculiar difficulties and surroundings. The influence of this special effort is being very widely felt throughout the city. District visitors and Bible women say from personal knowledge that in almost every house they visit there is a deep interest awakened, and it can truthfully be said as of old, that "there is great joy in the city." One case has a peculiar interest. A man was present in the Music Hall one evening and decided to accept Christ. When he went home he found that his wife had attended a kitchen meeting that evening and had also experienced the beginning of a new life. The joy in that humble home that night may be "better imagined than described."
Last Sabbath Mr McNeill preached three times, in the forenoon in Rev G. Adam Smith's Free Church at Queen's Cross, and in the Music Hall afternoon and evening.
This week the meetings will be dispersed more throughout the city, Mr McNeill's desire being to break through the crust of sleepy indifference in the churches and stir them up to take hold on the irreligious masses around them.
From, "The Christian," January 21st, 1892.
MR SANKEY
continues to be cheered by hearing of the blessing that has resulted from the singing of his Gospel songs in past years. Some of the hymns from which little result of this kind had been expected have been channels of power to the hearers. Thus, the Gospel singer is encouraged to go on singing the Gospel, with heart and voice, leaving the full results to God and to the day when the books shall be opened and the secrets of all hearts revealed.
THE EVANGELISTS AT EDINBURGH.
The interest that has been aroused throughout Scotland, especially the southern parts of it, by the visit of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey may be said to have culminated in the remarkable gatherings in Edinburgh on Wednesday of last week. They were remarkable for numbers, but still more for their representative character.
Never during any previous visit by our American brethren to the Scottish capital have they been greeted by a company at once so large, so influential, and so full of promise. Before the hour of meeting, 11 a.m., not only was the Free Assembly Hall crammed in every nook and cranny, but the crowd overflowed into the adjoining Free High Church, and about filled the spacious structure.
The composition of the audiences was unique, we should think, in the history of British evangelism. All the professors of the Free Church and United Presbyterian Church Colleges in Edinburgh were there, with Principals Rainy and Cairns at their head. The professorial staff of the Edinburgh University was also represented. As for students, we are informed that there were in the audience 170 from the Free Church College, 100 from the United Presbyterian College, and eighty from the Established Church College. It would probably be easier to specify those evangelical ministers of the city and neighbourhood who were not present than to give a list of those who were. All the denominations were represented. There was a large delegation from Glasgow, both of ministers and laymen, and there were also many leading businessmen and professional men from both cities. Visitors came from many parts of Scotland - north, south, east, and west, while Ireland and India also had their representatives; and workers from the Edinburgh and Glasgow mission and church organisations were as plentiful as blackberries. It was altogether a memorable gathering as to the texture of it, and formed a weighty tribute to the widespread esteem entertained for our evangelistic brethren. The overflow in the Free High Church was addressed by Dr ANDREW A. BONAR, Dr J. STALKER, and Mr SANKEY
Mr Moody and Mr Sankey, who had travelled that morning from Cupar in Fife, entered the hall shortly before eleven, and the proceedings were at once opened with the singing of the well-known:
Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove
with all thy quickening powers,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.
Then prayer was offered by the venerable Principal Cairns, who did not fail to thank God for all the great things He had done in bygone years by the instrumentality of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey in their own land and ours, and for what He is now doing by them in Scotland. There was also a touching reference in the aged Principal's prayer to the Royal bereavement, which the nation was then remembering in connection with the funeral of the Duke of Clarence. Mr Sankey very feelingly sang, "Pray, brethren, pray," with its solemn refrain, "Eternity is drawing nigh." Before leaving for the overflow, Mr Sankey sang, "Nothing but leaves."
MR MOODY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT.
An address on this subject was the principal engagement of the hour. After a brief reference to the personality of the Holy Ghost, Mr Moody remarked there is much ignorance as to the definite work of the Spirit in the economy of grace. First of all, He convicts men of sin, and chiefly of the sin of unbelief. The work of the preacher is to hold up Christ; the Holy Spirit alone can carry the truth home with convicting power. A man might preach with all the eloquence of Demosthenes, but unless the Holy Ghost is working with him, there will be no conversions, and the whole thing will pass away like the morning cloud.
The Spirit also sheds abroad in the heart the love of God. What we need in these days is to be carried above party feeling and sectarianism. Without love in his heart a man is not fit to do God's work. There are many men in our pulpits who might do just as much good by just standing there and ring a tea-bell as they do by their hard and unlovely preaching. How can the Holy Ghost work where there is quarrelling and backbiting - one minister in a town not being on speaking terms with his fellow minister? As the voice could not travel without the atmosphere, so the work of God cannot prosper where it has not an atmosphere of love to work in. May God baptise us with his own love. ("Amen,” "Amen.") Let the Church of God move into 1 Cor. chap xiii, If the Christians in Scotland would live there thirty days, they might revolutionise the whole country. But the love must be
REAL AND SPONTANEOUS.
The Spirit of God imparts hope. If we are filled with Him, we shall not be discouraged and always looking on the dark side of things. If the pulpit loses hope, the same feeling will very soon infect the pews. Why should we be all the time living on past experiences? I meet with so many who are always talking about the wonderful revival there was in 1859! Why, I expect far better times in '92 than there were in '59.
Our best times are on before; do not let us go about whining and moaning and finding fault. God has never yet used for great ends a man who was easily discouraged.
Another thing that the Spirit gives is liberty. I would like the brethren here to testify whether or not they have liberty in their meetings. If they have not, there is something lacking, but do not let the Christians imagine that all the fault is in the pulpit. I do not believe that Gabriel himself could preach with much unction and liberty if the congregation are all the time criticising and picking holes in the sermon. Do you suppose there would have been any blessing on the Day of Pentecost if the disciples had been criticising Peter's discourse, instead of holding him up in prayer?
Mr Moody went on to show how it is the work of the Holy Spirit to testify of Christ.
When a minister holds up Christ as a Saviour before the people, the Spirit has then something to work on. If we preach science or metaphysics and leave out the living Christ, the Spirit has not got a chance to work. As to the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, Mr Moody pointed out that while in the old dispensation the Shekinah took up its abode in the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, now the bodies of believers are the temple, in which God desires and delights to dwell. If we are indwelt by the Spirit, how is it that so many of us are without spiritual power?
POWER FOR SERVICE
was the topic of some very earnest closing words. Mr Moody urged that repeated baptisms of the Holy Ghost are necessary for the Church, giving some of the points that were emphasised in our report last week of his Bible reading on the great sermons in the Acts. He said he saw no reason why the Holy Ghost should not fall on that assembly now, and on the city of Edinburgh and on all Scotland? How great is the need! An earnest was made to fathers and mothers to seek the Spirit’s power in saving their land from the power of the drink curse, that is destroying so many of the very flower of Scotland's youth. Speaking on the lack of success in winning souls, Mr Moody illustrated it by an incident of a lady whom he met, and who was led to see the failures in her own life were the cause of her spiritual unfruitfulness, she confessed her shortcomings both to God and to her household; then the Lord used her to the conversion of her husband, of some of her servants, and of a number in her Bible-class. Having graphically described the falling of Elijah's mantle on the young Elisha with a double portion of the old prophet's power, Mr Moody said that the God of Elijah still lives, and is ready to use all who are willing and fit to be used.
Eternity alone could tell the results of that gathering if the power of God were to sweep over all those present. What might be done through those students soon to go forth preaching the Gospel. Why should there not be streams of salvation breaking out in all the parishes from which those ministers came? It appears as if God were very near to us in Scotland; wherever we have gone he seems to have gone before. Surely the time has come for the Church of God to rise, to fall into line, and move forward.
A SOLEMN SEASON OF PRAYER
followed, during which the petitions of the bowed assembly were earnestly led by Principal Rainy, Mr J. Campbell White, Rev John Smith, Dr Marcus Dods, Rev H.M. Williamson, of Belfast, Mr Moody, and others. Mr Moody prayed especially for the young students present, that they might all receive the Unction from the Holy One before they went into the pulpits of the land to preach his Gospel.
After lunch Mr Moody and Mr Sankey hurried off by the 1.40 train to Dunfermline, where they were due at 3 o'clock, to commence a two-day' mission.
From, "The Christian," January 28th, 1892
THE FIFESHIRE MISSION
During the past week events have moved so rapidly with the evangelists that it is not easy to keep pace with them. Monday found them holding, their last meeting in St Brycedale Free Church, Kirkcaldy. There was a good after-meeting, as well as a large prayer-meeting in the church. The meetings were followed up on the later evenings of the week by Rev John Robertson, of Glasgow, who had growing congregations in the Bethelfield United Presbyterian Church, and whose glowing Gospel addresses were greatly enjoyed. Whether or not the mission in Kirkcaldy will have its due effect depends on the local pastors and the heartiness with which they follow up the special effort. Of course, this applies to other places, but Kirkcaldy is a large scattered town and the mission was very brief, so that the work of gleaning will be essential if there is to be an adequate harvest.
From, "The Christian," January 28th, 1892.
The forenoon of Wednesday was spent in Edinburgh, and the points of interest about the great meetings in that city are pretty fully recorded in preceding columns. Leaving the capital, the evangelists proceeded to Dunfermline, where the way had been well paved for their advent by large preparatory meetings, in which several Edinburgh friends took a leading part. The two days passed here were full of interest. There were large afternoon meetings, and each evening there were overflows in addition to the regular crowded gathering in the large U.P. Church. The last evening, indeed, there were two overflows. All these extra engagements kept Mr Sankey very busy, as he is always expected to sing. It is a matter for much thankfulness that in this severe and changeful weather the singing evangelist has been kept in such excellent voice and health as to be able to meet the many calls on him.
Friday was divided between the villages of Lochgelly and Cowdenheath, where largely attended meetings were held and earnest testimony delivered. The evangelists could only sow the seed of the Kingdom and leave the local Christians to harrow it in by prayer and further effort. They will be helped in doing this by Mr S. McCracken, a young Irish worker who has come across the Channel to lend a hand in the movement. He joined Mr Moody and Mr Sankey at Dunfermline and will help wherever he is directed. It may also be noted here that Mr J. Ritchie Bell, of Montreal, being on a visit to this country, has for a time joined his friend, Mr Merton Smith, at Dunfermline, and has been helping there in Gospel song. He has worked in America in that line and is well qualified to be a musical exponent of the sweet story of the Saviour's love and grace. Thus, the cohort of active workers is being swelled, and the Gospel chariot is rolling through the land.
REV. JOHN MCNEILL
has terminated his present mission in Aberdeen, and during this week, with Mr J. H. Burke as singing companion, he will be busy at Peterhead and Fraserburgh. These places had to be left unvisited by Messrs Moody and Sankey, doubtless the friends will but rally around Mr McNeill, and will seek to turn his stay among them to the best advantage. The closing meetings in Aberdeen on Sabbath were in every respect remarkable. In the evening not only was the Music Hall crowded out, but there were two overflow meetings, both of which Mr. McNeill had to address. His visit to Aberdeen, we may be certain, will not be forgotten for many a year to come. Heedless of the prolific criticisms of the unsympathetic and the hyper-refined, he has gone on, consecrating his keen intellect, his powers of satire, and his bubbling humour to the service of his Master, and not scrupling to press into that service the common, everyday speech of the people.
THE MISSION AT PERTH
by Mr Moody and Mr Sankey was held on Sabbath and Monday. We must reserve a detailed report to our next issue. Blairgowrie, Crieff, Auchterarder, Dunning, Ladybank, and Auchterarder are all to be visited this week. Stirling, Alloa, and Falkirk have next week allotted to them.
The evangelists have received a very cordial invitation to visit the cathedral city of Norwich, sometime in the course of their sojourn in England. The requisition signed by the Mayor and by no less than forty-eight Church of England clergymen and forty-one Nonconformist pastors in and around Norwich. An earnest and hearty call has also come to them to hold Gospel services in the German capital, Berlin.
THE STIRLING MISSION.
Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk - the field of operation during the past week - are three busy, thriving towns, rich in the sacred memories of the past, associated closely with many a stirring episode of endurance unto death in Covenanting days, and known in later times as the spheres in which godly and faithful ministers of the Gospel have laboured. Last week the evangelists devoted two days to each of these places - Sunday and Monday to Stirling, Tuesday and Wednesday to Alloa, and Thursday and Friday to Falkirk; and in each case those who have thrown themselves into the work have been thankful to find many indications of God's blessing in bringing men and women, long familiar with the truths of the Gospel, to personal decision and the acceptance of the Saviour.
On Monday, the meetings in the Public Hall, Stirling, were densely crowded, and amongst the audience, as well as on the platform, were many ministers. The death of Mr. Spurgeon was made the subject of a few touching remarks by Mr Moody. They were living in solemn days, he said, and it befitted them to consider well their latter end. God was speaking loudly at the present time, and no one knew who might be the next to receive the call to go hence. The greatest preacher of the century had gone;
A PRINCE IN ISRAEL HAD FALLEN.
Might his departure be a blessing to many souls, though they lamented his death, and sympathised with his family in their sore affliction.
Mr Moody told of a gentleman who that afternoon had been blessed to the salvation of his soul through the death of the great preacher. He had often heard Mr Spurgeon preach, but with no benefit to himself, and on his way to Mr Moody's meeting he was very much struck with the fatal intelligence that was conveyed to him by the newspaper bills. He went home from the meeting. said Mr Moody, rejoicing in having found Christ.
THE ALLOA MEETINGS.
Tuesday afternoon saw the opening in Alloa, the services being held in the fine Town Hall. Notwithstanding that heavy sleet had been falling all the morning, the building was packed long before the time announced for the afternoon meeting. Most of the ministers of the town were present, and several took part.
Mr Sankey sang "Throw out the Life-Line" with much vigour, and the old favourite, "The Ninety and Nine."
Mr Moody called attention to twenty-one things the Shepherd does for his sheep, and based his address on the 34th chapter of Ezekiel. Time did not permit him to speak on all of the twenty-one things in the chapter, but he urged his hearers to study them up for themselves. The whole chapter would well repay careful study.
In the evening the hall was again crowded in every corner, many being unable to gain admission, and a large overflow addressed by Mr Wm. Robertson being held in the Townhead Church.
Mr Moody is not a man to
WITHHOLD ANY PART OF HIS MESSAGE
to please men, and Alloa being a great brewing centre, he "let go" at the trade In the most merciless style. Taking his favourite "Whatsoever a man soweth," he showed that men reap (a) the same kind of fruit; (b) they reap more than they sow; and (c) ignorance of the kind of seed sown makes no difference.
It is seldom an audience breaks into applause during one of Mr Moody's discourses, but this happened when he urged those whose consciences were aroused on the liquor question not to sell it; but to pour it down the gutter. The evangelist immediately silenced the stamping, remarking that he wanted the truth to get into their heads, not into their feet.
On Wednesday, as the interest increased, special trains brought many into Alloa. With a view of reaching the careless and indifferent, tickets were issued for the evening meeting and Mr Moody, with his insatiable appetite for work, volunteered to speak in the Townhead United Presbyterian Church at 7 o’clock, before proceeding to the Townhall at 8 o’clock. The latter spacious building was crowded soon after seven, and the audience sat quietly for more than an hour, waiting the arrival of the evangelists.
Mr Sankey appeared first and commenced the meeting. In the meantime, Mr Moody preached to a large audience in the church, on the “Dying Thief” with the most intense earnestness. We have seldom heard anything more thrilling than the picture he drew of a drunken home and then the change that comes over it when the prayer, “Lord, remember me,” has gone up to heaven.
After preaching nearly an hour and leaving the enquiries to be dealt with by the ministers and friends, Mr Moody proceeded to the Townhall and spoke again for a full hour.
It seems as though 2/3 of the audience remained behind, in answer to the invitation that Christians would remain to pray whilst the anxious were being dealt with.
We had a most interesting case. A fine young fellow who had been longing for power to overcome sin, being beaten again and again, he was anxious to know Christ as his Saviour and Deliverer. He came into the light on John v. 24: “he that heareth and believeth hath…” And no sooner had the truth taken hold of him, but he expressed anxiety to get home before his brother went to bed, to tell him and try to lead him to Jesus, for, said he, “He is in just the same condition as I was – wanting to be a Christian.” It is worth coming to Scotland for this, if one gets nothing else.
From, "The Christian," February 11th, 1892
THE FALKIRK MEETINGS
On Thursday morning the evangelists left Alloa for Falkirk, reaching this grand Iron centre in time for a dinner hour service. A second meeting followed in the afternoon in Graham Road Church, when Mr Moody spoke on the “True Elements of Prayer,” dwelling principally on ‘restitution and forgiveness,’ hoping that any Christians who were not on speaking terms with some fellow Christian would get the matter “straightened out” before the sun went down, and not be a hindrance to the work of God, as was often the case. A good company of ministers seemed to enjoy the good things brought out. In the evening the Townhall was soon filled uncomfortably full and then overflowed into the West United Presbyterian Church, where Mr Sankey sang twice. Mr J Campbell White gave an earnest address on Isaiah xlv 22, “Look onto me and be saved,” not without signs of blessing.
On Friday the arrangements had all to be altered, as it was found that the Graham Road UP church and the Free Church were much too small to accommodate the people. It was decided to split up the evening meeting, Mr Moody preaching three times; at four, in the Parish Church, a capacious building standing in the centre of the town: at seven, in the Free Church, women only, which was crowded and at eight to men, when the Parish Church was again completely packed. Mr W. Oatts and Mr J J Campbell White took charge of the women’s inquiry meeting. Mr Sankey was unsparing of himself as he sang at each of the services.
Brief as the missions for the past week may have been, there are many indications that results have been most cheering. Everywhere God’s Spirit appears to have been at work convicting and converting, and leading the halting and irresolute to decision for God.
During the present week Hamilton, Paisley, Renfrew and Barrhead are among the places to be visited.
From, "The Christian," February 11th, 1892.
PAISLEY
Last week began with a visit by Messrs Moody and Sankey to Hamilton and Bothwell, the great centre of the iron and steel industries in Scotland. Here, as in many such districts, religious indifference largely prevails, and hence the general interest awakened by the great meetings of Sunday and Monday is regarded by many as a token of much hopefulness. From Hamilton, the Evangelists went on to Paisley for Tuesday and Wednesday.
THE WORK IN PAISLEY.
Many were the pulpit references on Sabbath to Mr Moody's expected visit; and these brought together on Monday evening a large and representative company, who filled the beautiful Margaret Brough Memorial Hall. Mr Wilson, of the Evangelical Union Church, New Street presided, and after prayers had been offered up by Rev J. M. Sturrock, of the Free High Church, and Rev Mr. Farquhar, of George-street Baptist Church, the meeting was thrown open, and then several engaged in prayer. The hour went past on flying feet, for all present felt that it was good to be there. In the prayers, allusions were made to Mr Moody's previous visits to the town, which were accompanied and followed by marked blessing. At the close, those who volunteered to form a choir for the special services remained to sing over the hymns which Mr Moody had selected; and their enthusiasm and efficiency were so evident that the members of the arrangements Committee were satisfied that the praise part of the coming services would be all that could be desired.
Tuesday turned out to be a mild spring day and by two o'clock people began to gather at the gate of the Free High Church, though the service was advertised to begin at three. Mr Moody gave his
BIBLE-READING ON "THE BLOOD."
At the close of the service a prayer-meeting, attended by several hundred, was held, which was very solemn and refreshing. By half-past six a large crowd surrounded the gate of the church, which was crammed shortly after the doors were opened, and Mr Moody began the service half-an-hour before the advertised time, announcing that an overflow meeting would be held in Free St. George's, a neighbouring church. This. became known to the people outside, who at once made for the other church, which was soon closely packed. Although many were disappointed that Mr Sankey was not present, yet all felt that it was but fitting that one of the evangelists should be present at the funeral of Mr Spurgeon, the greatest preacher of this generation. Mr Moody gave a very powerful address, which contained many impressive counsels and appeals to three classes, Christians, backsliders, and the unconverted. At the close the anxious were dealt with by earnest Christian workers in the adjoining hall while Mr Moody made his way to Free St, George’s Church, where with great animation, he spoke on repentance, from the familiar text, Is. lv. 7: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." Many inquirers remained and were spoken to by ministers and others, most of whom departed after professing faith in Christ.
One of the most interesting cases dealt with was that of a man, who was found by
A YOUNG LONDONER
standing in the dark outside the door of the inquiry room. He was speechless and trembling violently, whilst the tears rolled down his cheeks. With clasped hands the two stood for five or ten minutes, the teacher kindly and plainly explaining the way of salvation, when the strong man, who had become like a little child, heaving a deep sigh, at length said, "I see it all clearly; here and now I give myself to God, and accept Christ as my Saviour." He had been for some time separated from his wife, who had joined the Salvation Army, and, on announcing this, he added, "Though she came not to me, yet I will go to her, and tell her that I now love her Saviour whom I once despised."
Wednesday was bright and genial, and by three o‘clock the Free High Church was again filled by an audience, whose deep interest in the present revival movement was evident in the singing of the hymns and the rapt attention given to the speaker. Mr Moody was in his best form, though he claimed a headache due to the overcrowded meetings of the previous night, and delivered a pointed and powerful address on
"THE NEW BIRTH."
It was full of telling hits and touching stories. On seeing two mothers leaving the church because the babies they carried had become restless. He entreated them to remain and threw out a hint that ladies who easily get to church all this year round might find a sphere of practical usefulness by renting a room and taking charge of the children of working men's wives, who often find it difficult because of home duties to get out on Sabbaths. He made good use of this incident and then returned with fresh vigour to his proper subject. Speaking of culture as a substitute for conversion, he said it reminded him of a man expecting a crop in autumn, by simply ploughing the field over and over again without putting in any seed. He also questioned if there was more than one-tenth of any existing congregation who could give a personal testimony, and said he would count it a greater honour to be called "an out-and-out Christian” than if all the universities of the world were to tack on all their titles to his name. It was a stirring Gospel address, which will be long remembered and spoken about in Paisley.
In the evening both churches were crowded an hour before the advertised time, and service was at once proceeded in both places. Mr Campbell White, of Glasgow, giving the address in Free St. George's. Mr Moody's subject in the Free High was "Sowing and Reaping," and most powerfully did he explain and illustrate the law which operates in the moral as well as the natural world, "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." Particularly impressive was he in enforcing his third proposition, "that a man reaps more than he sows,” and this part of the discourse was listened to with deep emotion. It was here that his power to get at the hearts and consciences of men was best manifested, and it was not at all to be wondered at that at the close the inquiry-room, capable of accommodating three hundred, was at once filled by the anxious and Christian workers.
Arrangements have been made for continuing the special meetings in the Free High until Sabbath the 21st inst., when the Rev John McNeil will carry on the work for the other four days in the Clark Town Hall. His visit is being looked forward to with great expectations, as his voice will be new to the people of Paisley.
RENFREW AND BARRHEAD.
Thursday was devoted to Renfrew, a thriving town at the junction of the Cart with the Clyde, and largely peopled by intelligent mechanics and engineers. Short as the visit was it had been well prepared for by united services, Both afternoon and evening great throngs assembled, the keen, shrewd men being largely represented in the audiences.
On Friday two services were held in Barrhead, a busy manufacturing town. At the first the U.P. Church was filled. Mr Moody's address was on "Prayer," and referring to "the greatest preacher of this century," Mr Spurgeon, he said that his prayers were even more remarkable than his preaching. In the evening the Established Church was crowded. Mr Moody spoke from Mark xii. 34, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God"- enforcing the danger of allowing any one sin to keep us without the kingdom from the case of Herod, of whom it is written (Mark vi. 20) that at a certain period of his history he "feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly." Some talked of their intellectual difficulties, but he believed that nothing but sin kept people from receiving Christ, and if they went on neglecting their soul's salvation they would come to "refuse" and ultimately to "despise." A large number remained to the after-meeting, and were conversed with throughout the church.
A CONVERT'S LETTER.
One of the hardest evangelistic workers now in the Scottish field, and one of the most earnest, is Mr MERTON SMITH, late of Chicago, the tragic story of whose conversion in that city, several years since, has been published by Mr H. Pickering, of 180, Buchanan-street, Glasgow. Mr Smith recently conducted a fortnight's mission in a town in the south-west of Scotland, and among those who were won over to the side of the Saviour was a man who had been a confirmed and outspoken infidel. He now rejoices in and proclaims the truth that he formerly sought to destroy. The following extract from a letter he recently wrote to Mr Smith is an admirable testimony, and one that ought to encourage all who labour for the souls of pronounced unbelievers: —
DEAR Mr Smith, - I am praising God all the time for that ever blessed "Friday night, at 1 o'clock in the morning," when his light broke on my darkened soul. I never expected to experience such a sense of complete rest and peace of mind as I have had ever since. My poor thanks to God seem so inadequate that I must ask you dear friend, to thank Him too for me. My wife is fairly, at her wits' end with joy. I can assure you the prayers of us both will follow you wherever you go.
My wife is a member of the … Mission and I arranged to join them. On Sunday night I took your advice and openly confessed Christ in the hall. I was greatly pleased to hear two or three others stand up and say they had been born again that same Friday evening. I think that the devil must have been off watch that night. He knows what an energetic servant he had in me, and he has been pulling at me from time to time since then, but Jesus is giving me strength to resist. Of course, I expect to have to stand a good deal of sneering from the world, but as the same people would probably sneer as much if they met me in the street and I were drunk, I do not see that their opinion matters a great deal. "Let them laugh who win."
And now, may God strengthen your heart and assist your labours wherever you are.
Attack the infernal drink traffic without mercy: it will kill our nation if it is not checked, I know something about it, for I have been in the depths there too,—Your sincere friend,
THE WORK OF FOLLOWING UP.
A most gratifying and hopeful feature of the present movement is the way in which the permanent church workers have been stirred to seek a widening of the area of blessing. In a circular sent out to Free Church pastors throughout the north by Principal Rainy, Rev J. M. Sloan, and Rev John Burnett, as conveners of three leading Free Church Committees which are co-operating, these brethren say:-
On two successive Committee days there has been special conference among brethren in reference to the work of religious awakening which appears to be going on in various parts of the country. Strong testimony has been borne to the existence of a widespread desire for plain and earnest dealing with souls concerning the things that pertain to their peace, and encouraging reports have been made of the apparent fruit in connection with the means used in various places. A Committee has been appointed, which has secured from various brethren promises of help in the work in any places where these services may be required, and they are now anxious to ascertain in what congregations and districts there may be an opening for efforts in this line.
We shall be glad to learn whether, in your opinion, it would be desirable to have special meetings and services in your congregation and district, with a view to awaken religious interest and inquiry, or to extend and deepen these where they have been awakened. The Committee would endeavour to provide assistance on the part of brethren of the ministry willing to be so employed, We believe many persons in almost every district have lately been led in some degree to serious thoughts; that many more might, with God's blessing, be so led; and that we might cherish the hope of a signal ingathering in connection with the earnest and prayerful use of fitting means. We beg the earnest prayers of yourselves and of believers around you, that the work of the Lord may go on without hindrance and without offence; that the Spirit may be graciously poured out from on high, and that all the churches may be enabled to use wisely and successfully the opportunities which appear to be opening at this time.
It seems a thing incredible that such an invitation, sent out with the highest imprimatur of the Free Church, should receive anything but a glad welcome and a promise of cordial co-operation from all to whom it was addressed. It ought to be known that a very different reception has been accorded to it by Rev Messrs Mackenzie of Inverness and Mackaskill of Dingwall. The reserved attitude of these two, however, throws into a pleasant relief the action of others who have entered most heartily into the proposals made. In a recent letter to our correspondent from Rev Alexander Lee, of Nairn, some deeply interesting details are given as to the past, present, and future arrangements for keeping alight the torch of special Gospel testimony at this season. Mr Lee says:
"Meetings have already been held at Findhorn, Burghead, Lossiemouth, and Grantown, with excellent results. The movement in Grantown is most remarkable.
From, "The Christian," February 18th, 1892
The circumstances are so diverse in different places that it is very unfair to draw comparisons in gauging the results of a widespread movement such as that which is now in progress throughout the length and breadth of Scotland. God is not to be charged with arbitrary action because less immediate fruit is apparent in one place than in another. The Spirit's working may be hindered by "some little rift within the lute" that does not appear on the surface; some very small hindrance may choke the channel of his inflow in a community. Without setting the Greenock meetings over against those previously held in any other centre, it can, however, be thankfully said that they were full of great good cheer and encouragement to the evangelists. They began on Sabbath week, and the working force was strong -Messrs Moody and McNeill as preaching, and Messrs Sankey and Burke as singing, evangelists, besides other able helpers in both departments not to speak of the local pastors and friends. Ten meetings were held in the town during the day, and it is estimated that on these occasions a grand total of some 17,000 persons must have heard the reviving of the life-giving message. How many effectually responded, it must be left to the great day of reckoning to discover; but it is no great stretch to be assured that the slain and the wounded of the Lord were many.
Mr Moody and his companion had to pass on to another place at the end of two brief days, but Mr McNeill continued his powerful ministry all the week, and will prolong his stay in Greenock this week also, as intimated elsewhere. He has had the happy privilege of gathering many sheaves for the Master, as the outcome of his own labours and those of his fellow-workers, who could do little more than scatter the seed before departing for other fields. As the days and weeks go by, it becomes
more and more evident that Mr McNeill has found his niche, and that if health and years are granted him he will prove to be one of the most useful servants of God that this generation has seen; his gifts of clear, piercing vision and of popular address are such that, like Wesley, Whitfield, and Moody, he ought to have the world for his parish.
AMONG THE MINERS.
Scotland is comparatively a small country, but among its people there are to be found plenty distinct types. In their tour from north to south, our American friends have been passing through very varied strata of human society.
They encountered the fervid, superstitious Highlander: the more cultured and, perhaps, more cynical folk of Inverness and Moray; the hard-headed, but by no means cold-hearted, Aberdonian; the shrewd and stolid Fifer; the horny-handed artisan of the banks of Clyde, and many others whose characteristics are not sufficiently marked to allow of classification. The greater part of last week was spent among the miners of Lanarkshire, the places visited being Wishaw, Lanark, and Bellshill. The evangelists must often have been reminded, these bygone days, of Pittsburgh, the great mining centre of the State of Philadelphia in their own country. Tall, black, ugly chimneys are the conspicuous features of the landscape, telling of
Many thousands who toil from week to week in manipulating the mineral wealth of Central Scotland. If report be true, the mining population of these parts are more at home in matters spirituous than spiritual. Facilities for over-indulgence in drink are disgracefully plentiful, with the usual outcome of intemperance, crime, and indifference to the higher interests of the life of the soul. Not that there has been any lack of eagerness to attend the special meetings – far from it. Indeed, the success of the work, from that point of view, has been a drawback. The available places of concourse have been much too small, and the unwholesome air engendered in small churches not well ventilated has caused Mr Moody no small discomfort. He has
SUFFERED GREATLY FROM HEADACHES
on this account. Still, he has gone on bravely, preaching the old Gospel with might and main, and keeping many other friends at work as well. When at Wishaw, Mr Sankey received by cable from America the sad news of the death of his eldest sister. This is the third bereavement that he has had to undergo when absent from his own land on the King's service. During former visits to our shores he had to mourn the loss, by death, of mother, sister, and his father. It has not been easy to sing with this burden of sorrow freshly resting upon him, but strength and grace have been given to go on with work, and this added proof of the nearness of the unseen and eternal world has not diminished the pathos which our friend throws into the tones of his consecrated voice.
From, "The Christian," February 25th, 1892.
STORM-STRUCK AT COATBRIDGE.
There have been many outstanding incidents in this Scottish campaign that will come up at the call of memory in future years. But probably no meeting in the whole series held between Campbeltown in the south-west) and Castleton (in the extreme north-east) will be better or more frequently remembered by Mr Moody and Mr Sankey than their first service at Coatbridge last Sabbath morning. In the matter of weather, and considering the season of the year, they have, on the whole, been singularly fortunate… Saturday evening Coatbridge was clear and starry, and the fullest effect was given to the big, belching tongues of flame at the iron works, that light up, after nightfall, the lower end of the town. During the night the wind rose and the temperature fell, and morning dawned on a perfect hurricane of driving snow. A stranger looking out on the main street about 9 a.m. would have been struck with surprise to see a seemingly endless stream of people, mostly of the poorer orders, judging by their dress, with a large proportion of young boys and girls, wending their way along, bravely battling with the fury of the elements. A little inquiry would have revealed the fact that these were Roman Catholics, bound for early " It appears that out of the thirty thousand people in Coatbridge some eight thousand are Roman-ists, and they are so well indoctrinated into the tenets of their faith that no rain that ever fell, or wind that ever blew, will keep them from "mass." It was something of a revelation to witness such a sight in an age supposed to be specially one of religious indifference.
The question that arose in one's mind was this: Would the Protestants struggle through the awful storm in as great numbers for the meeting with Mr Moody and Mr Sankey in the Coats Parish Church, fixed for 9.30 a.m.? In order to answer his own question the writer sallied out and made for the church; to get there, he passed about the worst quarter of an hour he has ever experienced in the line of snow storms. The church stands high on the crest of a steep hill, and the battle with the snow-laden gale up from the main street of the town was one that will certainly never fade from memory this side the river of death. One reached the church, to find scarcely a vacant seat; and the building is seated for a thousand.
Nobody seemed more surprised than Mr Moody. After Mr Sankey had grandly sung
two solos, and two brethren had offered prayer, his brother evangelist stood up in the pulpit and made a little preliminary speech, such as seldom falls from his lips. "Mr Sankey and myself," he said, "never had a greater compliment paid to us all the twenty-two years we have been working together than we have had this morning. We thought that if there were a hundred people present it would be a great deal, but we never expected to find such an audience as this on such a morning, that had come here through
A YOUNG AMERICAN BLIZZARD.
I have been led to understand that this was rather a dead town, but there must be a good deal of life in it somewhere. When I saw the storm I said to myself that we were going to have a great blessing. There will be only a few people here who have come together to get quickened, and God will bless us."
A TALK ABOUT AFTER-MEETINGS.
Then Mr Moody plunged into what he called a social talk about after-meetings, and how to reach those who are not Christians. He said he believed that if there were in all the churches one live Gospel address every week, followed up by an after-meeting, the disciples of Jesus Christ would be largely multiplied in Scotland inside of twelve months. To be a whole year with hardly any accessions to the church on profession of faith is not the normal state in which the church ought to be. The annual report was lately issued of one of the leading churches in an American city. The minister is one of the ablest men in the American pulpit today. The building is in one of the most expensive parts of the city, and probably the yearly expenses of the church, with the cost of the choir and interest on the money for the building, will be not less than £5,000. It is reported that during the past year, eighteen had been added to the membership on profession of faith - one and a half every month. Yet they state that they have had a successful year! In the great American cities the churches are losing hold of the people, and the reason is that there are very few evangelistic addresses where the Gospel is put plainly before the people.
Moody proceeded to urge that while Sabbath morning in the churches should be devoted to the feeding of the flock of God, the afternoon or evening address ought to be of a strictly Gospel character, and should be followed up right on the spot by an after-meeting. He told of a young minister in a wealthy American church who said to his people, after he had been with them about six months, that he thought he ought to resign. They asked the reason; he said that very few attended the evening service; he wanted an entire change in the methods of conducting that service, and he was afraid they would think his plans
TOO REVOLUTIONARY.
On being pressed to specify, he said he wanted the elders (some of whom were millionaires) to act as ushers at that service; the young men to go out into the streets and distribute invitations to the passers-by, and all the pews to be free. The congregation liked their minister and did not care to lose him, and so his plan was agreed to. Inside of three months the building could not hold the people that came on Sabbath evenings. There was half an hour of a praise service, then a Gospel address and an after-meeting, and there had been conversions right along ever since. Other churches took up the idea, and nearly every church in that city is now crowded on the Sabbath evening.
Mr Moody proceeded to urge that Sabbath evening is the only time when the churches can get hold of working men, who, as a rule, get up late on Sabbath morning. A minister once preached against after-meetings, saying that the seed, when sown, should not be disturbed. But (replied Mr Moody), if it is not harrowed and rolled in by personal effort, most likely the enemy will carry it off. Many a man convicted of sin has all his impressions dissipated as soon as he gets outside, for want of someone to converse with him, and bring matters to the point of decision.
It is folly for a minister to tell the anxious on a Sunday evening to come on the following Friday evening and meet the session in the vestry. That is enough to scare any anxious soul. As to
THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING
after-meetings, Mr Moody pointed out that all who desired to become Christians should be urged to remain, except those who were obliged to go. After a few short prayers, let the Christians be asked to speak to those near them. If those in our churches were only. trained to do this work, they would soon discover its importance and would know the luxury of it. The evangelist went on to show from the methods of John the Baptist, of Christ Himself, and of the early apostles, how Scriptural is this method of personal inquiry and personal dealing after the Gospel message has been declared. After Christ spoke to his followers he asked them whether they had "understood these things."
From, "The Christian," February 25th, 1892.
MESSRS MCNEILL AND BURKE.
ABERDEEN AND STIRLING
A friend in Glasgow has supplied the following interesting particulars with respect to Mr McNeill's visits to Aberdeen and Stirling shires:-
Many of Mr McNeill's friends thought that he made a grave mistake when he resigned charge in Regent Square in London. But those who have had the privilege of following his work in Scotland will thank God for setting free such a man to awaken the conscience of many sinners and lead them to the Saviour.
Mr McNeill's work has been deep and real, and very much fruit has been gathered as the result of his faithful preaching. His three weeks' mission in Aberdeen was blessed in a most remarkable way; and one of the best testimonies that we could have was the sharp criticism that was passed upon his work by the secular press. Those who are interested in the Lord's work there have acknowledged that the "Granite City" has never before been moved. Christian workers are still coming across many interesting cases of conversion under the preaching of our friend. After a few days rest Mr McNeill had a week’s mission in Stirling. The large Albert Hall was filled in the afternoon, and crowded every night. It was the privilege of the writer to visit Stirling on Sabbath, February 14, and he saw unmistakable signs of times of blessing. At the after-meeting, held in connection with the Railway Mission evangelistic services, 160 young men remained, and thirty-three in that company testified to blessing received during the services of Mr McNeill and Messrs Moody and Sankey; and from what we could hear we understand that scores of others have been savingly converted.
One of the striking features of the preacher's power is the wonderful way in which the Spirit owns the message as it is being spoken. Many of the conversions that take place happen while the address is being delivered, and we feel sure that the Lord is using his servant. We request Christians to remember our brother in prayer and to ask that he may be anointed with the Holy Spirit for this great and important work in Scotland.
From, "The Christian, February 25th, 1892.
MR MCNEILL CONTINUING THE GREENOCK MEETINGS.
Not so many years ago Mr McNeill was an unknown item in the Greenock community, acting as booking clerk at one of its railway stations. Today he is probably the best-known man in the place, judging from the vast throngs that have been crowding, night by night, to hear his addresses in the splendid Public Hall, he has certainly been the great centre of attraction these past two weeks. His elevation to public fame has been wonderfully rapid, but the abundant entrance he has received into the hearts of Scotch and English communities has been fairly won, and God ought to be praised that this man's natural endowments have been consecrated to such noble ends. Mr Moody, at any rate, is far-sighted enough to recognise the unique qualifications of his Scotch brother, and he deserves the hearty thanks of the entire Christian world for the share he has had in setting Mr McNeill free for the work in which he is now so busily engaged.
The Hall in Greenock in which Mr McNeill and Mr Burke have been evangelising for the past two weeks is a magnificent structure, with two galleries and a seating capacity of some 2,500. The afternoon meetings have grown in attendance, interest, and power, and for the closing days there were very large concourses, mostly of the well-to-do section of society. To these the preacher has addressed himself right earnestly, dividing the word of truth with a master hand and an outspoken, faithful tongue...
To speak at these afternoon meetings, Mr McNeill has had to hurry straight away by train from his talks with the Glasgow businessmen. It must be a heavy strain on him, and we trust he will not unduly tax his physical and mental strength, superabundant though it be.
The great Greenock Hall on Thursday evening afforded a truly inspiring sight. Seats and standing room were packed with a crowd that comprised all sorts and conditions of people in the town. Mr J. H. Burke, who has been singing the Gospel in conjunction with Mr McNeill since his arrival, early in the year, from America, is meeting with great public acceptance in that line of service. On this occasion he sang with great feeling and power a most pathetic Gospel invitation entitled "Welcome, wanderer, welcome." One might almost have "heard a pin fall," as the saying goes, while the sweet singer's notes, now rising and now falling with appropriate cadence, rang clearly through the lofty auditorium and the pleading invitation was sounded to the prodigal to "Come home; come home." No 4 in "New Hymns and Solos " - "The Land Afar" - was also beautifully sung as a quartet. In giving out a congregational hymn Mr McNeill said: "Duets and quartets are all very well, but I like to have a hand in it myself" need it be said that he and everybody else sang with a will. These Gospel songs are doing far more good than most people imagine. They get into the minds and memories - we trust also into the hearts of the common people, and continue to witness for God and his truth long after the special workers have vanished from the scene.
Mr McNeill's address on Thursday evening was on the choosing of David as King in place of Saul. The story is one that freely admits of dramatic treatment, and the great gathering was held captive while the preacher passed in review the successive incidents in the old-world narrative, and gave them a very telling
PRESENT-DAY APPLICATION.
His sanctified humour had full play when he described the high looks and swelling pride Eliah, the eldest son of Jesse, with whose fine outward appearance Samuel was so fascinated that he had almost poured on him the anointing oil; and again, as he portrayed the careless indifference of the rest of the seven, whose chances of the kingdom were lost because they did not deem themselves worthy of such a privilege, and were quite contented to jog along at the plough tail all their days. The choosing of the modest and goodly shepherd youth, David, and his ready acceptance of the high distinction, were made the texts for a most powerful Gospel appeal, in which the glories of eternal salvation and Divine worship were set forth as something to be coveted and accepted far before any mere earthly possession or honour. There was a very large second meeting, which Mr. McNeill conducted with great skill and tenderness. A perfect stream of personal requests for blessing on unconverted and other relatives came from the hearts and lips of those present, and a goodly number also indicated anxiety of soul; with these latter the workers, of whom there is a fine band in Greenock, dealt personally for a considerable time. Mr McNeill's special mission in Greenock closed on Friday, and on Sabbath, Mr J. Scroggie was the preacher. He had a crowded audience in the Town Hall in the evening, and much blessing. One deeply interesting fact is that during Mr McNeill's mission over thirty of the men working in one mill in the town have professed conversion. Messrs McNeill and Burke are following up this week at Paisley, where they have the fine George-Clark Hall for the meetings.
From, "The Christian," March 3rd, 1892.
MR MCNEILL IN GLASGOW.
The mid-day addresses to Glasgow businessmen were continued each day during the past week, and they have proved eminently successful - On the third day the audience fairly overflowed the Merchants' Hall, and the meeting was adjourned to St. George's Established Church in Buchanan Street, close by. This fine but somewhat dingy edifice was crowded - passages, pulpit-stairs, and all - for the rest of the week, not less, we should say, than a thousand men being in attendance every day. The auditors were by no means confined to commercials, pure and simple; for there were to be seen many types of "business men" - from the venerable minister to the roughly-clad artisan.
The preacher seemed quite at home among his brethren and very skilfully adapted himself to the peculiar circumstances. Without any constraint or restraint his soulful utterances came thick and fast - tender appeal, courageous statement of doctrinal truth and playful humour being very happily mixed. The hearers were quite
SYMPATHETIC AND EVEN ENTHUSIASTIC,
for they frequently broke into applause - not, be it observed, at any of the speaker's declamatory periods, but when he had, in his own genial and decided way, given
form and shape to the foundation truths of the Gospel and the glorious experiences of the true Christian life. To see such a sight in the hear of one of the busiest cities in the world in the middle of a working day and in an age of fierce commercial competition was no ordinary cheat. One could not help reflecting sadly on the short-sightedness of our Presbyterian friends in London in not providing Mr McNeill with a similar opportunity somewhere close to the Royal Exchange, when he was a dweller and a worker in the Great City. Perhaps it was better so; if London had been sufficiently wide awake it might have retained for itself a man whom God has most plainly baptised for a world-wide mission. These mid-day meetings are to be continued this week in Glasgow, in response to an acclamatory vote given on Thursday. The meeting of Monday was very large, and the address was a beautifully simple and pathetic Gospel appeal. There must have been close on a hundred ministers in the congregation.
From, "The Christian," March 3rd, 1892.
MESSRS MOODY AND SANKEY.
As their Scottish mission begins to draw near its close these two brethren seem to get more intense in aim and unresting in movement than ever. When one thinks of the frailties incident to all human life, and the trying conditions of their work at this severe and changeful season of the Northern year, their continued bodily health and elasticity of spirit become marvellous. Of a truth God is having them in his holy keeping.
Our report last week found them in the somewhat unlovely but populous suburban centre of Coatbridge, preaching and singing the Gospel to crowds who flocked to hear, despite the snow blizzard of Sunday, February 21. Before the week closed the evangelists had visited the sister town of Airdrie and the four villages of Strathaven, Stonehouse, Lesmahagow, and Larkhall. Without entering on minute details of the meetings, it may be said generally that the story to be told in each case is virtually the same - ministers of different denominations rallying around the chief workers, and helping them by prayer and effort; the largest available buildings crowded out, and goodly overflow gatherings to boot; rapt attention to the heartfelt song of the one evangelist, and the cyclonic, burning, soul-stirring, sinner-awakening utterances of the other; the manifest working of God the Holy Ghost in the minds and consciences of believers and unbelievers; great searchings of heart among the Christians through Mr Moody's vehement indictment of the doings of the whiskey-fiend, and his plain-spoken impeachment of the Christian Church for its connivance at the “Infernal traffic"; stricken souls anxiously seeking the way to God, or back to the One from whom they had backslidden in heart and life; not a few making the great decision and receiving the gift of eternal life. This last is a statement not to be made lightly or at random - and one can but judge on appearances; if these are to be trusted, the good old Gospel of full redemption through faith in the finished work of the Saviour Christ is as much as ever in Scotland the power of God unto salvation.
It is no flash-in-the-pan affair. One fact may be taken as a sample of many similar facts. On Saturday evening Mr Moody, by chance as we say, encountered a young minister at a Glasgow railway station, as he was about to start for a fresh field of effort on the Sabbath. This young man was converted through the instrumentalityof the evangelist in 1874; as a divinity student he got a lift from Mr Moody's visit of 1882; now he is an active, earnest worker among the Glasgow masses, and full of thankfulness of having the first opportunity of grasping the hand of the man, who, under God, turned his feet eighteen years ago into the narrow way that will land him narrow way that will land him one day in life eternal, with the souls that God has given him. Such a fact is sufficient in itself to keep the hearts of our American friends full of song, and it is but one of many.
SCOTLAND'S GREAT CURSE.
the whisky bottle has received no quarter from Mr Moody for the past three months, as these columns have amply testified. Of late the evangelist has seemed to outdo himself in the strength and frequency of his assaults on this giant evil that stalks up and down the land, defying God and man and slaying its ten thousands year by year. The point of M. Moody's later references has been the extent to which the so-called Church of Christ has made itself responsible for the continuance and even the growth of such a social and national plague-spot. His contention is that the churches have the disposal of the matter in their own hands and therefore they must bear the heavy responsibility. So long as the makers and the retailers, not to say the consumers of this demon alcohol, get the stamp of respectability and of Christianity put upon them by admission to the membership of the churches, so long will the ghastly farce of attempting to serve God with one hand and the devil with the other go on. How comes it that while in certain sections of society temperance sentiment has made rapid strides these last ten years, the great masses of the population in cities like Glasgow, and in the thickly-peopled suburbs— such as Coatbridge and Airdrie – are becoming more and more the degraded and helpless slaves of the drink? Is it not high time that Scottish churches of every name should with one consent cry truce to their internal squabbles and fall at the feet of God, calling for grace and strength to rid their country of this deadly incubus? One of the most active and best-informed Glasgow ministers has given it as his solid conviction that some thirty thousand men or women go to bed drunk in Glasgow every Saturday night. In view of such a state of things, the new moons and even solemn assemblies of the Churches must be an abomination to God, as was said by the prophet of old time. Mr Moody, at any rate, has effectually cleared the skirts of his garments from all responsibility for this accursed Achan in the Christian camp; it remains to be seen whether his fellow-Christians in Scotland will hear his message to any purpose.
From, "The Christian," March 3rd, 1892.
If they do not, there will be a fearful score of reckoning to pay one day.
THE FOLLOWING-UP
continues to be actively maintained. Mr J. M. Scroggie remained at Coatbridge for two nights, while Messrs Moody and Sankey were at the adjacent town of Airdrie. Mr Sankey bore an added burden of labour by driving over to Mr Scroggie's meetings each night after he had sung and spoken at the central service and the overflow in Airdrie.
The Coatbridge meetings were encouraging in attendance and in result. It is manifestly a difficult task to follow up, in any place, the work of our American brethren, and those who essay to do it are much to be commended for their disinterested courage. This week Mr Scroggie succeeds Mr McNeill at Greenock. Mr Morton Smith, after a brief respite from activity, is busy this week at Wishaw. The close of his recent labours in Kirkcaldy showed a very considerable muster-roll of professed conversions. Mr Smith is a well-equipped and vigorous worker, and God everywhere is owning his testimony and his teaching.
Rev Sholto Douglas. who kindly entertained Mr Moody and Mr Sankey at his country Mansion during the Coatbridge and Airdrie missions, did good service in the conduct of overflows, and also in personal dealing with the inquirers. On the last evening of the Airdrie visit the large overflow meeting in Flowerhill parish church was taken in hand by Rev J. J. Mackay, of Glasgow. He preached powerfully to believer, backslider, and the unsaved, from the familiar text: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," His appeals and forceful illustrations produced a deep impression, and there was a very good after-meeting. At the same hour Mr Moody was delivering his final message to the people of Airdrie in the public hall, and a very memorable occasion it was.
Friday's work was noteworthy for the meetings held forenoon, afternoon, and evening in the large Established Churches at Stonehouse, Lesmahagow, and Larkhall.
From, "The Christian," March 3rd, 1892.
LENZIE AND KIRKINTILLOCH.
residential suburbs of northern Glasgow, were privileged with the ministrations of the evangelists on Sabbath. The forenoon meeting in the Free Church, Lenzie, was a very large one. In the afternoon the crowd overflowed Free St. Davids, Kirkintilloch, into the Temperance Hall, where Mr Sankey spoke as well as sang. At night the two Established Churches in Kirkintilloch were crowded out. The building which accommodated the overflow is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the district, and did duty about six centuries ago as a Romish place of worship. It is cruciform in shape and has some
KILSYTH.
This quiet country spot was the scene in 1839 of a wonderful revival, in which Wm. Burns, McCheyne, and the Bonars were the leading human agents. The meeting on Monday week was in the Free Church, and very large. Most of the shopkeepers in the place had closed their doors for a couple of hours so as to set buyers and sellers free to hear the Gospel. Rev John Robertson, of Gorbals, and others did the work of following up. We have no definite information as to results.
CAMPSIE
7 miles distant, was visited the same evening. This place, unlike Kilsyth is said to be famous, perhaps notorious, and never having had anything that could be called a season of revival. It has a population of 5,000, many of the people being workers in the print works and chemical works. To the evening meeting contingents came from the surrounding districts, many walking five or 6 miles to be present. It is affirmed that the ancient Parish church, in which the evangelists delivered their messages, had only once before in all its history been lighted up artificially for an evening service. A lot of paraffin lamps did duty instead of gas. The father of the famous Norman McLeod was once minister of this parish, and the remains of the illustrious Presbyterian divine himself now mingle with the dust in the churchyard. Having kindled the torch of spiritual interest that evening, Mr Moody and Mr Sankey left it to be kept alight by various Glasgow ministers, who held after services in the Free and UP churches.
The two evangelists next took a clear jump across Glasgow to the southern suburb of
RUTHERGLEN
where meetings were held on Tuesday afternoon and evening. Rutherglen is a very ancient Burg, older than Glasgow itself. Indeed, it claims to be the parent of Scotland’s great commercial capital. Large crowds came out to see and hear the American friends on both occasions. In the evening the doors of the central meeting place had to be shut long before the hour and a large overflow congregation in the Institute was addressed by Mr J Campbell White. Good and solid work was done for eternity and the impression was deepened here also by following up meetings on subsequent evenings.
CAMBUSLANG
lies almost adjacent to Rutherglen and to this place the evangelists transferred their services on Wednesday. There are several points of interest about Cambuslang that might be noted. One item of painful interest is the fact that the main street of the place contains 20 drink shops, save one. There are large steel works in the neighbourhood and many of the skilled artisans earn wages ranging from £3 to £5 a week. One would like to know exactly what proportion of these big weekly earnings is diverted from the homes of the workers into that bag without a bottom – the till of the publican. Local Christian workers greatly lament the prevalence of drunkenness and religious death.
The two chief meetings of the day were held in the Kirkhill Parish Church. An interesting thing about the building is that nearby is the spot where Whitfield preached to 20,000 persons 130 years ago. In the prayers that went up to God from the two congregations on Wednesday there was some earnest preaching that God would bring back again the manifestations that mark those olden times. The probable thing is that the Christian Church of today can do a great deal to answer its own prayer in that respect. Any other disposition would be flatly blasphemous. Mr Moody proclaimed the gospel message in the evening with as much abandonment, intensive soul and fervour of utterance as any Whitfield could have done and in all outward appearance, he easily swayed the vast throng, as wave after wave of emotion rolled over it. The after-meeting was large and good. There was an overflow in another church some distance off; here Mr Sankey sang three Gospel songs you saying songs with the help of Mrs Oates and Mr Oates preached. The gathering was not large but some ripe fruit was gathered. At the main meeting almost all the ministers in Cambuslang and Rutherglen were present. Surely they must have caught some of the fire that Mr Mood’s utterences always generate! But indeed, observation throughout Scotland needs one to believe that the average modern minister is a very incombustible entity!
From, "The Christian," March 10th, 1892
MOTHERWELL
is in the Hamilton district and was passed by when the evangelists were there, for reasons of local convenience. To it therefore they directed their steps for Thursday and Friday. The growth of the industrial population has been rapid and of course the devil has taken good care to impress the licensing magistrates into his service. The Christians have not been asleep meanwhile and the Lanarkshire Christian Union, which has its headquarters here, is doing all it can to drive back and arrest the tide of evil. Its President, Mr Colville is also Provost of the town, and no doubt if he were able to exercise a benevolent autocracy, there would be a short shrift to the drink shops. But in this democratic era every community has to work out its own salvation – generally at a heavy cost in blood and tears and the souls of men.
The meetings in the Public Hall were in every way encouraging. On the first afternoon, Mr Moody expanded the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Next day his congenial topic was the second coming of Christ. His address on that comforting truth fairly warmed up some of the congregation to shouting point, while many others were suffused in tears by some of the pathetic passages. At the close of Mr Moody‘s last evening address to a densely crowded house, the kingdom of heaven seemed to be very near. In urging the bold and open avowal of faith, he took the unusual course of asking all who truly believed in Christ, or desired now to confess faith in him, to rise. It seemed as if nineteen-twentieths of the congregation took to their feet. At the afternoon meeting Mr Moody had specially requested the Christians to stay away and allow the unconverted to get seats. If they complied with the request, the manifestation in the evening was a truly wonderful one. An interruption on both evenings from a man under the influence of potent liquor gave Mr Moody opportunities of delivering his soul on the whiskey question in a way that thrilled everybody and must’ve staggered some. The overflow on Friday evening was conducted by Mr Sankey and Rev Mr Hutchinson of Coatbridge; the latter, with several other ministers, will help in the work of following up every evening this week.
From, "The Christian" March 10th, 1892.
SUNDAYS MEETINGS
Between them, Mr Moody and Mr Sankey took part in five meetings last Sabbath and the pleasant little town of Dunbarton, on the north bank of the Clyde. At 9:30 am there was a goodly gathering of Christian workers in the Burg Hall, who Mr Sankey exhorted in song and to whom Mr Moody gave an exceedingly practical and helpful address, based on the outstanding lessons of Mark‘s gospel. The three incurable cases recorded in chapter 5 were made the theme of some very stirring words about never giving up anyone outside of hell, however bad they may seem to be. Mr Moody preached to a large congregation in the Free High Church in the forenoon, and in the evening spoke to crowded audiences of men and women in the Burg Hall and the Parish Church respectively. There was an overflow women’s meeting in the United Presbyterian Church, conducted by Mr. J Campbell White, of Overtown. Major Colquohoun briefly spoke and Mr Sankey sang. At the evening meetings there was a good deal of reaping work done. The evangelists continued the Dunbarton mission on Monday and Tuesday evenings, holding afternoon services on both days in Helensburgh, a few miles further down the river.
From, "The Christian," March 10th, 1892
REV JOHN MCNEILL
This redoubtable champion of the faith has passed another very busy week. The midday meetings in St George’s Church, Glasgow, have been as crowded as before – sometimes more so. The manifestations of genuine interest from day-to-day have been remarkable enough to be described as the phenomenal. One very hopeful element in the case is the fact that the bulk of the daily audience is gathered from all the points of the compass in the Glasgow social firmament, while there are not a few casual visitors from outline places. Many brethren of the “white tie” are regularly to be seen in the crowd drinking in enjoyment and inspiration from the preacher’s unconventional, but most powerful presentations of Bible truth. Straight Gospel talk is freely mixed with clever ethical counsel and the claims of God are made very real to those who are in close daily touch with the seen and temporal. Much good fruit must inevitably come from these meetings, which are being continued for the first three working days of the present week.
From, "The Christian," March 10th, 1892.
Mr McNeill and Mr Burke have been valiantly holding the fort at Paisley for the afternoons and evenings for the past week. “Paisley bodies,” to use the curt and rather contemptuous outside designation, are said to regard their town as the pivot of the kingdom, if not as the hub of the universe. At any rate, they are being drawn in their thousands to the splendid George Clarke Townhall, where Mr Burke has been ringing out the gospel music and Mr McNeill has been preaching as only he can preach. At first the people were stiff to show what they must have felt, but the later meeting showed more of the Spirit’s melting and softening power. The Sabbath gatherings and the closing up meetings for the first half of the current week are sure to be seasons of great interest.
Messrs McNeill and Burke had a busy day at Paisley on Sabbath, the George Clark Hall being crowded with the audiences of 2,500 souls three times, at 9:30, five and seven. At the last of the three, for men only, quite a number indicated that they had received blessings since the mission began. It was to close, so far as Mr McNeill is concerned on Wednesday evening this week. After a fruitful stay of a few days in Greenock, Mr J M Scroggie began on Sabbath a fortnight‘s mission and Rutherglen.
From, "The Christian," March 10th, 1892
THE FOLLOWING UP
it’s being vigorously sustained at different points. You have no space for detailed notes, but it may be said generally that in the meetings held by Messrs Smith and Bell at Wishaw, by Mr Richard Hill at Lesmahago, by Mr W J Taylor at Larkhall and by Mr J M Scroggie at Greenock, the word spoken has been with power and it is confidently believed that many have been led to the point of true spiritual decision. A large and interesting meeting of converts and workers was held on Wednesday evening last week at Kirkcaldy, despite the fact that that district was in the throes of a hot and many-cornered parliamentary election contest. Some interesting facts are to hand also respecting the work at Coatbridge. Mr Hutchinson of Coats Established Church reports that he has met with a dozen men in his own parish, who trace their conversion to the Sabbath evening meeting in the theatre. Gospel meetings are to be arranged for now in the theatre each Sabbath evening.
From, "The Christian," March 10th, 1892.
THE LOTHIAN CAMPAIGN.
In legal parlance, the "venue" of Messrs Moody and Sankey's work was last week moved from west to east of central Scotland. Glasgow and its populous environs were exchanged for the principal centres lying within easy distance of Edinburgh.
The week began with a busy day at Bathgate; at the evening service, for men only, the indications of spiritual concern were unusually plentiful, and the evangelists were greatly cheered.
Monday evening found them facing a great crowd in the People’s Hall, West Calder. It is in this building that Mr Gladstone addresses his Midlothian constituents of that district. It may be doubted if even the eloquence of the right honourable gentleman would have kept the closely-packed audience in their seats so long as they did in order to hear Mr Moody and his ‘confrere’. The people began to flock into the hall at half-past five. The meeting began at seven and was not over at ten; so that many had remained there for an evangelistic service for four and a half hours. Yet some would have us believe that the Gospel has lost its power to attract in this enlightened and much-belauded generation. Mr Moody rewarded the congregation with three addresses in the course of the evening, despite the fact that he was suffering from hoarseness. He certainly "earned a night's repose" that day.
Dalkeith, a market town about seven miles from Edinburgh, was the scene of Tuesday's labours. Two mass meetings were held in the spacious United Presbyterian Church, with an evening overflow in the Free Church. To all human appearance a deep impression was created, and there was a fair amount of reaping done at both the evening meetings.
From, "The Christian," March 24th, 1892.
Wednesday afternoon and evening were given to Musselburgh; both meetings were held in Northesk Parish Church, of which Mr McGill is the energetic pastor. The ministers of the town, without an exception had united in desiring a visit from the evangelists. Perhaps the most notable feature of the Musselburgh meetings was the prayer meeting at the close of the afternoon service. It had a good, old-fashioned Methodist ring of fervour and reality about it, and many spoke out their heartfelt longings for deeper consecration or for blessing on unsaved relatives.
On Thursday, the evangelists proceeded somewhat further afield to Haddington - "the Lamp of the Lowthians," as it is termed. It has the distinction of being
THE BIRTHPLACE OF JOHN KNOX.
and is commonly associated in modern days with the name of Dr Brown, the Bible commentator. The Corn Exchange, where the two meetings were held, does not furnish a particularly suitable auditorium. The room is long and narrow, and the platform being at the side, a section of those at each end can only hear with difficulty. The afternoon prayer meeting, following on Mr Moody's powerful address on Deliverance, was a season of much refreshing, while some anxious ones were led into conscious peace. The after-meeting at night would have been more fruitful if the supply of workers had been equal to the need.
On Friday, the evangelists were driven some nine miles to the pretty and popular watering-place, North Berwick, one of the most famed of Scotland's golfing grounds for jaded senators and city men. An afternoon meeting was held here in the Free Church, and was remarkably well-attended. Mr Moody and Mr Sankey were then treated to another carriage drive of eleven miles to Dunbar, for an evening meeting.
The day, from the weather point of view, was simply delightful, and gave the first real indication we have had in these northern parts that "Spring's delights are all reviving," and the voice of the sower will soon be heard in the land. The Dunbar meeting was in the spacious and ancient parish church, which cannot boast of gas illumination, and had to be lighted up for the occasion with lamps. Mr Moody's hoarseness had not altogether gone, but he kept the great audience riveted as he unfolded the wonders of the Divine love. The story of how the late. Harry Moorhouse preached in Chicago from John iii. 16 on seven or eight consecutive evenings, and how Mr Moody's own preaching underwent a revolution in consequence, was narrated with telling effect. Many remained for the second meeting and for personal conversation. That service closed the working week, and a very "working week" it had been. The exclamation that one often hears from pastors of "two-sermon power" is, I can't understand how Mr Moody gets through so much without breaking down!" No man in these isles more surely earns and deserves the Saturday's respite from mental toil.
THE MUSIC OF THE GOSPEL.
The physical strain on the singing evangelist is of course not so great as that on Mr Moody. But even greater care is needed to keep Mr Sankey up to the point of efficiency; inasmuch as hoarseness or other affection of the voice would be fatal to his working capacity. He has passed through the severe winter unscathed, and was in capital voice all through the week. He has sometimes sung three Gospel songs at one service, besides a couple more at an overflow, with sundry small addresses thrown in. His homely illustrative talks at the overflow meetings are much appreciated, and most helpful in leading up to spiritual decision.
The singing of these sweet spiritual songs continues to be a vehicle of blessing to many. One of the speakers at an overflow meeting in Dalkeith was Mr George Macfarlane, president of the Glasgow Y.M.C.A. In his address he made a happy reference to the Gospel songs, comparing them to angel visitants whispering messages of peace and hope. The refrains of many of them, he said, linger in our minds and hearts, and we wake up in the morning to find ourselves humming them.
INSTANCES OF DISTINCT BLESSING
in connection with the singing of the hymns during former visits of Mr Sankey, now and then come to light. A striking example of this was related to the evangelists last week by one of the persons chiefly concerned. A godly wife attended some of the
meetings and received great benefit, but her husband was hotly opposed and told her that he thought she was becoming crazed. He could not for some time, be persuaded to hear the evangelists. Saturday night came, and it was wholly spent by this woman in prayer for her husband. Early on the Sabbath morning she laid out his "go-to-meeting" clothes, much to his surprise. However, he donned them, this time to his wife's surprise and delight. He accompanied her to the early Sabbath meeting, and one of the hymns sung by Mr Sankey was "Hold the Fort." The man's heart was melted, somewhat strange to say, for this rousing battle song is not one that would be expected to soften a stubborn hearer. At any rate, the man was convicted and on the evening of the same day was soundly converted. The story came from the lips of the wife herself last week. A hymn, the singing of which has been known to carry comfort with it last week, was the beautiful one in "New Hymns and Solos," "Sometime We'll Understand."
At West Calder, Dalkeith, and Musselburgh, some of the singing friends from Carrubbers Mission were present to assist in the praise. the last-named place Mr Sankey had the very efficient aid of Miss Darling and Mrs. Barclay; while at Haddington, he was helped by a lady member of the local choir.
MR MOODY'S HELPERS
during the week have embraced among others Mr Robertson and Mr Barclay, of Carrubbers Mission, Mr L. D. Wishard, Mr J.M. Scroggie, and Mr Macfarlane, of Glasgow; beside, of course, the local pastors in the different places. It has already been hinted that in some of the places there was a scarcity. Of workers for the after-meeting. This want, indeed has been felt in greater or lesser degree throughout the entire mission. Here and there one or more pastors in a place have entered heartily into the work of the inquiry meeting; but it is only telling the simple truth to say that far more often they have been willing to sit on the platform and to offer up prayer, but not to enter on hand-to-hand dealing with those whose spirits had been wounded by the preaching. Occasionally, Mr Moody has asked a minister to take some case in hand, and has had the disappointment of receiving a decided refusal. Such facts as these go far to explain the Laodiceanism that characterises so many of the Christian Churches in the present day.
THE DRINK CURSE
Keeps intruding itself on the notice of the evangelists. At West Calder, a man under the spell of liquor interrupted Mr Moody during his Scripture exposition and was conducted from the meeting muttering words that showed he was not unacquainted with the Bible. Mr Moody stopped the flow of his exhortation to comment on the incident and its lessons for the Christians in the neighbourhood. There are a number of oil mines around West Calder, and the miners are credited with being a very rough set. The condition of the place on a Saturday night is reported as being disgraceful for its scenes of bestial drunkenness. In Musselburgh, the evils of gambling and betting are sadly prevalent and militate greatly against the spread of the Gospel. In this as in other parts of the country the game of football is engaged in on Saturday to such a degree that its abuse is becoming a source of demoralisation, and quite unfits its votaries for any proper observance of the Day of Rest. Local pastors and workers have to contend against these hindrances, and it is difficult to know how best to cope with them effectually and permanently. There is great need for an awakened and purified public opinion with respect to them. In compliance with the urgent desire of the Edinburgh friends, Mr Moody has consented to have an all-day meeting in the city on Thursday next, March 31. The gatherings will be in the Free Assembly Hall, and it is expected that Mr Moody will give addresses, chiefly to Christian workers, morning, afternoon, and evening, Mr Sankey singing on each occasion. These services will conclude the present Scottish campaign. When it terminates the evangelists will take a period of rest, and their future movements will be duly notified.
From, "The Christian," March 24th, 1892.
A SABBATH ON THE BORDER.
Berwick-on-Tweed is the Border town par excellence, and one can scarcely be certain whether it is in Scotland or in England. The greater part of the town lies on the northern side of the Tweed, yet in its Parliamentary representation, it is regarded as part of Northumberland. Moreover, it has a "mayor" instead of a "provost," and it also possesses the doubtful English privilege of keeping up its liquor saloons on the Lord's Day. But whether its inhabitants be Celt or Saxon, Norman or Dane, a large proportion of them were extremely anxious to be present on Sabbath last at the services held by the American brethren. The townspeople were reinforced by visitors from the surrounding country, many coming from places as far distant as Newcastle.
Six meetings were held during the day. Soon after eight a.m. streams of people could be seen flocking downtown to the Corn Exchange, where the first service of the day was fixed for 9.30. By that hour the large room was filled with some 1,500 people or more, many of them standing. Mr Moody delivered a rousing address on the Bible, maintaining boldly that the Old and New Testaments must stand or fall together. Christians were earnestly exhorted to feed continually on the Word if they would be strong to suffer and to serve. Some of the leading truths of salvation were lightly touched on, and the audience were refreshed and strengthened.An immense throng, mostly of men, crowded every nook and corner of the Corn Exchange at the evening hour, while the overflow was accommodated in one of the churches of the town.
The original arrangement was to have three meetings in the day, but Mr Moody, finding that his voice was recovering its timbre, announced an additional service at two p.m. open to all. The Exchange was crowded, and Mr Moody's words of Gospel appeal were with great power; the great waves of feeling seemed to sweep over the assembly as the autumn breeze sways the standing corn. The evangelist had to leave early to address a crowded company of women in Wallace-green Church—the place hallowed by the ministry of the lately departed Dr Cairns. Mr Sankey had meantime been singing and speaking there and he afterwards proceeded to an overflow meeting in another church. Three meetings were thus in progress at the same time. Mr Richard Hill, of Melrose, and Mr Robertson, of Edinburgh, took up the threads that Mr Moody had dropped in the Exchange, and most of the people waited till Mr Sankey by-and-by returned for more song and speech ere the gathering finally dispersed.
As noted in our last issue Berwick-on-Tweed had only one day allotted to it - Sabbath, March 20 - but the interest and the influence of the meetings were by no means confined to the town itself. The people came from far and near, and not a few, it may well be hoped, carried back with them impressions and impulses that will colour all the rest of their lives. As samples of the fruit that was gathered, two cases met with one experienced worker may be mentioned. A farmer drove in some miles, and several of his family accompanied him. At the evening service for men in the Corn Exchange, a son was brought to decision for Christ. The father was overflowing with joy at the outcome of the day's services and declared that it was "better than two farms." Another parent, a missionary, had a son with him who entered into joy and peace in believing, and the father went away full of tearful gladness.
From, "The Christian," March 24th, 1892.
FLYING VISITS
were made on Monday and Tuesday at Duns, Kelso, Coldstream and Jedburgh, with a single meeting in each town. At three of these places the meetings were conveyed in the parish churches as being the most commodious. It was cattle market day in Duns, otherwise the shops would’ve been closed for the time of service. Many drove in from the country, in every case drawn by the fame of the evangelists and also, we trust, by a desire to share in the blessing. At Kelso there was an overflow in the United Presbyterian Church, where Lord Polwarth and Mr Richard Hill exhorted, while Mr Sankey did his best to mitigate the disappointment of those who failed to hear the preaching evangelist. At the Jedburgh meeting on Tuesday evening there were some very encouraging cases of decision.
From, "The Christian," March 31st, 1892.
SELKIRK
Picturesquely situated in the vale of Ettrick, had Wednesday all to itself and both meetings indicated the unmistakable workings of the Spirit of God through the labours of his servants. In the evening there was a good overflow in the UP Church, with several addresses by Mr Moody’s helpers. The second meeting in the parish church at night was very large and even when this was weeded out, many remained for the third or conversational meeting, which Mr Moody regards as “the very cream of his work.” A number of quite interesting cases were met with among the inquirers and there seemed a general and hopeful readiness “to step over the line” that marks the boundary between dreary doubt and gladsome assurance.
One interesting fact in connection with the Selkirk meetings was the closing of a large tweed factory for the afternoon to enable the workers to be present.
From, "The Christian," March 28th, 1892.
TWO DAYS AT HAWICK
Thursday and Friday were spent in this busy centre of manufacturing industry in the soft goods line. The way for the American brethren had been well prepared by a previous fortnight’s earnest Gospel effort by Mr Merton Smith, whose labours were reported to have been very fruitful. He was aided in the singing of the gospel by Miss Stewart of Leith. Mr Smith himself is a very capable musician and varies his spoken testimony with an occasional song.
The meetings of Thursday were held in the Exchange, the architect of which, if he be yet alive, ought to be roundly censored for the wretched arrangements for ventilation. It was a real tribute to the fascinating virtue of the Gospel that the crowd sat patiently through long meetings breathing such vitiated air. There was an immense overflow in one of the parish churches on Thursday evening, conducted by Mr Merton Smith. In both meetings the workers had a very busy season of converse with individuals. In the Exchange after meeting the people seemed hard to move at first, but the reserve was ultimately broken down. Some were met with who had come very long distances to be present and it seemed as if they had not made the journey in vain.
The Exchange could not be had on Friday, as it had been taken for a ball in connection with the football club. The meetings were shifted to the Free and UP Churches and three were held during the afternoon and evening – one being for women and another for men only. Mr Walker, an Evangelist, follows up at Hawick with a week’s meeting and it may be that he and local pastors will have much of the joy of reaping which the shortness of the time did not permit with the American brethren.
From, "The Christian," March 31st, 1892.
LAST SABBATH IN SCOTLAND
One by one the weeks and months have slipped away, and the evangelists have come to the last Sabbath of their third visit to Scotland. On Saturday evening they came on to Galashiels from Melrose in a snowstorm. Sabbath morning dawned with several inches of snow on the ground. The early morning meeting for workers was held in the drill hall, which is said to be seated for over two thousand. In spite of the heavy walking, there was not a vacant seat when all had gathered; some had to stand. In addition to the local pastors on the platform, there was the local M.P., Mr A, L. Brown, who has the distinction of being one of the small band of preaching Members of Parliament. Mr Sankey's first solo was the inevitable "Life Line"; it has become so popular during this campaign that it has to be sung wherever the singer goes. His second song, if not new, was one of the best and most enduring in his book. Never, in all the writer's lengthened experience of our brother's musical ministry, has he sung more finely, and with more swelling pathos and thrilling power, than when he sounded out on Sabbath morning this timely exhortation:-
There's no time for idle scorning,
While the days are going by;
Let you face be like the morning
While the days are going by,
Oh, the world is full of sighs,
Full of sad and weeping eyes ;
Help your fallen brother rise,
While the days are going by.
The song was an admirable prelude to Mr Moody's address from Dan. xii. 3: "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." The preacher was in his most characteristic vein, the fire seemed to burn in his very bones, and it came out in impetuous, red-hot speech. These words, he said, were the dying testimony of the old warrior-statesman, Daniel, whose fame has outlived and outshone that of Darius, Cyrus, mighty Alexander, Nebuchadnezzar, and all the other generals of ancient empires. Many throughout Scotland have said that their particular town was a specially hard field for Christian work. Think of the hard field that Daniel had in heathen Babylon. Yet he commenced to shine for God early in life, and he shone on right to its close. No cloud veils the brightness of his testimony. It was the spirit of unselfishness that made him shine, and that is the spirit that we need today.
Early in his discourse Mr Moody let fling very vigorously at the whisky traffic, and at the supine indifference in the churches which allows men to go down to death through this evil, and never reaches out a hand to save them. He said he had been told that if he was so outspoken on this question, the churches would be closed against him. Well, the warm weather is coming, and I will take to the open air. If our Christianity does not prompt us to try and save someone else it is a sham.
‘The set time to favour Zion' comes when we are ready; God is always ready. These dark waves of sin and damnation that are rolling through the towns and villages of Scotland can be driven back."
The two words "concentrate" and " consecrate" formed a basis for a fervid appeal, in the course of which Mr Moody told of his visit to Scotland in 1867 to hear the venerable Dr Duff speak, and of the devoted missionary's thrilling speech in the Free Assembly the previous year, when he said: "If it be true that Scotland has no more sons to give to India, I will go back to the shores of the Ganges and let these Indians know that there is one poor old Scotchman who will die for them if he cannot live for them." Mr Moody closed with a graphically powerful presentation of the consuming zeal and singleness of purpose shown by the Apostle Paul, who was not to be daunted by stripes, persecutions, shipwrecks, or imprisonments, but in the midst of all said, "This one thing I do."
From, "The Christian," March 31st, 1892.
In the early afternoon the evangelists were
DRIVEN OVER TO MELROSE,
where a largely attended meeting was held in Dr. Herdman’s parish church. Mr Sankey sang "The Ninety-and-nine," which was fitting in the place of its birth. Mr Moody preached with great liberty and power, and if time had permitted the holding of a second meeting, there were signs that much fruit would have been gathered from the single service.
From, "The Christian," March 31st, 1892.
The workers
RETURNED TO GALASHIELS,
straight to a mass meeting of women in the Drill Hall, where there was a great breaking down under one of Mr Moody's most tender and earnest utterances.
A very large after-meeting was held in the Free Church close by, and numbers were conversed with individually about salvation. Meantime Mr Sankey had been singing and speaking to a crowded mixed company in the U.P. Church. Here, also, there was much manifestation of anxiety, and the workers had a busy time. The experiences of the afternoon were to a large extent repeated in the evening. Mr Moody had a magnificent audience of men in the Drill Hall and a good inquirers' meeting in the church. In the overflow one of the speakers was the second son of Lord Polwarth, who, in a simple and manly way, told the story of his own conversion ten years ago, his soul-awakening having been brought about through the singing of the hymn, "I have a Saviour, He's pleading in glory," by a lady in his father's drawing-room. Altogether, the last Sabbath of the evangelists in Scotland was one of the very best they have had throughout their campaign. On Monday, they received news of a great Gospel temperance meeting in Hawick on Saturday, when 850 persons were enrolled as abstainers. Large and fruitful meetings were also held there on Sabbath. Mr J. M. Scroggie has had a successful time in following up at Dunbar.
From, "The Christian," March 31st, 1892.
Summary
Messrs. Moody & Sankey in Scotland.
Our readers have been kept fully informed from week to week of the movements of these brethren, during their Gospel tour throughout Scotland, now concluded. Some notes and reflections, by way of summing up the characteristic features of the campaign, will be of interest to those who, in spirit, have followed the evangelists from place to place.
It may be remarked, at the outset, that nothing would be more foolish than to institute comparisons or contrasts between this visit and the two that have preceded it. The circumstances of the former missions in Scotland were entirely different; fewer centres were touched, and the stay in each place was much longer, generally speaking than on the present occasion. Mr Moody was led to the conclusion, on commencing the work last November, that the best way to fill up the brief time at his disposal would be to devote special attention to "the young men of the provinces," leaving the great seats of population out of account. This plan was faithfully adhered to, with the exception that Inverness and Aberdeen had each a week allotted to them. We think the results have proved that the decision of the evangelist, which was endorsed by the two cooperating committees at Glasgow and Edinburgh, showed wisdom and foresight.
It may be said by those who are desirous of criticising, that the stay in most of the places was so short that comparatively little fruit could be expected. When all the factors in the situation are taken into account, this contention will not hold good. Mr Moody often remarks that he would much rather set a hundred men to work than attempt to do it all himself. He and his colleague have acted on this sound principle during their sojourn in Scotland, and they have certainly been justified. All they really aimed at was to infuse a fresh spirit of realised responsibility and of consecrated zeal into the Christian churches wherever they went, leaving it to work out its natural result in a quickened practical resolve on the part of those churches to care for spiritually lapsed or semi-lapsed in their own communities. That is the ideal state of matters and the conviction of its necessity has, at any rate, been sharply brought home to the professed Christians throughout Scotland. It they have not fully risen to the height of their recognised privilege and duty, that is not the fault of the evangelists.
But much has been done in this direction. It would be very difficult to estimate the number of earnest and competent workers who have been stirred up to special and more or less prolonged effort in connection with this Scottish mission. Among the places visited by Mr Moody and Mr Sankey, numbering almost a hundred, there are very few that have not had a season either of preparatory united prayer and work or a time of "following up": in many cases there have been both. Our earnest hope is that these special endeavours by local or other friends will be kept up and that the fires will spread into corners untouched by the influence of our American brethren.
While urging this, we thankfully record that the direct and ascertained fruits of the meetings held and addressed by the evangelists themselves have been by no means small. We share Mr Moody's deep-rooted objection to any numbering of the converts. All movements of the kind have their residuum of unsatisfactory cases; but the good reports everywhere heard as to the stability of the converts brought in on former visits of our brethren, lead us to the confident belief that a like result will follow the mission just terminated. The Scottish people, as a whole, are so conversant with the doctrines of the Christian faith, that no prolonged preaching course is needed to prepare them for an intelligent saving acceptance of the truth. What is mostly wanted are a few such sharp and telling strokes, directed to the conscience and the heart, as will induce men and women to act up to the fulness of head knowledge they possess. Mr Moody has aimed at bringing this about in his brief and almost flying visits from district to district. Many have unmistakably been the slain of the Lord, and the responsibility of the local under-shepherds will be great if the many young believers throughout Scotland are not confirmed in the faith, and if the still wavering ones are not led to the point of definite decision. Mr Moody has no patent process. He certainly has open vision as to the state of the unregenerate man, and the absolute need for the new birth and the Spirit of the Lord has anointed him with a burning zeal that is too uncommon, with a pathos that sometimes seems irresistible, and with great persuasive powers of utterance. But all these gifts are equally at the disposal of every servant of God who craves their possession.
As in the two previous missions of Mr Moody and Mr Sankey amongst us, a great outstanding feature of the meetings has been the spirit of unity shown by those of diverse denominational names. Indeed, it exceeded anything experienced by our friends before and went far beyond their most hopeful anticipations. It has been conspicuously shown that Jesus Christ and his great salvation form a rallying ground for common effort among all who hold evangelical views of truth that no other theme possesses. Those who differ strongly on many subordinate though important matters of creed or church government, will gladly join hands in order to save their fellow men. The ecclesiastical world of Scotland is at present in a very disturbed condition, so that the well-nigh universal manifestation of unity in connection with the labour of the Evangelists is all the more remarkable.
The extremely strong position taken by Mr Moody on the omnipresent drink question and his scathing denunciations of the making, the vending and consumption of Scotch whisky, have been frequently noted in our weekly reports. The cordial endorsement of his utterances by the great bulk of his audiences affords ground for hope that the national conscience is being educated up to the point of practical and effective warfare against this gigantic curse.
With a few conspicuous exceptions, the daily press throughout Scotland has been friendly in its attitude towards the work of the evangelists. 'The Scottish Leader' alone, among all its contemporaries, rose to the occasion by giving full and daily accounts; but many of the local broadsheets did good service in scattering the utterances of Mr Moody and Mr McNeill. The accession of the latter to the evangelistic ranks was a very noteworthy circumstance and is likely to have lasting results for good in many parts of Scotland. His popular gifts are having the fullest scope among his own countrymen, and none rejoices more in his success than Mr Moody, who was largely responsible for setting his brother evangelist free for this service.
Of Mr Sankey's special share in the work little need be said in addition to what our weekly notes contained. The marvel is that he has been preserved in such excellent voice throughout our changeful winter and with so much exposure in journeying. The commonly expressed opinion has been that he was singing even better at the close of the mission than at its start, and all will join in the prayer that his consecrated voice may long retain its wonderful power as a vehicle for sounding forth the music of the Gospel.
As a final comment, we may say that the work of the past months has proved to demonstration that the old Gospel has lost nothing of its power to attract the masses of the people. Mr Moody's methods of preaching have not changed since he first came among us. He raises aloft the ancient Pauline banner, on which is inscribed "Christ and Him crucified " The people everywhere have flocked to it in their thousands, and have found in its glorious. motto the sufficient and efficient antidote for sin and all its woes.
From, "The Christian," April 7th, 1892.