The GOSPEL TRUTH

A HISTORY OF AMERICAN REVIVALS

by

Frank G. Beardsley PH.D, S.T.D.

1912

Chapter 14

 

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS.

 

The lay movement in revivals, which swept over this country during the years 1875-1877 and the influence of which continues to the present day, was the logical consequence of the dawning consciousness of the importance of lay work, which had found expression in the Great Revival of 1857, in the growth of the Young Men's Christian Association, and in the work of the Christian and Sanitary Commissions during the Civil War. The manner of carrying on the Revival of 1857 was characterized as the "mass-meeting method of evangelization." In the lay movement of 1875-1877 the "mass-meeting methods" were abandoned and in their place was substituted the most thorough organization of all the activities which would make possible the conversion of men. Methods were also adopted to gather the fruits of these revivals and give permanency to the results accomplished.

Identified with this movement as its chief representative and prime mover stands the name of D. L, Moody. Reared in the midst of the most unfavorable circumstances, rising from obscurity, and possessed of few advantages for self-improvement he rose to a position of commanding influence throughout the Christian world. So closely has he been identified with the movement under consideration that no characterization of it would be complete without a comprehensive survey of his life. 

Dwight Lyman Moody was born at Northfield, Mass., February 5, 1837. When the future evangelist was but four years of age, his father, who had combined the trade of masonry with that of brickmaking, suddenly passed away. His financial affairs were in such a condition that the creditors took even the kindling from the shed. To add to the embarrassments of the household, a month after his decease, twins were born, increasing the children of the family to nine, the eldest of whom was but thirteen years of age. Many a woman would have sunk beneath a burden so heavy, but Mrs. Moody bore up as best she could and sought to train her children in the fear of God. She was a Unitarian, and the only baptism which Dwight ever received was at the hands of the Unitarian minister of the parish. Rev. Mr. Everett, who was very kind towards this fatherless family, and for a time Dwight was in his home, where he did the chores for his board. 

At the age of seventeen, young Moody, wearied with the dull routine of such work as could be found in the neighborhood of a country village, set out for Boston in search of employment. In the city he had two uncles who were engaged in the boot and shoe business, but fearing the conceit and headstrongness of the country youth, they gave him no encouragement. After days of fruitless search and somewhat humbled by his experiences, he again applied to his uncles for employment. It was given on condition that he should be guided by their advice and should attend church and Sabbath School every Sunday. He soon proved a valuable assistant in their business, and within a short time was selling more goods than any other clerk in the establishment. His religious ventures were not so promising. He attended the Mount Vernon Congregational Church, in which the revival fires, under the ministry of Dr. Kirk, were ever glowing. As bracing as the spiritual atmosphere was, the discourses to which he listened were quite above the limited attainments of young Moody, and he often fell asleep in his fruitless efforts to follow the sermon. His experience in the Sunday School was not a little discouraging. He was placed in the class of Edward Kimball. The lesson was in the Gospel of John. A Bible was given him, and to the no small amusement of the other members of the class, he hunted the Old Testament through for the book of John. The teacher seeing his embarrassment, found the place for him. Moody said: "I put my thumb in the place and held on; I said then if ever I got out of that scrape, I would not be caught there again." Mr. Kimball succeeded in holding the lad's attention and later became instrumental in his conversion. 

Mr. Moody told the story of this spiritual change as follows: "When I was in Boston I used to attend a Sunday School class, and one day I recollect my teacher came around behind the counter of the shop I was at work in, and put his hand on my shoulder, and talked to me about Christ and my soul. I had not felt that I had a soul till then. I said to myself: This is a very strange thing. Here is a man who never saw me till lately, and he is weeping over my sins, and I never shed a tear about them.' But I understand about it now, and know what it is to have a passion for men's souls and weep over their sins. I don't remember what he said, but I can feel the power of that man's hand on my shoulder tonight. It was not long after that I was brought into the kingdom of God." 

Soon after his conversion he applied for membership at the Mount Vernon Church. In accordance with the usages of that day no person could be received into a Congregational Church without first giving credible evidence of conversion. Moody's examination did not satisfy the committee. The principal question asked was, "What has Christ done for you, and for us all, that especially entitles him to our love and obedience?" He replied: "I think he has done a great deal for us all, but I don't know of anything he has done in particular." The committee deferred recommending him to membership, and three persons were appointed to instruct him further in the way of salvation. This action has often been criticised, but to Mr. Moody's credit be it said, he always approved the course taken by the church. Ten months later he was admitted to membership. 

In September, 1856, Mr. Moody bade farewell to Boston and took his departure for Chicago, which at that time was a young, but rapidly growing city, and afforded well-nigh limitless opportunities for Christian work. Moody had no difficulty in securing a position in the boot and shoe business, into which he entered with the same zest which had characterized him at Boston. He carried a letter to the Plymouth Congregational Church, with the interests of which he at once identified himself. He hired four pews, which he filled every Sabbath with young men whom he had invited to the services. He also joined a Young Men's Mission Band at the First M. E. Church, the object of which was the distribution of tracts at hotels and boarding places on Sunday mornings, and also the inviting of the guests to attend divine worship. 

Even these activities did not satisfy his tireless energy, and he soon sought a class to teach at a Mission School on Wells Street and Chicago Avenue. The superintendent told him that they already had twelve teachers and only sixteen pupils, but if he would gather a class of his own, he might have the privilege of teaching it. The next Sunday Moody appeared with eighteen of the raggedest, dirtiest street Arabs to be found in the city. He next directed his attention to "drumming up" recruits for the school, with the result that it was soon filled to overflowing. In a short time he started a mission of his own in North Chicago, an abandoned saloon building being used for the purpose. The school soon outgrew its limited quarters, arid Moody applied to the mayor for the use of North Market Hall for Sabbath School work. Frequently the hall was used Saturday nights for balls, which necessitated considerable work on the part of Mr. Moody and his helpers Sunday forenoons in order to get the building in readiness for the afternoon session. The school grew and prospered, numbering in a short time hundreds of pupils. The average attendance soon reached over six hundred, for the instruction of whom more than sixty teachers were employed. 

The Great Revival of 1857 resulted in the formation of the Chicago branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. Noon prayer meetings were instituted early in January, 1858. Eventually these meetings, which had greatly decreased in attendance, were placed in charge of the Association. Finally the example of a determined old Scotchman, who, one day when he was the only attendant, went through the exercise of hymn. Scripture reading and prayer, incited Mr. Moody to action, and by personal effort he induced more than a hundred to join the praying band. 

In the meantime he had continued in the boot and shoe business. He was ambitious to become a rich man and have $100,000, which was then considered enough to make one independent. But in 1860 he decided to give up his business and devote all of his time to Christian work. When asked by his employer how he expected to live, he replied: "God will provide for me if he wishes me to keep on; and I shall keep on until I am obliged to stop." Mr. Moody reduced his expenses to a minimum, by giving up his home and sleeping on a bench in a room of the Young Men's Christian Association. Friends were raised up who contributed funds to meet his necessities, and later he was appointed city missionary, so that he was relieved from pecuniary embarrassment. 

At the commencement of the Civil War the Illinois volunteers were mobilized at Camp Douglass, five miles from Chicago. At that time Moody was chairman of the devotional committee of the Young Men's Christian Association. Ever on the alert to seize an opportunity for Christian work, with a few others he engaged in active efforts to reach the soldiers who were preparing to go to the front. Army hymn-books, Testaments, tracts, and religious literature in large quantities were circulated among the soldiers. Devotional and evangelistic meetings were started, and so encouraging was the work that the committee issued a call for helpers. One hundred and fifty workers, both clerical and lay, responded. Eight to ten meetings were conducted each evening and to meet the growing demands of this work a camp chapel was erected. Many through these efforts were converted. When the Christian Commission was organized, Mr. Moody became a member of the Western Branch at Chicago. In the interests of this work he often went to the front to minister to the wounded, to pray with the dying, and to preach salvation to soldiers on duty in the service of their country. 

After the capture of Fort Donelson, Camp Douglass was used as a prison for Confederates, ten thousand of whom were kept within its confines. Eager for the salvation of men, Mr. Moody conducted evangelistic services for several weeks among these captives. Many were converted, there being sometimes thirty and forty seekers in a single night. A Young Men's Christian Association was organized, the services of which were continued until the parole of the prisoners. 

Mr. Moody was on the field to minister to the wounded after the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburgh Landing, Shiloh and Murfreesboro. He was also with the army at Cleveland in East Tennessee, at Chattanooga, and was among the first to enter Richmond with General Grant. These army experiences were an invaluable training for his future work and served to bring out the qualities of directness, promptness in meeting emergencies, and a skill in organization which characterized him in his subsequent labors. 

Of his work in those days General O. O. Howard said: "Moody and I met for the first time in Cleveland, East Tennessee. It was about the middle of April, 1864. I was bringing together my Fourth Army Corps. Two divisions had already arrived, and were encamped in and near the village. Moody was then fresh and hearty, full of enthusiasm for the Master's work. Our soldiers were just about to set out on what we all felt promised to be a hard and bloody campaign and I think were especially desirous of strong preaching. Crowds turned out to hear the glad tidings from Moody's lips. He showed how a soldier would give his heart to God. His preaching was direct and effective, and multitudes responded with a confession and promise to follow Christ." 

In the meantime he had gone right on with his work in Chicago. His Sunday School in North Market Hall kept increasing, until its attendance averaged more than one thousand. One of the problems which confronted him about this time was the care of those who had been converted in his mission services. He advised them to unite with existing churches, but coming as they did from humble homes, they felt strangely out of place in the more stately church edifices. They had, moreover, the warmest attachment for the man who had been instrumental in their conversion. Necessity, therefore, was upon him to make some provision for their spiritual care. The Illinois Street Church was the logical consequences. Its first building, erected at a cost of $20,000, was dedicated in 1864 and was well adapted to meet the needs of his growing work. 

In 1865, not without some opposition, he was elected president of the Young Men's Christian Association. Under his efficient leadership, Farwell Hall, the first Young Men's Christian Association building in the world, was erected at a cost of $159,000, and was dedicated September 29, 1867. It was Mr. Moody's prayer that an influence should go forth from that building which "should extend through every county in the state, through every state in the Union, and finally, crossing the water, should help bring the world to God." Four months later that building was burned. Nothing daunted, and while the flames were still at work, he engaged in the solicitation of funds for the erection of a new building which was dedicated in 1869. 

In June, 1870, at the International Young Men's Association convention held at Indianapolis, Mr. Moody first met Ira David Sankey. Sankey was born at Edinburgh, Pa., August 28, 1840. At an early age he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, where his services were called into requisition in the choir and Sunday School. He was one of the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers. At the end of his three months' enlistment he returned to his home at Newcastle, Pa., and it is altogether likely that he would have been content to have spent his life in obscurity, had it not been for that chance meeting with Mr. Moody at Indianapolis. He had heard of Mr. Moody's activity in Sunday School and Young Men's Christian Association work and was anxious to see him. When it was announced that he was to lead a Sunday morning meeting at 6 o'clock, Sankey determined to be present. The singing dragged, and at the solicitation of a friend he arose and sang, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood." At the close of the service he was introduced to Mr. Moody, who abruptly asked, "Where do you live?" "In Newcastle, Pennsylvania." "Are you married?" "Yes." "How many children have you?" "One." "I want you." "What for?" "To help me in Chicago." "I cannot leave my business." "You must; I have been looking for you the last eight years. You must give up your business, and come to Chicago with me." "I will think of it; I will pray over it; I will talk it over with my wife." 

The decision which he reached was favorable and he commenced his labors with Mr. Moody about six months before the Chicago fire, in which the Illinois Street Church was consumed. Two months later they resumed their labors in the North Side Tabernacle, which had been built to replace the church. 

In 1873 it was decided to accept an invitation of three English gentlemen to visit the British Isles. Plans were made that their families should accompany them, but the very day that they were to set out found them without the necessary funds. However, a man was raised up for the emergency, and a few hours before train time John V. Farwell, all unconscious of their needs, placed in their hands a check for $500. On their arrival in England, they found that two of the friends who had invited them had died. They accordingly telegraphed to the third, who was the secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at York. He replied that three months' preparation would be necessary before they could commence meetings there. Undaunted by this frigid reception they proceeded at once to York, where they commenced their labors. At the first meeting but eight persons were present. The clergy were none too cordial and but few of the churches were opened to them. Notwithstanding these untoward conditions their efforts were rewarded with two hundred and fifty conversions in about a month's time. Thence they proceeded to Sunderland and to other cities. The tide of popular favor kept rising, but it was not until they reached Edinburgh, that their work began to attract the attention of the whole United Kingdom. Here they . met with a most hearty and cordial reception. Preparatory meetings had paved the way for their arrival and a general expectancy for a revival seemed to pervade the minds of the people. At the opening service two thousand persons were unable to gain admittance. After a campaign of two months, three thousand converts united with the various churches of the city. Dundee and Glasgow were next visited. In the latter city Dr. Andrew Bonar said that seven thousand persons united with the different churches as the fruits of the revival. After visiting other places in Scotland they went to Ireland, where they labored in Belfast and Dublin, in each of which there were over two thousand conversions. Thence they returned to England, and after having labored with remarkable results in Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham and Liverpool, they repaired to London, where a four months' campaign had been mapped out and where efforts were to be put forth to reach every quarter of the city. It was estimated that 2,500,000 people attended the various services during this campaign. All classes of society were moved as never before, and the converts were numbered by the thousands. August 6, 1875, Messrs. Moody and Sankey sailed from Liverpool for their native country after an absence of two years. 

When the evangelists left America they were comparatively unknown, but tidings of their success in Great Britain had reached the country in various ways, so that on their return to the United States their names were household words. No sooner had they reached New York than they were besieged from all quarters with applications to conduct evangelistic campaigns. The evangelists, however, determined to spend a season in rest and recreation before taking up active work again. Mr. Moody repaired to his boyhood home at Northfield, where he spent the remainder of the summer in preparation for his work. During the latter part of his stay, assisted by Major Whittle and others, he conducted services for two weeks in the Congregational Church and had the joy of seeing his mother and a younger brother converted. 

In the meanwhile he was visited by representative ministers from various parts of the country, inviting him to visit their fields of labor and conduct evangelistic campaigns. Finally he decided to commence his first American campaign in Brooklyn, and services were commenced October 24, 1875. The Brooklyn Rink had been secured, and five thousand chairs were arranged to accommodate the multitudes. Dr. Talmage's Tabernacle was used for the daily prayer meetings and a choir of two hundred voices was organized to assist Mr. Sankey in the service of song. Enormous crowds attended the services and "overflow'' meetings were necessary. Two thousand converts were the immediate result of this campaign. 

From November 21 to January 16, 1876, Moody and Sankey conducted a gigantic campaign in Philadelphia. The old Pennsylvania freight depot was fitted up for the services at an expenditure of $40,000. Sittings for 10,000 persons were arranged and a choir of 650 Christian singers was organized under the leadership of William S. Fischer. The meetings opened inauspiciously. The first day of the services the rain fell in torrents, and the streetcars on the main thoroughfare to the place were stopped by the burning of the Market Street Bridge the night before. Notwithstanding these unfavorable circumstances there was scarcely a vacant seat at the first meeting. An aggregate of 900,000 persons attended the various services during the campaign, and it was estimated that 4,000 persons were converted. At the conclusion of the campaign a Revival Convention was held from January 19 to 20. This was attended by hundreds of ministers and laymen from the city and adjoining towns. Such subjects were considered as evangelistic services, how to conduct prayer meetings, inquiry meetings, training of converts and lay workers, how to get hold of non-church goers, etc. These revival conventions, which henceforth were to be a feature of Mr. Moody's work, were very helpful and did much to arouse churches and ministers to activity along evangelistic lines. 

New York City next claimed the attention of the evangelists, where they labored for a space of two months and a half. The principal services were conducted in the "Hippodrome,'' originally built for Barnum's great show, but which had been reconstructed for the use of the meetings. Thousands were in attendance at the various services, and at the closing meeting, held exclusively for new converts, 3,500 were present. 

The New York Times said: "Whatever philosophical sceptics may say, the work accomplished by Mr. Moody in this city for private and public morals will live. The drunken have become sober, the vicious virtuous, the worldly and self-seeking unselfish, the ignoble noble, the impure pure, the youth have started with generous aims, the old have been stirred from grossness. A new hope has lifted up hundreds of human beings, a new consolation has come to the sorrowful, and a better principle has entered the sordid life of the day through the labors of these plain men. Whatever the prejudiced may say against, the honest-minded and just will not forget these labors of love." 

After the New York campaign, Mr. Sankey returned to Newcastle, Pa., for the summer, while Mr. Moody journeyed southward, spending two weeks in meetings with his friend. Major Whittle, at Augusta, Ga. Thence he proceeded to Chicago by way of Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis and Kansas City, holding brief meetings in these cities, which were greatly blessed. At Chicago he was present at the opening of his new church building on Chicago Avenue, which had just been completed at a cost of $89,000. In August he journeyed eastward to visit his mother, preaching repeatedly at Northfield, Greenfield and Springfield. In September he conducted services at Brattleboro, Vt., being assisted in the service of song by P. P. Bliss. 

In Chicago, where Messrs. Moody and Sankey next labored, an immense wooden tabernacle had been erected at a cost of $20,000, affording seating capacity for 8,000 persons and with standing room for 2,000 more. The meetings were a success from the very start. Chicago received such a Pentecostal visitation as it had never experienced before and the whole Northwest felt the throbbing of a new religious life. 

Dr. E. P. Goodwin, writing of this work in 1894, said: "The work was in every way most remarkable. For not less than three or four months that building was nightly crowded-- and often packed to repletion-- especially on the Lord's day. There were thousands of professed conversions. Somewhere from ten to fifteen thousand, as I now recall them, and a very large proportion of them men, united with the various evangelical churches. If those joining other churches stood as well as the two hundred joining my own church, they gave good evidence of being soundly converted. Very naturally there were many reclaimed drunkards, and gamblers, and people of depraved habits, both men and women. 

These are commonly a transient people, and not a few of them, I dare say -- failing of hearty fellowship with the Lord's people and the help thus received -- drifted away, and may have gone back to the old life. Many, I know, still stand fast and honor their confession." 

January 28, 1877, found the tireless evangelists in cultured Boston. The evangelical Christians of the city had long been praying for a revival. The work preparatory to the coming of Moody and Sankey augured success. A huge brick tabernacle with a seating capacity for 6,000 persons, besides sittings for the choir and rooms for inquirers, was constructed. A great chorus choir of 2,000 voices in five sections was organized under the leadership of Dr. Tourjee. Several noon prayer meetings were held throughout the city and a house-to-house visitation was undertaken with more than 2,000 visitors to insure success. The results of the campaign were highly satisfactory. The evangelical faith received such a hearing in Unitarian Boston as it had not had for years. A daily paper. The Tabernacle, was published to further the interests of the revival. Not only was Boston deeply moved, but all New England felt the influence of the new life which had quickened the chief city of the old Bay State. 

These remarkable revivals which had visited successively Brooklyn, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Boston, caused a wave of evangelism to sweep over the land which resulted in the ingathering of vast multitudes into the church of Christ. In the cities, in the larger villages, and even in obscure hamlets, "Union Gospel Meetings" were instituted at which the familiar Moody and Sankey hymns were sung, and methods were employed similar to those which had been so signally blessed in the hands of these evangelists. This work brought into prominence several evangelists, chief among whom were Rev. George F. Pentecost and Major D. W. Whittle and their yoke-fellows, G. C. Stebbins and P. P. Bliss.

Major Whittle was born at Chicopee Falls, Mass., November 22, 1840. When the war broke out he was employed in the office of Fargo & Co.'s Express at Chicago, where he had been converted and had united with the First Congregational Church under the ministry of Dr. W. W. Patton. He raised a company, of which he was chosen lieutenant, and made for himself a brilliant record in the army. He was wounded at Vicksburg, but upon recovery he reentered the service, receiving an appointment upon General O. O. Howard's staff, and was eventually mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of major. 

At the close of the war he was made business manager of the Elgin Watch Company at a salary of $5,000 per year. He had already become prominent in Christian work as the superintendent of the West Side Tabernacle Sunday School in connection with the First Church of Chicago. About 1874, through the influence of Mr. Moody, he was led to relinquish his lucrative position and enter the evangelistic field. 

Associated with him in this work was P. P. Bliss, the sweet gospel singer and the author of such well-known gospel hymns as "Hold the Fort," "Pull for the Shore," "Let the Lower Lights be Burning," and many others. He was a native of Rome, Pa., where he was married to Miss Lucy J. Young. Through her influence his latent musical powers were developed, and through her prayers he was led to Christ. Upon removing to Chicago in 1864 he united with the First Congregational Church, where he served as chorister and superintendent of the Sunday School. He was persuaded to accompany Major Whittle in his evangelistic work, and during 1874-1876 they conducted successful revivals in the West and South. They were preparing to follow up Mr. Moody's great campaign in Chicago, when Mr. and Mrs. Bliss went to Pennsylvania to spend the Christmas holidays. After they had started on their return to Chicago, they telegraphed to Major Whittle, "We are going home to-morrow." But it was to their heavenly home that they went, for they were aboard the ill-fated train that broke through the bridge at Ashtabula, O., falling down an embankment of seventy feet and then catching fire. Their tragic death was a calamity to the cause of Christ and a shock to the whole nation. 

After this sad disaster George C. Stebbins and at a later time James C. McGranahan assisted Major Whittle in the service of song.

In the prosecution of his evangelistic labors Major Whittle visited nearly all of the states in the Union besides making several trips to Great Britain. He was very successful and was quite as much in demand as Mr. Moody. He was a patient student of the Bible and very tactful in dealing with inquirers. During the war with Spain he entered enthusiastically into the work for the soldiers, but under the strain he broke down and for months suffered as an invalid to pass on to his reward, March 4, 1901. 

Mr. Moody's Boston campaign was followed up by L. W. Munhall. Dr. Munhall was born at Zanesville, O., June 7, 1843. In early life he went to Indianapolis, where he was converted and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the Civil War he served in the Union army, being promoted successively to color-sergeant and regimental adjutant. At the close of the war he studied and practised dentistry, but later became an evangelist and was ordained by Bishop Harris. He labored with Mr. Moody for a time, but has since labored independently. He has conducted evangelistic services in most of the leading cities of the country. In this work he has met with marked success, often being recalled to conduct a second, third, and even a fourth series of meetings. Upwards of two hundred thousand persons have been converted under his ministrations, in which he has confined himself to no particular denomination, but has labored along the line of union revival services. 

The impulse thus given to revivals by the campaigns of Moody and Sankey together with the efforts of a host of workers, both clerical and lay, was of lasting benefit to the churches throughout the country and contributed greatly to the enrichment of the spiritual life of the nation.

The season of 1877-1878 was spent by Moody and Sankey in New England, Burlington, Vt., Manchester, N. H., Providence, R. L, Springfield, Mass., Hartford and New Haven, Conn., being visited. Thousands were converted and all New England felt the impulse of the revivals with which these cities had been visited. 

One of the most important campaigns yet undertaken was conducted in Baltimore, Md., during 1878-1879. Every evangelical denomination in the city united in the work. Noon prayer meetings were held at the Maryland Institute, and special services for men were conducted at 4 P. M. in the Associate Reformed Church. 

While Mr. Moody was conducting this great campaign in Baltimore, Thomas Harrison, the famous Methodist "boy preacher" (so-called because of his slight figure and youthful appearance), labored at Madison Square in the same city and but a few blocks distant. The nearness of the meetings, however, did not interfere with each other, and the difference in methods appealed to entirely different classes of people, so that Baltimore was greatly blessed in this double visitation. Harrison was born in Boston in 1854, studied at Talmage's Lay College in Brooklyn, entered the evangelistic field about 1876, and has since labored with marked success in various parts of the Union. 

On May 26, 1879, Mr. Moody preached his last sermon in Baltimore, after a protracted siege, which lasted nearly eight months and during the progress of which multitudes had been converted. 

During the season of 1879-1880, the evangelists conducted a similar campaign in St. Louis. This city was a stronghold of Romanism and presented difficulties of unusual magnitude, but as a result of the effort, the churches were revived, the city was graciously quickened, and many were led to believe. 

The Pacific coast was visited in 1880-1881, and from 1881-1884 revivals were conducted in Great Britain with happy results. The seasons of 1884-1885, and 1885-1886, were spent in brief visits to the smaller cities of America. Three days were generally spent in a place, the services being preceded and followed by the efforts of other evangelists and workers. In this way Mr. Moody was able to visit a large number of cities having a population of ten thousand and over in various parts of the country. 

In later years, in addition to his widely extended labors as an evangelist, Mr. Moody devoted a great deal of attention to his educational institutions and the various other enterprises in which he was interested. 

Of his schools, Northfield Seminary was opened, November 3, 1879, although the first building was not completed until some months later. This school was designed to furnish a Christian education for young women. To afford similar advantages for boys and young men. Mount Hermon School was opened May 4, 1881. Both of these schools are equipped with many handsome buildings and annually attract multitudes of young people from various parts of the country. 

A feature of the Northfield work has been the Annual Christian Workers' Conference, which originated in 1880. To this Conference, meeting each summer, Mr. Moody invited from time to time the foremost Christian workers of this country and Great Britain to address those who annually assembled from all parts of the world. At a later time the Students' Conferences, meeting a little earlier in the summer, were instituted. To accommodate the numerous visitors to these gatherings, a large summer hotel was erected in 1890. To have this building unused during several months in the year did not accord with Mr. Moody's purposes, and it was utilized during the winter for a Young Woman's Bible Training School, in which Bible study was combined with the art and practice of domestic science. 

More important than any of these, so far as the revival history of our country is concerned, was the founding of the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions. The purpose of this institute, which was founded at Chicago in 1889, was a thorough and practical study of the English Bible. It did not aim to compete with theological seminaries in preparing men for the ministry, but its object was to furnish various classes of students with a thorough understanding of the Bible in the vernacular. Rev. R. A. Torrey, an evangelist of marked ability, was placed at the head of the institute, and in accordance with its original purposes he has developed and conducted this school until it has attained its present standing of usefulness in the evangelistic world. In addition to a two years' course in the Bible, musical and practical courses are offered. The musical department aims not only to give rudimentary instruction, but to train and fit those who are so qualified to lead choirs and conduct singing in evangelistic work. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the institute is the practical work department. Students are assigned to various rescue missions in the city to render such services as may be required, acting as ushers, distributing cards, dealing with inquirers, conducting the singing, etc. House-to-house visitation is a phase of the work. Young women are assigned to certain districts, which they must visit regularly, while the men are assigned to the cheap down-town lodgings and such places, where they must come in contact with those who frequent them, and if possible lead them to the Saviour. Sabbath services are held in the jails, and thus students are brought into touch with all the varied phases of city evangelization. The location of the institute has proven strategic, and it has been of great value in the evangelization of the city. It was especially useful during Mr. Moody's great World's Fair Campaign in 1893. 

This was by far the most remarkable series of meetings ever planned or carried into execution by Mr. Moody. "The idea of making such a carnival the scene of a widespread evangelistic effort was as novel as it was daring. But the plan was under consideration for months, and was arranged while the Exposition buildings were still under construction." Many there were to predict failure for such an undertaking. It was asserted that the visitors to Chicago at the time would come solely on account of the Exposition. Discouragements Mr. Moody expected to meet, but the manifest needs of the situation far outweighed any of the discouraging features that might arise. There would be a vast influx of strangers into the city. Temptations of every kind would lie athwart their paths. The vicious and vile would ply their nefarious arts with all the enginery of evil at their command. The forces for wickedness in the city would be augmented by reinforcements from without. While these considerations magnified the difficulty of religious work at the time, they but emphasized the need for a great religious campaign in which the emissaries of evil should be outwitted and the tables turned against them. With faith and courage undaunted Mr. Moody commenced the campaign. The Bible Institute served as a base of operations. The city was divided into three sections with the following centers -- the Chicago Avenue Church on the north, the First Congregational on the west, and the Immanuel Baptist on the south. 

Great buildings in various sections of the city were secured, tents were erected for services, and meetings were held in the open air. 

The Haymarket Theater was first secured. Here Mr. Moody preached every Sunday until the end of the campaign, with the exception of two Sundays when he was absent in the east. At a later period other theaters, such as the Empire, Standard, Columbia, Hooley's Opera House, and the Grand Opera House, were made use of for various services. Several places in the neighborhood of the Fair Grounds were secured, and towards the close of the Exposition Mr. Moody had one hundred and twenty-five meetings under his control. Two months before the close of the Fair, Central Music Hall was secured for daily services from 11 o'clock until 1. The people flocked in throngs to hear the simple gospel. Said Dr. Munroe Gibson: "While the Fair Grounds were quite deserted on Sundays the churches were full. There was little use trying to get into the churches where Mr. Moody or Mr. McNeil preached unless you went an hour or two before the time, but even with only a preacher of ordinary abilities the church would be filled, not only in the morning but also at the evening service, and it is no easy thing to secure a good attendance for evening services in Chicago." 

Probably the most remarkable services of the entire campaign were those held in Forepaugh's circus tent. The circus was in Chicago in June, and Mr. Moody secured the use of the exhibition tent for Sunday forenoon, the manager reserving it for the use of his show in the afternoon and evening. The great tent had sittings for ten thousand people. A circus man incredulously asked Moody if he expected to have three thousand hearers. The tent was filled to overflowing. An eyewitness thus described the scene: "The surroundings were the usual circus furniture -- ropes, trapezes, gaudy decorations, etc., while in the adjoining canvass building was a large menagerie, including eleven elephants. Clowns, grooms, circus-riders, men, women, and children, eighteen thousand of them, and on a Sunday morning, too! Whether the gospel was ever before preached under such circumstances I know not, but it was wonderful to ear and eye alike." For two Sundays the circus tent was rented. While such throngs crowded into the tent to hear the gospel, the circus manager was obliged to cancel his Sunday exhibitions because they were so poorly attended.

During the progress of the Fair, meetings were arranged for Germans, Bohemians, Poles, French, Jews, and among the Arabs on the Fair Grounds. Special meetings for various classes were conducted from time to time. For the work of carrying on these many meetings, Mr. Moody called to his assistance some of the foremost pastors and evangelists in this country and Great Britain, such men as Drs. A. C. Dixon, H. M. Wharton, J. Wilbur Chapman, John McNeil, Henry Varley, Thomas Spurgeon, besides noted preachers from Europe, to preach to their countrymen in their native languages. 

In this work the Bible Institute rendered invaluable aid. Said Mr. Moody: "This campaign could never have been carried on except for the Bible Institute. If there was any part of the city where we needed to throw a detachment we had them at our command. If we only had a few hours' notice we could send fifty men to that part of the city and placard and ticket the whole neighborhood and fill a building." 

When the war broke out between this country and Spain, in 1898, the Young Men's Christian Association at once inaugurated work for the young volunteers. The Army and Navy Christian Commission was formed with its work subdivided into three departments: the executive, under the direction of Colonel J. J. McCook; the general work, such as Bible study, physical training, etc., under charge of C. W. McAlpine; and the evangelistic under D. L. Moody. The work of the latter department was fourfold: (a) the placing of eminent preachers and evangelists in the field to preach the gospel to soldiers in the service of their country; (b) the institution of Young Men's Christian Association tents in each regiment, where good reading would be available and where writing materials, etc., could be found; (c) the free distribution of Bibles, Testaments, and religious literature; (d) the visitation of the sick and wounded in hospitals. 

Under Mr. Moody's direction, Major Whittle, General O. O. Howard, Rev. A. C. Dixon, D.D., Rev. R. A. Torrey, D.D., and others took the field to minister to the religious welfare of the soldiers. Some eight thousand soldiers were converted through these efforts. It was Mr. Moody's intention to take the field in person in the autumn, for the state of his health was such that it was unadvisable for him to go south earlier in the summer, but when autumn came it was unnecessary, for the issues of the war were such that Spain was ready to sue for peace long before the summer had ended. 

Mr. Moody's last campaign was conducted in Kansas City. The great Convention Hall, which had a seating capacity of 15,000, was secured for the purpose. A large choir of nearly a thousand voices was placed under the leadership of Professor C. C. Case. The services commenced November 12, 1899, and were attended by thousands of people who filled the spacious auditorium. For two or three days Mr. Moody preached with his old-time vigor and power, but within a short time he began to show evidences of exhaustion. Friday morning a physician was summoned, and under his direction Mr. Moody reluctantly decided to give up the meetings and return to Northfield. It was a severe trial for him to do this. "It's the first time in forty years of preaching that I have had to give up my meetings" he said, and a little later in a low tone of voice added, "It is more painful to give up those audiences than it is to suffer from my ailments." Reluctantly he laid aside the work he loved so well and started on his homeward journey. 

For a time after his arrival at Northfield, the indications seemed to be favorable, but the improvement was only temporary and on December 22, in the presence of his wife and children, he peacefully passed away. "It is my coronation day," he exclaimed, as he perceived the end approaching. Among his last utterances were: "Earth is receding and heaven is opening. God is calling me. Is this dying? It is sweet! There is no valley here! I have been within the gates!" 

Four days later he was laid to rest on Round Top, "the Olivet of Northfield," there to await the appearing of his Lord, whom he loved so well, arid for whose second coming he so fondly hoped. 

There is no means of determining with any degree of accuracy the results of Mr. Moody's long and useful life. Personally he had an aversion to numbers. With characteristic bluntness he once replied to a minister who asked him how many souls he had led to Christ: "I don't know anything about that, Doctor. Thank God, I don't have to. I don't keep the Lamb's Book of Life." 

It is safe to assume, however, that some hundreds of thousands of conversions resulted from his labors throughout the English-speaking world. He was the greatest evangelist of his generation, and one of the most successful soul-winners that the world has ever known. In addition to his personal labors account must be taken of his published sermons and works in a great variety of forms, of his educational enterprises, the Northfield conferences, etc. No man can measure Mr. Moody's influence for good in the world, for it is safe to say that millions have derived inspiration and help from his life. 

Mr. Moody's preaching was plain and scriptural. He made large and effective use of anecdotes and incidents in illustrating the truths which he sought to impress, thereby reaching the hearts and consciences of men whom no amount of argumentation would have touched. He had a profound conviction as to the truth of the Bible, which he accepted without question as the unerring Word of God. It was this intense conviction as to the truthfulness of the divine revelation that gave force and power to his utterances and made him the effective preacher of righteousness that he was. 

He preached the substitutionary theory of the atonement, that Christ died for us and took our place that we might, by believing on him, escape the punishment which we deserved at the hands of an offended God. He enforced the doctrines of retribution, repentance, restitution, and regeneration. Behind all of his doctrinal ideas was a marvelous conception of the love of God. The central theme of his preaching, the pivot around which all else revolved, was God's love for a lost and sinning world, and his willingness to accept all who would come to him by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Mr. Moody did not appeal to men's fears, but insisted upon God's love as a motive to all right action.

He insisted upon the prayer of faith and the anointing of the Holy Spirit as the indispensable elements to true success in winning souls. His methods, while comparatively few, were systematic and complete. As a skillful general he planned his campaigns. Systematic visitation and meetings for prayer preceded the advent of the evangelists. In the public services which followed, the singing and preaching of the gospel were the principal means relied upon. Daily prayer meetings were a feature of the work, and every reasonable effort was put forth to incite ministers and laymen to activity in the work of saving souls. Inquiry meetings were conducted at the conclusion of the public preaching exercises. Seekers were dealt with personally, informal talks were given, difficulties were solved and dangers pointed out. In fact such instructions were given as would lead penitents to immediate acceptance of Jesus Christ. Converts were urged to unite with some branch of the church of Christ, and the churches were charged with the responsibility of watch care over those who had been brought into the fold. 

It was this earnest preaching and this faithful use of methods that gave Mr. Moody an influence that will live. "Some day," he had said, "you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all -- out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto his glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the spirit will live forever." 

Closely identified with the lay movement in their use of methods, and in the development of lay activity, although not laymen themselves, are the names of B. Fay Mills and J. Wilbur Chapman, without a consideration of whom this chapter would not be complete. 

B. Fay Mills was born at Rahway, N. J., in 1857, and received his collegiate education at Lake Forest University, 111. In 1886, after a brief but successful experience in the pastorate, he entered upon evangelistic work, and for a period of ten years labored with great success in nearly all of the leading cities of the United States and Canada. 

Mr. Mills' manner of working was very systematic. An executive committee of ten or twelve ministers or laymen had oversight of the campaign. For several months this committee would be actively engaged in preparing for the services, by interesting workers, and arousing the churches; one of the first directions of Mr. Mills being, "Get to work; pray and plan; make use of every means ordained by God." The preliminary work was entrusted to three committees, viz.: a Committee on Finance -- to secure funds to meet the expenses of the meetings, the evangelists being provided for by free-will offerings; a Committee on Canvassing -- to supervise the work of visitation, the city being divided into districts, and a personal invitation given to every family in these respective districts a week before the meetings commenced; a Committee on Music -- to organize and train as large a chorus choir as possible, and to arrange for an organist throughout the services. For the revival work proper there were also three committees, viz.: a Committee on Advertising -- to keep the public posted as to the meetings, making judicious use of the public press, bulletin boards, handbills, etc.; a Devotional Committee -- to arrange for two daily prayer meetings, one for men and the other for women, to be held in the forenoon and afternoon respectively; a Committee on Ushers --to have oversight of the work for arranging for the physical comfort of the audiences, the distribution of decision cards at the conclusion of the preaching services, and to have supervision of the personal work with inquirers. This being the work entrusted to the "Ushers," it was required by Mr. Mills that they should not only be men of mature minds, but that the most efficient and consecrated men from the various churches should be selected for this work, since the effectiveness of the meetings depended largely upon them. 

A feature of Mr. Mills' system was what was known as the District Combination Plan. The city in which the campaign was conducted would be divided into large districts, in each of which the meetings would be conducted for a specified time, so that by the end of the campaign the whole city would have been reached by the services. 

At the conclusion of each discourse, those who wished to become Christians were invited to arise. Cards bearing the following inscription were placed in their hands for signature:

I have an honest desire henceforth to lead a Christian life.

Name

Residence

Church or Pastor preferred

Date

 

An after meeting followed the public service. "Ushers" were expected to invite any who had signed cards, or who seemed interested to remain. Difficulties were considered, objections met, and such instructions were offered as would lead to immediate decision for Christ. 

So perfectly was the campaign planned and so systematically was it prosecuted, that in the hands of a wise leader it could hardly fail of success. Thousands in the various cities visited by Mr. Mills signed decision cards, although the criticism was freely offered that there was a lack of permanency in the results. Be that as it may, there can be no question that great and lasting good was accomplished, and that many of such as should be saved were led to decision in these meetings. 

In recent years Mr. Mills has been identified with the Unitarians, and although of late he has conducted special services, they have been along lines that could not be classified as evangelical. 

Methods similar to the foregoing have been employed with marked success by J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D., who for a time was associated with Mr. Mills and later with Mr. Moody, as vice-president of the Bible Institute, and also as a co-worker in the World's Fair Campaign, and in some of his later efforts in Pittsburgh and New York City. 

Dr. Chapman was born in Indiana in 1859 and received his collegiate education at Oberlin and Lake Forest, where he was a classmate of B. Fay Mills. From 1 8791 882 he studied theology at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1883 he accepted a call to the Dutch Reformed Church at Schuylerville, N. Y. During this pastorate he attended a series of meetings conducted by Mr. Moody at Albany, N. Y. So great was the influence of these meetings and so deep was the impression made upon the mind of the young pastor, that on his return a revival commenced in his church, which resulted in over a hundred conversions, including some of the leading men of the town. In 1884 he was called to the pastorate of the First Reformed Church at Albany. For five years he ministered to this aristocratic and conservative church, which witnessed more than five hundred conversions during these years. Early in 1890 Dr. Chapman accepted a call to the great Bethany Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Eleven hundred united with the church on confession of faith in a little less than three years. In the meanwhile he had received numerous calls to assist in evangelistic work, which he did, so far as the duties of his pastorate would permit. Finally he was induced to relinquish his pastorate in order to devote his whole time to evangelistic labors. For three years he conducted successful revivals in many of the leading cities in America. During all of these years the Bethany Church was without a pastor. Finally after repeated overtures he accepted a re-call to that church with the understanding that he should devote half of his time if he so desired to evangelistic work. In 1899 he accepted a call to the Fourth Presbyterian Church of New York City. Three years later lie was persuaded to lay aside his pastoral duties to devote his whole time to the secretaryship of the Evangelistic Committee, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 

In addition to his personal efforts in revival work, Dr. Chapman has published several small volumes of sermons, and two or three books upon the subject of revivals, all of which have received a wide circulation and have rendered invaluable service in the work of evangelism. 

Numerous other evangelists of national reputation have labored during this period, such as Mrs. Maggie Van Cott, C. H. Yatman, E. E. Davidson, and Sam Jones, the eccentric Southern evangelist, among the Methodists; H. G. Dewitt, A. P. Graves, H. W. Brown, S. H. Pratt, and H. M. Wharton, among the Baptists; Harold F. Sayles, Major Cole and many others in various denominations, of whom "time would fail me to tell," besides numerous evangelistic pastors who have helped to make the period embraced within the years 1870-1900 one of the most fruitful periods in the history of American Christianity.