The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-06-26 00:00:00

REVIVALISM AT ETON,

The following particulars of the meeting at Eton, which
has been referred to in both Houses of Parliament, is from
Wednesday's 2 imes :
Messrs. Moody and Sankey held the meeting which
has given rise to so much excitement in more than one
quarter yesterday afternoon, but not in the spacious
tent which had been erected for the purpose in the
South Meadow, just outside the grounds of Eton
College. It was notified, it seems early in the day to Mr.
Graham and Mr. Hogg, who have taken an active
part in promoting the meeting, that should a large
number of persons assemble at this spot, they must
not expect to have the aid of the Buckinghamshire Police
in keeping order in the event of any disturbance oc-
curring. They, in those circumstances, thought they
would be hardly justified in adhering to their
original intention to hold a service in the meadow,
and application was made to the Mayor of
Windsor for the use of the Town-hall. To this
application it is said, he at first acceded, but
shortly before three—the hour fixed for the service
—those who assembled outside the building were
surprised to see a notice posted up stating that no
meeting would be held there that day. It was then
reported that the Mayor had withdrawn the permis-
sion of the morning, and there was much conjecture as
to what would be the resuit. Messrs. Moody and
Sankey, it was known, had arrived from London shortly
after two o'clock, but from no one, for a little time,
could any definite information be obtained as to what
course they proposed to adopt. At length it was
ascertained that they had determined to hold the meet-
ing in the garden at the back of the house of Mr.
Cayley, a linendraper who lives in the High-street,
immediately opposite the Town -hall. A better place,
so far as any fear of intrusion from the general public
was concerned, could scarcely have been selected.
The garden is of moderate size and surrounded
by high walls, so that, with the exception
of the few who were enabled to look down upon
the proceedings from the roofs and windows of
the adjoining houses, no one could see that a num-
ber of persons were assembled there or that a service
of any kind was being performed. Several ladies and
gentlemen were in the garden shortly after half-past
three o'clock, still in doubt as to whether there would
be a service at all, for it had been stated that Messrs.
Moody and Sankey had announced it to to be their
intention not to hold one unless some, at least, of the
boys from Eton attended. All uncertainty on the
point, however, was soon set at rest by the arrival of a
considerable number of them, and before a quarter to
four o'clock there were at least 70 or 80 boys in the
garden, accompanied in a few instances by their parents.
The service then began with the hymn "Tell me
the old story," which was succeeded by "Rock of
Ages" and two or three other hymns, sung by Mr.
Sankey, joined by those present, with considerable
effect. By this time the number of the boys from
Eton in attendance had increased to between 150 and
200, while the remainder of the audience could not
have amounted to less than between 300 and 400,
including the Earl of Cavan, Lord Wriothesley
Russell, Mr. Graham, and Messrs. \Valley, Pod,
Darnford, Marindin, and Stone, masters of the Col.
lege. Soon after four o'clock, the Old Hundredth
Psalm having been sung and an opening prayer offered
up by the Earl of Cavan, Mr. Sankey gave the 43rd
hymn, commencing, "It was ninety and nine that
safely lay."

M;-. goody then, standing upon a chair under the
shade of a large chestnut tree, and immediately sur-
rounded by attentive groups of Eton boys, delivered
a long address, in which he dwelt with his usual
earnestness on the value of the Gospel, which, he said,
had removed from his path the bitterest enemies with
which he had ever had to contend,—the fear of death,
judgment, sin—and which he urged his audience to ac-
cept as containing the beat tidings which had ever been
conveyed to man. Some 20 years ago he had himself
been saved by receiving the Word of God, and he
hoped all those whom he addressed would devote their
best efforts to seeking salvation, which to those who
sought it was as free a gift of the Almighty as the air
they breathed. Mr. Moody departed little, if at all,
In his discourse from the line of argument, exhorta-
tion, and homely illustrations with which many of
our readers are already familiar. There was nothing
in his remarks which had special reference to the
youths about him beyond the expression of a hope
that, as many of them might occupy in the future high
positions in the State, they should do their utmost,
by the early cultivation of Christian virtue, to qualify
themselves to fill those positions worthily and to
merit the glorious hereafter which was promised to all
those who conformed to the will of God. Let them
make up their minds that beautiful afternoon to be-
come reconciled to Him, if they were not so already,
and from that moment they would become the heirs of
eternal life. He did not know that he should see them
again on tlie shores of time, but if they acted in accor-
dance with the teaching of the Gospel they would all
meet where there would be no partings.
Mr. Moody announced in the course of his remarks
that he had a few minutes before he commenced
received a telegrara stating that several of the
members of the Governing Body of Eton College
had met in London that morning, and had sup-
ported the Head Master in removing all obstacles
out of the way of the service. It only remains to
add that no speaker could desire to have a more atten-
tive audience than Mr. Moody had yesterday; that no
meeting could have been more orderly than that which
he addressed in the garden at Windsor; and that it
is impossible to see how, if what fell from him has
failed to make any lasting impression on his youthful
hearers, it can have had the effect of doing them the
slightest harm.