Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-11-03

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have been no two names since Poul and
Silas-names equally euphonious-t have
been the exponents Of so much song awak-
ened among the angels as these two
The one a preacher Of Christ, tho other
sweet singer of Christian melodies they
have gone together through the English
speaking lands Of the world, preaching and
singing their way into the hearts Of hun
dreds Of thousand, and have led multitudes
to the confession Of Christ and TO a better
and purer life by their simple words Of Chris
tian eloqucnce and song both inspired by
the Holy Spirit. The London Times has re-
peatedly spoken Of their work with astonsh-
ment and respect-the Saturday Rerer has
noticed them over and again with scorn,
and the other leading English papers have
chronicled their work, and often alluded to
it with surprise at its results, and with
kindly and generous consideration. Hardly
secular paper in this country but has no.
ticed them with greater or less respect, ac-
cording to the general notions they hold
with regard to Christian truth itself. 1t
has not been given to any two men since the
days Of the apostles to kindle such a wide.
spread interest in merely spiritual matters
in things that pertain 10 the soul aud its fu-
ture life. 1t was permitted to Paul to speak
before kings, and to quicken the blood in
the heart Of Athens with his fervid appeals
and arguments. It was permitted to Moody
| 10 ha II. g MI
awaken its peers TO the peril that their sons
at Eton were in from the winning power of
his simple persuasions. Whatever explana-
ton we may give Of their work, it certainly
seems TO stand, and to extend its influence,
not in the power Of man, hut in the power
and wisdom of God.
The very presence Of Moody aud Sankey
in this country, their quiet temporary resi-
dence in a little country village in Massa-
chusetts, seems TO have created wide cxpec-
tation Of religious rcvivals and refornations.
Delegations from many cities have sought
their aid. The words that have been
spoken and sung in the small village church
have gone out on all the winds, and kiudled
in minds and hearts all over the land de-
sire and expectation for spiritual awaken
| ing and reformation. The ministers and lay
men in all parts of the country are meeting
and consulting as TO what shall be done to
rouse the attention Of men more generally to
religious duties and life. The very presence
Of these men sends the thrill Of religious ex-
pectation and desire through the land Not
daily paper but reports their work, or tells
of its results. Even their enemies, by their
supercilious dsdain and criticism, give an
added force TO their mission, and help on
their apostolic and blessed work. For their
work is both apostolic and blessed, since it
is a simple and selfdenying attempt TO arrest
the attention of hoadlong and indifferent
world to the great facts Of redemption Of the
future life, and of the duties Of men to their
spiritual nature. Such work. calling the
thoughts of men TO the high themes and re-
sponsibilites of the spiritual life, is one to
which all true men viii bid Godspeed, and
only fools and atheists will deride aud despise
it, 1t never harms men to think Of God, or to
devote themselves to His service. If he is a
benefactor of his race who makes two blades
of grass grow where only one grew before,
he is still more worthy of the title who res
cues human soul from the dominion of its
appettes and animalism, and invests it with
its appropriate attributes, and brings it into
its fitting relations to God.
The revival work of the churches is not
new thing, nor is il confined to any dcnom-
nation The Roman church has its spirit
ual retreats, its special mission work of elo-
quent fathers, its forty days of Lent devoted
to religious service. The Episcopal church
follows the Roman in its Lenten service and
its spiritual retreats and other special aud
unusual means to awaken religious interest.
These churches make provision in their or
ganc law for special devotion and religious
excitation and reformation. And the Pro
testant churches have welcomed the unusual
and the peculiar revvals of religious life.
They have depended less ON organization
and more on feeling and impulse and the
special agency of the Divine Spirit-but the
work of revival and extensive reformation,
in which the faith of the church is confirmed,
and the feet of multitudes are drawn into
new paths of Christian life, is not unfamiliar
to them.
Such is the terrible pressure of the worldly
life in the souls of men in general such is
their indifference and deafness to religious
things, to the high concerns of the eternal
| life unon xvbich fhn,, az, all s,on,lfl,, - a.,
ter-that the common sense Of mankind, both
secular and religious has always recognized
the propriety and necessity of religious re-
yivals. II is this common sense of men to
which the mission of Moody and Sankey
most happily appeals While their own
hearts are afame with the truths relating to
unseen things, all that they say and do is in
perfect harmony with the most practical and
solid common sense. They speak to the
wants and necessities and convictions of men.
Here and there a secular paper shows its
Ignorance and folly by despising them. Once
in while an eoclesiastc or a priest or a
bigot denounces their labors or sneers at
them, or imagines that they are like a straw
NV ""iNh SNto h'lNleI llSnl HOT warmth
but for the most part, the common sense and
the common wants of men have met their
work with welcomes, and recognized and felt
its unusual power. What its results may be
upon the country at large, or upon the future
religious life of the churches, it may not be
possible to foresee but its immediate results
will doubtless be of the most happy charac-
ter upon thousands of human souls. And
it is quite certain that the great interests of
the Kingdom of God among men have never
been secured by those who were forecasting
ultimate results, but always by those who
have given themselves to the accomplish
ment of immediate effects, upon the hearts
of individual men,
| ANOTHER ROYAL NIsIroR.-'The German
Prince Imperial-F Frederick Wiliam-has
resolved to attend the centennial exposition,
and will bring along with him the boy, now
seventeen, who is to be Prince Imperial when
he gets to be Emperor. Frederick William
will then be forty-fve years of age. lie is
in some respects, the most eminent prince Of
his age, being ten wears the senior of the