The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-10-06

put forth ia connection With this Moody aud sankey
movement who would not be reached, or a.
| ana directly by any other instrumentallty
And II were looking only at Immediate and
direct results, even Of results including brief
future should doubtless regard such efforts good
But there Is something more to all this kind Of thing
than what appears the immediate fruit Ny obserya
uon teaches me that u ISN'T good thing for men usn
ally 10 drink liquor Why notl Does il not produce
| ieViVal IA thor bodies and bralnsY TO be sure II
does Both physical and mental nature work with an
unusual activity and vgor under the influence Of the
liquor And this would be something very much
i 70 DC desired, n only there wore not something
else sure 70 follow. What is thatS reaction. The
excitement OF body and mind has been natural but
unnatural, and hence tho penalty must OF q sub
sequent sinking below the natural level equal to the
preceding artificial forcing above IT, So 1t is with All
unnatural excitements what part OF our ma
ture they affect So 1t forever be with such re-
! hgious exctemonts necessarily stirred up in re-
vva meetings But IL Is replied There is no excite
! ment' The meetings are very quiet Efforts
made to avoid excitement All men that talk thus
DO not know what they are saying have had part In
element and know thai the excitement OF them is
absolutely tremendous The profoundest agitatons Of
mind are often stesk But this matter Of necessary
reacuon does not express my whole thought lew
moments ago you used the illustration OF fire OF shaw
ngS | am glad you did, for this reason: phe Of
shavings set on IRE not only bazes up quickly and
high and then very goes out in
this respect resembles most reviyals, bat IT
also leaves blackened spot where II was
Who that has had his eyes open at all in reference 70
these things does not know that in almost all
munltes there arc large numbers OF persons who az
time or another have been brought directly under
revival influences and have experienced what was
called conversion, and for little while have been
under the delicious frenzy OF feeling which revival
lists talk much about and which people supposed
always 70 get in connection with cornerstone This de-
lghtful state Of feeling lasted little while and then
when the revvast was gone and the meetings began
TO fewer and duer and the regular routine OF
excited daily life gone back TO lttle by little, 10
somehow grew fainter and fecbler, and they
1t was gone altogether And then they awoko 10 the
consciousness that IL had been, at least to
large extent only delicious dream born OF
the magic influence OF the reyiyalist and
the unreazed but the less powerful excitement
OF the meetings What is the RESULT These persons
turn away, some in sorrow, some in almost anger
more in mockery and gddncss, most OF all in ndiiler
stolid and growing indifference with reference
10 the whole subject OF religion. And what Of these
persons henceforth? You need not talk religion TO
them thank you-they have tried It. Your revival has
done for their religious nature just what that shaving
IRE did for tho green grass under III 70 use better
illustration STILL il has done what forest
fires do for woods- found verdure and life il left
blackness and death From that tmc they are relig
iously burned over and the number Of people in this
country who thus reigiousy burned over, as the
result OF REVEALS, is immense Nor is even that IN my
Judgment the worst thing about revivals they
a clergyman, and before know 1t fall TO preaching
But; sir shall hold that you the responsible party
for asking my opinion about this thing You must
learn TO turn faucet unless you want the water
10 rum
ssNo no. go on You haven't inundated me yet
When the flood gets too great Ill let you know"
SOUL srfMULAsTs
swell, sir, only one more thought As began 20
say the worst thing about this revival matter, in my
Judgment is not the reaction that follows what
have called the burning over of the religious nature
OF many people who come within the sweep OF its
fires. The worst thing about it all, as think Is the
fact that 1t tends to perpetuae itself mean every
revival tends to produce state OF things in which re-
yivals necessary As long continue to have
revivals must have them 1t is only stop
having them that we can ever come into that healthy
and normal condition of things in which they will not
seem to be necessity As it is now, the people OF
this country educated TO the state Of depending
upon them On the part of the irregious the feeling
is very widely prevalent Yes | viii give attention
to religion sometime when happen TO get into re-
are putting of tho beginning or religious Rs
life and the identifying OF themselves with
religious people and the moral reformation OF their
characters accoant OF the feeling that the proper
time to make such beginning is somehow a time Of
general religious awakening Nor is 1t any better on
the part OF the churches They have learned to put
their dependence upon revivas degree that
amentable influence upon themselves. Too many
churches everywhere have fallen into the habit OF
sleeping months of every year. because these nine
months not the revival months and only waking up
when the regular revival months come round And
then, when the mes OF reviving" come, revival
preached, revival hymns resurrected the
attention OF tho people begins TO be called 70 DEATH and
the judgment and heaven, and he'll, and all that class
OF subjects which work most upon the Imagination and
feelings and have least TO do with the duties and
sponsbilities OF this life and as result revival is
produced think there is almost nothing that operates
powerfully 10 porvert the ideas OF the Christian
people OF this country regarding tho treu nature
and right methods OF moral and religious
growth and education as revivals think there Is
almost nothing that stands so much in the way OF
and intelligent work the part Of the churches
tho OF sanitary reform and social REFORM and
educational reform ana setting in operation and carry
ing forward the thousand agencies that might be en-
ployed to improve the physical and social and mental
and through these the moral and spiritual condition OF
the OF the people as the cxcitcments and sont
mentasms and .other worldliness'' OF rcvivaE. And
SO say that while see in revvals some good, shnk
in them still OF harm In all these direc-
tions mentioned; and hence while rejoice IN tho mod
good that comes utofthem, confess that the
whole can scarcely help but wish that revvas, we
now see them, might cease to be Very likely u they
should from this time there might seem to be
for while loss But am convinced that 1t would be
loss that would result ere long in real and nowse
Insignificant gain in the way OF the incoming OF vastly
intelligent ideas and methods OF doing good and
benehting men, and building up the true kingdom Of
heaven on earth There, sir you asked me for my
views on this revival matter / have given them to
you in as few words IS l could However II should
try to condense my thought still more, should say
that revivalism too generally appears in this age
and the idea Of soulsaying that underlies It, 10
to TO be in religion essentially what quackory and
patent pill taking is in medicine"
CHRISTIANS AS MISSIONARIES.
'Do you think that liberal Christians generally in
this country will favor the work OF Mr. Moody or will
they oppose III"
81 do not know, sir As you must be aware, among
Unitarians moro than perhaps among any other body
OF Christians, every church takes its course
Independently OF Others, and every minister
stands on his own feet My opinion is, how
ever that Untarans generally will take essentially
the that have taken here, viz Go right for
ward to preach what they regard to be truth and
what falls in their regular way TO do with little refer
TO anything done or said by Mr. Moody outside,
making no demonstrations Of opposition whatever,
unless driven TO It in sell defence think our denom
InAllOn, dS WHOM, wiz very nearly bouSptou
70 everything which Mr. Moody or Mr. Sankey can do
to accomplish any good However, have no doubt
that the revlvalists will find not few of our ministers
and aymen in different places where they 60 daring 10
ask some pointed, and, possibly, rather unwclcome
questions TO the truth Of some OF the doctrines
preached and the proprety of some OF the methods
| poyed in their meetings II must be confessed that
Unitarans have the dsagreeable habit OF not always
taking things for granted and OF insisting sometimes
| upon looking deeper than labels.n
/
'SThe personal relations between yourself and Mr..
| Moody friendly supposoW
s'0h most certainly; perfectly SO much regretted
tho necessity Of word that seomed to be in
way In opposition 10 his meetings only did 80 when,
have already intimated, driven 70 II In self
defence IL he had preached one sermon or two, or
three, matter how fully charged they might have
been with doctrines that antagonize my own faith,
should probably have said nothing II was not until
the meetings had gone on week after week. and every
single distinctive doctrine OF Uniiarianism had been
attacked again and again. that uttered In public any
thing In any sense controversial And then u WAS