Litchfield enquirer., 1875-03-11
MOODY AND SANKEY.
-BINGLEY HALL, BIRMINGHAM, CROWDED EVERY NIGHT WITH 12 ,00O TO 15, 900 SOULS.

THE LAY EVANGELIsTs OF AMERICA IN ENGLAND
 -B1NGLEY HALL, BIRMINGHAM, CROWDED
 EVERY NIGHT WITH 12 900 TO 15, ,O00 SOULS.
 Those who have not access to English newspapers can form no conception of the widespread interest awakened among all denominations, and those ofno denomina- tion, by the visit of the American lay evan gelists, Messrs. Moody and Sankey, of Chicago. They are spending this month ln Liverpool, where a wooden tabernacle. capable of seating nine thousand persons, has been erected at cost of $20, GOO for a single months services.
 They hold three or four meetings each day, and the London Daily NeaOs esti- mates the number of persons addressed in one week in Birmingham at 156, 900.
 The mail just received in this city brings the following account of their labors in that city, which we extract from the Birm- lngham Morning Nea0s, leading secular paper, which, with many of the other se- cular papers of England, continues to give extended accounts of this revival, which, it is said, has not been equaled since the days of Whitfield. Bingley Hall, the largest hall in England, outside of Lon den, has been the scene of some of John Brlght's greatest speeches:-
 From tue Birmingham, Morning News
 Unheralded, and comparatively un- known, Messrs. Moody and Sankey came to England, without any new creed or sec tar1an formula, and straightway began work which gathers power and force as 1t goes on. On dull, raw and inelement Sunday morning in January, snch is the unseen magic of their names, that they can crowd large hall in the centre of practical industrial town with worshipers at an hour which would be considered ear ly even on a week day. That same even- ing they attract to a still larger edifice crowds which would be almost unusual in period of intense national excitement. Again, at noon day, at time when the bench and the desk chain their workers with the strongest bonds, thousands after thousands throng to meet them at the prayer meeting until the Town Hall pre- sents the appearance of a gigantic beehive, swarming with masses of people, to whom 1t Is evident there must be some strong in- ducement thus to forsake the ordinary routine of their lives.
 Nor does the story close here. In the evenings at Bingley Hall is gathered to- gether an assembly which equals the po- pulatlOn of many towns, and degree of enthusiasm manifested which promises to increase the numbers present at every suc- ceeding meeting. And it is not in one place that these surprising results follow the appearance of Messrs. Moody and Sankey. In Dublin, Manchester and Sheffield their advent seems attended with public interest, the cause of which is not more difficult to assign to any ascertain able physical or mental cause than it is astonishing. A small harmonium, a few simple hymns and short stirring address es on religious topics comprise all that the public see or hear Yet the influence of Messrs. Moody and Sankey is overwhelm- ing; and, although 1t may be almost too soon to speak definitely of the permanent results of their labors in "evangelizing the masses, 1t Is not too much to say that in numberless instances they have evoked a state of anxious inquiry with regard to the future in minds which ordinary religious services failed to arouse.
 But what manner of men are these who can lay so firm grip upon the ordinary currents of thought, and compel men im- mersed in the ceaseless strife and compe- tition of trade to turn aside for moment to listen to discouses dealing with the great and solemn questions of Immortali- ty, Heaven, God? In personal appear ance, it must be confessed, there is but little to distinguish them from other men. Both are under forty years of age, of me- dium height, and somewhat robustly built.
 Mr. Moody is darker in complexion than his coltabateur, cultivates beard and mustache, walks with slight stoop, speaks with a rapid impulsive utterance, and quick incision which never flags or | fails: His hair sits closely upon a head which indicates considerable mental pow CT, few locks dropping over the forehead and making 1t appear narrower than it 1 really is. Every action shows intense en- ergy kept in fullest play. Never for an instant, except during prayer, is his eye taken from his hearers. He possesses in an eminent degree that power of feeling the pulse of meeting which all good speakers have more or less. His oratory has all the faint charm and idiomatic terse- ness which Is familiar to readers of what may be termed the household literature of 1 America. He affects neither dialectics nor logic, but makes illustration warm, broad, emotional and sympathetic, take the place of syllogism and propositions. His words evidently come from the heart Every thought is emphasized with a ges- ture, and the whole man dominated with the supreme idea which at the moment is passing through his mind. and which he will state, re-state, and state again to fully impress upon his hearers.
 Mir. Sankey, in more than one way, seems the complement of MT. Moody. Possessing singularly full and powerful voice, capable of an expression ranging from the tenderest pianissimo to a loud, clear clarion note, which rings out full as the blast of a trumpet, his share in the re- vival services is mainly confined to the musical part. A greater contrast could be hardly imagined than that presented between Messrs. Moody and Sankey at the conclusion of an address by the for mer. Every muscle in MT. Moody's body seems quivering with suppressed energy. An audience, whose very magnitude-like the sight of Xerxes' army to it's monarch causes emotion, has been sitting for a few minutes listening to some pathetic an- ecdote like that of "Llttle Eddy" told one evening in Bingley Hall. Suddenly Mir. Moody concludes, his face is in one livid emotional glow. There is a solemn pause. and, playing an almost inaudible accompaniment, MT. Sankey sings hymn with an expression of meditative calm, and dreamy far away aspect which shows his fancy is with the religious scenes or heav- enly attitudes he is so eloquently putting into musical sermon.
 But perhaps, one of the strongest char acteristics of both Messrs. Moody and Sankey is their earnestness. Their utter ances have all the terrible emphasis of men who believe they have matter of the most immediate moment to communicate to those around. To them there is not the slightest doubt that they preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. MT. Moody's fervor fires a telling illustration into an unanswerable demon stration. Grasping hearts he carries the heads of his hearers with him. Death and eternity are wonderful refrains. as the world has often seen, when they sweep again and again over an audience with a directness of appeal which leaves not a single soul in twelve or fifteen thousand people assembled in Binrlev Hall ms