The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-11-01
The BrooAlyn RcviyaIists.

An inquir!ng philosopher who would
| comprehend the extraordinary power Of
! 5iooDY and SANIlEY. should make personal
observation of their Individuality and
traits, their methods of operation, their
work and its fruits. lie should also ex-
anime the ideas which they declare, the
spirit in winch they labor ana the objects
ut which they ann While doing so. he
should keep in view the nature and pecu-
larities of personal influence. the various
ways in which it may be exercised the
general and special qualities Of the human
mind, and the mental aud moral condition
Of the material with which they deal. He
must also notice how the doctrines which
they enforce are related to the tradi-
tional feeling, the training and the be-
lief of their audiences. He must take
account of times and circumstances. lie
must not lose sight of those mysterious in
1uences which act upon the human soul
and are not 10 be measured in any way
known TO reason Having gone over this
ground thoroughly, with the best lights
afforded him, he should make compari-
son of the phenomena of this revival
and other revivals, aud should study
the points of difference or resemblance
between the new revivalists and those
OF previous times. II II seem that we
have thus laid out hard work for the
mquirlng philosopher, we must remind
him that a matter Of such magnitude and
mtricacy cannot be properly comprehend
cd at "a single glance.
MOODY and SANKEY are "plGin people "
to Use u favorte phrase of ABRAHAM
LINCOLN in the sense he gave it-plain in
their minds plain in their ways, aud plain
in their language. Brother MOODY is not
of scholarly habit. lie does not poss IS a
trained mind IN thought he is narrow and
shallow. In language, his vocabulary is
moagre. lie is not gifted with elo-
quence of any sort. He has Il very limited
power of rntioCination. lie l. almost
wholly destitute of the faculty Of imagina-
ton, and lis only Illustrations are stories
which, though sometimes touchinglv told,
are Of very poor quality as stories. lie
never studied doctrinal Theology. ana Is
not at all oonvorsant with the mooted
questions Of Biblical Interpretation. He
does not seem to be n man Of marked
ability, natural or acquired, in any direc-
ton, aud we have not been able to dis
cover IN him any such force of character
ms could help to account for lis success.
There is an ll-delincd sort Of thing called
personal magnetism, which some people
suppose 10 he the secret of individual in
huence; but so far as we have ever found
out What is implied by that term, aLd 50
far as we have observed the men who are
said 10 be its pOssessors-men like HEYnY
CLAY, for eXample-we do not see that 1t
exists, to any extent, in Brother MOODY.
In many Of these respects Mr. MOODY
differs from other renowned rovivalists.
JONI WESLEY and GEORGE WHITFIELD
were scholars and theologians, men of
eminent intellect and possessed OF great
powers Of eloquencc. WHITFIELD WIS Il
consummatc orator, had glowing imagi-
nation, and moved the vast mutitudes
whom he addressed through forces which
are appreciable by the human mind.
WESLEY was not ouly a man of rich speech,
but had the very genius of CARNoT for
organization. Furthermore, both of them
were men of great natural force and siril-
ing personal character. The celebrated
revvalists of our own times, before the
appearance of MOODY and SANKEY, were
the Rev. MIR. EINNEY Elder KNAPP, ana
the Rev. Mr.. HAMMOND, the last named of
whom has recently been operating in the
Western StaIes. KNAPP was rude man,
an cNtrayagant sensationalist OF the most
eXcitable ana exciting kind, aud won such
success rs he had, among people who were
liable to be carried away by hi, appeals.
About HAMMOND we know less though we
understand that his power is principally
over children, who are easy victims to sem
timcntaliiy ana terror. FiNNEY, the most
notable Of those named, wrought out great
results in his time. As a divine, ne was
! learned in theology aud. meiaphysic- be-
| longcd TO the school Of high CaYinism,
and possessed . logical faculty 81 such OK
J uao4 binary potency that, whoa once he