The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-04-14

oegging the c0ngregdtiou W ue very oVi
that the words might be heard throug hou
the hall, Mr.. Sankey sang the hymn as
solo to his own accompaniment. He has
very distict enunciation and a high baritone
voice Of naturally good quality, but without
cultivation. His manner, however, is I'm.
pressive, and as variation of the service i!
is not without effect. Some persons, how
ever, made himself heard in the body of the
hall while Mr.. Sankey was singing, and on
the termination of the hymn began to ap.
plaud. Thereupon Mr.. Moody admonished
the stewards that if a man came into the
meeting under the influence of liquor they
would have to remove him, and then he in
vited the congregation to rise and sing the 6lst
Hymn while the stewards fulfilled this iunc'
ton. The vast audience were soon on their
feet, and while the first verse of Rock OF
Ages" was being vigorously declaimed an
ellsrlJgmap Of respectable appearance was
$ run oLs' lsty two of the white wanded Of
li'sS.s swbo2seemed to use an unnecessary
4rnoua igor in ejecting the delinquent.
the pnpleas. ,nta little episode appeared to
distract the attention Of the congregation,
who Jagged 30 much behind their conductor
that he appealed to them to sing little
quicker the last verse which went very much
better for the remainder. Mr.. Moody, whose
energy and decision of character seemed to
have thoroughly impressed the congregation,
now read the first chapter of the 1st Epistle
to the Corinthians, beginning at the 18th
verse, "For Christ sent me not to baptise
but to- preach the Gospel not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be
made of none effect" &c. He emphasized
especially the 9th and 2Sth verses in which
the Apostle declares that God chooses the
foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, weak things to confound things which
are mighty, base things, things which are
despised, and things that are not, to bring
to naught things that are. On this passage,
as text, he spoke with an effect more due
to his intense energy and obvious earnest
ness of manner than to anything in the mat.
ter of the discourse. Mr.. Moody speaks
very rapidly, and his enunciation is singu-
larly distinct; but there is an American ac-
cent of very prononce character, and the
discourse was disfgured by American idioms
and applications of words that at times were
rather startling. His language is simple
and we'll calculated to impress uneducated
hearers, while his illustrations and anecdotes
are pertinent and effective. In commencing
his discourse he said there were great many
Christians in London who were praying for
GoA 70 ho hoA
letters from great many. The thing he
had feared most in coming to London was
that many might be leaning upon man, or
upon the arm Of flesh, or upon great meet
inga and getting their eyes off from the
Lord. Now, if there was good to be worked
in London, God must do the work. 1t was
not any new Gospel which London wanted
no new power, but some of the old power of
the Holy Ghost, some of the cold story"
They were net going here and there with
something new; they came with the old, old
story; and if that congregation had come
expecting to hear something new they would
be disappointed. They had merely come to
preach the old truths, which the hundreds of
ministers he saw before him had been preach
ing. Hundreds of men in London could
preach better than he could, and if they were
leaning upon man they would be disap-
pointed. He then proceeded to illustrate
the spirit of the passage he had read by il
lustrations from the Old Testament of the
unpromising instruments God had chosen to
accomplish the most difficult tasks. Moses,
Enoch, Noah, Sampson, Gideon, David,
Elisha, were all laid under contribution to
this end in flow of language that never
ceased for the fraction of a second, and that
never tagged, the force and earnestness Of
the speaker seeming to carry the congrega-
tion with him, and to suspend any inclination
to be critical In conclusion he said Let
US then advance in solid columns; let us keep
our eyes singly to the honor and glory of
Christ, and then we shall have good success.
Let our watchword be "Here am l, Lord ;
send me-" The congregation were then in
vited to sing an appropriate hymn, "Here
am Il send me; out Mr.. Sankey suggested
an alteration, aid I" Hold the Fort" was sung
instead. Mr.. Moody then announced that
there would be prayer meeting in Exeter
Hall this morning, and repetition of the
service in the Agricultural Hall in the even
ing. DR.. Allen pronounced the Benediction,
and the vast Assembly slowly streamed forth
from the several exits of the hall.