Litchfield enquirer., 1876-05-04
Rnus.r n m. .,.pnoarome.

4M k<&@N'@ ~S ~@A4- @~@~Ay &~. AA S0c Sar sk Nsw Ysxk aal ros attend the meet E<x Sf MSso.3v and Sankey, st Ae Hip Psa~@e. wo@3 very likely make him li- aAaess tAe eA@sge Of hezthenism. Last SahAzGA tEnsA<z9 fszad me in the great ssr. RGnw wiah the larks and taking an e4zay hEs&kfMzA s0ws to get good start, 2s seAnrk 1vself snd friends were at the dse< uf she HippOdrOme. At least in ssg& af e@e of the door, for every en- t<azeewas hessiged svea at that early hour ex 3a fz@eas< thruag of people anxious ss gain @1@itkanre- Eight o'clock Has ths Aoar fur the anrvice to begin. We took position on the outside of the crOwd, and tn tke 11adIe 0F the street. and pa- ss<naly avzifea the opening of the door
 Saoxtlw after. upon a signal from the in- side. the doors were thrOwn open, and thea eonnenced the struggle tO gain ad- uift1nee. Inch by inch we made pro- Eress to~aris the goal After time we sacreesled m reaching and obtaining d fo0thold apoa the sidewalk, and then felt that oar entrance vas snre; but alas for oar hopes. ~e had made but few feet advance frosn this position, when the sound uf the bell announced that the hall was full. and the door was shut, apparent " leAvings larger nnmter outside than had entered. Greatly disappointed at their ill-suecess, the crowd fingered awhile and then began to disperse. many going to their homes. while large numbers at- tended the ''Overflow meeting" held in the smaller hall on Fourth Avenue. At this place a large congregation was gathered. The services were contincted by Rev. s. A. Tyng Jr. and remarks were make by Rev D.. Ormiston sBd others. Neither Mir. Moody or AIr. sankqy took part in this meeting. aIthoughyt was the hope of many that Mr. Sankex would favor them with one of his hymns But your cores pondent's disappointment was only for short time, for he had the tender from a clergyman of a ticket admitting to the platform at the ladies meeting, in the af- ternOon. To this, accompanied by lady friend, we sought admission. Here too we found thousands waiting about the doors to gain entrance, many of whom were destined to fail, like Zaccheus of old. because of the press. Entering the door leading to the platform (which by the way would accommodate nearly as many as an ordinary church) we were soon seated in position where we could have fine view of the hall and of the speaker.
 In few moments the doorswere open- ed, and such a rush for seats was made as I had never before witnessed first in first served. was the practice. In an incredibly short time the hall was fill ed, the doors shut, and those outside had fhs privilege of attending the "overfow" meeting in the smaller hall. As soon as the immense multitude had become seat ed and quieted, Mir. Moody entered and immediately commenced the service by re- quesfing Mir. Sankey to Hing, ''shall we meet beyond the river ?' which he render. ed with such effect as to bring tears to the eyes of many of his heaSers Mir. Moody then made prayer and read portion of Matthew XVII. Mr. SanAey then sang Waiting and Watching" being accom- panied by Nit Ehatcher. tho leader 3f.the choir whose remarkably clear falsetto voice produced m impression sinever to sbe forgotten. Twas heavenly. MT. Moody took his text from the 22d verse of the same chapter "What shall I then do with Jesus, which is called Christ ?" He commenced by saying that this was prob. ably the last time that We should see each other. For ten weeks he had been preaching to us, and now the time had come when each individual before him should decide for herself this greatest of all questions; what will yom do with Christ He pressed the question home to his hearers in plain and deeply i'm pressive manner. In conclusion he said that when holding meetings in Farwell hall, in Chicago, he had made the great. est mistake of his life. He had there de. livered i've discourses on the life of Christ, and had been speaking from this text, when he told his hearers that he would give them one week in which to decide as to their answer to this question. While he was yet speaking the fire bell sounded out the alarm for the confagration which before morning had laid half the city in ruins, swept from existence the hall in which he had been speaking, and hur- ried in to eternity hundreds of souls. h. stead of giving them week to decide he should have pressed them for a decision at once. At the conclusion of the sermon. MT. Moody called upon all anxious to become Christians to rise, to which invitation great number responded. He then offer ed an earnest p ayer in their behalf, and. while the congregation sang hymn the anxious ones were invited to pass into the inquiry rooms. There not being room enough for all in these rooms the Fourth Avenue Hall had to be opened to accom- modate them.
 In the evening Mir. Moody preached the same sermon to the hall filled with men. This remarkable series of meetings. has now been brought to close. so far as Moody and Sankey are concerned, and the building in which they have been held will be used for other purposes. For more than ten weeks they have attended from two to three services. six days each week, and the interest in them has been increas- ing every week, so that the last days were marked by large audiences than ever. That the result has been of great good cannot for. moment be doubted. It is manifest not only in the large numbers who have joined the different churches in New York City. but also in the increased activity of the ministers and thousands of Christians. And another hapnv ,esult of