The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-05
sOME NEW DOOKs.
ARcmurhnblc Life and Career.

Its import, to the precise or philosophical mind
but yet, as we open the book, II leads Us to nope
that we may here he abie to discover the secret
Of that power which the most successful Of mod
cru reyiyaists, Mr.. Moody, has, for years past,
exercised over the minds ~ multtudes OF his
fellow men In Great Britain and the United
etates. We do not see why We should be told,
tust a. Brother Moody IL to DO set before us In
this volume, that distractions are feeble" for
sometimes they are incalcul ,bly strong; or that
truths need bodles." for many truths cannot
possibly be embodied but we hasten through
such sentences, though they have an oracular
look about them. and give us the trouble to
think OF their emptiness.
Dwight l.. Moody, now 40 years OF age. came Of
old New England stock. which hal remained for
generations In tho Massa chusetts town Of North
field, and he was the SIKH child IN a family OF
seven sons and two daughters. lie was yet
In childhood nc the death OF his flther,
who was a mason by trade; and his widowed
mother, left by this event I'm state of poverty.
had hard struggle to maintain her brood Of
little children In their mountain cottage, uvon
an acre or two OF land. hut she WIS a woman
OF intelligence and thrift IA well AZ OF piotv-
che was OF the Unitarian faith-and by putting
her oldcr boys out at work she managed TO ret
along In an economical way. with some resist
Rnce from her brothers In Boston. Dwight was
soon tiken into the family " her pastor "a AN
errand boy AMI school boy; hut the good man
was often sorely perpexed with him, so full was
he OF pranks and nonsense. All the youngsters
were In the haiti Of spending every Sunday with
their mother at home, aud II Is pleasant pic
ture that Is presented to us when shown
how ehe used to gather them all round her on
on old settle In the porch, or under one OF the
great suear-maple trees I'm the front yard, n II
we're summer time, and read to them out Of the
books which they brought home from the Sun
day school library. We behold another inter-
esting picture when she and her numerous chill
drcn sat down at table to their s,anty meals.
and she reclted texts OF Scripture or verses Of
hymns, which they repeated after her In chorus.
Her Unitarianism Hinged her mind aud life. She
could not take the same comfort that her ortho-
dox neighbors took In the thought that the great
or part OF the human race were foredoomed TO
perdtlon, and she herself could never reach tn at
sondition known as willingness to be damned"
though often exhorted to strive after this state
Of mind, upon which great stress was then lid
by tho orthodoxy Of Massachusetts,. She mad
Vievous experience with one Of her children,
who PLAYED the part OF prodieal son: and
Brother Moody is very fond. nowadlvs, OF tell
ing that story, which Is full Of pathetic features
that are sure to touch the emotions OF an au-
dience.
The hoy wight grow up strong and hearty. He
bad vigorous constitution and plenty OF ami
NAL spirits, with boundless am oition an an I'M
Fielding will. He was proud and he I'D strong,
ana was all the time undertaking things far be-
Tond his years. We are not surprised o. be told
lint, at this period Of hs life, " he hal little
iath In prayer :" but vet II appears that when a
heavy pile Of fence rails once fell IN him, he
begged for Divine assistance In crawling out.
HIS mother MANAGED nm u some extent. but
she could never succeed In getting him to learn
anything at the district school whicn he at
tsnded. Up TO his seventeenth year. when he
bad t. leave school. he was ths most mischev-
nus Of all the school boys, and perplexed his
teacher bv his wldness Just AS he had previously
perplexed his pastor. The reputation which he
had for audacity was ecu He'd only by that
which he had for Inability To learn yet nobody
could help seeing that there was something In
him.
Then he struck out from home. and soon
landed In Boston. His uncle, who had a boot
and shoe store there, saw what " wild Young
colt" he was. thought he would GO straight to
ruin and refused to give him place He beat
eround for situation without getting It, and
40, at the end II a week, he was disgusted with
Boston. where nobody appreciated him. " lie
was adrif in the world, Which cared no more
spar" At last, in his extremity his uncle Of.
fered to give him place In his store, with very
small wages, on condition that he
would attend certain orthodox church,
ana do sundry other things. He soon
turned cut TO be hrst-class salesman,
able TO dispose Of more goods than any other
person In the store. HE was sharp observer
OF human nature, quick to take advantage Of
ever thing In his favor, ALWAYS on the alert, and
ready for any emergency. His idea OF business
was struggle with mankind, out of which the
hardest heads and the sharpcst wits were sure TO
come with the largest Influence and the longest
purse Ill, habit Of striking out right and left
sometimes raised an uproar In the whole estao-
hshment; snd II any one offended him he would
ny into fury, which, however, was sure to be
short lived. His uncle put up with him because
OF his success In business. After a while the at.
Tendance At church began to tell upon hlm and
he greatly admired the pr, acher. a giant In body
and mind, whom he believed to be even wiser
and STRONGER than himself. He could not bear
90 60 to Sunday school but in time he got
Interested even there and one Sunday, when the
lesson happened to 10 about Moses, his teacher
was deliehted at the utterance Of his nrst re-
mark, that "Moses was what YOU would call a
pretty smart sort OF man, wasn't her" But
notwithstanding all this, he hated the people at
chur5h, because they were so rich, and proper
and pious, and proud. AT last the heart OF the
csntankerous young fellow began TO be soft
eDed by the preaching, and under the guidance
OF a friend he was brought to repentance and
conversion. with the same enthusiasm In re-
leion as In everything else, he soon began to
speak at the church meetings but his style Of
fend d some Of the brethren and sisters, who
advised him to hold his tongue till he could talk
sdifyingly. lie posted himself up In orthodox
theology, and Joined the church. The old Adam
molested him, but, us he had set his face like a
nnt toward heaven, he sturdly resisted the devil,
and always got on his feet again whenever be was
tFipped up. 1t WAS impossible to suppress his
real. which was las ire shut up In mis- bones"
giving out smoke as we'll as heat and no had
so much TO say at the meetings that he became
bore 10 the stad members, and the ,stor put
an e1tinguisher on him. No one, says the book
we are noticing, made a careful study of this
young steam engine convert" aud so, as he
felt like Gagged bird in Boston. he began 70
dream Of the West where an rrepIessible speci.
men could 1nd room.
He now struck out for Chicago, full OF ambi.
lion to make his fortune and propauata thu