The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-12-13

congregation would sit through the pro-
ceedings as demurely as the frequenters
of Quaker meeting. Here and there a
young gownsman in the outskirts of the
audience might be seen lounging on a
bench with an expression of indolent
aaonchalance on his countenance, show
that he, like Gallo of old, scared for
none of these things" Now and again
the inherent hilariousness of these young
bloods would bubble over at some of Mr..
Moody's pungent and quaint observa-
tions. His numerous "points" were not
only caught up with extraordinary quick
ness of perception, but it sometimes
seemed as if their acute and trained in
tellects anticipated the conclusions at
which he was to arrive.
Notwithstanding such homogeneous ele-
ments the great throng may be said, with
the utmost truthfulness, to have hung on
the preachers lips A burst of hearty
laughter was quickly followed by still
ness that seemed almost painful by the
contrast. Mr.. Moody's sermon was one
of remarkable power and adaptation to
the condition of his auditory. His SUBJ
ject was the value of moral courage in a
bold confession of Christ before men, and
many instances from the Scripture record
were adduced to illustrate this. Thus
by earnest exhortation and by striking
examples, he pressed home the vital ne
cessity of taking bold stand on the side
of God and righteousness, if they would
serve their day and generation Hav-
lngsdismissed the first meeting and gath
cred the large number that remained
into compact body near the platform,
Mr.. Moody, mounting one of the seats,
and adopting more colloquial form of
address, resumed his talk on Confessing
Christ" Nearly all, he said, whose con-
version is recordedin the New Testament
were blessed in the act of obedience. We
want to get back to the simplicity of the
Scriptural idea of conversion. Mr.. Moody
quoted the cases of the Apostles, who
obeyed without hesitation and without
questioning the command or the invita-
ton to follow Christ. 1t will be cross
TO you to confess Christ tonight, but the
best thing to do is to take it up. If you
ever see the kingdom of God you will
have to take up the cross it will never
be easier to take up than now. Who
soever shall confess Me before men, him
shall the Son of Man confess before the
angels of heaven. Think of Jesus Christ
confessing you, and saying, This is my
disciple, Is there not someone here who
is willing to take up his cross and say
right out will p"
Mr.. Moody had not long to wait for
the reply he craved. One strong, man
ly voice, sounding forth the responsive
dissyllable, gave courage to others, and
the stream of Wills came thick and
fast, while Mr.. Moody, with choking ut
terances, intepected such encouraging
remarks as "Thank God I like these
i Wills. Young men, you do
not know how cheering this is; it is
worth whole lifetime of toll" "This
is a Joy that fills me full thank God for
giving you the courage to speak out
" Is there not another here who will take
bold stand for Christ p eff a number
of you were to come right out for God
together, you could change the whole
tone Of this University. 1t makes men
tremble when they see others coming out
and boldly testifying for Jesus" al
could stand here all night and hear these
wills; they are about the sweetest
thing one can hear out of heaven"
But the best was yet to follow. Seeing
how ready was the field for the sickle,
Mr.. Moody hazarded further test,
though he said he had some hesitation in
doing it. He suggested that those sit
ting in the three front seats should va
cate them, and that those who had spoken
out should come, and kneeling there, in
the sight of man. should dedicate them
selves to the Lord. The request was
scarcely uttered before some FIVE or six
rows of seats were filled with solid
phalanx of PROSTATE forms. We have
seen good many of Mr.. Moody's and
other evangelistic meetings, but if we can
trust our memory, eve have never seen
it on this fashion" before. The power
of God seemed to be present in such de-
gree that these young men, many of them
among the cream and flower of the rising
intellect of our land, seemed to be swayed
at His will, like the ripe standing corn
before the breezes OF heaven. We could
but exclaim in our hearts, at is the
Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes.
The meeting for undergraduates, on
Sunday night, was more wonderful still
than any that had gone before There
must have been about l 200 of this i'm
portant section of the Oxford community