Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-11-30
DWIGHT L. MOODY.
.rossions of the Great Evan
gclist and Preacher,

ucClurc'- Magazine
r...-r1aruumber of McCmre's Magazine is
,.aI interest by the introduction as a
.,.. feature Of an article on d. l.. Moodv's
49,. and g.ur. los Prof. Henry Drummond, who
'...,r. Mr. Moody one of the most extraordi-
..... whom America has produc d. TIL.
''.... t,r, given will be read with especial
,r..t r Uruttlehoro and vicinity, where Mr.
,..t,f. SID well known The magazine article
Illustrated with many halt-tone views of
y,rraclI persons and places
rny.,cyen years ago (Feb ruary ), 1887
nr-bt LYMAN Moody was born in the
.wS New England valley where, as al
,', said. he lives today Four years
,sr Nj, father died. leaving widow, nine
5ilrsn-thc eldest but ID years of age
,1,,le home on the mountain side, and an
'.-sor two of mortgaged land. How this
-.loU ,houldered her burden of pow
..,r debt and care, how she brought
nbar helpless flock, keeping all together
n iba old home, educating them, and send
-r Them out into life stamped with her
avn indomitable courage and lofty princi-
10 is one of these unrecorded histories
those page. when time unfolds it, will be
,,rnl flo contain the secret of nearly all
@ot is greatest in the worlds past. 1t is
sicbtfu to think that this mother has
,r-yypl to see her labors crowned, and
sal lives. venerable and beautiful figure,
near the scene of her early battles. There,
rasunny room of the little farm, she sits
With faculties unimpaired, cherished by an
.rire community, and surrounded with all
No love and gratitude which her children
md her children's children can heap upon
her,
Until his 18th year Mr. Moody's boy
hood was spent at home. What a merry,
ll7enturous, rough-and-tumble boyhood it
nrst have been! How much fuller of es-
9pade than of education, those who knew
Nh Moody's irrepressible temperament
and buoyant humor will not require the
,nlitions of his Mortified schoolmates to
8 recall The village school was the only
seminary he ever attended, and his course
vas constantly interrupted by the duties
Of the home and of the farm. In
rocent at this stage of religion" he was
known in the neighborhood simply as a
raw lad. high-sprited, generous, daring,
with will of his own, and certain auda-
d0us originality which, added to the fiery
energy of his disposition, foreboded a prob
able future either in the ranks of the in
Nrigbes or if fate were kind, perchance
Of the immortas.
Somewhere about his eighteenth year
The turning point came. Leaving school,
the boy had set out for Boston, where he
bad an uncle, to push his fortune. His
uncle, with some trepidation, offered him a
place in his store; but, seeing the kind of
nature he had to deal with, laid down GER
an conditions which the astute man
thought might at least minimize explo-
sons One of these conditions was. that
the lad should attend church and Sunday
school These inhuences-and it is inter
sting to note that they are simply the nor
nal influences of Christian society-did
their work. On the surface what appear:
sthis; that he attended church-to order,
A listened with more or less attention
m, he went to Sunday school, and, wher
recovered his breath, asked awkward
ustons of his teacher; that, by and by
1an he applied for membership in the
gregation, he was summarily rel ed
III told to wait six mouths until he learned
i attle more about it; and lastly, that sale
'iOd of probation having expired, he wa
V received into communion. The de
FIVE instrument during this period seem
1have been his Sunday school teacher
Edward Kimball, whose influence upol
charge was not merely professional
but personal and direct. In private friend
ship he urged young Moody to the suprem
decision, and Mr.. Moody never ceased t.
express his gratitude to the layman VIII
met him at the parting of the ways, an
led his thoughts and energies in the direC
ton in which they have done such servic
to the world.
The taunt is sometimes levelled at re
Lgion, that mainly those become religion
teachers who are not fit for anything else
The charge is not worth answering; but
is worth recording that in the case of MI
Moody the very reverse is the case.
Mr.. Moody had remained in business, ther
is almost no question that he would hav
been today one of the wealthiest men /
the United States. His enterprise, his o.
ganizng power, his knowledge and MAJ
agement of men are admitted by frlen
and foe to be of the highest order.
Let any one visit Mortified, with its mob
piles of institutions, or study the history
the work conceived, directed, financed
and carried out on such colossal scale
Mr.. Moody during the time of the World
Fair at Chicago, and he will discover Il
himself the size, the mere intelectu
quality creative power, and organizin
skill Of the brain behind them.
Undiyerted, however, from deeper pu
pose even by the glamor of successf
business life, Mr. Moodys moral and r
ligOus instincts led him almost from Il
day of his arrival in Chicago to devo
what spare time he had to the work OF u
church. He began by hiring four pews
the church to which he had attached hlI
self, and these he attempted to dill eve
Sunday with young men like himself. In
work for a temperament like his SOC
proved too slow, and he sought fuller GU
lets for his enthusiasm. Applying for u
post Of teacher in an obscure Sundi
school, he was told by the superlntende
that it was scholars he wanted, not teac
ers but that he would let him try his hal
if he could find the scholars. Next Su
day the new candidate appeared with
procession of eighteen urchins, ragge
rowdy, and barefooted, on whom
Siraightway proceeded to operate. HUI
ing up children and general recruiting
mission halls remained favorte pursu
for years to come, and his success was s.
nal. In all this class of work he was
natural adept, and his early experiences
ascout were full of adventure. THIS W
probably the most picturesque period
Mr. Moody's life, and not the least user
Now We find him Notwithstanding IN !
slums; again, visiting among the docl
and finally, he started a mission or MS o.
IN one of the lowest haunts of the CT