The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-21
STORY OF THE "x1NErY AND WV.
sanEey Tells or the small Chance BeE,np,,, =,
tho Famous Song.

small cause, and what surprising power NAV h.
| exerted in the world BY even so trining n ,Ii,r
as a hymn tune. Tho other day, Just before ~,
| departure for California. Mr.. Sankcy talked a.,
an hour or more about tho Ninety and NI,o"
and could have gone on. no doubt, for non-,
longer without cxhausting the mcmoric, ana
anecdotes connected with this most rcmarkoM.
revival song. The Ninety and Nine" IL olrcal.
OF mans age, for 1t came into tho world in IN.
fall of 1873, n few months after Mr.. Moody ma
Mr.. Sankoy began their first revival camnoipn
IN England. For three months the EvangcNst,
had been laboring in Scotland. and wcrc iu,,
leaving Glasgow for Edinburgh when a trifin,
incident occurred which resulted in the birth ~
this famous hymn.
As the cvangelists were waiting for their trai,
ut tho Glasgow station, Mr.. Sankcy purchnscd
n COPY of the Christidn Age and Limit, n nenpv
religious newspaper which he had never heard
OF, hut thought he would glance over on III.
journey. This newspaper he laid carclcssly on
the scat of the railway carriage. paying no
further heed to 1t till they were some distanc.
on tho way. when want OF occupation made him
take 1t up and begin turning its pages. Mr..
Moody meantime was busy in his corner OF m.
carriage with his correspondence.
As Mr.. Sankcy read he came upon some lttle
verses tucked away at the bottom Of n column
and published anonymously. 1t is doubtful II
he would have noticed the verses at ali had no,
the first two lines caught his eye, hut they had
strength in them. and so ho read on:
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter OF the fold.
So 1t began, and Mr.. Sankey followed down the
lines, while the express for Edinburgh rushed
on at sixty miles an hour.
"Hurrah!" cried Mr.. Sankcy, bringing his hand
Gown on his knee in characteristic enthusiasm,
"I've found the hymn I've been looking for for
years.
"Yesl' said Mr.. Moody. what is itr
Its about q sheep"
"a sheepf
Eyes. a sheep that was lost on the mountains
and carried home by the shepherd
HIN. HIM" said Mr.. Moody, not paying much
attention; read It,"
Mr.. Sankcy did read it, and he put feeling into
his words, for the beauty Of the verses impressed
him.. but when he looked up he saw that Mr..
Moody had heard nothing OF the reading, being
A right" said Mr.. sankey TO himself. " he'll
hear that hymn latter on" and cutting out the
verses from the paper he put them away care
fully for future use.
Afew days after this the evangelists helda
s seHiSSl HAIL. hffetip NJ IN M eaddqe sp5fe at mo the e) e5ss A.;
on the Good Shepherd. and then followed an ad.
dress by DR., Horatius Bonar. the author of IT
and Rest" As DR.. Bonar finished there came
over the meeting that stiffness which indicates
pulpit toward Mr.. sasnker, Who sat atS at ihls his Fis 1t
by the little melodeon. Mr.. Moody said:
,h iM ir,hSiaadn,k ey: haze saSo you anything to sing on
Mr.. Sankey hesitated. He could think o,
nothing directly on the subject except the
sung three times that day by the congregation.
They must have something else. Like a flash it
train" But his second thought was. "How can a
l sing a hymn withouta tune !" Meanwhile the
Snme Tou W TnsnS waiting raj Ing -a IN sll san,s The mS ;5an5 the
opened his little scFaP,book Of solos, found the
struck a full chord and began 10 sins.
nor what chords he played; he took no heed OF
harmony nor of the laws OF musical progression.
he got through the first stanza- And
melodeon, waiting to begin the second stanza.
The thought came TO him, Can ! sing the sec
the notes r. and he concentrated his mind once
more for the effort and began to sing again.
the audience sat still as death until he finished
with the last glad shout:
Rejoice. for the Lord brings back His own.
When it was all over Mr.. Moody came dowA
from the pulpit. and. resting, a hand on Mr..
s SsMsSsneT ss sfipSin:. LOOKED oNl S T,,h friend yendeF b at al, ,h'
" where did you get thai song; l never heard
hht, Sdlt MI. ESdilhCN, Is III uN mu j ECdo
you on the train, the one you didn't hear.
And thus the tune of the Ninety and Nine"
around the world. As it was sung. that day ia
oMn M fha eE I inSpibr ratio s so it It has "a ID, been bsS written t,en
it has been changed, nor would Mr.. sankey con.
sent to the slightest change. not to please all the
The critics say they can see nothing in the
tune Of the Ninety and Nine" said Mi: Sank
cess. That is because critics. with their rules
and theories. make no allowance for inspiration
1t is interesting TO note that in the great gath
ering which thrilled at this first singing OF the
Ninety and Nine was a woman back in one OF
ing OF these words, since she recognized in them
the verses written three years before by her els.
She tried to speak to Mr.. Sankey and thank him
for what he had done, but the crush OF people
Iette zoe from sreI this shI Woman M mas tS oRty t Gm f eysnrdiFss
TO know of this incident and learned the
of the author OF the hymn. That name is
After the first success OF the Ninety and
Nine, There anne many requests to publish The
for n long time, thinking to get better results by
keeping il exclusively for their meetings. espe,
where ythttS Il the enS Words MSfs Mso Sah9f ia.T p a Rtira al seS apprsl
And many II time during subsequent
he HAD the satisfaction of seeing, in the
zlcd, wcather;beaten shepherds. men OF the
mountains. who had come from long distances
here. with tears rolling down their cheeks as
they listened 10 the song story of the shepherd
and the lost sheep. That appealed TO them as
else could.
Oddly enough. tho name by which the hymn 10
known is not the one originally given to it
by Mr:Sankey who preferred TO call il Tho
lost sheep But for some reason the opening
words were the ones that took Mr.. Moody's
fancy, and in giving ont the hymn he would al
ways say: Mr.. Sankey will now sing the
Ninety and Nine" Several times Mr.. Sankey
reminded Mr.. Moody that the song WAS about
he lost sheep. and not about the ninety and
nine that We're safe in the fold. but MI. Moody
would only smile and say: Never mind, the
Ninety and Nine is a good name, and so at last
Mr.. Sankey had TO change the name and IL be-
;ame what il is to-day.