The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-23
Moody, preaching in Boston, converted
a son Of that very teacher.
IrNrTu, ADTANr DIV C,DErn

I A UNITARIAN b CttEED.
At Northfield Mr. Moody had attend
/ ed with his mother the Unitarian
church, and he was not well grounded
in evangelical truths. Besides his
bashful shyness in the presence of Gull
trred Christians, his poor command of
words in which to express his thoughts
e-2d his broken, awkward sentences,
caused his teacher to use these words
regarding him: He is very I'M
likely to become a Christian of clear
and decided views of gospel truth, still
less to fill any extended sphere of pub
! lie usefulness" The youth was not
accepted into church membership until
May, 1856, year after his first appli-
cation.
! In September Of that year he went
to Chicago and became a salesman in
the shoe trade. Then it was that he
: began to show that peculiar gift which
/ has characterized his later life, and
which made him such a power with
young men. He showed his earnest
spirit by renting four pews in the
church, which he kept filled with young
men and boys. Offering to teach a
class in the Sunday school of the
church. he was told that there was no
vacancy, but that he could have a class
| if he would bring his own scholars.
/
The challenge was sufficient, and the
next Sunday morning he marched into
| the room at the head of eighteen rag
ged boys, whom he had gathered from
| the street From this beginning, he
went to work as a tract distributor,
and soon set up a mission for himself
in the neglected part of North Chicago,
where he paid the rent Of an empty
| tavern and gathered the rude children
of the neighborhood for Sunday SER
vice, while their incorporate parents
were reached in the evening meeting.
! To a friend he said: Il have got only
one talent 1 have no education, but
| l love the Lord Jesus Christ, and l
want to do something for him."
| Thirteen years afterward his friend
said: THAT same man shook Scotland
| to the very centre, and then when his
name was known throughout the world,
| his request in a letter was: Pray for
! me every day; pray that the Lord VIII
| keep me humble" The growth of Mr..
| Moodys school in Chicago led to the
| occupation of North Market hall, and
John B. Farwell became its superin-
| tendent The attendance was large,
| reaching 1000 scholars and 60 teachers.
| For years Mr.. Moody swept and
| cleaned the hall on Saturday night after
| it had been used until late hour for
| dancing, and reduced his own expenses
| by doing without home, sleeping on a
| bench III a room of the Young Mems
| Christian association
WORK DURING WAA
He was a busy man during the war.
| He insisted that an association camp
| should be erected at Douglas prison. 1t
| was done. He divided his time between
| it and the front. He was on the ground
among The wounded at Pittsburg Land
| ing, Shiloh and Murfreesboro, with the
army at Cleveland and Chattanooga
| and among the first to enter Richmond
| This patriotic and humanitarian work
| increased the admiration for him in the
Market hall district. There was need
| for a tabernacle. He figured that ii
would cost $4,000 to build one large
| enough for the work. He started out
| to get that sum. 1t was erected in Il
| linois street. The tabernacle became
! such q power that pressure was
| brought to have him organize regular
! church. This he discouraged. encour-
aging the converts to join the church
| nearest their homes and get actively al
| work in other fields. He sought advice
| from all ministers, and at a council hello
| by the clergy in the tabernacle it was
| decided wise to organize a church. II
| started with a membership of 300. II
was started as a Congregational insti-
! tuition, bus the Congregationalists have
| never counted Mr.. Moody as a member
| of their clergy.
/ 1t is odd to know that this greatest
of all evangelists became an evangelist
| by accident. At the time of the Chi
| cago fire, in 1871, he had his own church
in the big city by Lake Michigan. Mr.
Sankey was with him. Neither haG
any thought of changing his place OF
| residence. In fact, Mr.. Moody says
| the idea of leaving Chicago even for 6
| night appalled, him. Then came the
| Chtcao fire, and the fire bells sounded
| the requiem Of the big church that ha(
just been completed for him.
| Homeless and churchless, he wen
| over to England to remain until new
| building was completed in Chicago, il
! which he could preach. OF course, he
| worked while in London. It would BIZ
as impossible for Mr.. Moody not t
work as for the sultan. Of Turkey tt
admit that he was wrong in his Ar
| menian policy,
THE work grew a good deal more thar
| 1 had any idea it would said Mr.. Moo.
| dy, land the first I knew I was an evan.
gelist. That is just how it happened
| So, you see I am an accidental evan
gelist, and have been moving around
ever since"
When pressed for information as tt
how many meetings he had held he
said he couldn't tell without good dea
of thinking. One of his secretaries sale
| between five and six hundred meet.
ings. from one to six weeks in length
Mr. Moody bucked at the expression
of an opinion as to how many souls he
| had saved. He was not vainglorious or
that point Thousands of converts hat
been made-as for example during the
| great revival meeting in London ir
1875.
/ A hundred thousand converts would
be within the mark. This, the evangeI-
list thought, would cover the 40 years
work. He didn't know how many had
finally conquered. Hoped most of then
had, but feared not.
EVIDENCES OF HIS WORK.
A visit to the little village of North
| field, where Mr.. Moody lives. will show
where the money raised by the evangel-
list has gone. A noble pile of religious
and educational institutions have
sprung up there.
There is hardly a great city in the
/ English speaking world in which Mr.
| Moody has not left behind him some
visible memorial. His progress through
| Great Britain and Ireland is marked
| today by halls, churches, institutions
| and other buildings that owe their cree
ton wholly to his influence He has
largely housed the Young Mems Chris
tian association in more than so cities
His evangelical work in Chicago dur
ing the worlds fair was the most dar-
4 ing and colossal work of evangelical
/ tion ever attempted. The financing of ii
alone involved hundreds of thousands
| of dollars.
Mr.. Sankey, it was explained, was in