Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-05-31


Ole church of his native village.
While he did not agree in any sense
with the tenets of the Catholic church,
he felt, and often said, that it was
much! better to be good Catholic
than poor Protestant.
Mr.. Moody often gave employment
to Catholics in the erection of the
buildings at Northfeld, Mass. The
lCatholics there believed in his Chris
ltianity, and many of them would have
given their lives in his defense, il
necessary. When the little Catholic
church was built ut Mortified. some
of its melnbe called upon Mr.. Moody
for financial assistance to get a new
organ. He at once said: L am a
ti,oro believer in good music and good
singing, and will furnish you an or
gan myself for your new church,
Zone of the most trying times of
Mr.. Moody's life, as indicated in his
biography, was that of the Chicago fire
in 1871. The great confagration took
place on an October Sunday night.
Mr.. Moody and i were conducting a
meeting in old Farwell Hall. I shall
never forget the OCCASION. Mr.. Moody
had preached a moving sermon. Then
u sang:
Today the Savior calls, for refuge fly,
The storms of justice shall fall, and
death is nigh
Scarcely had the echoes of the song
died away in the auditorium, when tile
sound of the old courthouse bell was
heard ringing the death-knell of the
city. Strange coincidence! The noise
and confusion were so great that we
had to close the service. L went out
side and stood watching the flames,
with Mr.. Moody at my side. Next
morning Farwell Hall and most of the
city were in ashes, and did not see
Mr.. Moody again for month. He
then sent for me to return to Chicago,
saying that he was conducting meet
ING there and wanted help.
The Meeting With Drummond.
's1t seems that mere chance threw
Mr.. Moody and Henry Drummond to-
gether. 1t was in the winter campaign
of 1s73-1S74, when Mr.. Moody was in
Scotland. that he recognized the need
OF young man to get hold of the
young men at his meetings. He first
invited to help him in this line the
Rev. james Stalker, now famous
Scotch minister. He was at that time
a student IN Edinburgh Theological
Seminary. But, strange to relate, Mr..
Stalker was forced to decline the offer
because he had previously agreed to
tutor two young fellows in the very
Square. o
.'Air. Moody then tuDnedSto Drum
mond, who was also student. Drum
mond's father was very earnest
Scotchman. He said to the boy: Il
don't want you to give up your theo-
logical training,kfor I've always hoped
that you might be minister. But
replied Henry, Moody says I'll learn
more about reaching men in three
months with him than / would in
three years in the theological sem
mary
| Mr.. Drummond and Mr.. Moody be-
came fast friends. 1t was in a small
meeting that Drummond first gave his
address upon Love, the Greatest Thing
in the World This address was at
terward repeated at Mortified. The
many incidents concerning Mr.. Drum
mond's and Mr.. Afoody's other English
friends, as told in the Life have in
terested me greatly. The story as here
related to this wonderful English
campaign is very complete, and to my
|.mlnd, remarkably elucidative ofathe
Wondrous ways in which the Spirit
works.
1T must always be source of in
terest to know the formative IN
fiuences attending the youth of such
man as Moody. I have been partia-
ularly interested, therefore, to read
OF the boyhood Of this energetic, fun
| loving fellow. 1t was very evident ay
an early period of his life that he
would make his mark when he became
man. And always noticeable is the
fact that, Notwithstanding the phe-
nomenal amount of work Mr.. Moody
did, in spite of the numberless cares
and responsibilities constantly upon
his shoulders, he never lost his love
for gcod-natured and honest fun.
| Religious people will, / think, be
greatly interested in the account the
book gives of the development of Mr..
Moody's Mortified schools. The story
OF how these schools-unique as they
are among educational institutions
came to be established, is a remarka-
BILE one. At the present time hun
dreds of thousands of dollars are in
vested in buildings and equipments;
and all of the money for this purpose
was raised thru Mr.. Moody's personal
efforts. 1t seems to me that the
great idea everyone will derive from
a reading of this volume will be the
strong conviction that Mr.. Moody's
work must be perpetuated.
1T is remarkable that so good a
biography of Mr.. Moody could be pro-
cured so soon after his death. His son
deserves congratulations for his rapid
work. believe this book will be a
source of satisfaction to Mr.. Moody's
friends, and that it will be an inspira-
ton to the millions interested, in all
parts of the globe, in the varied works
to which Mr.. Moody gave his atten-
ton"
The Moody biography is published
bv the Reyell company. Inc book
promises to have an enormous sale.
The first edition is of 10000 copies,
and most of these were spoken for be-
fore the book left the press. The book
is published simultaneously in Eng
land and the United States. 1t is also
| being published in German, Norwegian