The San Francisco call., 1905-04-09
RICH CONVERTS
DO NOT APPEAR
Revival Recently Conducted
in London for the Benefit
of Aristocrats a Failure
FEW GET RELIGION
Fear of Publicity, 1t Is Said,
Keeps the Upper Ten From
Acknowledging Faults
Special Dispatch to The Call.


LONDON. April s.-The Torrey-
Alexander mission for the conversion
of the rich in the West End closed a
few days ago. After short rest the
American revivalists will start q re-
ligious campaign among the poor and
lowly of the modern Babylon. For
more than five weeks they labored
among those who. according to scrip
ture. have the hardest time Of IT get
ting into heaven. What has the har-
vest been?
That is an exceedingly difficult
question to answer definitely. London
is such a vast place that only tre-
mendously big things make any i'm
preston on the surface current Of its
life. But one thing has been made
abundantly plain. Dives does not
manifest religion as Lazarus does. He
does not weep in public for his sins
or shout aloud for joy when he finds
salvation. None Of the scenes that
have attended the Welsh revival have
been witnessed at Albert Hall. Ac-
cording to all accounts the upper
classes now comport themselves much
as they did before the American in
God in their hearts and win them over
10 a simple Christian life. Bridge
playing has not declined in popular
fly: the theaters are filed; swell res
taurants do not suffer from lack Of
patronage; fashionable milliners and
dressmakers still flourish: there have
been no signs Of a slump in any of
those trades and occupations that are
maintained by supplying the luxuries
rather than the necessities Of life.
On the other hand. the predictions
Of cynical skeptics that the. revival in
the West End would fall fat after the
novelty Of the thing had worn off have
not been verified So far as attend
ance affords criterion the mission
has been a great success-an unprece-
dented success. Night after night
throughout successive weeks the big
hall has held audiences of from nine
to ten thousand. At the day meet
ings the attendance has averaged be-
tween six and seven thousand. And
this has gone on since the newspa-
pers ceased paying much attention to
the work. Most Of the people seen
st the services have the appearance
Of being at least fairly well to do.
What proportion OF them belong to
the exclusive circles cannot be deter
mined by glancing over them Soci-
ETY. does not don its best bib and tuck
er TO hear the gospel preached by
evangelists. 1t is different when it
goes TO fashionable churches on Sun
days.
TORREY is PLEASED.
DR.. Torrey asserts that the results
have exceeded his expectations. As to
how many have been actually convert
ed he has no means, he says, of gaug-
ing accurately. Counting those who
had come to the inquiry rooms after
the meetings and there accepted
Christ" the number was altogether
about 2500. II was a week ago that he
gave these figures. Some five or six
hundred have since been added TO the
list Of those who have acknowledged
that they have found salvation. AS to
the social status Of his converts DR..
Torrey is discreetly reticent. How many
belong to the aristocracy he will not
tell if he knows. But he has made the
interesting statement that the first con-
vert he made in London-the first per-
son. in fact, to stand up at the opening
meeting in Albert Hall-was "a colonel
and a nObleman's son." According to
one Of the mission workers his name is
Colonel Beauchamp.
we have had far more success than
we ever expected among the society
people" says DR.. Torrey. They drop in
first out Of curiosity, perhaps, but they
come again and again. and it is not
curiosity that attracts them then. The
only thing that makes them difficult to
deal with is their hatred Of publicity
They do not like TO stand up before the
whole hall and come right along"
DR.. Torrey prides himself on appeal
ing to the reason rather than the feel
ings of his auditors. The demonstra-
tions that usually attend revival meet
ings have been conspicuously absent
from the Albert Hall services. He says
he doesn't want scenes. Il don't go
strong on emotionalism anyway" he
puts it. Society folk are in hearty ac-
cord with him there. What bothers
them is the puritanisnl-the abandon
ment Of luxurious pleasures-which Dr.
Torrey insists are the outward and Wis
ible signs of an inward grace. A Church
Of England clergyman, who speaks