McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1916-02-18
NEW YORK
LETTER
EDITOR INDEPENDENT:
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

stay OF many years in the city %
Washington was that of seeing an,
hearing Dwight L. Moody, Ira D. San
key and 7. Dewitt Talmage, men VIII,
left undying fame in the domain O.
American religious life,
The greatest Of these was Moody
The very goodness of the man and thu
kindness of his heart streamed fortl
like electric currents from dynamo
He got close to the people, was {
counselor and friend and his gooc
deeds follow him. He was an enor.
moualy large man, weighing perhaps
not less than 300 pounds, and he
looked like the tall stump of an old
tree in the midst of his immense audi
ences. | heard him in the great
convention Hall at Washington in
1891. Ssssnakkcy conducted the music
service. Will we ever see another gos-
pei singer like Sankey? l think not.
He was six feet three inches tall, and
large in proportion, and his voice filed
that hall, where ten thousand eager
listeners were swept over by the sweet
thunders of his tones. He sang only
his own compositions, such as "There
are Lonely Hearts to Cherish, While
the Days are Going By" and his own
rendition of Rock of Ages" The
closing notes sounded as if he were
singing double notes an octave apart,
never heard anything like it. And
he was an old man then. What must
he have been in his primel Then
Moody arose, and when that melodi-
GUS, pleading voice touched the ears
of the listeners, and his gigantic arms
streached out-that voice which,
though not loud, penetrated to every
nook of the immense hall-you could
feel the warm thrill of religious mag
netism go through the multitude, ard
the swarms of people, the thousands,
who gathered and knelt. with him
around the altar. attested his power,
for to move a Washington congrega-
tion like that means a great deal.
His words were simple and easily
understood; there were no poetic
flights, and no attempts to stir the
people By s CHI but but {. plain appeal TO
their hearts and understanding.
believe most of his converts were
steadfast. and that he did a great deal
Of good. Moody and Sankey have
} long since gone to their eternal re-
ward, but their work lives after them.
The. Moody Institute at Mortified,
Mass, is permanent monument to
one of the greatest preachers the
world has seen. My wife's niece
graduated from there, and she cannot
praise the institution enough for its
good work for girls, in useful educa-
tion and religious training.
We now come to that remarkable
man, Thomas Dewitt Talmage. No
preacher since st. Paul has had a
wider hearing for his sermons. They
were published in thousands Of papers,
in many languages, and reached mil
lions OF readers each week. He came
to Washington in the early nineties
as assistant pastor Of the First Pres
byterian church, having had his
Brooklyn Tabernacle three times
burned. and taking that as sign that
the Lord wanted him elsewhere. The
baseball phrase of three strikes and
out" appealed to him as correct. !
think he had become somewhat soured
by the time he reached Washington,
for his heart did not seem to be in
the work. Still there was no falling
off in that wonderful flow of poetic
imagery and religious fire that made
his name household word over half
the earth. But, although the rainbow
is an object of beauty. it does not
warm us, nor do the fairest flowers
of earth serve us as food. His beau
tiful words and earnest gestures were
impressive in the extreme, but how
many weary souls did he lead to the
feet of the Savior! do not wish to
speak uncharitably of this great man.
nor rob him of one ray of the glory
that gilds his tomb, but | am going
to say. as truth in every word, that
what comes from the heart goes tc
the heart" and that the great preach.
er Talmage appealed more to oul
sense of art and sublimity than to the
souls who we're hungry for spiritua
bread. He was the unrivaed poet o.
L