Year: 1875

Saturday Review.l


Messrs. Moody and Sankey are no
doubt sincere, religious men, who hon.
estly think that they are doing good,
and who have perfect right to take
their own course. This is a question,
however, of some importance whether
the sort of treatment which they apply
to sacred subjects is worthy OF encOur-
agement and imitation, because, lift is,
it may be expected to lead to some start
ling changes. And this, it appears to
us, is a question which deserves more
serious consideration than has perhaps
been bestowed on it. The impression
which has been generally produced by
these services il London is, we fancy,
that they are by no means so exciting
as people were led to imagine they
would be from the reports which have
been published of their efforts elsewhere.
AS far as the meetings in London have
yet gone, the audiences have been quiet
and orderly, nor has there been any
trace of excitement. Curiosity, stimu-
lated by the wonderful stories that have
come up from the country, is no doubt
the chief motive which has led many
to attend; but there is also large body
of people who go for the sake OF hearing
the music, and especially of being able
to join in it. At the Agricultural hall the
audience, which is of very mixed class,
evidently delights in these musical ex-
ercises. The crowd at the doors sing
hymns while waiting, and renew them
inside in the interval which has to elapse
before the regular service begins. The
quality of Mr.. Sankey's voice, and his
style of singing, are questions of taste
inl, fhnrn 10 q HIffdTnnna
of opinion. There can be no doubt,
however, that his art is OF tricky kind,
and aims at producing effect by sudden
alterations between high and low. His
favorite note is one in the back of the
throat, with which he pours forth pro-
Ionged and hollow o! o! D! something
between howl and wall, which makes
one think of a melodiOus cOstermOnger
crying his cabbages. Whether 1t is pure
art or not, it appears to be agreeable to
the majority of the audience, and it may
be thought that that is enough. 1t is
probably the music which is the main
attraction, and it is not an irrational
form of amusement. AS for Mr.. Moody,
he is simply ranter of the most vulgar
type, such as few years ago, before the
nuisance was put down by the police,
might have been heard any Sunday af-
ternoon bawling from chair in the
street. 1t is possible that his low fun
and screechy CALCULATIONS may be found
stimulating by the ignorant and foolish;
but it is difficult to conceive how any
person Of the slightest cultivation or
refinement can fail to be panied and
shocked by such a grotesque and un-
seemly travesty of sacred things. Mr..
Moody's mission appears to be to de-
grade religion to the level Of "penny
gaff." The truth Is that the whole per-
fOrmance, tested by any standard, is a
very poor affair, and the wonder is that
it should have attracted so much atten-
ton. Putting and placarding have, no
doubt, had something to do with 1t; but
the gregaTiOus instinct is also very strong
in mankind, and crowd will gather on
a very slight pretext, and feel quite re-
paid by seeing itself. In fact, this alone
would almost fill the Agricultural hall
at any time, and the privilege Of taking
part in an entertainment is of course an
additional attraction. Mr.. Moody is
listened to attentively, but as far as one
can Judge from the looks and attitudes
Of his auditors, he does not produce
much impression. He is taken as part
of the entertainment, and now and then
there is a litter when he makes one OF
his hits; but, on the whole, the people
take it very quietly, and there are no
signs of anything that can be called ex-
citement, except on MIR. MoOdy's own
part. Whether, as the services proceed,
those who attend them will be reused
into a more animated condition re-
mains to be seen; but for the
present the people Of the Agri-
cultural hall are just as calm and
free from agitation as any large
audience at theater or concert-room.
If this is really what is called q revival,
it is certainly in its results very mild
one, and very different from what peo-
pie were led to expect from the reports
Of what had taken place elsewhere. 1t
must be remembered, however, that the
natural tendency, and indeed the svOwed
object, Of the revival services, is TO pro-