seemed to me to be the grandest discourse I ever heard from the lips of a Christian teacher. As to his doctrine, I shall only say that the best and most cautious theologians among us are heartily satisfied with the soundness of the theology which Mr. Moody teaches."

Another eminent writer says:

"Moody's improvement in reputation was partly the off-spring of a very genuine improvement in his own intellectual character and in his methods. He was like almost all young men of real power, imitative at the start. He adopted from others cant phrases and speeches. His catechism always began with one question,' Are you a Christian?' But Mr. Moody has grown wiser. He has pared away some of his eccentricities. He has improved his mind by study-not very broad, but diligent. The real sincerity of the man is his power. He knows nothing about oratory; but he is vig rous, direct, and often exceedingly eloquent, bearing all before him by a resistless momentum. His theory is, that a man can be useful if he will get down low enough for God to work through him.' His greatest strength lies in his management of men. He is not a first-class organizer, but he is a born leader. Perhaps no other revivalist could have overcome the strong Scotch prejudice as he has. Soon after he built Illinois Street Mission the Irish Catholic boys got into the habit of stoning the windows. Moody went to see the Catholic Bishop Duggan about it. The bishop spoke admiringly of Mr. Moody's zeal, but regretted that he was not a burning light in the Holy Mother Church. Perhaps I am wrong,' said the latter. I hope you will pray for me, bishop, that, if wrong, I may be led into the truth.' The bishop promised, but Moody dropped on his knees and insisted on having the prayer on the spot. Bishop Duggan knelt and prayed for him, after which Moody as fervently prayed for the bishop. The bishop always afterwards expressed his esteem for Mr. Moody, and there were no more stones thrown."

The Rev. R. P. Dale, of Birmingham, the worthy successor of the beloved John Angell James, author of the" Anxious Inquirer"wrote to the Congregationalist, respecting Mr. Moody's meetings at Birmingham

"Of Mr. Moody's power I find it difficult to speak. It is so

real, and yet so unlike the power of ordinary preachers, that I hardly know how to analyse it. Its reality is indisputable. Any man who can interest and impress an audience varying from three thousand to six thousand people for half an hour in the morning, and for three-quarters of an hour again in the afternoon, and who can interest a third audience of thirteen or fifteen thousand people for three-quarters of an hour again in the evening, must have power of some kind. Of course, some people listened without caring much for what he said, but, though I generally sat in a position which enabled me to see the kind of impression he produced, I rarely saw many faces which did not indicate the most active and carnest interest. The people were of all sorts, young and old, rich and poor, keen tradesmen, manufacturers, and merchants, and young ladies who had just left school, rough boys who knew more about dogs and pigeons than about books, and cultivated women. For a time I could not understand it-I am not sure that I understand it now. At the first meeting, Mr. Moody's address was simple, direct, kindly, and hopeful; it had a touch of humour and a touch of pathos; it was lit up with a story or two that filled most eyes with tears; but there seemed nothing in it very remarkable. Yet it told. A prayer-meeting with an address, at eight o'clock on a damp, cold January morning, was hardly the kind of thing-let me say it frankly-that I should generally regard as attractive; but I enjoyed it heartily; it seemed one of the happiest meetings I had ever attended. There was warmth and there was sunlight in it. At the evening meeting the same day, at Bingley Hall, I was still unable to make out how it was that he had done so much in other parts of the kingdom. I listened with interest; everybody listened with interest; and I was conscious again of a certain warmth and brightness which made the service very pleasant, but I could not see that there was much to impress those that were careless about religious duty. The next morning at the prayer-meeting the address was more incisive and striking, and at the evening service I began to see that the stranger had a faculty for making the elementary truths of the gospel intensely clear and vivid."

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MR. MOODY'S MODE OF DEALING WITH PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

AT a convention, held at Glasgow, many questions were put to Mr. Moody, as to the best method of dealing with some of the difficulties which religious teachers and converts sometimes encounter. We quote a portion of the report in the "Question and Answer " form, as it was published at the time :

"Q. What can women do for Christ?

"A. They can do a great many things. Some people in Scotland said women should not preach in the church. What was the Church? It was not brick and mortar. They did preach in Sabbathschools. One lady in Mr. Spurgeon's church had a class of 600 women to whom she regularly gave addresses, and it was a question whether she did not do more for these women than Mr. Spurgeon. "Q. What more can be done for children?

"A. I would say, Put up some decent buildings. I have not seen a suitable Sabbath-school building in Scotland yet. Dr. Lang (Mr. Moody said, turning to that gentleman), you have been in America? Cannot we teach Scotland something about Sabbath-schools?

"Dr. Lang-You can.

"Mr. Moody-Let any one come over to America, and see for themselves. The rooms in Scotland are dark and dingy; and to sit on the hard seats in some of them was enough to make any one ill. I would have the seats low, so that the children's feet might touch the floor. I would have a number of buildings built for them, and there ought to be a hundred such buildings in Glasgow-good, cheerful, pleasant buildings. Out of these mission schools, churches would grow.

"Q. Should young converts be taught or encouraged to confess Christ in public meetings at once?

"A. Why not? What did the Master say to the man whom He dispossessed of the legion of devils: Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel.' That man went and told his friends in the whole town. If I have got good news, I should not confine it to my wife and children, but should spread it

abroad. If I had been serving the devil publicly, why not Christ publicly? They want a little more of that confession in the churches in Glasgow and Scotland. Some said that they were afraid about it and that these young converts should be taught before they taught. But the spirit of the Gospel was 'Get and give.' Let these young friends go out and do the best they could. He believed if hundreds of young converts were setting to work they would do immense good. They must be guided; if they make a mistake, they should be told of it privately. Their mistakes should not be published abroad. Of course they would make some mistakes. Since I have been a Christian I have made mistakes enough to keep me humble. If they did not make mistakes they would soon get full of spiritual pride. Some men made only one mistake, and that was that they were so afraid of making a mistake that they never did anything. "Q. Does not Mr. Moody recognize the benefit of thoroughly educated ministers ?

"A. Certainly. I never in my life saw a man who had too much education. But there is another side to that. If a man goes and sets up education in the place of Christ, he will have a good deal to answer for. There is a great cry that some men have got zeal without knowledge. I would rather have zeal without knowledge, than knowledge without zeal. Regularly trained ministers have their place, and it would be very foolish for us to quarrel one with another. It would have been very foolish for Paul to have said to Peter, Here, Peter, you are an unlearned fisherman of Galilee; you keep still; I have got the finished education, and I will preach.' God used them both, and while the Temple is being built He requires all kinds of workmen. Sometimes an unlearned and uneducated blacksmith can do more than a minister in his town. Every man has got his own circle, and every man his work. When a man went to seminaries he should work for Christ, and for souls while he was studying. He might die before he got his education. Let him work every day.

"Q. What new means can be used to reach the outlying masses? "A. If this Convention should get on fire with love for Christ, they would soon reach the outlying people. The spirit of the gospel was for Christians to go for the people and seek them out— not merely to open churches and say, 'Come in and be saved,' but to go to them. The Spirit of the Son of God was to seek and save

those who were lost. If people would not come to their nice churches, they should get some tents and go where the crowdwhere the masses-were. Instead of preaching to empty pews, he would rather go out to the streets where the crowds were. Many a man preached to a lot of empty pews. Let him take a few of his members right away out to the corners of the street, and let him proclaim the glorious tidings of salvation. After he had done that he could say, 'Now we will go into the church;" and he would fill his church in a little time. Every church ought to be a mission church. He was tired and sick of aristocratic notions-Christianity was dying with respectability. It was not respectable for them to go out into the streets and pray. What would they say at the next dinner party? They would be telling each other—'Oh, Elder Jones was seen in the streets circulating tracts.' Never mind their dinner parties. They should go and work for Christ.

"Q. Why cannot we have a Bible lecture on the Sabbath in place of one of our sermons?

"A. Well, why not? I do not see anything to hinder it. I would suggest to some of the friends present to try it. One word that God has said is worth a hundred that man says.

"Q. Would it not be well, Mr. Moody, for you to answer some of those false statements that have been made against you in the daily papers?

"A. Well, when I have not got anything better to do, I will do So. If a man that is working for Christ has to answer all the lies the devil starts about him, it will be all he can do to answer these lies, and he will have no time to work for the Lord. I have no sympathy with going into the newspapers, and firing into this man and that man. What we want is to preach down nothing but the devil, and to preach up nothing but Christ. When I was converted I gave my reputation into the care of the Lord; to Him I commit it.

"Q. How are those to be answered who object to ladies addressing meetings of their own sex, on the ground that the Bible says, 'Let women keep silence in churches'?

"A. If that was what it meant, they should not let them teach in Sabbath-schools. One lady teacher was worth a dozen men. They were apt to teach; they knew how to do it.

"Q. What more can be done against intemperance?