"The Ninety and Nine." Another hymn was then sung by the congregation, and after bidding an affectionate farewell to most of the patients individually, Mr. Sankey proceeded to the men's ward, No. 1, downstairs, where he addressed the assembled patients, and with Mrs. Douglas, in the sweetest manner sang Hymn No. 5, "Go, bury thy sorrow," without any accompaniment. A Convention of Ministers of the Gospel in Ireland took place on the 24th and 25th of November, in the Exhibition Palace. Upwards of 750 clergymen from all parts of Ireland, and of all denominations, responded to the invitation to take part in the proceedings. The rev. gentlemen occupied a considerable part of the glass building immediately in front of the platform. The other portions of the Palace presented very much the aspect that they have done during the Sunday afternoon services, being crowded with the public, chiefly of the higher and middle classes, but scattered amongst the audience were numbers belonging to the humbler spheres of life. The proceedings commenced at ten o'clock, and lasted until four. For each hour a subject was appointed, and at the expiration of each hour the doors, which had been kept closed during the interval were opened, and a few persons went out, while large numbers who had been eagerly waiting outside availed themselves of the opportunity to pour in like a tide until the doors were shut again. the commencement of the proceedings, after prayer and praise, Mr. Moody read an apology from Mr. C. H. Spurgeon, London, in which the great preacher invoked a blessing on the meeting, but said that such were his engagements he could not leave England as a matter of choice even if asked to go to heaven. At It may be interesting to note the reception the evangelists met with from the people of Dublin generally, and from the Catholics especially. We have already mentioned that a theatrical performance was stopped, because the audience in the gallery detected, in a stupid joke, an attempt to insult Messrs. Moody and Sankey, and the more intelligent of the Catholics treated them with respect. Cardinal Cullen indeed denounced them; but the Catholic newspapers assumed a very different tone. The Nation said : "With much regret we notice indications of an attempt to excite the hostility of our Catholic population against the religious services in this city by some Protestant missionaries from America, We trust we shall not appeal in vain to the spirit of tolerance, of honourable fair play, of respect for conscience, in the breasts of Irish Catholics, when we call upon them to crush the slightest attempt at offensive demonstration against the religious exercises which some sections of the Protestant community are holding under the auspices of the gentlemen we refer to. The deadly danger of the age comes upon us all from the opposite pole: from religious indifference, from scepticism and unbelief, comes from the direction of Huxley, and Darwin, and Tyndall, rather than from Moody, or Sankey, or Hamilton. Irish Catholics desire to see Protestants deeply imbued with religious feeling, rather than tinged with rationalism and infidelity; and as long as the religious services of our Protestant neighbours are honestly directed to quickening religious thought in their own body, without offering aggression or intentional insult to us, it is our duty to pay the homage of our respect to their conscientious convictions; in a word, to do as we would be done by. We Catholics should ever discriminate between the Protestantism of sincere men devoted to their own convictions, but seeking no unjust interference with ours, and the wretched kind of 'Protestantism' that consists in wanton insult and aggression." RETURN TO ENGLAND. AFTER their visit to Dublin, Messrs. Moody and Sankey held their first English meeting at the Oxford Hall, Manchester, on Sunday, the 29th November. The first meeting for Christian workers, at 8 a.m., was attended by at least 2000 persons. In the afternoon the Oxford and Free Trade Halls, which are the largest in Manchester, were both filled with eager, appreciative crowds. Mr. Moody spoke in cach place. While at Manchester, where daily services and meetings wore held, attended by very large numbers of persons, Mr. Sankey addressed the following letter "To those who are singing the War Song:" "DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,-Permit me to wish you a very happy Christmas, and that the New Year may be to you even more joyous than the last. What a blessed year eighteen hundred and seventy-four has been to many of us! Truly it has been a Christmas year, so many having received God's great gift to the world, His well-beloved Son. Is this not the cause of the great joy we see in the land? 'Yea, He bringeth joy into the heart, which the world knoweth not of. I most earnestly hope that all who have, during these times of blessing, found refuge in Christ, will not be content to live just for self alone, but that each one may resolve to put forth an extra effort during the first weeks of the New Year to lead some poor lost sheep to the Shepherd. Thank God it is not so hard now to speak for Jesus. May He give us warm and tender loving hearts to speak from, and may we ever speak of Him and not of ourselves. Christ says, 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.' If we cannot speak for Jesus, let us sing of Him. May the sweet message of His love find an entrance into thousands of hearts which are yet barred and bolted against Him who standeth knocking, knocking, even should it reach them only on the wings of sacred song. And while you sing, remember it is the message and not the music that saves the soul. I am glad to be able to tell you that the good work is going on well in Manchester, and many are coming into the light. I might tell of many cases which have come under my own notice, but it would only be the old, old story of the blind getting sight, and the troubled heart finding rest. We do not forget the dear young converts, as we look over our backward track, but always love to remember you in prayer. I want to ask the prayers of all who love the Lord Jesus, that my brother and I may be granted strength and grace to go on in the work now marked out for us while we remain in this country. And pray not only for us, but for all who are labouring in the vineyard, gathering golden sheaves for the Master. And this shall be our hearts' desire for you “Oh fill them, Jesus, Saviour, with Thy love; And never to another fountain fly, But unto Thee.' "Yours in Him, "IRA D.EY. Writing at the end of December, a Manchester correspondent says: "This work is not only seen in the bringing large numbers of the unconverted into the fold of Christ, but also in the revival and refreshing of the children of God, and the uniting together different sections of the Church of Christ in the common object of seeking the salvation of perishing souls. Large numbers of the clergy of the Church of England, who did not see their way to join this movement at the outset, are now entering most heartily into the work along with their brethren of other communions. Several meetings of the clergy and ministers of all denominations have been held with the object of promoting this Christian union, and carrying on the blessed work after Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey have left." Respecting the visit to Manchester, an interesting anecdote is related: Mr. Moody has never spared the theatre; day after day, in the most uncompromising terms has he denounced it. Yet when an actor at the "Prince's" ventured to apply to him the epithets of "sham" and "cant," the enraged audience would not rest until they had hissed the man off the stage. Great preparations had been made at Sheffield, and on the last day of the old year Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey held their first meetings in the Temperance and Albert Halls. Considerable excitement had been manifested when it was reported that the clergy of the Church of England had withdrawn from the executive committee, and that, in consequence, Messrs. Moody and Sankey had refused to pay their expected visit. It is, however, a matter of thankfulness that this difficulty was overcome. The clergy rejoined the committee, and everything worked smoothly. The difficulty was only one of a mere technical kind, arising from a proposed scheme of house-to-house visitation, which interfered with parochial boundaries, and in their letter of withdrawal, the clergy stated that their only motive in doing so was to remove the hindrances to the visitation, and that their feelings and sympathies were unchanged as regards Messrs. Moody and Sankey's mission. When, however, it became known that, in consequence of their action, Mr. Moody had declined to come to Sheffield, the visitation scheme, which formed a part of Messrs. Moody and Sankey's personal work, was abandoned for the present, and the clergy rejoined the committee, and are now working most heartily with the ministers of other denominations, for the furtherance of the one blessed object of leading perishing souls to Christ. The Temperance Hall, which seats about 1500 persons, was pretty fairly filled when the first service commenced in the evening, the great proportion of the audience being men. Mr. Moody gave a very stirring address to Christian workers, which was listened to with the deepest interest throughout. His theme was courage and perseverance in the work of the Lord, and the address seemed to sound a key-note full of hopefulness of coming blessing in the meetings in this city. At the conclusion of this first meeting, it was time to go over to the Albert Hall, which holds about 3000 persons. Messrs. Moody and Sankey were accompanied on to the platform by a large number of ministers of all denominations, amongst these were the following: the Vicar (the Rev. Rowley Hill), Rev. R. Stainton, Rev. J. Smith, Rev. R. Poole, Rev. R. Green, Rev. J. Flather, Rev. P. Whyte, Rev. J. Calvert, Rev. H. H. Wright, Rev. M. Washington, Rev. G. J. Watts, Rev. W. Cobby, Rev. B. Trotter, and many others. The Vicar offered up a fervent prayer for the Divine blessing on the work in Sheffield. The meeting, which did not commence until eleven o'clock, and was continued until past midnight, was a most solemn and happy one. At the close of his address, Mr. Moody offered an earnest prayer, expressing a fervent hope that, as the old year was about to roll away, so their sins might leave them, that they might enter upon the new and blessed path of peace and holiness. At his suggestion, the vast assemblage here engaged in silent prayer. It was an impressive scene. Every knee was bent, and every face covered; and the silence was only broken by Mr. Moody, who requested that, if any person wished to be prayed for, he might stand up. A man rose; and then one by one, about six got up from their seats. Almost immediately after twelve o'clock had struck, and whilst the bells were ringing in the new year, the Rev. R. Green offered prayer for a blessing on the labours of Messrs. Moody and Sankey, and Mr. Moody prayed briefly in a similar strain. During the whole of this time the large audience were engaged in silent prayer, and, with the exception of an occasional sob, not a sound was to be heard. The heads of the vast assembly were reveren |