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New Campaign Begins at Nashville
Great Crowds Mark the Opening Meetings of Dr. Torrey —
Mr. Alexander Goes to China With His Wife.
FTER three and a half months spent
in resting and addressing religious con
ventions, Dr. Torrey began his fall re
vival campaign at Nashville, Tennessee,
last Sunday. The opening was
marked by the same throngs which
have made the meetings of the evangel
ist around the world so memorable; and
before the first day ended a number
A
had arisen to publicly declare their acceptance of
■Christ.
Preparations for the crusade have been made for
months by large and enthusiastic committees, and
a glorious work is confidently expected. The meet
ings are held at the Hyman Auditorium, a perma
nent structure in the down-town district which ac
commodates, with standing room, nearly 6,000 per
sons. At the first meeting in the afternoon a large
audience gathered; while at night the big structure
was packed to the doors and even then so many
were unable to get in that an overflow meeting was
held in the First Presbyterian Church.
T’ne chorus choir of 600 voices is one of the
strong features of the campaign which helps to at
tract the multitudes to hear the gospel message. It
has been admirably trained in the revival hymns,
and was led, in the absence of Mr. Alexander, by
Professor I). B. Towner, who is the co-editor with
Mr. Alexander of “Revival Hymns.” The piano
was brilliantly presided over as usual by Mr. Rob
ert Harkness; while Mr. Charles Butler delighted
the great audience by his solo singing. His ef
fective singing on Sunday night of “The Ninety
and Nine” deeply touched hundreds of hearts and
brought tears to many eyes.
During the preliminary song service at night the
audience sang “The Glory Song.” But the render
ing of the first verse did not at all satisfy Dr. Tor
rey and he urged the people to greater fervor, say
ing:
“Some of you are not singing. Everybody sing
this time! Even if you don’t know the words of
the tune, sing! Shout right out as if you did know
I hem! There’s nothing like a song to make you
feel better.” A rousing volume of sound from the
thousands in the audience followed this exhortation.
Before beginning his sermon Dr. Torrey made the
following announcements: There will be prayer
meetings at noon daily, except Saturday and Sun
day. These will be held in the First Presbyterian
Church. There will be services in the Auditorium
at three o’clock, which will consist of songs and
Bible study. Night services will begin at 7:30
o’clock and the first half hour will be devoted to
songs by the chorus. There will also be two meet
ings every Sunday, but no meetings whatever on
any Saturday.
Dr. Torrey’s opening sermon was his well-known
powerful and passionate plea for every Christian
to become a soul-winner, from the text: “He that
winneth souls is wise.” In the course of the ser
mon the evangelist declared that those who were
not trying to save others were not really converted
themselves. He said:
“There are many reasons why we should save
souls. One is because Christ commanded it, not on
ly to the apostles, but to all people. That was the
command of the great Commander-in-chief, and
all Christians are soldiers. You know what a se
rious thing it is for a soldier to disobey orders, es
pecially so when they come from the highest com
manding officer. 'So you can see what an impor
tant thing this is to you.
“I want to say right here that no one is a
Christian who does not try to save souls. Christ
came into the world to save souls, and every true
follower of him must be ready and willing to suf
fer all that he suffered. If you are not willing
to do as he did, even to dying as he died, you are
not a Christian.”
In speaking of the opening meetings the Nash-
By GEORGE T. B. DAVIS.
The Golden Age for October 25, 1000.
ville American says, the work “bids fair to be the
greatest religious revival Nashville has ever
known.” Will not the readers of this paper pray
earnestly that such a result may come to pass
through the mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit up
on tiie city?
It is a matter of the deepest regret that Mr.
Charles M. Alexander will not be able to co-operate
with Dr. ’Torrey in the meetings during the coming
winter. His wife’s sickness, however, compels him
to be absent. This summer Mrs. Alexander was at
death’s door at t'neih home at Birmingham, Eng
land, and it was as by a miracle—in direct answer
to thousands of prayers which ascended in America
and England—that she was raised up. Even yet
she has not completely regained her health, and the
doctor has ordered a long sea voyage as the best
method of regaining her strength. Through his own
choice and also at the imperative behest of Dr. Tor
rey, the singing evangelist will remain with his' wife
for the present, accompanying her to China, where
her sister, formerly Miss Margaret Cadbury, is a
missionary.
Dr. Torrey, writing a friend regarding the
necessary separation of himself and Mr. Alexander
for a time, said:
“I cannot tell yon how I regret that we are to
be separated from one another for a few months,
but I see the necessity of his being with his wife in
this time of her physical weakness. It was a won
derful sacrifice on his part for him to leave her
all these months to follow the call of God to sing
the Gospel in this country; but I could not consent
to his being longer away from her at such a time,
even though he were willing to. I hope that our
separation from one another may be as short as
possible, and that we may be soon reunited to
gether in the work to which God has called us.”
Mr. Alexander conducted half a dozen great ral
lies of the Torrey-Alexander converts in different
English cities during the months of September and
October as soon as his wife’s condition permitted
his leaving her side. The greatest enthusiasm pre
vailed at the meetings showing the permanent char
acter of the work of the evangelists. At Birming
ham it is estimated that 6,000 people, and at Liv
erpool 5,000, packed the big buildings where the
reunions were held, while large numbers were unable
to secure admission.
At one of these great rallies Mr. Alexander told
a touching incident which occurred in Ottawa, Can
ada, a few days before he returned to England.
One day Mr. Alexander was told about a young
fellow who was lying dangerously ill in the hospital.
He had attended the meetings of Dr. Torrey and Mr.
Alexander in the Royal Albert Hall, London, and
he wanted to see Mr. Alexander. Though he had
not much time to spare, Mr. Alexander obeyed the
summons and as he entered the ward in which the
young man lay, the nurse whispered to him that
her patient had undergone an operation for ap
pendicitis and that he was not getting along very
well.
“As I went in,” said Mr. Alexander, telling the
story, “and saw that nice little red-cheeked, curly
headed boy gasping for breath, a smile came over
his face. It was a bare looking room. There was a
table in the room and just one book on it. What
do you suppose it was? The Bible. I tell you that
lifted me when I saw that there. 1 said, ‘Do you
know me?’ ‘Yes, you are Mr. Alexander,’ he re
plied.”
Then they had a talk together. The boy told
Mr. Alexander how he had emigrated to Canada
and had been employed on a farm some distance
from Ottawa. Hearing that the revival meetings
were being held in the city he came in to attend
them, but was soon stricken down with illness and
was taken to the hospital.
“Do you remember the meetings?” Mr. Alexan
der asked. “0 yes,” was the answer, “I went ev-
ery time I could to the Royal Albert Hall.” “Do
you remember any of the songs?” “Yes, and I have
been singing them ever since.”
“Which one do you remember most?” “T’ne
Glory Song.” “In addition to the ‘Glory Song,’
which one do you sing most while you are away
out here from your home?”
Then his lips quivered as he replied “ ‘Tell Moth
er I’ll be there’ because I am away from my
mother.”
A few days later the little fellow died, and since
returning to England Mr. Alexander has had beau
tiful letters from the lad’s father and mother
thanking him for his interest in their boy. There
is a wonderful power in sacred song, and God is
always blessing it. This incident should enconraer?
every one who is working for the Master. We
know not what glorious fruitage may follow from
the least seed that is sown in the name of the
Master.
Hey-Day.
By WITTER BTNNER.
Come and go a-berrying.
Would you wiser be!
Come and learn that everything
Younger is than we—
We who almost dared to think
In our wearying
'There were no more springs to drink,
No more pails to swing!
We were dusty with our books.
Come and let us go
Out among the lyric brooks,
Where the verses grow.
Where the world is one delight,
Made of many a song,
Lasting till the nod of night,
Lovely all day long.
Till the smallest glimmering nook
Holds the moon in glory;
And the heavens are the book
And the stars the story!
There the peaceful earth is sweet,
Either way it lies—
Under unacquainted feet
Or on tired eyes.
—-Century Magazine.
Willie’s Confidence. *
t
Little Willie, who had been many times the
victim of his brother John’s pranks, disliked the
idea of going with him to bed.
“Mamma, won’t you go upstairs and watch me
till I go to sleep?” he asked.
“God will watch over you, Willie,” answered
his mother.
“Yes, but I’m afraid God’ll just monkey around
and let John scare me again.”
Eternity.
“Paw,” asked Tommy, “ain’t there no end to
eternity?”
“No, my boy,” said Mr. Tucker, “after millions
and millions of years have passed away there will
be just as many more years to come as when you
began to count them.”
“Then what’s the use of my spending so much
time over this dog-blamed old ’rithmetic? Won’t
I have plenty of chances to learn it after I die?”
Twenty-five or thirty years ago the Rev. Charles
G. Finney, president of Oberlin College, was carry
ing on a series of revival meetings in Boston. One
day a gentleman called to see him on business, and
was admitted by Mr. Finney’s daughter, perhaps
five years old.
“Is your father in?” asked the stranger.
“N 0 replied the demure maiden, “but walk in,
poor, dying sinner; mother can pray for you.”—
Detroit Journal,
3