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REVIVAL AROUSES RICH AND POOR
All Classes Accept Christ in Chapman-Alexander Meeting in Philadelphia —"Ralph Connor” as an Evangelist
HILADELPHIA continues to be deeply
moved by the Chapman-Alexander Mis
sion. The second half of the campaign
is being conducted on even larger scale
than the first. There are now fully
sixty evangelists, gospel singers and
helpers assisting Dr. Chapman and Mr.
Alexander in the • great work. The
whole city is being covered by a net-
P
work of revival meetings, such as has never be
fore been known here. Hundreds of converts are
being recorded daily, and the whole spiritual at
mosphere is being revived and quickened.
Last Sunday was the “red letter” day of the
campaign thus far. In all about fifty services
were held; two in the morning, seventeen in the
afternoon, and the remainder in the evening. Os
these, four were especially for young people, three
for women, and a half dozen for men.
The most remarkable meeting of the day, if not
the entire series, was the meeting for men only,
held in the Grand Salon de Luxe of the Majestic
Hotel, one of the finest hostelries in the United
Slates. The proprietor of the hotel had especially
invited Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander to hold a
revival service there for his guests and for any
others who desired to attend. He not only made
careful preparation for the meeting, but placed in
the grand lobby of the hotel a big sign made of
electric lights, which read “Get Right With God.”
The meeting was especially for the upper classes,
and included scores of prominent business and pro
fessional men.
Long before the hour set for the service, the men
began to gather. Quickly the eight hundred chairs
were filled and then the men stood four deep along
the walls, until it was estimated that thirteen hun
dred were packed into the room. The crush was so
great that before three o’clock the gates leading
to the hotel were closed and guarded by a special
detail of police. The crowd was simply an index of
the way in which the revival is arousing all classes
throughout the city. It was probably the first time
that a revival service had ever been held in a prom
inent Philadelphia hotel.
In response to Dr. Chapman’s appeal at the close
of the brief address, a large number of men raised
their hands for prayer. So deep was the impres
sion left by the service, that the men were loath
to leave the building, and many of them gathered
in the lobby of the hotel, where for half an hour
Mr. Alexander led them in singing revival hymns.
It was a strange and impressive scene to see the
gospel singer standing on the balcony in the ro
tunda of the beautiful hotel, leading the crowd of
well dressed people in revival melodies.
In striking contrast with this meeting for the
well-to-do classes, are those held night after night
in the lowest and worst sections of the city. Two
of the most interesting evangelists connected with
the movement are Mr. and Mrs. William Asher,
who hold meetings in saloons, lodging houses, police
stations and prisons. They are everywhere cor
dially received, and it is not unusual for them to
have a dozen hands raised for prayer and several
clear conversions in a bar-room meeting. For sev
eral years they have carried on this work with Dr.
Chapman, and have everywhere met with unquali
fied success.
Touching scenes were witnessed one night re
cently when they were accompanied in their tour
among the denizens of the under-world by Mrs.
Charles M. Alexander. She entered heartily into
the meetings, kneeling and leading in prayer in
saloons, giving heart to heart talk with woe-be
gone men in a lodging house, and talking with
the tenderness of a sister to women and girls be
hind the bars in a police station. In the course
of the evening, through personal dealing alone, two
or three told her that they would then and there
accept Christ as their personal Savior.
The following evening Mr. and Mrs. Asher were
The Golden Age for April 16. 1908.
By GEORGE T. B. DAVIS
accompanied not only by Mrs. Alexander, but by
Dr. Chapman and his daughter, by Mr. Alexander,
and several others of the evangelistic party. At
two saloons and at a Salvation Army barracks Dr.
Chapman spoke briefly and Mr. Alexander led the
crowd of drink-sodden men in singing the hymns
they had been taught at their mother’s knee. Each
meeting was one of power and as a result of the
evening’s work in the tenderloin district, many
were led to accept Christ as their Savior.
Another notable service in connection with the
Mission was the meeting for Old Folks held last
week, when hundreds of aged people gathered at
the Academy of Music to hear Dr. Henry Ostrom.
Many of the fathers and mothers of Israel were
carried to the Academy in carriages and automo
biles loaned for the purpose. One thousand, five
hundred carnations were distributed to the old peo
ple during the song service. It was simply an
other evidence of how the revival is reaching all
classes of the city—old and young, rich and poor.
One of the most interesting and notable of the
evangelists assisting in the simultaneous Mission is
Dr. Charles W. Gordon, pastor of St. Stephens
church, Winnipeg. He is better known throughout
the world by his pen-name of “Ralph Connor,” be
ing the author of “The Sky Pilot,” “Black Rock,”
and other widely circulated books of religious fic
tion. Some months ago Dr. Chapman conducted a
mission in Winnipeg. Following the departure of
Dr. Chapman and his party from the city, Dr. Gor
don received into his church one hundred and
seventy-seven persons as the result of the work
there, and he has one hundred more names on his
list who are to be worked for, a large number
of whom he believes will be won. This large in
gathering so pleased and impressed Dr. Gordon, and
filled him with such evangelistic fervor, that he
consented to assist in the Philadelphia campaign.
Dr. Gordon is thoroughly convinced of the value
of revivals. In addressing a body of Philadelphia
ministers one morning, Dr. Gordon said: “I would
rather preach the gospel than to write the greatest
book ever written. I would rather win souls to
Christ than to make SIO,OOO a month. I believe in
sudden and instant conversion. Reform won’t do.
I tried for six years to reform a man and it cost
me hundreds of dollars, but last summer he forged
my name to a dozen checks. I quit the method
and henceforth will strive not to reform men, but
to get them converted.”
On another occasion when speaking in the Tenth
Presbyterian Church, Dr. Gordon told how the soft
influence of music will sometimes conquer when
preaching has been in vain. He said: “I remem
ber one night we were at a lumber camp in Canada,
and all were singing except one stout, big fellow,
who said his heart was too full of sin for him to
lift up his voice in song. He withstood all per
suasion until somebody started ‘Nearer, My God
to Thee.’ Then he gave a big sob and cried out
‘At last I have found Thee, my God.’
‘‘ I have come from Canada to help carry on
this good work, and what do I find? There is an
undercurrent of Christianity through this town that
is carrying all before it. Formerly the churches
were only for women, and now we find men lining
all the walls and filling all our churches. Phila
delphia was like an orchard waiting for the prun
ing knife to gather the fruit.”
Dr. Gordon is preaching night after night to
the residents of the wealthy suburbs of Phila
delphia, and is proving to be a successful evange
list. He believes in thoroughness in the work of
conversion, and calls upon those who accept Christ
to come out boldly before the audience and pub
licly profess their faith.
As was the case in the Welsh revival, gospel
songs are proving one of the chief factors in the
Philadelphia movement. No one can estimate the
influence produced upon the people of Philadelphia
by the revival hymns sung night after night by Mr.
Alexander and the gospel singers associated with
him in twenty-one districts throughout the city.
The most popular hymns are “He Will Hold Me
Fast,” “Memories of Mother,” “The King’s Busi
ness,” and “The Glory Song.” A visitor from
New York who was attending one of the meet
ings recently told Mr. Alexander that during the
singing of “Memories of Mother” at a mission in
New York, sixty-five people came out and accepted
Christ as their Savior.
n
"It Had "Been Said Ref ore.”
Sy Arthur L. Hardy.
An aspirant for greatness said,
“I’ll build my fame on humor”;
And forthwith wrote a joke about
An old relation’s tumor.
It instanter appeared in print ,
And made a mighty hit;
The scribblers far and wide declared
’Twas funny quite a bit.
And when applause, with thunderous roar,
Assailed his anxious ears,
Grim disappointment struck him sore,
And filled his eyes with tears.
It had been said before.
And written o’er and o’er;
A thousand people clippings sent
To prove just how the story “went”—
He’s a humorist no more.
Another said, “I will be wise,
I will myself immortalize
By saying strange, deep things.”
He wrote great loads of epigrams,
A dissertation on “Black Rams,”
His book called “Leathern Wings.”
The book he sought to advertise,
Well recommended, met the eyes
Os sages, and those otherwise.
The public read it with delight,
The wise man’s name, resplendent, white,
Loomed glorious for fame’s prize.
Then came the critics with their spears
And lacerated him to tears
With ridicule and wit;
“Why Socrates and Tacitus
And Holie Polie Omnibus
Had said the whole of it
“Three thousand years before the time
This echo of a school-boy’s rhyme
Had dared to be alive!”
They said a lot of other things,
And gave him various biffs and bings
On which the critics thrive.
It had been said before,
And written o’er and o’er;
A thousand people clippings sent
To prove just what the wise man meant
And he is wise no more.
*******
I guess some freak who reads these lines,
And my deep purpose here divines,
Will mock me with a sneer,
And say with Tiresome’s own tired sigh.
“I never thought again my eye
Would greet what’s written here.”
Special Notice.
Hie Thirty-fourth annual convention of the
Georgia Sunday School Association will be held in
Athens, Ga„ the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of April.
A feast of good things is promised, and the' at
tendance will be very large.
All delegates are requested to send their names
immediately to Mr. A. S. Parker, Athens, Ga.
