The Life of Dwight L. Moody Chapter 31 Among College Students Whatever success had attended Mr. Moody's missions in large cities, and whatever influence he had acquired over thinking men as individuals, work in the college community was the one field for which he considered himself preeminently unfitted. The college spirit is, by its very training, extremely critical. Inaccuracies of speech are quickly detected, and an attitude of reverence rarely distinguishes the average student. This was perfectly apparent to Mr. Moody, and for some time he avoided and declined college invitations. Occasionally, he had accepted invitations to Yale or Princeton, and the result had been deeply gratifying. but there was ever-present the feeling that his mission was not to those whose educational privileges had been so much greater than his own. In this estimate of a college audience, Moody was doubtless correct, but he made one serious error owing to his ignorance of the deeper life of the student body. Critical it truly is, but deep below the superficial criticism of the student is an appreciation of genuine sincerity that is equal by few audiences. Let college men be convinced of a speaker's real worth and unflinching courage, and he will receive a more sympathetic response than from most audiences. This explains largely the influence Moody exerted upon the religious life of many institutions of learning, where the direct and fearless deliverance of his message was received eagerly, with evident results. And if he won a cordial response from the student body, it was because of the thorough sympathy existing between audience and speaker. For if the colleges heard him gladly, Mr. Moody certainly enjoyed addressing young men more than any other class. The first important work among students began in Cambridge, England, during his mission in Great Britain in 1883 and 1884. As has already been stated, Mr. Moody on a few occasions had visited some of the college American colleges, notably Princeton in 1876 and Yale in 1878, with most gratifying results. But it was in England that he was truly introduced to the student world. The notable incident of Mr. Moody's change of attitude was his response to the petitions of the students of Cambridge and Oxford to visit their universities. Among those who were greatly interested in his work and by their influence contributed largely to its success, were Mr. J. E. K. Studd and Mr. W. H. Stone, at that time undergraduates. The latter, now the Reverend W. H. Stone, M. A. Victor of St. Mary's, Kilbourne, thus describes in a recent letter the mission to the University of Cambridge. There lies before me a little book with this inscription, To my friend, W. H. Stone, D. L. Moody, Cambridge, November 12, 1882. And now, after 17 years, that book seems to recall, with wondrous vividness, the incidents of that memorable week. On returning to Cambridge after the long vacation, I was invited by J.E.K. Stott and the Cambridge Christian Union to join the subcommittee in carrying out the arrangements for a mission conducted by Mr. Moody at the invitation of the Union. The coin exchange was secured for the Sunday evening meetings, and the gymnasium in Market Passage, now the Conservative Club, for the weekday evenings. A large choir of university men met regularly under the direction of G.E. Morgan of St. John's to practice those hymns which were likely to be required. A committee, including members from nearly all the colleges, handed a personal invitation to every undergraduate member of the university. The daily prayer meeting was well attended by the men. All was now ready, and on Sunday evening, November 5th, we proceeded to the first meeting in the Corn Exchange. The great building and annex had been seated to hold some 2,500 persons. On the platform, in front of the choir, were the Rev. H.G.S. Mull, John Barton, James Lang, Harry Trotter, and a few others. 1,700 men in cap and gown were counted entering the building. Everyone was provided with a hymn book. In they came, laughing and talking, and rushing for seats near their friends. Little attention seemed to be paid. to the preliminary hymn-singing of the choir. A firecracker thrown against the window caused some disturbances. Then Mr. Moody asked the clergymen on the platform to pray. But men shouted, ìHear, hear!î instead of ìAmen.î And Mr. Sankeyís first solo was received with jeers and loud demands for an encore. The reading of the scripture was frequently interrupted, and Mr. Moodyís address was almost unheard by reason of the chaffing, questions, and noises which came from all parts of the exchange. Still the evangelist persevered with the most perfect good temper, until a lull in the storm enabled him for five minutes to plead with those who honor their mother's God to remain for a short prayer meeting. After the singing of another hymn, during which many left the building, some four hundred remained for a brief prayer meeting. Many of the rowdiest men were seen to be quiet, impressed, and apparently ashamed of their recent behavior. With heavy hearts, we took our way to our responsive colleges, but Mr. Moody seemed undaunted and full of hope for the ultimate success of the mission. On Monday, we assembled in the gymnasium, and the sight was enough to depress the spirits of the most strangling, for only a hundred came to the meeting. After the address, Mr. Moody spoke to every man in the building. When, on asking a man if he were a Christian, he received the answer, No, but I wish to be one, we saw that the effort was not to be in vain. For on that night, one who was afterwards to row in the varsity boat, and then to become a missionary to Japan, decided to serve the Lord Christ. A few more came on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, a letter appeared in the University Review, written by J.E.K. Studd, reminding the members of the University that Monsignor Moody and Sankey had been invited by certain undergraduates to conduct the mission, and that they were entitled to the treatment, usually extended to invited guests. This letter had an excellent effect throughout Cambridge, and some 200 came to the evening meeting. On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Moody gathered a meeting of some 300 mothers of the town of in the Alexander Hall to pray for university men as some mothers' sons. Mr. Moody described this meeting as unique in his long experience. Mother after mother, amidst her tears, pleaded for the young men of the university. That night the tide turned. Who that was privileged to witness it will never forget the scene. I may remember old Cambridge men that there is a gallery in the gymnasium used as a fencing room, and approached by a long flight of steps from the gymnasium below. The preacher's subject was the marriage supper of the Lamb. At the close of his address, he asked any who intended to be present at the marriage supper to rise and go into the gallery. A terrible test. Amidst an awful stillness, a young Trinity man rose, faced a crowd of men, and deliberately ascended the stairs. In a moment, scores of men were on their feet. following him to that upper room. Many that night made the great decision. Some of the men who then received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are known to me today as honorable servants of God in a position of great importance. On Friday night there was an increased audience, but no meeting on Saturday. What would happen on the last Sunday night was the question in everyone's mind. 1,800 men assembled in the Corn Exchange for the final service. In perfect stillness, the great gathering listened to a simple address on the Gospel of Christ. The annex was arranged for the after-meeting, and 162 men gave in their names at the close as desiring to receive a little book that might prove useful to those who are seeking to know the power of the Gospel of Christ. Many men came to see Mr. Moody at his hotel, some to criticize, some to apologize for the unseemly behavior of the first night, and some to receive that help he was so fitted by God to give to those who were seeking the way of peace. The impress of this mission still rests upon the religious life of Cambridge. Its influence is felt in many parishes at home and many of the dark places that heathen him. No one who took any part in this mission could have been tempted to glorify the human agents or ascribe its success to them. It was the work of God. Mr. Moody had none of those qualifications which would mark him out as especially fitted to influence the members of an English university, unlettered and ignorant of the customs of university men. By the power of God which rested upon him, he accomplished a work of which no adequate account will be given until the day of Christ. From Cambridge, the Evangelists went to Oxford. The mission opened on Monday evening, November 13th, with a general meeting in the Corn Exchange. The crowd speedily overflowed that building and more than filled the hall close by. As Moody began to read a chapter from the book of Ezekiel, some of the audience began to stamp and shout, Hear! Hear! Mr. Moody immediately closed his Bible and rebuked them sharply. You had better play with forked lightning or meddle with the most deadly disease," he said, then trifled with the word of God. He then asked those gentlemen to rise who wished him to continue in the whole assembly, where the exception of a few young men instantly did so. The result was striking and effective, and there were no more interruptions during the evening. The second and third nights there was still a manifest intention to make fun of the services. The second evening Mr. Moody preached on repetency, and the third night on sowing and reaping. He had not proceeded far in his discourse on Wednesday evening before it was evident that the audible adverse criticism that there were many present who were not inclined to give the speaker a fair hearing. A large company returned from a champagne supper attended The meeting and their boisterous conduct made it difficult for the speaker to be heard. Hymns were applauded, the derisive amens accompanied with prayers. This company attended the second meeting for the students and undertook to break it up. Mr. Moody found himself in the midst of a group of young men, most of whom had been among the disturbers on the previous occasion. With that readiness of resource which so often stood him in good stead, he seized the opportunity and proceeded in the plainest, though most courageous, terms to tell the young men what he thought of them and their reprehensible conduct, addressing them simply as those who, like himself, would lay claim to the title of gentlemen. He said that they owed him an apology for the treatment which he had suffered at their hands. He had been invited by their fellow students to come and speak to them, and the least they could have done would have been to give him a respectful hearing. I have always heard of the provincial love of the English gentleman for fair play, he said. As an invited guest to Oxford, I expected at least to receive a fair chance to be heard. I am here at the invitation of your fellow collegians, and your condition after a champagne supper is the only explanation I can give of your conduct. The inference was too much, and several demanded that Mr. Moody meant to say they were drunk. Well, gentlemen, I can only say that the least said about that, the better. The wine supper seems to me to be the most charitable explanation of your conduct. Now," he said in conclusion, you owe me an apology and to show you mean it, I expect that you will all be present at the meeting tomorrow night and give me a fair hearing. They assented to all he said and offered a verbal apology for having so transgressed the rules of common civility. Mr. Moody accepted their apology as far as he was concerned, but he said they ought to make further reparation by taking prominent seats in the meeting the next night and listening quietly to his remarks. The result entirely justified his line of action. Having thoroughly earned their personal respect, he succeeded in gaining a hearing for the message he had to deliver. And the next night, the band was present in full force, taking prominent seats and getting close attention throughout. From this time, the strength of the opposition was broken, and on the following evening, the Clarence and Assembly room had become too small for the growing numbers of undergraduates that attended, and they met in the town hall. Mr. Moody's subject was the value of moral courage and a bold confession of Christ before men, and many instances from the scriptures illustrated this. Having dismissed the first meeting and gathered a large number of men near the platform, Mr. Moody mounted one of the seats and adopted a more collegial form of address. It will be a cross to you, he said, to confess Christ tonight. But the best thing to do is to take it up. If you intend to see the kingdom of God, you will have to take up the cross. It will never be easier than now. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him, will I confess before my Father, which is in heaven." Think of Jesus Christ confessing you. and say, this is my disciple. Is there not someone here who is willing to take up the cross and say, write out, I will. One voice sounding forth the response, give courage to others. And this dream of I wills came thick and fast. Thank God, said Moody. I like those I wills. Young men, you don't know how cheering this is. It is worth a whole lifetime of toil. This is joy that fills me full. Thank God for giving you courage to speak out. Is there not another here who will take a bold stand for Christ? Perhaps some of you will say, why can't I do it at home? So you can, but it is a good thing to do it here. I remember the first time I stood up to testify for Christ. My knees smote together and I trembled from head to foot. My thoughts left me. I spoke a few words and then sat down. But I got such a blessing to my soul that it has followed me until now. It helps a man wonderfully to take a bold stand and let the world, both friends and enemies, know that you were on the Lord's side. It is so easy to serve him after you have taken your stand. If a number of you were to come right out for God together, you would change the whole tone of this university. I could stand all night and hear those I wills. They are about the sweetest thing one can hear outside of heaven. Mr. Moody had taken a strong stand from the outside and he knew that he had won the day. It would have been easy to stop here But those who knew him could not expect to have the matter end simply with a confession of Christ. He has it a further test, though he said he had some hesitation in doing it. He suggested that those sitting on the front three seats in the front should vacate them and that those who had just spoken should come and kneeling there dedicate themselves to the Lord. Their request was scarcely uttered before some five or six rows of seats were filled with a solid flank of kneeling figures. We have seen a good many of Mr. Moody's and other evangelistic meetings where to correspond for the Christian, but if we can trust our memory, we have never seen any like this. The power of God seemed to be present in such a degree that these young men, many of them the flower of the rising intelligence of the Lamb, seemed to be swayed at his will like the ripe standing corn before the breezes of heaven. We could but exclaim in our hearts, it is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. In the mission which followed in London during the succeeding winter, many of Mr. Moody's most efficient helpers came from the universities visited at this time. Doubtless this did much to influence him in his work among students, and his special interest in the Young Men's Christian Association student work dates from this period. His cooperation in this effort was enlisted early in its history, and for several years he raised, by personal solicitation, the necessary funds for the support of this Department of the Work. It was in response to his earnest appeal that J. E. K. Studd of England and Henry Drummond visited the leading American colleges in the winter of 1886 and the fall of 1887. In the establishment of the Northfield Student Conference, Mr. Moody had contributed as largely as in any other way to the religious life of the American colleges. In the winter of 1886, while traveling in the southern states, he met one of the early secretaries of the College Department of the Young Man's Christian Association, and in a conversation regarding the needs of the work, Mr. Moody urged a greater prominence for Bible study among students. The kind of suggestion was then made that he should give a daily course of Bible instruction to a number of college men during the month of July, to which he ascended, on condition that the management of the detail for the entertainment of the guests should be assumed by the secretaries of the association. Plans were made at once for the first of those gatherings of students which have since become so prominent a figure in the Northfield work. The invitation to Northfield met with an acceptance far more general than had been anticipated, and it was decided to hold the meetings at the Mount Hermon Boys School. during the month of July. On July 7, the conference opened with an attendance of 250 students, representing 80 colleges in 25 states. Mr. Moody presided at the morning meetings, which were devoted to Bible study, in which informal teaching was given the preference over regular discourses. Questions were freely asked and answered. The afternoons were given up to athletic sports and quiet study, either alone or in groups. A peculiar tenderness of feeling prevailed among the closing days of the meetings. The most prominent outward result of this conference was the attention given to foreign missions. Sons of the missionaries and natives from foreign lands spoke at some of the meetings, and before the conference broke up, nearly 100 students announced their intention to become foreign missionaries whenever fitted and required. From this small beginning, the student volunteer movement has grown to be recognized as one of the strongest factors in the missionary work of the Church today. Although he was deeply interested in the missionary cause as the result of his work, everywhere it showed, the volunteer movement did not at first receive Mr. Moody's endorsement. The enthusiasm of the leaders he felt to be unwise, as it brought undue pressure to bear upon young people and lead them to decide impulsively to pledge themselves to a work which no one should enter upon without the clearest call. not for men only, but directly from God. His attitude was invariably consistent. All that could be urged upon anyone was willingness to do what God called him to do. But as he himself expressed it, it is a great pity for young men to place themselves under a pledge to enter any form of Christian work before God calls them, and he never calls a man until he is ready. The wisdom of this has since been recognized by many ardent student submissions, and the large number of unfulfilled pledges in Canada's unadapted missionary endeavor testify to his knowledge of human nature. The success of this conference at Mount Hermon School effectively dissipated Mr. Moody's doubt at his call to work for the colleges, and he hardly agreed to repeat the Northfield conference the next year. From this time, he frequently conducted evangelistic meetings in colleges and further manifested his interest in Christian work among students, as it is shown by his having raised tens of thousands of dollars for the support of the administrative work of the Student Christian Association. The attendance has steadily increased at these gatherings, and now there are about 700 registered delegates each year. In addition to this, there are nearly as many guests who come to Northfield especially to attend the platform meetings which are open to all. Missionaries from all lands, presidents and professors of colleges, pastors of leading churches and other Christian workers address the students who gather from nearly every leading college and university in this country, Canada and Great Britain. And such speakers as Henry Drummond, John Mott, Robert E. Speer, Alexander McKenzie, R.A. Torrey, Francis L. Patton and Henry Clay Trumbull. have been prominent at these annual gatherings in the past years.