Two Great Evangelists
In the thought of Christian people everywhere throughout the world the names, Moody and Sankey, are linked together; and I have been not a little honored in having these great evangelists among my dearest friends. I have always been greatly fascinated when Mr. Sankey has related in my hearing the story of how he and Mr. Moody first met; and he has told it with wonderful vividness and power in his “Story of the Gospel Hymns.” In 1870 Mr. Sankey was one of the delegates to the convention of the Young Men’s Christian Association at Indianapolis; and one morning, with a friend, went into a seven o’clock meeting conducted by Mr. Moody. The singing was abominable and the friend suggested that Mr. Sankey start something; and he sang “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.” The congregation joined and the remainder of the meeting was bright and hearty.
At the conclusion of the service they met, and almost Mr. Moody’s first words were “I have been looking for you for the last eight years. You must come to Chicago and help me in my evangelistic meetings.” This announcement was rather sudden; and Mr. Sankey replied that he did not feel called to give up his business, but promised to think the matter over. The next day
Mr. Moody asked him to be at a certain street corner that evening. He arrived before the evangelist; the latter soon came; and without even greeting Mr. Sankey passed into a store and asked for a box upon which he might stand and speak to the men returning home from work. A large company collected; they at last adjourned to the Opera House, where the convention was being held; and continued the meeting till the hour of the evening service. For the next six months Mr. Moody urged Mr. Sankey to give up his business and go to Chicago; finally he was promised that they would hold a few meetings together; and before the end of the first week Mr. Sankey sent his resignation to his firm. Thus early in 187 1 they began work. Wherever Moody and Sankey went there was a great awakening, and in England especially thousands turned toward the Christian life from a career of indifference and sin. Mr. Sankey was in the habit of using some of the songs which had proved their merit in Chicago and other cities of America, but the demand for gospel hymns rose to such a degree that a collection of them was printed, and the little book was called “Sacred Songs and Solos.” The sales were constantly increased until many thousands were sold. The profit from the publication was given to charitable purposes.
When they returned to this country a new book was compiled with the assistance of P. P. Bliss and Major D. W. Whittle. It was entitled “Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs” and was issued by the Biglow and Main Company. Since that date five additional numbers have been compiled and over fifty million copies in all have been sold, the royalty being devoted to worthy causes, and of late years to the Northfield Seminary and the Boys’ School at Mount He mon, Massachusetts. Recent editions have been compiled by George C. Stebbins and James McGranahan, both of whom have been friends of mine for many years.
I presume “The Ninety and Nine” is the most popular of all the Moody and Sankey hymns. The story of the writing of this hymn has been told to me more than once by Mr. Sankey. They had been travelling through England and Scotland, holding very large meetings, and finally were going from Glasgow to Edinburgh. At the railway station Mr. Sankey purchased a paper with the hope of finding some news from America. He found none, however, but at last caught sight of a little poem in one corner of the paper anong the advertisements. He liked it very much, called Mr. Moody’s attention to it; and read it again at his friend’s request. But Mr. Moody was not impressed. Two days later the topic at a noon meeting was “The Good Shepherd”; and Dr. Bonar was one of the speakers. When he had concluded his address Mr. Moody asked if Mr. Sankey had some solo appropriate to this subject. He had nothing in mind; and was greatly perplexed as to what to do; then a voice seemed to say, “Sing the hymn you found on the train.” He immediately sat down at the organ; bowed his head in prayer; and at once the music to “The Ninety and Nine” came as it now stands. The great audience was deeply touched.
Several interesting stories have grown out of the singing of “The Ninety and Nine” on special occasions. Many years ago there lived at Northfield an infidel; and one day, while all the neighbors had gone to the meeting at the church, he sat at home alone feeling dissatisfied with himself and all the world in general. But he heard Mr. Sankey singing “The Ninety and Nine”; and there was something in the hymn that he could not escape. The melody rang in his ears, and the thought of the lost sheep troubled him that night, and the next, and the following day until the evening, when he could stand it no longer. He went to the meeting and returned a saved man.
A few years later he was taken ill. One day he said to his wife,
“Raise the window; I hear ‘The Ninety and Nine.”’ Then he listened attentively until the last notes of the hymn had died out; and turning from the window he said,
“I am dying; but it is all right, for I am ready. I shall never hear ‘The Ninety and Nine’ again on earth, but I am glad that I have heard it once more today.”
My own recollections of Northfield bring back many incidents concerning those whom it was my fortune to meet there. During the summer of 1894 the auditorium meetings were in charge of Dr. A. J. Gordon, while Mr. Moody was holding a series of evangelistic services in England. One evening Mr. Sankey came to me and said,
“Will you say something? there is a request from the audience that you speak.” I felt that I was not prepared for the occasion and so I said,
“Oh, Mr. Sankey, I cannot speak before such an array of talent.” Dr. Pierson supplemented Mr. Sankey’s request by saying,
“Yes, you can. There is no one here of whom you need be afraid.” Then Dr. Gordon said,
“Fanny, do you speak to please man or to please God?”
“Why, I hope to please God,” I replied. “Well, then,” he said, “go out and do your duty.”
During my remarks that evening I repeated for the first time in public the words to “Saved by Grace,” although the hymn had been written mere than two years before that summer, but it had never been published or used in any way.
“Where have you kept that piece?” asked Mr. Sankey, when I returned to my seat. I told him that I had kept it stored away for an emergency. There was a reporter present that evening; he copied the hymn as I gave it; and a few weeks later it appeared in an English religious paper. At the iequest of Mr. Sankey, my friend, George C. Stebbins, composed the music to “Saved by Grace” and thus the hymn was sent forth on its mission to the world.
So strong was the friendship existing between Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey that we used to call them “David and Jonathan”; and I am sure that the modern church has not known two men more devoted to the work of Christian evangelism; and so they went far and near, telling the old, old story in sermon and in gospel song, until the influence of their meetings spread through all classes of society.
My last personal message from Mr. Moody was received shortly before his death while I was conducting a series of meetings in Oneonta, New York. A friend of mine was leaving for Northfield; and at my request he carried a message of greeting to Mr. Moody; and when the latter heard it, he exclaimed, “Oh, Fanny Crosby, give her my love.” I little thought then that before many months the sender of those kind words would sleep on the summit of old Round Top, where we had gathered many beautiful summer evenings to hear his words of comfort and of inspiration.
Dwight Lyman Moody was a wonderful man; and he did his own work in a unique way, which was sometimes no less daring than original. The following passage from the Holy Book is in my mind as I think of his blameless life:
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.”
It is a blessed joy that his companion, Mr. Sankey, has been spared to the present hour; and that during the last twenty-five years he has been a close associate of mine in writing gospel hymns. His work as a composer and as a singer is known throughout the length and breadth of the Christian world; for the sorrowing and unfortunate of both America and Great Britain he has done an amount of good that eternity alone will be able to estimate; and his own sweet melodies have indeed been a balm to many an aching heart.
The friendship of this talented man is one of my priceless jewels. During a recent illness I told him that I believed the entire Christian world was praying for his recovery. He said, “Tell those who love me and are praying for me that I am holding on to Christ and Christ is holding on to me; and that by and by I’ll see Him face to face and tell the story ‘Saved by Grace.’”
Recently while visiting at Mr. Sankey’s home, I heard him calling from his room upstairs, “Fanny Crosby is in this house; I hear her laugh.” Then I went to his room; we conversed pleasantly for a long time; and the next day when I was leaving his home he handed me the following hymn, saying “You may have this for your book.” The words were written by Sarah Dondney, and set to music composed by himself.
“Sleep on, beloved, sleep, and take thy rest; Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour’s breast; We loved thee well, but Jesus loves thee best — Good-night! Good-night!
“Calm is thy slumber as an infant’s sleep;
But thou shall wake no more to toil and weep:
This is a perfect rest, secure, and deep — Good-night! Good-night!
“Until the shadows from this earth are cast;
Until He gathers in His sheaves at last;
Until the twilight gloom be overpast — Good-night.’ Good-nightj
“Until the Easter glory lights the skies;
Until the dead in Jesus shall arise,
And He shall come, but not in lowly guise — Good-night! Good-night!
“Until made beautiful by Love Divine, Thou in the likeness of thy Lord shalt shine, And He shall bring that golden crown of thine — Good-night! Good-night!
“Only ‘Good-night,’ beloved — not ‘farewell!’ A little while, and all His saints shall dwell In hallowed union indivisible — Good-night! Good-night!
“Until we meet again before His throne,
Clothed in the spotless robe He gives His own,
Until we know even as we are known — Good-night! Good-night!”
Then he gave me a message for the same purpose.
“I wish you to convey to all my friends,” said Mr. Sankey, “the assurance of my love; and that I hope to meet them all by-and-by in the land where there is no more sorrow nor pain, and where God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Tell them that God is Love and that I have ordered those words to be cut on my tombstone in Greenwood, that future generations may know the faith in which I died.”
Later he wrote:
“Dear Fanny, co-laborer in the blessed service of Sacred Song for so many years:
“I wish that when you get to heaven (as you may before I will) that you will watch for me at the pearly gate at the eastern side of the city; and when I get there I’ll take you by the hand and lead you along the golden street, up to the throne of God, and there we’ll stand before the Lamb, and say to Him: And now we see Thee face to face, saved by Thy matchless, boundless grace, and we are satisfied.’
“Yours, till the day dawn and the shadows flee away,
“Ira D, Sankey.”