NEWS OF HIS DEATH.

When the news of Mr. Moody's death reached London, I tried to describe him as one who was "four square to every wind that blows." But that did not seem sufficient, for he was at least an octagon of strength. I shall not put them in order of importance. Remember the octagon; that side is first which you first approach.

First—Tenderness. What a heart he had! Surely to actual purpose the love of God was shed abroad therein. No theme so swayed and moved him as the grace of God. It was far beyond his preaching. Tenderness was manifested in his life. It was most beautifully exemplified.

Second—Humor. And is this not the other side of tenderness? Is it not invariably the fact that the man of tears is the man of laughter? With what relish he would listen to or tell a good story! His merriment was constant and contagious. At the Murray Hill Hotel in New-York, last fall, the day we sailed for home, Mr. Moody told us the last story that I ever heard from his lips. A man was converted at a Salvation Army meeting he said, and the next day he began to look around to see what he could do as a Christian worker. He got in a train to go to another town, and he felt that he must do something. Sitting in front of him was a man looking very solemn and sour. The Salvationist leaned over to him and said, kindly: "Sir I hope you are a Christian?"

"Sir." replied the sad looking man. "I am a professor in a theological seminary."

"If I were you." continued the new convert with a smile, "I wouldn't let that stand between me and the Lord." (Laughter).

What a saving grace humor it! And yet I never saw him wound any one with his satire, and he never aimed at being funny in his preaching. None can ever charge him with having worked up to a point to make his audience laugh.

The seriousness of the business of preaching was too real for him. Yet his addresses always sparkled with humor, and as I have sat by his side on the platform and watched the eager crowds, I have wondered at the power with which he touched the fountain of tears and lit the tears immediately with some flash of humor.

Third—Common sense. I do not like the phrase, yet really I know no better. It is understood of the people and exactly described the fact concerning the man. He always seemed to have his feet squarely planted on the reasonable. He had no fads in his beliefs or practices. He had no obliquity in his vision; he looked at things and saw them.

Fourth—lnsight. How quickly he summed up men and movements! He seemed to have a most remarkable genius for discovering men fitted for special spheres of work and putting them in their right places. I have seen him sitting in a chair looking at the floor, but while in that position he had been looking clear through men. I suppose few men have had more people applying to them for opportunities of work. A brief conversation with them, a few questions and he had their measure. If he was not satisfied, no manner of influence was sufficient to persuade him to put them to work. No gift, perhaps, served him better in the course of the years.

Fifth—lmmediateness. There were those who spoke of his impulsiveness. I am bound honestly to say I never saw it, yet I can quite understand how those who did not come into close contact with him would imagine that he was so. He was full of energy and immedlateness. Everything was swift before the rush of his activity. But he never moved until he had quietly considered his capacity for consideration was great, and his outlook comprehensive. Let him see all the facts and be in his mind convinced, nothing daunted him.

Sixth— Passion. One always felt in his presence that he was capable of more than was evident at the moment. He was a kind of repository of lire and passion that did not often shew itself. When deeply moved he was in speech and influence simply irresistible. I never saw him stirred by any slight upon himself. He had the master passion of all passions, that of being able quietly to hold in check all his feelings until the moment when some person or community dear to his heart, because dear to the heart of God was attacked.

Seventh—Breadth. Nothing about him was more delightful than his broad sympathies. He had his own theological and ecclesiastical convictions, but he never allowed them to press him into a narrow groove of self-satisfied contempt for those who differed from him. Perhaps it will never be known, the extent to which he suffered through his devotion to men from whom he differed. That breadth was rewarded by the confidence of all sorts and conditions of men.

Eighth—Modesty. This I have written last not because it was least, but because its statement last is important. He would sit at the feet of the youngest of us, if we were speaking of his Lord and Master. A man of so varied parts, many will imagine, must haw been in danger of pride, yet as a matter of fact no more simple minded soul did I ever meet.

What is the explanation of the force and light of the life now passed beyond our view? The answer is found in the records of his admission to church membership in Boston when a youth. His evident desire, the records say, was to do the will of God. In the early years of his young manhood he yielded himself to that abounding grace which became the perpetual theme of his preaching. He decided himself unreservedly to God, and the whole man, being sanctified in Christ Jesus by faith, was sanctified in the actualities of his life by the Holy Spirit of God. Therein lay the secret charm of his personality as a Christian man. How shall we best preserve his memory? The answer is in Hebrews xiii. 7-5: "Remember them which had (the tense is changed now) the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation; Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and to-day and forever."

Whose faith follow? Do not attempt to imitate him. Imitate his faith. That Is the injunction. You will make a terrible mistake if you imitate him. Imitate his faith, the principle of his action, the underlying forces that made him a leader among men, speaking the Word of God with power. We want to be saved from a host of little Moodys; one great one is enough, and then remember this in closing—the Master remains. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day and forever.