A life's retrospect. Autobiography of Rev. Granville Moody ..

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I . I e

L^O

A. LIFK'S RETROSPECT

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

Rev. Granville Moody, d. d.

(BRIGADIER GENERAI. BY BREVET)

EDITED BY

REV. SYLVESTER WEEKS, A. M. D. D.

CINCINNATI:

CRANSTON AND STOWE

NE>Ar YORK:

HUNT AND EATON

Prof. Wm. James.

Copyright by CRANSTON A STOWH,

Preface

THIS book is strictly an autobiography so far as the writing and collecting of previously printed matter is concerned. The name " Retrospect" is Dr. Moody's own selection for a title. He quotes : " The retrospect of a life well spent affords peace of mind in old age."

I have endeavored to arrange the subjects and events in chronological order, but found some difficulty, and possibly did not in every case succeed. Many of the newspaper clippings were without date. Dr. Moody, like Paul, was in the habit of "going off at a word;" that is, the association of ideas suggested something kindred to the subject in hand, and he turned aside from the direct narrative to notice that, and, in some instances, the two circumstances were far apart in point of time. I have grouped together facts and incidents of a similar nature, arranging them chronologically, as nearly as the data enabled me so to do. The reports from charges, dreams, advocacy of reforms, and prayers, illustrate this grouping of kindred events. In the material furnished by Dr. Moody there were a number of sermons and addresses, lectures and essays, which it was impossible to embody in the limits of a single volume. Enough, however, has been furnished to alleys \3cift.

7> autobiographer to reveal his distinct personality, and to demonstrate his interest in every religions, moral, philanthropic, educational, and patriotic subject before the people in the half century of his active life ; and also to show his mode of thought, manner of treatment, and his rhetorical setting of his subjects.

He was verbose, without reduncancy. The length of his literary productions, whether written or spoken, was owing to the abundance of matter, and was not a mere superfluity of words. He was descended from generations of scholarly ancestors, graduates of Harvard, Dartmouth, and other New England colleges. His father graduated from Dartmouth in 1798, and became one of the best educators of the period. Dr. Moody's reading was classical, historical, solid ; his trained memory was capacious, ready, and retentive. His splendid physique gave him the physical qualifications as to presence and power of endurance for an orator, while his^ell-modulated voice enabled him to pass from the stentorian tone of command to the depth of tender pathos, and the play of his expressive features, lighting up his countenance till- it was all aglow with emotion, intensified the impression, and fixed it indelibly in the mind and heart of the hearer. He was six feet four inches tall, with development in proportion that was massive, without being adipose. I have in my mind a picture like this. I asked him to offer the closing prayer at an early Christmas morning prayer-meeting in Ripley, in 1873. He kneeled on his right knee, the left being at a right angle, his hands resting on the top of his heavy black cane with massive silver head, his body erect, with the cape of his military overcoat draping his shoulders ;^ his head, covered with luxuriant white hair, was a dome of vigorous thought, while his speaking face was turned heavenward. The pose was one for an artist. His prayer was the language of one at ease with God, culminating in thanks for "the unutterable gift."

One familiar with the Miami Valley could trace his itinerary by the doctrines he combated — Calvinism at Oxford, Universalism at Montgomery and West Chester, Socinianism at Franklin, Radicalism at Lebanon, and intemperance, Catholicism, and disloyalty in Dayton, Springfield, Cincinnati, and Piqua. And yet some of his dearest friends were his antipodes in doctrine ; showing that his antagonisms were not against persons, but against systems of belief Then, fto, the subjects of his communications to the Church papers indicate the depth of his interest in the polity of the Church. He wrote and spoke on the division of the Book Concern, episcopacy, pewed churches, the presiding eldership, and various phases of slavery.

His religious experience was deep, founded in the Word of God ; the one word that impressed me as I searched and classified his memoirs of himself, was " authority." To duly constituted authority—divine, ecclesiastical, or civil — he bowed with unquestioning loyalty. His early training in a pious house established him in the principles of morality ; his prayerful and careful examination in his youth of the doctrines of religion, with the Bible as the ultimate appeal, settled him immovably in matters of faith ; his conversion, in which he was Scripturally, thoroughly, and consciously saved, was a genuine experience, affirming his morality, confirming his doctrine, and eminently qualifying him to deliver his gospel message with no reservations as to its adaptation to save. His was a growing experience. At the close of his itinerant ministry he wrote :

"From the memorable November 25, 1831, a divine energy has been forming me, amid many conflicts and various experiences, into a growing conformity to God's perfect will ; and, upon the whole review, I find that I have been putting ofi" the old man of covetousness, self-will, pride, and self-indulgence, and have been putting on the new character of humility, submission to God, and love to God and to flien, — to good men because of their goodness, and commiseration, and pitying love to the naturally degenerate portion of society, who remain in the bonds of iniquity and in the gall of bitterness, and strangers still to the covenant of grace — recognized as those having no hope, because without God in the world.

" I can also attest that the bud of regeneration, the divine beginning of the new life, has blossomed and progressed and ripened into the fruit unto holiness, with the assured prospect of everlasting life. . . .

" I can also attest that a life of devotional, self-denying, and active piety has become more habitual and delightful, and sin in any and every form, as viewed in myself and in others, has become more and more hateful and painful, deformed and horrible, and vile and detestable and detested. . . . My contemplations of the heavenly state are becoming more realizing; my aspirations for it are more fervent, and my desires for earthly things are more moderate. I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life I now live in the flesh is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, and to me as well. Thus, by faith in Christ, my life has been a progressive life, has been a life of religious decision, of care for my own personal salvation, of devotional piety ; a life of assurance of acceptance with God in Christ ; a life of communion with the Holy Trinity, of upward and onward tendencies, of cheerful submission to providential allotments, of laborious usefulness in persuading men to reformation that flows from gospel salvation ; a life of patriotic devotion to our country ; a life of active opposition to intemperance and Sabbath desecration ; and my closing prayer for all my family is, that our sons and daughters may walk by all these rules, and mind the same things, and meet wife and self in heaven."

He was a connecting link between the pioneer and the present ministry in Ohio. He diligently instructed the children in every pastoral charge ^ he observed and enjoined the quarterly fast; he urged and insisted upon attendance u^oti. ^^ means of grace, of which he considered classmeetings not the least.

At the session of his Conference in 1886 — I quote from the Minutes — "a committee was appointed to examine and report Upon the manuscript autobiography of brother G. Moody, as requested by the Conference, and the following brethren were so appointed : R. S. Rust, A. Lowrey, C. H. Payne, William Herr, S. D. Clayton, A. B. Leonard, and J. F. Marlay." Appointed on the first day of the session, they reported on the fifth day as follows :

"The Committee, to whom was referred the. manuscript autobiography of our venerable and beloved brother, Rev. Granville Moody, D. D., would respectfully report :

"i. We greatly rejoice in the presence of Dr. Moody with us at this session of our conference, and that we have been permitted to hear once more on the floor of the Conference, and in the devotional exercises of the session, the familiar tones of a voice which we have been so long accustomed to follow as that of a born, tried, and trusted leader. As a man evidently called of God to take a leading part in public and ecclesiastical ajffairs, and richly endowed by high qualities of physical, intellectual, and spiritual manhood. Dr. Moody has been a conspicuous and honored figure in the most eventful period of our country's history; a man distinguished above his fellows for labors abundant in Church and State, whose praise is not only in all the Churches, but which also occupies a large place in the history of the great Rebellion, in which he bore so noble a part in defense of the Union.

" 2. We rejoice that in his enforced retirement from active service, on account of impaired physical health. Dr. Moody has found time to collect the facts and incidents of his long and useful life in the form of an autobiography, which we have examined as fully as our time would allow, and which we take great pleasure in recommending for publication by the Western Book Concern, as a contribution of rare interest and value to our denominational and biographical literature."

This report was signed by all the committee, and was adopted by the Cincinnati Conference by a rising vote.

On Sunday morning, May 29, 1887, Dr. Moody, in company with his son, Charles P. Moody, was going from his country residence to Jefferson, Iowa, to preach a memorial sermon before the George H. Thomas Post, No. 23, G. A. R. In turning a corner a trace became detached ; this allowed the breast-yoke to move forward, so that, the carriage-pole falling, both occupants of the carriage were hurled violently out. On the third day pneumonia of a type defying medical skill developed, and the end drew near. His life-long familiarity with the Scriptures was manifested during his closing days of life in his frequent repetitions of the " exceeding great and precious promises," which were as manna to his soul. He looked forward to the goodly company awaiting lo Preface.

him — ^bishops, ministers, and from the laity. He alluded to the more than eight thousand who, through his ministry, had been led to God ; many of them would meet him. " Best of all who have been with me on earth, Lizzie will meet me there/' A little later he uttered his last connected sentence, repeatedly exclaiming: "On the tree! on the tree !" At five minutes before six o'clock, on Saturday, June 4, 1887, his spirit departed, passing out of the Saturday night of earth into the unending Sabbath of a blessed eternity. The funeral services in the church at Mount Vernon were participated by Revs. Dr. Heald, pastor ; Luke Fish, A. K. Baird ; President W. F. King, of Cornell College ; C. M. Sessions, I. W. Joyce, D. D. (now bishop). Chaplain J. H. Lozier, and Captain C. W. Kepler, of the G. A. R. Post.

Awaiting the resurrection of the just, his mortal remains rest in the soil of the State he chose for the home of his declining days, while his ransomed spirit sings with deeper fervor than earth could know, his favorite :

" Thou art my souPs bright morning star, And thou my rising sun."

We trust this Autobiography may be full of pleasant reminiscences to the older readers, and an inspiration and guide to the younger.

SYLVESTER WEEKS.

Cincinnati, September 3, 1889.

Contents

Chaptkr I.

INFANCY AND CHII^DHOOD.

Birth — Brothers and Sisters — Grandfather's House — Hard Cider — Father's Literary Pursuits — Mother of Huguenot Ancestry — " Boston Stone " — Maternal Grandmother — " Uncle Ben " — Baron Moody and the Grant Family — Sketch of Family, PagjB 21

Chapter II. BOYISH YEARS

Childhood — Mother's Prayers — Memory at Four Years of Age — Dr. Payson — Removal to Baltimore — Gay Street — Dr. Inglis's Church — Family Sittings — ^William Wirt — Communion Days — Catechization at Home — Father's Seminary — Reminiscences in 1876 — The Author's Education — First Cigar and Last, 30

Chapter III. YOUTH

At Business — A Large Transaction for a Sixteen-year Old Boy — Details thereof— First Adult Suit of Clothes — Farmer — Josiah Chew — Prevalence of Intemperance — Dr. Lyman Beecher's Six Sermons — Rev. Henry Slicer — The Author's Unique Pledge — Step to Conversion, 40

Chapter IV. WESTWARD ho!

A Surgical Operation — Religious Conviction — Leaving Home for Ohio — Aunt Violet — Norwich, Ohio — Isaiah Brown — Meets Rev. Levi P. Miller — Protracted Discussion on Theology— Fletcher's Checks — Turning from Calvinism, . . 50 II

Chapter V. CONVERSION

Deepened Conviction by New Truth — "O Wretched Man" — Aunt Violet's Charge comes up — Conversion — ^Witness of the Spirit — Evidence of Adoption — Uniting with the Methodist Episcopal Church, Page 65

Chapter VI. I^ICENSED TO PREACH

Joins the Church on Christmas — ^Will not sell Whisky — ^List of Books and Time for Reading — Life of Jesse Lee— -Call to preach — Keeping a 'Branch Country Store — Classifying Knowledge for a Ready Memory — First Sermon — Licensed to Preach and recommended for the Traveling Connection— Cure for a Balky Horse, 78

Chapter VII. ADMITTED INTO CONFERENCE

Characteristic Letters from Father and Mother — Studies under Rev. E. D. Roe, M. D. — Transfer of Business to Brother William — Appointed to Springfield Circuit — First Text as an Itinerant — ^William H. Raper — Father*s Death — London Circuit — McKendree Chapel, Fulton— Joseph Herron — Marriage — ^Wife's Great Blessing — ^William Nast — Wesley Chapel — General Conference of 1836 and Slavery, ... 89

Chapter VIII. CINCINNATI AND EI^SEWHERE

Wesley Chapel, Cincinnati — Mr. and Mrs. William NefF— Illinois Lands — Refusal to invest — Troy Circuit — Black Hawk, a Horse and His History — Oxford — A Dangerous Ford of the Miami River — ^Vanaken Wunder and Son, 97

Chapter IX. UNIVERSAI^ISM

Miami Circuit — ^Days of Theological Debates — Two Hours on Baptism in the Morning — ^Three Messengers give Timely Warning — Three Hours in the Afternoon against Universalism — The Result — ^Extempore Speaking, 108

Chapter X. AT OXFORD

Oxford Station — Calvinism — Controversy at the Post-ofl&ce — Quotations from Confession of Faith — ^I'he Controversy Older than Calvin — Synod of Dort — Servetus — Catechism aud Directory of Worship — Free and Full Salvation, . Page i 15

Chapter XI. INCIDENTS IN ITINERANT I*IFE

Wesley Chapel— Job Dundee — His Occupation led Him to Christ — Dr. Strickland — A Strange Story in Psychology — Ripley — ^Pastoral Visiting — A Roadside Baptism — A Mud-hole near Williamsburg — A Friendly Act to be repaid by Another — The Answer thereto, 134

Chapter XII. SABBATH-KEEPING

On Observance of the Sabbath — Little Ben — Firing Up with Split Wood aud Prayer — A Long Session of Conference— Low Water and Ohio River Bars — Sunday Morning— A Bishop vacillating — Going Ashore — Mr. Ladely's Welcome — Monday Morning Departure — Little Ben on a Bar and distanced — A Sunburnt Bishop — The Sabbath Observers reach Cincinnati first, 149

Chapter XIII. EXTRACTS FROM EARI*Y WRITINGS

Putting on Christ — Negations — Fundamental Doctrines — The Truth— Bereavements— The Word made Flesh— The Bible- Experimental Knowledge, 157

Chapter XIV. REPORTS EROM VARIOUS CHARGES

Fulton — ^Montgomery— Lancaster — Zanesville — Dedication of McKendree, Fulton — Methodism in Columbus— Old-time Hospitality at the Parsonage — Columbia Street, Springfield— Raper Chapel, Dayton — Appointments from 1833 to 1882 — Record of Births, Deaths, aud Marriages of Children, ^^:^

Chapter XV. DREAMS, PRRSCIENCK, AND THE PRETERNATURAI

Dreams: in Springfield in Reference to a Revival — ^At York Street, Cincinnati, as to a Death One Hundred and Thirty Miles Distant— An Ante-mortem Funeral Sermon Actually used at the Funeral— Singular Impression at Camp Chase, Anticipating the Escape of Rebel Prisoners — At Fairmount, in Charity, Page 183

Chapter XVI. FURTHER INCIDENTS OP MINISTERIAI, WFE

Duplicating a Wedding— Cowhiding a Minister — The Fighting Parson and John Morgan's Chief of Staff —: Muscular Christianity at Camp Chase — Falling of the Flag at Camp Chase — A Modern Gideon's Lamps — Students Eilisting, 200

Chapter XVII. VIEWS ON SI,AVERY

Contrabands at Camp Chase— Ye can not serve Two Masters — Testimonials as to Author's Treatment of Prisoners by Rodgers, Steele, and Others — Articles in the Western Christian Advocate on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise 219

Chapter XVIII. TEMPERANCE — EXTRACTS PROM PAPERS

Temperance in Springfield — Dayton — Communication to the Dayton Gazette — Reasons for Opposition to the Sale and Use of Intoxicating Liquors, 231

Chapter XIX. INCIDENTS OP ARMY I.IFE

A Soldier wounded at Franklin, Tennessee — Praying with and for Him — His Recovery— Talk with Archbishop Purcell — Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee — Evacuation of Nashville threatened — Prayer with the Governor by Author — Stone River — Battle — MurfreesboVo — Rebel Officer shot — His Death — Prayers on Memorial-day at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, and at Arlington Heights, . . . 258

Chaptkr XX.

ADVOCACY OF REFORM AND WBKRTY.

Kossnth Meeting in Springfield — Anti-Nebraska Meeting in Dayton — ^Against Romanism in Springfield, 1852-53 — The Bible in the Schools — Roman Catholic Opposition, Page 281

Chapter XXI

combating ERROR.

Spirit-rapping — ^Reasons for not being a Baptist — On the Use of Tobacco — Deference to Morals in Political Action — Camp-meetings and the Sabbath, 295

Chapter XXII. FRAGMENTS OF CI^ERICAI, WFE

Comer-stone Laying at Ripley — Great Storm averted — Prevailing Prayer — A Cincinnati Affray — Missionary Box mistaken for an Infernal Machine — A Successful Change in Ministerial Relations — ^Isaac W. Joyce — Prayer over a " Sermonette'*— Judge Bellamy Storer. 322

Chapter XXIII. AS COI^ONEI* OF A REGIMENT

Enters the Army — Commissioned Colonel of the Seventy-fourth Regiment, O. V. I. — ^Approval of Cincinnati Preachers* Meeting — Appointed Commandant at Camp Chase — Letter of Governor Tod— Sent to the Front — ^Author's Letter to his Wife— Details of Camp-life and Battle — Letter to the Book Agents — Deserters turned Back — Narrow Escape from Wounds and Death — Major Lewis, Private Secretary of President Jackson — Incidents — Seeking escaped Slaves — Toilsome March — Son's Exhaustion — Franklin, Tennessee — Brother G. V. Moody, of the Rebel Army, a Prisoner — Preaches in Camp — ^Disabled by Exposure and Wounds — R^esigns from the Service — Promoted to Brigadier-General by Brevet, 336

ChrpTER XXIV.

IN Civil, I,IFE.

Meeting of Citizens of Springfield on Washington's Birthday, 1863 — Address on the Occasion — Address at "R\^\^^ ^xsl >i\jk&

Situation of Public Affairs, 1868 — ^Address on Memorial-day, 1881, at Washington C. H. — Address at Xenia, Ohio, at a Reunion of the Seventy-fourth Regiment, .... Page 369

Chapter XXV. MORE FRAGMENTS OF CI^ERICAI, I*IFE

Pocket picked, and Conviction of Thief — Pardon procured — First Personal Acquaintance with Dr. J. V. Watson — Appointment to Piqua — Rebuilding Church — Thanksgiving-day, 1863 — Patriotic News — Services interrupted — Address on the Occasion — General Conference of 1864 — Interview with President Lincoln — Address of the Conference and the ^ President's Reply — The Degree of Doctor of Divinity conferred on the Author — Visit to Washington City — President I/incoln on Emancipation — Appointed to Ripley — General Conference of 1876 — Speech on Bishop's Address, . . 427

Chapter XXVI. SUPERANNUATION

Appointed to Jamestown — Semi-centennial Anniversary of Entering the Ministry — A Daughter's Letter — How an Itinerant's Life appears to an Itinerant's Child — Asks for and receives a Superannuated Relation to the Conference — Address before Conference — Motion for Author to prepare his Autobiography — Semi-centennial Sermon — Retirement in Iowa — Reflections — Assurance of Divine Favor — Letters of Sympathy and Regard — Golden Wedding — Sickness and Death of Wife — Conclusion, 455

Introduction

AN Introduction to any book written by Rev. Granville Moody would seem a superfluous task, and it would be such were the work designed only for the Methodists of Ohio, and especially for those now well advanced in life. The same is true of the work which sets forth his personal experiences, labors, and observations. He was too well known to need introduction, and the Methodist people who knew him require no inducement to read what he has written concerning himself, or with reference to the times in which he lived.

It is difficult to realize that one so conspicuous and impressive in his personality is gone from our midst, and that only a volume remains to perpetuate his memory, and in some degree to continue his influence in the Church he served so long and so well. For half a century and more he was a prominent participant in the affairs of Methodism, working with all , the energies of his enthusiastic nature for the upbuilding of the kingdom of righteousness, and no one who knew him will even suspect that he lacked a single element of loyalty to God, to his Church, or to his native land. What he believed, he believed, with all his heart, and what he did, he did with his might.

He entered the ministry at a time when it was

1 8 Introduction.

necessary for Methodists to " contend for the faith " they professed, and to do it with an aggressiveness that would, at the present day, seem intolerant and offensive. Mr. Moody was not a man to be a spectator in the presence of an emergency demanding positive exertion to maintain what he believed to be the truth of God. Hence, in early life, he prepared himself thoroughly to defend the doctrines of his Church ; and his preaching, without lacking elements of spiritual power, was rich in theological thought and forceful in polemic learning. He championed the cause he espoused, and stood ready to measure swords with any who crossed his path in the advocacy of Calvinism, Unitarianism, or Universalism. It was not merely the impulsiveness of his nature that made Mr. Moody active and prominent in the controversies of his day. He possessed an intellect of wonderful activity and force, an industry which was untiring, a heart that burned with zeal for the truth and the right ; and, possibly, no one excelled him in pure dislike to all that seemed dishonoring to God or the Church. It was not in him to remain uninformed in the current thought of his time, or to lack any knowledge available for the defense of the positions his conscience approved.

It sometimes occurs that men of marked peculiarities, or of extraordinary strength in given lines of action, come to be so well known in those things which distinguish them from others, that their general ability to do the ordinary work of their calling is scarcely appreciated. Mr. Moody was a man of striking peculiarities, yet he was also well rounded

Introduction. 19

and thoroughly capable, and eminently eflBicient in every department of duty as a Christian minister and pastor. While he became proficient as a speaker and writer in the controversies which belonged to his times, he developed large capacity for all the services required at his hands, and neither the social nor spiritual interests of his charges suflfered from neglect or inattention. He sought to understand Methodism in her inner life as well as in her doctrinal principles ; and his allegiance to her ecclesiastical methods was far from being a blind devotion to unappreciated traditions. With a generous love for all evangelical denominations, and with a catholicity unknown to smaller minds, he grasped the connectional system of Methodism, made himself familiar with its forms and usages, and gave to these an intelligent approval which carried with it the warmth of his great soul. He was, therefore, an ardent Methodist, while he despised bigotry.

The following chapters will give a better idea of the characteristics hinted at in the foregoing periods, than could be given by further descriptive phrases in the brief space allowed for this Introduction. He was a man of great mind, great heart, great impulses, and great intelligence ; and whatever may be said of his peculiarities, it is not probable that any one will ever think of him as other than a man of high purpose, lofty aim, noble sentiment, pure thought, and honorable life. The record he has made, and the portraiture here given, will be read and cherished by thousands who admired him in life, and who will assoevaXfc Vsxxsjl

20 Introduction.

in memory with the heroes of Methodism, as well as with the heroes of the Nation.

The literature of the country and of the Church is enriched by such a volume as this. Its perusal by the young will enlarge the horizon of their thought, and stimulate their desire to be loyal to God and to every good work. It presents the thoughts and experiences of one whose life was a success, and whose example in study and zeal and work and sacrifice, as well as in devotion and patriotism, may be imitated

with profit.

S. M. MERRILL.

Chicago, 1890.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OP

Granville Moody.

Chapter I. Infancy And Childhood

AN autobiography is the life of a person written by himself. It is a delicate and difficult task to write one's own history. It lays one open to the charge of egotism or self-glorification. It were better far if "every Johnson had his Boswell." But, then, every Boswell might be too friendly to his Johnson, and, knowing his subject but in part, and disposed to lionize his friend, he might be suspected of partiality.

The subject of this autobiography was bom in Portland, Me., on January 2, 1812. His parents were William and Harriet Brooks Moody. A family legend is that his birth was accompanied with the most violent storm that had broken on that oceangirt land within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Whether " the prince of the power of the air" had any agency in this tempest at this epoch is not for me to determine. But as this juncture marked also the beginning of the War of 181 2, I came, and amid a rejoicing circle waked "maternal love, the word that sums all bliss." P^amily history speaks lovingly of my infancy, and of my baptism when six weeks old — presented at God's holy altar in the old frame church where the Rev. Edward Payson, D. D., faithfully preached the gospel of the Son of God to crowded audiences, and solemnly administered the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. There stood my parents, and presented me to God, taking upon themselves the parental obligations to ** bring me up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.*' And doubly sure I am that never into holier hands was infant form committed than when, from my mother's bosom, my father's hands conveyed me to the fond arms of him who stood in Jesus' place and name and welcomed me to his kind and warm embrace. Giving me back to my parents' arms and hearts, he said: "This child is now the Lord's by your act of consecration ; take it as his property, and bring it up for God and, *he will give you your wages.' " He closed the service with a prayer for parents and the child then baptized, and for the children all, that they might make an unbroken family in heaven. This is the authentic record of that great hour in my early life when Pastor Payson prayed for me and for the family in his saintly style, with fullness of faith that God would be my parents' God and the God of their children after them.

My parents were of good New England stock, pure Christians, believing in the Bible as a book divinely inspired, containing the mind and will of God in our salvation from sin and from its results.

revealing Jesus Christ as the great object of faith and hope and love. To them were bom seven sons and four daughters, to wit : Harriet Peaslee, John Brooks, William Henry, Louisa Brooks, Granville, Ellen, George V., Nathaniel Peaslee, Edward Payson, Samuel Stillman, and Sarah Hudson. My father was the sixth son of Humphrey Moody, whose farm adjoined Haverhill on the Merrimac, eighteen miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and twenty-seven miles north of Boston. Six of my father's brothers served as volunteers in the Revolutionary War. My grandfather's house was burned by the British in 1776, and the family scattered. After peace was declared, the sons gathered at the old homestead to rebuild. In clearing away the rubbish, some one with his mattock knocked oflf the neck of a cider-bottle, and lifting it out of its sandy bed, imbibed the ancient beverage, and gave notice of his luck. His fellowlaborers found that the whole cellar floor was occupied by such bottles, the interstices and six inches over the tops of the corks being covered with sand. The dkbris of the dwelling falling into the cellar had formed a seven years' covering. It is also part of the story that within an hour there could not be found a sober man on the premises. The treasure was all exhumed and distributed in quantities of a dozen or half-dozen bottles to the veteran officers of the Revolutionary War, Governor John Hancock sharing in the results of the discovery.