Mr. Moody successfully opened his great mission in England on Nov. 4. Four meetings were held, each of which was attended by from 4,000 to 6,000 persons. The iron hall built for the occasion proved to be complete in all its arrangements, affording seating room for 5,800 persons. All around on the sides of the hall appropriate texts were displayed, such as “God is Love,” and over the platform, “We pray you in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God.” Mr. Sankey sang with customary effect. Mr. Moody’s powerful addresses showed that he had not lost his hold on the people. At the close of the evening meeting a man in the hall shouted out that Mr. Moody’s last mission in London had been a failure. Mr. Moody answered by calling for volunteers to come out boldly on the Lord’s side, whereupon about three thousand men arose en masse. The incident caused much excitement.
The first number of The Outlook, the paper published in the interest of the class of ’84, is out. It is a stirring little sheet, brimming over with class news, class gossip and class enthusiasm. The ’84s are especially fortunate in having such an editor as Mr. Bridge to lead them. This little quarterly will undoubtedly do much toward awakening the class and making their closing year even more brilliant than their beginning. Let every member subscribe.
A novel and entertaining exhibit was held in Paris in October. It was called “The Exposition of the Incoherent Arts,” and was arranged by and contributed to by young artists. Such a collection of absurdities is rarely seen, this one being on a much larger scale than those in previous years, and those who attend go to laugh. It is necessary to be a Frenchman and a Parisian to thoroughly appreciate all the happy hits and plays upon words, but even a foreigner can find food enough for laughter. The proceeds of the exhibition are for the poor of Paris, and it is expected that it will net quite a good sum. The exhibition abounds in pictures of the realistic school. For instance, where there is a figure wearing a shoe it will very likely be a genuine shoe attached; or hair will be stuck on instead of painted, suns and moons be represented by gold and silver paper pasted on, and one painting gives a ship sailing along accompanied by fishes, the fishes being two or three regular dried herrings glued to the canvas. One of the most prominent pictures is a portrait of the lecturer and critic, M. Henri de Lapommeraye. The hair and mustache, the eyeglass, the book just laid down, the letter he is reading, and the glass of sugar and water at hand, are all real objects attached to the picture, and of course, stand out most “naturally” from the canvas. No. 85 is entitled, “Poem of a Pig.” It is a very striking geometrical fantasy, the five different handlings of plain geometrical figures giving a pig drama in five acts. First act, pig strolling along seeking whom he may devour; second act, a sudden noise startles him, he scents the wind; third act, feeling he is pursued, he turns his head; fourth act, a knife shines in the air, he guesses, he flees; fifth act, fate is fate, and the beast sees heaven. No. 167 is “A Wild Pansy” (study of flowers). One forgets that “une pensée sauvage” can also mean a savage thought, and the surprise comes in to find the flowers of the picture are a fierce young boy and a scared-looking cat, and the boy is murdering the cat by running a spear through its neck. These are but samples of the whimsicalities.
