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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
January, 1936
''Reminiscences o f DR. TORREY B y ED ITH F. NORTON
Christian work in Belgium, conducted by the Belgian Gospel Mission, has attained world notice. When the mission was young, and the founders and human leaders, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Norton, were in need o f the assistance o f encouragement, Dr. Torrey proved an understanding friend. O f this trio o f acquain tances, Mrs. Norton alone remains to write o f the blessing God gave them. D r . T orrey ! As the name o f this beloved friend rises to the lips, memories many and varied begin to press in upon the consciousness— memories each one fraught with blessed interest, but difficult to capture and to give form and body. However, certain aspects o f his character, revealed throughout our long years o f intimate friendship, I shall endeavor to set forth,- writing as one who had the privilege o f being first pupil, then friend, and ever the re cipient o f his devoted sympathy and interest. It began o f course, in the days o f 1900 to 1901 when I, a very young and unformed Bible Institute student, sat at the feet of this great master. From my callow and inexperienced view point, the Dr. Torrey of those days was a figure august and austere and unbelievably remote from my humble sphere
o f existence. But how different the man, when, later, real knowledge o f his character came to be mine! A n E arly P icture of D r . T orrey It will be pardoned if the personal pronoun creeps into this narrative too frequently— but this difficulty is surely inevitable in personal reminiscences. I suppose it was be cause o f my vocal ability that I first became known to Dr. Torrey—an ability perhaps not so frequently met with in the smaller student body o f those days. He called upon me frequently and unexpectedly for solos in the old Moody Church until Miss Strong, the matron o f women, remon strated, fearing I would be spoiled! Impressions o f those days, come thronging back across the years. Dr. Torrey— only then in middle life, but already prematurely corpulent, prematurely bald and white bearded, looking much as he was to look during the subsequent thirty years of his life ; I can see him driving home his tremendous messages from the platform o f Moody Church, where he was then pastor, or teaching the Bible at the memorable Saturday night Bible classes, where a thousand or more listeners would gather weekly from all parts o f Chicago. It was at the time o f my attendance at the Moody Bible Institute, when the great weekly prayer meetings for revival came into b e in g - meetings that would often be prolonged into the morning hours— that gradually there came the conviction, during these hours o f intercession, that Dr. Torrey himself was to be set apart for a special ministry in relation to world-wide revival; and when the conviction became a divinely confirmed certainty, then Dr. Torrey chose as coworker, Charles M. Alexander, the gospel song leader. And together, as .Paul and Barnabas, they were sent forth— followed by the prayers o f us all. How God blessed those world-wide tours is common knowledge. Probably over 100,000 souls were won in those years o f campaigning. M aster of L ogic Dr. Torrey often appeared cut and dried in his utterances, but what logic, what clarity, what grasp o f fundamental truth! He had the authority’s dis regard o f appearances and was unmoved by per e n a l criticism. I recall his readmg froni the desk of Moody Church one Sunday morning, with a sin gular lack of vanity, a request that he refrain from repreaching so often his old sermons. The note was caustically put, but Dr. Torrey read it all placidly and unconcernedly, and he went right on with his repetitions! Some o f us, with denser intelligences than the average, were thankful for these reitera tions—without them, we would not have become so well indoctrinated, nor so truly prepared for the future o f service that lay ahead. What a master o f method he was in the delicate art o f winning men for Christ, and how inexor able his demands in regard to those who went out from the Institute in practical work! His own A Hymn Torrey Loved
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