Moody, Joseph

Moody, Joseph an American divine of the Congregational Church, was born in 1701. But little is known of his early life. As a minister he was noted for his many eccentricities, but also for his piety, and as a remarkably useful preacher of the Gospel. In his younger years he often preached beyond the limits of his own parish, which was in Maine, and wherever he went the people hung upon his lips. In one of his excursions he went as far as Providence, R.I., where his exertions were the means of laying the foundation of a church. Such was the sanctity of his character that it impressed the irreligious with awe. He also with importunate earnestness pleaded the cause of the poor, and was very charitable himself. It was by his own choice that he derived his support from a free contribution, rather than a fixed salary; and in one of his sermons he mentions that he had been thus supported twenty years, and yet had been under no necessity of spending one hour in a week in care for the world. Some remarkable instances of answers to his prayers, and of correspondence between the event and his faith, are not yet forgotten in York. The hour of dinner once came, and his table was unsupplied with provisions; but he insisted upon having the cloth laid, saying to his wife he was confident that they should be furnished by the bounty of God. At this moment some one rapped at the door, and prevented a ready-cooked dinner. It was sent by persons who on that day had made an entertainment, and who knew the poverty of Mr. Moody. He published several of his discourses. See Sullivan, Maine, page 238; Allen, Biographical Dictionary, s.v.; Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, volume 2.