The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-02-28 00:00:00

GIVING IT THEM IN WELSH.

A good story comes to us from the United States of
the ruses which have to be adopted by clergymen
who, as is the custom there, have to present them-
selves as candidates to congregations. A minister
going down as a oandidate to a rural thurch in
Pennsylvania was advised by a clerical friend to
introduce a few scraps ,of the dead languages
into his sermon, in order to impress his cungrega•
tion with his learning. Unfortunately the csudi•
date was himself as ignorant of Latin and
Greek as his hearers were likely to be; but being
a native of Wales he thought that he could
manage to make a shift with Welsh. When he had
got nicely into his sermon, he introduced a little
passage of Scripture, and said, "This passage,
brethren, has been slightly altered in the translation.
It is only in the original Hebrew that you can grasp
its full meaning. I will read it to you in Hebrew, so
that,you may comprehend it more exactly ; " and he
gave them the passage in very good Welsh, The old
deacons looked at each other, and nodded approval, as
though they would say, "That's the stuff; that's the
kind of thing we want." The exhibition of Hebraic
learning was followed by quotations from Latin and
Greek, which were equally successful. Everything
went along smoothly, and the teinieter, as he
approached the end of his sermon, thought he
would give them just one more taste of the dead
languages. "I am about to real you," said he,
"another passage on this subject. But it is another
of those passages that have been altered in the trane-
lation, and I will read it to you in the Chaldaic, in
which it was written." He was jest about to give them
a little more Welsh, when, casting his eye over the
congregation, he saw seated near the door a jolly.
looking man, who was holding his aides tight to keep
from bursting with laughter. The minister took in the
situation in an instant. Here was a mania the ehurch
who understood Welsh, and who was laughing at the
trick that had been played upon the congregation.
But not a feature in the minister's face changed.
Fixing his eyes straight upon th laughing man, just
as the congregation thought he was about to give them
the Chaldaic version, he said again in Welsh "For
God's sake, my friend, don't say a word about this till
I have a chance to talk with you" The Welshman
was a good fellow, and stuck to his countryman, who
obtained the reward of his learning. The moral of
the story, namely, that apparent brilliancy, rather
than the solid virtues of piety, self-denial, and hard
work is Holy to carry the day in electoral contests for
the cure of souls, needs no comment. —Evening
Stand are'.

An Irishman, name unknown, was killed on Tues.
day while working on the new railway between Whitby and
Middlesbrough. He was engaged at a crane, when the chain
snapped, and the shaft fell upon him with such force as to
kill him on $llO 0110$,
.3.1144.41

The DEATH of a GALLANT SOLDIER.

The Times of Monday, in an obituary notice, gives the fol-
lowing interesting particulars of the career of the late
General Tytler :
`' Death has been laying a heavy hand on the
wearers of the Victoria Cross. Within the last few
weeks we have had to deplore the deaths of three
officers who have won this honourable decoration.
Major-General Bell, who earned the Cross for gal-
lantry at the Alma, fell a victim to the rigours of an
English winter; Major John Cook died of wounds
received in the recent engagements round Cabul ; and
to-day we record the loss of one of the best and bravest
of the rising generals of the Indian Army—the bearer
of a name honoured alike in that country and in this.
"In December, 1814, John Adam Tytler entered the
Indian Army, in the ranks of which several of his
relations were then serving; he was posted on the
66th Native Infantry, and first saw active service on
the Peshawur frontier, under Sir Colin Campbell,
in 1851.. In the Indian Mutiny he was unfortunate
enough to be detained in the Kumaon hills, and so
was present at none of the great sieges of that cam-
paign ; but in February, 1858, at the action of Choor-
poorah, his men, being somewhat staggered by the
heavy fire of grape with which they were received on
approaching the enemy's position, showed signs
of wavering. Lieutenant Tytler, teeing that personal
example was all that was necessary to rally them,
put spurs to his horse, and, dashing on ahead, alone
attacked the rebel gunners ; for a few seconds he was
personally engaged in a hand•to hand fight, and before
his men reached him he had been dangerously wounded
in three places. He recovered, however, sufficiently
to take part in the closing scenes of the suppression of
the Mutiny, and to receive the Victoria Cross for his
indomitable valour at the action of Chourpoorah. In
the Umbeylah Expedition of 1863 Captain Tytler,
V.C., commanded his regiment, the 4th Goorkhas,
with marked credit, and was prominently noticed in
despatches. Four years later, in the Hazara expedi-
tion, under Sir Alfred Wilde, we find him again
leading the same gallant regiment—one of the model
corps in the Bfeegal Army—and once more his name
is honourably mentioned in orders. In 1872 he served
through the Looshai expedition, and for his eminent
seevices was nominated a Champion of the Bath, On
the outbreak of the Afghan war it was inevitable that
Colonel Tytler's services would secure for him a brigade
command, and it was equally certain that his great
experience in hill warfare would prove of equal value
to himself and the Government he had served so well.
After the fall of Ali Masjid, at which he commanded
one of the flanking brigades, he was entrusted with the
onerous task of maintaining communications between
Sir Samuel Browne's force and Peshawar. Here he
acted with rare skill and sagacity; twice he led his
brigade into the Afridi hills in order to chastize certain
sections of that turbulent clan,who were harrassing
convoys in the neighbourhood of the Khyber. Later
on he defeated the Shinwarris in a sharp engagement.
"After the Treaty of Gandamak General Tytler
was placed in command of the troops between Lundi
Kotal and the old frontier • but ill-health compelled
him to resign his brigade before the outbreak of last
September. Immediately on learning of the massacre
of the Embassy, though still suffering from the effects
of the previous campaign, the gallant General placed
his sword at the disposal of the Viceroy. He was a
man who could not be permitted to rust in idleness
when mountain warfare was on the tapis, and the
Commander- in-Chief evinced a wise determination when
he nominated General Tytler to the command of the
troops destined to act against the hostile Zwaimookhts.
These operations were conducted with consummate
skill. A resolute stand was made by the enemy, and
in the frontal attack we lost a brave young officer in
Lieutenant and Adjutant Rennoy. The General's
plans were not to be denied, and while the main body
held the enemyin check in front, a strong force under
the personal guidance of the Brigadier swept the
Zwaimookhts from their rocky fastnesses, which they
hitherto had deemed impregnable. Never physically
a strong man, the exposure and hardship of the two
winter campaigns must naturally have told on a frame
enfeebled by dangerous wounds, and just as he
was about to reap the reward of a distin-
guished career, pneumonia—that fell disease on
the Punjab Frontier—has claimed him as its
last and most valued victim, Modest and un-
assuming as all brave men are, few who did not know
General Tytler would recognize in him a man who had
won the Victoria Cross for an act which onlookers
deemed a ride to certain death; still less would they
consider him one capable of converting raw Goorkha
levies into oae of the irmarteat regiments in the Indian
Army. A long record of hard service has been closed
by a death no leas honourable than if won on the
battle-field. He will be mourned, not mesely by
the few who knew and loved him well, but by the
many who admired his daring gallantry, his earnest
perseverancs, and the patience with which he bore
what most men would have deemed official neglect;
for though General Tytler commanded his regiment
on three separate campaigns and earned the warmest
praises of all the generals under whom he served, he
never received Brevet promotion for his distinguished
pervices in the field, Even his brilliant conduct in
the late Afghan war was unrewarded by riband or
professional advancement. His death deprives the
Queen of the services of one of the best and bravest
men who have ever worn her Cross, and the Indian
Army of a general whose place it will not be easy to
fill. He was an officer of the old school, and one of
its best and most valued representatives."