The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-16 00:00:00

PREACHERS AND PREACHING.

LITER.ATURE.

i Ace
contemporary :
F
The following letter has been addressed to a ' •
, needs of Bohemia; or, Phases- of London Life.
Sir,—One Sunday morning about a month aeo .
I By.E. M. Whitty, author of "Tile Governing
my wife sa'd, "Let us send the children to St. 1 Ttessiess." 2
,vols. Smith and Elder.
singular and original kind,
Margaret's to hear the Archbishop of -- preach ' a work of a
on behalf of the Society for Aged Ecclesiastical displaying no inconsiderable
. ability on, the part of
the , Cripples, which is to celebrate to-day its three
pointmentthe mind
yetd producing a degree of disap-
hundredth anniversary." So the children went,
of the readearn dissatisfactionii. in
Novel," and truly !!) aut . .
though the parents, for reasons immaterial to men-
this entitled"A
.. Satirical
lion, could not go with them. " Well, children, hor seems to have
~,. set before h•
how did you like the Archbishop of as Ins object a spirit of depreciating
' sarcasm. It is maintained throughout, and thereby
_land what
did he say about 'the Aged Ecclesiastical cripples?'" :loses its effect, for it' vaned
loses its point. We
Here the children—for it was during their dinner ,
—attacked their food with great voracity, but are doubtless bound to suppose that the opinions
never a word could we get out of their mouths and characters are not those which the author ima-
Igines should be, but what are, and that in portray-
about the spiritual feast of which they had just
them in their true colours, he has had the
out. The more they were pressed the more they •
t m
g partaken. No I not even the text could they bring laudable ambition of effecting by ridicule what
could not be done by moralising. But it is ques-
blushed and hung their heals over their plates,
produce any such effect
until at last, in a rage, I accused them of tionablehaving if his work will
In the first place, he does not strive to impress any
fallen asleep during the service. This charge threw
my firstborn on his defence, and he sobbed out the definite principles. He shows us a mournful pano-
rama of the worldly, the selfish, the dishonest, the
truth, for by this time their eyes were full of tears..
vicious, the idle, and the vulgar minded ; but,
"Why, papa ! we can't say what the Archbishop
of -- said, because we could not hear a word he though we may gather from occasional passages
that his admiration ii given to At higher class of
said. He is very old, and has got no teeth ; and,
motives and actions, he tid:.=e4 not even imply it, or
do you know, I don't think he has got any tongue
lead his readers to do so. In the second place,
either, for, though we saw his lips moving, we
could not hear a single word." On this I said no with very few exceptions, all his characters are of
more, but I thought a good deal of "the Aged this class. He scarcely shows us a glimpse of real
Ecclesiastical Cripples" and their venerable advo-
goodness and simplicity. It may be doubted, from
cite, and, being something of a philologist, I in-
his pages, whether he believes in their existence in
dulged in dreamy speculations on the possibility of the every-day world of business and politics. But
setting aside these considerations, the book is. a
an alphabet composed entirely of labials ; and if
my wife had not roused me from my dream by lively picture, or rather a series of pictures,
o
some mere matter-of-fact uestion I almost think If social life. There is little direct story. It is
should have given
my reflections to the world in more a collection of sketches, which somewhat per-
the-shape of a small pamphlet entitled "The Lan- plea the reader with their entanglements. There is gunge of Labials, or how to preach sermons without one serious fault, however, to be found with the
the aid of either tongue or teeth ; published for style—its occasional want of refinement. Satire
need never be coarse, and the keenest weapons are
the benefit of the Society of Aged Ecclesiastical
Cripples, and dedicated, of course by permission, to -
usually the most highly polished. This will render
the Archbishop of —." many passages distasteful to the reader, and the
Now listen to another story. A friend of mine, author would do well to revise his productions
a Scotch Presbyterian, comes up to town and says, more carefully in future. Notwithstanding its
"I want to hear Spurgeon; let us go." Now, lam _
faults, the book will probably have many admirers
supposed to be a High those who wish to amuse a passing hour with lively
" What, go and hear a Calviitist—a, B4tist---:a man Churchman, so I answered,
sketches of the faults aud follies of
_others, and those
who ought to be ashamed of himself for being so who appreciate the ability without being very cri-
tica/ as to the way iu which it is employed. An-
near the Church and yet not within its pale 1"
Never mind, come and hear him." Well, we went other class, those who seek the startling and un-
" common, will find many scenes and histories in
yesterday morning to the Music-hail, Surrey Gar-
these volumes suited to their taste. They cer-
dens. At first I felt a strange sensation of wrong-
tai my display originality and ability, a quick
e y
theatricalperformance on Sunday; nor did a terrific
doing. It was something like going to a morning e
to detect the vices and follies of the social sys-
tern, and a skilful hand to depict them. There is
gust of wind which sent the Arctic Regions, erected
only wanting the spirit to find the diamond in the
out of laths and pasteboard in a style regardless of
charcoal as well as the dross in the gold, the
expense, flying across the water of the lake, tend to basis of solid principle and the superstructure of cheer a mind depressed by the novelty of the scene.
Fancy a congregation, consisting of 10,000 souls, taste, a plot better moulded and a style more care-
streaming into the ball, mounting the galleries, fully penned, to render the author remarkable
humming, buzzing, and swarming—a mighty hive of among present writers of fiction.
bees----eager to secure at first the best places, and at
last any place at all. After waiting more than half
an hour—for, if you wish to have a seat, you must
be there at least that space of time in advance—Mr.
Spurgeon ascended the tribune. To the hum and
rush of trampling of men succeeded a low concen-
trated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed
to run at once like an electric current through the
breast of every one present, and by this- magnetic
chain the preacher held us fast bouud for about two
hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary
of his discourse. It is enough to say of his
voice that its power and volume are sufficient to
reach every one in that vast assembly ; of his lan-
guage, that it is neither highflown nor homely ;
of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times de-
clamatory, but always happy and often eloquent ;
of his doctrine that neither the Calvinist nor the
Baptist appear in the forefront of the battle which
is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity
and with gospel weapons against irreligion, cant,
hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom sins which
so easily beset amen in daily life ; and, to sum up
all in a word, it is enough to say of the man him-
self that he impresses you with a perfect conviction
of his sincerity.
But I have not written so much about my child-
ren's want of spiritual food when they listened to
the mumbling of the Archbishop of —, and my
own banquet at the Surrey Gardens, without .a de-
sire to draw a practical conclusion from om these two
stories, and to point them by a moral. Here is a
man not more Calvinistic than many an incumbent
of the Established Church who "hunsbles and mum-
bles," as old Latimer says, over his liturgy and
text. Here is a man who says the complete im-
mersion, or something of the kind, of adults is ne-
cessary to baptism. These are his faults of doctrine,
but if I were the examining chaplain of the Arch-
bishop of --, I would say,—" May it please your
Grase, here is a man able to preach eloquently able
to fill the largest church in England with biz voice,
and, what is more to the purpose, with people.
And mayit please your Grace, here are two churches
in this metropolis, St. Paul's and Westminster
Abbey. What does your Grace tbink of inviting
Mr. Spurgeon, this heretical Calvinist and Baptist,
who is able to draw 10,000 souls after him, just to
try his voice, some Sunday morning, in the nave of
either of those churches ? At any rate, I will an-
swer for one thing, that if he preaches in Westmin-
ster Abbey, we shall not have a repetition of the
disgraceful practice now common in that church of
having the sermon before the anthem, in order that
those who would quit the church" when the arid
sermon begins may be forced to stay it out for the
sake of the rau9ic which follows it.'
But I am not, I am sorry to say, examining chap-
lain to the Archbishop of ; so I can only send
you this letter from the devotional desert in which
I reside, and sign myself,

The Second Wife: a Novel. 3 Vols. Hurst and

Blackett.

This story possesses so many features of interest
that the reader who is not pleased with one portion
of its contents will find no difficulty in meeting
another more suited to his taste. An unusual
number of heroines appear, but it is to the
imerit of
the author that the individuality of each s pre-
served. Although they are some of the same age,
and of eqiial station, the distinction is marked, and
one cannot serve as a copy to the other. The vary-
ing shades of disposition are depicted, from the
giddy, trifling Georgy Bloomfield to the reserved
and haughty Miss Mainwating. The fine lady of
fashion, the Countess of Armadale, is a contrast to
the unsophisticated and timid Blanche, while the
chief character, the second wife, Edith, is an ad-
mirable impersonation. Firm in purpose, kind of
heart, gifted with considerable penetration, and,
above all, possessed of high principles, she was not
likely to pass unnoticed in any sphere, still less in
the peculiar one in which she was placed. The
arrangements of the plot are very skilfully devised,
and if anything could naturally conduce to the
step Blanche took, certainly the events narrated
would do so. It is not, however, generally deemed
advisable to introduce into the pages of romance a
subject such as forms the groundwork of this novel.
Those needing a solemn warning, or a striking
illustration, would not seek them in light reading ;
and the indignation which conduct such as Vivian's
and others must excite, loses its force when merely
brought before us in the guise of fiction, and con-
fused in the mind with the follies of fashion and
the mere common-place details of ever day. Above
and beyond these considerations, it may be urged
that forms of faith demand au undivided attention
'if one is to pass censures on the modes adopted by
their devotees to carry ,out their peculiar
purposes, , and it seems wanting in respect
to introduce them in the way here described.
Apart from these thoughts, the story con-
tains many merits. As Lefore remarked,
the 'points of attraction are not few nor far
between. It is not, therefore, probable that
(
it will fail in affording entertainment. The
election which is introduced forms a subject of in-
terest and excitement. The friends Main warirtg
and Egerton are placed in a strange position as rival
candidates, and the vexation of Egerton when he
finds himself victorious is amusing to contem-
plate. Lord St. Ormonde presents an in-
stance of an excited temperament, worked on
by superstitious fears. Major Aubrey is a
clever sketch of a vain and selfish man. Al- ,
gernon Vere is of a higher order of merit, and
the little that is said of him attracts admiration.
Some of the secondary characters display great
skill in delineation, and form no mean auxiliaries to
the elaborate plot of the story.

lIABITANS IN &coo.
Broad Phylactery, Westminster.

SLR JOHN Iit'NEILL AND COLONEL
TULLOCH.

The following letters published in a Parliamen-
tary paper on Friday, complete the correspondence,
part of which has already appeared in The Sun:—
" " 63, Eaton-square,24th Feb., 1857.
My Lord,—ln acknowledging the receipt of your
lordship's letter of the 20th inst., I have the honour to
express my obligation to her Majesty's Government for
the recognition of the services rendered by Sir John
M`lgeill and myself, and for the expression of your
opinion of their value.

"It affords me also the utmost satisfaction to find
that, after the severe and very unusual test to which the
report of my colleague and myself has been exposed, It
should at length have been honoured by the approbation
of her Majesty's Government.

"As, however, it would neither be in accordance with
the motives which induced me to undertake this service,
nor the high opinion you have expressed of its value, to
accept any reward of the nature proposed, I beg respect-
fully to decline any pecuniary recempence whatever.--I
have,

(Signed) " ALEX. M. TULLOOX, Col.
4, The Right Hon. Lord Panmure, ko."

"(No. 4.)
" War-ofMce, Feb. 28, 1857.
"Sir,---I have the honour to acknowledge your letter
of the 21st inst., in reply to mine of the 20th.
"I should not have thought it necessary to add to
this correspondence had it not been for the interpretation
which you have put upon a passage in my letter, and
which I feel it to be due both to you and myself to cor-
rect.

"I certainly had no intention whatever to place a
money value on the advantages derived from your re-
port, and on a careful review of my letter to you, I can-
not help considering that such a construction of its terms
is somewhat strained and hypercritical.
" All that I aimed at was to convey to you, in the
most courteous manner, the offer of the Government,
and to signify my regret for my own personal omissions
in this matter. "I have, &c.,,
" Sir John 11I'Neill." (Signed) " PANKURE.

"(No. 5.)
"Granton-house, Edinbur.zh, March 2.
"My Lord,—l had the honour to receive this morn-
ing your Lordship's letter of Feb. 2'B, in which you in-
formed me that all you aimed at in your letter of the
20th ult, was to convey to me, in the most courteous
manner, the offer of the Government, and to signify your
regret for your own personal omissions in this matter.
"This assurance has afforded me the greatest satisfac-
tion, and I deeply regret that the proceedings in regard
to the commission with which I was connected have not
been such as would have entitled me to assume that your
Lordship's intentions were friendly or courteous, though
the terms in which you expressed them appeared to
imply a different meaning. " I have, 4ke.,
"JOHN M`NEILL.
"The Right Hon. the Lord Panmure, G.C.8., &c.'

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE NORTH KENT RAILWAY.
—On Thursday night, as the 12 30 train from London
was passing the Spa-road station, a sudden jerk was felt
by the passengers, and on the arrival of the train atNew-
cross station the chief guard, W. C. Jones, was missing
from his box next the tender. The station-master and
the night watchman immediately went up the hue, and
a few yards from the Spa-road station they found the
bcdy of the unfortunate man lying on the rails, dead
and horribly mutilated. An inquest was held on Satur-.
day. The Spa-road station-master stated that he hail co-
casionally seen the deceased get out of his brake and go
along the steps of the carriages to see that all was right,
and had remonstrated with him on the danger of so doing.
A verdict of " Accidental death" was returned. DISEASE AMONGST THE COWS OF LONDON.—
, v.
log, been reported that a fatal epizootic disease 105 flesh,
vailing emongst the cows of London, and that
theh nGo.
of the diseased animals is sold fOr human food.,
vernment have directed an investigation
on the
the allegations, and into the effects
nPro°fauch diseased
human constitution hy the consumptieo
d been entrusted
meat. The inquiry has, we understa
to Dr. GreeDhOW.-2714 Lancet, into
produced
eh
de truth of