The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1825-07-28


sentences. At first be was barrel,
audible; bnt he seemed To gather
strength as he proceeded. There
was still. however. n kind of hesi
fancy in his manner he seemed Il
l"hour with gigantic conceptions.
Tor which even his own lofty expires
sions Mere utterly Insufficient. Ills
countcrancc bespoke n snlemnized
terNency of feeling. such had ne
Vcr before seen on human features
The Nchcmcnce Of his manner star
tied mo ut FIRST but | soon LOST sight
OF this and his accent, and ol
all that Was disagrceablv prcu-
liar IN his manner. 4 more sub
line address 10 the throne nj l..
ternal Majesty have never heard
from the lips of man. The force ol
the preachers mind seemed To
burst through the veil that hides the
spiritual world from ordinary minds
and TO be holding intercourse with
living aud present realities. Every
thing that he wished you tn perceive,
became, as it were, palpable 10 the
very sense. In the conceptions of his
grand, but somewhat rude mind, the
grotesque | found often mingled
with the. sublime. What do you
Observation-Disclosures. OF the following
idca Nj a prayer Abiding 10 the
commercial distress then prevailing,
and intereeding for the victims Of a
glutted market ,his expressions we're,
g" And now that the surGcited and
oyerlain world is rolling back on
the heads of It's children, the fruits
Of their frantic spceuIations," &c.
But it was in the sermon that the
preacher seemed 10 make his deepest
impression. He began In the same
manner rs IN the psalm and the
prayer, and Went through the intro
duCtion IN sort of Conversational
nndertone which almost bDrdered
on the ludicrous. As his ideas eA
pandcd, and his feelings began 10
play, hc became more and more AM
mated in his delivery, from ANNA
ton he rose to velemcncc. aud from
vehcmcnce l had almost said To
he literally screamed till
his voice broke. His one aud
only gesture was repeated with fer
Ger aud yet ferCer energy till he
seemed about 10 fling himself from
the pulpit. Then his corPorraI pow
ers would fail he would make n
long pause, and wipe off the copious
porsplration which actually gushed
from his head and face. Here roar
OF coughing. &c. &c. from all parts Of
the church reminded you Of the
breathlcss stillnc which had ltithcr
To reigned over the audience. Silence
once more resumed lis sway, and the
preacher began in his low broken
atteranCe. Again he rose, aud a
gain he sunk under fatigue till al
last, he was fairly compelled To take
refuge in the eXpcdient Of breaking
off and giving out psalm 10 be sung,
whilst he was recovering his Iaded
energies.
The succession of effort & respite
in the speaker, drew away my at
tention, sometimes even from the
magnificent succession Of images
which the cIoquenCe of the compost
ton raised before me and more
than once, could not help thinl Ing
Of an account oi an English boxing
match, which had read in mn old
newspaper; the pogilIst had 50 ma
ny rounds Of athletic effort and 50
many minutes respite. in succession,
TIL the struggle was closed. How
ever. to speak the sober tflth, there
is a moral sublimity in the spectacle
Of man sacrificing his health and
his life to a sacred enthusiasm ;
and this must be the sum total oil the
Glo1ucnce of DR.. Chalmers deliVe-
ny for in every other point OF vic"
it las no power whatever.
In force aud subliluity of thought,
Dr.. Chalmers has surpassed the
whole generation of preachers a
mong whom he lives. For my own
part, never had 50 many new and
stupendous thoughts brought before
me in one hour, as IN the discourse
heard that morning. They sa3
that the people of every, aud of no
character crowd to hear this prca-
cher. do not wonder at the fact
| Mental excitement IS, more or less,
the happiness Of all men and GER
tainly it can nowhere be had to q
! higher pitch, than in Il sermon OF Or
! Chalmers.
In the afternoon, I repaired agair
: to ST. Johns, but was somewhat sur
prised to find, IN a city proserbiai