Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1834-01-15
REV. MEssRs. BEEcHER AND M,ILvAlNE

We copy from the Western Methodist, the
following sketches of two distinguished d.
vines, DIR. Beecher. of Cincinnati, and DR..
M'ilvaine, Bishop of Ohio. From the style
of the article, VIC presume it is from the pen
of the Rev. j. N Maffit, junior editor of the
Methodist Il Lou. Herald.
"The Rev. Messrs. Beecher and M'Ilvaine
have been transplanted to Ohio under circum-
stances in many respects similar. They were
both in the zenith of usefulness, influence and
fame in the sections of country whence they
were transferred; they were both among the
leading or master spirits of the communions
in which they respectively labored; they both
are at the head of literary institutions in
which future times are to receive their body
and their shape through the influences of ed
ucation on the young leaders of society.
"They are alike too in the results of their
intellectual efforts. Bbt never were two men
more different in physical or intellectual Or
ganization. Beecher is below the usua stat
ure, spare and rigid, with bones Of brass and
nerves of steel-like elasticity. His walk
and gestculaton are Enthusiastically rapid
and vehement. His grey eye kindles inces
sanity with the action of his mind, and the
whole contour of his face indicates an energy
unsubdued and unsubduable, with moral
!, fearlessness, before which stern men will in
voluntarily feel their spirits quaiiing. On
the other hand, M'Ilyaine is tall, slender,
gracefully formed, and every motion and ges-
ture bespeak ease, refinement and polish
The observer is put instantly at ease in his
society, and is sensible of an exhilerating
emotion, as if a sunbeam had broken into the
room, when the calm and animatng coun;e-
r nance of the Bishop of Ohio brightens upon
him. The lower part of his face is remarSa
BILE for delIcacy, almost extreme and lady
like; while his calm blue eyes repose under
!, majestic brows, and high, expansive, and
intellectual forehead This feature, the fore
head, is remarkable, and is an index of the
imam.
"Beecher's forehead is low and somewhat
narrow-yet thought, deep intensity or the
agony of thought, has craven characters upon
ii as with pen of iron. Look upon these
lines, We fair, smooth faced theologians, and
shudder to think what it costs 10 be the pio-
neer of the mind, delving down in advance
into the mines whence truth is dug up for the
!, use OF centuries to come. The upright, awry
hair Of This veteran, now whitening, here ant
there, with wears, bespeaks any thing but in
dolence or pampered indulgence. lie is al
p iron man, made FOR the storm Of elements, thu
r roar of battle, as well as the clear atmosphere
and sunshine of victory.
"M'ilvaine has attained an enviable eleya
ton of religious knowledge and farvor. TIL
current of his piety is broad and deep, rollin.
along majes'ically, yet rapidy-silently, We
something torrent-tiks, towards the grea
i, ocean OF natural and heavenly good Hi
: eloquencc and his manner in the pulpit ar,
characterized by this equablc yc, exaltet
] grandeur. The stream of his argument doe
r not gather in the rocks to leapin broken foam
into the wales; it is ather highland rive
rolling along The continuous brow of noun
tains that girde continent.
; "Beecher's eloquence is like the action o
his mind, misunderstanding
His argulaent is the struggle of wrestler a
the Olympic games; it is for the mastery
acknowledging truth at the same time to be
master both TO him and his antagonist. Hi
, approaches towards the defence of his ad
versary are distant sublime operations. Ma
terial dislointed and fragment-ike, is gath
erred up from divers and unconnected regions
with grandeur and profusion quite astonisn
ing The bearing which this aggregated
mass of rude yet grand material is TO have
upon the subject is unknown to all but the la
borious engineer, who tolls in The distanc,
amidst the smoke and dust of ancient ant
modern acquisition. But error may thinl
Itself peculiarly fortunate if the master spiri
which is ransacking the tombs of history doe.
not also conjure up the storm of the element.
until the stars in their courses shall feht
against Sisera. Bcecher never names hi
antagonist; he only wars with principles
His lectures on infidelity are proofs of this
He is merciless antagonist-yet not quit,
wary enough for the acute Cambridge diyine
of the German school.
M'Ilvaine's mind is well-filled, polished
magnificent storehouse. His acquisitions arr
all scholar-lile and secundem artem Hi
evidences Of Christianity" published will
, great ecat in New York, prove the stratifiet
fecundity Of his intellectual resources. HI,
is the risen sun, shining more and more unit,
a still more perfect day
!, Beecher is an admrer Of Luther, Knox
Whitfield and Wesley. His genius is for ;
. leader. His single-handed faith is like tina
of a host. Had he lived in stormy times he
would have been the idol of one party-tht
execration of another.
Beecher digs deep into the unexplorco
mines of augmentation; in wrenching up
Jewels and golden ore, he will also rend up