Democratic standard. [volume] (Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio) 1837-1850, 1844-04-30
THE BLIND PREACHER.
BY WILLIAM WRIT.

Asl travelled through tho county Of
Orange my eye was caught by cluster
Of hJrses tied near Tuinuus old wooden
house, in The forest not tar from the
road side. Having frequently seen such
objects before in travelling through these
states, | had no difficulty in understand
ing that it was the place Of religious
worship.
Devotion alone should have stopped
me, to join in the duties OF the cOngre'
CATION; but ! must confess that Curiositv
to hear The preacher Of such wilderness
was "ot the let 81 of my motives. On
entering, was struck with mis- prefer
natu al appearance. He was tall and
very pale old man, his head which was
covered with white linen cap his shriv'
elled hands and voice, all shaking
with the influence Of palsy, AMI few
moments ascerlaned to me that he was
perfectly blind.
The FIRST emotions that touched my
breast we're those Of mingled pity and
Veneration. But how soOu were all my
feelings changed! The lips Of Plato were
never more worthy OF a prognostlc swarm
of bees than were the lips of this holy
man! 1t was the day Of the adminlstEa-
lion Of the sacrament-Ond the suklec;
was Of course the passion of our Saviour.
| had he a7d the subject handled thou-
sand times, thought 1t had been exhaust
ed long ago. Ljnle did | suppose that
in the Wild WoUd5 OF America was to
meet mar, whose eluquence would give
to this topic new aud more sublime
palhos, than | had ever before wltness-
ed.
As he descended from the pulpit to dis
tribute the mystic SYMBOLS, there was
necuIiar, a more than human sGlemnlIy
IN his air and manners, which mnde my
blood Iuu cod and my whole frame shV'
err
lie then drew a picture Of the suffer
Jugs Of our Saviour, his trial before
Plate, his ascen: up Calvary, his cruel
fxiOn. knew the whole history, but
never until then, had heard the cir
cumslances so selected, so arranged, so
sOIored! 1t was all lew, and seemed
to have heard it for the first time In my
life, His enunciatiOn was so deliberate,
that his voice rem6led ON every syI able.
and every heart uemb!ed in unison.
His peculiar phrases had lnal force OF
description. that the original scene aP'
nealed to be al the moment acting before
"ur ewes. We saw the very faces Of tue
Jews, the starting, frighliul dis or ions
Of malice and rage, We saw The buffet
my soul kndled with the flame of
indignation, aud my hands were ln-
voluntarily and convuIsiVely clcnched'
But when he came to touch on the
patience The forgiving meekn0ss of our
Saviour, when he drew 10 The life, his
voice bre athing to God soft and gentle
prsyr Of pardon on his enemies,--"Fa'
ther forgive them, for they know not
what they do"-the voice Of the preach
er. which had all along fallered, grew
fainter. and fainter, until his ulterance
beinc entirely Obsrructed by the force of
his feelings, he raised his handkerchief to
his ewes and burst into lou0 and ire"
pressible food Of grief. The effect was in
conceivable. The whole house resOund
ed With the mingled groans and sobs and
Shrieks of the congregation,
1t was some time before The tumuIt hao
subsidized so far as TO permit him to pro
coed. Indeed judging by the usual Out
faIiacious standard of my own weakness
Ibegan to be very uneasy for the sI'ua
,iOn Of tue preacher. For could no'
conceive how he would be able to let M
audience down frsm the height TO winch
he had wound them, wilhOu: lmpalrlnt
the sOlemni,y and dignity Of the SUBJECT
or perhaps shocking them by the aOruP'
ness Of his fall. But-no, the dssceh
was as beautiful and sublime as IN
elevation had been rapid and enthuS
astic.
The 6Tst sentence with which he brok
the awful silence, was a quotation froT
RosseAu:-'Socrates died like philO'
OpheE,-but Jesus Christ died like
4 God!' bas e
sd, ! despair Of giving you any idea of