The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1847-11-03
TIE BLIND PREACHER
BY WILLIAM WRIT.

BY WILLIAM WRIT.
1t was Sunday as passed through th
county OF Orange, that my eye was cnuo h
by cluster OF horses tied near ruinou
old wooden house. in the forest, not far fro,,
the road side. Having often seen such oh
jects before through these states, had u,
dItlicn:ty in understanding that this was :
place OF religions worship.
Devotion alone should have stopped me
to join The duties of the congregation bu
must confess, the curiosity to hear whu
the preacher OF such IL wilderness could say
was not the least OF my motives.
On entering, l was struck with his fra
ternal appearance lie was tall and spare
Old man. his head which was covered with
light linen cap, his shrvcllcd hands, and
his voice were all shaken under the influ-
encc OF palsy, and in 4 few moments
aScer!ained he was blind.
The first emotions which touched the
breast were those of ming led pity and ven
'eration. But OH ! sacred God now so. n
were my feelings changed! the lips Of Plato
Were never more worthy Of ii prognostic
.~~..' was the day of the sacrament,
and his subject Of course the passion of our
= lviour. had heard the subject a thou
alpd ;iucs; had though, it exhausted long
ago. Little did | suppose that in the wild
woods ot America, l was 10 iHaut with Il
man whose cloquencc, would give his topic
new and more sublime pathos, than had
ever before witnessed
AS he descended from the puI pit to dis
tribute the mystic symbols, there was pc
culiar, more than human solemnitv in his
air and manner, which made my blood run
cold, and my whole frame shiver.
He then drew a picture OF the suffering
OF our Saviour; his trial before PLATE, his
ascent Up calvary, his crucifxlon and
death.
knew the whole history, but never until
then had heard the circumstances so selec-
ted, so arranged, SO colored it was all new
and seemed to have heard it for the first
time in life. His voice trembled IN every
syllable, and every heart tremEled in unison.
His peculiar phrase had that force of de-
scription, that the original scene appeared
TO be at that moment before our eyes. We
saw the faces ofthc Jews, the staring fright
fuI distortions of their malice and rage. We
saw the buffet. my soul muddlcd with
fame of indignation, and my hands inyoI-
uutarily clcnchcd. But when he came 10
'o"SH VII thc poucHCCs tHC loi SlNiuS IHeek-
ness OF our Saviour, which he drew to the
life, his blessed eyes we're streaming to hea-
ven; his voice breathing to God, and sof;
and gentle prayer of pardon on his enemies
-" Father forgive them. for they know
not what they do"-the voice of the preach
er which had all along faltered, grew faint
er, until his utterance being entirely OBJ
struclcd by the force Of feelings, he raised
his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst into
a loud and irrepressise flood of grief: The
effect is inconceivable. The whole house
resounded with the mingled groans and sobs
and shrielFs Of the whole congregation:
1t was long time before the ,umult had
subs,ded so far as to permit him to proceed.
Indeed Judging by the usual but fallacious
standard Of my own Weakness. began 10
be very uneasy for the situation Of the prea-
cher; for could not conceive how he would
be able to let the audience down from the
height he had wound them, without impair.
ing the solemnity and dignity of the subj
or perhaps shocking them with the abrupt
ness of the fall But, no, the descent was
as beautiful and sublime as the elevation
had been rapid and enthusiastic.
The first sentence with which he broke
the awful silence was quotation from Ros.
seau, "Socrates died like philosopher, but
Jesus Christ, like God"
l despair Of giving you any idea Of the
effect produced by this short sentence. un-
less you would perfectly conceive the whole
manner of the I'm, as we'll as the peculiar