Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1850-01-17
GFIn peraiivc engagement in Washing

his second lecture before the Mechanics
Association, Thursday evening In his
ihscnce. the Committee. Thursday morn
ing, requested the Rev DR.. Chnules 10 ec-
,ure. which h" kindly did. Ills subjee,
aas RoprRr HALL. and nobler theme
could hl have heen selcci"d. DR.. Chou'cs
gave biief tiographic~l sketch ofiLe man,
Illustrating i, occasionally by some of the
best anecdotes, o: whi,h there are so many,
poriraying the marked ecc n,ricilies Of
HE character
Ro' ert Hall was one oflhe most remark
able man that this or any ether ace has
produced, Lord Broueham once sad Of
his physiognomy. "Rober, Hall has face
The up Ell par; Of which belongs to an an.
gel, the lower TO a demon" And, surely,
his brain possessed more Of angelic power
than that Of any other arlter or orator Of
which modern imes, at least, gives any
history. A recent writer, speaking Of Hall
in the pulpit, says" Even ministers of
the Church from which he dissented, were
often TO be found amongst his heareTs ; and
more than once have | seen members Of
the Bench OF Is shops, who, having thrown
aside their niires, croslers, and lawn
sleeves submitted to be hail fellow, well
met with the members of humber com
munity, for the sake of hearing the Cicero
of ihe day" The SINE writer speaks Of
having heard him preach from the text,
"Thc Father of Lights - the writer says,
-" At first, his voice was scarcely audi
ble' and there appeared some slight hesi-
taiion hut this soon wore off, and as he
warmed with his subject, he poured forth
such continuous stream of eloquence, that
i, seemed as fit flowed from some mex
haustb'c source. His tones were, although
low, beautifully modul-ted but, owing TO
some affect on in his throat, lis speech was,
al short intervals interrupted by short
spasmodic cough. During the delivery of
his brilliant paragraphs, the most breath
less silence rcig' ed throughout the vast
assembage but his momentary cessation
was the signal for general relaxation from
an attention 81 intense that il became almost
painful. 1t was curious TO observe how
every neck was stretched out, so tha; not
a word which fell ON those eloquent III S
should be lost ; and the suspended breath
inss of hose around me evinced how in
,cn,ly all were hanging on his charmed
words. Mr.. Halls fuency was wonderful,
and lis command of language unsurpassed,
will not mar the beauty Of his di' course
by attempting 10 descrllc il but, as
followed i'm, whilst, by his vivil lmagina'
lion, he conveyed his hearers through the
starry skies, and reasoned, from those lights
IF the Universe, ha, The Father OF Lights
mus, be, I became los, in wonder and ad-
miralion. But the crowning glory uf his
sermon was h s allusion 10 the heavenly y
world, whose bcanfc g'orics he cxpatiated
on, 18th almos, the eloqncncc of an angel.
lie seemed like one Inspired and as he
guide IS by living streams, and led us ov-
er the ce eslal fields, h seemed carried
away by his subject, and his face beamcd
as if it wa. rlnerriug Heavens own light.
And this VAS HE man who, butan Lour be-
fore, had lam down on he ground, in the
excess Of his agony and who, from his
earliest years, had constantly endured the
most excruiaiing torture whith man can
be called upon to bear. ! have mlscf
heard him say that he had never known
one waking hour free from extreme pain. ]"
DE-. Choules lecture, 10 those who arc
familiar with the character and writings OF
Hal. was particularly interesting and in
those wlo are not familiar with these, this
lecture will arouse an int"res, in the man
whom Southey says, had the eloquence
of Cicero, the learI ing Of Parr and the
,ie'y of a Whitfield" The lecture was
exceedingly well written, and was most
at,cn,vey listened to by Que OF the largest
audiences we have seen assembled during
The Course.