The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-01-03
From the Boston DAILY Adoe,tiser.

HE PREACHER IN UNKNoWN IoNGUEs.-SOme
OF our readers doubtless remember the excitement
produced in London about thirty years ago by
the preaching of the celebrated Edward Irving
This man, who afterwards became SO notorious
came up from Scotland to London in the year
1872, and preached first there as an assistant to
DR.. Chalmers. He was at first but little known,
and attracted little attention, but invited
to become the preacher of the CALIFORNIAN Asylum,
church which had been established for the bene-
fit of persons attached to the National Scottish
Kirk, and to which Parliamentary grant had
been made TO support a clergyman who could
preach in Gallo we'll English. An act of
Parliament was obtained to divert this appropria-
ton SO as 10 afford salary to MIR. Irving, and he
entered on his labors. 10 three months his audi
ence increased from fifty to fifteen hundred, and
the greatest furore was shown to hear his preach
ing. The crowd to hear him was SO great that The
carriages obliged to form in a line as at
great court ball, and pedestrians could with diff
Guilty reach the door Of the church, where no one
could enter WITHOUT a ticket. Having become
universal fayorte, he was followed, compii mented
and petted, until he seems to have lost his head
One of the first Of the idities he committed was on
occasion when he was invited to preach before
the London Missionary Society, and immense
crowd had assembled to hear him; he held forth in
a most elaborate, brilliant, and unsparing attack
on missions as at present conducted arguing that
II entered upon at all, they should be commenced
and carried out according to the directions given
by Saviour to his disciples when he sent them
ont to preach, and which recorded in Mark
sth-42 His sermon lasted three hours and half,
having paused Twice In Inc course or IL, Wnen the
audience sang some verses of hymn.
He next fell into some heresies of doctrine which
were condemned by the authorities of the Scotch
kirk, and he hidden to preach in the church
over which he had been ordained. He retained,
however, large number of friends and admirers,
who provided another place of meeting. There
Mr. Irving, being free from the restraint of elders
and managers, gave full scope to the popularity
for which be has been most noted, viz, the sma-
nitestations OF the spirit y IN the ssunknown
tongues" during the time of public worship. The
novelty OF these extravaganza attracted immense
congregations.
But this, like other delusons, came to an end.
Some of the followers of Irving, and speakers in
the unknown tongues" recanted and one of
them said {. my persuasion, concerning the un-
known tongue, it is Called is that it is no Ian
guage Whatever but mere collection Of words
and Sentences and in the heightened discourses is
much of it, jargon of sounds
Irving soon after fell i'll, and died December 9th,
1884, at the age of ~. He left address to his
people, stating that he had been blinded and de-
luded, and that he deeply repented having 80 sim
ned, and led others into sin. X is fair and chart
table to suppose that he suffered under some form
of insanity; as he is represented man of good
morals and feelings in the private relations of life
This sketch of remark able man, and singular
deusion now almost forgotten, ia taken from
book recently published here, BY M. w Dodd,
New York, entitled ssThe Summer and Winter of
the Soul, by Rev. E. Neale.n