The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-09-06
A WITTY PREACHER.

The Rev. DIR. Sprague, IN his visits to "Eu-
ropean Celebrities" gives anecdotes of the
Rev. Mathew Wilks, celebrated London
preacher.
There was nothing for which he had more
cordial adherence then an exhibition of dandy
ism III a young minister; and nothing of this
kind ever came in contact with him without
meeting rebuke. On one occasion, young
minister, of good deal OF pretension and pa
rade, went from the country to London, and
carried Mr.. Willxs letter, designed to procure
for him an invitation to preach.
"Well, young man" said Matthew with nasal
twang that is perfectly indescribable, but which
nobody who has once heard can ever forget,
"well, young man, you want to preach in Lon
don, don't you?'
81 am going to pass few days here, sir and
Iif it should suit Mr.. Wilks' convenience, /
should be very happy, indeed, to give his peo-
pie a sermon while | am here"
''Well,'' replied Mathew, ''you can preach
you can preach; come along next Wednesday
morning to the Tabernacle, and I'll meet you
there, and you can take my lecture for that
morning"
The young man agreed to do so and was on
the ground at the appointed hour. Mathew
met him at the door, disgusted as he had been
before with dandy airs, and addressed him
thus: t...-..
''Go along into the pulpit, young men, and |
will be below and look at you and shall hear
every word you say"
| The young preacher darted through the aisle
into the pulpit, in manner that seemed bet
ter to beft ball room than place of worship.
! He performed the Introductory service with an
air of insufferable self-complacincy, and in due
time opened the Bible and read his text, which
was the last verse of the first chapter Of
John-"Hereafter we shall see Heaven open
and the angels of God ascending and descend
ing upon the Son of Man, He had written
his sermon, and committed it all to memory,
as he supposed, to a word; but unfortunately
he had left his manuscript behind. When he
had read his text, he found it impossible to re-
member the first sentence. He hesitated and
hemmed, and began thus:
'You perceive, my brethren-you perceive
that the angels of God-are here represent
ed-as ascending-and descending" He then
set up a good stout cough, in the hope that
his memory might get to work in the mean
time but the cough was as unproductive as il
was artificial, and he could do nothing but &c
right over again with the absurd sentence with
which he had started. He coughed again and
again, but his memory was in too profound
Islumber to be awakened by it. After three OF
four minutes, during which he was spectacle
to the congregation, and especially to Mat
thew, who was all the time watching and lis
tening, according to his promise, he shut hi:
Bible in perfect CONSERVATION, and abruptly
Iclosed the service. Of course he came out 0
the pulpit with very different air from tina
with which he had entered it. But the wors
was to come-he had to meet Matthew anC
lhear his scathing comments.
"Well, WE'LL" said he, "young man you've
Ipreached-you've preached in London-ha'n
r YOU? Eve heard you; Fve heard every worC
you've said, and I've only one comment tt
make; if he descended as you assembled, theT
you might have descended as he assembled"
1t is needless to say that the young mar
was by this time completely cured of his ambi
? ton to preach in the tabernacle.
Another young minister of similar eharac
tier paid him visit, and Matthew observed h
sported what he thought very indecent mum
Der of watch seals. He eyed them for som,
time, as if fscrutinizing the material of whicl
they were made, and then said with terribly
n sarcastic air:
: = 1T seems to me you've got great man.
e seals to your ministry, considering how young
q you are"
He was once preaching on some public occa
lsion, when there were not less than fifty per
sons in the congregation taking notes of hi
sermon. At length he stopped suddenly for
minute, and the stenographers having nothin
to do, all looked up and were gazing at hin
with astonishment.
"Beholdv' said he, II have eonfounded tn
scribes."
On one occasion when on his way to
: meeting of ministers, he got caught in show
. er at the town of Billingsgate, where ther
were large number of women, dealing in fish
S who were using the most profane and vulga
language. As he stopped under shed in tn
n midst of them, he felt called upon to give
their rrclxndnpSS