The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1860-01-07
Che Cssopist.
Written for The Cecil Wing.
THE REV. II. +. HURN

lin " who never Spake as man spake.' 1t
runs through all the generations Of time, and
in the irresistible power of its truth pierces
them like keen and mighty blade. The
sayings ofour Lord are firm as the founda-
tons Of the everlasting hills, they being the
utterances of divine truth and at the same
time that they ale as firm as the hills, they
are as plastic as the clay which the antiticer
moulds into the vessel.
He who uttered these words was far above
all philosophers of Greece or Rome, or OF the
Nineteenth Century; all the mysterious wind
ings and inricacies Of human thought, pres
ent, future, past or possible, were known to
him, because uihoat him, all that exists or
can exist, has no existence. We have said
that the wise sayings of our Lord are p!asiic
they are adapted to all ages, all nations, peo-
pies and languages, not because they, being
changcable, are made to bend out of their
Course and suit times aud occasions, but
rather, because all times and occasions, being
in His hands, arc made to adapt themselves
to the great Divine Law Of things expressed
in this language of the * Son Of Man,,
We have made these remarks not because
they have special and extraord inary applca-
ton to the individual subject of these lucu-
brations. for they have not such an appca-
ton. The words of our Savior are Divine
Truth spread over all time, and they are
d1used through all true observation and
philosophy at the present period of ourworld's
history. Being such, they ar, not to be for
l,-,t 81 .r,l,
which we would, in our present remarks,
make of them, Is in the partial and striking
Sense in which, perhaps unconsclousIy, they
have been interpreted by one Of New Eng
lands noblest sons, s. that the world does not
know its greatest men,
The writer would not he understood to
affirm that the Rev. II. +. IIuIn, of the NJ. L.
Church, now stationed at Port Deposit, Md,
is not generally appreciated. THIS would be
an unwarrantable disparagcmcnt of the intel
ligencc that the people Of Port Deposit,
Elkton, Philadelphia and other places, where
he has Iabored, are possessed Of by universal
concession. The writer believes that those
who know great many do,-thc sub
ject of this essay, feel that he embodics some
thing that human nature is constrained to love
and honor. But let us remember the saying
that has just been quoted, * the world does
not know its greatest men, And il that say
ing is thought to be too broad, positive and
sweeping to be applicable to the subject
under notice, it may be modified into the
expression that merit, very frequently, dos
not meet with that upprcci citation which it
deserves. We think that none Of our readers
will be dispose to dispute with us on this
point. How much Of the genuine worth,
integrity, honor and genius of the world is
neglected, unappreciated, valued far below
Its true deserts or obscurcd by those sur
rounding conditions and facts which are
vaguely called circumstances A great share
OF the worlds true history is made up Of this.
and how profitable interesting, and even
thrilling, it would be, to search out, if it were
possible. the materials for the lives Of those
who are really the most deserving, honorable
and gifted, but actually too much obscurcd
and neglected, and weave these materials into
history, with its appropriate ornaments and
illustrations, for the reading Of the future
generations! How many are in the highest
positions Of both Church and State, who, by
the sacred decisions Of our inner conscious
ness, ought not to be there! How many are
toiling in the ordinary walks of life, or llbo,-
ing, useful'y it is true, in the ordinary grades
of politics and theology, who, by the decisions
of the same august tribunal, ought to stand
on the highest pinnacle that either Of these
can afford ! This is one Of the mysteries
connected with our present feeble and embryo
existence and as such it has been acknnwl-
edged by all contempaivc minds. 1t orici-
mates in the fact that, as race there is a cloud
resting upon us; that we have all straycd
from His ways, {: like lost sheep" and that
the wheels. both Of our spiritual and corporeal
being, do not roll inside the peaceful circuit
of the Divine, Eternal harmonies.
Our essay, the reader viii think, is to be
chiefly introduction; and we have chosen to
employ this form Of introduction, because
we think the remarks or truths which it con-
talns are pertinent to the case of the Rev.
Mr.. Hurn to agreater or less extent We are
lar from saying that he is not appreciated as
a preacher; this would be, in large measure,
From what we have seen and heard of the
e~.-''~"'"", ~ .v"~,,..,~ H. : ----,
popular, not only among his own denomina-
ton, but among the people of the world" d.
we are not particularly g interested y in
popular sense of that term-we are not a
Methodist-wc do not agree with our Method
lst brethren in many Of their minor and char
acteristic 'spoints - Of doctrine, and the fame
or oOscurity, the usefulness or non Usefulness
OF one of their preachers can never, that we
can very plainly see, make us poor or rich.-
We believe, however, that there are such
things as talent and merit Of infinite DEGREES
and descriptions, and that there is law of
our being, superior to all crecds. disciplines
and catechisms, which binds us 10 recognize
their existence.
And if any reader should find himself
mentally asking 60 why write such an article rs
ths!'' the answer Of the writer is simply that he
desired to do so. 1t is at all times proper to
encourage and praise superior gifts. when pro-
perly employed, whether we find them in the
pulpit, at the bar, in the dissccting room or
In the labratory of the chemist Human
mind, of all things with which we converse in
this imperfect existence il the most like