Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-05
FOR OUR SUNDAY READERS.
Preachers and charobss.

We have endesvoredtO awaken the com
munlty to the Importance and beneficial
results Of our religious agencies. We
have called attention to the power of the
pulpit and the eleYating u practical
Dement'S OF spiritual culture, and Christian
activity. We have done this in our own
way and in our own style. That may not
be exactly the way or the style that the
preachers or official members would have
done u. They might have scOlded when
we Joked; they might have denounced
when we have been playful. But if the
end has been reached more directly and
readily, it will be admitted that ours,
after all, was the best method.
It Is certain that there is a latent power
IN the pulpit-s power of argument, APP
peal, nathos, sarcasm, disclosure-a power
over the reason, the passions, the actions
Of men, which is seldom exercised in all
It's fnllness. We might ask, Is that power
ever brought into plsy2 Is it ever WELD
ed1 Is IL ever ielt? Instead of q mOlding
electritying, exalting practical influence,
we have theological essays, loose general
izatiOns, insipid discussions or party pO-
lemics. When we think of the power OF
speech; of the lasting results of sledge-
hammer words; of the grand opportunity
Of " dozen puIpits in a city like this, to
touch the deep springs Of society and
rouse to noble action; and then think how
little is eff5cted-why, we turn TO ourOWn
thoughts snd jot down
OUR own SERMON.
The pOIUeT Of UOTdS. Few Of us have
considered fully the greatness Of speech
its evidence of mind both in articulation
by the speaker and comprehension by the
bearer. The combination of sounds rap
idly and almost unconsc;ously uttered,
every variation being a distinct symbol OF
a different thought, yet caught up and
understood without an effort by the lis
tener-hOw wonderful 81 this! The sound
is the sign of some thought.
The letters are signs Of this sound.
The eye glances Over the lettered
signs and Immediately is associated
with them the sound they represent, and
with the thought, and thus communica-
ton between mind and mind is estab-
lishsd. Once thus established, not only
do the words convey them but by undis-
cOverable media passion passes from soul
to soul; mind inhames mind, heart melts,
~eleVates or hardens and communicates
heart. The eye, the look, the action speak,
and speaker and listener read each other
as Illuminated pictures. All this, if we
think OF it, is a wonderful operation, one
with which no art Of human invention,
no discovery of science, no working of
steam engine or telegraph will compare.
Now, language is no less the medium
by which thought is communicated than
it is the instrument by which thought is
fashioned. Though thought is in its ma
ture anterior to language-that is, Ian
guage would be but meaningless sounds
were there not thought to form and di-
rect it. The pencil and the brush would
be useless without the artist and the
conceptions of genius. Yet without these
instruments there could be no forms of
beauty embodied and breathing; and
thought could have no existence
without language. You cannot
think UithOut UOrdS. Language is
the atmosphere in which thought
rises, which bears it on its piniOns. Re-
move this and it falls to the earth or never
rises: and the higher the flight and range
of thought the higher and purer must be
the supporting medium. The lower and
Coarser our words, the lower and more
animal thoughts. Language and
thought sff5ct each other, grow with each
other, are the twin piniOns OF the soul
travelling together in the mire, or uplift-
ing and soaring 70 the heavens. Speech
is 8 living miracle. God must nave
taught man language as well as endowed
him with capacity 10 exercise 1t. It is a
wOndrous, nany-Yoicsd movement, prov
ing there is a God.
IL is therefore no wonder that there
should be power in speech, Some
words" says Carlyle, " have Austerlitz
battles in them some Of old NapO-
Icons words rolled and burst like the ex-
plosion Of a thousand shells. Their echoes
are still heard and felt. The same author
(Carlyle) has said, There never was a
truly beautiful sentence but had a truly
beautiful thought beu cath it "-nestling
within the petals of the flower.
There are kind Words God
knows how deeply they lie
stored in the breast,'' says the little
rhyme. And these are earnest words
that go like mihie balls through the head
and heart of the listener. And there are
thunder words, all wind and buster, sig
nifying nothing. Aud, then, there are
lightning words, that seattle and PROSTATE
towering pride. and folly and crime.
And there are burning words, scattered
like hot coppers, to scOrch all who touch
them.
The right word in the right plsce-let it
blaze and burn, and seattle, tO arrest, or
Handle truths and facts as if
glass or china-ware, aud fear to break
them unless handled gingerly.
Let US have "~dat-footed" pulpit pun
gencies;" a few thunder words now and
then. A little earthquake won't hurt.
Great earnest thoughts will clOthe them
selves in words of power. Such are Our
words to day. We would whisper gentle
tones to the weary. We would breathe
notes of hope to the discouraged; thun-
der denunciatiOn over the idle and selfish.
We would sound the stirring triumph to
all.
"L'fs is real; life is earnest,
And the grave is not our goal;
Dust thou art; to dust rs5urnsJh
Was not written of the soul"