Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1873-07-18
A Virginia Preachers Estimate
of eecher and Talmadge.

Rev. John E. Edwards, of the Virgin
Conference, NJ E. Church, recently paid
visit to New York, in company with Rev
K N. S!edl, formerly, Of Lynchburg, an'
other ministers. He gives very interest
ing account of his trip in the form Of a let
ter to the ''Christian Advocate" from which
we extract the following, giving the Rev
Doctors impressions of Henry Ware
3eecher and Dewitt Talmadge
At half past 10 A. NJ, we were at Ply.
mouth church. When the packing pro
cess commenced, after standing in crowd
at the stairway, and waiting long: we were
packed in the gallery, Immediately in front
of the pulpit. Every seat was occupie :
Beecher 10 the pulpit, busily engaged in
turning over the leaves of q small Bible, aud
then examing long list of notices. The
choir sun kn anthem It was we'll done
One superb soprano voice attracted auen
ton in solo. The prayer of invocation
was offered Ia subdued tone and fine mosiu
lated voice. The reading Of the Scriptures
followed Beecher reads well Thea the
opening hymn an old tune. Everybody
sung. Then the prayer 1t was excellent
Then singing as before. Then the text and
sermon. Text: "The former things were
done away" and in its treatment the
preacher did away with sound old or5ho
doxy; he did away with bell, and with
mans Immortality in the event of his failure
50 to prove the innate germ Of goodness in
him as to render it fit for transplanting
to heaven when he died. Such persons, he
said, "trampled out their Immortality and
died like brute" Mr.. Beecher used his
manuscript extensively. He preached naked,
bald, undissembled Universalsm. It was
a pivot sermon, if he has any pivot point,
which is que.tionable. doubt now
whether he has any anchorage. A year
ago l heard him, and was delighted. Ga
this occasion We heard him, and were all dis.
appointed, not to say positively disguised.
Beecher is great power for evil, If he
breaches as he did on this occasion.
Sunday night We all went to the A ade-
my of Music, to hear Rev. Dewitt Tai
madge. More than two thousand we're as.
sembled at half past 7 P NJ, to hear him
The services were opened by singing the
long metre dozo!ogy, without choir, and
before the organist got to his seat Tai
madge is unprepossessiog in person. His
voice is cultural, grating and harsh. He
draws his words and sentences. He read a
lesson from Exodus, with running comment
Reading of the hosts of haraoh following
the Egyptians into the Red Sea, he said,
short and quick 'It did not take long for
their Inch pins to drop out" His text vas,
"Thefe is none like that; give it me. =
Well, it was hardly sermon we heard. It
was all good. AT times he was very dra-
matte. lie was earnest, and at times elo-
quent. He is a native born genius alto
gether sort Of nondescript-a sui generiis.
Taking into account all the drawbacks on
the man in the way ofpersonal appearance,
horribly cultural voice, his miserable draw.
ling, together with his awkward manner, it
Is really marvel that he should hold the
crowd and sway the multitude as he does.
But the secret is, Talmadge is a great mag
net, great genius, versatile, many sided
man; man who knows little about every
'AH0 i" NSSAAS0iy Mdu WlluOut pS-
ing very great man; man fully in SYM
pathy with the masses good man
man abundant in labors, Jealous for the sal
walton of souls =; and, personally, the ex-
emplar of the virtues he breaches to others.
Aud after all be is great man, with his
own sharply marked idiosyncrasies. He
loves the poor, and works hard for them -
Talmadge is doing good, He favors free
seats. Instead of great big, unwieldy
hymn book, in which there are six hundred
hymns never sung in public worship. as is
the case with the Methodist hymn book,
'Talmadge has fifty hymns and familiar Sun
day school songs, with choruses, printed in
a little pamphlet form Of a few pages, stitch,
ed together, at an expense of two or three
cents copy, and scattered all over his
place of worship for everybody to use This
decidedly sensible. A precentor lea ds
he singing. and the whole congregation
ing, with an organ accompaniment.