The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-09-28
TME HERALD
GREAT LONDON PREACHERS.
Their Relative Merits Discussed.


A correspondent of the New York
Tribune writing from London sends
the following interesting piece of infor-
nation;
Having had excellent opportunities
for hearing the great preachers Of Lon
don, will give my impressions regard
ing them. 1t is strange that, with the
rare advantages possessed by the Estab-
lished church in its universities the
greatest and most popular preacher IN
the city should be Noncontormist who
has no collegiate training. Mr. Spur
ueon, TO whom refer has been over
twenty years in London, There IS
nothing in his manner that ordinarily
gives n preacher popularity. lie Is not
sensational, and has few eccentrlcltles,
He is never coarse, vulgar nor proianc,
There is no trilling or levity in his dis
courses, though there is sometimes
trenchant wit There is however II
careful and thorough exposition of the
truths of the scriptures as he under
stands them. llissermons are constructed
simply, and clothed in the language Of
common, everyday life They are
lighted up with brilliant metaphors and
impressed on the mind with strong IL
lustrations drawn from yarious sources,
hut mainly from the Bible, The seven
thousand people who 20 to the Tabcr-
nacle every Sunday are held face to
face with God They are placed beneath
His law, and are pointed to the eternal
Judgment which awaits them All this
is not calculated ordinarily to make the
preacher popular. But after all these
years, Mr.. Spurgeon has q iirmer hold
upon the public than ever 1t may
well be asked how he succeeded in
maintaining and strengthening it. The
answer is near Mt hand. lie has been u
most lnborious student of everything
connected with the Scriptures. He is
thoroughly in earnest No one ques-
tons his sincerity His life has been
above reproach, Besides he has been
gifted with great common sense and II
marvellous voice. His labors are al
most incredible. More than sixty Of
his sermons are published every year
and thoy are of such merit that
they are eagerly reprinted and read
by the inhabitants Of two continents.
His lectures and preaching and the pas
toral work among the students in his
training college for preachers are unsur-
passed His exposition Of the Psalms
of David has grown already to four
large volumes, and is acknowledged to
he the best ever given to the world, be
ing read by ALL Ritualists, High and
Low Churchmen and Disscnters
A very different preacher is Dean
Stanley. His sermons are rs polished
in their style as are his lectures on the
Jewish or the Eastern Church. They
are broad enough for the most liberal |
in the sermon which he preached in
Westminster Abbey, in concluding n
course delivered by various clergymen
recently, from the text, "Gather up the
fragments" the Dean said they should
gather up the fragments of truth con.
tanned in hymns like one which he
quoted from Doddridge, and then he
followed the hymn with glowing
eulogy upon this great Non-coniorm
list of the last century Gather up
the fragments he said again, "of truth
found in the Zenda Nesta," and IN the
scientific teachings Of the times, The
Dean, too, is very popular, as might be
Judged from hundreds being unable to
get admissiod to the Abbey on this oc
casion.
Cannon Liddon, of St. Pauls is
preacher Of different order. His style
of sermonizing, might be deemed al
most taultless His style and form of
expression are unexcelled Although
his voice is not over strong, no one OF
the five thousand people who sat under
the great dome last Sunday afternoon
need have lost word of his discourse.
Unlike Dean Stanley, Cannon Liddon
leans toward the Ritualists. This party
is just now giving the establishment n
great deal of trouble, The Arches court
is busy dealing with accusations OF ritu-
alism Whatever may be their faults 1T
must be admitted however that the Rit-
lalists set in some respects good eX'
ample. st. Adams church, which has
n confessional and system resembling
that of the Roman Catholic monasteries,
is in Baldwin's court, wretched place,
inhabited by the very lowest classes,
The rector of this church, who has been
repeatedly under discipline for his ritu.
alistc practices, is doing more for the
poor people of this district than all the
other churches therein Perhaps after
all he is not under discipline by 1.-THE
Judge of all the Earth, who may look
more to his work than how he does it,