Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-09-18

the urSC 10 discern lCS coming, ana ont
of the foremost in rousing the people t.
resistance. His matchIess powers wert
| given night and day to the service O
God and his country. He made com
mon cause of the two, and taught bi:
hearers that no willing slave could be
an acceptable worshipper of God. His
No one, indeed, could withstand his Or
atory, and his logic was as invincible.-
A student of the Revolution is aston
ished to learn how great part the cler-
gy had in the well-laid foundation OF
our independence; and James Waddell
is not the least of those to whom we
owe our liberties. But excessive labor
broke him down. Unable to brave
longer the fevers of the lowlands,-im-
PEELED, 100. by the presence of British
fleets seeking his capture-in 1776 be
left his people disconsolate at his loss,
and set his face toward the great noun
tain range. Passing over the Blue
Ridge he descended into Augusta and
took charge Of the Thinking Spring
congregation.
| In this majestic wilderness he found
new life for body and soul. His labors
became as great and varied as before
His power went out into all the country,
and the small log meeting house became
Mecca. From far off hamlets, Sab
bath by Sabbath, came groups of pi-
oneers through the forest, accompanied
by knife and rifle, their two best friends.
| Through summer heat and winter
SHOWS that marvellous voice drew them
hither; and when they returned home
! the garden as when the world was
Ponnoih tho oio of h;- rif
hearts melted as the mountain SHOWS in
spring; the whole valley became filled
with the sound of hymn and prayer
Once and again his eloquence sent forth
troops of men to the war, who did noble
service for their country. His influence
was unbounded; he moved the hearts
of men by word. Even Indians came
under its charm, and were brought to
strike friendly bands with the white
man. He stayed in Augusta seven
years; then crossed the mountains
again for the last time.
DR.. Waddell owned tract of land of
thousand acres in central Virginia,
and here, near the angle of Louisa, Or
ange and Albemarle, he built house,
and called his estate "Hopewell.n But
he was not to rest. His tolls were only
increased, and his last years were his
busiest. Once again he brought the sur
rounding country under his voice. He
Charlottesville, in a log church at
Clarksville, in the brick church at Or
ange G. H., and, not content with this,
he built another Westinghouse for his
use near his home. Once more, too, he
became a teacher. He had a passion
for instructing youth, which burned
brightly to the end of life. A few boys
were now taken into his family, from
| which they all went forth to usefulness,
some indeed to distinction. Gov. Bar
bour, of Virginia, was one Of these pu-
pills.
| 1t would seem as if, at some time of
his life, he must have held this relation
to Andrew Jackson; yet the closest
search fails to discover how it could
have happened. One day, when Jack
son was President, in conversation with
a foreign minister be spoke of the
"devil- openaent" of the States. The
| we'll bred diplomat evinced no surprise,
but took immediate occasion to say that
he considered the Development of our
country unparalleled. The old hero's
porcupine-like hair bristled at once. He
seized the first opportunity to bring the
word in again, laying particular stress
on his pet pronunciation. Once more
the correction was gracefully made
! This was too much for the President,
Excuse me-" he roared out" You
may call it de- vel-opnae,at if you please,
but I say deuil-openeyat, and I a0iU say
deviI- openae2t as long as I revere the
memory of good old DR.. Waddell."
| It was in the little church of his own
erecting, near the town of Gordonsviile,
and in the depths of a vast forest that
this mans matchless oratory reached its
height
The eloquence of the preacher and
the vivid pen of William Writ have
made this humble house of God immor-
tai. Here for twenty years he employed
distant parts to hear his voice. Under
his ministrations sat many of the wise
and great. Montpelier, the seat of James
Madison, was but seven miles away, and
Madison's mother, a devout Christian,
was always in her place at the log
church, and often accompanied by her
son. Mr.. Madison had the highest
reverence for the preacher, and frequent
ly came to him for counsel in the affairs
Of the country. AS the yeass crept over
the aged saint, infirmities gathered thick
upon him. He grew partially paralyzed
and blind. Yet his mind lost none of
its vigor, his soul none of its fire, and
his resistless eloquence remained. It
was in 1903, when he had now been
blind many years and death was ap-
preaching that the famous description
of his preaching appeared in the Brit
ish Spy." Thousands who have read
those glowing words have never imag-
ined they were aught but fiction. Yet
abundant testimony shows that the de-
| ~ roh% n
preacher himself was little pleased
when the account was published, altho'
| VIM. Writ was one of his dearest friends,
and in reply he dictated the words,
"Haatd inertia laus, oppri5riuna est,"-
unmerited praise is reproach.
| The elOquence of James Waddell was
of an order now nearly extinct. That
it was OF marvellous power is indubita-
BILE. President Alexander, the Blind
Preachers son-in-law, says Mr.. Writ,
told him that so far from exaggeration
in his description, he had fallen below
the truth; that, in different species of
oratory, he believed him fully equal to
Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry himself
was wont to say that Waddell and Da-
vies were the greatest orators he ever
heard. The personal presence of the
Blind Preacher was an aid to his power
of speech. He was tall, stately, straight
as an arrow. His movements were full
of grace even when violent, and he was
at all times dignified. There was ever
a joyful solemnity ON his countenance
he appeared to be walking with Cod
In youth the vigor and charm of his
personal beauty moved his hearers; bu;
Ill old age, when this had passed away
an influence even more powerful went
forth from his presence. For, as he rose
in the pulpit growing light of APP
preaching eternity in his face, the limbs
trembling with palsy, the slghtless eyes
uplifted,-all felt him to be messenger
from the very throne of God. When
he began to speak one secret of his pow
er was instantly revealed his marvellous
voice. The hearers were fioated upor
its tones; borne up and down, hithel
and thither as leaves on the wind
With sudden bursts of the intenses
force of speech, he electrified vast as
) semblies. He fused the multitude o
souls into one, which he then moulded
l<L L