The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1879-11-20

upon him, and many Of his great ser
mons were preached under circum-
stances that would entirely have pros
trated a man Of feebler nerve. One
| Sunday morning when, as usual, the
church was packed to hear the great
preacher, one Of his deacons, entering
the room at the rear of the pulpit,
found Mr.. Hall lying on the floor en-
yeloped in a perfect cloud of smoke,
by which he was endeavoring to dead
en- the pain A student went into the
pulpit to conduct the opening services.
Mr.. Hall fingered in the vestry till
the very last moment, wrestling with
excruciating pain. At length, as the
last hymn was being sung, he rose, or
was lifted from the floor. His eye
was heavy with narcotics, his check
hung fabby, and his whole expression
was lifeless. The sexton put his coat
on him and opened the door. Slowly
and laboriously pulling hand over
hand, he climbed the pulpit stairs.
With one hand pressed ON his side
and the other grasping the pulpit, he
announced his text: "The Father of
Light" He looked more like dead
man than a living one. With slow
and mechanical utterance he began.
Without motion or gesture, save a
feeble occasional movement Of his
right hand, he went on. He first de-
scribed, as only he could, the glories
of the natural heavens, and then ex-
allied God as the Father" of all these
lights. He then called a graphic roll
of the worlds intellectual masters.
God was also the Father Of all mental
greatness. And then he dwelt ON
moral and spiritual greatness, and
traced it all to God.
As he proceeded, wonderful change
came over his face. The fabbiness
passed away from his cheeks, and the
heaviness out of his eyes. His face
shone like an angels, his eye blazed
with unnatural brilliancy, and his
voice, losing the huskiness with which
he began, rang like a trumpet. A
great change also came over the audi
ence. As he went on from picture to
picture, and poured out on that audi
ence. accustomed indeed to eloquence,
but now astonished, his wonderful
wealth Of word and thought, the peo-
pie leaned forward in their seats,
hardly daring to breathe, and finally,
fully one-third of them, unconscious
of what they were doing, rose up and
leaned toward the pulpit as far as
they could reach. Many left their
pews. and with unconscious steps 81
lently crept down the aisles, until
they found themselves standing en-
tranced directly in front Of the speaker,
so irresistible was the magnet that
drew them.
When the, sermon was over, the
giant disease again claimed its victim,
the eyes sank and the face fell. But
during that glorious hour, when
great thoughts struck along the
BRAIN" the mind was supreme. 1t
spurned weakness and death, and
claimed its birthright. Such an hour
as that will forever disprove the cur
rent materialism. There are times
when man can ''above himself erect |
himself" Such times prophesy the |
permanent triumph Of the immaterial |
part Of our being. IF the mind be |
but the happy collection of physical
atoms, then the eloquence of physic-
ally broken and dying man is an unex.
planned and anomalous thing. But II
the mind be separate and immortal
entity, using the body as its servant,
then we can under, tand how 1t can
climb sometimes to It's grandest
achievements along the rickety and
stairway of an enfeebLed
and decaying physical nature in
terror.