Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-02-21
THE ORIGINAL TONGUE.
A Clergyman Who Was Equal to
ANY Language, Dead or Alive.

New York Times
When a party Of clergymen get to-
gether, with not too many iaymen wlth-
IN hearing, they sometimes become as
merry a party as 80 many members oil
apy other profession. The clergymen
Of New York, as a rule, are not to be
beaten in the telling of 4 good story. A
number Oi them were gathered together
one evening OF last week, when o"S
meaiber Of the party told an anecdote OF
a minister in search Of a charge that Is
certainly worth presenting as u gool
story, and, perhaps, a. an example OF
how such things are sometimes done
This minister had been invited to preach
As a candidate in a little rural church IN
Northern Pennsylvania, where the
| members, although only ON a par WIN
most distant country churches, liked To
AatteT themselves that they were pretty
well posted" Before starting Tor the
Mace the minister met an old clerical
friend who had had some experience IN
the same neighborhood, and who advis,
Ell him to Give them some lAtln ana
lireek; il will tickle their vanity, ana
they'll set YOU down Tor a very sinart
man
Their, VAS a little difficulty in the way
of the minister giving his hearers a dose
of Latin and Gireek, Tor he kne" no
more OF either language than the people
whom he was 10 preach to. But he was
enuaI 10 the emergency tie was a ma
tive OF Wales and spoke Welsh ~ well
"a he did English, though these two
were the only language he knew any
thing about. When he had got nicely
into his sermon, he introduced a little
passage Of scripture, and SAID; TINS
passage, brethren, has been slightly al
tered in the translation. Ii Is only IN
the original Hebrew that You ran grasp
its meaning. ! will read II to YOU III
Hebrew that YOU may comprehend II
more exactly, Fl" and he ave them the
passage in very good Welsh. The old
deacons looked at each other, AMI nod
ded approval, as they would say: That
isthe stuff; that's the kind OF thing we
want.
Presently the minister, who saw by
the faces Of his hearers that he had
made a hit, came upon another Scrip
ture passage that could not be correctly
rendered into English. This passage
said he, "has TO be read in the original To
be appreciated. In all the languages,
there is none know in which the mean
ing caI,.be 30 well expressed As IN Greek.
will read YOU the verse IN greek
end again he gave them a Welsh SEN
tence. Again the deaeons nodded APP
proyingly, and before long the minister
found Il necessary to read a verse IN
Latin, $50 that his hearers might I'M
derstand it thoroughly and he gave
them "A little more Welsh.
Everything Was going ON smoothly
and the minister, as he approached the
end of his sermon, thought he would
give them one more taste oi the heaI
languages. III am about 10 read you;
said he, another passage ON the SUI
iect. But it is another OF those paSsa'
y.s that have been altered in the transia-
ZION. and | will read It To you IN lne
Chaldiac, in which 1t was written lie
was lust about to give them a little more
Welsh, when, casting his eye over Tue
congregation. he saw seated a lhe
door a i~olly-lOOking man, who was Dc
ing his sides tight to keep IRON burst
;ns uith laughter. The minister TOOK
;nths situation in an instant. Here was
man i'm the church who understood
Welsh. and who WAS laughing at tue
trick that had been PLAYED upon Tue
congregation. But not a feature III lhe
ministers iace changed. Fixing nus eyes
straight upon the laughing man Just as
he Congregation thought he was ABOUT
10 give them the ChaIdiac version he
said again in Welsh: 49,,
For Gods sake, my irlend, Iun say
a word about this TIL nave '''"''e "
talk with you. ..,;ss.l
,ba, ,hey had listened to one OF the
INST learned sermons, the laughing
nan never told the story, and the MN
ister vas soon settled over the church,
the people believing that a CLERGYMAN
who could read the Scriptures IN ave
Isnvussrs was just the man Tor them.