The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-12-12

Booth and the Lords Prayer.

An essay by Elihu Burritt on
Aase Breathing a Living Soul into DEAD
i ords.'
HI h. elder Booth was man who threw
his impcrsonatiOns an amount OF
|fip. and soul which his originals could
.lv have equalled. He did Richard
|on U - the life and more. He had made
an passions, emotions and exper-
@s14 Is his ife's study He could not
|resf act but feel rage, love, despair, hate,
sjtion, fury, hope, and revenge, with
6fa spth and force that half amazed his
Etors. He could transmute himself
the hero of his impersonatlon, and
,.kould breathe a power into other
VA written words, which, perhaps,
never surpassed. And what is rather
AsuE 1rkable. when he was inclined tOglye
eNtrations of this faculty to private
ire. les Of friends, he nearly always Sc
OF pd some passages from Job, David,
|l0f Isaiah, or other holy men of old.
IN an aspiring young professor OF
Pc. rard University went to him by
afBt To ask little advice or instruc-
in qualifying himself for an orator
HAtttEIH LIdEtuith OptAlNN VIZ
|oV 4 read 4 few verses from Isaiah In
IN that made the Cambridge scholar
/, Prtnble with awe, as if the prophet had
In from the dead and were utterlng
Of sublime visions in h isears. He was
On residing in Baltimore, and Pious,
bane, old gentleman of that city,
bring of his wonderful power of elocu-
Glen. one day invited him to dinner, al
SEQ. hugh strongly deprecating the stage
H all theatrical performances. A large
npany sat down to the table, and on
- arning to the drawing-room one OF
Aim requested Booth, as a special favor
NNthem all, to repeat the Lords Prayer.
VI signifed his willingness to gratlty
:. km, and all eyes were fixed upon him
~ slowly and reyerently arose from his
|I.EAair. trembling with the burden OF two
|oR bat conceptions. He had to realize thu
saracter, attributes, and presence Of
|SkEh Almighty Being he was to address
was 10 transform himself into {
sor. shining. stumbling, benighted
edy suppIiant, offering homage, ask
bread, pardon, light, and guidance
Tvs one of the company present:
Is wonderful to watch the play OF emo
bns that convulsed his countenance
became deathly pale, and his eyes
tmeqlrned tremblingly upward, were we
|eriah 9th tears. As yet he had not spoken
Car be silence could be felt; it had becom
~ bsolutely painful, until at last the spel
as broken as if by an electric shock
81 his rieh-toned voice, from white lips
- sIiabled forth Our Father, which al
|sr 81 heaven etc, with pathos and feryI
Slemnitv that thrilled all hearts. ID
|usk4 aished; the silence continued; not
IL LF9ice was heard, nor q muscles move
s. his rapt audience, until from II
= aote corner of the room, subdued so
Z las heard, and the old gentlema
the hostl stepped forward wit
- Dreaming ewes and totterlng frame, an
rok keiIed Booth by the hand, sir, said n
IL "a broken accents, you have anorde
|Afae pleasure for which my whole tutul
|NNife will feel grateful. / am an old ma
md every day from boyhood to the pre-
sat time, | thought / had repeated q
i Ell lords PRAYER: but / never heard 1t B
ahre. never! You are right, replIt
4 Both; to read that prayer as 1t shoo
fsread caused me the severest stue
ead labor for thirty years, and l am I
- 1om being satisfied with my renderil
{ that wonderful production. Hard
ae person in ten thousand comprehen
- sow much beauty, tenderness, al
grandeur can be condensed in spa
small, and in words so simple. In
Eyer itself Sufficiently illustrates {
of the Bible, and stamps upon
/ of divinity So great vast
produced, says eS1r inform
ayersstiopss,st:as IS sustained Ds y
Ii longer in sabdued mOnSsI mono !.
4 almost entirely esasea q, :
t.r at an early hour, the g.
i = mn and retired to thear e, !. So So
ssor with sad faces and full nea