Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-05-30
THE NEW SOUTHERN EyANGELJsT.

The Secret OF Rough Sam Jones' Power "a
Convert Sinners.
From the New York Tribune
The Rev. Sam Jones, who has been known
in the South for some time as successful
evangelist, has been creating a genuine SEN
sation in several Southern cities during the
last few months. His success In starting re-
vivals of religion has, from all accounts, been
phenomenal. AS many as 5000 people of all
grades in society have frequently met to
hear him, and every one has literally hung
on the burning words of Sam jones' as he is
tamiliarly called throughout the South. The
secret OF the mans success appears to be first
OF all his intense earnestness. He is deeply
penetrated with the reality of the gospel
which he preaches He feels irresistibly COM
PEELED to preach by divine command. His
style IS homely, direct and simple. Argu-
ments he eschews, but he is rich i'm illustra-
tons, and his sermons are filled with cpl
grams and quick flashes of biting wit
Sometimes his hearers laugh at bizarre bit
of humor, and sometimes they weep at a
stirring appeal to their emotions. He il not
a man of much education, and for this reason
is looked upon with suspicion at first by the
regular clergy, but he soon carries all preju-
dices before him. In the words of the NASH
piie american
"Such is Sam Jones, bold, honest, earn
est matchless in his command of an audi
ence, fearing God, but not man loving
religion and law, but despising the affected
wisdom of men and the conventionalities of
fashionable society rough, but magnani-
nous; aggressive, but unseltish devout, but
not Pharisacal-a bubbling fount fresh
from the bosom of the earth natures own,
without the artificial gloss of high cultiva-
tion-a sort of moral diamond in the
rough"
His epigrammatic utterances-sometimes
a
ing-are so compact that they can be carried
away entire by the simplest understanding,
and in that fact lies much of his power. 4
few examples of his style may be given.
Some preachers" he said recently, "are
so elegant that they always refer to hell as
the burnt district The sort of diJ.nty is
the starch OF a shroud." Another time he
said: "Pull up your doubts by the roots
and you'll find aseed 9. the bottom, and
sluggish by saying: Many good
Christians sleep Sc. sound that the devil
can come up. and saw OIL their heads
with a duh caseknifo before they
wake" 81 can get along better" he said in
thing IN this world than with people who
talk too much. A lie is always on the down
grade, but the truth you have to hitch an en-
gine to-" Speaking of trouble he said: "The
best woman in this town Is the woman who
has waded through trouble that an angels
heart could not have endured. When God
wants to strike us with afllictions let us not
run but stand and take en-" a few days
ago he startled large congregation by
this utterance: "a won an that marres
man with whisky on his breath is the
biggest fool i'm the world, except the one who
stirs his toddy for him after she marries.
him. If you don't like that sort of talk
You can rack out of here" Again he ex-
claimed: "Opinions ruin the world. That
old colonel, the old cuss, will say, 'its my
opinion so and So A dozen young men
who hear him will go OIL and say its my
opinion so and So They get their opinions
from the old colonel, and he gets his from
hell. i say to them, shut up you old blab-
mouthed fools" whats culture WORTH"
he asked again, IF its nothing but white
wash Oh rascal ?' "Id rather be in heaven
learning my A B Cs than in hell studying
Greek. My God, keep my boy pure and
honest and let him die fool" "Talk about
an honest man starving to DEATH" he broke
out the other day "they won't starve. God
will feed an honest man if he has TO put the
angels on half ratiOns."