Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-07-27


with his head in his hands and talk IN enthu-
siastic and delightful language OF his ram
bles among the books, quoting passage alter
passage from the different authors that he
had read, and commenting upon them in
words equal i'll beauty and force to anything
that he had repeated.
ENvIoUs OF HIM.
"Some men were envious of Mr.. Jacks bril-
liant talents, and tried to account for them.
At dinner OF Clergymen and others such
detractor once sand: ITS easy enough to
account for his sermons, he gets them from
Guthrie. But said one of Mr.. Jack friends
who heard the unknd remark, how do you
account for Mr.. Jacks prayers" And these
prayers were far more wonderful than his
sermons. / have heard the Rev. DR.. Thomas
II. Skinner pray in the Academy of Music,
leading the devOtiOns of three thousand
people as il he was inspired and never can
| forget some prayers of SpurgeCn in the
Surrey music hall, where the vast Congrega.
ton was hushed into psrfeCt silence, ss he
led them like an aucisnt prophet into the
presence chamber of the most nigh but |
rScall many oCc2 sions upon which Mr.. Jack
rose TO heights of holy eloquence in adoting
the majesty OF God, in pleading tor the solva.
tiOn OF souls and rehearsing the manifold
mercies OF our heavenly Fa'her snd his great
love in Jesus, which were even more sublime
These were not prepared liturgies, but simple
outpourings ola glowing heart and brilliant
mind.
his STYLE OF PREACHING.
" His preaching was unique. He initiated
no one in either style or matter. He had an
imagination that would have served the most
sensational novelist, and native dramatic
power, logically and carefully arranged, Of
ten written in shorthand and elaborated in
his memory. Beginning slowly in low
tone OF voice. his head down, and his tall,
gaunt form waving to and fro, he would
gradually become more and more impressive
till warmed with the subject, his tones
would WAX strong end firm, and sentence
after sentence of matches beauty
and sublime imaginery and impassioned eX.
clamation would follow on, till every hearer
was aroused and interested and listened al
most breathlec : to the end And this was
not mere rhetorical display. No man ever
preached the gospel more simply and earn
| estly and fully than Mr.. Jack The hearers
| had an intellectual treat, but they could not
| forget that it was Gods words which they
| had heard through those eloquent lips. In
| Boston and New Haven, in Baltimore and
| Chicago, the crowds that heard him preach
went home knowing that they had heard
| the gospel. None who ever listened TO his
| sermon on the Gospel Feast" will for get
its mastery analysis and its passionate elo-
| Quence. | have seen the crowded house
| start, as, after describing with vivid reality
| the richness of the provisions of 81 fat things
and wines upon the lees, which Jehovah has
| prepared upon Mount Zion, he burst out
| with the exclamation, 'Oh, for the drunk
ards thirst, that we might drain this cup Of
| salvation! And as he painted with all the
| intensity OF dramatic art the penitent woman
at the feet OF Jesus, / have seen men and
women in the audience lean eagerly forward
| as if to see the scene which was brought so
| really before them.
A GENIUS AND A FAVoRITE.
| /" Not only was Mr.. Jack a genius and a
great preacher, he was also general favorlte.
| His enemies were mostly those who envied
him or those who could not tolerate his care
| less and unconventional ways. One man
| said that all the laboring men liked Mr.. Jack
| because he would drink out of the same tin
| cup with them and never rinse II. He would
| kiss a dirty child as soon as clean one, and
| hardly know the difference. He told me tha,
| he visited his congregation according to their
| seats In church, from memory going down
one aisle and then up another, and then
down third. One season he forgot the
order of the aisles and so visited
| the same families over and over again,
| and neglected the others for a long time. NJ
one who knew him well could doubt his
warm, kind, Christian heart, and he would
| give away anything that he had to one who
| was in want. He had quiet humor which
found vent in his talk, and sometimes in his
| lectures and letters. One summer he crossed
| the ocean TO see his father, WHO was growing
| old, and wrote letter or two to the press. In
one OF these letters he said 'We passed an
| iceberg to-day II reminded me OF DIR. IS
| church The bumor was appreciated by
| those who knew the architecture of the
| church referred TO, and the coldness of its
| spiritual atmosphere. Mr.. Jacks course In
| life did not run smooth He entered upon
his ministry under the weighfof trials which
| would have crushed many men he contin.
| ued ii in spite OF hindrances arising, in part,
| from his eccentrcities, and in part from his
| genius; and he closed 1t in a long and de
| pressing illness, which he bore with patience
| and Christian forttude. lie was greatly
| helped and his usefulness increased by his
| marriage, and though death robbed him OF
many children number still survive. lie
| was the third minister in the direct family
ilne, his father and grandfather having been
| honored ministers of the Associate church
| IN Scotland. His memory will be cherished
IN the churches that he served, and his
| friends Will never cease TO talk about him as
| wonderful preacher and true man."