St. Paul daily globe., 1886-03-29
Our Correspondent Undertakes to Point
Out the Secret of the Southern
Evangelist's Power.
His Voice Plaintive, Penetrating and
sOOthing-His Utterances Homely,
But Not Rude.
"A MingIing of Pathos and Humor.
Which Pleases Without Inham-
ing His Audience.
Inc Monotony Occasionally Broken
by the Forcible Expression OF
an Epigram:
Sam Jones, Influence.

OPccidl 10 the GIOOe.
CHICAGO, March 2S.-Sam Jones, if uues-
TONED about the secret of his influence upon
the masses OF people who throng in thou
sands to hear him every night. might saw
with modesty and some truth, what Mark
Antony said with sublety:
l am no orator, as Brutus is,
but' Us you know me ALL plain, blunt man.
he makes a queer impression upon one
VINO LOOKS at him over a long stretch of
masses OF heads and tries to estimate sis
quantities as speaker. But the first idea is,
whaC magnificent audience. fEhe big, low
roo1eo haIl IS packed with people and banks
or spectators slope up to the ceiling ON all
sides. The form that rises I'D ON a nIatform
almost IN the center has the eyes and ears
OIL all that vast assembly. There is no
greater opportunity for eloquence for the
speaker has an audience that bushes its
chattering curiosity to catch his every nod,
ana ne has theme above all other themes
that nave called forth human eloquence.
Inc hgure is not an impressive one; it is
quite conventional. The speaker, in cut
away coat. showing his watch-charm.
might be taken for a well-tO-dO clerk or
engineer. The first popularity is noticed
when ne lifts his hands. The lank, cuffiess
Wrists contrast strongly with the whitley
collared neck. But Mr.. Jones has not
overlooked an article of dress. When he
lifts his arms in
APoSTRoPHE OR PRAYER
that stretch of bare wrist has its proper
dramatic effect. He is man who is APP
peallng to the people, and he does not wish
TO have any more starch about him than is
necessary. The voice has a plaintive as
we'll as penetrating quality. It rises and
falls, slowly, drawlinglY and with every
phase tipped with rising infection and a
twang. 1t is not wearisome; it is soothing.
1t is the voice of one who has never been
IN much of hurry, and it might have
taken its melancholy coIors from the lone
illness OF the mountains. 1t is homey, but
not rude. The sermon begins and one
wonders at the speakers flueney. He
takes an idea and he spreads it out as
thinly as they spread the butter on the
bread at charity school. He is never at
loss for an idea, for he keeps ringing
the changes on the old one till
something else occurs to him. When he
feels for something fresh he passes his hand
slowly over his head, running his fingers
lightly through his hair. He seems to have
the assurance of innocence itself: thoughts
painting for utterance do not stumble or
crush each other at his lips; ne never suf-
fers from the rush Of ideas to the brain.
Other men may
TREMBLE OR FLUSH
with the message that is in them and is
struggling for deiverance. but Sam j ones
has calm consciousness of power that
would well become a power that was
greater. He soon makes joke. There is
a ripple of applause and gratifed cackling.
The fringe OF spectators near the door who
have been sitting and staring at one another
with the indifference of SightSeeTS suddenly
crane their neckS and cackle with the rest.
That is undoubtedly what some of them
have been waiting for. 1t is said that
Americans are fippant. Some, indeed,
speak of their tippancy as irreverence. But
there are others that hold that humOr, even
II it sometimes runs away from the apron
strings of taste, is a healthy child and will
grow up rugged and manly. Mr.. Jones, it
would hardly be original to say, is humor-
ist. 1t may be questioned whether the
tragedy of life has impressed him deeply;
but it is certain that the comedy has touched
him acutely. But stop, he strikes a pa
thetic chord. He speaks of maternal love.
The tone is true, but not overwhelming.
An orator would have swayed that vast
audience, and for single instant. perhaps,
have fused all souls in single fame OF
feeling. Mr.. Jones is not the master of
his hearers. There is
SOMETHING WANTING
in him to give him absolute control. The
expression of indifference returns to some
faces, the smile of amusement to others,
and the loose, flowing sentences stop lazily
through the air. Now and then when a
point is to be made the speaker stoops low,
and lifting himself high while sweeping
his arms, gives forcible utterance to some
epigrammatic thought. This is what
breaks the mOnotony at intervals. Once
an imaginative thought is attempted, the
description of caravan in the
desert sending the cry of ''water
found' from one voice to another to the
rear. The figure is a fine one. the simile
as it is applied is apt, but before the effect
of what is really eloquent is obtained, the
speaker branches off on trivial story. 1t
may he said that what is best of Sam Jones
is his easy. familiar way. The very fact
that he takes no pains with words or with
calculating effects, prove that he is not
a really great speaker. The people in the
building go scrambling out as soon as he is
through. They have listened to one Of
their own kind, speaking in their own
everyday way, of duty and of other things.
They have been interested. they have
listened, nothing more, unless one be per-
mitted to assume that they have been bet
tered by what they have heard.