The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-04-27
OUR GREATEST PREACHER.
IF TALMAGE IS AN ACTOR, LET US
HAVE MORE EOF THEM.
A North Carolina Y Dung Man Hears DR..
Talmage Preach and Gives His Impress
siOns of the Great Preacher.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRONICLE.

Especial Cor. STATE CHRONICLE.
1t is, | think, conceded by all persons
who are in a position to form a candid and
intelligent opinion that Talmage is Ameri-
cas- greatest preacher. Just in what his
power consists, | shall not attempt to say,
but | think the statement is amply sus-
tanned by the fact that the Brooklyn Tab
ernacle is densely packed Sabbath after
Sabbath and almost every weekly news
paper in the land, besides many dailies,
report his sermons to a congregation of
fifty million as regularly as they are de
liyered, whilst the average preacher who
is ever ready to discant on the faults of
Talmage or at least damn him with faint
praise, is greeted usually by half church
full of empty benches, when he arises to
dispense with the gospel" 1t is said that
Talmage is sensational, undlgnltied, an
actor | have read his sermons, heard
him preach, and have the pleasure of a
personal acquaintance with him, but l
have never seen anything in him to even
suggest the thought of irreverence or frlv-
olity. That he is an actor | admit, but he
acts in such way as to move the emo
tions of his vast and heterogeneous audi
ences at his will and sway them almost
contemptuously- There is nothing sug-
gestive of Booth as Hamlet" in his man
ucI, uOT Is lutIc dllN VI luc SlluSluS VI
arms and stamping of feet, which we are
so accustomed to in North Carolina.
once heard an eminent Presbyterian divine
(well known to Prof Woodrow who had
studied elocution under Booth, preach
from the text, - 'Tis |, be not afraid" and
as be depicted Christ walking on the sea
in the stiffness of the night, his disciples
crouched together in one end of the ship
auaking with fear, | was forcibly remind
ed of the scene where Hamlet trembles
before the spectre which says, ~ am thy
fathers spirit The action, intonation
and effect were all the same. There is
nothing of this in Talmage. In short, be
strikes me as a man who makes a business
Of improving the morality of the age and
making people ''stOp their meanness, and
he goes about it in a business like man
ner lust as Judge Clark charges a jury,
telling them what may and what may not
be done with impunity, and always i'm
pressing his authority upon his hearers;
just as Judge Fowle solicits votes for the
Democratic cause, or Geo. Wynne sells a
horse. Talmage makes every man, woman
and child in his congregation feel that he
is discussing a matter of personal interest
to each of them.
Oliver Wendell Holmes says that bright
mind Will fly before, dart behind and cir
Gle round and round a dull speaker like a
sparrow will buzzard. Nobody has time
to do this when Talmage is the speaker,
aud what is more, one has not even the
time to adapt his denunciations of wicked
ness to the case of his neighbor. | have
heard sermons which sounded like they
might have been preached into phOno-
graph by Job or jeremiah thousands of
years ago, and were just being ground
out. One of the most genial clergymen l
ever met around the fireside and one of
the sprghtliest men in ordinary conversa-
ton, reads the last Psalm like it were the
ninetieth, and at the funeral of his dearest
friend; and when he says 'Selah' you are
convinced that it conta rs the solution TO
all mysteries and is possessed Of more
weight than the widest philologist ever
dreamed of.
If Talmage is an actor let Us have more
of them; let Us have dramatic chairs es-
tablished at Trinity, Wake Forest and Da-
wilson and let our clergymen learn first Of
all how to get and hold the attention Of
their hearers Nobody has ever been
known to go to sleep in the Brooklyn Tab
ernacle. Talmage reads the Bible like it
was the latest and most thrilling news,
and like | never heard anyone else read 1t
except our own Dr. B. F. Dixon who, like
Talmage, retains his common sense in
spite of his religion. (And just here | be
lieve | will tell to whom it may concern a
secret which DR.. D. confided to my keep
ing and that is that his throat trouble was
caused by talking solemn when he didn t
feel solemn.)
Talmage preached this morning on
jealousy" Prov. vi34. The fact that
eight stenographers were busily engaged
during the sermon in reporting it for the
press reminds me that | need say little
about it, only that when he spoke of the
existing jealousies of the European nations
of each other and said that 'all were jeal-
Gus of America" there was hearty ap-
plause, and again when he spoke OF the
promises of politicians to the people of
Ohio to protect WOOL of Massachusetts, and
Connecticut to protect home manufacture
ers and of Virginia to take the tax off OF
tobacco, when, after the Presidential elec
ton, things would be Just as they are now.
1t was a handsome compliment to the
medical profession when he said that by
prolonging the life of the Crown Prince
until he became Emperor of Germany, Dr.
Mackenzie had saved the peace of Europe
felt like throwing up my hat at this
iuncture and calling for three cheers fol
surgery, but now that am in a cooler anC
more reflective mood | feel sure | did the
wise thing in keeping my hat. After the
sermon | received a cordial grasp of the
hand from the great divine. His hand, ir
common with his head and heart, is large
| told him that every week thousands o
| admiring North CarOllnlans read his ser
mons. This seemed to please him very
much He asked particularly after Gov
Jarvis AMI spoke feelingly of the memory
| of DR.. Craven He told me in answer t(
my inquiry that he would not be able tt
accept the invitation to be present at th'
| Trinity commencement this year as he ha(
| a previous engagement for that time il
| Kansas.
The singing at the Tabernacle is strict,
congregational, all the tunes being old ant
familiar The instrumental music is mad
by the most powerful organ in Americ;
accompanied by silver cornet, and il
keeping with the sermons is lively and at
tractive The organ has eighty five stop
and is capable of any tone and volume
from the barely perceptible fairy whispe
to the graudest Outburst ever made b.
Thomas combined orchestra. The organ
| ist is proud of his instrument and afte
service showed me the action of ever
stop, aud allowed me to perform to IN
hearts content, remarking when was don
that anything sounded well on tha
organ.
might say something about DR.. Deem
and the Church of the Strangers, bu
would hardly be able to add anything t