The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-02-01
LONDON PREACHERS.
Bishop uir.h's Opinion Of Rev. Charles
Sdore aud His work.

! AtihtN llthNhNlH tNlht w lNuOpD Wy "a tN fllt
law "a intellectual grayitatlon. but there
seems io be quiet and ureless disposition
On the part of both laymen aud ecclesiasti.
cal officials 10 g mpel all the counties Of
kngland and all OF Scotland, Wales and
ireland as wei, % send TO London the best
/ rVnohcrs whom they produce. No sooucT
does any prominent man impress the public
! PROFOUNDLY !rum his themes In the pulpit
than THIS all-dcvouring London draws him
10 ITSELF There are always vacancies in The
great London pulpits.
In the Church Of England this DISPOSE
! ton % bring 90 London the finest ornaments
Of the provincial pulpit is most manifest.
| Why Is II that great preacher is no sooner
/ heard OF In an humble parish in the up
/ country than he is announced IN one Of the
| greatest churches in lOndOng They write
that the Bishop II Rip0n, since Liddon's
death the greatest preacher in the Church
| OF England, came down b London in the
early summer of 1880, and spent some time
! preaching IN first one church and
| then another, and attracting many
| thousands Of PEOPLE 10 the spaci-
ciOus and historical churches where he
preached. The arrangement was excellent.
| be occasion in each church was special.
| some urging charity in most cases; and
the people gave their money freely. had
! The luxury OF standing on the ice cold pave
ment of the Abbey. md at the juncture of
several currents Of wind. 10 hear this man
preach as earnest a sermon as was ever
delivered by Moody. Every nook and
corner Of the great church WAS filled.
and it was only by the aid OF a special ticket
that | was able 10 get around through the
| Deans yard, and then into the cold, damp
Abbey Itself. London likes 10 20 TO church.
that IS when there is something 10 near. /
was told that the great audience IN ST.
| Pauls sunday afternoons gathered on pur-
/ pose 10 hear the wonderful music. IcGe.
some do leave, possibly several hundreds,
as soon rs lGe sermon l. reached; but OBJ
served that after The music was over and
| the sermon bean the people Who left were
so very few i'm comparison with the multi
tude which remained that found a seat
but little better tnan the one taken on enter
ing the church.
As matter OF course, the Rev. Charlie,
Gore has lately been preaching IN London.
Probably his visits 90 the metropolitan pull
pits have been frequent ever since bis LUX
Muudi" clock struck his first famous morn
Ing. lie was recently announced as the
preacher for the mOraIDg service in new
and by no means pretentiOus church down
the river. In the region OF tine East India
docks. 10 required about one hours ride
% get there from the oxford circus, the
whole way, after leaving the Bank Oh Eng
land. being through the cuisines, part Of
London. 10 was Harvest sunday, and the
little church was ornamente0 with fruits
and flowers in great abundance.
The sermon was on Thanksgiving, and
wa. founded on one of the Psalms. There
were four general divisions: first, all our
real treasures and equipments are Gods
gifts. second, they are Code gifts outside
0f our-oiyes-that is, We have had little crI
d.. d .. stsf. o lion Ia trl HlI
must use The blessings We have as coming
from God and NOT from ourselves: i1urih-
we must receive all his gifts reyerentlN
so palmer preaching. 10 is safe 90 say. W.
heard 900 London that day. The illustrations
were So plain, and were SD frequent % 81
the attention of the whole congregation WAS
intense. did not see AN unintercsted hear
or. How could one take his eyes from a
preacher who ead sucn thing As these:
When We are tempted 10 is necessary o.
have some strength in reserve To draw upon
Who is or strength; It's cur Lord Jesus
We have him boo bank, in reserve, 90 draw
upon when The tempter comes. Gods gifts
are very precious in themselves, but for Us
they are # no value unless we use them.
snufOpridtc them r. our nature, inc0r-
pOrate them; just as bread j. of no use un-
less we digest 10. What is examining "a
studyf We must digl-t science II we
would possess d. ST. Bernard says Of our
use of the Bible 1--WE must eat properly
and not bolt our food
fhere was no want of epigram in Gore
plain and earnest sermon. For example:
" There are different kinds of faith "Nhat
we need j. the faith that bies eS.' "Grdce
never makes itself felt except On the use.
Nv e must rcyer nee the Bible because God
i, the giyer of it, Tine Bible r. the book
which tells us what God is noticed "a
constant tendency % drop into illustration
and apOthegm. There was probably not an
intricate or Obscui- sent ace II the Whole
sermon.
The appearance and manner Of Gore are
hardly less striking than his sermon. lie
is tall. of frank aud open face, wears full
beard, bias sandy hair. gray eyes. ana
most pleasing expression. His general
bearing is most unconventional. Not =
shred Ofm9nuscript did he have before him.
His style was that of man who writes
books. bat never sermon. Ills one aim I'D
preaching seems tO be that everybody an
der-tand every word ne says. lie is given
10 repetition. Not cOnte t with repeating
over and over again sentence in
thought Doe actually did not he-i-
tate 20 use the same words. For cX-
ample he many times said; "lnwardiy
digest" The wonder is that be doe. not
weary. But ! noticed That he 80 repeated
and enforced that All gained hls thought. |
and seemed satisfied with the possession.
NOone appeared totnink that the preacher
was speaking too simply and yet itmust be |
admitted that his manner WAS somewhat ,
peddgoeic. hi. ecsiicuiaii0n had abandon, |
and, while wanting Iu grace, indicated |
-uch intense carncstness that one could |
hardly think Of his having such things a.,
hands and arms. His personality was /
most impressive. lie conveyed his
enthusiasm 20 his audience, and ] |
believe that Dee lelt the people almost |
rs well possessed of Ms sermon az be- was
himself 70 me 10 remains "a picture Of
strong cDlors. He has the habit OF leaning
Ear out over the little barrel pulpit, and
looking down upon the people nearest i0
him. and talking u. % individuals. When
he approached the end of his sermOn he
t.)k precisely the course Of sydney Smith
at the end of some OF his bitter essays. lie
wen, over all his main points ma brief terms
and in regular order. as though making
final effort that not only should all which
had been said be remembered, but the very
form OF IL as we'll
Gore is fair type Of the Younger and
stronger features of the Church OF England
at this time. liigh Churchmaa he is, bat
th for aggressive work for the masses for
thorough scholarship, and for excellence n
he pulpit ihe Hicn Church OF England is
today many a league in advance OF the
Low Church.-Bishop John +. Hurst, DID.
LID.