The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-05-11
THE FIERY DR.. PARKER
ERRATIC PREACHER CURSED THE
SULTAN FROM THE PULPIT.
Denounced Prince Of Wales and Rose
A~merica-His E~Ioquence.
New York Herald.

are, they love now and then to witness a
good horse race, and did he not also. upon
the same occasion call down the wrath of
the Almighty upon the unconscious Sultan
of Turkey? Not often is staid old England
stirred by u an oratorical fusiliade as
this; hence it is not surprising that news
of this extraordinary occurrence should
have been flashed to every civilized coun-
try and cause people to say, What next?"
To this query those who know DR.. Par
ker best make no reply in words. They
simply shrug their shoulders, as though
to intimate that ii is absurd TO attach un-
due importance to anything which this very
eloquent, but occasionally %erratic, preacher
may say or do. Others, who look on the
occurrence simply as an abnormal display
Of pulpit oratory, and whose cranial bump
of curiosity is more developed than their
bump of reverence, point out that, since We
row know distinctly what DR.. Parker
thinks of the Sultan, it is our clear duty
to ascertain as soon as possible what the
Sultan thinks of DR.. Parker.
For the edification Of the Sultan and of
others who may be interested in the person.
ality of this daring divine 1T may be said
hat there is not in all England a man of
more pronounced individuality or who is
more apt to do startling things. DIR. Par
ker's mind" says a phrenologist, COM
pared to that of an ordinary man, is like a
amor compared to an ordinary pocket pis-
tol or like a man-of-war compared to a pilot
boat" Now, the career of such a man is
bound to be somewhat tempestuous, and a
glance at the career of DIR. Parker shows
that it has not been entirely smooth.
A son Of a rugged Northumberland stone
mason, he is par excellence a man of the
people. a fact which should be
by those who would judge him rightly. He
first became pastor of the Congregations!
Church at Banbury, and attracted SO much
be erected in order to accomodate the ever
growing congregation. He was next In
vited TO take the vacant pulpit of the Cav
endish-street Chapel, in Manchester. but de-
clined. as he had promised to remain with
the Banbury people while any Indebtedness
remained on their church. The Manchester
so they paid off the debt, and the popular
young Nonconformist was promptly in
stalled in the Cavendish-street parsonage. :,
Here his reputation quickly increased, ana
the ultimate result was that in 1867 he was
called to London to become the minister of
the Old Poultry Chapel, in Cheapside. This
needs of his enthusiastic admirers and par
ishioners, and 30 IL was torn down and the
stately edince known as the City Temple
was erected on Holbern viaduct.
AN GHN
In this spacious church DR.. Parker has
preached ever since. not only on sundays.
but also on Thursdays, when special MORN
ing services are held. His sermons are de-
livered extemporaneously from a few notes
and are reported far and wide. His elocu-
ton is admitted to be almost perfect except
on those occasions when passion gets the
mastery of him. Brusque, too, and over
~..l-- - L. $4,000 n . r,a 4 ~ ho ha n
when he desires, be very tender, and his
most impressive ermon are those in which
pathos and passion are happily intermin-
gled.
His views about preaching are decidedly
original, which is not strange, since his W
first sermon was preached in a sawpit on a
village green. Next century,, he thinks,
there will be little or not pulpit oratory,
since people will come TO understand that
preaching is a supreme impertine1ce' unless
possible" he asks, that England can re-
quire all this preaching OF thirty Thousand
abis,b9 Sdndo men n every tSe vs sunda ay +; ana an tw fbis
preaching is required, is it required in the
same placer"
The one incident in the doctors life which
probably annoyed him most was the con-
troversy which arose over his eulogy of
Beecher, which he delivered in this country
in 1887. The committee in charge of the at
fair expected that the proceeds OF the eu-
logy, which was delivered at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music. would go toward the
monument funQ, ana was SURPRISED WDeL
it learned that the doctors expenses. and
fee would lave to be deducted therefrom,
The doctors friends argued that this was
expressly to deliver the eulogy. Others
maintained hat he had come on a regular
lecture tour and that he certainly did not
show good taste in charging for his eulogy
Of a man who had been one of his warm
friends. The press took the matter up and
for days the controversy ragged. Finally an
amicable arrangement was made. The doc
TOR OaVQ the mmitt a check for xlp. this
being the sum which, he said, he had re-
ceived for. the eulogy and personal ex-
penses, and the committee in turn passed a
resolution freeing him from all blame and
thanking him for his work.
A few days later DR.. Parker showed pref
ty plainly that even these kind words were
not potent enough to restore his equanimity.
He preached in plymouth Church, and, to
the amazement of the congregation, he not
fashion, emphasizing the words, Forgive
US our trespasses as we forgive those that
trespass against u.s." but he also fastened
away from the church without waiting Tor
the benediction.
This American tour. indeed. proved by no
means pleasant for the doctor. He had in
structed his manager to make several en-
gagements for lectures, and yet, after they
were made, he broke down through ner-
v~ousness,. and the result was that many of
them had to be Cancelled. The fact is, he
found America a bigger country that he
thought it was. and the long Journeys WHICH
he had to take, together with the. public
VI hlllCn Aho aCtiOAi III At604a ~ Az
Beecher eulogy had evoked, proved too much
for him. He also. doubtless. did not like the
curt manner in which certain New York and
Chicago papers rejected his offer TO supply
them with q six-column article on Gladstone
for the trifling sum of $1,000.
HIS CURIOUS PREDICTIONS.
AS a prophet the doctor frequently poses.
Thus. he predicts that great political changes
will take place in Great Britain toward the
close of the next century. Land, he says,
will no longer be the monopoly Of men who
never paid for it; character, not titles, will
be the mark Of superiority; the House of
Commons will consist of twenty-five men,
bers and the House of Lords Of six referees,
and all saloons will be abolished.
Unlike most prophets, the doctor is very
practical. AS regards time, he Is especially
a martinez. He has announced that his
hour, and never yet have they lasted a single
minute longer. He tries 10 order his life in
the same manner. In his sermons he says
what he means, careless whether his words
offend or please. Some of his admirers liken
him TO John Knox. who Numbered more than
once against Mary of Scotland. but there Is
a great difference between this bold, sat
urnine preacher, and the versatile, modern
Nonconformist
In these days Of free speech a clergyman
may say what he pleases from a pulpit, and
Dr.. Parker likes once In a while TO avail.
himself of this privilege. Since he Is not re-
words. il in the form of personal attacks,
attract much IL any serious attention from
those to whom they are directed. No one
who knows DIR. Parker doubts his sincerity
In reproaching the Prince of Wales ana the
British prime minister and in inveighing
against the Sultan, but there are many who
claim that he shove an amazing lack OF
tact In using his pulpit for such a purpose.
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