The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-30

unlike in it's first blush of squat
strength and power that Napoleon the
| Great, whom he never loses an oppor-
tunity to hold up to eXecraton. He Is
no ticker, this Bishop no man of
| ideals spun on a spider web of logic
gIistening with the dew3 of oratory.
He is every inch Of him a man, st.tn-
Uous, powerful and combative His
fi4aIFe and his head indicate in advance
what his words are going to be in
their mission; in their verbal person
atty they constitute a constant source
of surprise; they glisten with wit ;
they prick one, after a knock-down,
with epigram; they smile and mako
you smile with them after they have
held you bound with tense nerves lis
tening to passion. These are the ma
tive tricks of oratory of a man who
would have fought his way to the fore
front of politics had he not been
churched, natural to his brains as the
body is to the man.
The first time one looks at Bishop
Gambler it is to say within, lis that
the MANI" A low, heavy body, big
head. with a round brown forehead
topped with a mass of black hair
combed far to the side and ending
again the Napoleon likeness-in low
hanging lock that strays from the
Of his oratory when he permits him
self to arouse. The effect, as he sits
in his chair is almost that of an over
grown boy; it is only when one looks
closely at the deep eyes, the swarthy
cheek and the long, experienced
crooked mouth set in bulldog grip
over the chin that the man is visible
before he speaks.
The choir did some things with a
of Icip d, 81, IA,
Bishop at the Conference | thought
to detect a sort of pouting Impotence
about his lips while he waited stolidly
for the hymn to come to an end His
grey eyes shifted eXpressively upward
and the thought that he was not re-
hearsing his sermon became a convic-
ton.
Presently he got up, taking as his
text We; Sc OF Saint Pauls cpistla TO
the Corinthians. Like most orators
of power, his utterance, waiting to
find its pace and over-cautious not to
reach too soon into it's stride, was at
first a tribe indiStincC. The sentences
came out carefully. thoughtfullyy roll
ing off at the end into almost a groWl
of a voice permitting itself too bass ii
quality. Standing, enc can better app
preciate the Bishops bulk. His long
arms hanging at his sides his head
arm gesture, gave promise of what was
to come, were the concrete and ethical
assurances Of his confidence and his
ability. But soon was he at white
beat. The arm that had moved from
the elbow spasmodically, the fingers
that had punctuated a turn of SEN
tence with almost the gravity of a sa-
lutte, were in motion. The arm raised
for fifteen seconds at a time and
sweeping downward in a passion OF
conviction, the fingers clenched with
feeling, the eyes blazing with the
quick friction of his brain And UNI
der such flights, the people sat quiet,
almost awed, watching, listening, hyp-
noticed, breathing deep breaths, wait
ing with ears strained for the end. No
longer was the voice indistinct. De-
spite it's deep tones it rose and fell and
echoed with the definiteness of a bell.
This is So" seemed to say that
mighty voice. eff you believe il, heed:
if you do not believe you must, for
come what may, sure it is that you VII
listen and that you will understand
That is no overdraWing of Bishop
Gambler, in spite of the fact that | do
not think it the greatest sermon l
have ever heard-not that | am prone
to deny that Bishop Gambler might
do that thing and far beyond it--has
done it, perhaps. For he is a man
and an Irishman with a brain! That
is a combination that will laugh a
mountain out of the way if it can't
throw it down.
Personally, l think the Bishop would
rather wrestle with the mountain but
he is perfectly capable of laughing 1t
out of court. Constantly he is beset
with the temptation to say funny
thing, and almost always he yields. in
private life he is spoken as raconteur
of parts In the pulpit, with its limi-
tations, he is a fund of good stories
As to the sermon itself, it was q
thing of power simply. A defense of
the resurrection. Proofs of the risen
body of the Christ, propelled outward
with almost the quality of a man who
strikes in the face.
In the most striking language he
told of the circumstances attending
the crucifiXion, of the fact that Jesus
and his doctrines were the issue OF this
day; that all the Jews were against
him, the grave sealed with the power
of Rome; the followers of the Christ
poor, friendless and almost entirely ig-
norant men; a few simple folks of
4Galilee and few women.
Who was going to impose, the resur-
rection on a world incredulous? 1t
was the season of the full moon. BY
day blazing Assyrian sun; by night q
moon flooding the world with light.
Was it the apostles who stole the
body? If SO. what did they do with it?
What was their motive? Where
sprang the inspiration of the lie they
were palming off on world that was
all against them, that laughed their
beliefs to scorn?
Surely the Romans had no reason
to take the body, nor the Jews. If
anybody took it, it must have been the
apostles, and yet, ON that hypothesis,
We see them plotting in an attic the
conversion of the world. possessed of
decaying corpse, perpetrating a mon
strous lie, and going forth to all ma
tons preaching their doctrine and
ready to endure suffering, contempt,
ridicule and DEATH for the sake of
what-a lie. the biggest ever told
The resurrection is that which
Christianity cannot do without. 1t is
wrapped up in the body of Jesus; the
world is wrapped UP in the resurrec-
ton The world generally knows what
is worth keeping if you give it time
to make up it's judgments.
Talk about miracles! The resur-
rection was miracle big enough to
leave a hole for all the rest to come
through with plenty of room for more.
He referred to the worn out idea
II ToI