Original Communitatinitz. LETTERS FROM A (RABBET,-IV. BY Z. M. M. Mg. EDITOR :—An old tea-chest, like this one reposing under the eaves, has a value never put upon it by the "India merchant" who sold it l ong ago, full of the herb which " cheers but not inebriates." It is one of the often mentioned occasions of regret in Philadelphia, that one of the most honored of its fathers in the ministry, consigned, in his later days, great piles of his manuscript sermons to the hands of his church sexton, that he might " make light of them," even at the mouth of the furnace. The manu scripts found their way, I believe, to the vats of a paper-maker, and thus furnished, perhaps, a sort of palimpsest, on which far poorer sermons were written by younger men. Now, this tea-chest does not contain one ser mon, yet it overflows with papers Which many a Bridget would readily consign to the kitchen stove o' mornings. Far be it . from me to suffer such a profanation. For these papers are Jeffers, written mostly by hands which have lost their cunning. They are as yellow as if steeped in saf fron. Tied in bundles, they are regularly filed, the names of their authord'being inscribed upon them in the familiar penmanship of one whom I have always .honored with filiarreverence. Whtit a strange feeling one experiences as he takes up such old papers, reflecting that those who'iraced their lineS are no more among the living on the earth 1 There are all the evidences of thought and feeling in these pageS sometimes of thbught so full of life that it seems yet to palpitate; and of feeling tic) strong' th'at it seems yet to buin. How could a Man now lie still beneath his mon ument in the cenietery, after writing so nimbly and with such intelligence ? Or how could one who does lie thus mute, ever have been capable of what is here left to show his fulness of life? Oh, mystery of life, of death, of immortality ! The world would lose but little in the destruc tion of these old letters. Hundreds as valuable are burned every diti; but there is a kind of sacredness imparted to these yellow papers by association, which renders' one- loth to see them injured. They were written, many of them, by men whose praise is in all the Churches=Eorne of them by men whosenames .are .in .the, annals of worldly renown. This is from the, pen of the historian, Bancroft. This was.written by Daniel Webster; this by Boger Sherman; this by Jere miah Everts; this by President Day; these by Lyman Beecher; these by the sainted Nettleton. What hosts of familiar names are here ! How the giant, figure of President Griffin rises before the fancy as we . read this bold chirography .We never saw him in the fiesh, but we know that he must have stood in the pulpit as a, prince, while we read his mighty sentences. And as we see how this epistle is blotted by erasures and inter lineations, we smile at recalling the anecdote at tributing to him the answer, .‘ .1" am. hetektiling," to a curious child who saw him one Sunday morning, blotting out whole sentences in his ser mon, and asked him what he was doing. Here, too, are letters from men now on earth, too well known to alloi one glimpse of the contents through the columns of the AMERICAN PRESBY TERIAN. But perhaps it will be no violation of propriety if we open some of those on which the names of the living desd are inscribed, and ex amine them as if the world were peeping over our shoulders. JOHN ANGELL JAMES • First in the file, is one from. Rev. John Angell James. It is ,dated Edgbarton, Sept. 5, 1835. The chirography is smooth, but runs on in angular sweeps in a peculiarly English style. Have you never noticed that one's hand writing betrays his nationality as well as something of his individu al characteristics? This letter is mainly on bus iness : but it closes with a sentence full of the lowly spirit of the man who wrote "The Anxious Inquirer" and " The Church in Earnest :" " 0 blessed Christianity that makes us one, and notwithstanding the separation by oceans and by death, keeps us one forever !" HORACE MANN Next we have a letter from this side of the sea, and from one who had all the earnestness of Mr. James, though not agreeing with him, wholly, in theology—Horace Mann. His chirography is as nearly like that of Mr. James as possible, con sidering his nationality, having the same easy flow; but suggesting Boston rather than Bir mingham. The whole letter is so characteristic, the mind of the author flashes as through it so continually; and it is withal so interesting that I will copy the most of it. Dear Sir :—Messrs. M. C. itk, L. have put into my hands a letter lately received by them from you, in which you have done me the honor to mention my name in regard to the selection of a subject for one of the volumes of the Massachusetts Common School Library. I fed, dear sir, a diffidence in making a sugges tion to yourself on so important a matar ; but as I baxe king cherished an idea respecting a book, which I once dreamed that I might undertake for myself—but for which I have now no hope—[ will venture toSthrow it out for your consideration. I can express this idea no better than by the phrase " The Moral Aspects of Political Economy and :Legislation' Pohjical economy and legislation belong to the same category. The former is the root, the latter the trunk and branches. Both have hitherto been treated almost solely as a pecuniary, a grossly utili tarian matter. The advancement of the rental, the extension of commerce, the increase of revenue " Bosron, Jan. 18, 1839 THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1868. have been regarded only- as means to beget rental, commerce and revenue again. Lands, ships, treasuries, even among civilized na tions, have been regarded as of indefinitely higher value than peasantry, mariners, subjects. The lat ter have been treated as made for the former, Mines of silver and gold have been sought out and wrought; but those of intellect and morals, though lying hardly beneath the surface, have been disre garded ; nay covered up by the rubbish throwti from the former. What doth it profit a nation to flourish in useful arts, at the expense of a meagre, half-dead population? What progress is made to wards civilization, if for every pound of revenue collected, a perjury is committed? Heather - I West India islands, resounding with the clank of chains and with the whip of the task-master, just to raise, a commodity, which, after passing through certain processes of manufacture, makes a multitude of consumers even more deplorable than the multi tude of producers But I. will not run on. These things have al ways. struck me as a thousand times more marvel lous and monstrous than fabled Minotaurs,, a r m!, my dear sir, I wish you might be the Theseus 'to free the world from them. It is said that Mr. Mann 'oncehalfjexcuSed the glow of his style by 'saying that when • lie sat dowtt to write, images so thronged upon his pen, that his difficulty was to reject rather than to use them. It is certain that few have ever writ ten more fervidly, his townsmen Rufus Choate and Theo. Parker having much of. his tropical fire and luxuriance. CHIROGRAPHY OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS Th'e chirography of Daniel Webster as display ed in the note before me, dated April 5, 1824, is more round. and deliberate than that of Mr. Mann. The note itself is of little importance, as it is sim ply a polite excuse, for not accepting a literary invitation. Here are letters from a . number of College Presidents. Pres. Day writes, while'still Mr. Day, in 1816, describing peculiar spots he had observed on the sun. As President in 1831, his manuscript presents : a somewhat disjointe,d and jerky appearance, as if it were determined to remind one as much as possible of a mathemati cal problem in solution. Pres. Wayland wrote in 1829 , in a hand Whose characteristics present the blended, qualities of that of Mr. Mann and Daniel Webster. In later years its gmootbrieas was partially lost. Pres. Lord, in 1829, wrote as neatly as a clerk. Pres. Moore would seem Co have made George Washington his model. Miss, Mary Lyon; worthy of a place among the Pre.si dents, wrote as if her fingers held the pen firmly and were guided by a will impatientuof delicate strokes. Yet the lines run on, without , mistake, without interlineation, without erasure: • LYMAN BEECHER Dr. Lyman Beecher wrote in a hand almost as nervous as his style. The following was written in 1827, while the controversy respecting Revival Measures was waged between and about Dr..Net •tleton and Mr. Finney Dear Brother—Nr. Edwards, of Andover, and my self, are on our way to Alhany to see and consult preparatory to a meeting of ministers to be held on Wednesday the 18th, (next week) at lio.w. Lebandn, at 10 o'clock, A. M., to endeavor to settle the difficulties about revivals ' &c. You are one; of those agreed upon, and lest by any means yoUr tiftcation should have failed I send you this. * * * This probably may be the most important meeting to be holden in -fifty.years, and nothing .must pre vent you coming on. No, nothing I for if we suc ceed, members are important, and if we differ, mem .bers on the right side are pre-eminently important. Besides, I have good reason to :believe it is purpose to make a push at Nettleton and endeavor to roll odium from himself on our dear Brother. He has eared to write me a letter indicating nearly all this, and I have written to --- to come on without fail, and bring a good man with him ; for Nettleton, who ha.s breasted the storm, is not now to be left. No, neverl Upon yout honorand friend. ship, conscience and piety, and love for the Church, I charge you not to fail, if you have breath and- be ing. No excuse can be accep:ed, if you are able to get there., because such a crisis may iiever arise again, and your simple absence or presence may shut out or let in interminable evils. Affectionately yours, ' LYMAN BEECHER.I DR. GRIFFIN Here is a letter from Dr. Griffin, dated Wil liams College, March 15, 1822 I quote a por tion of it, not so much as representing the man, as the times, and the cost of a College education in the earlier days of the Institution, of which he was then President. Ray. AND DEAR Sra—l received your 'favor Of Feb. 21st, containinßa number of inquiries respect ing the expenses at this College, and what we can do for indigent and pious students, requesting at the. same time to make the information Public, as a gen eral answer to the questions which areireqUently put to you and your friends. As a partial answer, I send you a copy of the printed statement, prepa red by the Faculty and published with the annual Catalogue, which is as follows: "The. tuition for each term is $7.50.. The term bills including tuition, room-rent, library charges, ordinary repairs, dr:c., amount to about $3O a year. The price of board is from one dollar to one dollar thirty-four cents. Good board may be had for a dollar by walking a mile. The best wood is sold for one dollar and fifty cents a cord. From twelve to fifteen cents a week is paid for washing. The income of the Charity funds is stifficient to pay the terra-bills of twenty-five students and is,applied to the payment of them, in whole or in part, accord ing to the necessities of students. Half of this is alike applicable to all indigentyoung men. oNner:t, whether designed for the Christian ministry or riot. Indigent students are also supplied in .part. with hooks, Sue To young men designed for the ministry further assistance is given inboard, mo ney and clothing, by the aid of charitable societies in 'Williamstown and other- places. Young men who need it have the privilege of keeping school in winter," • Contrast the above with the experience of ed ucating a boy in these days at Yale or. Harvard or Princeton or at Williams itself. A CURIOSITY. My letter has already grown to an undue length; butt cannot close it without giving you one more specimen from the tea chest. It is a circular, and jo viewed as " A Curiosity." What , would some of our guardians of the pulpit say. to a sim ilar , circular now ? Dear Sir—The committee appointed by the Wes tern Rail-road Corporation to assist the Directors in their application to the Legislature, for an act to finish the Road to the Western line of the State, have thought that the surest way to obtain their object would be to bring the importance of Rail roads before the whole people of our beloved.Corn monwealth. Its importance to our worldly pros- NORTHAMPTON, July 13. BOSTON. Dec. 19, 1848 perity we point out by an address circulated exten sively throughout the State. But we are desirous to spread far and wide the moral effects of Rail roads on our wide spread country. This we think can best be done from the pulpit. In this behalf we take leave most respectfully, but earnestly to ask you to take an early opportunity to deliver a Dis course before your congregation on the moral effect of Rail-roads in our wide extended country. Trusting that the great importance of the subject to every inhabitant of this country will be a suffi cient apology for asking your assistance in this great work, I have the honor to be, &c., &c. Chairman, &c. Sorry I am, Mr. Editor, to say, that while the materials of further letters from this Garret are so abundant, this must, for the present, close the series. Perhaps, your readers will not sympathize 4 in my regret. The duties of the city call me. I must leave the dust bf antiquity for'that Of the life of 10-day. Z. M. H. Pittsfield, Mass Sept. 8, 1888— LETTER FROlif 'THE IP3I3I243II 4 EIVALLEt. • /64 . 4 6 1868 BT. 'PAUL TO 'ST. TAitrlB: ST. Lours Augugt 26th, 1868. DEAR EDITOR Took' leave of you a few days ago, sir or eight hundred thiles north of this. On our way.downliom Se. Paul we atop ped over night a bright little Minnescita town called ' NARIBAULT, sitting on the edge of a. ,broad prairie some fifty miles below St. Paul. It is not far from the eastern edge of a 'large forest, running one hundred miles or' more west, with. a breadth of thirty miles. It is a .town , of 3500 inhabi tants, the centre of a rich farming district, and contains many comfortable residences and, good stores. The Episcopalian bishop of the dioCese re sides 'here and has built'a fine Cathedral' church Of Milestone, in the' old Gothic style, costing $lOO,OOO. He his! also built a fine col lege, a grammar, school, t4:id also, a ladies' semi nary. These buildings have been put•up mostly with money subscrihed in the Eastern states. They show the wise forethought of an energetic and denominationally unddrupulous bishop.' The Congregationalists have two "churches' here, one of them ,of stone, now being. completed.. We entered the town oka Wednesday evening, and met a large crowd on the'main street 'listen ing to d man pfeaching from a wagon. We were in formed that. on Wednesday' evenings the denomi nations by turns hold a street service, so while supper was preparing, we went,out ,to hear what kind of instruction the pelvic' were receiving 'in' this Episcopal' ciig, Whenildi we found an Eng lish man,' abasingthe Chrisliiii ieligion and preach ing infidelity with great vigor. Our heart burne'd with a strong desire to mOunt another wagon near by and answer his sophisms; ,but we had to be satisfied to leave the religious instruction of the community in the hands of the Bishop and others, better known to the peopli. •' An all-day ride by railObrought us' to Prairie' du Chien on the Mississippiriver, where at a fine, large, well-kept hotel,lit a good supper of prairie chickens and entered the cars for an all niolitirun to Milwaukee.' • t!, It is 'a long ride from Milwaukee through Chi cago to St. Louis by rail: Much of the route passes through a continuous succession of. Illi nois corn fields. We pass on the route the Joliet and Lockport quarries, whence the fine stone of which Chicago is built, is brOtight. We pass also the State Penitentiary, the front of the large enclosure being of attractive !architectural -ap pearance. We,see the coevicts, with their pecu liar uniform of black and white stripes, working in the stone quarries. An extra car is added to the train and one hundred young men in high glee, join• us. They are all dressed in bright scarlet zouave pants and' blue coats, have dram and: fife with them and up on their way to a Republiean meeting at Spring field, One hundred miles South. Their enthusi asm rises to a high pitch,' as they approach the various stations where they meet friends, who join, them. Late in the day we pass the beautiful city of Springfield, the resting place of the Chief .Mar tyr to Freedom in our generation. Many very handsome residences are, seen f from the cars; one in.partieular,-.that ofu ex:Governor. Madison, a fine villa, with tower, and observatory, sur rounded with , a wealth of flowers, grape-vines and fine conservatories, indicatinv a home of wealth and refinement. ST. LOUIS We find to be a much larger city, and More . . sub stantially built and handsomely laid out than we had any idea OF—a crowd of boats along the le vee, a crowd of goods of all descriptions piled in every direction, a crowd of drays an% wagons in the streets, a crowd of passers-by hurrying hither and thither, are more than we had looked fbr Long rows of wholesale spree, block after block, banks and insurance offices too numerous for . a. Stranger to begin to get the run'of, indrcate large and substantial wealth. The crowd of merchants on.change, not less than fifteen hundred of them. every day for nearly two hours, with samples of wheat; Ore, flour, &c.,'&b., ad infinitam, buying and•Alling, dealing, and bargaining—was more than we expected. • Quite a nutnber of rebel officers are daily:in the throng. WefnOticed .name of Sterling Price & Co:, on one' card, MartPaduke & Brown - on anotheP, with'Burbridge and several others in like positions. These rebel generals come to St. Louis and do business -for their friends in the South, with whom they are , popular, and they count on this popularity largely for their mer cantile success:" Solid merchants - say they would much -prefer their staying at home.' There There is much rebel leaning in all circles, mer cantile and professional, , and nothing, but tin le and the complete supcess,of the Republican cause in the country, Will over cause it to die out and be for.otten. THE SABBATH.. On the Sabbath,' the city is quiet and Orderly. The .Germans who compose a large element in the population go out to their beer gardens, where they have music and lamer to their heart's con tent. . The stores are all closed—save the liquor, beer and cigar ihoPs. These poor traders, like those we noticed' in Chiiiig,o and St. Paul, make such small profits in their 'work, that they seem to require a day more than other honest people to make their living in. We visited THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, supplied, since Doctor Nelson left it, by Dr. Curtis of Galesburg, Ills., who 'preached an ex cellent sermon to a large congregation. The singing was excellent, by a choir of abein %en voices supported by a large and well managed or gan, the congregation joining quite freely. The church is the handsomest in the city, with a spire of about two hundred feet in height. The orna mentation both outside and inside the building is in full old iEnglish Gothic and quite harmoni ous throughout. The audience room is lofty, with no side galleries, the fine stained wirido - wii - a - dding to khe , ple r asing effect. Altogether the interior is less severe in style than our Calvary church in Philadelphia, but less rich in upholstery and gen eral 'effect; ' the broad' centre'aisle of Calvary be ing wanting. There are few handsomer churches in the West than this First ,church of our branch in St. Louis. In the afternoon I visited MR. DOWNINWs - ,MISSION-senoot, in the Southern part, of the city, About eight hundred Children were present,. half of theta 'in 'the infant schooli which Were separated by mov able sashes from the main "room: • A fine piano with a first rate tenor singer, assists the superin tendent in the ,music, and as the first half hour is generally spent ia singing,"the school; attains quite a good degree of perfection in thisimpor taut part of mission-school work. Mr. Downing 'is 'a wealthy merchant and he takes great interest in the school. He told us that the, average attendance, all the .year, except in the warm weather, was between i,200 and 1,300, tak ing good days with bad. About one hundred teacher's help him in his work, many Of whom are ardent and laborious in their Visiting, and they are blessed Eby , seeing their scholars come forward and join the, church. Forty.of these did s 9 in,.the. llst few months. was Mission we did not get to see ; .it was too far distant—thoughl . met Bro. Morri son on 'change next day, where four or fiveof us, all superintendents of schools, had a pleasant chat for a quarter of an hour., Not about wheat, but about the one question abeve all others, nowa days to some men,—how best to run a Sunday School. Yours truly, REV, A. lE. STEWART'S , LETTERS-7-XV. 'Nevada, Aug. 1868. WESTERN CHARACTER The term Western, after long' instability and. migration towards the setting sun,' is about to hafe its proper acceptation in Anieriaim. SPeech, is' 'meaning that portion of our territory adjacent to the Pacific' aeast soh soon as the overland railioad is . comPlete. ' ' The charaeteriatid of Nevada SOciety, as here in described,' will be limited to our observation as a •Mishionary. Were this a political excursion or a; money-hunting tour, an essay in eonnection with each might be written of much interest. At! present, We give only some personal and ,social traits on which the labors of a"Gospel 'minister must needs impinge ; and things which it be hoves him to know, in order to greater success' in„his work. We write, also with the hope- that the Church may, better understand. what , agents are best suited to accomplish her great work. The people of Nevada dwell almost diclusive ly in towns or.small colonies, and thee far separ ated. Almost nvery one is directly, or remotely connected with silver mining. The people are' nearly as unsettled as tribes Bedouins or Wes tern Indians. They are 'largely Atherican, 'with' a mixture from almost every nationality. They are adventurers in the •proper sense of the term. All have come to get money, and when, it is got,, they go elsewhere to spend it. So eager for speedy gains are they, that the ,money'-getting codes - here appear somewhat different from those of other. localities. The mass of - the people are peer, and likely to remain,thus, as in , every min ing region. Though so eager Ana reckless in ob taining money, yet they are utterly prodigal in its use. They are rugged, toil-worn, and weary looking ; and - as a class, becoming prematurely old.' They exhibit a reckless independence. They are;jealous of personal rights, ready•and fierce to ,resent a supposed insult, suspicious strangers and intelligent with respect to hurnan.charaeter and lobal interests.. The male population is large ly in excesi, hence various and serious social evils. It is not an unfrequent thinc , to find, thus hidden away as far as possible from former relations, one man living with another man's wife, his own abandoned—a woman living with another man, her husband' forsaken—these perhaps under the semblance of divoine. Here sadly, the harlot has also found her way into every town and hamlet, and in luxurious riot hasopened her speedy path way to hell. The pure, the noble, the Christian individual and family, who bave wandered far away here arid are aeting as a leaven, have been noticed in a. former letter, and are again gladly chroni .cled. . The religious tenets of the people, are almost as varied as their personalities; looseness and in fidelity are in excess. There is a profane, and reckless independence abou i t the interests of the soul, which I scarcely saw equalled while in the army. The substance' of a conversation lately held with a pure specimen of unsettled. California and Nevada character, may crive some idea of my meaning. As I learned from him, he had been at twenty different employments during his eighteen years en the" Pacific coast; and at the time was driving astage on the overland route. Seated with him on the box for an outride between two sta tions, he was, before and after starting cursing the' liorses and , everything elSe, and often evn without `seething provocation. Se soon as conve nient theinquiry was made whether he could not drive his hurses without the extra language ~of oaths. Turning quickly his face towards me and with cut apparentoffence;' he enquired " Don't you Swear r " I was thankful to say, I did not. " Then yon have not. been long : in Nevada." 'f No; but is it a necessity, i th i at all , shoiild swear ?" . Certainly ; swear:"` ' My response was a hope that he was mistaken; with a reference also to a period not far distant when he and I would be done with stage-driving and riding, and forced to a strict accountability for the use of language. Turning quickly towards me as before, and with apparent bravado, his quaint and startling rejoind er was : "If God Almighty has any better or dif ferent business for me than stage-driving in the other world, I am ready without any regrets to throw down whip and rein and be off to-night." Hard to reach with Gospel arguments and per suasives, are characters who have become so...reck less. In the bearing of many to whom I have preached- during the past months, and who were evidently intending to be respectful, there, was yet that same independent swagger, with respect to divine things, fully manifest. Nor need such a peculiar type of .opposition to the Gospel be wondered at, when Abel conditions of.the people are considered. Almost every one, years ago, and in other localities, had been under more or less in fluence; frbm religious teaching—many were pro fessors; but in the workings of worldliness, have reingved ! beyond the reach of ordinances, leaving them 'behind; and here manifest'-an evident . reluctance to be again trammelled by religious restraints— yea, even a. greater repu,griance-than those who have never' been under , the power of the Gospel. The, stage-driver referred to, assured me in a continued eonversation,lae had once' bieu a professor of religion 'in a named Eaaterri The keeper' of a restaurant in one of these mining towns,told me he had witnessed men come into his saloon, order a meal, and when ready, join with maudlin blasphemy in asking blessings thereon—that others would call fOr a bottle of wine, and in solemn mockery, go through ithe ceremonies pertaining to the sacrament of the Supper ;—and -gave it moreover as his opinion * that these men had, all , been professors of reli giOn. This is altogether probable. The ,betiayer of Jesus mns t needs belong to His fa oily."' • ' It is in r lhistory concerning the beginning of David's militaryipower,-while exiled in 'the wil derness—" That every one that was in distress, and every one that, was in debt, and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto him." Rather a " denbtful begin'ning for •stable military and civil greatness. Yet under the powers of the son •of. Jesse, that seemingly nxi manageable mass, grew eventually into the grand eat, the best disciplined, and most effective army the world has ever bad in it So under the gen eralship of David's Son and Lord, by means of effective 'Missionary work, may this wonderfully interesting conglomerate-bf humanity be speed ily rnouleed, traiuedi and elevated into . .a power for good evert• above its compeers;, and ever ,:be found contending faithfully for all the crown rights' and royal prerogatives of our Prinde'Ein mantle'. '•' , A. M. STEwAnir: OUGHT WE' Tb PREAOH IN ENGI.Igat MIL EDITOR :-I think we ought, and I' have no dolibti, if you are as sensible a man as an ed itor ought .to be, poi will agree 'with me, and pub lish my article as an argument in favor of the affirmative. , A short time since, I attended an installation, and the sermon preached on that bapasion, strangely enough, started the above qiiestion: There was something so foreign in thelanguage of the sermon, that wheneier fixed my mind . on the words, I seemed' to'hear nothing but a bastard -Latin. I pulled out my pencil and jotted.dciwn the following words and phrases, ,and now send them to you. If your readers are in the habit of listening to such lan zuage,fromshe pulpit, I have no doubt they think they understtind it, but I have no doubt they are very much mistaken. But to those words, some of which I copied " Contemporaneous generations—ascetic life— dread demon of melancholy (bis),—representa tive of the truth--;-genial—traduce—extenuate— credence—decry—eavilling -characteri—malign ed--m.ortiftattion.--ostentation—calum ny—noto rious‘ facts—tenets--truth is harmonious—prem ises—plausibility in the inference deduced—uni ty in diversity, diversity in unity—fermulas.—non essentials--inetaPhysical distinctions—fabric of 'religion—dictates of-fallible reason --coMbination off appearances—cordial cananimity—natural se quence of the preceding proposition— r ace,epts the theory of fatalism—resistless agent—ignoring all responsibility—visible results —transforming pow *er--(bis)—ignored—sordid principles—lines are shblime—revolutionizing and reforming power— logical demonstra.tion—(bis),—converted into ad miration and. applause - --representative charac ter—emulate—carp-77-cayil—irrelevant question —extenuation—super-hutoan source." -llere are seventy-five or eighty foreign words, only ten of - which are known to our translators, and yet all these strange, long, hard words were used in a sermon of thirty minutes, and on a plain gospel subject. I said the' people do not understand this lan guage. Ido not mean, that on reflection; they cannot tell whit it means, but what I say is, that they have first to turn it into household English before the idea comes to them clearly. Bat while they are doing this translating, the preach er goes on giving out more hard words, • and so keeping the poor folk translating words and phra ses the time; insteall of getting ideas. • How much of the preachees.power is lost to such hear ers. The first principle of a perfect style, as to words and sentences, is simplicity, transparency. distinctness. EVerything must 'tend towards econoulizing the hearers' attention. • We speak of clothing our ideas in language— the figure is alolurider, and the more clothes men put, on their, ideas,, ,the, less the ideas are seen. Ideas are to he expressed, revealed, uttered (out ered) not; an, nor under words, but by words Ideas are to be put under glass—not ground, or hamtnered glass, but clear English' crown, with out spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing—then they can be seen at first sight.- Now, Mr. Editor, won't you pull out your pen cil the next time you "go to meetin." and find out whether your minister speaks English, for it takes a pencil to find it, olt.,—and ,won't you ad vise some of your numerous 'and intelligent readers " io do the 'same, and if you and ° they should conclude that . " stated preaching" should be in English, why let us say.so, and. I have no doubt our clergy, can well acquire that language• of which " five words" are better for the com mon people than " ten thOusind words in an un known, (or four thousand in a half-known) tongue."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers