Swing And Patton
A correspondent of the Heraid and Prethyter thus sketches the champions in the recent eoclesiastical coutest at Chicago : " Who are these men r Both bear the titíe of professor. Both are good preachers, and good i'allows, and somewhere in ;hat neighborhood tho resemblance ends, lot these two men are singularly unlike. A word about thoir fcrmnnel, physical and mental. If you happen into the Pourth Presbytfirian Church at 10.30 of a Sunday morning you will see on the pulpit platform quiet, unassuming man, of niodium height, weight and age, with smooth face, brown hair, coinbed back, friendly eyes, wellmolded forehead, jood-sized mouth, and hoavy jaws - that is Prof. Swing. When he begius the service you perceive he is not a graceful man. His voice has a singular drawl, yet not wholly unploasant. lts tones are per-' suasive, and suggest a gentle spirit. He does not stand erect, bijt half leans upon bhe desk, and reads tho Bible, or engages in prayer in subdued and measured tones. You will not listen long till you conclude there is not inuch self-consciousness. As the sermón proceeds you become interested. Uncouth manner, awkward gestures, and poetic thought, have a fitness about them that rnakes an attractive tout ensemble. You becomo aware as you are quietly borne on froin sentenco to sentence of a mind that sees things in large and general relations. There is a certain indefiniteness of statement that suggesta a long perspective of thought. There is no clank of surveyor'schain, but ouly the sliding in and out of the objeot-glasa that adjustsyour visión now to one focus, now to another, but always to a beantiful picture. When he doses you perceive he has led you through a very pleasant land, shone you some stimulating truths, and perhaps grouuded you in certain broad principies which underlie the separate forms of ohurch life or doctrine. He has not analyzed much, but he has created a good deal, and leaves you to make your own arrangement and application. " As you leAve the sanctuary you will probably have somo such impressions as these : ' That man bas not striven after any effect, but his thoughts run in his owu mold, and have been before me in a forin unhackneyed. He has not olearly asserted any now propositiou, but he has been climbing to a broad view that holds within its picture-lines many propositions. He has not specially defined truth, but he has suggested certain views which may lead me to a definition. In a word, he has not exactly preached te me, but he and I have had a rambla in fields that hold within them the possibilities of a good harvest. And, especially, I think the vital forcé of that sermón was in a tender, earnest sentiment, a kind of implied friendship between us, and an implied aspiration in his heart and mine toward a higher lite.' And if you should thus judge, you would not greatly inisjudge the preacher. " Step over now into a neighboring ohurch. A tall, slender, straight young man looks directly at you through a pair of speotaoles, and announces his text in clear, positiva tones, that at once suggest deep conviction, and that man is Prof. Patton. He is so very thin he looks uncomfortably frail, but he comes down on his text with a solid emphasis that indicates no disposition to spare the flesh. He has no notes. There is no introduction to his sermón. He plunges straight into the argument in phrases far enough from stilted, and in clear-cut propositions which are far enough from dnllness. His tone is conversational. His manner and matter .are exceedingly frank and manly. Hia process of thought,logical and unhalting. The sermón is doctrinal, but not bony. It has lite-color, and is rounded off with apt and fresh illustnvtions. From first to last, he goes fluently on. The thoughts succeed each other in such bright movements no attention can flag ; and when he Ruddenly closes, you realize that you have got quite a body of divinity to meditate upon. As you walk out of the house very likely you will say, Well, this man, in siucerity, frankness, nianhood, the samo as the other, is his intellectual antipode. If the other was a picture, this is a surveyor's chain nashing in every solid link. His convictions are deeply cut, and earnestly put. He will stake his life on the truth he seeks and speaks. It is lively, rattling logic, brought down to date ; Calvinistic Young America. And if you should thus judge, you would not greatly misjudge the preacher."
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Old News
Michigan Argus