A FAMOUS NONCONFOEMIST.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11478, 10 January 1903, Page 6

A FAMOUS NONCONFOEMIST.

The world-wide reputation of the lata- H_#i Joseph Parker, of City Temple fafte, Wji vti an interest, even at this distance from jj^4? scene of his life-work, to the striking jet«4i sonality of the man, and to the host otd»" e fi raoteristio »tori#a which his recent 'i&M_^l| has served to recall. Some of 'iht^mt-f ; dotes that are tad about the great No&mwo fortnist preacher bear testimony til'to*-:, strength of character, his wit,-his __*__* ness, and many sterling qualities OJkhe-1 and heart; some rather suggest th* jyom of a popular orator striving for effect", h**/., ! all are equally characteristic of a peramMllfr \ which seems to have been a curious cripfe i nation of atwsngth arid weakness. '_!_•*! "has been no man in out" day at alljik* ■ "him,'* says one biographe-, "there »»• *! " was, and there never will be, a man at . " one and the same time so deep and * V "shallow, so brusque and sarcastic -iM-."* "hitter, so gentle and tender and .ot_-*> *j "so rugged in his iixtopendence and'!* > "esteem, so absolute in his dependeac#i*- "j " _!e sympathy and gbod-wll of those si-rt -_' "him, so full of of all Kit-"' "■ Dr. Parker Started as a lay preacher •SKI-*'"" "* age of nineteen, and ait three and iiiisaf ('. received his first "calL" From 1858 ]•* ** 1869 he occupied the pulpit at &v_ti-s~ j street Chapel, Manchester, and afterw'*!*.. he removed to London, ©pejung the C-f': Temple m 1874. This building, V*_th_i .7 cost nearly £70,000, accou_nod_t*m ',«*#■' 2500 people, but, large as it is, Dr.PaifciJ filled it to overflowing. FinanmUy./-* fi City Temple was an immense WW* *», cess, .and it is related that W-N-L • some one wrote to Dr. Parker +tVH -• what became of the money collected, k*",' announced tbe fact from the pulpit. *sl^ exclaimed, "The writer desires to luwt J-' " who gets the money. I know," and UMi.l lowering hia voice, he added, "Let w sipf | " Praise God from whom a_ b__pU_i JL. "flow."' On hearing that a CaW-M*{ Minister had listened to one of his- s*T*J mons through a phonograph,'he is report** ,7 to have observed, "The wretch avoided t-» j? "collection." Again, at one of hit week'g ly services, he announced that '„___**<*s "and widows were not expected to *a■•^_ , "tribute to the collection," and tha foU«**j| ' ing week he declared with a touch of •**■--; donic wit that "never did fatal bat*"? " charge on gory battlefield produce' #» $ " many widows as did that annou_oeS-*>*» --,- In its obituary notice, "Tbe Times" dWtJ* <; upon the financial aspect of Dr. PafS-*"*<oj ministry, and observed that "among ti** l !' o "whom in exalted moments he wouM'***■¥■ " 'self-conceited, pedantic,. preiumpti*"*^^ "priests,' there is not one, from th* t&\ " mate downwards, who can command Mar*. "thing like the personal profits whUk. ; -W'* "Parker drew from his ministry." ■&*' K h criticism, however, does not do j n *™**aj to the deceased divine, if we art ! t*£& accept the testimony of his fe^g Dr. Lunn, for instance, writing ■*_( reply to the statement made by Times," declares that Dr. Pari»r I*^^ away to charities all the money k*-* l^^ by lectures and addresses outeuda _i»^W|| dinary church work, while since the.,dp* ; ? of his second wife in l&y9 he has reto?**"-S his salary each year to the City Te_4*M The secret of the great preacher's F**^™l iarity appears to have lain in his w__*»Wf : J« mastery of words and gesture, his — f(|] energy, and sound knowledge of ■*' , *|nl nature. To a lady correspondent w^?"*-_j[ ventured to ask how he succeeded in "I : me such crowds to his church, Dr. W" I *.jji ' ■ ...fyTll replied by describing what he ca-Jfl^Tfß library. "It's in undergwmnd tr_Uw'^|MM "ia Tsusas, in t«a-»hops, smart rawM|

gn. _ - | _ . - £'k"*at churches, stations, parties, receptions, I" "meeting ß - jubilee-*, and sick-beds. \ou ;," « fiw > it in prisons and boudoirs. The ' "fact is. you can never get away from it. t- «-\Ve call it human nature for want of a I «t>etter name- I study it—that's why I 5* "call it my library." He was a tremen- ' doas worker, and but for an iron constitu- > tion must long since have broken down t>eneath tbe self-imposed strain of his laboars. **I delight to lead the cievil a hard iife," g« used to say. Possessed of little real lelf-confidence, he couid not live without encouragement. On the other hand, he appeared to welcome any attack whicli might {•suit in pecuniary benefit to his churcn. _hus when an anonymous admirer, indignant at « newspaper attack upon the doctor, forwarded a _>_0 banknote, \)c Parker asked his congregation to pray that the newspaper might keep on printing •iu!i m_cles, and that a similar man mignt Jccep on reading tbem!