A RIVAL TO SPURGEON.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 409, 21 November 1868, Page 6

A RIVAL TO SPURGEON.

The following amusing account is given of a singular preacher, who appears to have made a name for himself among a certain class in England : The Kev. Peter M'Kenzie is a character —an exceptional and notable character —one of the sensational preachers left in the "Wesleyan Connection. Like Richard Weaver he comes from the coal mine ; talks " collier "in the pulpit, and is as much at home there as if hewing coal in the shaft. This " black diamond," as Peter is sometimes called, has been travelling preacher nine years. Tn his preaching, he is eminently dramatic. Speaking in a recent sermon, as to the Koran having failed to civilise the world, or meet the condition of the heathen, he turned to the Bible, which he had placed on a seat behind him, and said—" Come alone, good old word, we can never do without thee." Simple as the action was, it thrilled the audience. Upon another occasion, speaking of the dying thief, he said—"He took a first-class ticket and went to heaven express; passing through stations and tunnels without stopping untii he arrived in glory." " The hedge of Paradise," said he, " was so tall that the Devil could not get over it, so thick that he could not shoot through it and was so well secured at the bottom that the littlest dog in hell could not creep out." Methodism was a cheap religion—only a penny per week and a shilling per quarter, with a few anniversaries as extras." He dealt with ritualism thus :—" Some try to make an improvement upon the white horse by fitting it with worn-out tapestry." The action which he uses throughout his discourse is like nothing ever seen before. His spell is potent over a country congregration—the most successful mesmerist would fail to obtain the power which Peter attains over vast masses of people.