History of the M.E. Church, Vol. IV - Media Sabda Org

took a prominent part in the great struggle which divided the Church His speech in reply to Bishop
Soule, and the rejoinder to the Protest of the southern party, are notable evidences of his power in
that body. In 1844 he published his "Observations in Europe," and in 1845 his "Observations in the
East." He retired from the college in 1845, and subsequently had charge of stations in Philadelphia,
and also traveled the Philadelphia District. In 1850 he was appointed unanimously, by the bishops,
missionary secretary, in the place of Dr. Pitman, who had resigned on account of ill health. The
General Conference of 1852 re-appointed him to the same post, which he has ever since occupied
with admirable ability.
Dr. Durbin is distinguished both as a preacher and an executive officer. It is difficult to describe
his preaching. He begins with a tone, look, and style which would at once damp all favorable
expectation were it not for his general fame. The statement of his subject, and the outline of his
discourse, are not usually remarkable; but as he advances some unique thought, or some ordinary
thought uniquely presented, startles the interest of the hearer, and his attention is riveted through the
remainder of the sermon. The entire self-possession and agreeable facility with which the preacher
proceeds in his discourse delights the hearer by the relief which his manner thus affords to his feeble
and peculiar voice. It is similar to pleasant, artless, but intelligent conversation. The frequent
occurrence of striking passages, striking often by their beauty, but often also by the mere manner of
their utterance, yet always endued with a strange, a mystic power over the soul of the hearer, calls
forth spontaneous ejaculations or sudden tears. He has also a habit of introducing into almost every
discourse some odd or equivocal speculative suggestion which never fails to provoke thought on the
part of his hearers.
His sermons are usually long, but no one tires of them; no one hears the last sentence without
regret, nor leaves the church without a vivid, if not a profound, impression of the discourse. His
language is remarkbly simple. He excels in illustration, in picturesque description, and in pathos.
Men of genius are usually men of strong sensibility -- and this is one secret of their power; but
at the same time it renders them liable to variable moods, especially to failures in public speaking.
Dr. Durbin's failures were not infrequent; but his hearers, if sent away sometimes with a downright
disappointment, knew that at the next time they should probably be more than compensated by one
of his triumphant efforts; that the sun, temporarily behind the mists, will again burst forth and blaze
in the zenith. A writer in the "Southern Christian Advocate," speaking of his first sermon in
Philadelphia, says: "In the Academy it was that the western professor preached his first sermon to
an eastern audience; nor did his effort justify his fame more than his appearance, for it was a failure.
And the wiseacres said loudly, 'I told you it was a goose, and not a swan.' The young professor was
disheartened, so that although he preached other sermons, not so unsuccessful, yet he left the people
only in a state willing enough to hear him again, but not especially anxious. A year elapsed, and he
was again in the Academy pulpit, and the subject of his first sermon was pronounced: the divinity
of our Lord. It was then a swan's song, sweet, clear, full, transcendent; only not a death-burst."
He has been distinguished by executive ability in every sphere of his public life; in no one of them
has he ever failed. A capacity for details, practical skill, promptness, energy that never tires, because
it moves always calmly, though incessantly, the power to carry with him the interest of the people,