The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-08-13

urxxY WARD BEEcHER--On Sunday MORN
hss Evening, attended the church Of Rev. Henry
ins Rsecher, in Brooklyn ; and without any dis
VA TO Miss Heron, l think that the preacher is
IaiIv a greater attraction than the actress.
deu.;uly. Mr. Beecher has n reward for all the oblo-
rr;,h which individuals and classes seek to asso-
9y his name, in the attentive and sympathetic faces
oSsueh . crowd as no other preacher in America has
o. nrvilege of addressing. Slips, aisles, even the
uS stairs, were full, and right worthy were the
COURSES with which he rewarded the attentive ears
= fhis great congregation. II there are greater preach
ers than he in America, l have never heard them.
His speech is in the demonstration of power. 1t is
wonderful Such utter felicity of illustration, 1 have
never heard and his Pensioners tell me that his
illustrations are always fresh, and never repeated.
1t would seems that he sees nothing and reads of
nothing which he does not appropriate. His pray-
ers are, if anything, more remarkable than his
sermons One 1 recall, and shall evermore remem-
Der. His mood at the moment of commencement
seems to determine his theme, and on this he enlarges
until it swells into the symentry and significance ola
sacred poem, like those which burned upon the lips
Of David and Isaiah. At the evening service, he rose,
looking sad and weary, and after giving out his
hymn, and sitting with his face covered while it was
sung, ne uttered the prayer to which | have alluded.
de confessed the sweetness of life, the bessedness of
family and social ties, and the glory and grace of
christian action, and yet " to depart and be with
Christ would be Tar better" We Long for rest-rest
for the ody-rest for the soul. And then he took
mp, one after another, the different positions of life,
with their peculiar tolls, trials and temptations, and
told how they all sought the issue of rest The reci-
tai Of these trials showed large acquaintance with
human life and the human heart, and gave life and
language to the burden of every spirit. The whole
prayer, from its beginning to its close, was the of
spring alike of thorough piety, true human sympathy,
an illuminated imagination, and a power Of express
ION that was marvellous 1t seemed a touching offer
ing, raised in the strong arms of trust aud faith and
resignation to The Throne.
alluded to his power OF illustration. This
he EXHIBITS often in a manner to draw a smile upon
the faces of his hearers /; but his earnestness and prac-
ticableness soon obliterate 1t /; and as the great truth
which he forges, amid the resQunding strokes of his
hammer and the fash of incandescent cinders, is
finished, and driven home, all the quaintness Of man
ner that attended the process IS forgotten. l recall
one or two Illustrations which made the greatest i'm
preston | have all my life heard how God abhors
sin-how repuisive and horrible it is to him, but |
never fully cOmprehended how the infnste mind could
be affected in this way until MIR. Beecher illustrated
IT Said he, you are an honorable, whole-souled,
man. One portion Of your nature has been preserved
IN its integrity. or measurnbly so. Now, when you
see Il man do a mean, dirty, contemplate thing, does
it not offend yous Do you not abhor II? Does 1t
not disgust you !, Do you not loathe 1t and the
actor; Now God is filed out, all around, with per-
feet attributes, and there IS not a sin committed that
docs not touch a corresponding or rather opposite
excellence in his constitution, and he abhors all sin
as you do that one
Again, he was speaking Of the self-loathing which
= man feels when he - n nisssfsi = ss $
the purity, holiness, goodnks and power of the
Great Supreme, and in that H. BIT sees his own selfish
ness, impurity, weakness and 1Forthlessness, he ex-
claims oh wretched man INT I am From the
crown of my head TO the soles OF my feet there IS no
soundness in me, but all IS wounds, bruises and
purifying sores" But his neighbor says, 9 tut, tut
--SSr hear that man talk : You would think from
whlt he says that he is a great sinner, but the fact is
ne Is one of the cleverest fellows in the world-one of
the best neighbors and most upright business men =,
m England, said Mr.. Beecher, there IS an immense
coal pit, five hundred feet Deep Down in the bottom
of it, there is a little community, living in the light
of their dim lamps By the light they look at one
another, and imagine that they are white men,
Raise them two or three hundred feet, among the
faint, struggling rays of daylight, and they begin to
mistrust, as they look in each others faces, that
there may be n little smut upon them. With this
impression, let them be raised up until the broad
full light Of Heaven bursts upon and envelops them,
snd let them look into one anothers' faces, and they
Will see that they are black, and foul, and disgust
ing.
1t Is thus that he makes facts of all classes, in the
material world, tributary to the illustration OF the
great truths, which he breaches L heard a man
honestly state recently that he believed that within
i've years Henry Ward Beecher would be an avowed
inhdeL All 1 have to say is that of my prophet will
sit under Mr.. Beecher's preaching, ne will be In
little danger Of becoming one himself, and possibly
imbibe a degree of iiberality which will make him
ashamed Of his prophecy. NJ. Beecher Is doing a
great and good work, and all good men should be
grateful that his unrivaled powers are devoted TO the
advancement Of Christianity.-Springfeid Repu6-
Iican-