The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1859-05-26
Cboire Rfa0ing,
From he Ptiiadeipha Iagairr.
Lecture by Rev. Henry Ward
Ese0CRseF.
TnE BTRDENS On SOCIETY.

THE BURDENS OF SOCIETY.
For trite sayings, odd cloquence, start
ling effects, good sentiments strangely ex-
pressed, an oratory whichat time. is almost
explosive in its power, Henry Ward
Beecher is certainly without a rival in the
United States !. His cloquence is undoubt-
ed, nervous. terse, and strong g--and yet
with a peculiar independence, the rules
OF rhetoric are entirely set at naught,
showing that there is nothing artificial
about the orator-that all is natural, the
oft Of genius rather than the acquire
ment Of study Whenever this gentle
man delivers an add ess in Philadelphia,
u large and an intellectual. audience is
sure to be attracted, composed o. persons
who admire cccentriciues of thought and
language that is impressive, more so, in
deed, than if he conforned to the rules
of the shools, from the Institutes ofQuinc-
tilan down to that interesting volume,
Blair on Rhetoric Were he 10 adhere
rigidly to set regulations, his compositions
might be smoother and more even but
they would not be Bcecherisms ; and the
latter are features in his style and e.ocu-
ton that delight the public. Whether
whirIing along the Hudson, u.undiug
over the HcaylnL sea, contemplating the
verdant meadows Or the fields of waving
and golden grain, ascending the noun
tains, or sailing IN imagination amid the
skyey depths of azure spangled with stars,
he is still Beecher ana everywhere at
home Only he climbs not with toll, but
reaches the loftiest hilltop at bound ;
skins the ocean with magical rapidity !;
and at times seems to comprehend all na-
ture in his mental grasp. The sensation
he produces in large assemblies Is, at
times, and especially when in an ardent
frame of mind, almost electrical ; and the
more so, IN consequence OF the unexpect-
ed bursts and quaint excentricities that
mresistlbIy excite feeling and evoke en-
thusiastic applause Beecher on the
platform is himself alone" His hearers,
last evening, at the Academy of Music,
were very numerous, and his reception
was cordial. Nobly did he respond to the
latter in his discourse on the Burdens OF
Society.
After a suitable introduction of his
subject, Mr.. Beecher said that all our ma
chimes, strong. efficient and useful as they
were, were contemplate by the side Of a
man, even when we have viewed him
merely as a physical invention; but that
miracle of God-cyerlasting human So
ciety-the existence Of infinite numbers
of men, each with such flaming world
of passion, with such power in every dl-
rection, running to and fro with great
liberty, carrying each his own purposes
meeting, injecting, swerving, and passing
by each other,-endlessly comminged,
vet ALWAYS guided in the turmoil OF life
by the subtlest instincts or by the strength
Of laws-the endless conflicts OF thought
or imagination, the springs of Affection
( the wild flashes of power born passlons,-
/ this crowd Of eight hundred million men
round the globe, and their diversitcs OF
physical nature and physical state, fur
nished the most extraordinary spectacle
which the world could present One was
never tired of the ocean, so that he were
upon the land Its depth, It's width, its
abundance, its viclssitudes, gave endless
excitement; but the liquid ocean of mere