Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-11-15
A Stump Sermon.

Henry Ward Beecher made "stump
speech" in his church on Sunday evening
before election. There was an immense
concourse of people at the Plymouth
Church. The text was, "Render unto
Cesor the things that be Caesars" &c
Mr.. Beecher said that the @Herodians and
Pharisees, concealing their bitter animosi-
ties, came together, and by mean arts
tempted Christ by insiduous questions of
respect. 1t was not the first time that the
devils two sides came together aud found
they had not got what they meant to catch,
and it would not be the last" After no.
ticing the progress of events since 1856,
and dealing severely with bribery and cor
ruption, be spoke of the present canvass
as follows:
"He thought in Gods good providence
they were brought to the eve of a struggle
that could not be turned aside or defeated.
He knew there were many men alarmed,
but neither intimidation nor any bribes
could stop this victory of God Almighty
now. He thought they had come to time
at last, and that the silent forces of a mil
lion of votes on Tuesday would bring back
this nation by legitimate roads and by
measures unforced, and normal and right,
to the foundations from which they had
slid by the terrible pressure of Slavery for
i years and years past. What would be
the result. God did not reveal his coun-
sells to anybody. He would tell them what
would happen. Nothing! Laughter. +
They might depend upon one thing-that
all the barking would be before voting, but
no biting afterward.
If there was one thing certain, it was
thst towards and essential injustice go to-
gether. There would be no reaction against
virtue, truth, justice and righteousness that
could avail for one single hour; so that if
any man had made up his mind to emf
CRATE and convert his money into jewels,
as being the most portable, he advised him
to wait a week longer. Oh, why don't
some of these men, said Mr.. B., go home
and get into their cradles, and get their
grandmothers to sing them to sleep?-
Renewed Laughter. 1t was natural for
a baby TO be afraid of wolves and witch
stories, but for full grown man, free
citizen, to be afraid of these things, was
too contemplate. He wanted his congre-
CATION to be men or nothing, he did not
want them to stand between, to get the
kicks of both sides, and the thanks of nei-
ther. These men who were middlemen
had all the light in their middle, and they
were detestable. He did not believe that
any member of his congregation was a
middle man, for he believed that they would
all shoot their votes as the rifle shot its
ball, only death would not follow. He
gloried that he lived in this cra, and was
thank full that he was permitted to labor
fer the down-trodden and the oppressed.
He counseled his hearers to 60 to work
earnestly courageously in sympathy with
God and in charity with men, and when
the sun of Tuesday should go down, the
curtain would fall upon one bad drama, and
rise upon another sun glowing with new
life and hope.
As reported, the meeting lacked the
finishing touch. Beecher should have pro-
posed three cheers, giving the count from
the epulpit-one-two wo-three-ti-ger-r r
for "honest old Abe" and then moved an
adjournment to the polls.