The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1863-08-21
MN, BEECHER IN PARIS.


Rev. Henry Ward Beechers la's ls..
ter to the Independent CONTAINS 'ne'1
81 undertook to speak French. 1t was
.nao,.cIo Of lingasl gymnastics that did
-, f.I 10 excite admiration and elicit
smiles. Usually / began with noun
Throwing that out in . bold manner,
then sent the verb struggling after it, Is
best it might, somewhat disheveled and
often much dislocated, and then the ad-
verbs and adjectives were thrown In Al
the end, and SO much to boot for the very
obliging manner 10 which my other parts
of speech had been entertained.
There are three of us, you know, IN
| company, the LID, the preacher. and
m yself, the editor. The Doctor Is digni-
fed. deliberate, and slightly sensitive to
Inaccuracies. His attempt at French con.
sists. usally, in drawing himself up like
statute OF marble, and receiving the
hirl of sentences with which polite off,
Gals. come down upon him with the most
mtient silence. Sometimes he would
(iiks bird that has not quite made up
its mind whether 10 sing or not, and blows
note or two) very deliberately calculate
one or two good French words. and while
the polite shopmsn, or woman rather.
waited for the rest, he relapsed into 81
lence or med,ta,ions on that mysterious
providence that debarred SO large part
of mankind from the privilege of under
standing English!
But the prescher is of another mood.
AS he knows noFrench, SO he has no scru-t
pies. / correct myself. He does know
several words. These are En- bien.' and
Or This last one he employs ildefn.
itely; with an upward infection, down
ward accent, with duplication and redu-
plicstiop. Indeed. he uses that OUT as
one would gimlet or auger, and by expert
turning round and round, he bores into
many o success which the Doctors SEN
sibility would neglect or refuse. But the
editors French, if generally adopted,
would mark an ara in-t the language. II
you can imagine railroad conductor try
ing to pick ont the passengers baggage
aud mixed material from car that had
J run of the track, and got mixed in heap,
you can conceive of the situation OF .
Frenchman attempting to decipher his
sentences. am like one who fires intc
tree where he suspects there are pigeons
: both barrels, and then waits to see wha'
he has hit. Sometimes | get bird
sometimes a feather, but oftener ONLY
, leaves.
Our first Sabbath in Pari,
was bewiderment. 1t was not 80 much
variation in the mode of keeping Sun
day, as total destruction OF all our idea,
( of Sabbath keeping. Business goes on
| the streets are thronged with people ben,
on pleasure, and the very air is filled. no
with peace, but with social exhilara,ior
with pleasure and hustle. in short, no
! with any suggestion of another world, bu
with every phase of the enjoyment of thi
! world. In our land. it may be that tn
i social and cheerful elements are too muci
!, lexcluded FROM religion; but here it is re
y ligiou that seems to. be shut out from tn
Sabbath aud al its worldly enjoyment
3 Beneath my room count hundred la
{ bor.rs at work upon the new Opera House
/. Ia the street teams trail their usual load,
n The shops display their wares. and moth
f, ing in the exterior aspect of the cit
would have revealed TO me the day il m,
calender had not indicated it. Yet, an
+ assured that great change has take,
; place, and that, at the wish of Govern
: ment. there is far less secular bushes
. transacted than formerly, and that eve
i, those stores that keep open in the morn
ing are closed at noon, that their occu
: pants may mingle with the universe
/ amusements OF the day. On the SECOND
Sabbath the tidings came 10 US of the al
of yicksburg and the retreat Of Gen. Lee
One must be in a foreign land, among
. uufriendly and unsympathizing people, t,
. know how sweet good news of ones coun
. try isl | sat in our American Minister
q slip at church. on Sabbath morning, hav
i ing Just heard the tidings. After th
!. preliminary service. and while DR.. Nc
: Ghntock WAS giving out notice, turn
9 ed to Miss Day ton, BY whom / sat. en-,
: whispered in few words the good ii
! Idings, saying in apology that hoped
!, would help her sing the hymn Of praise
{ which came next in the service. Bh,
) dropped her head. in Tears. of joy, ane
wept, for singing. during Oh che hymn
1t pleased me-she shall have place il
; the book of my remembrance, with all wbe
s love God and our dear country"
The RESULTS OF TIE DRArr.-It is al
legged in some quarters that eowinp tn ex