The Portland daily press., 1864-07-15
Anecdotes for DIR. Reanher.


An agreeable little sequel to the autoblog-
raphy of Rev. Lyman Beecher Is contained in
the Congregational Quarterly for July, in the
Sketches and Recollections OF the old Clergy
man" contributed by c. L. Stowe, OF Hart
ford. Here is one Of the anecdotes:
Beecher's sim )licity, buoyancy and imper-
urbable good-humor disarmed opposition
when ne Game ia personal contact with an OPP
ponent, An old wood sawyer whom we will
call W, rough, strong, shrewd man, who
belonged To rival sect, was violently prrju
diced against the Doctor, especially on &C
count OF his total abstinence principles. He
had never seen him, aud would not hear him
preach. This man had large lot OF wood to
saw opposite to the Doctors house. The Doc
tor depended upon constant manual labor Tor
Keeping up his own health; aud IN Boston,
where be could not enjoy the luxury OF gar
den TO dig in, he Was often puzzled TO mud
means to keep himself in good wofhihg order
The consequence was that he sawed all the
wood for his own large family, aud oftsn ind
ing that too little, would beg the pryilegs of
saving at the woodpiie OF u nelghhor. He
was iastidions in the care OF his wood saw
having it always at hand in his stud hal
concealed among minutes OF councils. ihcom
plete magazine articles aud sermons and the
setting ofhis saw was often duty accp apiisned
while he settled nice points OF ln.,oiasy wltu
his boys, or took counsel with brother ,niaist
ers.
Looking out OF his study window one day.
when his own woodpile was reduced TO dis
ceuraglng state Of order-eyery stick sawed
and spllt-he saw, with envy, the pile of Old
w. in the street. Forthwith he seized his
saw, aud soon the old sawyer of the street be-
held man, without cravat aud in shirt-sleeves
issuing from DIR Beechers house, who came
H. a = l. han
his pile; and forthwith fell to work with
right good will, and soon proved to his brother
sawyer that he was no mean hand at the
craft.
Nodding his head significantly at the oppo-
site house, w. said:
"You live therer
aH b. "Yesv
W. "work for the old man?"
b. eyes"
w. "What sort of an old fellow Is he ?'
D. "on, pretty much like the rest of us
Good man enough TO work for"
w. Tough old chap, 'ain't he2,,
b. Guess so, to them that try to chaw
him up"
50 the conversation went on till the wood
: went so fast with the new conner that W. ex-
claimed,
a First rate saw that of yourn!r
This touched the Doctor in tender point.
BE had set that saw as carefully as the articl
es OF his creed-every tooth was critically adj
justed, aud SO be gave a smile of triumph.
Il say said w, where can l get saw
like that?'
b. Il don't know, unless you buy mine"
w. viii you trade? WHAT do you ask ?''
b. II don't know. Ill think about il,
Call at my house tomorrow, aud LII tell YOU 2
Tue next day she old man Knocked, and
met the Doctor at the door, fresh from the
hands OF his vile, with his coat brushed and
crayat tied, going out TO pastoral duty.
w. gave start OF surprise.
"Oh," said the Doctor, you're the man that
wanted to buy my saw. Well, you shall have
IL for nothing-only let me have some of your
wood TO saw when you work on my street.
w. said that he then ielt as if he wanted 10
crawl into an auger- hole.
HIS MANUSCRIPT.
His habits of composition were PECULIAR.
His social nature was 50 active that as soon
as he had written a sentence which pleased
him he had an irrepressbie desire to read il
TO somebody. Many time has he rushed ia
TO the dinning-roon, where Aunt Easter was
washing dishes--Here, Easter, hear this. p
Aunt Easter, with martyr-like patience, would
stand, towel in one hand aud an unwiped
plate Ia the other for he must have her undi
vided attention. till he had read his paragraph
aud trotted back TO his study again. Ii
sometimes seemed as Il be would never get a
sentence done. He would write and re- write,
erase and interline, tear up and begin anew,
scratch out and scribbe in, almost endlessly
In the latter part OF his life this habit became
morbid, aud actually shut him out from tn.
possibility of publishing his own writing
BE was the torment of printers, both by the
delay Of his manuscript aud by the condition
10 which they found il when they got il. One
of his daughters said there We're three mega
tive rules by which she could always read
her fathers writing, TO wit: /. II there is a
letter crossed, it isn't {. 2 Ii there is let
ter dotted. 1t isn't l. 8. Ii there is capital
letter, 1t isn't at the beginning of a word.
At Lane Seminary he lived more than two
miles from the city. One time, after the prin-
ters had been on tenter-h hooks forty eight
hours for their copy, he hastily finished his
manuscript ia his study, crushed il into tht
crown of the hat that lay nearest to him
clapped another hat on his head, drove down
the city, rushed up to the printing office, and
snatched off his hat. Heres yoLrcopy-h'm
h'tn-wel. II il isn't here, il is somewhere
else" The copy was still in tie hat that had
been left at home But who couli be angry
with SO much good nature, even Il 1t were :
plague?