Litchfield enquirer., 1865-05-25
LYMAN BEECHER.
BY JOEL BENTON.

Some writer has remarked that well-wrirter
 ls about as as rare as wel-spent one. Every
 human life is of course dramatic-holds syn
 thesis of tragedy and comedy-and contains
 those elements of passion and action, which
 properly evolved and written, enlist interest
 and attention In life [ so important and
 public as that of Dr. Beecher, the incidents
 could hardly be so grouped as not to enchain and edify the reader A most original and re-
 markable man, he is the father of family that for brain-force, united with strong and original traits of character, has probably never been ] equalled. Ordinarily, Nature works so econom I lcaily, that genius obeys for the most part the law of fruit and grain-one crop exhausts the soil. Dr. Beecher's family was not only large
 but any member of it would have made any other family famous.
 The two stout volumes which relate the story of Dr. Beecher's life, are strung upon thread of autobiography, which the author began, but never found time to complete. Though the work is edited by his son Charles, it borrows contributions from the several members ot his family. among which are recorded letters and conversations of Mrs. Stowe, Henry Ward, Catharine, Edward, and Thomas K. Some of the facts were elicited by conversations with the Doctor, during the last of his life, ard these conversations are occasionally reported as they fell from the interlocutor's lips 9e7s It would seem from,a little incident recorded
 that the life of Dr. Beecher in infancy hung for moment upon a single thread. His mother died two days after his birth, and when the woman that attended upon her. says the autobiography, saw what puny thing was, and that the mother could not live, she thought it useless to attempt to keep me alive. Twas actually wrapped up and laid aside. But, after awhile, one of the women thought she would look and see if was liy- ing, and finding was, concluded to wash and dress me, saying, It's a pity he hadn't died with his mother.' So, you sec. it was but by a hair's-breadth that I got foothold in this world"
 The young child was sent to Guilford to be brought up by an Aunt Benton. His uncle. Lot Benton, became his adopted father, and finding, when he grew up, that his mind would not run in an agricultural channel he sent him to College. When Uncle Lot died, Ly- man became his heir, taking the GuiHord house, and land worth about S2O0O besides.- The present writer will be pardoned for these minute allusions, for they come down likewise in his family traditions, and touch branch of his own ancestral tree. The character of Rox- anna Foote, the Guilford lady who was to be Lyman's future wife, is also vividly painted in the same traditional way, and we may remark here, that the salient traits of the "Beecher Family" are to no inconsiderable extent re
 produced from her. .- s~.r ~.s -.a
 The following amusing account of night chase in Dr. Beecher's College life, is elicited by Mrs. Stowe: ... --. t..... .. "One night was awakened by noise at my window. listened. I and found somebody was pulling my clothes through broken pan 0. l jumped up just in time to see my clothes disappear. The next moment was cut of the window and in full chase. The fellow dropped his booty and fled down one street and up another, doubling and turning, till at last l took him by the collar; he attempted to strike; warded of, and pushed him over, and sprung on him, and choked him until he begged
 Then let him up saw he was feeling in his pocket for knife; took it away and marched him back to my room, and made him lie on my floor by my bed till morning. If he stirred, said Lie still, Sir r In the morning had him before the Justice, Squire Daggett, who discharged him because I lost sight of hiua once round corner. met the fellow after
 ward, but he would never look me in the eye ],
 These volumes deal largely with the great religious controversies in which Dr. Beecher was engaged ; his fierce disputes with Boston Unitarianism; his Litch6eld and other minis tries his advocacy of moral reform, temper. ance and anti-slavery his trial for heresy, and life in the west They abound in racy and spirited details, ..anecdotes that illustrate his peculiar, shrewd and impulsive individuality, forcible and lively correspondence and give you also, tender glimpses of his domestic na. ture, the subject we. least know, and which piques our curiosity concerning the lives of cur noted men. Books edited in this way. are of course open to a little criticism i; and it may be thought that some matters here given are too trivial to be paraded before the public eye
 ihat trait of selfreliance which makes one con. sclous of his own intellectual power ar and which IS dlscernable in both parent and children, does
 not lack illustration, and would be called by
 some conceit, But, in spite ,of. minor faults
 tnese books are as interesting as fiction it
 seli' They embrace a wide variety of read lng' including metaphysical. discussions, spic
 turesque narrative, electric humor, poetic fer.
 vor, and playful witticisms, and cannot fairtc command, as they deserve, wide circle o
 interested readers. tEs a4z4 szasa .s4eds8 I L.- {A aa.S $! tfEfI.setg tsaaszsfee Hi a3sa i Autobiography, Correspondence, etc, ol
 Lyman Beecher, D. D. Edited sby Charle, i Beecher With illuatrafiona n.two vu,o,J,r <,