Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-03-23
sraYsital.
The Late Rev. Doctor Beecher.

The second volume of the Autobiog- |
raphy of Lyman Beecher has just ap-
peared. We find, from the pen Of Mrs.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, . description
of the inner life and habits of her ia
Their, during his ministry in Boston
The time spent in actual preparation
for public effort was generally not
long. If he was to preach in the eve
ming (weck day. he was to be seen all
day talking with whoever would talk,
accessible to all, full of every body's
affairs, business, and burdens, till an
hour or two before the time, when ne
would rush up into his study, which
he always preferred should be in the
topmost room in the house, and, throw
ing off his coat, after q swing or two
with the dumb-bells to settle the bal
ance of his muscles, he would sit down
and dash ahead, making quantities Of
hieroglyphic notes on small, stubbed
bits of paper. about ~ big az the
palm of your hand. The bells would
begin TO ring, and still he would con-
tinue to write. They would toll loud
and long, and his wife would say. "he
will certainly be too late" and there
would be running up and down stairs
of messengers to see that he WAS hn-
ished, till, just a. the last stroke Of the
bell was dying away, he would emerge
from the study with his coat very much
awry. come down stairs like . hurri-
cane, stand impatiently protesting,
while female hands that ever lay in
wait, adjusted his cravat and settled
his coat-collar, calling loudly awhile
for a pin to fasten together the stub
bed little bits of paper aforesaid, which
being duly dropped into the crown of
his hat, and hooking his wife and
daughter, like o sat,hel on his arm,
away he would start on such race
through the streets as left neither
brain nor breath till the church was
gained.
Then follows a description of SER
mon, which we have not space for.
After his evening services, it was
his custom to come directly home and
spend an hour or two with his children !;
as he phrased it, letting himself run
down" This was our best season for
being with him. He was lively, spark
ling, iovial, full of incident, and loved
to have us all about him, and to indulge
in good laugh.
Often his old faithful friend, the vio-
lin. was called in requisition, and he
would play few antiquated contra
dances and Scotch airs out of ven-
cradle yellow music-book, which had
come down the vale of years with him
from East Hampton. Aud Lang Syne,
Bonnie Doom, and Mary's Dream were
among the inevitables, and contra
dance which bore the inclerical title Of
go to the devil and shake yourself"
was q great favorite with the young
STEERS. He aspired with ardent long
ings to Money Musk, College Horn
pipe, and sundry other tunes arranged
on unfavorable keys, although he in
variably broke down, and ended the
performance with . pshaw. In after
wears, after his mind began to fail.
nothing would 80 thoroughly electrify
him as TO hear one of his sons, who
was a proficient on the violin, perform
ing those old tunes he had tried SO ma.
ny times to conquer.
The musical performances sometimes
inspirited him and his young audience
TO the verge of indiscretion. When
mother had gone to bed before him, he
could be wrought up by tine petitions
of the children to exhibit, for their as
constituent and delight, the wonders
of the double-shufle, which he said he
used to dance on the barn floor at corn
huskings, when he was young man.
But the ravages of these saltatory ex.
ercises on the feet Of his stockings
caused them to be frowned upon BY
the female authorities to such degree
that the exhibition was q very rare
treat. These innocent evening gala
hours, like everything else, were . part
Of his system of regimen. eff | were
70 90 TO bed,n he would say, "at the
kew 1t which I leave of preaching.
would toss and tumble all night.
must let of steam gradually, and then
] can sleep like child"
In fact he was an excellent sleeper
usually knew of but one nap, which
lasted from the time his head touched
the pillow till the youngest child was
sent to awake him in the morning
This was invariably the department o.
the reigning baby, who was solemnly
instructed by him that it was necessa
nv to take him by the nose and kiss
him many times before the heavinesa
in his head would go off SO that he
could lift it. Oftentimes he would lie
in bed after his little monitor had call
Il L;.o orofassinn fears that there WAS