The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-10-06
DAILY PRESS.
ND.
Saturday Morning, October 3, 1866.
PORTLAND.
Beeclaer.

The Advertiser is deeply exercised on ac-
count of the cruel persecution to which Mr.
Henry Ward Beecher is being subjected by
the Radicals, and takes up the cudgels IN that
gentlcmans defence with much ardor. Sueh
championship is certainly very generous ana
chiyalrous on the p.rt of the Advertiser, es-
pecally in view of that papers iormer est
mate oc Mr.. Beecher, but we cannot help
t,,;nt;no that it is quite uncalled for. The
only persecution which MIR. Beecher has been
called on to endure at the hands of ''the Radi-
GALS consists in their having dropped him.
He tells US in one of his recent letters that he
has not left the Republican party; but as he
does not appear to be any longer in sympathy
with its purposes and principles, the party
seems pretty generally to have left him This
is the extent OF the persecution" to which
Mr. Beecher has been subjected at the hands
of the Radicals, and we are not able to find in
it any serious ground of complaint There
are, it is true, some indications that the rev
erend gentleman himself is not entirely sat
isfed with the present condition of affairs;
but whether his discomfort arises from the
fact of his having been dropped by his old
friends or from his being taken up by the Dem
ocrats, we are yet at a loss to determine.
Be that as il may, however, we are con-
strained to say we think the commotion which
Mr.. Beecher's recent change OF front has
caused, both among the old friends whom he
deserts and the new ones who open their
arms to him, is entirely disappointment to the
Importance OF the event. That gentleman s
position in regard to the great moral and po-
litical questions now agtating the public mind
is of immense consequence to himself, as af-
fecting his reputation and the estimation in
which he is to be held, but to the country at
large, as well as to the Christian community
which has hitherto been proud to claim him,
it Is matter of very little weight. That his
eloquent advocacy is loss to the cause oil
froelom and human rights we do not deny
but that it's transferrence to the opposing side
will he in any similar degree gain to that
cause it is idle to expect. Mr. Beecher has
not transferred his influence; he has only des.
troyed it. 1t was not he who by the power
of his eloquence gave force and vitality to the
principles of freedom and. justice; it was those
principles which warmed and vivified his elo
quence ami made his voice as the voice of q
prophet. Men thronged to listen to him be-
cause he uttered in electric words the noblest
thought of their own minds, the loftiest as
piration of their own hearts; he had power
over the multitude because he was in sympa-
thy with its best and truest convictions. But
when under the influence of some strange
spell for which we do not pretend to account,
he turned his back upon the good cause he
had so long advocated, and raised his voice in
support ofwrong and oppression, his eloquence
became powerless as sounding brass or tink-
ling cymbal. In going over to the enemy he
carried no one with him. He could not car
ry the people with him against their own con
victions No man can do that, ia this land
where the people think and judge for them
selves. II .4 4s-sI
While therefore we regret as keenly as any
one can this signal apostasy from the cause of
truth and right we yet deplore it not for the
injured cause but for the fallen apostle. Per-
haps he too, already regrets it, as Peter sorrow
ed over the weakness which led him to deny
the Master. Ii he does not as yet, we have
that confidence in the natural uprightness of
Mr.. Beecher's character and in the genuineness
of his lifelong devotion to the interests OF
humanity and of truth to believe that he ul-
.imately will see and retrieve his present err