Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet., 1868-05-14
BEEcHER ANALYzED.-Rey. r. A..


tIollaod, in the Baltimore Episcopal
Methodist, thus dissects the great sen.
sation preacher of Brooklyn
The secret of his renown consists,
mainly, in the peculiarities of the
people who compose his church, and
his especial fitness to their Puritan
ecaentrlcities. Brooklyn has helped
10 make Beecher as much Beecher
has helped to make himself He has
fe!t Brooklyn's tongue, noticed Brook
lyn's appitite, looked into Brooklyn's
eye, watched Brooklyn's moods, until
he is thoroughly acquainted with
| Brooklyn's disease. 1t is sort of
mysteries a morbid craving for new
and highly seasoned diet whimsi.
cal, 6dgety, foolish fondness for ex.
element. Beecher is exactly the
quack to deceive the patient. He
ireats the disease in accordance with
he wish which are its results. He
efams the disordered stomach with
| aawholesome but pleasant food and
il he does not cure, be deludes the
sick body with the benevolent pre-
tence Of administering to its wants,
which is better to it than health re.
stored by means of the severer medi
eines OF the gospel. Brooklyn thinks
Bsecher a great doctor, and pays him
handsomely. Beecher titillates Brook
yn, and bloats her pride into un-
natural size, and says: "Loo9 now
nto the grass, and see how fat you
have grown under my treatment !"
Another element of Beecher's power
Is his remarkable insight into human
nature, a kind of clairvoyancy by
which he is enabled to discern the
lsiosynct asies of his people, in order
that ne may pander to them He is
Yankee and an embodiment of
he shrewdness, genius, and indomit.
able perseverance of Yankeeism. Put
ifm where you will. in any descrip.
ton OF disguise, aud be could not
speak five minutes without disclosing
his Yankee origin and education.
His smart sayings, delivered ID con-
versational tone, with a quzzical
glance of the eye and shaking of the
foot as he leans carelessIy upon his
table bis affectation of excitement in
propounding some old crotchet dressed
up in brilliant dogmatic garb; his
sudden dropping of the voice from
high key into pathetic whisper when
portraying a picturesque or tender
scene his gestures of evidently stud.
led grace his occasional silly at
tempts at wit, constrain a Southern
auditor to set him down for a con-
summate charatan. If be is not a
charlatan, he is certainly an excellent
actor.
He assumes looks. attitudes and
tones to suit the thoughts of bis ad
dress. He plays sermon as Booth
would a tragedy. Hence. whatever
merits the composition of his discourse
may have, and however much he may
inter est his hearers by an artistic de
clamation Of that composition, he
does not warm and kindle you
into fervor of sympathy; he does
not melt You into tears, nor elevate
you into rejoicing. You watch his
every motion as you would those
of star performer; you listen to his
every word as you would to those of
a fine drama but you feel that it is
all an exhibition.
A serious objection | have to Mr.,
Beecher, is his constant display Of
self If be speaks of honeysuckIe
it is "the honeysuckle on my porch"
If he mentions a lark, it is "the lark
whose young have nests in my gar
den 5" if he calls up an historical oc.
currence of character, be weaves it
into play by "when I stood at the
tomb of Heloise in France" or some
similar form In nearly every sen.
teDee that capital letter has a con-
spicuous position. But this is all
strictly in keeping with bis oracular
position In BROOKLYN. He is Brook
yn's god and has right to be egotis-
tic. He has the credit of being an
enthusiast. He is too cool, too pas
,ionIess, too adaptive, too ingenious
% be entitled to the name-signif-
,ant as it is of weakness. He is a
chemer and works up to his schemes.