The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-10

leSSiOu VI lue country, ana Ino repuIaJlOu
which he has achieved ns the foremost
preacher of the continent is fully merited
There are men in the pulpit who are moro
eloquent than he is, men who can turn
point more nicely, and wind rhetorical
flourish more effectively but in all the ele-
ments which go towards filing up and round
ing out the complete character Of the ideal
minister, Mr.. Beecher stands pre-eminent, if
not alone.
Ihe fact that he does not fully realize the
ideal is not material drawback. He is given
to clap-trap of the most outrageous sort, at
times. appearing to lose sight of the true
character of his work for the sake of pander-
ing to the vitiated tastes of the present gene
ration. which demand clap-trap even in the
pulpit At times, too, he is given to style
which can only be fairly described as the
slang-whanging style, and it is to his occa-
sional indulgence in this that he is indebted
in some measure, for the wonderful success
which he has achieved Yet even in these
apparent defects he displays consummate
skill, and keen insight into the human heart
If the world we're accustomed to frown down
all sorts of tricks in the pulpit, even while
submitting to them upon the stage and else
where, Mr.. Beechers knowledge of mankind
is profound and thorough enough to keep
him upon his good behavior; and if he should
outlive the present passion for jugglery, he
would doubtless outlive also his propensity
for resorting to it.
His grand characteristics, and the true
secret of his great success as pulpit orator,
are his marvellous earnestness, his rare SIM
plicity of manner, his hearty and undisguised
sympathy with his auditors, and his accurate
appreciation of the weight of the doctrines
which he proclaims. In the outline of an
address delivered by him before an audience
made up principally of theological students,
to which we give place in another column, he
says:-''If God has blessed my labors it has
been because l have had fervent, growing,
intense personal love for Christ, and an admi-
ration unspeakable. This has been the main
spring of my ministry But to this main
spring have been subordinate and subservient
those other qualities for which he is
SO Justly celebrated This thorough devo-
ton to the great Founder of the Faith willnot
always, and does not always, insure success.
In the address referred to. Mr. Beecher
quoted case directly in point as an illustra-
tion-that of man "noble in scholarship
noble in heart, the lachets of whose shoes he
deemed himself not worthy to unloose, yet one
whose labors brought forth comparatively
stinted fruit The great defect of this
preacher, and the secret Of his failure, accord
ing to Mr.. Beecher. consist in the fact that
while he has a sympathy with God, he has not
a particle of sympathy with man.
1t is to the possession of this latter quality
in pre-eminent degree that Mr.. Beecher
owes not only the success which has attended
his ministrations, but the more noticeable of
his defects. Thoroughly conversant with the
nature of humanity, and in perfect accord
with the spirit of the age, he does not hest
tate to lower himself to the common level of
his generation, for the sake of driving home
an argument, or bringing himself into sympa-
thy with those for whose welfare he has an
earnest and unaffected concern. If he some
times steps beyond the limit of discretion
the spirit of the times is in greater measure
for his fault than is the preacher
himself. We can only regret that the address
which has prompted these reflections cannot
be laid before our readers in more complete
report than that which we elsewhere publish
The subject is one of unusual importance,
and any words from Henry Ward Beecher
bearing upon it are invested with unusual
weight.