The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1869-11-03
Henry Ward Beecher. otjt -
MARX TwAINs EsrrMATE OF Ems pRr
vATE Habits. 1kGs


Mark Twain has been writing
up the private habits of Rev. Hen.
ry Ward Beecher for the Buffalo
Express, and from his article We
select these paragraphs s4iYHd1
Mr.. Beecher never swears. 4 in !
all his life a profane expression has
never passed his lips vBnt If he,
were to take it. into his lead to I
try it once, he would make even
that disgusting habit seem beahti-
fnl-he would handle it as it was
never handled before, and If there
was q wholesome moral lesson hid
den away in it anywhere, he would
ferrit it out and use il, with..tre,.
mendous effect. sPanoplied with
his grand endowments--his judg-
ment, his discriminating taste, his
felicity of expression-his grace
fnl fancy-if Mr.. Beecher had a
mind tosswear, he would throw in.
to it an:amount of poetry and path
os, and splendid imagery. and
moving earnestness, and resistless
energy, topped off and! climaxed
with a gorgeous pyrotecnic-confa-
grafton Of fiiagree and fancy swear.
ing, that would astonish and de-
light the. .hesrer and forever after
quiver through h is bewildered
memory an exquisite, confusion Of
rainbows and mnsic, and thunder
and lightning. "a mansof a high
order ofintellect and appreciation
| could sit and listen to Mr.. Beecher
sw. ar for a week without getting
Mr.. Beecher does not go around
and get advertisements for the
Plymopth Pulpit.o IF hes does
it, it is-vithout his knowledge or
consent. 1fsuch areport has been
started, it is an absolute duty to
refute it in this article. However,
no such report has yet been heard
of, and therefore II is not nccessa.
Try to do more than zrefute it in q
purely general way at this time.
He has to preach, and he has to
make the dedication speeches for
all sorts of things, and he is oblig-
ed to make q few remarks on near.
ly all distinguished occasions, be-
cause very often Mr.. Greeley is
busy and cannot come. And be-
sides, he has to carry on his farm
| Mr.. Beecher's farm consists oi
thirty.six acres and is carried on
on strict scientific principles. He
never puts in any part of a crop
without consulting his book. He
ploughs and reaps and digs, and
sows according to the best author.
/ tiles and the authorities cost more
than the other farming implements
do. AS soon as the library is com
plete, the farm will begin toFbe 6
profitable investment. His special
weakness is hogs, however. Hs
considers hog the best game q farm
produces. lie buys the origina
pig for a dollar and a half, and
feeds him forty dollars worth O.
, corn and then sells him for abont
50. This is the only crop he ever
makes any money on. he loses
On the corn, but he makes 81 sc
on the hog. de does not mind
this, because he never expects te
make anything on corn, any way
And any way it turns out, lie hai
the excitement of raising the ho.
any how, whether he gets th,
worth OF him or not. His straw
berries would be q. comfortabl
success iftbe robins would cat tur
nips-but they will not, hence tn
difficulty. Sometimes portion o
bis crop goes into the ground tn
most promising sweet potatoes, ant
comes up the internalest carrots
though / never heard him expires
it just in that way. When h,
bought bis farm, he found one eg,
in every hens nest on the place
He said that here was just the reas
OH why so many farmers failed =
they scattered t b cir forces to-
much--conoentration was the idea
So he gathered those eggs togeth
er and put them all under one ex
pcrienced old hen. That hen TO OF
ed over that contract night ant
day for eleven weeks, under th,
anxious supervision Of Mr.. Beech
or, himself bn. she Q could no
"phase" those eggs. Why's BE
cause they were sthose infamouI
porcelain things which are used b.
ingenious and fraudulent farmer
as "nest eggs" But perhaps Mr.
. Beecber's mos. disastrous expert
ence was the time he triod TO raise
an immense crop of driod apples