New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-14
and he ouf,.a me, I think and I kicked him, under

the seat did not go any more 10 ','ae ia ,vos
Us o~ror;.noe of church going when child was
equally inauspcious: ..,. and
,yas minister's son, and had to go 70 me s
! -, a. Tl1erefore hardly ever tIIeu W - a.
n IN while escaped but do not per s abnu
ever understood single thing my sber cprtaniy was
Sood nreacher He seldom preached ,otnraI
torital sc, vcry strong body OF argument united with
nyosI He was settled in Ltchteld wheTS tIS S va"
law sonoO t only astte farmers and able mechanics
INF also many lawyers and the daughteIs % .. ti,o
1 most cultivated families in the land at that tIe
% pis stvlo of preaching uncOnsciOusly to himselI
was fitted 20 the more intellectual part OF tle a. 81
ton And I-poor little curmudgeOn -sat dow t ~ So
pewand byheby the ministers peT was rg1t andSr
the side OF the pulp-the pulpit wasIless than ,,
five feet high. and were SO concealed that coe
see NV father and should never have known VINO ne
was II had not seen him at home sat IN Inat hgn
backed and high sided pew and the only lgh or com
fort tLat hadthe only consolation OF the Gospel ad-
minstered TO mewas the privilege OF squeaRlhs one Oh
those little rounds that turned III the opeu Woou"oA VI
the pew.
In regard to revvals of religion, Mr. Beecher
makes some judlcious Determinations, approving
the system, while he is not blind to its possible
abuses The tendency of all institutions, he afrms,
is to Journalism. Every man that ever undertook
to administer in college, in theological seminary
or in a church. must bewail the perpetual tendency
TO wear rusts and to make dead machines of things
Revivals necessary TO counterfeit this tendency
They are nowhere SO beneficial as in the midst OF
strong intrenched and highly organized religious
bodies There is no heresy on earth like lethargy.
Revivals wake up the old sleepers. There are men
who have been in good od-fashioned New England
church for forty years, without being converted,
until they have become like a side OF sole
leather that has been in tanvat for ten years. ana
so tough that if anything affect them 1t must be
divine. Yet these very men will be melted down IN
revival like little children and transformed into
/ a1,r ri In
element of fear, Mr.. Beecher admits, enters too
| largely into the work of revivals
| Most revivasts that have known are men with i'm
mepse bellies and immense chests aud big unuefneau
They are that great deal of personal mag
netiIn with them. sensuous magnetism 700, anu tuoS
have great power OF addressing the undelhlnd anu
they viii feelings undulang like waves ana WI
carry men on them. do believe You could preach
with effect the boatmen and the gamblers OF ArhSs
and to all the rffraf of the community those VINO rea
live down in the cellar OF their heads uu5ss YOU
the motive of fear 70 bear upon them III you couiu IA
way bring the higher feeling IN thfr I ne e
in and of itself upon the lower ones IneIe wo pe t
generation that direction. But ordinarily men luat
work among those classes men largely OF the eit
blessed with vigorous clrcumuoh anu gret Pom 49, ho
throwing sympathetic influence upon men; anu nc
cause they preach largely 10 Tue IciaSs' b" ~ @
are moved by conscience ana ~ notnIub eSC, o
preach these acerb and terrific doctrines, ana preach
them with all the imagery that mas come uown NJ I
from the medieval tunes, WIN noo4s anu no 100 , T
manner OF exaggerated statements nave heaId a re-
vivalist my pulpit make statements TO my cohgrega-
On that If believed them to be tfue would make me
| abandon the Christian MINISTRY was gong 10 say
thing was so hideousl He stood there-and atterwafd
when was with him. it appeared that he had no com
mud was capable OF infinite DEVELOPMENT and increase
OF capacity. Well, that Is pure supposlloh, 10 s,at
| with But assuming that, went on 10 say That IL
would go increasing forever IN power OF thought ana
power Of susceptibility ana power OF ehJoyen', anu t
power OF suffering. That being granted he went on 10
say that if 10 to hell they VIII increase forever anu
ever and when he came to the aplcatlOn ~ Was lls
have doubt" said he, aud his great whlte eye
glstened he rolled II around the audience, that
there sitting before me who Will by ana by DE
1 in ne
the power OF suffering until they Will nave reached
point az which they viii suffer in single minute
than all suffering OF ali the damned from the begin
ming of creation 10 the present h0urV Ihere was MS
logical inference and then he multiplied 1t ana went
on saving there would he mulItudes ana multi
tudes of them there while angels were singing glory 10
Goo and while God looking over mo the PIT ana
seeing that terrific scene, enjoying hmSelt he wanted
believe that. aud then worship God! Now, where
YOU deal with IN communities IN that way II is you
who blame for the reactions arc Something very
terrific IN REVEALS.
The same style has been applied to children, and
with terrific effect as Mr. Beecher testifes, from his
! own childish recollectons
remember, Iii my childhood, when minister came
10 my fathers house, like Thermometer. You
cannot open the stove that the thermometer does
not feel it nstantly and so IT goes up ana down as
sensitive a. it can be- My spiritual nature was just as
sensitive 10 religious impulses. 1 was always plunged
INTO the depth OF despair about my sins, always IN
state of awful anxiety be converted and TO have the
evidence Of II IN myself. This man, whoever he was
his name has gone from me-took my brother Charles
and me- began to tell stories about the Devil ana
hell until had got into that state that now wonder
did not 20 into commissions. IL hideOus. III lie
had put me on a hot gridrOn aud left me there ten
minutes could have got that but this soul hrol-
ing this tOrturing little child's sensitive nature Ia
mai way without presenting any thought OF mercy or
love or goodness or Christ Jesus.-why the man was
| heather, only he had u Christian coat on him.
Happily the author has lived to escape from the
dark valley in which the shadow of death
clouded the brightness of joyous natural tempera-
ment and pass into the sunny atmosphere ofserene
faith and noble activity Every page of the volume
bears the rich impress of a manifold and opulent
| personality. With the devotion of medieval saint
il manifess the secular vigor of the nineteenth
fury Its sane and heathful spirit is no less remark
able than its snewy strength of expression and its
daring originality ofiustraton. The sweet tender
ness of religious feeling which forms its key note is
tempered by a masculine common-sense, showing
that the eminence of the preacher has been built up
] ON the commences of the man.