The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-03-07
BEEcHER AS 4 MIMIC.

PAEToMiNIc EXPORTS THAT GApr THE PLrM-
ouTH CONGREGATION LAUGH.
Mr.. Beecher preached Sunday evening upon
the difficulty Of acquiring correct religious
habits, and the comparative ease Of maintain
ing them when once they have become second
nature. Many look upon religion, = he said,
ssas an insurance policy against final loss by
Are. He described that kind Of religion so
fhnnily that the congregation laughed outright.
They 20 to church every Sunday he said,
pulling his coat close around him, drawinghis
face down dolorously and rolling up bis eyes.
'sThe hymns are doled out TO them, a good,
sound, dry sermon Is preached to them, and
the most eloquent passage Of all is their going
out. They attend prayer meetings, too-most
dismal prayer meetings.n Here his lower
Jaw dropped, more Of the whites Of his eyes
showed, and HIS hands were clasped before
him. "There are some comfortable things In
Greenwood, but none in one OF these prayer
meetings. They 20 through the exercises
solemnly, and the brethren try to say some
thing they do say the same things they have
been saving twenty years. Then the services
arc mercilessly cut short, and they go gloomily
home"
After describing true religion as something
Independent Of forms aud catechisms, Mr.
Beecher illustrated the process Of its practical
requirement. He held an invisible fiddle,
lingering the strings with one hand, drawing
the bow with the other, and adjusting the
imaginary instrument under his chin, while,
he said Have you ever seen boy trying
to learn to fiddler don't wonder they eall
those strings catgut. | should say the spirits
Of all the dead old cats were in them. But
when the boy masters it--'i stopping short, he
commenced 70 fiddle gracefully ike good
violinist Then he showed how man learns
to set type, the desk furnishing the case, from
which be slowly and awkardly carried the
letters to supposilious composing stick,
| spelling out audibly s-h-a-d. When the con
grcgation had stopped laughing, he gave the
rapid motions Of the same man after bis trade
had been learned. Il was taught elocution,
he said, although you might not think it, !
was drilled in all the gestures" He made
the prescribed gestures, and struck the atti-
tudes in awkward but rapid succession, and
| then did them gracefully, in the style OF a
speaker to whom they had become habitual
\ and unstrained. ssWhen we try to be grace.
full, = he said, eve can't be. All those things
come by long and persistent usage, and then
without thought. In the country where a
board six inches wide is laid in the mud, a
man will walk it without effort and never step
off, Taking his place at one side OF the
platform, be walked easily in an exact line to
the other side, with his hands in his pockets
and his eyes wandering carelessly. ssNow,n
he went on, s'put that board at a height Of
fifteen feet, and not one man in dozen can
walk the length Of il without falling Cd. y
Taking his position as before, he fixed his
eyes in front Of him as though on the elevated
board, looked scared, and commenced the
imaginary passage. Wavering and balancing,
with his arms extended, he with difficulty got
half way across, and stumbled as though fall
ing. The people laughed out loud at the
elaborately perfect pantomime.
The greatest hit, however, was the droll
mimicry Of miser, who resolved upon reform
and began by releasing mortgage on poor
mans farm. The counterfeit severity OF the
miser in demanding payment, the frightofthe
debtor, the blandness Of the miser in present
ing the cancelled document, and the Joyous
antics Of the debtors wife and children, were
all produced with the skill Of q trained come
dian. Finally, when Mr.. Beecher, as the
reformed miser, with benevolent smile on
his face, mounted his horse and rode off,
bending his parted knees and swaying his
body in exact imitation Of rider, and cutting
behind with an imaginary whip--eyerybody
laughed until the tears came.