The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-08-10

Church, Beecher is supposed by the immoral
and anti-Church people to owe bis crlminat-
| Ity to that fact, and accordingly the whole
Christian system and the entire Church gets
| Its beIaborine. Christianity will accordingly
suffer great blow in his fall, fall he must,
| aud every .unbeiever will feel his position
strengthened. Accordingly, while we find
the Christian in general trying to believe
him innocent, we find the unbeleyers trying
| to believe him guilty and to make it appear
so to the public. Religious people, the IN
ference iS, are no better than other men.
The greatest among them, and their unlver-
sal representative, has proved himself
scamp, and so, by implication. have all.
| Being preacher, Beecher's fall IS sup
posed by laymen and SINNERS" to prove
that preachers are no better than other men,
and the ministry will henceforth lose some
| thing of its force. Preachers as class will
| become more suspected; their sermons and
advice will be regarded as insiDcere. Hy-
! pocrisy will be charged to the pulpit and to
the altar by the wholesale. The people will
even. perhaps, be led to that most dreaded
| of all consummations-the taking of religion
into their own hands. In short, the crirni-
| nallty of Beecher will be supposed to be due
! to the fact that he is preacher, and to prove
| the general corruption of the ministry.
The Roman Catholics will attribute his fall
| to bis Professionalism. To them be is the great
test Protestant, just as to laymen he is the
greatest preacher, and to infidels the greatest
Christian. AS representative of Protes-
tants he shows what Professionalism is. He is
accordingly held up in Catholic papers as
warning to all the faithful against heretics
and heresy. The scandal will accordingly
be an injury to the cause of Professionalism.
The Episcopaians likewise attribute bis fall
to dissent, to the fact that he is not in the
true church, and not in the Legitimate line of
succession. TO them he is representative
of the non-Episcopal churches, the anti
Ritualistic worshippers. They thank God
that it is not an Episcopal minister that
has offended, as was Bishop Onderdonk
and they gather great strength from bis
fall as proving the sbabbness OF the
ministry of the "sects," and conversely
the need of legitimate. and episcopaIly or
dained ministry and church. And SO, IN
fact, all the other denominations, or the
bigots in them, will charge bis offence more
or less to the fact that he vas not a member
of their church-Dot one OF their kind OF
preachers; that be was never immersed,
never converted" never duly received into
church fellowship, or communion, not
strict churchman in some particular or
other. They see nothing in bis fall against
Christianity or morality, or else 90 not
care for ii; because they do not consi-
der him a representative of Christians
or good men generally, but only
Of Congregationalism. In short, they
draw themselves off from him and out from
the class which be represents, and attribute
the responsibility of his disgrace to an alto
cether different constituency. Congrega-
tionaists will suffer more or less in the eyes
of all denominations. 1t will be charged
with having produced such man, and as
calculated to produce such men; that the
system of independency in church govern.
mept is the cause, and that the other min
listers of that denomination have probably
like talingS.
Inasmuch as Beecher was knoWn as
great, liberal, large-minded, unsectariaD,
charitable preacher, the narroW-minded and
the bigots will attribute his offence TO his
liberality, and his fall will accordingly be
great blow to charity and interchange OF
Christian fellowship and pulpitS. The strict
sectarian will gain by it. Denominationallsm
will be in better odor. "Thus 1t is with
YOUR broad churchmen," it will be said;
Is with the men who fraterniZe with opposite
faiths, and do not make much Of denomina-
tional differences and ecclesiastical distinc-
tions.n It isa Judgment Of God, they insist,
on his teaching Christians to love each other
and stop fighting; and as they see him
90 down they will delight in their
hearts, and thank God. Liberalism
will, therefore, receive a. blow by his
fall: and the sectariaus will now fly to their
posts to guard their denominationalism. The
extreme orthodox, who always regarded
Beecher as the representative OF loose the
ology, of heterodoxy, and even OF beresy,
will look Upon his fall as due to his lack OF
faith, his disregard of ecclesiastical dIstlnc-
tons, his disrepect for creeds, ana nls lnae-
pendency and liberality of thought: Beecner
is not orthodox, they think, and his fall
proves that unorthodOx men are not moral. a
great cry is therefore raised for orthodoxy;
men are charged to stand by the Old stand
ards, review their catechisms, and read
I'D in old church controversies. Liberal
Christianity has received blow, ana lor
some time there will be fewer attendants at
DR.. Bellows's and FrothinghamS churches.
Had the Swing trial come on last week IN
stead of two months ago, Patton Would nave
been victorious. Henceforth there Will be
a more liberal Interpretation of the Bible;
weanon will be nut in the hands of the OPP
Moments of Beecherism W neither in theology
or manner of preaching. In short, hetero,
doxy in every shape will be at discount,
liberalism having fallen like greenbacks alter
victory of Lee.
AS Beecher, however, was not only
Christian and Christian minister, but also
politician and social reformer, his pollticai
and social opponents likewise attribute his
fall to his opposition to their views, ana
make capital out of it for their own cause.
Beine northern man, the people OF the
South attribute bis fault to his northern
characteristics, and infer from it the charae-
fer of all peculiarly northern people, Key
to the difference between the Yankee and
The southern character, the logical OUT
Growth of New Englandism, which yaunts
its virtue snd conceals lis vice, LAKES
high pretences, and is at the same ums ,. ln.-
sincere. His fall Is taken as Vlndlta.
Ition of southern chivalry, southern
rights. State sovereignty, and II need De, OF
the Gaming of Sumner by Brooks. Having
been an old abolitionist, his crime is deemed
| nv surviving pro-saYery men as an out
| ornwtb of abolitionism. Nothing else, &C.
eording to them, could be looked for in q
man whose career in regprd to slavery has
/ been like his. Apromlne Mt city paper attri
i h,tes IL to the seDtime;n common among
i northern abolitionists of q higher law.
4 eating the idea Of SINNERS higher law into
bis head. thinks that he conceived he could
disregard the common law of chastity as DC
could the State Jaws of slavery he = pc
4 cnliar institution y Is noy6 avenged the iats
4 rebellion Is justified. This is largely tne