, 1874-06-14
The Great Preacher as He Is
To-Day.
Plymouth Pewg, and the Vicissitudes
Of an Entrance,
Reecher's Mode OF Thought and Speech
---His "Acting" Not The
atrical.
4 Choir Of GO and Chorus Of 3,000.-.Tho
Congregation Not an Assem-
bly Of Beeehers.

1or1espondsnce Of The Chicago Tribune.
NEW YonK, June III, 1874
Last Sunday made the New Workers. annua
pilgrimage. That is to say, I went to hea
Beccher. There WAS time when I made thi
journey twice every Sunday, with resularit..
which no stresB Of weather could diminish or in
terrurt. neglected my mca!s and would hnv'
been willing to go without sleep, to hear him
Then the world Was composed of two halves
Henry Ward Beecher and the rest OF maukind,-
and Beecher was decidedly the largest half OF the
two. But wisdom came with years. and that is
more than it does with good many peop1e-and
learned the delights Of unrestricted maps On
Sunday morning, and tho comforts OF 1eisurely
Banday-eyeuing tea, which are not cut short by
The summons TINT it was time to so to Beech
er's. So the pilgrimage fell off from weekly
to monthly one. and finally relapsed into the
regulation annual visit.
It is one thing to Say you'll go to hear Beech
er, and another to get there. The boat on which
you Cross the East River is crowded with pill
erims, and that 1s from only one point Of tho
compass. To hold back and control this multi
trde, pressing in from all quarters, aud allow it
slowly to percolate into the buildings, usherB arc
stationed at every door, who arc deaf
Etrong, md whose manners are about
urbane as 3 mans eau be who is pestered by
five hundred selfish people. It is g source Of
continual wonder to mo
VIII AssAss1sA11oSs AnE NOT MORE FREQUENT
ut Plymouth Church. IT were one of these
ushere, should be tempted to take the lives Of
dozen people every Sunday morning. They
Push and crowd forward, disobeying orders, try
In Sfa p1a
absurd stories on which to claim q seat, and do
thousand ridiculous and annoying things. On
the other hand, it is astonishing that some Of
these ushers do not fall by tho hand OF some in
diGnant visitor. The patience and kindliness
majority of them display are really marvellous
but now and then thoro is one whose death by
violence can only be matter Of time. To give
an instance: In entering the church. stood for
MON ent on the stop close to tho wall, so as to
Re in no ones way. The usher loud-yolced,
VASCULAR individual who was probably selected
for the front entrance
no FR16HrES AWAY Is MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE,
ca lied out, You can't stand there. Either come
III here on the line, or stand outside" I hesi-
lated moment or two, rs tie direction Was not
remarkably clear. "1t'sno fun to us," WAS the
next outburst. !" to tell you to do thlng twenty
times! Either stand inside or outside!" For
!, :" II you're inside, prefer to be- outside and
outside went. Igenerally think OF my repair
tees fifteen minutes after the proper time, but
luckily WAS more punctual than E1Y wont; I
stalked out into the sun, aud took my stand at
the end Of the line, in a mood of unusual relig-
tous contentnenl.
But supposng thcze struggles ard conten-
tons past, We find ourselves finally within tie
church, aud seated amid
THIS GREAT AUDIENCE.
r ntnT~
tu:o of the auditorium They all love it too well
to. desire any. There is the samo eimpla read
ulg-stand, made Of WOOD brought from
;aered3 ;. lands: the same beautiful bus
3: one aide Of the platform, with fragrant bou-
quet standing on the desk; the same soft hat
thrown carelessly beside the chair; the samo
man in the char, though grayer than when I
EaT him last; the same immense choir and great
organ, with its dark rich case and ung1lded
pipes and the Eane vast congregation. This
audience, which ia almost as we'll worth coming
to see as Beecher himself, covers the broad floor
and the low, deep gallery which stretches all
above, in one unbroken mass. lou cannot de- |
4nct place anywhere
WHERE ANOTHER AUDITOR COULD BE PEGGED N.
1t is marvellous that this single man should |
dSaw this iru1nense concourse, not Sunday after |
Eunday only, but month after month, and year |
ntter year. 1t must be nearly quarter of q CEN
tury since he began, and yet this strange mag |
net draws every week the same great gathering. |
The congregation is worthy OF q little study. |
It is not fashionable or cultivated body Of |
people, on the whole. It is well-to-do, however,
and has some famous milGonairea on its rolls
It Is Liberal congregation; they very seldom |
take up collection, but when they do, it's what
congregation; witness tho way in which they
folded their arms in quiet contempt Of Brother
Budington and Brother Storrs and asserted
their rights in the face Of the whole Congrega-
tional Church It is an intelligent congreea-
ton; Boecher has led them up heicht after
height of theological progress and liberation, |
until they now look calmly down from an eleYas
non which years ago would have been beyond
I1e .he vision Of the keenest Of them. They read
that; and are altogether wide-awaLe and en-
phatic people. Still, it is
NOT sucB CONGREGATION
Is You would naturally expect to see surrounding
B man Of such remarkable intellectual activity
educated people OF either sex does not seem
very large.
Tue singing is amazing. To ono accustomed
10 listen to the supercilions warblirg Of SAL
a11eo quaIsette with that decorum aud humility
y which marks the exemplary church member, there
y positive inspiration in the great, swelling
chorus Of praise which pours forth. led by
tsanea l.. choir OF sixty or seysntyhye voices
under the generalship OF Mr. Henry Camp. and
borne up on the mighty wings OF this immeneo
organ. The choir is composed Of volunteer
members Of the congregation, and is a most
efficient and well-dEilled organization, With we'll
Gno"n singers leading the various sections. Hut
these are. after all, hut the adyance-guard Of tha
main army of singers. O
TIE WHOLE coSaREaarzos s1yas
and sings IN healthy, whole -sou,el way. and |
Sher AT. Beecher selects ecme favorite Old
pymn, they all seem eager for tho effort. Old
John Zunde1 attacks the organ, erery pulse of
which he knows, for he has felt it for many
and many year; tho choir lead
IN the hoartiest way Imaginable, and
the great audience send out aocd Of inspiring
harmony that fair1y sweeps you of your feet.
Whle NJ Eeechcr turns his radiant face from
ONO hae to the other, and drinks it all in.
-, lnc great preacher himself has changed With
N u, Two ;ears. His hair is sraJer,-so much 60
eaa1 u 1taSses one who has not seen him for IN
mss1'ai: aa NO one. perhaps, will ever know tho
secret histo! o{ these last yearethe anguish,
me Struggles, the bitter days and nights. scandal
mas Drought upon him. But, II other respects.
w. DOES NOT sEEI TO HAyE AGED At ALI.
HIS voice 1s as round and strong as ever his
face ~ rnduy and full his whole phys,oua m
parcntly Is active and fresh as it Was years am.
He takes up the little Bible,-ho never nsea
Die ct the huge gilt Affairs, reads. in a
low, far-rcaching voice, selection Of Scripture.