The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-12-05
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The Psychology of Beecher's Case.

The Psychology OF BeecheT'S Case.
After reading over several Of HENRY
WARD BERcuRR's late sermons and
Friday evening talks" we are pre-
pared to endorse the remark thai
has been made several times lately
to the effect that Notwithstanding all hil
troubles, he has lost none Of his power as
a public speaker. There Is certainly
something very extraordinary about the
inside and outside history Of this remark,
able man during the last three or four
years. According to his own admissions,
aud the well sttested knowledge Of other
people, he has led very unhappy
gloomy and depressed lie for say three
years past, and particularly during the
last year. AS ho himself says, he has
suffered "the torments Of the damned"
or, as he says in another place, he has
spent much oI his time In 1.-THE horror of
great darkness" BE has even been on
the ragged edge Of despair" He has,
in word, been most miserable and un.
envisble man for at least three long and
weary years. And yet during this time
tue world around him has had no reason,
from anything In his physical appear
anCe or In the discharge Of his accus-
toned duties, 10 suspect what was going
on within his breast. He has held up in
public in manner that Is truly marvel
ous, and that alone stamps him as man
of no ordinary character. He has been
equal 10 himself and his past reputation
on all occasions. And these occasions
have not been few, but innumerable. He
has preached twice a day-attended
prayer meetings and social meetings
during the week-deliVered lectures
edited the Christian UnioH-written q lie
of Chrlst-aud done altogether an incred.
ible amount OF severe and exhausting
mental labor. Everybody admits that he
has done his work well. Nobody CON-
plains that he has been dull or
commonplace. His congregations have
been as large and his readers as
numerous and enthusiastic qs ever.
Aud this ls the case to-day. The trag-
edy still goes on and the great preacher
bears himself as brilliantly, buoyantly
and entertsiningly as ever. Richard is
himself" all tho way through. Like the
character Of Savonsrola, in one Of GEORGE
ELIoT's works, on the day oil the "trial by
fire" his ability to act double part is
more conspicuous than at any other
period Of his life. Like Savonarola,
BEECHER Is struggling not against i'm
pending martyrdom but against impend
ing rum" and therefore maybe like him
he looks and acts ,' as il he were thor
oughly confident when all the while
ioteboding Is pressing with leaden
weight on his heart" In speculsting
upon this character ELIOT observes that
almost all Of US are so made that the
false seeming which We have thought OF
with painful shrinking when beforehand,
in our solitude, 1t has urged itself on us as
necessity will possess our muscles and
move our lips, as II nothing but that were
easy, when once we have come under the
stimulus Of expectsnt eyes and ears."
This speculation, quaint as It is, Is hardly
satisfactory explanation Of MIR. BBKcH'
RR's ability to Withstand .the consuming
influences that have 30 long preyed upon
him. There Is still the psychological
mystery to account for why, notwith-
standiDgithe almost ssintolerable nature Of
bis suspense, he has been able to preserve
not only his healthful physical appear
snce, his buoyancy oiianimal spirits, his
equsnimity in social life, his capacity for
abstract and abstruse thought and re.
search, and his ability to go through with
as much work as ever and to perform It
just as promptly and as well.
One can conceive how all this seem
Ing stoicism and imperturbability could
characterize "the lying down and rising
up" Of man who felt himself strong in
bis entire and absolute innocence, and
were 1t not for the secret history that has
come to light (part Of 1t being Mr..
BEEcHER's letters) We mightsuppose that
he was simply biding his fate, like PAUL
and sILAs in jsil, in the enjoyment OF
sublime and unfaltering faith, looking for.
ward TO the "sure promise that never
fails" But the secret history referred to
shows very different state Of mind, 1t
shows Mr.. BEEoHER acting under con-
sciousncss Of having placed himself in a
position dif1cult.to explain, and lsboring
under the most terrible apprehensions Of
exposure. And yet all this time he has
eaten and slept we'll, and looked WE'LL
and, furthermore, he has studied and
preached and wrote we'll. And to this
DAY he gives no actual sign that he is not
as able to command all his physical and
mental resources as efficiently as at any
time in his past lie. This Is the psyche.
logical curiosity OF his case. Can any one
give US an analytical rationale ol iS
81 L.