River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-04-23
MIR. Beecher's English Exps rience-.
How He Faced the Manchester Mob
Mr.. Beecher's Account OF the Affair
.-As Freshly Told TO "A Brooklyn
Eayl.. N


landed in Manchester from trip to
the North, and met at the station my two
| friends, Mr.. Watts and Mr.. j. ii. Est
court. Put their names in, for they. par
tlcularly Estcourt, are two as grand Eng
lishmen as the Lord ever made. | saw,
the moment they met me, by their man.
ner, that there was something in the
wind, so that, after walking few steps,
lturned and said "Estcourt, what is iti
Out with it, now" He said there was a
great deal of excitement in the city. L
supposed very likely they would tell me
the meeting had been postponed. "Well,"
said |, what is the subject Of it?" Then
said he: "The streets are all covered
with pacards of every description threat.
ening violence and mob law" s'Then
you have not given up the meeting, but
are only troubled because you think
cannot stand it Z" 'Yes." swell, don't
you trouble yourself. The opposition
that will turn me back and prevent my
speaking is yet to be revealed" He
turned around to me with such look Of
admiration and relief, but never said
word. lie walked along, and | could see
him cycling me from time to time, as if to
satisfy himself that had the pluck. He
stopped at the hotel. The meeting was
to be, the next night. | prepared my
notes.
! went in the evening. When I en-
tered, the stage was full and the great hall
was full. was received with a curiosity.
knew that all the reporters from Lon
don and the great cities were before me.
| kew, too, that there had been deliber-
ate design formed to break me down in
my speech in England, and then to shout
our failure, and | determined that would
be heard in England, if it took me ten
years. | determined that would not be
broken down. | might be silenced at
that meeting, but having embarked in the
attempt | determined sooner or later to
succeed. | commenced my speech, and
after they had listened Tor nve minutes,
as it were for general curiosity, / began
to make my points, and then a tumult
arose.
| may as well describe once for all the
character of the tumult. 1t was like--it
was not the whole audience at once in in.
surrection--it would be nest of men on
my right hand breaking out into a dis
turbance, apparently as if they were
quarreling with each other and others
would try to stop it, and there would be
shouting and uproar, which would be an
swered by another nest of men in
another part of the room, and then it
would bubble up there away in the back
part of the hall, and then there would be
a lull, then cat calls and whistles; then
the billowing and surging would begin
again, and the whole audience would
catch it; on one side and on the other
there would be all manner of insulting in
terruptions and protestations against
them, as if the whole audience were
against each other and the whole of them
against me. | said to myself: Two things
must be done at once, first, that | hal
got 10 throw away my notes: second,
that, while | was managing an unruly as
semblage, | would have to be both gen.
eral and an orator. 1t was necessary
that should put out for the reporters of
the next morning papers such view of
the question as should command the re-
spect Of the reading men. The audience
was evidently divided into three parts; q
minority favorable to me, another equal
minority opposed to me, and a medium
section who had come there neither to OPP
pose nor favor, but were to be persuaded
one way or the other. | was satisfied
that should gain nothing by going with
those who were already my friends. 1t
was evidently my policy to secure the
great middle section, SO resorted TO eve
ry expedient which a man accustomed to
manage audiences employs. When the
uproar was so great that no human being
could have talked with the reporters in
front, sometimes debating to them the
part OF the sentence interrupted. At 9th.
er times Hooked on the whole thing as a
Child looks on a storm at sea, when he
stands on rock where it could not reach
him; then, again, laughed outright ut
the comical things taking place before
Inc.
One man was standing back by the
baize doors, a great fat fellow who was
believing at the top Of his voice. A DO.
liceman, or somebody with marks of
office on him, sat at the end of the seat
next to him. After the fat fellow had
beloved once or twice, the other fellow
turned around and struck HIM in the
belly, and the first one fell clear through
the door. which closed OH him at once, so
that he finished his below on the out.
side. was convused with laughter to
think how that fellow would feel to find
himself so suddenly out there. The au-
dience laughed with me-. Again would
point to some person in the audience,
somebody would catch it, and it would
go through the assembly, the uprear
would stop for moment, and | would
shoot in my argument again. At the
least lull | would commence some little
narrative until the house was still and
then drop it and 60 o. with my issues.
and then the uproar would commence
again. So it went, until was half way
through spoke about three hours--I
was satisfied that ! was going to win, and
that conviction did not hurt my feel.
ings. determined not to be thrown of
my center by any interruption they could
bring, and | saw and felt that the resis.
lance was growing less and the favor was
growing more and more positive. After
speaking two hours or more, fer the last
three.quarters Of an hour was permitted
to 60 on almost uninterruptedly, and
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