The Van Buren press., 1875-07-27
BEECHERIsM IN BOSTON.
Another Devoted Congregation, and q
Wicked Wolf in the Meekest Of
Sheepskins.
The Impunity With Which Man
May Sin. II He Has u Whole
Church to Back Him.

lfths etniGent teacher In BROOKLYN has ex-
pcrienced any pangs or qualms of conscience
about the unfortunate little affair which has
enveloped his venerable head in u halo rather
than cloud, and proven pecuniarily A better
speculation than any one supposed, he will
certainly enjoy the fact of his not standing
alone in his great guilt.
1t would not be surprising. however to
those who understand his overwecning vani-
ty, to find that Mr.. Beecher's egotisln received
shock rather at the knowledge that any
other man In America occupying an exalted
eccleslastic position had dared to
OUTRAGE HIS GOD,
His church and his social and secular relations,
as he has DONE and yet be retained in the con-
fidcnce and friendship of his religious asso-
ciatcs or the trnst OF upright men, He has
tor a long time been the great preacher and
teacher, the fat and uXorious image, before
whose feet, placed on gilded stool, men and
women have bowed in idolatrous worship.
going direct from iniquitous and ungodly
pursuits to prayers which had in meaning
perhaps only this: Lord cover our sins and
conceal them from the world, and our fellow
men," Beecher knew much better than any
friend, confederate or adviser. just what his
position was in his church. He knew his
devotecs perfectly well, and knew how to play
upon them exactly, to provoke quick or slow
music. and having all the chords in his own
hand. he felt safe enough. Even if one should
break-oLc or dozen-there would still re-
main the great whole. enough to ring his
changes OIL" from grave to gay, from lively
to severe. ~
AS Beeeher can put himself instantly into
the bosom of his hearers by touch of pathos
"a timely tear or twe-or, by quick stroke
of irresistible hunor, make Il smile 20 round
THAT CAN BE HEARD,
And dries up the moisture as Il July sun
scorches Hp the dew from the meadows There
is no other Henry Ward Beecher. No one
knows this better than lie. and no one has
presumed on the knowledge more; but there
are other great hypocrtrs and blasphemers
who preach to high heaven and pray as fer
venlly as he while fully as given over to the
service OF the evil one as Beccher.
Boston held her clean shirts away from con-
taminstion and put her iusulted nose into her
scent-bottle to prevent the fumes OF ihe flair
from making her i'll with NAUSEA. but felt in
wardlv Jealous all the while, and emulated
the genius that could SO siyly put the whole
world on its metal and yet never be josted
from its mighty pedestal. She had an ortho-
doX Congregational church and she had A
sensational preacher. and she produced her
Beecher. bad imitation ofa worse original.
it Is true, but one that would answer every
purpose. which is all that is necessary. The
orthodox Congregational people were the
III tHib tU1llltully TehpttlaUIt
tabernacle, the old Park street church, Just
of the Boston Commons. and their pastor the
very reverend W. II. II Murray, the Adiron
dack nan. whose books on that subject are
SO erroneous. ridiculous, and go widely read,
lie also wrote another book which
MR. BEECHER INTRODUCED,
Giving 1t thereby Il better send off than any
of his other works. The Rev. Dr.. Ryder of
Chicago. formerly of Boston, in a sermon de-
livsred not long ago, said of Murray:
Passing from Brooklyn to Boston, you find
man OF different mould, far inferior to the
famous preacher of Brooklyn but one who is
iinpressing hmselfu upon portion of New
England in much the same way. Settled over
straight orthodox church. famous for the
soundness of its doctrines" he breaches Uni
vcrsallsm, Unitarlanism, Swedenborgianisu,,
Darwinianism. almost anything but the gos-
pei according to Calvinism.
The reverend doctor again asks to know
what is to be tue end of this kind OF minis
try on the habits of society p And, while he
repudiates the austrre 'l'a -, ! v"n-fartsc y,
aro;iuN i-o taken jim ola nay OUT Oh u
si.pss.L..~Tria.low, and put in the smoo
pety. which Is " too s'ff,ics, 'ss demand even
intellectual honesty"
1t is rather a significant fact that Reecher
and Murray deal in the same religious laws
and tenets, and are both at the head of a
church whose belief ana habits are identical.
This does not certainly argue well for the or
thodoX Congregationalist, Beecher is no
more exempt from the rayages OF cholera
than another man; nor is Mr. Murray less
apt to take scarlatina than Il non Christian
boss carpenter, and neither are more nor less
than mere men. but they are not supposed
while acting as ministers of the holy Gospel
to rather invite the sicknesses and diseases
which common dccency could inocClate and
Al ~, Il f,lt
of households should be left to those who
make no pretensions to sanctity
Very few men or women have any sympa.
thy with or for Theodore Tlton, whose con-
temptiblc and vile nature seeps up through
every pore in his body and renders him AN
object of loathing; but very many would
sympathizc and commiscrate the unhappy
man whose life has been blackened and de-
prived of all that made it pure and blame
less existence by that wel-fed. well-nurtured
scoundrcl called Adirondack Murray. lfsuch
men can be re- rstained as the respected pastors
ofchurches then the very dogs in the street
should be made aldermen. Murray Is com
paratively young man; fine looking. deb0-
ndire in manner. sciupulouSly neat in his
dress, great lover of the turf and owner OF
some Of the finest horse flesh in Massachusetts,,
Like his master and protOty pc, Beecher, he Is
u great lavorite with
THE GENrLER SEX,
BY whom he has always been petted and
made to think himself too sweet to live a
minute. except, perhaps, 10y his wife. whose
long acquaintance with him has bluEtcd her
enthusiasm and dulled her appreciation of
this clerical Adonis.
Last year Murray stood on very good terms
with the world--Boston, and one particular
family in his flock. This family consisted of
fond and faithful husband. and a handsome
but weak min,lcd wife. whose aged and re-
spected parents ought. perhaps to be thrown
in as entitled to some consideration, and az a
part of the family who are to be pitied great
ly, AS they have felt the disgrace and scandal
greatly.
If the husband had reason to suspect or
doubt the perfect feaity ofhis partner he kept
such doubt and suspicion locked within his
own bosom, profound secret from the world
and her. suffering as men do at whose vitals
canker worm is eating secretly, night ana
day. growing on what it feeds on. His sus-
picions, if such existed. were by no means les
sened when his wife contded to him her sum-
mcr plans,
A TRip TO THE ADIHoNDACKs.
With MIR. Murray and his wife. 1t is needless
to say that Mrs Murray had no part or share
in this particular campaign, as she WAS at that
time in Connecticut. That the husband was
acquainted with Mrs. Murray's absence
neither Murray nor his lady.love dreamed,
and bidding him a friendly il not aifectionate
adieu, they sped away behind the roaring To-
connective which every instant bore them to-
ward the green gladcs and murky hooks In
those grand old hills which the gentleman
had so fully explored. Behind them in the
NEXT train rode the outraged Benedict as