Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-07-06
patronage. would be President for the
whole people, and act alone for their good,
and that would be fatal for me-"
HENRY WARD BEECHER.

The seventy years iof Henry Ward
Beeoher's life which were completed on
Monday have been years of extraordinary
activity, and eventful much beyond the CON-
mon. His early life aud struggles, bis long
pastorate Of Plymouth church, his polit ical
activity and influence, his splendid cham
pionship of his country in his visit to Eng
land In the dark days of the civil war, that
painful affair which has cast dark shadow
over his later years-all this goes to consti
tute career that may well be termed extra
ordinary. His services to humanity which
are no, now so wildly remembered by the
masses as they justly deserve-have been s,
great that we may well forgive some Of his
shortcomings. lie has had great influence
in the momentous agitatons of the period,
and that influence has been on the side Of
the right AS George William Curtis says
in letter read at the anniversary celebra-
ton on Monday; His eloquence ind hu-
NOR have always been the powerful allies Of
good causes and were the salient advocacy of
truth and freedom. Age can not
l
wither him nor custom stale his
infinite variety" Before the war
he maintained with voice and pen those
principles which afterward triumphed 81
gloriously and Fred Douglass docs well to
say "Beecher has been II power of good
in the land. In the cause of liberty, justice
and humanity, no man has spoken noblcr.
He has defended the colored race, and W.
send for him the wish, followed by the sigh
OF our soul, that his age may be mantled
with thousand consultations and the good
he has done may live ctcrnaly over him..
| Daring the war Mr., Becchcr rendered inval-
liable aid to the National cause. AS Gen.
Sherman says; 81 have always recognized
our obligations as soldiers to Beechcr; he hal
| supported our cause when VIC needed il
most" In his strictly professional career
he has rendered incalcuablc service-"his
| eloquencc in the pulpit" said Oliver Wen
deli Holmes, ''has held two generations
captive" Aud Mr.. Beecher's claims to re-
membrancc and honor are summarized by
| the poet Whittier, who writes: ''llc will
be gratefully remembered wherever liberty,
patriotism, temperance, freedom of faith and
Christian charity are cherished and honored."
The Boston Traveller well says;
Men may differ in their opinions as to the
soundness Of his religions views, or the
| effect of his championship of the great re-
forms of his day, or in their estimate of
his character aud his influence upon the two
generations of American people to whom he
| has spoken in many ways, but there is no
disputing the fact of his busy life, with his
hand and his tongue ever giving utterance
to the brilliant thoughts and noble senti-
ments winch the most prolific of American
brains has produced. And when, not very
| soon, we hope, even his vigorous frame
| yields TO the undermining and steadily-work-
Ing influences of years, and the time shall
have come for making up the record of his
| life, we believe that the verdict of public
opinion will BE- that he has been as good us
great, that he has had a large heart and a
wise head, that he has been an earnest advo-
| cate of the truth as he conceived it, an un-
disinaycd enemy of every form of wrong, an
unillnchlng champion of the oppressed and
down-lrUdden everywhere, aud an uncompro-
missing advocate OF great reforms and that
for himself there is little occasion for that
mantle of charity which he has ever been Sc
ready, in the warmth of his human love and
sympathy, to throw over the faults of others.