Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-18
LYMAN BEECHER.
.,dence that Henry Ward Displayed
at an Early Age.
Eronl Stanton'a Book

From summons BOOK.
n. Reecher was tried for heresy by the
.sbrterv Of Cincinnati for certain ut
sarces Of his in New England. The case
n ~ cot up to the synod which met in
a r' in 1884. The testimony was
nir one forenoon DR.. Beecher COM
nanced summing up in his defense. AS
..,,aI he was able and ingenious while
31resslng his distinguished auditory.
& nv tbe adjournment at noon he took
lat marty to his house for dinner.
-..,r whom were some of his antagon-
guy lD As was the Doctors wont in enthu-
ss.s+ic hours he kept right on making his
snoech at the dinner table. He was
i'id elastic and tacetiOus. He
ol0med particularly DESTROYS of favora-
~ Undressing his moderate oD-
pc!oonts. suddenly there piped up from
bl Iower end of the table a voice which
u..orod these words: ''Father, | listened
" vonr speech in the synod this morning,
ord | know YOU are plagued good at
.uisting. but if you can twist your creed
."to tba Westminster Confession of Faith.
UnrI can twist better than l think you can"
mo Doctor's cOuntenance fell, but only
& tor moment. He suddenly rallied and
eaf1 u some
81 tbem are impudent.' Then, of course.
uose a laugh. The voice that piped M
hon tbe lower end of the table belonged
n - Henry Ward Beecher. Whether he can
e tui If his creed onto the confession Of
saith it does not become me to decide.
81 Tho Doctors case went up to the General
81 assembly and was yet undecided when
tho PRESBYTERIAN Church was rent in two
n NJ 1883
New School Presbyterianism, IN whose
ranks shone DR.. Nathaniel w. TAYLOR, of
yaV Haven; Albert Barnes, of Philadel-
r1ia, DR.. N. S. S. Beman, of Troy, and
rgrIes &. Finney. Mr.. Beman was the
81 5a1afer OF his faction. The leader on the
Il 0H school side was DIR. Ashbel Green.
4 President of Princeton College. The COM
i Iatants fought just like the worlds peo-
i De. and kept the church in turmoil for
d taara. Dr.. Beman was often sarcastic.
d Will be remembered that in the fly leaf
&oftbe old catechism were poetic cOuplets,
*srranged under the letters of the alphabet,
land set to horrible rhymes. The one un-
Hder A read:
n "In Adams fall.
We sinned all"
4 Dr. Beman used to repeat this, and then
n add to it;
"In Adams fan,
We snned all;
In Cams murder,
We slnned furder:
BY Doctor Green,
Our sin is seen.'
n could give many anecdotes illustrating
n the peculiar characteristics Of DR.. Beech
err; but l forbear except to tell one, to
Il show his chronic absent-minde dness. He
preached in the First Presbyterian
81 Church, the aristocratic, rich church of
81 Ci7cinnati. He was always doing some
odd tang. One Sunday he came in late;
the house was packed; he walked rapidly
81 up the aisle with piece of blOtted manu-
81 script in his hand, assembled the pulpit,
#Opened the Bible, spread his manuscript,
took his text, and was about to begin his
sermon without any preliminary eXer-
cises. One Of the elders rose from his
pew and stood. The elder looked at
the Doctor, the Doctor looked at the
q der. The elder came out Of his
lew, the Doctor came down the
stairs, and they met. The elder whisp-
Il red a few words in the Doctors ear, the
&Doct0r reascended, closed his Bible, and
81 said "Let us pray" This was a speci-
men Of many such performances. l don't
81 know OF any better way of accounting
81 for it than to tell what the Doctor once
said to US at the seminary when giving
lecture in oratory. young gentlemen"
said be, "don't stand before a looking
glass and make gestures. Never mind
your gestures. Pump yourself brimtull
yJUr subject till you can't mold another
PIP, and then knock out the bung and
#dDatuIe caper." In the instance of the
srmOu the Doctor had pumped himself
q hll on the subject of his study, and when
he reached the church was TOO eager to
& knock out the bung.