The Dewsbury Chronicle, and West Riding Advertiser. — 1872-12-28 (Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England)

ECCENTRICITIES OF THE REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER.  The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, recently, from Ephesians iv. 28—" Let him that stole, steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." The sermon was extremely powerful, and unusually rich in those sallies of wit and eccentricities of action which give a character and piquancy to all Mr. Beecher's sermons. Here are a handful of specimens taken at random :—lf I were a cabinetmaker, do you suppose I eould construct a cradle without singing a lullaby all the time? (Laughter.) Could I saw, plane, and rub—saw, plane, and rub—(imitating the movements of these tools)—and not put my heart in the work? If I did, I would be a drudge. The builder is a drudge who, every time he drives a nail, wonders were he can get a poorer and cheaper one. Men tell us that a man's character may be told by his writing. I can tell you the character of a builder and architect of a cold, big house. That man would be heartless and bloodless. But go into a nice, :warm, cosy house, and you will find out that the man who built it was a social, good man, with a heart and brains too. In Ohio, when I lived there, I knew eminently educated German agentlemen earning a dollar a-day breaking stones on a macadamised road. Measured by avocation, they were low; but they were thinkers, ranking higher they were honourable. A man who has been a hard worker all his life says to himself, " I have a smart boy. I'll give him chances I never had. I'll give him a good education. Yes, I'll make a lawyer out of him." (Immoderate laughter.) In the month of June there will be 500,000 blossoms on every apple tree, There will be about 300 apples, and the remainder will drop to the ground. It is the same in all professions. Out of 500,000 candidates there will only be 300 professional men. I venture to say that there are 5,000 young men here between 20 and 30 years of age who have nothing to do. New York is full of them. Ido not wish to be disrespectful, but ask one of them if he can do a day's work. He will answer, No. Are you good on shipboard? No; I've never been to sea. Can you make a chair? No. Are you a blacksmith? No. Are you a carpenter? No. Is there anything on God's earth that you can do? No, not a thing.—(Laughter.) Now think, what can you do? Well. I'm a good bookkeeper.—(Laughter.) They can do nothing, and can get nothing to do. Not alone is this the case in New York, but in all the large cities of the Union. Mr. Beecher next addressed himself to the wealthy members of his congregation, and said—Even if you are worth a million to-day, your son may yet be freed to beg his bread because he can't work. Your daughters cannot be chamber-maids, or cooks, or washerwomen—what's to become of them? (Laughter.) In one thing I would have you Judaised. There is an old and true Jewish proverb which says :—" He who brings up his child without a trade, brings him up to steal." The papers toll us of people going to seek their fortunes in America. It should be, work for their fortunes. Tell your children to work. They say it will kill them. Shall they live? No. (Laughter.) Shall they commit suicide? No. What then? Simply this: Eat the bread you earn, or don't eat.