Year: 1869

Rev. HcaYy Ward Bcecher On Repentance.


Rev Henry Ward Beecher delivered discourse


lasteyGning in Plymouth church. which was crowded,


n possible, more than usual After the ordinary ex-


ercises. the reverend gentlemen took his text from


the preaching OF John TO the mnitjtudethat came
to be baptizcd:-"0 generation OF vipers, who hath
warned you TO flee from the wrath to comeYn He
observed that portion OF the multitude had as
sembled the occasion merely through motives or
curiosity; ID the same manner rs a considerable
number of persons came to church nowadays. Hav-
ing explained the answers which the apostle made
TO questions asked him relative the righteous
course pe pursued, he proceeded to ate at length
on the subject Of repentance Many men substituted
for repentance, but seriousness was not
repentance. One bad meditation, while another
made a series OF resolutions yet none af those
constituted repentance, as the declaration TO our
selves NOT actually the fuhlment OF any inell-
ti0n. Resolutions were not to be undervalued: but
meditation, seriousness and resolutions should he


sharply Disseminated. Feeling and action made up
repentance. Repentance might come from feeling
Of Iepugnance TO evil or from q sense OF danger.
Then i, was fear that prompted IT. or it mightbe In


spired irom love Of the beautifulness OF right


There mystery involved in It, for II was q
genuine turning from evil 10 good. Moreover, It's
theory was extremely simple. Some people I'm
4gined II was strange circumstance II a man


mared to wickedness should suddenly emerge pure
and good from the dark paths OF vice and crime.
The very tact thai stirred up with remOrse
seemed To take many persons by surprise Neverthe-
aess repentance grand uprising or the soul.
On the other hand there were some persons who
did not believe In any moral change, bur considered
that repentance should take place only through di-
vine agency, ana they accordingly waited for it,
The reverend gentleman adverted al considerable
length To the many feelings that prompted renent-
anoe, and conended that II diu not matter how the
favorable change took place, provided it was efrec-
tnal. God never created two men alike In
regard to human disposition God created
natural kingdom wei as in the moral
Kingdom. Let every uan turn at once and proceed
on The right PATH no matter by what means; but let
him do IL at once. But only so much feeling that
could be turned to good account was desirable, for
III was useless for ship 10 spread all its sails when
there was no wind. Some thought that intensity
bad some relation TO genuineness, but 1t had not.
When sensiblties were too much aroused the result
was fruless, s was evidenced In the reading Of nov
cM They were more than real; but those who most
unprecedented them or wept over some imaginary
literary trash tending only to excite the emotions
were, generally speaking men OF desert heart. In
ofder TO De enectual repentance should be continual


day oi his life 1t often happened that the re-
penfance OF one sin was successfully followed by
the repentance of all Others. There were men III
ths world who If they could only repent Of one sin,
would be pure and happy. A battle sometimes
turned upon single point. III men could only re-
renched them repentance in its entirety would
quickly follow. Repentance should be characteristic
" the person. il was not necessary that there
should be any examples followed Ia the way OF re-
penance, but each should take the path his con-
science pointed out towards the path OF righteous
tony, some OF pride and others Of dishonesty. In
conclusion the reverend gentleman made u very
touching appeal TO the congregation, urging speedy
AID silCerc repentance.