Year: 1878




ing in the West, and the following ex-
tracts from an address delivered in Chi
cago will be found very full of Beecher-
isms


"Every man born into the world came
into it subject to at least five different
laws, which he could not evade.


|. The physical law, which touched
every organ and sense of his being.


2. The social law, under which not
one man in a million could carry him.
self safely, with any other law disobey-
ed or violated. 1t was not necessary to
know all of the social law. any more
than to know all Of statutory or
common law, but enough of it to guide
man steadily and safely on his world
ly career.


8. The law of business-the material
interests of man.


4. The moral law.


5. The spiritual law, by which man
scars above the earth, vanquishes his
clay, and clutches Immortality.
Every man, as he had said, were born
subject to these laws, which none could
violate with impunity. And 100000
men came into the world at once, in



generation, and were carrying their in
dividual interpretations of the laws
among them all.


No man ever reconstructed society in
day. or in any time. No crowned head,
no philosopher. The folly of the social
lists and of the communists was simply
transcendental fancy. Ignorance and vi
olence combined could not reform society.
If he were to mark along the life Of
society all the impediments, burdens and
wastes that could be enumerated, and
were he to discuss them all, his auditors
| might class his discourse as being among
the heavy ones. He would simply glance
at the chief distractions and leave the
others for some future reference


And, first, the great waste of material
which obstructs the physical power of
society by reason of weakness and sick
ness. Of the physical power of society,
only one-fourth is put to proper use
three-fourths are not used. either by rea-
son of sickness or of weakness. An hon.
est man, when sick, will either get well
or die. The weak man will neither do
the one nor the other The weak men
are as useless as the sick, and equally
unproductive. Instead of doing good
honestly, they scheme to cover their
weakness.


In the mere matter of human sympa-
thy, sickness appeals to all humanity.
Considered in the light of political econ
omy, sickness is waste of material and
force. The average of human life at
present rates is only thirty-three years,
out of possible four-score. Any man
of good constitution and healthy parent
age ought to be ashamed to think of dy-
ing before so. The worst of the matter
is that men do not regard health as a
public, but as a personal matter He

showed how foolish it would be to have
three-fourths of the machinery of a rail-
road, or three-fourths of the hands in a
factory, laid up and useless. The great
majority of sick cases have their origin
in deficient sanitary measures. He read
in English books on hygiene some IN
structive figures. which showed that in
the neighborhood of a penitentiary the
death-rate was IL in the 1000, while
inside the prison, where sanitary rules
were enforced, the death-rate was only
8 in lO00-a good argument for making
the penitentiary desirable place to live
in.


Wealth and power could take care Of
themselves. 1t was the poor and help
less that needed being looked after He
(Mr. Beecher) believed in putting the
screws to society and lifting it up. II
was not enough that the great thorough
fares should be kept in order-the al
leys and purlieus should have attention,
too, for the disease generated there
would extend to and devastate the pala-
; tial homes of the powerful and the rich
It would take their children from them
as judgment on those, who abandoned
the poverty stricken and the helpless.
The powerful should never attempt te
; 60 up without taking the bottom along
with them.


He described family poisoned by the
malaria generated in the kitchen reach
ing the parlor. The child dies first, and
then the father, and the minister, preach
! ing the funeral sermon, would say
"This is the hand of Providence, while
God knew all the time it was only the
: odor of rotten onions and sinking cab
bage.


The next great waste was ignorance
God, in creating man, dld not put il
him single element too much. An ig
norant man is not half made up. HI
does not know half his own probabl,
usefulness. A multitude of men are on
ly born in spots anyhow. He did mo-
mean by ignorant many who could nei