Year: 1879

date Of the 10th, furnishes us with the


following account of Beechcr's sermon


on his return from the South


Brother Beecher returned from his


lecture tour in the South and West late


Saturday evening, and yesterday a
dense crowd awaited his utterances
from the pulpit OF Ply mouth Church.


Previous to the sermon he baptized
twenty-eight children. Tho theme of
his discourse was taken from l Corin-
thians: s'Thinketh no evil; rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the
truth" and he delighted his hearers by
discussing public and general topics,
rather than theological tenets. He con-
demned the spirit of consciousness in
strong language, as tending to vulgar
ize what God has made SO sadly grand.
elbow long is the march upward OF
humanity? How slowly do men grow:
Is that II reason for pity or contempt?
Suppose a ship was laundering on II


rock and the people OH shore stood
jcering over each victim that went
down to rise no more. That is what is


being done in a moral sense. When


the sand was strewn with corpses they


would leave them to tho ravens and
the jackals, themselves blackcr than


ravens and hungrier than jaclSals. So


when worldly mon die, instead of
shedding tears of compassion and sor-


row, they cXclaim: "Well, tho old


fellows dead and gone to hell -


tite for evil knowledge, tho preacher
dealt severely with the newspapers


that cater to it. "Society obligcs II


man to wear clothing and walk the
streets in a decent manner; tho news
papers do not allow them to wear u rag
aud parade before tho world everything
that it is desirable to keep in proper
concealment. They are noble channels
for tho transmission Of learning and
intelligence; they carry q thousand In
spiratiOns to patriotism aud advance
ment; they are invaluable. Neverthe-
less, they have common sewer ut tho
bottom, from which risc mephitic gases
into the households Of the people, pro-
ducing disease and death. They say
such news is marketable, and it is
mere matter of opinion whether its
publication is criminal or not. We
do not publish paper in order to


preach. We supply what tho people


want and will have; if we do not do


it, some ono else will. There is some
reason in the explanation, but it is


merely an excuse. 1t rolls over on


the public tho burden of reproach aud


responsibility. If you would not read


such things they would not put them


in the papers. They expose this car


rion in the markets OF the world and


you like it and buy ii. You have II


morbid and secret craving in spite OF
your higher training. What hiLcous
seduction has taken place? Who has
been knocked down" SO in the news
papers, that sort OF intellectual product
irl hnS ifS fririr, hnIn,x, h,p pn- IL,
sown broadcast. 1 hate it, and rather
than read it l would sit down to mud
banquet. 1 could take II mans leg off,
if it were necessary in order to save his
life, although the sight of blood makes
me faint, but to sit down to these
things AS the inspiration of II day is
Nay, it is worse, for the
cat their human prey before
it is rotten. Rome had her gladiators,
Spain has her bull fights, England had
her bear batting, and America has her
Is this an assault upon
tho newspapers? No more than it is
an assault upon the heads of families
who are responsible for their character.
They are less faulty than the men who
read them. l take it there is not one
leading newspaper in the United States
whose proprietors would not be glad to
instruct the editors and reporters to
leave out the basilar news if you did
not demand it."


The jealousy with which free pco-
pie view their public servants also re-
.civcd vigorous thrusts. "rhc un-
taught and unbalanced way in which
officials arc attacked, prosecuted and
has led to general dcprccia-
ion and universal suspicion. If there
s one corrupt judge, senator or lcgisla
or, ten suffer in consequence. We
nave come to look upon the men in
,owcr as suspected class, and in fact
he way they obtain it rather favors
his view. But did you ever reflect
hat nc who takes down from the res
and rcspcctability of Il rcp-
of the people strikes at the
whole system of law and government?
There is large and growing class who
in everything the taint of
and who say that no one
out an ilIusionist can believe that there
is any real disintcrcstcdnccS in the
world. l am ashamed TO sec so many
young men growing up with this "p1h- ,
;on.'' ,


Tn copr,,Igion sectional ulSI1kc5 ana ,