Year: 1876

MR.. BEEcHERs ALLEGoRIcAL READING OF


PAULs sHIPwREcK-Bo PICTURED AS A


VIPER.


Perhaps nnetenths of the three thousand people who
crowded Plymouth church to the doors yesterday
peced that Mr.. Beecher would some allusion to
the letter of Mr.. Bowen, and, although the great
preacher did directly allude to his troubles these
curious and expectant people were not disappointed
The sermon was such one as Mr.. Beecher has
preached dozen times with slight variations Taking
for the text of his discourse clauses"For he
dured as seeing him who invisible" and 'For
live by faith and not by sght'-from Hebrews and
Corinthians respectively, he eXpatiaed upon the ad-
vantagcs and pleasures Of the emotional aud spiritual
life Of man as opposed TO the animal or lower ie


The chief feature of the service the Scrptural
lesson. Mr. Beccher read from the ninth Of the
twenty seventh chapter of Acts to the nth verse Of
the twenty eighth chapter, wherein is narrated the
shlpwreck and escape OF Paul. The reading char
acterzed by great dramatic force, and in intonaton
and gesture the speaker gave peculiar significance TO
the narrative. The story is strklngy adapted TO the
present condition of Plymouth church. and the sug-
gestve manner in which II was read gave TO it mean
ing unmstakable as TO send ripple OF excitement
through tie audience This soon subsded, however,
and the latter part of the lesson was listened to amid
silence in which the fall OF pin could have been
heard


Paul II will be remembered, admonished the centu-
ron not TO shin To Crete because the VOYAGE would be
with much hurt and damage only OF the fading
and the ship, but also OF their lives His admonton
was dlsregarded however and the shin was lost Just





ished the people upon IT, telling the centurion and the
soldiers not 10 desert the vessel saying Except these
abide in the ship you cannot be saved"


Mr.. Beecher at this point seemed 10 reach climax
in his wonderful elocution and there was no mis-
understanding the lesson he meant to convey. The
subsequent story Of the loss of the ship and the safety
of her passengers evidently made striking impression
upon his flock. which deepencd by the rendition
tone expression OF face and gesture assstingoi the
conclusion of the tale, telling how, alter the ship
wrecked landed on the island OF Melita and
a fire had beeu kinded Paul laid bundle Of sticks
upon when viper out OF II and fastened itself
upon his hand And then Mr.. Beecher, with force of
delivery in which seemed TO hear the murmurlngs
of his reacherous friends and the accusations Of
his open enemies read the exclamations OF the bar
barans against Paul:-'rhis man is murderer
wnom. though he hath escaped the yet vengeance
suilereth not to live.n Finishing the lesson he
forced his innocence by closing the book and ut
terng in emphatic tones, "And he shook of the beast
into the fire and ie no harm"
The reading was not accompanied by word OF COM
ment but IL carried with it Ks own lesson, and re-
ceved in the minds Of all new interpretation Mr..
Beecher the apostle, Plymouth church was the
ship; the great scandal the through which It
had passed, and Henry O. Bowen WAS the viper which
came out of the FIRE 10 sting the man OF God