EDITOR'S TABLE. 



621 



taken up subjects of intense popular 

 interest, and has treated tliern with 

 such boldness and power as to com- 

 mand universal attention. His atti- 

 tude, moreover, has been such as to 

 provoke partisanship, and arouse an- 

 tagonism. Independent in theology, 

 free and easy in the pulpit, and of- 

 ten rough upon the churches, he has 

 raised a great deal of religious ani- 

 mosity. A vehement reformer, he has 

 amazed and irritated conservative peo- 

 ple. Foremost and often fierce in poli- 

 tics, during a long period of intense 

 political excitement, he has stirred up 

 an enormous amount of political detes- 

 tation. This disturbing influence has 

 been felt to the remotest corners of the 

 land, but of course it has been more 

 palpable around home. To the general 

 causes of repugnance have been added 

 local causes in his own city that have 

 operated with virulent intensity. He 

 had many and ardent friends whose 

 indiscriminate praises produced re- 

 vulsion and disgust in many minds. 

 Brother clergymen were gangrened 

 with jealousy at his overshadowing 

 influence, while their congregations 

 were charged with sympathetic spite. 



Now, this is a dangerous position 

 for a man to hold in a community, as 

 in any untoward circumstances it could 

 be turned against him with fatal eflfect. 

 If anybody had a motive or design to 

 unroof Plymoutb church, smash the 

 pastor, and drive him out of Brooklyn, 

 the facilities of assault were at hand. 

 It was only necessary to fix upon Mr. 

 Beecher a scandalous charge, and it was 

 sure to spread like fire in straw. It 

 was not at all necessary for purposes 

 of public effect to establish the charge 

 by valid evidence ; it was only neces- 

 sary to link certain ideas together to 

 make a circumstantial picture of scan- 

 dalous details, with Mr. Beecher as the 

 central figure, and public feeling, con- 

 sisting largely of dislike, hatred, preju- 

 dice, and jealousy, would cement the 

 ideas together and give them all the 



force and effect of proof. And such is 

 notoriously the way the case was car- 

 ried. The picture was made by the 

 Woodhulls ; and, backed by no better 

 evidence than the WoodhuU character, 

 it was at once believed by multitudes 

 in the way they believe most other 

 things. Of course, all those whose es- 

 timate of Mr. Beecher was indicated by 

 such terms as "blatlierskite," "nigger- 

 worshiper," and " priestly hypocrite," 

 accepted the charge on sight ; but with 

 thousands upon thousands of others there 

 was from the first an unavowed half- 

 belief palpably originating in unfavor- 

 able feeling. With the great mass of 

 the community, indeed, the case was 

 absolutely prejudged, the " statements " 

 following the "Woodhull presentation 

 clinching and closing it, so that the six- 

 months' trial was a mere superfluous 

 appendage. As has been often and 

 truly said, with any other man the case 

 could probably never have got a foot- 

 hold in a court of justice ; but with 

 Beecher the whole country was on fire 

 with excitement, and was determined 

 to have it out ; and so, with the coop- 

 eration of the newspapers, and an ac- 

 commodating court, the people have 

 regaled themselves on putrescent gos- 

 sip for half a year. The possibility of 

 such a social experiment would not 

 have been previously believed ; but if 

 it could occur it is better that it should 

 occur, as thereby we become whole- 

 somely, if painfully, instructed in the 

 ways of that curious thing we call pub- 

 lic opinion. 



"K^ox THE incomparable:' 



In another part of this magazine, 

 under the title of "A Popular Ver- 

 dict," will be found the painful story of 

 one of the remarkable characters of the 

 past generation. The sketch is far too 

 meagre to do justice either to the traits 

 of the man or to the causes that con- 

 spired to darken the later portions of 

 his life. 



