BEECHER. 



63 



laboring with exceptional vigor even for him- 

 self, adding to his preaching the labors of lit- 

 erary work in the completion of his long- 

 delayed " Life of Christ," which he purposed 

 to follow with an autobiography. On the 2d 

 of March he experienced wbat at first appeared 

 to be a severe bilious attack, but proved to 

 be apoplexy, under the effects of which he fell 

 into a deep sleep, and so painlessly passed 

 away, dying on Tuesday morning March 8, at 

 half-past nine o'clock in the morning, without 

 a struggle. His wife, three sons, and one 

 daughter survive him. No death ever produced 

 more wide-spread expressions of sorrow 

 throughout the American nation. In pulpits 

 representing every school of thought sermons 

 on his career and character were delivered ; in 

 all sorts of organizations, religious and secu- 

 lar, resolutions to his memory were passed ; in 

 every kind of journal, from ''Turf and Field," 

 to the distinctively religious organs, there was 

 some recognition of his services to this gen- 

 eration. The public exercises held in Plym- 

 outh Church the Sunday evening after his 

 death, in which Unitarian, Presbyterian, Lu- 

 theran, Swedenborgian, Uni verbalist, Metho- 

 dist, Baptist, Jewish rabbi, Reformed Dutch, 

 Episcopalian, Congregationalist, Roman Cath- 

 olic, all took part, were typical of the univer- 

 sality of respect expressed throughout the 

 country, transcending all bonds of sect and 

 party. 



Mr. Beecher's genius was distinctively that 

 of an orator. He showed no power in execu- 

 tive or administrative functions. As an editor, 

 he shaped and inspired the journals with which 

 he was connected, but never administered 

 them ; as a preacher and pastor he filled his 

 audience with his never-failing enthusiasm, 

 but did not attempt to allot to them individ- 

 ual work ; as a public reformer, he touched 

 the hearts and consciences of the nation, but 

 took no part in the administration of either 

 political, moral, or misionary organizations. 

 But as a preacher, whether measured by the 

 power of his utterances, or by the variety of 

 his pulpit themes, he was certainly without a 

 peer in the American pulpit, and probably 

 without a superior in the history of the Chris- 

 tian Church. He was an omnivorous reader. 

 Whatever interested humanity interested him. 

 His library of twenty-five hundred or three 

 thousand volumes embraced representatives of 

 every phase of literature, from technical trea- 

 tises on medicine, theology, and the various 

 arts, to rare editions of the best English clas- 

 sics ; but he was a reader rather than a scholar, 

 and on doubtful and debated points, was accus- 

 tomed to take as conclusive the opinions of 

 experts. At the same time, he familiarized 

 himself with the great principles involved in 

 the public discussions in which betook apart; 

 and during the anti-slavery discussions "Kent's 

 Commentaries," and "Curtis on the Constitu- 

 tion ," stood side by side with the commenta- 

 ries of Meyer and Alford on his library 



shelves. Theologically he belonged to that 

 broad school which is represented in England 

 by the names of Erskine, Maurice, Robertson, 

 Stanley. The truths on which he laid the 

 greatest emphasis were, that God is the father 

 of the whole human race ; that he is manifest- 

 ed historically in the person of Jesus Christ; 

 that he is immanent in the hearts and lives of 

 all who will receive him; that the Bible is a 

 record of an inspiration which has been by no 

 means confined either to the epochs or to the 

 people with which it deals; and that, under 

 the direct and immediate influence of the spirit 

 of God, the human race has from the begin- 

 ning made, and still is making, steady progress 

 toward that consummation of liberty and life, 

 which is the kingdom of God, and which when 

 God's purposes are accomplished will embrace 

 the whole sentient universe. Several biogra- 

 phies have been given to the public since Mr. 

 Beecher's death ; the two that possess the 

 largest measure of authority are one, the ma- 

 terials for which were gathered by the Rev. 

 S. B. Halliday, the pastoral helper of Plymouth 

 Church, which was published with Mr. Beech- 

 er's sanction during his lifetime ; and one now 

 in course of preparation, prepared by his wid- 

 ow, his son William C. Beecher, and his son- 

 in-law, the Rev. Samuel Scoville, which will 

 contain a large amount of autobiographical 

 material gathered from his letters and his va- 

 rious addresses. 



Mr Beecher's publications include: ''Lect- 

 ures to Young Men on Various Important 

 Subjects " (Indianapolis, 1844, revised edition, 

 New York, 1850); "Star Papers; or, Expe- 

 riences of Art and Nature " (1855) ; " New Star 

 Papers ; or Views and Experiences of Relig- 

 ious Subjects " (1858) ; " Freedom and War : 

 Discourses suggested by the Times " (Boston, 

 1863); "Eyes and Ears" (1864); " Aids to 

 Prayer" (New York, 1864); "Norwood; or, 

 Village Life in New England " (1 867) ; " Over- 

 ture of Angels" (1869), being an introductory 

 installment of " Life of Jesus the Christ ; Ear- 

 lier Scenes " (1871) ; " Lecture-Room Talks : 

 A Series of Familiar Discourses on Themes of 

 Christian Experience " (1870) ; " Yale Lectures 

 on Preaching" (3 volumes, 1872-'74); "A 

 Summer Parish : Sermons and Morning Ser- 

 vices of Prayer" (1874); "Evolution and Re- 

 ligion" (1885) ; Also, numerous addresses and 

 separate sermons, such as " Army of the Repub- 

 lic " (1878); "The Strike and its Lessons" 

 (1878); "Doctrinal Beliefs and Unbeliefs" 

 (1882); u Commemorative Discourse on Wen- 

 dell Phillips" (1884) ; " A Circuit of the Con- 

 tinent " (1884); and "Letter to the Soldiers 

 and Sailors " (1866, reprinted with introduc- 

 tion, 1884). He has edited " Plymouth Collec- 

 tion of Hymns and Tunes " (New York, 1855), 

 and "Revival Hymns" (Boston, 1858). Nu- 

 merous compilations of his utterances have 

 been prepared, among which are : " Life 

 Thoughts," by Edna Dean Proctor (New York, 

 1859); "Notes from Plymouth Pulpit," by 



