Association with Henry Ward Beecher
As a letter-writer, Henry Ward Beecher was a constant wonder. He never wrote a commonplace letter. There was always himself in it—in whatever mood it found him.
It was not customary for him to see all his mail. As a rule Mrs. Beecher opened it, and attended to most of it. One evening Edward was helping Mrs. Beecher handle an unusually large number of letters. He was reading one when Mr. Beecher happened to come in and read what otherwise he would not have seen:
"Reverend Henry Ward Beecher.
"Dear Sir:
"I journeyed over from my New York hotel yesterday morning to hear you preach, expecting, of course, to hear an exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead, I heard a political harangue, with no reason or cohesion in it. You made an ass of yourself.
"Very truly yours, __ __.
"That's to the point," commented Mr. Beecher with a smile; and then seating himself at his desk, he turned the sheet over and wrote:
My Dear Sir:—
"I am sorry you should have taken so long a journey to hear Christ preached, and then heard what you are polite enough to call a 'political harangue.' I am sorry, too, that you think I made an ass of myself. In this connection I have but one consolation: that you didn't make an ass of yourself. The Lord did that."