“It was no unusual sight on a Sunday evening to see placards put up outside of the building (Exeter Hall) announcing that it was full, and that no more could be admitted. In his own church it has been found necessary for the police to be present at every service, and the pew-holders are admitted by ticket through a side door. This accomplished, at ten minutes prior to the commencement of the service, the doors are opened and a rush commences; but it is speedily over, for the chapel is full—not only the seats but every inch of standing-room being occupied, and the gates have to be closed, with an immense crowd of disappointed expectant hearers outside. The church has, indeed, reason to be deeply grateful that amid the vice and immorality of London, a voice so clear and loud has been lifted up for the cause of the Redeemer.”
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Perhaps no American minister has ever become so well known to the whole body of the people as Henry Ward Beecher. He has been bitterly criticised and opposed even by members of his own denomination, but has triumphed over every attack, and won a proud place among preachers. He has even become a power in the political world, and his devotion to the cause of liberty has endeared him to thousands who might otherwise have never heard his name.
This great orator was born in 1813 in the State of Connecticut. His father, Lyman Beecher, was a clergyman of great force and celebrity. Young Beecher graduated at Amherst College at twenty-one, and studied theology with his father at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati. When this was concluded, he was first settled over a small Presbyterian church at Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he remained two years, and then removed to Indianapolis, and preached eight years with great acceptance. His first sermon was so earnest and powerful that it led to the conversion of twelve persons. A course of lectures, which he gave during this period to young men, attracted great attention, and he was soon after called to take charge of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. It was then a feeble organization; but under his care has increased to vast proportions. It has now a membership of 1,700, and the largest regular congregation by far of any church in the land. The income of the church from the rent of pews is nearly $41,000!
As a lecturer, Beecher stands among the very first. He speaks every year, in nearly every prominent city of the Union, and thus contributes powerfully to the success of the various reforms he advocates. He early gave the anti-slavery movement the support of his powerful eloquence, and preached and lectured against the great evil so effectually that no man was more denounced and hated at the South than he.
In the heat of our civil contest he passed some months in England, and there spoke for the cause of liberty and Union. He met with the most embittered opposition; the rabble, who had been incited by handbills to come out and put him down, often roaring until his voice could no longer be heard. He would calmly watch them until the noise for a moment subsided, and then speak again with such effect that the victory was soon declared in his favor. No man contributed more powerfully to allay the prejudice of England against our nation during her sore contest.
We do not wonder at the great popularity of Beecher. He possesses much greater intellectual acuteness than Spurgeon, and is inferior in this particular to no one of the orators of the present day. The variety of topics he discusses is immense, and he brings such good sense and sound logic to bear on them, that the people feel him to be a teacher indeed. They go to hear him, expecting that he will apply high spiritual truth to every day life, and are not disappointed.
Beecher is a giant in reasoning power, and gives no light, superficial views of anything. His feelings are very acute, and by the mere force of sympathy he has the smiles and tears of his audience at command. His power of illustration is wonderful; the most abstruse subject grows plain under the light of his luminous comparisons. While his command of language is very great, and he never hesitates for a word, his taste is so pure that he never uses an unnecessary or objectionable term. In fact, he speaks for the press as much as for the congregation before him. For years his sermons have been taken down by short-hand writers, and read all over the world. Sometimes they do not even receive a final correction from him. This is a convincing evidence of his marvelous popularity. His sermons are first preached to a vast assembly, and then spread before hundreds of thousands of readers. Not only newspapers of his own denomination, but of others, count it a great attraction to be able to announce a weekly or semi-monthly sermon from this gifted man.
On several occasions we were privileged to hear him, and will give some account of the first time we listened to his eloquence. A large number of people gathered long before the hour for service, and waited impatiently for the opening of the door. Ten minutes before the hour the crowd was admitted, and every vacant pew almost instantly filled. Then seats were folded out from the ends of the pews into the aisles, and these filled until the whole vast space was one dense mass of living humanity; on the ground floor or in the second or third galleries there was no unoccupied space. Many even then were forced to turn away from the door. The preaching was plain, logical, deep, and clear rather than brilliant. There was no florid imagery, but the light of imagination gleamed through the whole discourse. The subject was naturally analyzed, every part powerfully illustrated, and the application pungent enough to reach every heart not entirely impervious. Several times a smile rippled over the faces of the congregation, but lasted only for a moment, and was generally the prelude for some deep and solemn impression.
Beecher prepares his discourses with care, but neither memorizes nor reads them. On one occasion we noticed him lay his manuscript on the desk before him and begin to read. The description was beautiful, but the congregation seemed indifferent, and gave no evidence of close attention. Soon he pushed the paper away. Then every eye was bent upon him with intensest interest.