weftoitiMlliDDk
NO. 18. PINEHURST, N. C, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY n, 1898. PRICE THREE CENTS.
VOL. I
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Memorable Lecture Tour Through
New England and Canada.
Warm Receptions and Crowded Houses
Wherever He Spoke.
Account of the Trip, and of the Impressions
It Produced Upon Him, Narrated
in His Own Words.
That Mr. Beecher was the most widely
popular, if not the ablest, platform speak
er in America, is generally conceded. It
may be inferred that this was recognized
as a fact by the chief ollicers of our gov
ernment, when, near the end of the late
Civil war, they selected him to deliver
the oration at the re-raising of the Union
flag upon Fort Suinpter. His lecture
field was the United States, Canada and
Great Britain, lie traversed broad sec
tions of these countries, addressing large
and enthusiastic audiences. His eminent
service in the anti-slavery cause, early in
his public career, and his 110 less eminent
service in his successful endeavor, by the
masterly speeches he delivered in the
largest cities of Great Britain while the
Rebellion was in progress, to inform the
common people of that country concern
ing the principles for which the North
was contending, were well known.
That his lectures were invariably deliv
ered with a deep moral purpose was
evident to all who listened to them.
Indeed, they partook, in a great measure,
f the nature of his sermons.
The following is a narrative of a re
markable trip taken by Mr. Beecher
through New England and New Bruns
wick during the closing years of his
life. It occurred subsequent to the igno
minious failure of the base and cruel
conspiracy by which it was attempted
to ruin his character in the public
'"ind; and the unanimity with which
he was welcomed wherever he went
was a source of no little gratification to
J'hu. He told the story in the form of a
hecture-IJoom Talk on the Friday even
lng which immediately followed his
let urn. After indulging in a few prefa
tory remarks, lie said:
UI went to Springfield, Mass., last Mon
(lil.v week, and addressed the citizens of
that place. I had a good time, with the
exception that while there was a large
'"Alienee in the Town Hall, the hall
nlf, though it is beautiful to the eye,
poorly constructed for the voice.
m-rtheless, the more than cordiality
ot tlie audience was very acceptable.
''Having fulfilled my mission there, I
n,'"t on to Cambridgeport, adjoining
Boston. That is near the home of our
Brother Means, who was present with us
here in the Council, and whose love and
honorable loyalty is deserving of all
praise. There, on a delightful evening,
we had a charming audience, filling the
beautiful hall, which possessed every
requisite for public speaking; and we
had a good time generally. I, certainly,
was more than contented, and they were
not displea&ed.
"I went next to Lewiston, Me., and
was the guest of Gov. Dingley, who,
you will recollect, presided so ably at
the Council of 1876. 1 found Lewiston
to be a manufacturing town of great en
terprise. There I had an immense audi
ence, and as much enthusiasm as I
wanted to see.
"From there 1 came back on my track
as far as Portland ; and I cannot describe
my audience better than to say that it
was a Portland audience. 1 spoke in the
great Town Hall one of the most
magnificent audience rooms in New Eng
land; and it was filled from end to end
with appreciative and enthusiastic
friends.
"The same night, after the lecture, I
took the twelve o'clock sleeping train,
and went down to Bangor, reaching
there about seven o'clock Friday morn
ing. I took this additional night travel
because I had been requested by the
students and faculty of the Theological
Seminary to address them, and this was
the only way in which I could compass
it.
"At twelve o'clock 1 went to the Semi
nary, and was greeted by my father's
friend, and my own Dr. B venerable
in years, and yet retaining his faculties
to an extraordinary degree. I remember
seeing him in Boston when 1 was a boy
fourteen or fifteen years old. He was
then in full manhood, working in the
great controversy along with my father.
The hour I spent there was not thrown
away; the Spirit of God was present;
and on my second visit 1 received assur
ance from the faculty that my address
had been blessed to the students.
"I lectured on Friday night in Bangor
to a crowded audience, composed of
people from every direction in the coun
try, and of the best citizens of the town.
"On Saturday morning I rode two hun
dred miles, to St. Johns, New Bruns
wick. It was my first visit to that
province. I arrived there about seven
o'clock at night. The hall in which 1
lectured was perhaps the largest room in
that part of the country. It was filled
from dome to cellar; and I received a
welcome that 1 am beginning to think a
man gets only in the Dominion of Cana
da. It is not improbable that Mr.
Beecher had in mind his visit to
Montreal, in 1877, along with the
13th Kegiment of the New York
militia, of which he was chaplain,
when he was the recipient of distin
guished honors at a reception participated
in by the Governor General and other
dignitaries of the Dominion. There
was a fiery enthusiasm, a thunder
ing cordiality, among those folks
up North, which strongly impressed me,
and warmed my heart; and 1 was made a
gratified subject of it on that my first ap
pearance there.
"I attended church and rested on Sun
day morning. On Sunday night 1
preached; and we had a Brooklyn time.
It seemed almost like being at home,
with the same experiences that we have
here of insufficient room.
"On Monday I had the overture of every
kind of hospitality ; but in going away to
lecture every night it is impossible to
undertake to enjoy one's self through the
day; it was necessary that i should rest;
and I declined all invitations, although
they were very generously and very
delicately extended in many directions.
"On Monday night I lectured the second
time in the same place, with an equally
large audience, and with flattering testi
monials on their part.
"1 left that place on Tuesday morning,
and went back to Bangor, and gave a
second lecture there. I then learned of
the time you were having all along the
coast down here of the gales and ship
wrecks and pouring storms. There had
not been a drop of rain on my whole
trip; we had fine weather all the time;
and though my traveling companion
Maj. James B. Pond bought himself a
splendid umbrella he did not have an op
portunity to open it till we got back to
Boston last night.
"Wednesday morning I took the boat
running down to the mouth of the Pe
nobscot river ; and although the sea ran
high outside, 1 got intoKoekland in good
health, without any disturbance. 1 lock
land struck me as being a very energetic
business place. The three crops from
the soil of that region are granite, ice
and lime.
"As soon as the lecture at l'ockland was
over I took the cars again, and went on
to Bath, leaching there about one
o'clock. At five I took the train and
came to Great Falls, reaching that place
the early part of the day. There 1 got
rest yesterday, and last night, after the
lecture, I took a hired engine and rode
to Boston to catch the eight o'clock
train, in order that I might be here to
night, not being willing to be absent
from home two Friday nights in succes
sion. "First, I want to ask a question about a
matter which concerns you as well as me
namely, whether it is worth a man's
while, at my time of life, to underta'ke to
preach Sabbath days at home, and be
present at his own meetings, and yet
occupy the evenings of the week in lec
turing ; and whether there is not a risk
of one's breaking down under such a
practice. Well, I have been in the habit
for forty years now of watching the en
gine ; I know just what is the condition
of my head, my lungs, my liver, my di
gestion, my sleep, and everything about
it ; so that nobody knows half so quick
when I am sick as I do myself. It was a
matter of experiment, however, as I had
not, for a few years past, on account of
some little fears, been out in the lecture
field. Therefore, returning to it after
some years, it was a question whether I
could do what I was doing ; and 1 have
come to the conclusion that I can fulfill
an appointment every day in the week
witli less wear and tear and less weari
ness than 1 could at any earlier period of
my life. I have suffered less from fa
tigue, and less from waste by nervous ex
citement. Although it requires careful
management to secure all the sleep I
need, and to preserve good, sound di
gestion, yet, comparing the smaller
amounts of labor that I did in olden
times with what I do now, I think 1
bear the stress a great deal better than 1
ever did before and 1 count it a great
blessing.
"Another thing for which 1 am very
grateful is the universal feeling which 1
find existing with respect to Plymouth
Church. I suppose there is nothing that
pleases a father or mother more than to
hear commendation bestowed heartily on
their children ; and it is very gratifying
to me, as I go from place to place, to
hear the unostentatious expressions of
what are evidently mere specimens of
feelings which exist among people in the
community love and reverance for Ply
mouth Church, not only on account of
its general labor in years gone by in all
the vast fields of enterprise, but in regard
to its more recent action in all its rela
tions. It has raised the ideal of church
life ; it has done much to advance some
elements of Christian confederation; and
1 have felt a little about it as my dear
father used to feel when he got to be so
old that he could not preach, and he had
almost a feeling as though I was himself,
saying, as he did once, '1 never expected
to sit in a pew and hear myself preach.'
On one occasion, you will recollect,
somebody said to him, 'What do you
think of the sermon V and he, after giv
ing it his hearty commendation, added,
with emphasis, 'If it hadn't been for me
you never would have had him.' I in
dulge in a little of that innocent vanity
myself. I point to you, and say,
'There is my epistle, known and read of
all men. 1 was the first pastor of that
church; it has been brought up under my
ministry; it has been fed on doctrinal
views and methods that are dear to me ;
and 1 bless God.' If any man has been
afraid, and has not known what would
come of such influence, I have been
proud to say, 'There is a church that
has been fashioned on those views and
methods ; and when it comes to a time of
difficulty sucli as has hardly been known
since the persecution of the old Papal
church, that is what has come of it.' There
is my answer to everybody, on the right
and on the left; and to find (I do not say
it in a spirit of boasting) that it is known,
felt and appreciated in all churches of all