MR HENRY WARD BEECHER

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 229, 25 July 1873, Page 5

MR HENRY WARD BEECHER

The Rev-. H_enry Ward Beecher preached in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, recently, from Ephesians iv. 28 " Let him that stole, steal no more ? but rather let him labor, working'with? hia hands the thing which is good, that he may have to "give to him that needeth." The sermon was rich in those sallr -s of wit and eccentricities of action which give a character and piquancy to all Mr Beecher's sermons. The following is an extract from the accounts in the -STew York papers. As outbursts of laughter occur at every turn, it may be taken for granted that the audience was not Scutch: — If I were a cabinetmaker do you suppose I could construct a cradle without singing, a lullaby all. the time? (Laughter.) 1 Could I saw, plane, and rub— : saw, plane, and rub (imitating' the movements of these tools) —and not put my heart in the work ? If I did, I would be a drudge. The builder is a drudge who, every time he drives a nail, wonders where he can get a poorer and cheaper one. Men tell us that a man's character, may be told by his writing* I can tell you the character of a buiLder,and architect of a cold, big house. That man would be heartless and bloodless. But go into a nice, warm, cosy, house, and you would .find out that the man who built it was a social, good man, with a heart, and brains too-.. In-. Ohio, when I lived there I knew many eminently educated Grerman gentlemen earning a dollar a day. break'ng. stones on a macadamised road. Measured by- avocation., they ranking higher:—they were honorable. A man who lias been-'a hard worker all his life says to himself—" I have a smart boy. . I'll give him . chances I neyer had. I'll give him a good education Yes, I'll make a lawyer out. of him. —(Immoderate laughter.) In the' month of Juaie.there will be five hundred thousand bfossoms on every apple tree. There' will be about 300 apples, and the .remainder will* .drop to. the ground It.is the same in i all professions. Out of 500,009 eanj didates there will be only 300 p.rofes». I sional men. I venture to say that there are & 's,ooo young men here, be.tween twenty and thirty years, of age,, who have nothing to- do*. New York, is full of them. Ido not wish to, bedisrespectful, but ask one of them if he can do a day's work. He will answer, No. Are you good on shipboard? ■No ; I've never been to. sea. Can you make a chair ? No. Are you a blacksmith ? No. Are -you a carpenter.? No. Is there anything on Good's earth, that you can do ? No, not a thin^.—- ; (Laughter.} No.w think, what cam .you do ? Well, I'm a good bookkeeper.—(Laughter.) They can do. nothing and can get nothing to do-. Not alone is this the case in New York, but in all the large cities of the Union. Mr Beecher next addressed himself to the wealthy members of his, congregation,, and said—Even if you are worth a million "to-dayj your sonmay be forced to beg hid bread because, he ctm't work. Your daughters cannot be chambermaids, or cooks, or washerwomen—what's to become of' them ?—(Laughter.) . In one thing I' would have you Judaised. There is an old and true Jewish proverb which says, < He who brings up his child without a trade, brings" him up t& .steal." The papers'tell us of people, going to seek their fortunes in America. It should be, work for their fortunes. Tell your children to work. They say it will kill them. Shall they live? No.—(Laughter.) Shall they commit suicide ? No. What then P Simply this: Bat the bread you earn, or don't eat. .