BEECHER, HENRY WARD (ante), b. Litchfield, Conn., Juhe 24, 1813; third son of Lyman; a graduate of Amherst college and of Lane theological seminary, lie began his pastoral work over a small Presbyterian church in Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 1837; and in 1839 was settled at Indianapolis. In 1847, he was called to take charge of "Ply mouth church," a new Congregational organization in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he has continued until the present time, a third of a century. Mr. B. soon became one of the most popular, as he was one of the most effective, pulpit speakers, and the growth of his congregation was unprecedented in church history in this country. There are at present (1880) nearly 3000 members, and the congregation has a good proportion of the intellectual, social, and financial force of the city. H. W. Beecher was a writer before he came to the pulpit, and his pen as well as his voice has been constantly active. •• lie was, in 1837, editor of a journal in Cincinnati, and while preaching in Indianapolis he took charge of an agricultural publication, his papers being afterwards issued iu a vol ume called Fruit, IfYowers, and Farming. As soon as he came to Brooklyn lie began, and continued for nearly twenty years, to write for The Independent, and was for two years its editor, 1861-63. His well known signature (a star, *) suggested The Star Papers, made up of select contributions to The Independent. About ten years ago he became, and is now, the editor of The Christian Union, published weekly in New York. As a preacher he is known perhaps more generally among the people than any other occupant of a pulpit in this country, and not only citizens but strangers make it a point to attend his church, which, though one of the largest in America, is almost always full when he is to preach. As an orator he is original in manner and matter, avoiding most of the routine and coma ntionalism of the ordinary service, and addressing himself as is man to his fellow. lie brings in all manner of topics and illustrations, and sometimes
ventures so near to the comic that laughter is scarcely restrained. As a lecturer he has had a long and successful career. In the long conflict with slavery he was an early and an earnest soldier, and from the pulpit of Plymouth church came many of the severest denunciations of human chattel•hood. Nor have other questions been neglected; tem perance has had his earliest support, and politics are not ignored, for it is his belief that all things which concern the welfare of the people and the country are fit subjects for the public teacher. In his fierce denunciations of injustice he is free from uncharitableness toward persons. Though a man of peace, he is enough of a soldier to don the uniform and appear on parade as the chaplain of a regiment. Of his more per sonal tastes, it may be said that he is fond of domestic and rural life, a student of nature, a lover of animals, flowers, and gems, and a judge and patron of art. During the civil war he visited England, and took especial care to enlighten the people as to the real issues and purposes of our great struggle, thereby materially aiding in the simi lar work undertaken by archbishop Hughes, Thurlow Weed, and others. For twenty years his sermons have been taken down in shorthand and printed, comprising now more than a dozen volumes, known as The Plymouth Pulpit. other works of his are Lectures to Young Men, Industry and Idleness, Life Thoughts, &7'111011.9 on and War, The Plymouth Hymns and Tunes, Norwood (a novel), Yale Lectures on Preach ing, the Life of Christ, &MOM from Published and Unpublished Discourses, etc. Mr. B. is of stout build, florid, and of strong physical constitution. Recently he has built a charming residence tit Peekskill on the Hudson, which he occupies during a large part of the summer.