BEECHER ON THE SUNDAY SABBATH.
I. L., of San Francisco, Cal., writes in The Western Rural of Chicago, Nov. 2, 1878, as follows:— “About twenty years since I went to Brooklyn to reside. I was then a great admirer of Mr. Beecher and went frequently to hear him preach. Becoming suspicious that he did not always preach his own convictions fully, I called upon him and learned from his own lips that he did not. He said it would not answer for him to do so, and used the following illustration, as I well remember: ‘Here is Lewis Tappan, a valued member of my church. He is all right on the slavery and temperance questions, which we, in Plymouth church, have made specially prominent, but, on the Sabbath question he is away back in the dark ages; and if I should come square out and preach, as I believe, that there is no divine command for observing the first day of the week in any special manner, and that the running of the street cars on Sunday, instead of being sinful, as a violation of the fourth commandment, would be a positive blessing to this community, he and others with him would go straight off and I never could get them to hear me preach again.’” “The question of running the cars in Brooklyn on Sunday was hotly agitated at that time, and most of the clergy petitioned against them and did all they could to prevent their running. Beecher privately expressed himself to me and others in favor of their running, but would not take any public stand in his pulpit, or out, for fear of giving offense. A young clergyman of the city, and of the same denomination (now residing here), after talking the matter over with Mr. Beecher, and being encouraged by him to do so, made a speech at a great public meeting in favor of the Sunday cars. That party carried the day. The cars have run on Sunday in that city ever since, and Mr. Beecher has since spoken in his pulpit in their favor. But when this young minister was tried for heresy soon after, on the ground of his having advocated the running of the cars on Sunday, and was threatened with dismissal from his church, Mr. Beecher, who had promised to be present at his trial and speak in his defense, remained away, but sent a letter marked ‘Confidential,’ to the trustees, advising them to turn him out on account of his lack of caution and discretion. To the young minister he subsequently excused himself for absence on account of ‘providential detention,’ and expressed regret for his exclusion. Do you wonder that I never cared to hear him preach after that?”