A man in the city hotel, and not a little feared because of his
brutality, had done something more brutal than usual, and, the facts
coming to Mr. Beecher's knowledge, in his sermon on the following
Sunday he expressed in no gentle terms his abhorrence of the act, and
in very strong language rebuked the man.... As he passed the hotel
there were several standing by, evidently waiting for some
development. At that moment the man came down the steps with a pistol
in his hand. "Did you say thus and so in your sermon yesterday?" "I
did." "Did you intend those remarks for me, or were you meaning me?"
"I most certainly did." "Then take it back right here, or by -- I'll
shoot you on the spot." "Shoot away" was the reply... -from Chapter X
Liberal preacher, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent for
women's suffrage, HENRY WARD BEECHER (1813-1887), brother of Uncle
Tom novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of the most fiery
personalities in American public life in the 19th century. This
stunningly comprehensive and frank 1888 biography-begun by Beecher
himself and completed just after his death by his son WILLIAM
CONSTANTINE BEECHER (1849-1928) and son-in-law REV. SAMUEL SCOVILLE
(1834-1902)-omits not one moment of controversy in Beecher's life.
From his arming of antislavery forces in the run-up to the Civil War
with rifles that came to be dubbed "Beecher's Bibles" to the shocking
sex scandal that dogged him in the 1870s, this is the no-holds-barred
life of a man passionate of spirit and strong of will. OF INTEREST
TO: students of American history, social activists, readers of
biography
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