was thought that England would recognise the Southern Confederacy. The
close relations between the cotton manufacturers of England and the vast
cotton producers of the South created a public sentiment in England in
favour of the slave states. The feeling on both sides was intensified by
the "Trent Affair." Two Confederate envoys, sent to Europe to secure the
recognition of the Confederacy, were taken from the British steamship
_Trent_ by a United States man-of-war. Great Britain, which had
declared neutrality and thus granted the Confederacy the rights of
belligerents, demanded their surrender. Feeling in the North ran very
high, and there were most vigorous protests against yielding to the
English demands. The President and his advisers, however, realising that
the arrest of the two envoys tallied very closely with the English
actions that had brought on the War of 1812, concluded that it was wiser
to avoid so far as possible any occasion for interference on the part of
Europe, and returned the envoys. Their arrival in England and their
setting forth of their side of the conflict was a signal for a great
increase of hostility to the North, and the pressure from the industrial
centres became so great that probably only the steadfast friendship for
the North of the Queen's husband, Prince Albert, averted what would most
certainly have been a great calamity. Even Mr. Gladstone had expressed
his conviction that the success of the Southern States, so far at least
as regarded their separation from the North was concerned, was "as
certain as any event yet future and contingent, could be." Even the
Emancipation Proclamation did not suffice to open the eyes of many to
the real issues, and there was a widespread feeling that some way must
be found to present the cause of the North in such a manner as to reach
the English conscience and genuine love of liberty.
In the summer of 1863 Mr. Beecher had been sent to Europe for a rest.
On his return he came to England, and immediately there arose a general
demand for him to represent America. His marvellous success in the
anti-slavery campaign preceding the Civil War, his widespread
popularity, and particularly his power over audiences, made many look to
him as the providential ambassador. He demurred at first, but at last
yielded.
When he arrived in London, Manchester, and Liverpool, where great mass
meetings had been arranged for him to address, he found that every
effort had been made to discredit him, by huge posters placed throughout
the country asking: "Who is Henry Ward Beecher? He is the man who said
the best blood of England must be shed to atone for the Trent affair.
Men of Manchester, Englishmen, what reception can you give this man? He
is the friend of General Butler. He is the friend of that so-called
gospel preacher, Cheever. His impudence in coming here is only equalled
by his cruelty and impiety."
The meeting at Liverpool was announced as follows. "At a meeting held in
New York at the time when the Confederate envoys, Messrs. Mason and
Slidell, had been surrendered by President Lincoln to the British
Government, from whose vessel (the Royal Mail Steamer _Trent_) they were
taken, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher said, This act will demonstrate the
unfeeling selfishness of the British Government and bring us to a
realisation of our national humiliation. This opinion comes from a
Christian minister who wishes to obtain a welcome in Liverpool, where
operatives are suffering almost unprecedented hardships caused by the
suicidal war raging in the States of North America, and which is being
urged on by fanatical statesmen and preachers of the North!"
These posters and notices of the press had so inflamed the public mind
that when Mr. Beecher entered the great halls in Liverpool, Manchester
and London, he had to face a howling mob. When he arose to speak, the
tumult and hisses made it impossible for him to be heard. Calmly he
stood and faced the storm like a giant oak for a period of one hour to
one hour and a half, at each one of these three great meetings, before
the audience would listen to anything which he said; gradually sentence
after sentence began to reach them, and here Mr. Beecher showed his
great power as an orator. He slowly quieted the mob until they listened
to every word he said, and when he closed, the applause which greeted
him was greater than the groans and the howling with which he had been
received. He had met the enemy and conquered.
He had an easy road afterwards in following up this victory, speaking in
different towns and cities all over England, and everywhere the people
received him with respect and enthusiasm. By degrees he succeeded in
slowly changing the opinions of the people from favouring the cause of
the Confederate States to indorsing the struggle of the North for Union
and Liberty. Returning to London before sailing for America, he was
received with great honours by the most noted men in that city,
including royalty. Dinners, breakfasts, and receptions followed one
another in quick succession until he took his departure.
Upon his return home he was tendered a great reception in the Academy of
Music, Brooklyn. The people of the North had been watching every step of
his course in England with deep anxiety, for it was a serious time in
the history of this nation. The service which he rendered his country at
that time earned the gratitude of the American Government and people,
and made him the most popular man of the North. I may add that this
period of Mr. Beecher's life was the one of his greatest power and
influence, and marked one of the greatest epochs in his history.
_THE BEECHER TRIAL_
Following the Civil War came the reconstruction days, and into all those
experiences Mr. Beecher entered with full energy, but even more than
before he devoted himself to his work as a preacher and writer. He was
in demand everywhere for addresses and lectures, as well as for articles
from his pen. Churches, lyceums, theological seminaries, public meetings
of all sorts tried to secure him. He took up editorial work on the
_Christian Union_, now _The Outlook_; he gave the first of the famous
series of lectures on "Preaching," at Yale Theological Seminary.
Indeed, it seemed as if he was ubiquitous. How he got time for it all
was a marvel, even to those who best knew his great powers of endurance,
and his marvellous capacity for work. In it all Plymouth Church never
suffered. Its interests were his first care, and while it was never
selfish or unwilling that others should share their advantage, he was
faithful to what he esteemed his first duty.
Thus was built up a strength of mutual confidence, and affection, that
was to be tested in as severe a way as could well be imagined. That the
test was borne and that both pastor and people came out of it, not
merely with no loss of mutual esteem and honour, but with the vigour of
church life unimpaired, indeed strengthened, is but another testimony
to the genuine force of Christian character in both.
No survey of Plymouth Church during its history can ignore the famous
trial, or rather series of trials, in which both the church and its
pastor were subjected to an ordeal of the severest type. Into the
details there is no necessity of going, neither is there advantage in
reviewing arguments. The actors are fast passing away. Those now coming
on the stage have little concern with any results except those made
manifest in the life of Plymouth Church, and which may be taken as
illustrating its character.
As for Mr. Beecher himself, he needs no vindication. The verdict of his
city, which has honoured him as it honours few men, is sufficiently
clear. So also is that of the churches and the great mass of Christian
men and women over the country. He was undoubtedly indiscreet, yet not
in the way that most charged indiscretion. Open, above board, frank,
generous, he trusted others, and, as Dr. Abbott has said, accepted "as
true, without inquiry or investigation, statements which a man of more
practical wisdom would certainly have doubted." Good men and true found
it in many cases difficult to understand his course. Those who believed
in him can afford to await until the limelight of the highest of all
courts shall pass its verdict.
Of more immediate value to those interested in Plymouth Church was its
bearing in such circumstances, and the results as manifested in its
life. It is to be remembered that there were really three trials: 1. An
investigation by Plymouth Church, commencing in June and closing in
August, 1874; 2. A trial before the civil court, from January 5 to July
2, 1875, brought by Mr. Tilton on the charge of alienating his wife's
affections; 3. A council of Congregational Churches, called by Plymouth
Church to review its action in regard to its pastor. The first
investigation was presented, in its method, evidence and results, to a
meeting of the church. After full public notice and by a unanimous vote
of about fifteen hundred members, practically the entire resident
membership, Mr. Beecher was awarded the perfect confidence of the
church. The civil trial resulted in a disagreement of the jury, but the
chief lawyer for the prosecution and the presiding judge both publicly
affirmed their absolute conviction in Mr. Beecher's innocence. The
Council was the largest and most representative ever known in the
history of the Congregational Churches. Over two hundred and forty men
from every part of the country, holding every phase of theological
beliefs and of ecclesiastical habit, met together, and for days
investigated, considered, questioned, with a freedom impossible in
strictly legal procedure, and closed their sessions with formal
reaffirmation of Mr. Beecher's innocence, no charge against him having
been sustained by any proof.
While it is thus true that Mr. Beecher and the church came forth
triumphant, it was at heavy cost. No man could endure such a strain
without showing the effects of it, and Mr. Beecher never recovered the
old buoyancy. In many ways it became evident how keenly he felt the
trial. The church showed the effect less. A few, very few, members left
the church, but the number of dismissions was not larger than usual;
indeed they were less than in the previous two years, and the church
remained the more united. The admissions by letter were exceptionally
large, as were also those by confession of their faith. More pertinent,
however, than these evidences of life is the fact that the entire work
of the church suffered no interruption. Prayer meetings, Sunday School,
continued with usual vigour, and the general activities of the
congregation were carried on as if there was nothing unusual taking
place.
It was this that aroused the attention of the country at large and
convinced many that the basis of the real power of Plymouth Church lay
not so much in any oratorical gifts of its pastor, as in the substantial
Christian life of its members. Those who could hold together under such
a strain were not likely to fall apart under the pressure of any lesser
difficulty. Undoubtedly there was a certain amount of _esprit de corps_,
a realisation of the absolute necessity of mutual support, but to those
who look back on those days it is still more evident that they felt that
more than Mr. Beecher, or even Plymouth Church, was at stake; it was
the ability of a company of Christian men and women to hold their faith,
and the expression of their faith.
So far as their personal interest and faith in Mr. Beecher were
concerned, nothing could illustrate it better than the action of the
society in helping him to meet the extraordinary expense, and the visit
to his home in Peekskill of the members of the three Sunday Schools.
While Mr. Beecher had a most liberal salary, he was free and even
reckless in expenditure. The result was that the cost of the trial went
far beyond his resources. At its close, and even before he had had time
to realise what that cost had been, the society which has charge of the
finances of the church, met and voted that his salary for that year be
one hundred thousand dollars. It was a great relief to him financially,
but still more grateful as a taken of the love and confidence of the
people. Not less touching to him was the tribute from the Sunday
Schools.
He was at the time living in his summer home at Peekskill, N. Y. Without
any knowledge on his part, until the very day, it was arranged by the
teachers and officers of the Plymouth, Bethel and Mayflower Schools that
the scholars should go to Peekskill to congratulate him on the outcome
of the trial, and emphasise the feeling of the church already expressed
in the salary grant. The steamer _Blackburn_ was chartered and about
three hundred joined in the excursion up the North River. Mr. R. D.
Jaques, an old, active and honoured member of the church, describing the
scene, says that Mr. Beecher met them standing under a tree, his hat off
and his long hair flowing in the wind. The visitors formed in line so
that each could shake his hand. As the little ones came, Mr. Beecher
would lift them up in his arms and kiss them. Then the house was thrown
open and they were welcomed to every part of it. Refreshments were
provided and the social festivities continued until the time came to
return. It was a happy company that sailed down the river, but it is
doubtful whether anyone was happier than the host, as he realised what
the visit meant of their love and honour.
_THE CHURCH TESTED_
On March 8, 1887, a little less than forty years after he had been
called as pastor of Plymouth Church, Henry Ward Beecher died. The end
came suddenly. There was no lingering sickness, no wasting of his
powers. If the impassioned delivery of earlier years was somewhat
lacking, there was still a power and vigour fully as effective. The year
before he had been to England on a lecture tour and received an ovation
as marked as the disapproval attending his first attempts. He had been
in demand all over the country for addresses and lectures. The columns
of papers and magazines were everywhere open to him, and while it may be
true that his popularity was not of the intense sort that it had been at
times, when he was almost the idol of the people, it probably was of a
more substantial character. It is probable, too, that at no time in its
history had Plymouth Church been more closely identified with him, or
the opinion been so prevalent that neither could prosper without the
other. The services were as fully attended as ever, and church work had
settled into the harmonious routine which always bodes good for a
church's life.
All this was suddenly broken up. On Wednesday evening, March 2, Mr.
Beecher suffered an apoplectic stroke and on the following Tuesday he
died. No one who attended the services, held almost continuously during
that week, can ever forget them. The dominant tone was one of the
personal loss of a friend. There was grateful recognition of a
magnificent service done for humanity, and for the building up of the
Kingdom of God, but the greater work was almost lost sight of in the
individual remembrances, the personal testimonies to the man who had
helped men. On Sunday of that week came the regular communion service of
the church. The usual sermon was omitted and only the Lord's Supper was
commemorated. There were several evening meetings, mostly for prayer and
mutual sympathy.
The manifestation of public sympathy surprised even those who knew best
how widespread was the interest in the beloved pastor. As the coffin lay
in the church on Thursday there was an unceasing line of those who
wished to show their regard for him. On Friday the funeral services were
conducted by Rev. Charles H. Hall, D. D., pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church, to which Plymouth Church had succeeded in ownership
of its site. As it was manifest that Plymouth Church could not possibly
hold the crowds that wanted to come, simultaneous memorial services were
held in other churches. Most of the business houses were closed, as were
also the public offices of the city and the schools. Everywhere there
was manifest the recognition that a great man had gone.
[Illustration: LYMAN ABBOTT]
Who would take his place? Could anyone take his place? Was it not true
that the relations between him and his church were so intimate, so
vital, that the sundering of them by his death would inevitably involve
the dissolution of the church? These were the questions asked everywhere
by the public and probably in the consciousness of the members of the
church itself, at least of a considerable number. Fortunately there was
one already identified with the church for many years, who had come to
it as a boy, had been very intimately associated with Mr. Beecher, and
had entered most fully into his spirit and life. Dr. Lyman Abbott had
already won for himself an independent position in the church and the
literary life of the country. Glad to call himself a disciple of Mr.
Beecher, he had been by no means a copyist, and held his own place. Far
more than would have been possible for anyone not so intimately
acquainted with the life of the church, he was able to fill the gap at
least for the time being, and it seemed the natural thing when he was
called to fill the pulpit and guide the church activities until it could
decide on some permanent arrangement.
Probably there has never been seen a finer instance of loyalty to a
church's best traditions than the experience of the following months. As
was inevitable, the audiences fell off very materially. Still the church
was fairly well filled and for the first time in years the ushers had a
reasonably comfortable time. Yet examination proved that the loss was
only of the strangers. Not a pewholder withdrew. There was no diminution
in the active work of the church. Prayer meetings, Sabbath School,
mission services continued as before. Even the finances did not suffer.
It was naturally impracticable to keep up the high premiums on pews.
Hitherto the Tuesday evening succeeding the first Sunday in the year had
been a sort of gala time, when loyalty to Plymouth and its pastor and
good-natured rivalry had combined to bring from the more wealthy members
sums mounting into the thousands of dollars. The current year was safe,
but anticipating the change that would be necessary, the leaders, indeed
practically the whole church, renewed their pew leases at the same
figure, so that there might be no question of financial disquiet for the
new pastor, whoever he might be. Subsequently the whole method was
changed, pew premiums giving place to the envelope system, under which
the church has prospered greatly.
The immediate question of the conduct of the church being solved, the
more important one of a permanent successor to Mr. Beecher was taken up
in earnest. I do not think that the possibility of disbanding was for a
moment present in the thought of any, certainly not of the leaders. They
set about the work carefully with a clear realisation of the
difficulties involved, but with a determination to succeed. It is always
difficult to succeed a man of great individuality, and this general
rule was made even more difficult in this case by the peculiar quality
of the personality. The very intensity of the experiences of the past
decade and more had served to create a certain alignment, and search as
they would and did, it was difficult to find anyone to meet all the
conditions.
It was not unnatural that the committee in charge, not, it must be
remembered, of choosing a pastor, but of recommending one, or more, for
the choice of both church and society, should look beyond the sea. More
than one church had done so and with conspicuous success. Broadway
Tabernacle had called Wm. M. Taylor, and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, John
Hall. Plymouth Church, at that time at least, was not likely to look to
Scotland, nor to Ireland. There was absolutely nothing of the
Presbyterian in its make-up. It was Independent, through and through. To
the Congregationalists of England therefore it must look, if it were to
go beyond its own immediate fellowship.
It seemed as if just the man was found in Rev. Charles A. Berry of
Wolverhampton. A friend of Mr. Beecher, an earnest and very effective
preacher, a man of great evangelistic power, he won the hearts of
Plymouth people, and the recommendation of the committee was followed by
a unanimous and most urgent call to him to become the pastor. How deeply
he appreciated, not so much the honour, though such he esteemed it, as
the token of affectionate confidence, was manifest both in his
correspondence with the church and in the delay in announcing his
answer. That he would have been glad to come is certain, equally so that
he felt that duty to a work of peculiar quality and special need called
him to stay with his own people. They were as dismayed at the
possibility of losing him as Plymouth Church would have been had Mr.
Beecher been called to another pulpit.
Mr. Berry's declination of the call brought Plymouth Church face to to
face with a most difficult situation, at least it seemed so to many. In
truth it was not so difficult as it seemed. Dr. Abbott had filled the
pulpit with acceptance and had conducted the affairs of the church with
rare tact. The pastoral work, which had for some years been practically
in the hands of Rev. S. B. Halliday, went on as usual. Now that Mr.
Berry was not to come, who could so well meet the need as the one who
had stood them in good stead in the time of stress? It was therefore
perfectly natural that thoughts should turn to Dr. Abbott, and when they
had once started equally natural that he should be called. Accordingly,
in the spring of 1888 he was invited to be pastor. He accepted, and
after a summer's rest in Europe commenced the active work of the
pastorate in September.
During the summer months the preaching services were omitted, but the
prayer meetings and mission work were continued. The general condition
of the church may be indicated by the impression made upon one who came
in during the closing part of the interregnum to take up the pastoral
work for a few months, dropped by Mr. Halliday, who had gone to build up
a Beecher Memorial Church in the outskirts of Brooklyn. Coming fresh
from foreign missionary service, with no experience in American church
life, Rev. Edwin M. Bliss bears most earnest testimony to the vigour and
power of the church life of Plymouth, even during those months when many
were away. Repeatedly he told inquirers that those who imagined that
Plymouth Church would go to pieces were absolutely mistaken; that there
was evident a strong church on a firm foundation.
Truly there could be no better testimony to the substantial quality of
Mr. Beecher's leadership than the experience of that year and a half of
church life under such radically different conditions.
_CHURCH THOUGHT AND LIFE_
A layman is ordinarily not supposed to trouble himself very much about
theology, but to leave that as the special prerogative of the ministers.
This was certainly true of the great majority of the lay members of
Plymouth Church. At the same time they were by no means indifferent to
theology. They could not be so long as Mr. Beecher was pastor, and Dr.
Abbott's positive opinions on theological questions, while not obtruded,
were never hidden. It must be remembered, too, that the constitution,
articles of faith and covenant were drawn up by laymen. Henry C. Bowen
was undoubtedly the moving spirit, but the others heartily concurred.
The articles of faith were as follows:
"1. We believe in the existence of One Ever-living and True God,
Sovereign and Unchangeable, Infinite in Power, Wisdom and Goodness.
"2. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be
inspired of God; to contain a revelation of His will, and to be the
authoritative rule of faith and practice.
"3. We believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are
revealed in the Scriptures as existing, in respect to attributes,
character and office, as three Persons, equally Divine; while in
other respects they are united, and are, in a proper sense, One
God.