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Show WHAT IT HAS DONE FOR i BEECHER. ; Mr. Beecher, in Iris lecture-room talk last night, s:iid : "As regards the last year in my own history I can auy that it has been a very prosperous prosper-ous one with me. God has rolled ofl' many grea' burdens fur me, and I have had moro rest in my soul. It has pleased God to give to me for Him and for the world a larger sense j of consecration, not as by technics in . vows and covfuanti, lor I am not given to such consecration, but all the stream of my nature goes to Him, and to make the world stroger and better. In many respects I am weaned wean-ed from the world in those particulars particu-lars we all have to guard against. (Here Mr. Beecher stopped for a minute, sad his voice trembled as he I continued.) I have, learned pa-Itieuce. pa-Itieuce. But the thing I am most grateful for is that in those things ; which lead to bitterness and anger, I I have had no such feeling. Gcd is my ; witness that ;I am sweet hearted. There is no one in the word toward whom I am not sweet at hiart, and it is a blessing bless-ing to mo that I have gone through trials that might be filled with provocations, and have come out a wholesome, loving Christian man, as lam. And I can say that this lust year has been t very prosperous prospe-rous one to me a perfect harvest yeir and I shall, in time to come, look back upon it as the storehouse of God's mercy to me. No one has been placed as I have to watch the growth of this church and iis interior development. I have never spoken much about jit, for no privacy has been allowed to us, and it has not seemed good taste or good manners to Uust. If there is any church where there are to many noble men and noble women, where there is such a unity of feeling, where there are ao many who are laying down their lives for the good of . the racet why I fail to know of it. While the name of Plymouth church is dancing up and down in the newspapers, it is not of your doing. It is a fame given to us by others. Those whe know this church only through the newspapers news-papers do not know it at all. (Applause.) (Ap-plause.) There is a volume of experience ex-perience here which does not go abroad. God never brought together in this world bo nnmy Christian brethren bre-thren who live in harmony and love and unity, and arc kept there with such a constant growth. I love you as I love my life, and, when I go out of this church, there is no other place for mo to go except to heaven. I know no other field of work, and I believe that we got the nearest to heaven in this church of any place that I know of." The tears multinlied aa Mr. "Rp.W wrought himself into eloquence over the church of his building. He was about to give out his concluding hymn, when Brother Hill jumped to his feet and said: "I want to say a word for the women of this church, who are too timid to Bpeak for themselves. - While some men have 6eeu fit to go away from this body not one woman has left Plymouth church." (Applause.) "A very few have felt it their duty," sail Mr. Beecher, "to step into other communions. Maybe five or six, not more " Mr. Shearman (Mr. Beecher's lawyer) I beg pardon. There has only been one. (Mr. H. R. Fletcher, a ical estate agent, of 96 Court street - a member of tweutv years' standing.) stand-ing.) Mr. Beochcr Well, I don't know exactly what to say, but I will say this, those who do go away from us will not go out of our sympathy and confidence. N, Y. Sun, Dec. 31. |