GATHERED FROM THE

EXTEMPORANEOUS DISCOURSES

OP

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

BY ONE OF HIS CONGREGATION.

TWENTY-FIFTI THOUSAND.

BOSTON:

PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by

PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & COMPANY,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

PREFACE.

SOME two years since, while visiting friends in a distant city, they proposed that I should take notes for them of

Mr. Beecher's sermons. Upon my return I commenced

doing so, without a thought of their going beyond the little circle for whom they were first intended. But, as page after page was added to my note-book, and read occasionally to one and another, it began to be suggested that

they ought not to be confined to the few, but should be

published in a volume and given to the many. Thus the present book came into being.

With rare exceptions, these notes have been taken from

the Sabbath sermons and Wednesday evening lectures,

since the date at which they were commenced. Most of

them have never been written till now; for Mr. Beecher's

best thoughts are not usually those which are beforehand

committed coolly to paper; they are those which spring

from the inspiration of the moment, and have no record

(iii)

save in the memory of his hearers. To gather up and preserve some of the treasures thus lavishly scattered, has been the aim of this volume. It is not given to the world as the full-boughed tree; but only as some of the leaves which have fallen from it through two successive seasons.

To Robert D. Benedict, Esq., of Brooklyn, whose own notes, taken during the same time, were placed at my disposal, I desire to express my cordial thanks.

EDNA DEAN PROCTOR.

BROOKLYN, N. Y., April, 1858.

INDEX.

Absent, speaking of the, 142.

Arrow, thought is the, 67;- in God's
Acorns, growth of, 32.

bow, 139.
Actions, the best, often unconscious,13. Arrows, trials compared to, 195.
Adversity, influence of, 24 ; - likened | Artillery practice, 173.
to winter winds, 84.

Artist, at work, 215;- copying a pic-
Æsthetical faith, 254.

ture, 270.
Affection, 228 ; — parental, 195; a Asceticism, 184, 236.
tribute to God, 255.

Aspiration, 138; -- not incompatible
Affliction, a guide, 49.

with contentment, 117.
Afflictions, the uses of, 109.

Association of ideas, power of, 69.
African race, the, 166.

Associations, power of, 141.
Agassiz, 248.

Aster, late blossoming of the, 130.
Aim, how to take, 188.

Atlas, carrying the world, 43.
Alexandrian library, destruction of, 46. Attainments, not for ourselves, 41.
“ All right;" 280.

Attempts, accepted, 122.
Allston, his unfinished pictures, 123.
Almoners of God's bounty, 33.

Babe, the mother's anchor, 122.
Amazon, the stream of the, 138. Babes feed on the mother's bosom, 244.
Ambition, 138; - when laudable, 112; Baggage, cares likened to, 146.
true, 256.

Bankruptcy, when it is blessed, 72.
American people, the, nomadic, 272. Banner, unused, 235.
Amusements, under the devil's care, Bather, the sea receiving a, 103.
185.

Battery, public sentiment a, 192.
Anger, the, of truth and love, 156; - Battle, life a, 200.

likened to tinder, 157; -- truth spoken Beauty, the lavishness of, 243.
in, 190.

Bed, the, 143.
Anglo-Saxon, the skin of the, 165. Beethoven, Psalm 73 likened to sym-
Animal nature, the, to be subjected, 75. phony of, 82.
Apartments of the soul, 18.

Beggar, a flower from a, 154.
Apothecary shop, an, 256.

Belief, sincerity in, not enough, 16.
Appetite, refinement of, 142.

Bell, tolling of, for the lost, 127 ;-
Architect, God the, 227.

in a belfry, 257.
Armor-scourers, 200.

Benevolence, for sake of praise, 81 ;-