HOW TO GET STRONG
The world for thee seemed aye more sunny;
We loved thee better for each twist;
Which streaked a soul as sweet as honey.
We shall not see thy like again!
We've fallen on times most queer and quacky;
And oft shall miss the healthy brain,
And manly heart of brave old Blackie!"
HENRY WARD BEECHER (1813–1887)
Son of Lyman Beecher—himself a great divine; born at Litchfield, Connecticut; he attended the Boston Latin School; graduated at Amherst in 1834; then at Lane Seminary two years, his father being President; in 1836, Editor of the Cincinnati Journal; pastor at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, 1837–9; at Indianapolis till 1847, when he was installed as pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, and preached there till his death, forty years later, his genius and remarkable eloquence attracting one of the largest audiences in the United States. Equally successful as a lecturer and a popular orator; in 1861, editor of the Independent; in 1863 he made five great speeches in England in behalf of the North during the Civil War; prominent anti-slavery advocate; temperance reformer, and upholder of the rights of women; in 1872–4 delivered three courses of lectures on Preaching at the Yale Divinity School on the "Lyman Beecher Foundation"; in 1850 delivered and published Lectures to Young Men; in 1855, Star Papers; 1858, Life Thoughts; 1864, Royal Truths; and wrote Norwood (a novel); 1871, Life of Christ (Vol. I.); 1884, Evolution and Revolution; 1885, Sermons on Evolution and Religion; and about twenty other volumes of sermons; 1870–1881, founder and editor-in-chief of the Christian Union; a frequent contributor to the New York Ledger; editor of the Plymouth Collections of Hymns and Tunes; and of Revival Hymns. Numerous compilations of his utterances have been published, including Prayers from Plymouth Pulpit; Notes from Plymouth Pulpit; Sermons from Published and Unpublished Discourses; Morning and Evening Devotional Exercises; Comforting Thoughts, and many others.
This many-sided, rarely gifted teacher, preacher, editor, moral reformer, lecturer, author, orator, patriot, "so active, so intense,
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