"Guess _The Eagle_ can stand it better than this boy; don't you think
so?"
To the grown man Mr. Beecher rarely gave charity.
He believed in a return for his alms.
"Why don't you go to work?" he asked of a man who approached him one
day in the street.
"Can't find any," said the man.
"Looked hard for it?" was the next question.
"I have," and the man looked Mr. Beecher in the eye.
"Want some?" asked Mr. Beecher.
"I do," said the man.
"Come with me," said the preacher. And then to Edward, as they walked
along with the man following behind, he added: "That man is honest."
"Let this man sweep out the church," he said to the sexton when they
had reached Plymouth Church.
"But, Mr. Beecher," replied the sexton with wounded pride, "it doesn't
need it."
"Don't tell him so, though," said Mr. Beecher with a merry twinkle of
the eye; and the sexton understood.
Mr. Beecher was constantly thoughtful of a struggling young man's
welfare, even at the expense of his own material comfort. Anxious to
save him from the labor of writing out the newspaper articles, Edward,
himself employed during the daylight hours which Mr.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139