12 MARCH 1887, Page 3

Mr. Henry Ward Beecher, the preacher of New York, is

dead. The disagreement of the jury in the Tilton case, when he was accused of adultery, left his moral character doubt- ful, and his reckless impulsiveness beyond doubt ; but he was a man of note, a great orator for popular audiences, a courageous though not a deep thinker in theology, and a sincere abhorrer of all cruelty. His hatred of slavery rose to a passion, and was expressed when abolitionism was a detested creed. Mr. Beecher's modes of making truth known were often disagreeable to the English mind, for ho was by mental habit a confirmed advertiser ; but there is no reason to think him insincere, and his countrymen, who knew him best, regarded him to the last with liking and admiration.