he dais, I begged him to limit his conversation with me
as much as possible, and to expect very meagre responses. The event
proved that, trying though the tax was, there did not result the
disaster I feared; and when Mr. Evarts had duly uttered the
compliments of the occasion, I was able to get through my prepared
speech without difficulty, though not with much effect." (Spencer's
_Autobiography_, vol. II, p. 478.)]

These words were spoken in slow, solemn tones. I do not remember ever
having noticed more depth of feeling; evidently they came from a
grateful debtor. Mr. Spencer was touched by the words. They gave rise
to considerable remark, and shortly afterwards Mr. Beecher preached a
course of sermons, giving his views upon Evolution. The conclusion of
the series was anxiously looked for, because his acknowledgment of
debt to Spencer as his teacher had created alarm in church circles. In
the concluding article, as in his speech, if I remember rightly, Mr.
Beecher said that, although he believed in evolution (Darwinism) up to
a certain point, yet when man had reached his highest human level his
Creator then invested him (and man alone of all living things) with
the Holy Spirit, thereby bringing him into the circle of the godlike.
Thus he answered his critics.

Mr. Spencer took intense interest in mechanical devices. When he
visited our works with me the new appliances impressed him, and in
after years he sometimes referred to these and said his estimate of
American invention and push had been fully realized. He was naturally
pleased with the deference and attention paid him in America.

I seldom if ever visited England without going to see him, even after
he had removed to Brighton that he might live looking out upon the
sea, which appealed to and soothed him. I never met a man who seemed
to weigh so carefully every action, every word--even the pettiest--and
so completely to find guidance through his own conscience. He was no
scoffer in religious matters. In the domain of theology, however, he
had little regard for decorum. It was to him a very faulty system
hindering true growth, and the idea of rewards and punishments struck
him as an appeal to very low natures indeed. Still he never went to
such lengths as Tennyson did upon an occasion when some of the old
ideas were under discussion. Knowles[74] told me that Tennyson lost
control of himself. Knowles said he was greatly disappointed with the
son's life of the po