but
of nothing that belongs to the higher life of man, to the civilization
of coming centuries. To him Fulton was a visionary and so was Gall. It
was not in his intellectual range to see the steamships that change
the world's commerce, and the cerebral discoveries that are destined
to revolutionize all philosophy.

The pulpit orator, Beecher, who has just passed away, was estimated by
many as intellectually great; but Mr. Beecher never took the position
of independence that any great thinker must have occupied. He never
moved beyond the sphere of popularity. He never led men but where they
were already disposed to go. Upon the great question of the return of
the spirit, one of the most important and fundamental of all religious
questions, Mr. Beecher was silent. That silence was infidelity to
truth, for Mr. Beecher was not ignorant of the truth he concealed. Nor
was he faithful to any true ideal of religion. With his princely
salary he accomplished less than other men, living upon a salary he
would have scorned. He lived for self--he spent thousands of dollars
on finger rings, and a hundred thousand on a fancy farm, but little if
anything to make the world better.

The _Boston Herald_ estimates very fairly his intellectual status,
saying: "He spoke easily. His stories were well told, his points well
put. He invested people with a new atmosphere, but he did not set them
to thinking, and can hardly be called a thinker himself. Much as he
has done to forward the vital interests of humanity, he has
contributed nothing to the vital thinking of his generation. The
secret of his power is the wonderful combination of animalism, with a
certain bright way of stating the thoughts which are more or less in
the minds of all men. Few preachers have lived with their eyes and
ears more open to the world, and few have better understood the art of
putting things. Mr. Beecher knew supremely well two persons--himself
and the man next to him. In interesting the man next to him he
interested the multitude. He had in a great degree the same qualities
which made Norman McLeod the foremost preacher of his day in the
Scotch pulpit. Such a man lives too much on the surface to exhaust
himself. He has only to keep within the sphere of commonplace to
interest people as long as he lives.... Mr. Beecher lived on the
surface of things. He never got far below the surface. If he ever was
profound it was only for a moment at a time.... His work was to