peculiarly
liable. The captain also was one of the few sailors who are always
sea-sick in going to sea, and gave a moving account of his
sufferings from that cause. Mr. Beecher, after listening
attentively to his tale, said, "Captain Duncan, if I was a preacher
to such sailors as your friend here, I should represent hell as an
eternal voyage, with every man on board in the agonies of
sea-sickness, the crisis always imminent, but never coming."

This ludicrous and most unprofessional picture amused the old salt
exceedingly, and won his entire good will toward the author of it;
so that after Mr. Beecher left, he said, "That's a good fellow,
Captain Duncan. I like _him_, and I'd like to hear him talk more."

Captain Duncan contended that this free and easy way of address was
just the thing for such characters. Mr. Beecher had shown him, to
his great surprise, that a man could be a decent and comfortable
human being although he was a minister, and had so gained his
confidence and good will that he could say _any thing_ to him at
their next interview. Captain Duncan finished his remarks by a
decided expression of his disapproval of the canting regulation
phrases so frequently employed by religious people, which are
perfectly nauseous to men of the world.

This interesting conversation lasted about three-quarters of an
hour, and ended, not because the theme seemed exhausted, but
because the time was up. We have only given enough of it to convey
some little idea of its spirit. The company again broke into one
of their cheerful hymns, and the meeting was dismissed in the usual
manner.

During the late war, Mr. Beecher took an active and energetic part in
support of the cause of the Union. His labors were so severe that his
health was considerably impaired, and his voice began to fail him. His
physicians ordered him to seek rest and recreation in a tour through
Europe, and he reluctantly obeyed them. He was much benefited by his
visit to the Continent, but on his return to England, on his way home,
being solicited to speak in that country in behalf of the Union, he
delivered a series of powerful appeals, which exhausted the greater part
of the strength he had gained on the Continent, and caused him to return
home almost as ill as when he went abroad.

Soon after his return the war closed, and