A Biography of REV. Henry Ward Beecher : 9781596058514 : 01 Jun 2006 : A man in the city hotel, and not a little feared because of his brutality, had done something more brutal than usual, and, the facts coming to Mr. Beecher's knowledge, in his sermon on the following Sunday he expressed in no gentle terms his abhorrence of the act, and in very strong language rebuked the man.... As he passed the hotel there were several standing by, evidently waiting for some development. At that moment the man came down the steps with a pistol in his hand. "Did you say thus and so in your sermon yesterday?" "I did." "Did you intend those remarks for me, or were you meaning me?" "I most certainly did." "Then take it back right here, or by -- I'll shoot you on the spot." "Shoot away" was the reply... -from Chapter X Liberal preacher, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent for women's suffrage, HENRY WARD BEECHER (1813-1887), brother of Uncle Tom novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of the mo