The New York Herald Newspaper, March 28, 1870, Page 3

The Metropolitan Churches and the Equi- noctial Storm — Disastrous Effect of the Elements on the Aris- tocratically Religious. Pulpit Peeans and Preetorian Piety. “The Deceiving Joys of This World and the Glorious Pleasures of Heaven.” Sectarianism in the Public Schools and Intol- erance in the Houses of Worship, Sunday Sermons from Catholie, Episco- palian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian, Congregational and Baptist Divines in New York and Elsewhere. ‘The terrible equinoctial storm which swept over the country yesterday sadly interfered with religious worship in the metropolis. Churches that are usually filled on fine Sundays were thinly attended, and in some houses the congregations were exceed- Ingly small. Nevertheless the preachers prayed and spoke in their usual vigorous style to the satisfaction of their hearers, and doubtless the edification of the pubitc, who will find below full and accurate reports of the principal discourses delivered. ST. ANWS P. E. FREE CHURCH, A Remarkable Service~Combination of the Regular Service with the Deaf Mute Ser- vice—The Biind Orator in the Palpit—A Free Charch in its Triamphs. Those whosaw not, spoke not, and heard not, and those who, with facility, could supply these inflrmi- ties with providential substitutes, personated the characters of a very remarkaple religious drama last evening at St. Ann’s Protestant Episcopal free church, in West Eighteenth street, near Fifth avenue, The Rev. Dr. Gallaudet, expert in the sign language; tne Rev. Dr. Milburn, devoid of sight ana famous for “What a blind man saw in London; aeaf mutes who conld only express: their sensations by the ready mechanism of their fingers and many with special senses unimpaired ‘were the different persons of the scene. It wus a service where the orator spoke with blinded eyes, ‘unconscious of the number or QUALITY OF HIS HEARERS; ignorant of the impresstons left by his words, and without the satisfaction of following the facial demonstrations evolved by a glowing or effective Period; it was a service where the discourse had wo be distilled by filtration through the swift medium of Dr. Gallaudet’s marvellous interpretation, where he keeps pace with the speaker and pictures bis ideas with a silent but graceful art, presenting the curious spectacle in which a sightless man aa- dresses those who can see but cannot hear speak, save when addressed through the suptlc sclence of an understanding instrument, And thus we have the blind, the deaf, the dumb and the physically perfect man—links of a severed and muti- Jated chain of faculties—restored to a conviction, strengthened by the troths of heaven and magnet- zed by the eloquence of earth. It 13 told us that there is poetry in the peaceful hills, in the quiet vales and in the rippling silver of the brooks and Tills; but how much more of poetry and grandeur, of a mighty, irresistible sea within, can be found in that individuality which is imprisoned from outward communion with the world by the destruction of some material tissue? In that soui 1g the contemplation of the integral mind; views from the loftiest precipices of thougnt, and from the highest peaks of the intellect, Imagine a man who can neither speak, heay, see nor use any actual sense except that of sustenance. He has only to think, The glare and glitter of the world donot dim his eyes, for ne 1s already blind; the false tongue does not ensnare him for he 1s deaf; he 1s temptea to no idle words, for he is speechless. ISOLATED FROM THE WORLD, he can ramole only in the avenues.of his soul, far irom the frivolous allurements of the hour. It is only in the absence of such outward influence that the mind can truly bloom and fruit. As it ts now it brings forth only decayed and withered icaves. Milton, the blind poet, who has left us his great creation, has exemplified the blind man, and though such a wish may be tinctured with a solution of morbid philosophy the desire ts strong to drive men to within to divorce them from the without. The only trouble with men of improved physical senses ts that they cultivate the memory and do not develope the Inven- tion. ‘Phey are content to receive impressions froin others rather than to sygtematise and pro wlggie their own, and this is the sin of the nihetéentn den- tury, Men of ru and massive gentus sit su- pinely down and are torpid in their own decay. Shey do not snatch burning coals from their glowing furnaces and set the world ou fire, but rather in the feebie warmth of memory slumber like expiring embers and die. Move Miltons, more Byrons, more Goethes are wanted. Whoshailthey be? A wantng literature will not be deaf to the response. ALSt. Ann’s last evening the service was truly wonderful, but irom the unfavorable weather was witnessed by but few. But it was a picture of mag- netic grandeur, where all the chotceat elements ot beauty were inlaid with the elegance of pearis. Dr. Gallaudet was atone side of the chance in his oficial vestments, the reader stood at the desk and the blind orator sat at the right, The combination service moved, the reader pronounced the ers, and Dr. Gallaudet began his interpretation, opening a sentence with simplicity, following its unduiatory yibrations with expressive gestures, rounding, @ period im which no eye couid be mis- taken, and reaching a climax with all the tone and sonority of spoken language. Ail the softness of breaking day seemed to pervade the churen in the ‘opening prayers, and then, when the terest deepened, there was the rushing sunlight, and then the clearly defined principies of the litany. 1t,was material ior the artist or the poet. BEHOLD A DIVINE postured in ‘the attitude of supplication, wearing the robes of spotless purity; behind him the dark mahogany of Gothic architecture and before him a congregation of beautiful faces. St. Ann’s is noted for its female beauties, and these added to the charms of the occasion. One young lady—eighteen, peraps—had a face of Madonna symmetry, eyes deep with expression and soft with a pleasant spar- kle, her complexion white; her hair rich, ample and brown; and she wore a scarlet jacket, a jaunty hat, jet jewelry and sat in an admirable pose, with her ead drawn in, her finely chiselled chin resting upon her bust. Dr. Gallaudet at the close of the preliminary ser- vice advanced and said that the work of the church ‘Was great, that its funds were low for the} past turee weeks, and that he desired further contributions. ‘The field of the society is large, its accomplished labor gratifying, and the efforts of its pastor novle and seif-sacrificin; THE REV. DR. MILBURN then preached a very eloquent and melo-dramatic discourse upon St. Joun, who, he sald, was born A. ). 347, and reared in Antioch among Its dissipa- tions and vice, He sketched the career of the com peed during his self-abnegation in early child- ood to the age of twenty; his devotion to his mother till twenty-seven; his subsequent seciu- sion; his jabors’ as an humble priest; his exaltation; his honors and lofty duties as the Arch- bishop of Constantinopie; his persecutions, his hu- mility, suffering, disease; the love and reverence of his admirers and bis final death; the exhumation of his remaios and his stately faneral, Throughout Mr. Milburn was extremely forcible, copious and owerful in diction, pathetic in narration, and start- fog when be sounded upon the higher keys of ora- tory. ‘The singing was excellent. The services at this chureh deserve the fullest attendance, for they si free—and free from hollowness and fashlonaole follies. CHURCH OF CUR LORD. The Bible Must bo Read in the Public SchoolyReligion in School a Necessity Persecution of Protestants in the Fa- ture, &c. A number of strangers and the usual congregation ‘lle jain of tue Chureb of Our Lord atrended jast evening vo Demy 9 discour® on ‘The Bible in tae Pudllc ScAcols.” The Bev. 8. W, Stewart in the course of Tis remarks stated that the RBADING OF THE 3IKLE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS ig @ question Of great importance, and at present agitating tne public mind. One party desire to banish the Word of God from the halls of learning, go that the rising generation, being brought up in ygnorance of the Holy Seriptures, may be easily led to believe and follow cunningly devised fables. ‘The other party advocates the reading of the Scriptures as belng an essential and important Part of @ sound education, reasoning that children reared up in tue nurture and admonition of Goa Will become the most enlightened and, consequently, the most useful members of society. On one side there is darkness, om the other light. One party Would retard civilization and the progress of know- ledge; the other would hasten the dawning of the glorious day when ali shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. ROMISH DARKNESS, Rome is the champion of spiritual darkness, Pro- teatantism isthe unfinching defender of the Bible, ‘tyne religion and Christian enlightenment, The wise King of Israel tai it down as a rule that, if a child be tramed up in the way ne should go when he is old he will not depart from it, The advantages of @ religious education will always mantfest themselves in the career of those who bave enjoyed such 2 blessing, True it ts, in- deed, that there are many sad exceptions. Yet, he said, we cannot tell but that an ever-accusing con- science restrains such persons from proceeding to the extent of wickedness which they otherwise would attain had they never had any religious instruction. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. One greater than Solomon, the reverend gentle- man continued, has given us the command, ‘Search the Scriptures.” Can we be true Christians if we neglect the study of the volume that teaches us our duty both to God and man? Can wat be a Chris- tian church which forbids 1ts members to read the word of God? There are thousands of chiidren Who never hegr their parents read a verse in the Bible. “But,” says one, “they can receive a suifl- cient religions training in Sunday gschoois.”” All the children who attend school on week days do not belong to the Sunday school army, for many spend the sacred hours of the Sabbath playing in the pape and there acquiring a first class education vice, QUESTION OF NUMBERS. ‘The preacher demanded, “Snail the seven millions of Romanists in the United States dictate terms to the other thirty-three miliions of its innabitants !? Protestants will prove recreant to their duty if uey peestit such disgrace. While Romanists are work- ing night and day to accomplish their designs, Protestants, as a general thing, are apathetic and fail to retard the onward progress of the waves of Romish power aud inAuence. POLITIC PROTESTANTS. Some, he said, to advertise their bustness and gain the patronage of Romanists will give a thousand dollars to aid the building of a Roman Vatnolic church when they would not contribute five ceuts towarda (Xe erection of a Protestant church, Others sead their daughters to con- vents to be educated, ignoring two facts—one, that many Protestant schools are superior to the very best Romanish ones; the other, that in the convent every artifice 18 used in order to influence the sus- cepuldle minus of the young to embrace the erro- neous doctrines of Rome. There are Protestants also who will give a plot of ground to a Romanish church or school, while a Protestant church would mt required to pay the highest real estate market oe, RELAPSE INTO THE DARK AGES. In banishing the Bible from our public schools the reverend gentleman sald:—Give the Catholics the control over the school fund, then our children suall receive san education such as was in in the dark fund for the purchase of fag- gots, with which future heretics may be burnea atthe stake. Let us bring, asa conciliatory offer- ing, to the wilt of the Romish Church, our family Bibles to some public squarel where, as a whole-burnt-offering, they may be consumed by re- Joiemng priests, Then Rome will be satisfied. SECTARIAN DONATIONS, Durmg the year 1869 the city treasury contri- buted $628,742 to religious and charitable purposes, Of thls sum tue Roman Catholic Church obtained $412,082, Suppose that the school fund was placed at the dis) Loft Rome, what would be the result? Any intelligent mind could answer; and they must not be permitted down the reat bulwarks of our liberties. Let them butid and adorn ther own edifices to sutt their own taste. We will not hinder them in this work. But let them not dare to @ndermine our superstructure. Let them not presume to Jay @ruthiess nand upon tne Bible, the grand Pace lar of our natural ex- istence. ing 4 Please, Jet them establish their own schools for their own children, and let them maintain them with own money. We will not raie av. objections to such a course. But we will not give up the Bible—we will not banish it from the public schools, The Bread of Life shall daily be given to our cilldren, and we Will not permit the enemies of the truth to give them a scorpion in its stead. The services closed with this byma :— We won't give up the Bible, God's Holy Bouk of trath; ‘The blessed stat? of hoary ago, ‘The guide of early youth. CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH. Catholicism as Opposed to Protestantiem— Sermon by Rev. George H. Hepworth. Undaunted by the severely pelting rain and driv- ing hurricane tempest of last evening, a large number, but with very few ladies among them, assembied at the Church of the Messiah, corner of Park avenue and Thirty-fourth street, to hear Rey. Dr. George H. Hepworth, the popular pastor of this church and eloquent preacher, who, for bril- Nant pulpit oratory, has, in this city of many churches and many eloquent preachers, few peers. To hear him upon the theme announced for his evening dis- course, “OATHOLICISM AS OPPOSED TO PROTESTANTISM,’? doubtless attracted many who, had the theme been jess attractive and the preacher less eloquent, would have spent the evening at the cosey frésid@s of their elegant abodes. After the usual preface of singing, including some fine gems of sacred music by the moat excellent choir, and prayer and reading the Scriptyres, the reverend speaker gan his discourse. He announced as his text St. Mark iv., 28—"First the blade, then the ear, after tnat the fall corn in the ear.” The fext indicated the order of development in nature and human fsociety. As thelr necessities increased their social usages and customs and the creeds of their churcnes must change to meet the emergencies. To stand still is to grow weak. The house in which they lived some- times had to be torn down that they might lay the newiedifice with broader limits. It was because he believed in human progress that he had entered upon his present series of discourses, It had been asked a dozen times since last Sunday why he per- sisied in stirring this subjectup. He was also daily in receipt of anonymous letters, some giving advice, which he accepted; some giving him facts, which he appropriated; some issuing threats, for which HE CARED NOT A JOT OR A TITTLE. He did not begin this argument. If his house was on fire the advice of people to let it alone would not be heeded. In that house are his wife and children, and he would be recreant if he did not attempt to gave them. Sohe would be recreant if he did not lift up his voice in this case. There was no standing mthe middie ground between Catholicism and Pro- testantism. Catholicism did not dare open its lips to criticise ita own Institutions. Only one priest had attempted it, and he feared he would not be able wo hold his own, One man of boldness had dared to say that there was bigotry in the Catholic Church. He asked these men if they believed in the Syliabus. Pope Plus IX. reiterates what Pope Gregory XVI. said, that Catholicism would dig the grave of Protes- tantism, It was time Americans were around, The American people were procrastinating. They coula have extinguished the Mormons twenty-five years ago by @ single decisive action. It would cost per- haps millions now and much sorrow and regret. ‘Thirty-five years ago they could have suppressed slavery. If the Americans had not been absorbed in money making they might have had no war aud no imiliions of graves. Tuey simply rocrastinated, hey put 1t off from aay to day itl the sound of battle was heard and blood was spilt and precious lives sacrificed. It was time to stop this procrastination. Better stir up this sub- ject of Catholicism now, when it cat done with effect. Better the whole American le should settle it now. They would save millions now and many lives in the fature and our institutions in all coming tims, He sai to-night—and he had nistory bebind lLim—that Catholicism 1s not in accordance ‘With the spirit of the nmeteenth century. It was A CHUROH OF THE PAST. He felt thankful for what it done. The Church ofthree hundred years ago atl. Iv lacked the atmosphere of the nineteenth century. Charches must change with the times. Churches that refuse to do this must go down. The religious system of the first century was good for the first century, but when there came new thoughts and new conditions it should have it testantiam had com- mitted innumerable blunders—blunders for which they were heartily ashamed. They found it hard, tor instance, to forgive its bigotry and intolerance, If3 WHIPPINGS AT TAB POST AND BURNINGS AT THB STAKE. ‘rhe system of Calvin did not answer for to-day. They did not accept the thirty-nine articles ag thel seetenere a5, ‘The sctence an Cryer Lot tae lemanded something. woe changed in accordance with education and higher development, And still the Catholic Chi that tie Courch is and unchangeable, ‘This Church says there is no salvation out of its own borders, They were decreed to hell by thts Church, Every beretic was condemned to the names of ap everlasting hell, ‘The wholesome penalties of this Church meant the thumbscrew and other modes of punishment. ‘The course ot the Church showed shia, and it could not be denied. They condemned to hell all nos agreeing with them. He was speaking plamly, but he was speaking the truth. He said, therefore. that Protestautisia tg the only church of the future. It waa the only strength forto-day. It was the only hope for to-morrow, It was the only region that had faith in man, Its motto was no trammels, no Ly on the anind, Ite motto was to educate and en leave the man to himeelf. It was the gospel of the new times, It was the revelation of the Senkary. In tne face of history it could not be doubted. If it nad pot ruled in Europe there would nave been no America, another Church ruled here there would be no America, In pursuing Nis remarks he next alluded to the birth of Protestantism, and how from 1t came Tepublicanism and liberty. There was not, he next insisted, @ school boy in New York who could not put his band on: innumerable deeds of corruption by the Catholic Church despite all the syllabuses of allthe Po} to the contrary, Its arms were made of tron, [ts Angers were made of ice, and jits object was to get the sovereign power in this country. Hi rule of action tus Church was thus far and no farther, and he urged with impassioned eloquence that such was THE DUTY OF EVERY TRUE AMERICAN. He urged next that the world could not go back, and alluded to the philosophical systems and fears and superstitions of the early ages and their con- trast with the enlightened development of to-day, He alluded in this connection to the progress in the negro race. Some misguided fogsis siza for the old time of negro slavery. Negro emanctpation was one of the fruits of moral and intellectual progress. ADP ing thls s gormpatison, to Catholicism he showed how liberal principles Were nape and strength- entn, in Europe. ‘fhe work was being developed, and as it was developed it gata goody to old vsages and old customs. After Pursuing this line of reasoning with effective co- gency, he instituted a comparison between the coun- tries of the O14 World under Catholic and Protes- tant rules, Catholics, he insisted, were slaves. The heei of the Pope was on thetr necks. Paying an elo- nent tribute to the power of free sciools and free speecn, and tracing their effects upon national desti- les and indiviaual prosperity, he drew a contrast betveen the Pope of the eleventh century and the Pope of 1845—the first sovereign over sover- elgns, the second fleeing under cover of night and im disguise. Fis portrayal of the change between these two epochs was indeseribably fine, and so too his pieture of the present Scament- cal Counc! at Rome. Light handred years ago the Chureh governed the worid, To-day the world gov- erned the Charch. Catholicism was growing weaker. Its hope centred tn America, It was lifting its sword, but that sword would soon fall from its feevie grasp as fell the sword from Baron Cuvier—dead, Singing, readimg a notice of the mass meeting to be held on Wednesday evening at Cooper Institute oo Une subject of noa-sectional schools, singing the yma Heavenly Shepherd, guide us, feed us ‘Through our pilgriaiage below, and benediction closed the services. CHURCH OF THE DIVINE PATERNITY. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Chapin=“‘God the Father of Saints and Sinners.” Owing to the miserable state of the weather there was not avervlarge congregation present at the morning service of this church yesterday, and the strangers who took advantage of the circumstance to get good seats were out in considerable force. The sermon was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Chapin, who took for his text the words of the Lord’s Prayer:—‘ur Father which art in Heaven.” There was no sentence iu the Testament, he said, which was so famillar to Christian ears us these words. They were repeated in every family day after day, and little children spoke them long before they were able to read the Bible. Taetr significance to our hearts was immeasurably great, In the first place they directed our attention to the object of all other prayer; they were so simple that the unedu- cated, the utterly ignorant could conceive of the in- finite fact—God. Few as they were they embraced the name, the existence and the dwelling place of God. The name of that most endearing of names—Father, OUR FATHER. What differences pf opmion nad prevailed in paat ages concerning the idea of God! And in view of the vagaries of religious bellef in olden times it must have'been an extraordinary power to have called God “our Father in heaven.” The words certainly con- veyed after all but an imperfect conception of Goa, for in no way can @ finite being comprehend the In- finite. .We could never comprebend God in His quantity, but we could comprehend Him in quality. We may discern what He 1s by the words, for all His attributes, ay learned from the Bibie, were con- sistent with them, Nothing in the revelations could be found contradictory to them. It might be urged by some as an objection that they wers not intended to apply to @ special class; that they were addressed to the disciples above who heard them, and not to the multitude at large. in reply he as- serted that they were addressed to all men, tosinners as well as to saints, for the words ‘forgive us our trespasses” showed plainly enough that sinners were not excluded. There was no limit to these words at all, nothing whatever which wonld go to show that they had any spectal relation instead of a universal one. The conception of God derived from the words was very fundamental, and the objection urged was theradical grouna of difference between Christians as to what God’s relation is to man. EVERY WORD OF THE GOSPEL should be interpretea according to the scope of the whole Bible, and these words of the Lord’s Prayer were no exception to tne rule. The Scriptures were full of terms which enurely agreed with calling God “Our Father.” For instance, He 1s said to be “our and Fatuer of All.’? God is said to be love, Nd attempt coula be made to defne the essence of God in its intrinsic law, but what was clear Wis that God is love, and we know that He go loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for the salvation of man. Not that we loved Him, but He loved us. We were sin- ners, and He loved us just as devotedly as He did the saints. In this doctrine of the divine power ts the whole power of the Gospel. If the doctrine of God being our father were taken away, the Gospel Would have no peculiar power. Its téachings were cer- tainly grand, but without this one doctrine tt would be worthless, GOD LOVED ALL MEN in the face of sin. He was the father of the sinner as well as of the saint. How could it be otherwise? Could He change? He Is or ts not always his father, If when the sinner became asalot God became nis father, then man makes God bis father. On the other hand, when @ man came to the knowledge of God he claims he realizes what has always existed, He does not make it, but realizes it; for God 1s the same and cannot be made different by any act of man. ‘There was a wide distinction between the recognition of a fact ana the existence of a fact. The good Coristian realized that God was His father by his spiritual communion with Him, which was not mere words on the lips; put the sinner, though he did not realize the fact of God being his father, believed Ho was, To realize that God was our father we should love Him with all our hearts. If we do not claim Him to be our father the fact exists all the same. No man could individually cail God nis father, nor could any party or sect or class off{Christians consider Him as exclusively their father, There was no limit to His fathernooa. It was wider than the earth—deep as God’s own heart and love. It was limited to no ors ag party, no sect, no Class whatever, The wor OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN IBAVEN also implied the personal existence of God. It im- plied that we sprang from something. What was that something? Was the term 9 mere blind? The word art echoes the declaration made tn the Old Testament in the word of God “I am.”’ The reverend gentieman then dilated at some length on the vari- ous evidences which make the existence of God an undenjabie fact, and referred to the wonderful order with whicn the planets moved in their spheres aa the order woich pre-emineatly proclaimed God's existence—the existence of an ALL-POWERFUL MIND which reguiated everything, and argued that every discovery of science, instead of taking away from God’s glory or power by dispelling long held super- stitions, only added to His greatness and our know- leage of His divine existence by showing with what order all ening, great and small, were regulated by an all-powerful—not simply a sympathetic, living spirit, The invocation in the prayer designated the DWELLING PLACE OF GOD as heaven. It made God apparently 2 localizea being. Some people imagined there wasa great abyss between a and Aim. We were led along in iife by symbols through what we discern the essen- tial fact, and soit was in regard to heaven. It is not a fixed region, but we couldn’t x it anywhere. We know that those who had died and gone before ws DRIFTED OUT SOMEWHERE to a place within God’s God was ha Mee and wherever He was theré was heaven. The de- parted would be recognized in the groat hereafter by their friends, although the furrow: scars a malformations of this life would be edaged. Heaven ee bea place abounding with orystal fountains and everything that was beautiful and attractiv but if the spirit was corrupted and stained with ai it would in that heaven bein hell, and the spirit pure and unstilied would be in heaven in hell, aa that place was generally understood, Heaven and hell were no particular dx0a places, and aceording to God’s nearness to us by our spiritual communion with Him we were in heaven. SECOND AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH. Exclusion of the Bible from Public Schools— Sermon by Rev. W. C. Steel. At the Second avenue Methodist Episcopal church, corner of 119th street and Second avenue, the fore- Most Methodist church in Harlem, and attached vo whose congregation are some of the leading men of wealth and high social position residing 1m this Portion of the city, Rey. W. ©. Steel, tne pastor, Preached a sermon jast evening on the “Exclusion of the Bible from Public Schools,” The same sermon was delivered two weeks ago and reported by the HERALD, but unfortunately was crowded out, and thus lost the widespread publicity it merits, not alone on account of the absorbing interest felt at Present tn the subject itself, but the clear, able and forcible manner in which the topic is treated. The repetition was in response to a letter soliciting its redelivery, Which letter, signed by numerous leading and Influential citizens of different party and re, Ngious aMilations, was read previous to the delivery of the discourse. ‘The text as the basis of the discourse was John xvit., 17—“Sanctify them through Thy trath; Thy word ig trath;” and John viti., 32—And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” He began with declaring that TRUTH WAS THE OBJECT of the understanding as well as the stréngth of the affections. When Jesus Christ tabernacled in the flesh travh lived and breathed among men, for he said, “Iam the truth,” its primal fountain and only source, The Bible, and that only, contains the mind of Christ. Truth to be effective must be implanted early in life, else the Father of Lies will pre-occapy the mind. American citizens, he proceeded to show, could not yield t the demand for the exclusion of the Bible from tne schools. His first argument was that our institutions are founded on God’s Word, ‘The predominant idea of the American States was “PREEDOM AND EQUALITY,”? and this idea was purely scriptural. Our fathers quarried it out of the divine book. “Call no man master: all ye are brethren,” and “He bath made of one blood all nations of men” formed the foundation on which they built. Hts second argument was that @ purely secular education cannot make good citi- zens. He urged that we are moral beings and can- not have good subjects of a government based on the Bible uniess the moral nature was taught and tramed by that holy book. The regulation of that nature makes us good subjects of God and good citizens, Moreover, under our form of govern- ment all great questions were subinttted directly to the people, aid inasmuch as those questions are purely moral, without an EDUCATION BASED ON TIE BIBLE, they cduid not properly decide tnem. His third joint was that the arguinents of those who array hemselves against our common school system are not sound, He urged upon this point that THE “PROTESTANE BIBLE 18 A SECTARIAN BOOK,’? and offers have been made to substitute the Douay n its place and refused, 1t was also sald by their op- jonents that there was so little religious struction in the schools that it elected nothing. if so why 1d, Rev. Mr. reading of the Bible te did not care which version ‘was used,” Jt 1s aiso saia that “PHB STATE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIG! In reply to this he tnsistea that every State has some religion. This bold assertion, however, had been denied in an editorial in a recent issue of the Tablet, In which {6 was said that ‘ue emancipation of the State from the law of God can be consistently aaserted by no one.” If every nation has a religion, what 13 ours? It is not Fagan (as our Romish friends call the schools), for there are laws uphold. ing the sanctity ol the Sabbath. It was not gthe- istical, for God 18 acknowledged by chaplains of Congress, thanksgiving and fast days. It was not Romisn, for tt commenced on Protestanusm. The first Congress was opened with a Protestant prayer, and its Presidents and legislators are sworn on & Protestant Bible. .While it 18 not sectarian, as are England and Sweden, by building up one sect, it 13 Protestant in the highest sense, by giving lberty to every man to worship God according to his conscience. Again, it was as- serted in the Tablet of March 12 that “the State cannot legislate against either the Catuolic or Pro- testant conscience. Did not the State legislate against THE MORMON CONSCIENCE; against the Quaker conscience? And did tt not battle against the consciences of 15,000,000 in the South, notwithstanding their cry of “Let us alone??? It would not satisfy their opponents it they yielded to their solicitations, for the cry agamst the Bible ‘Was, be insisted, @ mere pretext. Nou-taxation or the Givisios‘o! the school moneys was their demand how. ‘The 8 buil of June, 1468, denounces “free schoo}s and free speech as damnable hero- sites,” and they gay they must haye religious schools. In conciusion, he hoped that this demand of Komanisin was only the com- mencement of the effort to subvert our Mber- ties, Romanists usually vote as a unit. Nearly every polliicai office in thts city was filled by them; our State money was voted to their schools and churches by hundreds of thousands, and we really have A STATE CHURCH IN THIS CITY. Bishop O'Connor, of Pittspurg, declared that “re- lgious liberty 1s only endured until the opposite can be carried into effect.” The Archbishop of St. Louis asserted “that reilgious freedom in this country will surely be at anendif the Catholics ever gain the majority, which they certainly will.” Father Hecker says—“We number seven millions, and im fifteen years we will take this country and build our insti- tutions on the grave of Protestauusm.”” An Italian Romish priest had said, “We can aiford to let Garibaidt ave the rags of Italy since we are taking t@e United States of America.’ England and the South tried to “take” these “States,” but found it rather diificuls, While the Pope sneaks of THE “DELIRIUM OF TOLBRATION”? and the Syllabus condemns the separation of Church and State 1s cannot be doubted that a Papal govern- ment 1s intendea to be established here il it can be accomplished. If their hopes are realized farewell to our bdlood-pought Iberties. Oh, ye martyrs of freedom, ye bled in vain. But American citizens oniy heed to be warned. ‘They should be glad that their opponents had been so frank, Jt was their duty to “up and at them,’ not as their Church has done, ve faggot and sword, bat with a tirmly utvered rafeWeu par Vee, Thirty-tivee millions of Provstants will oul- rote 7,000,000 of Komanats. “Don’t touch that book,” ag “don’t tonch that flag” was said ona memorable occasion during the war, which incident he toid in cloaing with thriliing effect. FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Armitage on the Power of Endices Life and the Eternal Progression of the Soul. Though it is commonly belteved that the sect of Bapusis entertain a Kindly regard for a “muititude of watera,’’ yet the stormy weather of yesterday kept most of the fashionable worshippers indoors, and atthe Fifth avenue Baptist church there was only & sparse audience of cloaked and hooded ladies, with gentlemen in dripping overcoats, to listen to the eloquent words of that favorite pastor, the Rev. Dr. Armitage. 1b is true that here and there SOME UNTERRIFIED YOUNG LADY had triumphantly brought her country cousins in and would at times turn to them with a knowing look and nod a8 some remark more than usually causticand severe dropped irom the lips of the speaker. However, the effect, taking all in all, was cold and dismal. After @ prayér, which, though eloquent enough, was rather toaious in its length, a hymn, beginning “Christ, whose glory fills the skies,” &c., was sung by four voices, and the text was announced. It was from Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, seventh chap- ter, fifte enth and sixteenth verses—“There arises another priest,” &c. Then the pastor, not at all damped, began his discourse. Tue idea of a priest. hood, he said, seems to have entered largely into THE ECONOMY OF THE HUMAN RACE at alltimes. Before the coming of Christ the priest- hood existed in the laws, and since His advent He has been the priest Himseif. The one order was finite, the other infinite; the one governs the carnal man, the other the spiritual man; the one governs the body, the other the soul. Curist, seeing in man the power of endiess life, teached truths that are im- mortal and adapted his preaching to the future state. The human soll does not float about in whe evernal equipoise of an enduring mediocrity, vut constantly grows greater and ever faster as it rans on, drinking with a boundiess, insatiable thirst from the evériasting aprings. Behold the ambitious kings, the subtle cardinals, the wily statesmen, tho learned scholar, the gifted orator, the rulers of multitudes and the teachers of men, those who nave won & crown or discovered & , world, and place these in your imagination in the cradio of childhood. ‘Then, when You bave watched the gtadual accumu- lations and development which have made these men what they came to be, you will undersiand the immensity of development possible to an endless life and ion of the human soul. MOST IMPORTANT TEACHING of Christ earth was contained in the tion which Ne asked, Viet ays all possibilities— Bn shoyld it profit aman if he gain the whole work #lose his own sow), and what will he give to aa implies that Onnst was Cl 8 P pmy vdjue which men place on thélr Boniy, ato apt in thot these SOULS A) fy go MUOT, Lip witddut thought or concern. stoop to enter the kingdom of ig the common idee. “You must rise; Y el idea. And yet you may be held back, eyen in rising, from byide, though a Weak aud | mean pride, and God and the is regard you ss wet TW stake, Bete gent tren . ma that to “becoine as @ little ehud® you must dwart yourself. No! Think you that man 1s so grand and awful that he must dwarf himself to enter the Presence and assume a companionship with Christ And the angels? Todo thts you must not grovel in the dast, butrmwe and soar. » In conclusion the reverend doctor informed his congregation that they ‘were insaue, lunatics, and closed his verbal casuigation, which they seemed to enjoy and receive with # certain exhilarating effect, with a sabiime rhapsody, MiraclewScience a Friend and Assistant to Rellgion—Sermon by Rev. Father MoGinn. The storm of yesterday toid considerably on the attendance at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Compared with the majority of cnurches in the city, 1t might be said that the congregation was very large—the vast chancel being filled to repietion—but judging from the usual number of worshippers, the attend- ance was decidediy meagre. Those who came were closely wrapped in warm clothing, and no display of gaudy ornaments, parti-colored dresses or rich decorations was visible. There is one remarkable fact in the arrangement—cr rather want of arrauge- ment—made for the worshippers at this church Which strikes the most casual observer, and which appears to admis of neither explanation nor jusuil- cation, and that 13, that a hundred seats in the front pews remained empty during the entire service, while hundreds of poorly clad though respectabie looking persons were HUDDLED TOGETHER on the cold pavement, near the entrance, unpro- vided with seats, and exposed to the chilling breezes that whistled through the door, The choir gave Mercadante’s Mass in B flat with much power and effect. The music and the leading voices in this choir are always good, but the number of choristers is smail, thongh Mme, Chornée (Soprano), Miss Werner (alto), Signor .H. Schmita (tenor) and Signor A, Sonst (basso) are a host in themselves, ‘The Rey. Father McGinn preached an edifying and instructive sermon, taking his text from the Gospel read in the mass of the day—st. John vi., 1 to 16:— “Alter these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias, and a great multitude followed Him because they saw His unracles which He did on them that were diseased,” &c, The reverend gentieman entered into an elaborate and analytical argument on the miracles performed by Jesus wate on earth, showing their necessity at the ume, their influence on the minds of the people, and the leskons to be learned from them by Cnristians of our time. He said the day of miracles is not past. Tue same hand that ted Live tuousand people with five loaves and two fishes stil continues to work wonders in our inidst, but these things are concealed from the intidei and the sceptic and can be seen but with THE BYE OP FAITH. The carnal man and the man of the world fais to see that there is @ Divine power waich controls every circumstance of his life, that there 13 an eye which sees his heart, weeps for his musfor- tunes and his follies, and watches the maim spring of his motives, and that there is a guiding Provi- dence ever working wonderful mysteries 1n his re- gard, mysteries f the atmosphere, mysteries on earti and mysteries under the earta. SCIENCE, which has ever been the aister and faithful ally of relt- gion, has dived into the workings of God’s omni- science aad has sought w explain His wonderful works, but retired respectful and apashed and con- fessed herself totally unable to fathom their depths. The attempts that nave been made by materiatists and infidels to array science against revealed reii- gion bave ever been abortive, and musi ever con- Unue to bring discomfiture and confusion on the heads of their origmators. All works planned in the Divine mind must be unique and harmonious. ‘The man who 1s not afrata of the sounduess of his religious views MUST WELCOME SCIENCE and hia her proceed in her course and fulfil her des- uny by hewosnrng ay J to the world that revealed religion comes from God; that it is the record of His deaiings with his creatures, and that His doctrines and revelations resemble His material creation ‘in Unis particular, that they can never be changea or destroyed. But the miracles of the Godhead have an applica- tion which comes home to every heart, and should brig solace and tystruction to every breast. During the days of our childhood; when our ideas are aeriiorm id Our thoughts are unmoulded, we have troubles; the dawn of manhooa, when reverses oppress us and affliction bows us down, when we begin to feel Uhat we are res) le beings, each one of us alone to the world, we need inspiration, and when tie advance of years or decay of health warns us that We ust soon disappear BEHIND THE SCENES, we needa Fg friend, That friend, that inspirg- uon, the solace for those troubles 1s found tn reil- gion and ta the tender heart of a guiding Provi- dence, But to earn divine sympathy in the bour of need sacrifices must be made inthe hour of pros- perity. Weare taxed for all the necessaries of le, we must pay for our amusements and our pleasures, and submit to exactions which (igs | neither plea, sure nor profit. God is pledged to help those who stand by Him, and if we expect His care and tender sympathy we must obey the law aud submit our wills to the teachings of Hig Church and frame our actions accordingly. HEDDING METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Falsity the Bane of the Day—Sermon by the Pastor, the Rev. John S. Willis. The Hedding Methodist Episcopal church, located upon East Seventeenth street, near Stuyuesant square, was built about sixteen years ago, and is so called after a bishop of the denomination to which it belongs. The first step towards the erectton of the sacred edifice was made a few years before, when the Methodist Episcopal Ladies’ Home Mission established the Medding Mission chapel upon the spot where now stands the church. THE PASTOR, Rey. jap 8, Wilhe, came to the church abont a year ago irdm the Wiitmingtin Qopfersuce, relieving the Rev. William P. Corbett, no of the John street Methodist Episcopal church, who had preached to tho Hedding congregation very successfully and to thetr great satisfaction during the three preced- ing years; but the present pastor 18 uow, perhaps, as much beloved by the congregation a3 Was the Rev. Mr. Corbett, and his ministry is equaily suc- cessful, as evidenced by liis instrumentality in effect- ing the conversion of over 100 of iis hearers in the lagt year. Owing to the severe storm of wind and rain which prevailed without intermission throughout the whole of yesterday, only the most devout of the difforent denominations attended their respective places of worship, At the Hedding Methodist Episcopal cburch there was no exception to this general rule, But about HALP THE USUAL CONGREGATION assembled at morning service, few, if any, of the pews being weil filled, although none were entirely unvcenpied except in the galleries. After the usual preliminary services the pastor announced as the text of his discourse a part of the seventh verse of the sixteenth chapter of first Samuel—‘‘For man jooketh on the outward appearance, but tne Lord looketh on the heart.’ The reverend gentieman began his sermon by remarking that Shakspeare had said, ‘All the world’s a rea and men and women only players.’ He said if Shakspeare found out all the world was but a pantomime, iv is not very wonderful that @ divine prophet should have dis- covered the same fact, Tne occasion of the utter- ance of the words of the text was the order recelved by Samuel from God to anoimt a son of Jesse as king of Isracl When tne first gon appeared before Samuel the prophet was struck with his appearance, but the Lord Indicated that thts was not the chosen one in the words of the text. Another came before him of imposing mein Po beautiful appearance, but he was refused also. nus SEVEN OF THE SONS OF JESSE passed one by one in review, but the Lord did not Indicate any of them as his chosen king of Israel. When Samuel asked if Jesse had not another son, he was told that there was one more. a shephera boy ‘Who was a Hohe ae Sameel ordered him to be called. en he appeared the majesty of manhood and dignity of mein which was shown by the others was wanting in David. But he was God's selection, and this was just what God meant,by tle text. Tue speaker said, that iu diseussing tis aub. ject, the first thought that strikes us is that Tace view of life is not always correct. It is uneale in deveral respects, First, in ita insecurity: FALSITY 18 THE BANE OF THE AGH. This falsity is tadicdted in every avenue of life, Soviety 18 controlled oy outside show aud Gow-gaw, and it is this that keeps the poor poorer. They de- sire to emulate tho rich, and if not rich themselves at least to appear so. Secondly, this falsity 1s also indicated by the endeavor of the ignorant to appear wise. Different forms of deception show it. Ifa man cannot be ee in ortuowoxy, he invents some new ism. TO PILI A CHURCH ON A RAINY DAY 1s to preach heterodoxy. If mep mn to be popular they must be odd. Thirdiy, this fisity is exhinitea in a desire to appear noble. Some show a desire to trace their aan origin to some remote perjod. and some to the F. F. V's., fitst families of Virginia. lo Is not best to go too far back. tter to be like Nat Pryor, who bad his epitaph written:— Here lios Nat Pryor, descended from Adam and Eve, If any man can go higher, he bert has my leave. The reverend speaker continued at considerable Jengin to wterpres and apply the text. Warning his hearers spe insincerity, hypocrisy and falsity of every kind, and conclated’ with words of enco' jhent and the assurance that “God looketh om CHURCH OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS. The Storm and the Sabbath-Goere—The Rich and the Poor Gracefully Commingled=A Cultivated Choir and an Asthmatic Organ— Lenten Symboly—The Real Presence ef Chriet in the Eucharist—Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Larkin, The congregation frequenting the Church of thé Holy Innocents, corner o: Thirty-seventh street and Broadway, braved the pitiless storm of rain which swept'the uptown districts yesterday, and, defying the howling of the wintry wind, mustered in Iscge force at the celebration of high mass in the morning. Upper Broadway seemed a desert. In thesiae streets the casements were shut fast, people almost denying themselves light tn their anxiety to see as little as possible of the doings of the murky elements out. side. The carriages were few and far between, and as they whipped by rapidly the Jehus, one aud all, bent a reverent head to tne biast, Yeu toward the portals of Holy Innocents’ church at the hour for service an unbroken stream of intrepid devotees flowed on. Umbrellas of all hues and ages, many of them of the Sarah Gamp pattern, which no change of fashion can kill, came forth from thelr hiding places and did a fine, dripping duty, not- withatanding that they were nota little unraly at the street corners, when the temper of their whalebone Wasruled by the wind, Waterproof cloaks and all manner of next-to-hand wrappers were Ip such requisition that It was only within THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH thatthe social status of the worshippers could be ascertained, The sight was a gratifying one. It reveaied @ well disciplined Christian congregation, I, ¥ RICH AND POOR ALIKE, comfortably provided with seats. Ang one with Eu. ropean experiences would be at once reminded by the sight of old Notre Dame in Parts, where all classes comming!e in prayer, or of the Madeleine atan carly mass, where the indigent roomkeepes 18 80 often found side by side with a Duchess, wha was the centre of @ brilliant throng in a princely salon the nught befare. This is a fine Catholic idea, and ought to grow and fo urish among democratia institutions, LENTEN SYMBOLS. With tne exception of the purple robes of the oMciating priest, the Rev. Mr. Fitzsimons, there ere few Lenten symbols visible, except the altar ahte-pendium, on whose deep purple ground a white Greek ‘cross made a pretty appearance. Fiowers were absent from the vicinity of the taber- nacie, and at the mass, which chiefly consisted of selections from Colonne, adapted for three voices by Mr. Christian Berge, the Giorta was omitted, and THE ORGAN endeavored to do duty first upon the solemn Kyrie. The imstrument, however, i little better than @ nuisance and only suited tor Sunday schoal exer- cises or & prayer meeting in one of the Western set tlements, where the choral performances are more generally remarkabie for piety than melody or har- mony. The pedal seemed to be in competition with the pipes, and was occasionally louder, to the im- mense detriment of the really fine chotr, Further inspection led to the discovery that there was only one bank Of stops, no chime of ells, an inferior ar- rangement of chromatic action, and the capricious as a prima donna, refusing occasional to pee the necessary complement of wind. Saper- hulnan erforts must, therefore, be made by the ‘ar satl organist and accomplished musician, 5 Christian Berge, to render his accompaniment se accurate and valuable. THE CHOIR wasin good voice, the able tenor excepted. The gifted yocaliss, Mme. Salvotti, sang the At ‘. natus in the Credo in fluished le. in conjunction witn Mme. Coletti, whose fine volume of gito swept in melodious waves through the charch. basso {n this trio Mr. Werneke sang» with his usual power and discrimination. The On! clel pieta dtme of Gordigiant was given as an offel y solo by Mme. Salvott!, and revealed much of the sparkle and bgil- luancy which characterizes her rendering. THE SERMON was by the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Larkin, whose zealous efforts raised this fine church, azd on the gospel ofthe day, St. John vi., 1-15, beginning with the worda:—<‘‘After these thi jesus Went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the of Tiberius, and & great multicude followed Him, because oy sam es miracles which He did on them that were bi He detailed the history of the multiplication of the toaves and fishes, the wonder and amazement of the people, their adufration for Jesus as a teacher and miracie worker, and the discourse He made them on the manner in which He was to give Himself for the life of the world by a REAL PRESENCE in the holy eucharist. The preacher showed thas in shia sixth chapter of John Christ promised As hearers wo give them His flesh toeat. Their fathel had eaten manna tn the desert and were dead. The true life-giving bread was that which He would give them, and that was His flesh. He laid special stress upon the words of the Saviour, “Exeepi you eat the Nesh of the Son of Man and drink His ‘blood you shall not have life in you.’ The Jews, who heard these words, murmured at them, and said, one to another, “How can tis man give us His fesh to eat?’ The Saviour, however, reiterated stull in stronger terms the necessity of do! #0, and when the Jews were about to leave Him and walk no more with Him because they were unwilling to be believers in this uniooked for revelation He allowed them to depart. From the apostles an act of expit- cit faith was demanded on this head; for woen Christ asked them “WILL YOU ALSO GO away?? They answered by the mouth of Peter, “Lord to Whom shall we go but to Thee. Thou hast the words of eternal life and we have believed and bave known ‘Thee to Christ Ube Son of God.” At great length, and with an eloquence at once simple and expres- sive, he showed that the doctrine of the reai pres ence of Christ in the euchartst was supported, literally and figuratively, by Scripture, and that those who disbelieved the doctrine of transubdstan- tiation because of its assumed absurdity and tmpos- gibility believed in STILL GREATER MIRACLES in the natural and spiritual order, and concluded an edifying discourge With an exhortation to a frequen- tation of the table of the Lord and # devout parti- cipation of the bread of life, by which they would be nourished unto eternal salvation, (ST. PAUL’S METHODIST EP/SCOPAL CHURCH. Ordination Sermon by Bishop Ames—The Ethics of the Bible and the Ethics ot Every« day Life. St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal church on South Sixth street was densely crowded yesterday morn- ing to hear an ordination sermon by Bishop Ames, of the Baltimore Methodist Episcopal Conference, and now presiding at the Newark Conference at present in session in Jersey City, The sermon was prior to the ordination service hele in the afternoon, at which several deacons were admitted to full connec- tion. After the usual devotional services Bishop Ames announced for bis text the fifth verse of the first chapter of St. Paul's eplstle to the Thessalonians:— “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as ye Know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”’ The Bishop commenced by observing that the words of the text were nearly allied to THE RTHICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. Shakespeare, Who was @ great judge of men, and no mean master of the power that stirs the human heart, says that conscience makes cowards of us ali; but he borrowed the idea from Solomon, who wrote that the wicked flee when no man pur- sueth. A thoroughly honest man never has to in- quire on which side the right of @ question lies or which path he should pursue, He only seeks to know the path of truth, aud walks straight on in tt, knowing right weil that it wil lead him in the way he ought togo. Weare ail struck with the simpli- city of the Gospel, and it i,one of the proofs of tts divinity. The ministers Of thig religion should preach itin ite siumpit and should themselves ave experienced its renewing power. Without RELIGION IN THE HEART OF THE PREACHER. The Word preached was dishonored. It is a great matter for any community to have the Gospel preached in its purity, and it 8 also necessary that the minister of the present day should be educated, inorder that he might rightly divine the Word of God and preach it in its theological ey, Itisa wise providence of God that we walk by fait and not by sight. We can only imagine wnat a communtty would be without an established ministry and regu- lar church organizauons. Wecan tm 8, Dat we can never know, how much crime is ays] how much #in and misery is checked in its course by @ preached Gospel; and we can never fully estimate ‘the number of noble deeds that have been prompted, the innumerable kind and loving acts of ci shat have been prompted, by its holy and Renewing es ences. It is alone that knowa& But ‘ora: of God may be preachea with critical dnd theological meaning and still not be the power of God CT vation. The logic taught in the Bible is a ent and superior to woe logic taught in the It has @ system of Feasning of ite and’ if received and weighed with an mind fo) iwaelf upon that eS | ‘. mess and weight that its conclu are ~ Some of those periods in the listory of the gid which have given us the ripest scholars Wave mised the least religion. Those who have read the sermons preached in Scotiaad fifty or ang ano must be struck with admiration at the a talent bestowea upon their preparation, bus TH® SPIRIT OF LOVE AND OF THE HOLY GHOST ig not in them, and consequently never Po 9% Chureb suak Jower or was #o Wrepped in ————y