The New York Herald Newspaper, May 16, 1870, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MAY 16, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEET. good al catalogue of benefit pie aed bod paste ha Siren ot good deeds @t the last day would not hear the en- oer comtt “Well done, good and faithful servant, Sere eitertnYany OU cbpteunaion and | forehead ‘who Manor Ht ‘only wi ey q scorn. “The Yecing wach acraate this ry Vie trath’ and who strived to. beneflt LES. ‘sin against the Holy Ghost. I believe in the | downward road, Was it nota good deed, and were Poundioas possibiliti ae future; in the im- | they not told that there was Joy over one sinner that ergrogtomion of his sou!, I believe in ssdden | repenteth? Let them, then, strive to pileviate suffer- con’ ‘and that the world is full of them. The | ing in every form and character; let them live lives ‘windows of man’a soul may be darkened for years, | of purity and holincss, and they would then be re- but the sunlight of truth will break th them at | spected’ by all men, and, striving to do their duty, Jast and lighten up in guiltiess glory alt his life. they ener pace find that God was with them and LEXINGTON AVENUE METHODIST EPISCOPAL | yew ENGLAND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. The Congregationalists of Fifth Avenue—Ser- vices and Sermon in Rutgers Chapel. If the Congregational is not reatly, properly speaking, the established church of New England, it can be truly said atany rate that no other church or form of worship has been any longer or any better established there; and with so many Congregation- alists in the New England States and so many people from those States permanently located in New York, itis rather remarkable that there should be in this city but two Congregational churches. That there are a sufficient number residing in the city who hold that religious belief to filla half dozen churches seems to be beyond a doubt, and if the majority of them do not go to Brooklyn to atvend Plymouth and other Congregational churches there, they must elther attend the churches of other denominations, or eise fail to go to church at all. The people of the New England Congregational church, who hold their services in Rutgers chapel, on Fifth avenue, near Forty-second street, for the present and until it is decided whether to buy or build a new and larger church edifice, acknowledg- ing the above as facts, are evidently impressed with the importance of IMMEDIATE ACTION in behalf of their church and faith in this city, With the idea that an able, eloquent and soul-stirring preacher, with some originality in thought and ex- pression, ts most needful just now to arouse the apa- thene and encourage the weary to renewed exertion, they have extended a call to the Rey. Merrill Rich- ardson, te present pastor of the Salem street Con- gregational church at Worcester, Mass., offering to bear all moving expenses and pay him ‘A SALARY OF SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS, but not limiting themselves to that amount. Rev, Mr. Richardson is well and favorably known through- out New England as a public lecturer, and on ac- couut of his eloquence and originality. He will preach to the congregation next Sunday. The services were conducted yesterday by Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, Jr., the pastor in charge, who at morning service delivered a sermon on “fhe obedi- ence and suitering of Christ.’ Taking as his text The Epistle to the Hebrews y., 8—‘*Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered,” the preacher remarked that these words were said of Christ. who ‘was with God and was God.’ The text referred to obedience on the part of one who occupied a position of authority, who had not been subject to the law as a creature, Yet He became subject to the law, not only as it ap- plies to man, but to fallen man, and He LEARNED OBEDIENCE BY WHAT HE SUFFERED. He not only took upon himseif the form of man, but he took on himself the form of a servant. Hic humbled himself. He did so not from com- poe. but on account of His great love for man. Becoming man he became subject to the law as ap- plied to man—the civil, religious, moral and social laws. And above all He was obed{ent by His suffer- ing even unto death. His suffering was for no sin of His own, but because of the sin of man, and be- cause Christ saw this suffering in the will of the Father. He turned aside neither to the right nor jeft, even when A CROSS LAY IN HIS PATH. The reverend gentleman, in conclusion, exhorted his hearers to learn from Christ’s suffering and obe- dience how to obey and sulfer. At the close of the sermon, after a short prayer, the choir sang the hymn commencing— =“ ‘i All hafl the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, ‘And crown Him King of Ail; which concludea the congregation were dismissed with a benediction, CHURCH OF THE PURITANS. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Cheever—The Public Conscience Excerinted—Recorder Hackett Arrnigned—The Bible in the Public Schools— The Ecumenical Council Dubbed “Human Liars.” In a small rectangular room at Apollo Hall there assembled yesterday a very slim, staid and formal looking set of worshippers of the Puritan faith, ‘They were decidedly prim and exact in their appear- ance, and seemed to eschew the prevailing fashions altogether. The only lady who was any wise con- spicuous was @ brunette of African descent, who was gotten up regardless of expense. She wore an Alpine hat with bright spring flowers, an amethyst brooch and a black silk dress with flounces. The preacher was the once renowned Dr. Cheever. He is a gentleman of undoubted inteilectual parts, and reads his sermon with proper elocution, but, like most of the New England parsons, seems to be endowed with a pretence of liberality altogether warped and prejudiced in his theological views. His sermon was on AN EDUCATION OF CONSCIENCE BY THE WORD OF GoD. An enlightened conscience, he said, was the only safeguard of our liberty. Our only hope of success im the experiment of republican government ts by cultivating a general good conscience. The national conscience must be educated. God governs the world through the conscience, and the couscience 13 enlightened by his word, The work of humap. gov- ernment is to protect men from the frenzies of their fellow men, from their selfishness and passions, Here the preacher, in a low and solemn tone, quoted a portion of the charge of RECORDER HACKETT he McFarland trial, wherein that gentleman in- ry that ifthe prisoner committed tie cide in a moment of irenzy he is entitled to an After making the quotation the preacher t, and, uplifting his eyes and Sermon by Rev, R. M. Stratton—Importance wof Christinn Activity—The Lesson Thereof Drawn from Nehemiah’s Building of the ‘Temple at Jerusalem. ‘The smiling sun of yesterday was not more genial than the countenances of the congregations that gathered for worship in thetr respective churches. ‘The numbers were larger than have been noticed for some me, and this increase was not more appa- rent anywhere than in Lexington avenue Methodist Episcopal church, corner of Fifty-second street, yes- verday morning. The singing was congregational, led by a chotr under the direction of Mr. Robert Johnson, who will be remembered in connection with the Cooper Union musical classes. His daugh- ter, a beautiful young lady, performed very credi- tably on the organ. Some of the leading members occupy choice seats in pews named after them- selves, Butas the church is not large and contains no galleries, save the choir gallery, there 18 not much difference in the choice of pews. The Rev. R. M. Stratton, the pastor of this chureh, is a young man, apparently about twenty-five years of age, with a smooth face, expressive eyes and a deep basso voice. His utterances are deliberately made, and yet his style and manner show him to be a man of nervous temperament, zealous in the cause in which he 1s engaged. fis sermon yesterday was a@ very eloyuent plea for CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY, and was bised upon Nehemiah iv., 6, last clause— “For the people had a mind to work.” In desertb- ing the character of the work the preacher detailed the circumstances in which Nehemiah found himself an presence of Artaxerxes, King of Babylon, his great anxtety tor the jand of his birth, and especlally for the house of his God. His countenance was sad from day to day as he appeared before the King, who, upon learning the cause, sent him forth to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Others had pre- eéded him in thts work and falled, His success was complete, for the people had a mind to work, They caught the inspiration of his own zeal and earnest- ness. And those that wrought in the work, even those that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands built the wall and with the other hand held a weapon—e spear, a stueld, a bow, or a habergeon. And the builders or overseers every one had his sword girded by his side and so builded. Too many Christians are found in the Church willing enough to work, but they are IMPERFECTLY EQUIPPED. They are not ready to fight with the enemies that surround: them on every side. The breastplate of righteousness is missing; the heimet of salvation is lagking; the slue!d of faith is laid aside: the teet are not suiod With the preparation of the gospel of peace and the sWord of the Spirit hangs rusty over the mantel or lies unused on some dusty shelf. No wonder that the Samsons of the Church are weak, like other men, and that some of them yield to temptations and snares. The work of the Church must be laid upon a rock foundation, Jesus Christ himeelf being tiie chief corner sione. The rubbish must be cleared away before the walls can be built or the gales set up; and the hardest work of life sometimes is to dig down to the foundation of a man’s character, It is covered up with the lusts and pleasures of lite, with the deceitfulness of riches and with a a. of other rubbish which must be removed before the Spirit can do His work. SIXTEEN HOURS’ WORK A DAY. Nehemiah’s workmen labored not onty eight or ten hours a day, but from the rising of the morning till ‘the stars appeared. whey wearied not, neither Tainted in their toil, because they loved Jerusalem, And this was the secret of their success, and this was why they had @ mind to work. The sermon closed with an appeal to the congregation for re- newed religious activity and greater zeal and devo- tion to the interests of the church, And then when all are active and all are building, while they are ready to tight, may we expect to see the kingdom of Sod spreading over land aud sea, unui all, from the least even unto the greatest, are gathered mto his fold. Yesterday beig quarterly “mecting” day, a col- lection Was taken up to pay the pastor and for other purposes. In the evening “the pillar of salt” on the plains of as polated out to the females of the Among the strong men of ihe church are the Messrs. Lalor, Cartwright, Bowen, Tower, Loomis, Fowler, Pease, Myrick and others. That portion of the city is being rapidly built up, and ina few years More no doubt this church will rise to importance among the iesigious institutions of the city, ST. PHILIP’S (COLORED) CRURCH. Fallacy of Human Reason in Religlon—Ser- mon by Rev. Mr. De Zeng. This church was at the morning service yesterday Weil filled with the class of our colored Epi-copa- ans best supplied with that dross which is the anomalously dumb, though speaking guide and Toaster through life, and presented quite a contrast of fashionable attire aud plain, though neat, church decorations, ‘The pulpit was occupied by the Rev. Mr. de Zeng, whose sermon was an eloquent exposition of the fal- lacy of human reason in religion, his text being taken from St. Paui’s Second Epistle to the Corin- Uitans, L, 13—“For we write now other things unto you than what ye read or acknowledge, and I trust ye shall acknowle: ven to the end’? He commenced with the remark that anything on which any dependence 18 to be placed should be fact, and showed how the truth of the remark might charge!" Allud- be applied either to the practical affairs of life or to 1 Councti, the preacher politely religious be! and ilustrated the case of St. Paul, ugust body as the “ who had belie previous to bis conversion, Chris- ov DF TUMAN LIARS. the pr tiantiy to be a grand tmposttion on iumau credt- of conscience, more or bility--in faci, asa grand ficou, Bat with all his ned by God's Word, was evidently ne- good reasons forsuch a conviction, based upon the ssavy Yor the world, Suspend its op is TRADITIONS AND FACTS OF AGE: n hour and this world would become 1 his aviciuns, through the interposition of zara are not more real, the muracte, were changed. No disbeilever who « are ot more andip-e than the credit the miracle of the conversion ol St. ence. The learned divine dilated must lose his disbelief, for he musi then beli on the question of a public conscienc Hie denied the divine cause of the miracle. He then said:—“It | i: nad any existe The public conscience, 80 verily 11 to pass that men have so mixed up | calied, was perverted and generally wrong. The the plain statement of the Word of God with their | sermon next tooX another drift. The attempi to ex- individual ideas of its meaning that they reject it, | pel the Bible from the public schools was severely being unable to reconcile the two. New in | auathemzed ani the priests were fabbed up pretty religious belie we do not want imagination as to | soundly. “What, said the cher, “throw out ‘what the meaning of the Scripture may be, If he | the Word God from our schools! The book ‘were Lo asseri that he did not believe one sentence of | which alone embraces a knowledge of the that he had read in the Bible, no person would | Almighty; the universal guide to ail Clirisuan gov- believe him, simply becanse he could give no proor for such an assertion. The Goxpel 1s no new thing— no new dcctrines—but one and the same to all times and all persons, only having been more clearly ex- atned and interpreted by Jesus and the aposties. ‘¢ not only read it, but wiso Listen Lo its voice as it comes echoing DOWN THE “ROCK OF AGES” in our continual promise of life. in hearing, he concluded, the text you cannot do otherwise than associate with it its meanings, and if so can you find its apphcationy Cannot your own heart, your own conscience answer individually the question what it ernment.’ What blasphemous contempt! Ii such athing, if such an attempt could be successful then farewell to progress in this land. But it never would be realized.’ The preacher went on and spoke abont the Bible, its Influence, its imtallidility and its indispensable moral worth. The audience did not seem to be moved in the slightest by the eloquence poured forth from the pulpit. That cold, austere demeanor was preserved throughout, aud alter an earnest prayer was uttered by the preacher at the conclusion of the sermon they separated with the silence and decorum of thorough Puritans. is you read in the Bvok, and how much— or, a) might say, how little—of it CHURCH OF SPIRIIUAL JERUSALEM. you acknowledge . by® the adoption of iis woe teachings into your daily life? Reflect upon those facts of your knowledge and compare wit! them the principles which habitually guided your past life, and such a conirast will, candidly made, compel in ous decision as to what is fiction and what ts jact—as io whi 18 the result of mere human reason or that which is the result and will of God. GREENE STREET M. E. CHURCH. Revelations Interpreted by the Only Author. ized Authority—The Crooked Made Straight by Bishop Snow. Some thirty persons met at three o'clock P, M. yes+ terday in one of the lecture rooms of the Law University to listen to Revelations as expounded by Bishop S. 8S. Snow. These persons were all of advanced age, especially the ladies, and afforded a strong contrast to the worshippers in costly attire The Power of Life—s rmon by the Rev. W. Wheeler. who throng the many fashionable churches, ‘The Service was held in this edifice yesterday evening, | Services were begun by when @ sermon was preached by the Rev. W. SINGING TWO HYMNS, Wheeler, of Meadville, Pa., who selected as histexe | With organ accompaniment, after which the Bishop the words “For noue of us liveth to himself, and | ead the first verse of un additional hymn, which was in turn sung py the congregation with con- siderable spirit. “The second woe 1s past, be- hola the third woe cometh quickly,” was read from Revelations, and the remainder of the reading was from a sort of histerical and metaphysical work, somewhat similar m general character to a Patent Office report. The following Is the substance of the narrative or essay, Whichever it may ve: Only a very short time clapses between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets. The angel of the seventh trumpet began to sound in the autumn of the year which witnessed the destruction of Con- Stantimople. The seventh trumpet was not blown in the precincts of the third heaven, ner within the confines of the seventh heaven, but upon the earth, 1 the locality Immediately adjacent to the scene of ceriain subitnary events reated in oral traditions and voluminous written records handed down to us by our immediate and more remote ancestors, The Une has at last arrived when the DEAD ARE TO BE RAISED and the ving followers of the Lord are to be trans- lated, or transplanted, or transmigrated to a new spiritual Chorch in a new spiritual Jerusalem, by a hew spiritual method, in a spiritual sense. Apy one no man dicth to himself. For whether we live we live unto the Lord; and whether we die we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans xiv., 7,8.) He said that every man’s life should be a constant striving to do good im the world. Many men had been ene dowed with many and peculiar gifts, which em!- nently fitted them to enter into o prise or another, and they had selves of the Mmducements oie: IA¥8 WAS A SPHERE OF USEFULN and it was the: duty of every man to work for the good of inankind and for his God and Creator. If an opportunity offered to preach the Gospel he was so two preach it; if he saw an opportunity to win a soul from the peritous thraidom of the world he was to seize that opportunity and draw the repent to the turoue of mercy. It might be that a some poor person was dying for food or for ra w protect from the piercing winds of winter; It was his duty to supply the seod required and to clothe the unclad. CHARITY WAS TRULY A VIRTUR, and it was a pity it was not practised more in life. Meu did not see the power that lay wituin their Gospel was the don garded as a development of tie ethical side of Chris- look! ond thunder, voices, eartha! discovered with the exception of hall, which we can The allegorical explanations sue from the presence tof God, hymn called Armageddon:— TaN. asugfe of the tne oh08; “The carnival of slaughtered oven, lations are prophecies and prophecies are statement of everts which have happened (y tohappen.” The ion had a material sense and spiritual sense; material fall; the 9, aplriaal, sense must now be ful ®& spiritual king. said:—The acm ig the Church; for God told His peo} to come out of Babylon, and if Babylon was the where He wanted His people to come out of, if Jon was nos the spiritual church, what was itt You, sir, you say itis the world. Can you GO OUT OF THE WORLD as God told you to? The remainder of the sermon ‘was rather a repetition of the: g, Inters] with the most original and start conundrums, unsuccessfully offered for the consideration of indi- vidual members of the congregation, then pro- God, I do, for Ihave been commiss! ed things straight.’ ”? SPIBITUALISTIC FLOWERS. A Progressive Congregation Sermons in Everything. The and subdivisions with as plausible accuracy aud minuteness as Mercator’s scale of the globe. The good and gracious in this life get corper flourishing cities of the spiritualistic heaven, and those who are neither lots in the most have to content themselves with five story back rooms in the tenement concerns of the celesual Five Points. No religion or code of worship has ever yet been invented that allows its votaries to indulge tn happier dreams than progressive spiritualism. How DELIGHTFUL IS THE SWEET DELUSION to the breast of that pensive, disappointed maiden, with the large orbs fixed upon the bright sky you. der, that ithe hereafter her footsteps will stray ania flowery meads, her arbored bower o£ love be under the fragrant arching vines, and all the air around her be heavy with the sighs of sweetest foliage musical with birds! No wonaer spritualism captivates so many old maids and older men whose fancies have outlived their capacity of physi- cal enjoyment. Of course it is not to be argued that the Spiritualists have a monopoly of these delicious though deiusive dreams which merciful Providence de=igned should ever be the por- tion of those of His creatures whose hopeless wretcii- edness finds its only alleviation in the bright visions of hope beyond the grave. The Spiritualists, how- ever, live in a strong and settled conviction, aud cherish an unfading, strengthening hope of the calm eternal glory practical and jpubie as the world here around us, but devoid of its grossness, its iniu- manity and its suffering. Mrs, Neltie Brigham was the speaker yesterday, and a very eloquent speaker she proved. SERMONS IN STONES, ETO. Her appearance is not of the ordinary type of fe- male trance mediums. She indulges in none of that whining-cant and rhetorical clap-trap 80 com- monly observed among the disciples of new and modern modes of faith. She was becomingly dressed, and her silvery voice gave an interest to her pro- found arguments which otherwise might have been a trife wearisome. The spiritualism which she pro- fesses 18 that delightful kind which carries away minds at all given to sentiment, Sermons in stones, books in running brooks, and good in everything, is the principle of her humane forts pe To walk out early on one of these glorious May mornings, with the blue sky beaming with beauty and bright- ness, to see the flowering shrubs and hear the gay carolling of the feathered songsters of the grove, and view all with the eye of gratitude and thankful- ness to Him who thus furnishes His creatures with sweet and sunple pleasures, make an element in the religion of spiritualism which is undoubtedly ita most attractive feature. ‘rhe singing was good, and the congregation dis- persed in evident felicity of spirits. BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. Spring Dress and Spring Fiowers—Sermou on Love of Man to God=Mr. Beecher Continues to Bewail the Failure of Christianity. Plymouth church yesterday was very summerish in itg appearance. The more than warm weather of yesterday morning was favorable to light and aerial tollets, and therefore the ladies came out in gauze-like robes and floral hats. Though the church was not crowded it was sufficiently well attended to be comfortable. The floral committee had been suc- cessful in their arrangement of spring flowers, and the platform gave Mr. Beecher @ parterre of flowers to promenade between when discoursing to the audience below and around him. Mr. Beecher’s subject was the “Love of Man to God,” and this, with the text selecied, would have been the last subject ordiuary people would think likely to be productive of laughter, and yet seldom has the comic side of Mr. Beecher’s preaching been more awakened than it was yesterday morning, On several occasions there was A CHORUS OF LAUGAT! rang over the building, as the py her im unsur- passable mimicry, pictured the characters he de- scribed to his audience. The text selected was virtually St. Matthew xxil., 37:—*Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mina.’ the entire paragraph fr forticth vers Tn addition to this verse n the thirty-fourth to the uded. the nucleus of all plety; in it el, for the spirit of the nancy of love. it might be re- was inc tianity, for the essence of God and love to man. ston but a seatiment; viol was the love to This 1ove was not a pas- aving just enough fear in it to make the love towards God a reverential thing. When tt w 1d that we are to love God with ail our heart, it was not meant tat we should 1 LOV! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, like the ticking o1 clock, but that ali the powers of our soul should be moulded and influenced by this: love; that our conscience, our reason, our taste, our will, our affections and our passions should be con- trotled by a spirit of love towards God, The text gave a phsychological idea of what the Bible meant by a periect man. Mr. Beecher here gave what the Greck and Roman idea of a perfect man Was, and said the modern idea of a Christian man was 4 statesman, 2 man who had power to con- trol, govern and manage men. Now, Christ's idea of a perfect man was that he should love God and man 80 periectly and so completely that hap- piness should,be the inevitable resui ‘The text afforded also the oniy true test of per- sonal religion. ‘There were many men who DO NOW BELIEVE IN CONVERSION ‘These meu said that men’s imagimations were played upon like the phantasmagoria plays upon the child's Imagination. But when a man discovered that he had been living for himself and for his own ends,” and then seeks to make men better and to live for other all it whatyou might, it was a noble expe- rience Now, if this change had a reality, and they could see it Was real, how many men would like to be converted. In reply to the objection that these words con- tained no beltef and no creed: well, the answer to that was that the creed of most men consisted eniefly in what they do not belleve. By way of ilus- trating this, Mr. Beecher gave a pantomimic de- ripuon of the change that comes over maid-servant «t mistress When conversion hus really taken place in both. ‘The portrayal of the peculiarities of both previous to their conversion was given so life-like that the audience laughed outright at the pictures, Now no man could enter into the Kingdom of Heaven without the ignoring of selfishness, Mr. Beecher here read th s of the thir- teenth chapter of the of Corinthians, and in his mimicry of the ranter speaker who de- clared, with loud voice and mowitting sentences, “what God had done for his soul,” showed that all that was “sounding brass” very often, and not the charity Paul described. Whenmen answered these questions as to their qualifications for adinission to Heaven and their growth in grace they would tell you that they loved prayer. Weil, there were plenty of men who loved prayer who had GONE TO HELL. » Towards the conclusion ‘of his sermon Mr. Beecher discoursed at length upon an aspect of Christianity his intnd is evidently greatly exercised for it has been alluded to again and again in ‘ent sermons—aud that is the failure of Ohiris- tianity to convert the world. In support of this he addaced a number of facts and statistics, prominent amongst which Was this one that of the twelve hun- millions of the peopie of the earth, there was not probably five hundred millions that had even the re- flected light of the Gospel shed upon their mind. The inconsistencies of Christians, the sectarian spimt, was #0 greatly and bitterly shown, that there was scarcely @ churchjon the earth where Cuyist would pe ag spiritual eyes can now pierce the sec- of lightning, uakes and hail have all been understand as the rattling and crushing which en- once tor Here followed a Foulowing this the text was read—Revelations Xvilt., 4-8—introduced by the statement that ‘‘Keve- not the but‘of prockecy the material sense was filled by the piace 3 reed pounded by Bishop Snow to Mr. Snow, with tne in- terrogation, ‘Then do you know, Mr. Snow ?” and Mr. Snow replied each time to Bis! oP. Snow, “Thank loned by God, in the fourteenth chapter of Revelations, to muke in Stones, Books in Ruuning Brooks, and Good congregation of Progressive Spiritualists which assembled yesterday morning in Apollo Hail had a few features of difference from the usual gath- ering of tue less advanced crowd which assembies at the Everett Rooms every Sabbath. The Progres- sives have more youth, beauty, energy, intellect and captivating humbug in their ranks than the others. In place of making a shadowy, uncertain, monoto- nous realm of the world beyond the grave, they sail in for drawing its boundaries and laying out its divisions brought to a CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. and Flower Pot Christians. ion nas increased ice 18 not capable of accommoda- the hundreds who flock thither every Sunday. ‘The result 1s that another and much larger edifice completed, will probably be one of THE FINEST CHURCHRS IN THR CITY. The fine weather yesterday congener to the church, which was crowded in ever, ry toil sat beside men of fortune, while the ble working woman enjoyed the same pri as the lady in silks and diamonds. The c really one for the people, and Dr. Talmadge means to have it continue such. He selected has text yester- day from the Book of Esther, 1v., 14:—“Who know- eth whether thou art come to the klagdom for such atime as this?” It was THE STORY OF ESTHER, whose turn had come to present her petition to the Jewish nation, and who shrank from so doing, fear- ing that ft would not be successful. But Mordecai id to her—“Perhaps you have been raised up for this very time.” Every age of the world, Dr. Tal- madge said, had its characteristics, but it would be very dimficuit to tell what was the characteristic of the age in which we lived, because we were too it correctly. The thing now, however, was to know in which way we should live. Dr. Talmadge spoke of the qualifications @ person must have as Chrisuan, and sald that-he would rather have five men with their hearts in the right place than 5,000 of*thoge half and nalf Christians who were crowd- ing our churches, The reiigion of the present day, he asserted, wanted more air; it was getting to be ‘A SICKLY, SENTIMENTAL THING. Oh ! these fower-pot Christians who also must be covered up for fear something in et A upon them, The reverend gentleman during his discourse turned his audience to what he termed “spasmodic reli- gion,” illustrating 1¢ by the man who rushed into the church and remained active teaching Sunday school and distributing tracts for about three weeks and then dropped out, It might be thought that this was o religious fever; but no, it was only chills and fever. Dr. Talmadge concluded his ser- mon by an eloquent appeal to all to become Christ- jans, and after prayer and singing the congregation was dismissed with the doxology. THE CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL. * Redemptorists—The Holy Eucharist. No stronger evidence of the increase of the Ca- tholic population of Brooklyn can be adduced than the excessively over-crowded church edifices on Sundays and holidays, when the visitor finds him- self frequently compelled to remain standing in the aisle during the entire service, The congregation in attendance at St. James Cathedral, Jay sireet, yes- terday was more than usually great in point of num- bers, so large, indeed, that many pew holders were unable to reach their pews, owing to the throng in the aisles. It was thus at all the masses, in the afternoon at instructions, and atthe vespers. The Cathedral has for years past been inadequate to supply the wants in point ‘of accommodation of the thickly peopled parish, despite the new churches which have been erected of late years within its former boundaries, The necessity for expedition in the work of building the new Cathedral ts most pain- fully evident upon all occasions of special spiritual interest, such as THE MISSION, which is now being held there by the Redemptor ist Fathers. At the principal mass yesterday, which ‘was celebrated by Rev. Father Kiely, there was an immense audience. Immediately after the Gospel had been read Father Henning, D. D., one of the most eloquent and learned of the Rediemptorist Fathers, read the usual notices for the day, after which he preached a sermon on the Catholic dogma of the Holy Eucharist, ocenpying the undivided attention of all within hearing of his voice during its delivery, one hour and @ quarter. The Holy Eu- charist was the great dogma of Catholic faith, he argued, around which revolved all other treasures which the Church of Christ diffused to her fatthfal children on earth. The Eucharist ts the body and blood of Christ present under the form and appearance of bread and wine. This is what the Catechism taught, Christ 1s then truly, really and substantially present upon the altar as soon as the priest pronounces the words of THE CONSECRATION ‘at the divine sacrifice of the mass. Not merely in the semblance, but in the body and blood, soul and divinity, is he really present. It is true we cannot see the ‘change with our senses, but we do as the children of the Church of Christ, with the eye of faith, know that the transformation has taken place. Whether, then, the whole world believed such to be sacrifice of the mass, as the real preseuce would still be the same after consecration of the accident- als, the bread and wine. ‘The high churchmen of THE ANGLICAN CHURCH, real P bread and wine. avail. 'They cannot have the Eucharist because they have no bishop—no oe: is priesthood. Where there is no priesthood there sect—mien banded together—tit is a LIVING ORGANISM, nd perpetuating the acts and teachings Christ, iis founder, who came on earth in the 38 of His divine love for man that He might be always with him. That He should abide in man and mai Him He established the Holy Eu- charist and built His Choreh, the pillar and ground of truth—the same Clrurch which exists to-day as established by Him. The mass is celeprated and the Eucharist partaken to-day as tt was celebrated and partakea of by His aposties in the earlies days of the Chur which orgenism had gone on increusing and fructifying with grace through gil ages of Christendom in defiance of the combined powers of ¢ ind hell. The Eucharist is the DEARES! PLEDGE OF DIVINE LOVE, and being so, we are bound to partake of its treasures. The true child of the Church should TY pass the tabernacle wherela dwells his best friend— his adorable God—without entering the edifice for a Jew moments to commune in grateful prayer, “Nor should he fail to recetye Communioniat least once in every three months, that he may thus become more closé in union wiih Him who died to save us, and still gives Himself that we may be strengthened in the graces and virtues which are essential to our eternal salvation, Mlnstrating: of the iif WASHINGTON AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. Sermon by Rev. D. D. Moore—Foot Races in tho Apostolic Period, There was a fair congregation at the Washington avenue Baptist church, corner of Washington and Gates avenues, erday morning, on which occasion Rev. D. D. Moore, Jr., the pastor, preached an excel- lent sermon, taking for his text the following:— “Wherefore, sceing we also'are compassed about with so‘great a cloud of witnesses, Ict us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews xii., 1). everend gentleman began his discourse by briefly describing the great FOOT RACES IN THE TIME OF THE ATOS on Which occasions distinguished persons assembled to witness the contest for the prizes, The racers were trained and in the best condition, and the course was uly prepared, and on cither side were arrange ats for the spectators, Who came from the neighboring places Lo witness the races. ‘The Apostie just, he thought, have had # scene like this before fh en he penned the ifnes from which his text was taken. WE HAVE A RACE TO RUS, and there are great crowds of witnesses looking on, “Let us lay aside every weight and the sin white! doth so easily beset us.” These few words bring the passage before us and give us @ gencral idea of ti. We noiced three things—the preparation for the race, the race, and persons ranuing it—and in tne spirit of the text Lf they desired to he successful they must free themselves from the weight of sin which beset them. These racers were trained for montos Ilia) a vhen they came to the course they di- vested € ying which was calculated to weigh eon Now, someting of that kind was neces- sary to RUN THE RACK SET BEFORE Us, Jay! aside every weight if %e hoped to win it in the ¢ There were many things, though not sins, which were weights. There were many who were inclined to brood over imaginary troubies and look upon the dark side of the picture of life. These things were weights, and were dangerous, and, in his opinion, there was nothing worse than brooding over past sins. They should LET BYGONES BE BYGONES and enter the race they had to ran with cheerful hearts. If they desized to be syccessfyl they must admitted a member. In this strain was this discourse Sermon by Rev. Dr. Talmadge~Spasmodle Religion A little over @ year ago Rev, T. De Witt Talmadge, of Philadelphia, was called to preside over the Cen- tral Presbyterian church, in Schermerhorn street, near Nevins, relieving Rev. D. Rockwell, the pastor at that time. Since assuming the pastorate of the church Dr, Taimadge, by his energy, ability and eloquence, has inspired new life into it, until now it ig one of the most prominent Protestant congrega- tions in the city, and numbers among its members very many of Brooklyn's wealthiest and most re- spected citizens, Dr. Talmadge is a young man, being apparently about forty years of age, of fine personal to such an to be erected on Schemerhorn strect, which, when attracted an immenso both the poor and the rich, Men of near the institutions of the present time to judge of Sermon by Rev. Dr. Henning of the Order of the case ‘or not, 1t would not aiter the efficacy of or many of them at least, believe ubat they have the resence in their worship under the form of But the mere belief does not ‘Therefore they have be no altars; and where there are no altars there can be no sacrifice. Without sacrifice theres can be no Eucharist. The Church of jod—the Catholic Church—was not as & “spicuously. and hopeful hearts, ‘They should of nominal Christians present day. have sihde ded upon oe wings often, | Ran ar or of Poa opt a RR by et a Tuce of life, ‘Those wolghis Were found and afr i suite and nueva and. ars IN THE DOMESTIC RELATIONS, 9nOVenus and the lesser i bus no altar burns bostnes, ip vanity, Gress, and espe- | 1 Teognition of Him who made heaven and earth, cially was this the case in dress of women, | who {the preserver of all things and the judge which was like great loads of hay. They were cer- } the quix and tne dead. iy erin hie toettantenh sat oe Da some wi them downs Bue they must endeavor to fd them: | | SISETEMTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, selves of these Jie og lt Boat SPS tiny! ran”thay ran varuaeaad |" "dove ev PreigentHanesina or cars —t ian ih ia ae a ee se tania, Map 1 1 woula hever get the prize in the end—the love of | At the Baptist chu r of Ni nth God and a home beyond the skies. I, streets, to-day, Rev. 9, W. Denison dis coursed from the first verse of he sixth chapter of Esther—"On that night could novthe king sleep,”” ‘The speaker deacribed the monarch veferred to, his connection with the decree for the destrection of the Jews, and the reasons why, on @ certain night, he CHURCH OF ST. BONIFACIUS. Laying ef tho Corner Stone—Large Turnout of Societies. ‘The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the German church of St. Bonifactus, in Duffield street, near Willoughby, took place at four o'clock yesterday afternoon, in the presence of hundreds of people. A i number of svcicties turned out on the occasion, headed by brass bands, paraded through most of the streets before the ceremonies com- pe taencdhe ie pao of the church, Rev. Franz Ba- See reper, fen part or ‘the rif, made @ short addreas and deposited the box 0 | Chronicles of the iom led erus: m= the stone. The building is to be 100 by 65 fect, 180 | ston that aftected the destinies of an neire nation. bo of belek, with brown stone trimmings, and will | BoP eat eee ee ei tate 3 wil be. cost $69.90. ‘The rulers as well as the ruled are under the direot- JERSEY CITY CHURCHES. SK. PETERS CATHOLIC CHURCH, Sermon by Rev. Father Corrigan. At St. Peter's Catholic church yesterday high mass was offered by the Rev. Father Graham. After the singing of the first gospel the pastor, the Rev. Father Corrigan, ascended the pulpit and preached a sermon on prayer. Numberless, indeed, were the graces bestowed on man, but the most eMcacious are those obtained by prayer. The raising up of our hearts to God puts us in communication with the Almighty, and induces Him to lend @ propitious ear to our petitions, Hence in every age and inevery land men have not ceased to acknowledge AN ANECDOTE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, which in this manner has never before been made public. Just after the retreat of Lee from Pennsyl- vanin Mr. Lincoln called a special meeting of the Cabinet, He commenced the interview by speaking of a social and le book— i us Ward.” Then, turning to the members present, he sald, with an altered mein:—“I have called you to- gether, gentlemen, for a much more serious business than this. 1am to read to you the firat draft of the Emancipation proclamation, I shall be very thank. ful to you for any suggestions you may think proper to make. My mind i8 made ask your ion as to up. ono! the propriety of issuing this proclamation, but your BI ns as to its terms and style will be thank- Tully received.” Dropping his voice ulmost to @ whisper he added, ‘I promised ay God that I would issue this proclamation, and here it is.” The re: of the document then followed, and the result is Known, Not long after one of the members of the Jai resent on occas! red by prayer thé providence of their Creator i ine Livy meanil of his ee Y to and His willingness to relieve them im ne- | the Deity, Mr. Lincoln then stated that at ecessity and comfort them in tribulation. Tne God of Morcies has given a beautiful example of the manner and form of oar supplications. is own lips have uttered the greatest of all prayers—the “Our Father.’ Were men to recite the Lord’s Prayer fervently each day there would be less evil in the world and @ more fraternal feeling would dwell in the hearts of the people, Nor should we pray to the Omnipotent immediately only, but medi- tately also, through His saints and angels, They, too, have care over the wants of men, and, as 18 attested by the inspired writer of the Apocalypse, the odors of their prayers ascend forever before the throne of the Lamb, The preacher continued to dwell'on the efficacy and necessity of prayer as the great means of atiatning eternal life. the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania he was awakened one night by his anxieties over the situation. He could not sleep. In the course of the night, after the most solemn deliberation, he made @ promise to God that if Lee was driven back he would issue the Emancipation proclamation. Lee ‘was repulsed, and Mr. Lincoin was faithful to his word, The speaker related other historical incidents, showing the gracious interposition of Jehovan in human affairs. The application was made to the people that they should at all times trust in God, and use the means of improvement placed at their disposal. Sooner or later justice will be done and truth and freedom triumph. The colored race has its mission in America, like that of the Jews in Egypt, and if it is faithful to the Infinite Father He will make it not only a blessing, but an instrument for advancing the cause of liberty and progress throughout the world. Ml STREET CHRISTIAN CHURCH. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHUR Denunciation of Woman’s Rights—Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Wilcox. - After the celevration of Divine service in the Tabernacle last evening the reverend pastor deliv- ered a discourse which treated mainly on the rights and duties of women. The preacher took his text from the Gospel of St. Mark, xiv.,,8—‘She hath done what she could.” These words were spoken by Christ in reference to Magdalene, who had just poured precious ointment on his head. “This woman was condemned by the Apostles; but she understood Christ much better than they; her heart was wiser than their heads; and hence itis the neart of the woman We must consider rather than her head. THE LORD LOVED THE WOMAN, because he well knew how powerfal would be her influence on society and how strong her voice in the Church. For the same reason he has consti- tuted her one of the three great obstacles to the vices ofmen, The shortening of man’s existence by the flood and the code of laws forbidding the commis- sion of crime were truly great restraints on the brutal appetites and bad passions of the world; but ‘woman is no less mftuential than those in directing his thoughts towards a brighter and happier sphere of delights than this materiat world. For the attain- ment of this exalted end Eternal Providence has en- dowed her with all the qualities which beneficence can bestow on @ mortal creature. She is, indeed, weaker than man, but shé has noble attributes to redeem that weakness, aud MAN WITHOUT WOMAN, however high his position, however abundant his treasures, is shorn of his fortunes and his joys. Her destiny in life is a high one. We have only to walk through Washington, to become acquainted with the Congressmen, in order to see fully exemplified the prominent part which the woman plays in savi man from evil and delivering him from the meshes of many,a snare. Who ever heard of a scul tor fashioning the ideal statue of Fame, or Truth, or any personified virtue, and giving that statue the figure of a man? She is the type of everything beautifal, and on that account is necessarily limited toa certain field of action in life. When we hear of afew temales agitating the country-and demanding what are termed WOMAN'S RIGHTS we scarcely know whetlier to bee o at the delu- sion under which they labor or shudder at the dan- gerous extravagance of their demands. These agi- tators should consider well the fleld of domestic labor which 1s allotted towoman by God, and they shonld not seek to drag her out of that sphere. But while Woman must be admired for the many virtues which adorn her she must likewise be reminded that Sermon by Elder F. M. Bradley. Ss WASHINGTON, May 15, 1870. At the M Street Christion Church, Eider F. M. Brad- ley preached an impressive discourse from the twen- ty-sixth chapter of St. Mathew, twenty-ninth verse. The preacher said it was too prevalent that men re- lied more upon themselves and less upon God, and hence immorality and infidelity superseded true wor- ship. Some by relying on themselves become per plexed and blind by saying, “I thank God I am not as other men;” but he who would turn to God and seek Him would say, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” The theology of the present day has mystified Christianity; but in seeking eternal life that species of philosophy should be rejected, and all should accept the Bible and read its precious pages with a becoming spirit as if in the presence ot |, 43 they are, and of His inspired writers. Wealth acquired by years of toil may be suddenly snatched from the possessor, and life has not the certainty of an hour; but tne love of God would INSURE THE CERTAINTY OF LIFE ETERNAL. ‘The distress and affliction of others should claim our sympathy, for God sometimes fills our eyes with tears to make us think of iy and others, and of our own infirmities. It was this love of God sympathy with human suffering which impelled Florence Nightingale to the herotc acts of love which she performed. She might have passed through life in the exemplary performance of her private duties, and be unknown to fame, but her love of God and sympathy with th in suffering created an ardent power, with which she as ardently compiled; and hence ner name is spoke: with reverence and her deeds recorded in the ap- ae of iets Cheep habeas Be so with Grace * ig, Who, in an open and on a surging rose above the timidity of her nature and hastened to the relief of the distressed; and at the present moment the groans of the ging and the cries of distress fill the city of Richmond. sad catastrophe scores of people were precipitated into eternity to meet their 3 and taking this almost universal calamity in a right view it teaches all the lesson that we should be prepared at all times, for we know not the daynor the hour. On the occasion of that terrible calamity a number of persons had assembled to hear @ legal decision on a party question as to whych of two contestants should triumph, when the Angel of Death came and summoned tothe presence of God. The con- tending parties became oblivious of themselves and the pursuirs in which a few moments belore they were engaged, and directed all their energy and zeal to the relief of the sufferers and those who escaped with life, The announcement of the accident created a sympathy in every direction, which proves that men are not all selfish, and that many can feel for others and minister to thein to their distress. WOMEN HAVP DUTIES toperform, Theirs it is to promote the happiness of home and to labor incessantly for the good of those over whom they are placed. Any female who ts unfor- tunate enough to think herself a man and a woman at the same period will have a sorry time of it. The preacher cited an Instance of a woman Who was FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. very zealous for the good of her church, Sermon by Rev. Dr. Raukin—Faith and Pere but whose poisonous tongue obliterated her severance Necessary to Obtain Chriss Fore good works and made her an apostate. giveness. Nevertheless it is no more than proper that women should find access to all institutions of science and art. The men who would endeavor to debar them from those privileges would be worse than despots, or certain foreigners who would drive the negroes from the polls. The reverend speaker concluded by an eloquent eulogium on the heroism displayed by women in the Roman amphitheatre, in the Netherlands and elsewhere for what they Wasutnaton, May 15, 1870. Rev. Dr. Rankin, pastor of the First Congrega- tional church, preached to a very large congregation to-day, the subject of his discourse being Bartimeus’ appeal to Christ for the restoration of his sight, re- corded in Mark x., 4% He pictured the blind leemed th at glorious of causes, Bartimeus sitting im his accustomed place asic Rawr toa gaa arnitceohareen begging alms of the passers by, who, when he heard that Jesus was coming, forgot WASHINGTON CHURCHES, his customary appeal for charity, and, with remarkable faith and casnestness, begged the gilt he most needed and which Jesus alone could bestow. From thts incident he drew the Jesson that faith and perseverance are necessary to obtain God’s mercy, remarking that men, like Bartameus, BLINDLY BEG FOR EARTHLY THINGS, METROPOLITAN METHODIST CHURCH. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Newman—The Existence of God as Revenled to Us Tarough the but, uniitke him, fail to understand and Manifestations of Christ. ask for what they most require, while WASHINGTON, May 15, 1870. ene a Ehren aS Passing ‘see RR ten v , cularly impresses There was the usual throng of hearers at the | Culm. Om eer anrtiae he oon vilibed Of Coote Aine Raid Metropolitan Methodist church to-day, and more than the usual puota of Senators and Representa. tives, among whom Mr. Bingham, General Logan, Governor Fenton and Senator Wiley figured con- Of course General Grant and family and Mr. Colfax were present; thetr absence 1s ex- the necessity of forgiveness, and that Christ’s pardon must be sought as an unmerjted favor, and not asan insurance policy to be had by paying the costs, and closed by warning them not no act the part of those who tried to prevent Bartimeus from gaining the no- tice of the Saviour, but rather to encourage and ald all who sought Him. ceptional. Rev. Dr. Newman delivered a sermon CHURCH OF THE INCARNATION, from the seventeenth chapter of Acts and oan aed twenty-third verse—“for as [I passed by WasninoTon, May 15, 1870. At the Church of the Incarnation (Episcopal), Rev. Mr. Lowrie, the regular pastor, being ill, the services were conducted by the assistant. ‘The preacher took as his text the first verse of the fourteenth chapter of St. John:—“Let not your heart be troubled. Ye and beheld your devotions I found an altar wit this inscription, ‘To the unknown God.’ Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.”? Thé discourse was on the existence of God us revealed to us through the manifestation of Christ, the essential thougut being that only through Christ is God known by us in the fulnesa, variety and character of his atiriputes. There cannot be discovereit in the history of the world, the speaker remarked, @ time when the idea of one supreme God has not been entertained by some portion of ‘The inscription found upon the Athenian not an inscription to a being unknown in the sense that He had not been heard of, but in the sense that He was incomprehensible—that He couid not be discovered by man’s unaided reason, ‘The Greeks, with all ther philosophy and the splen- dor of their intellects, were batted by the incompre- hensibility of God, To them He was unknown. While He could endow His Jupiter, and Neptune, and Mars and Minerva with certain attributes, yet he could not form even a proximate idea of that GOD WHO IS FROM ALL ETERNITY. Rey. Dr. Newman then gave @ vivid sketch of the scene on Mars Ail, when Paul delivered nis famous sermon which staggered the Greeks and shook their plulosophy to its centre. Paul dented the eternity of matter, the favorite idea of the stoics, denied the epicurian dogma that nature was a combination of fortuitous atoms, and declared the great truth of a personal Creator and Preserver” and Judge of the quick and the dead. Dr. Newnan enlarged on the idea that without Cinst we can have no definite or intelligent ulea of a great personal Creator. Deism asserts the existence of God and attempts to define Him through His creations. The believe in God; believe also in me.” These words ‘were taken to illustrate the consolation that should as be experienced the result of belief m God. The preacher said there were many ‘ disturbing infiuences at work to break m upon the mental peace of the Christian. Sometimes it arose from a sense of having left undone things that should have been done, and having done things that should not have been done, Sometimes the same disquietude was felt irom excess of piety, feeling too keenly the responsibility of a Christian Iife and finds ing fault with one’s self for not reaching the fulness of @ Christian character. Belief im God, he said, should not inspire any such feelings. Of all itves: that of a believer in God should be the most serene and happy. Weare all given to sin, and all that can be eked of any Christian is to live as closely as possible to the doctrines of religion. Beyond that it would be impossible to go. Christian character is an approximation of God, not his perfection, SENATOR MORRILL VOUCHES FOR SPEAKER BLAINE. The Kennebec}Journal of the 13th inst. printed the following letter from Senator Morrul:— UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER, WAsmINGTON, May 9, 1870. Hon. Jaurs G. BLatne:— universe may indicate the wisdom and power of MY DEAESIR—I have greatly regretted to observe that God, but the soul wants something more, bitty we feta) papers, on eG ene te pectin nek say that the moral attributes of the Creator, His im- | Got'the’ part of a true friend to me. ‘same thing 4 mutability and perpetuity are symbolized in crea- bey? And if from sunshine, trees and flowers and aul the beauties and benignities of nature we derive has been verbally stated at different tines, but, as you are well aware, without any countenatice from me. Aa I have often sald to you, Lnever had the slightest cause to doubt His beauty and His love, what ideas shall we derive | that you acted with fidelity and honor 1 me throughout that trom the Mearthquia ¢, the volcano and the storm? cones beg ihm Gor | not “ager eer" te a peaks (dl Only See eee tions ‘have suffered hiest interruption, You are at THR FULNESS OF TITE GO! De. Newman commentod BODILY. Pou the practical oJ bi ‘bl ‘thie lettor if you desire. Your finde Vor’R. WoweEbabs