The New York Herald Newspaper, May 26, 1872, Page 6

8 RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. MAY 26---TRINITY SUNDAY. RELIGIOUS PROGRAMME FOR TO-DAY. Uerald Religious Corre- spondence. Ne Se Pe be The Conversion of the Jews Again. What Is the Right Re- ligion P AN INDIGNANT HEBREW. eerie THE FREE CHURCH OF ST. MARY'S. Religious Notes, Personal and General. Services To-day. “Africa for Christ, and Dr. Livingstone as a Pio- neer,”’ is the title of Rey. David Mitchell's sermon this morning at the Canal street Presbyterian church. Rey. P. L. Davies preaches at both services at the Berean Baptist church, Bishop Snow will tell all about “The Impending Mighty Crash” this afternoon at the University. Rev. Dr. Flagg will preach morning and evening at the Church of the Resurrection, Rev. Bishop Peck and Rey. Dr. Deale, of Baltimore, preach at the Central Methodist Episcopal church, Rey. H. D, Ganse will lecture this morning at the Madison avenue Reformed church, Rey. Dr. Osgood preaches on “Our God” and on “Joseph of Arimathea” at St. John’s Memorial church, At St. Luke’s Methodist Episcopal church the fol- lowing services will take place :—Preaching at half- past ten o'clock A. M. by Rev. K. P. Jervis, of the East Genesee Conference; and services at a quarter to eight o’clock P. M., under the auspices of the New York City Sunday School and Church Ex- tension Society, at which Rev. Bishop M. Simpson will preside, and addresses may be expected by Rev. Bishop R. 8. Foster, Rev. ©. D. Foss, D.D.; Rey. D. Curry, D.D., and Rey. Joseph Pullman. Rev. Dr. Kendrick will preach at both services at the Tabernacle Baptist church. Rey. Dr. Talbot, of Providence, and Rev Dr. Fal- lows, of Milwaukee, preach at-the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church, Rey. Dr. Bellows will conclude his sertes of spe- cial discourses forgyoung people in All Souls? Church, preaching in the morning and evening. Rey. Rufus P. Stebbins, of Ithaca, N. » will preach twice during the day in the Church of the Messiah, Park avenue and Thirty-fourth street. Rey. Dr. Dix will preach this evening in the Free Chureh of St. Mary the Virgin, West Forty-fifth street, Full choral services will be observed in the same edifice morning and evening. Professor Benjamin N, Martin, of New York Uni- versity, will preach in the England Congrega- tional church, Madison avenue and Forty-seventh street. Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., will preach in the ‘Church of the Holy Trinity in the evening. Rey. Mr. Pendleton will pteach twice during the day, in the Baptist church, West Fifty-third street. Rey. T. A. Hoyt will preach, in the forenoon, in the small chapel of the New York University. Rey. George H. Hepworth will preach in Steinway Hall in the forenoon and evening. The Spiritualists will be in etherial circle in Mo- hawk Hall. Rey. F. C. Ewer, rector, will conduct services in St. Ignatius’ church, Fortieth street, officiating three times in the forenoon and once in the even- ing. Revs. Henry Powers ana Q. L. Stanton will con- duct services in Brevoort liall, Fifty-fourth street, morning and evening. The Society for the Conversion of the . Tews. To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— Thave noticed in your Sunday edition for the past few weeks considerable controversy concerning a society existing in New York for the purpose of converting Jews. Knowing the cosmopolitan nature of the Heratp, I doubt not that you will make public anything that will tend to disabuse the minds of simpie people who contribute mesas for sustaining the above-named society. The first question is whether such society is bene- ficial or needed, Let me squarely give answer— But to the argument. What do these mission- » 8, better-named proselyte brokers, invend to gain by converting Jews unto Christianity? Is it to argue ignorant people into a something which they have no sympathy with, and offer a handsome remuneration for becoming a devout Christian? Certainly no man of honor and education has ever deserted the faith that was proclaimed on Sinai, unless it was to gain notoriety or for self-ag- grandisement, In the report offered to the society it appears that seven converts had been made at the expense of about $200 per head, I inquire willit pay? It would, provided some of the repre- sentative men of Israel could be converted; but such has not been the case. I have no hesitation in making the statement that nineteen out of every twenty who desert Judaism are reprobates, the black sheep of the flock, whom you can convert seven days in the week to a new faith for a small con- sideration. Can the idea be to improve Jewish morals, or is it to make them more honest? or, per chance, to educate and enlighten, &c, No, such can- no. not. be sought after, for I challenge any or to show ‘the same high stan as the Jew. Examine your phons es and count how many Jew- ish inmates they have. Walk through your houses of prostitution, and tell me how many Jewish women you will find there. Ime the number of Jewish beggars that throng your doors for alms. Exa your divo ords, and how many of then wish and other things show and religion of a community, Is the an impediment to education? No. Ineed hardly state th duced such men as Lessing, Heine, Me people who have pro- idelssoin, Maimonides, Hinlevy, and hosts of others eminent in literatu t, Inusic, law, &¢. ; & people who have build up commerce, to whom we owe the institution of “bills of ex: change.” In your own city they have and are erecting beautitul temples to worship the one great and inseperable God and are the merchant princes of the world, Such evidence is convincing enough that Jadaism is a faith of wisdom and knowledge, a religion where secular as well as religious educa- tion is one of the strongest pillars. Another proof of Israel's perpetuity: Nations have risen and fallen; yes, hundreds of them, since Judah had become a united ople, Dut they have all disappeared. ‘Tyrants have exhausted their ingenuity for centu- ries back to visit all the torments they could invent upon them, degraded them to the level of common beasts, deprived them of all rights of citizenship; but the shackles are bursted—again they are rising to eminence and power, all governments of Europe have discovered their past errors, and Israel to-day shines forth into the world bright and more radiant thanever. The chosen people have suffered, but they will exist until time shall be no more. “God punishes those He loves,” but the reward of faith and perseverance is sure to come. I might go further, and argue the theological:phase of the question, but that portion of it finds greater champions than 1 can ever hope to be in the many able rabbies, Yet I cannot forego a simple reply to your correspondent of last Suuday who signs him- felfa “Son of Abraham, &c.”” It is true our fore- fathers, iu the days of Moses, made use of their offerings as @ medinin between themseives and God, We have @ medium to-day, but in a ditfer- {ht form; it is prayer. Man requires no attorney Plead his case before the just tribunal tha oot ph Og, SPOclal pleas are permitted, oe ho technical points are to be argued, but every rat ah being receives its merited deserts, 1 claim that @ society for the conversion of Jews is not alone uncalled for but a fallacy. Very little of the money canara for the purpose is ever devoted to it, but is hg @ class of men who might be better emplo If these men desire to find en des o find a fle thelr labors, let them yo beyond the montane aha NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, MAY 26, 1872—QUADRUPLE SHEET. spend their time in converting the red man, who worship anything from the sun down toa flask of fire water. ‘Teach them to worship and then you will convert to a purpose, Oo. M. The Religion that Satisfies the Soul the Right Religion. To THE Epiror or THE HERALD:— It is said “the agitation of thought is the begin- ning of wisdom,” and as your columns evince con- siderable of this agitation, especially in that portion devoted to religious correspondence, it surely must be an earnest of more light on the subject than has hitherto been revealed to the masses, It must be admitted that in all ages of the world a certain few have received truth, as it were, from the air, far in advance of the times in which they lived—truths which, had they the moral courage to utter, were scouted at as fancies fit for lunatics, and not for a moment to be entertained by sober, respectable, honest people—the promulgators of which were im- prisoned, crucified. It is all a matter of time; it is so much easier to believe that which our parents and grandparents be- Heved before us; so much more respectable to endorse that which has become the fasnion; so much better for our worldly interests to belong to a rich and powerful society; so much more con- ducive to our ease and comfort to walk on the well-trodden highway than to mark out a path for ourselves through the hitherto unexplored forests of God’s mysteries, exposing ourselves to the wild beasts of prejudice, scratched and torn by the briers of petty malice, pierced by the arrows of venomed hatred, and nailed to a tree at last by the wild sav- ages of bigoted humanity, It issurprising how little power the human mind seems to possess of bring- ing all past events into the present by a mere force of will and viewing them in the light of the present, judging, of them according to our present standard, e say the laws of God are immutable ; then how can a thing happen to-day which in a few hundred years from now willbe regarded as violating all known laws? How can an event have transpired afew hundred years back which no one at the present time would believe could possibly come to pass now but by the strangest faith in the world believe most dmpialely could and did happen then? How the rolling away of centuries seems to cast a halo around an event, elevating it into a holy mystery, making that seem possible and plausible which to: day would be regarded as an utter impossibility! Oh, how strange it is, that when the very doors of heaven are opened and light is pouring in on ever; side the people of to-day obstinately turn their backs upon it, and, falling on their knees, blindly worship the dead images of the past, rising pe of the dim distance like huge genti of East- ern fables, Those who “profess and call themselves Christians” are to-day a popular people; but a few hundred ‘years ago those who so dared to profess were branded in the public market place and even put todeath. So, if epee” had realized his wish and lived in those primitive times, he would probably have shared the same fate. It may be a glorious thing to die for truth’s sake; but does it not augur well for the progress of our nation when we may be allowed to think and say what our own reason dictates with- out being anathema maranatha? Any creed, any faith, any religion that satisfies the soul is good for that soul alone, but not for all others, as the food that is good for one may not be good tor another— milk for babes, meat for men, When the babe has outgrown the demand for milk he must have some- thing more substantial, and so, when the spiritual element of man has outgrown the food admin- inistered, he will seek for something more, and there is no proof more convincing of the expansion and development of the soul than the ery for more light, the determination to think for neself, the doubts, the perplexities and the moral courage to express What comes to one as truth, whether in accordance with time-honored institu- tions or in direct opposition to all preconceived opinions. Here is a correspondent (B. Y. A.” who sincerely desires to become a Christian, but cannot in reason believe what the Christian faith imposes, and cannot accept its dogmas in blind faith without reason. What is it to bea Christian if not to believe in the doctrines tanght by the Christ? And who is the Christ? I find, by refer- ring to Wepster, Christ is simply a Greek word signifying to anoint, it being the custom in those days to anoint all persons consecrated to sacerdotal offices. The Romanists still hold to that custom, anointing children at christening, Are they not, then, the only literal Obristians? That Jesus, the anointed, ever taught any but the purest spiritual truths Iam unable to find, That His words have been twisted and turned and made to assume a signific never intended by Him I will not deny. Conceding the Bible to be an impe historical record— allowing that Jesus, Son of y, Was also of Caiaphas, the High Priest, who ap spirit to Joseph, the husband, announ the High P in those days } cailéd the Holy Ghost, as is ass some—what diiference "can it poi K with the great spiritual troths which He taught and for which He suffered andcdted so ignominiously?—an event which the centuries, e, have elevated higher and us that it overshadows this meek, loving, holy, suffering Jesus. We do well ‘d honor Him, even after so many hun- ars; but let us beware lest we find ourselves as did His persecutors, arrayed against higher, purer truth than the masses are yet abie to comprehend, Let us not, 0 “Sceptic,” be so “ten- der on the point of ridicule.’ Let us be honest, fearless, God-serving, using the reason which God Himself has implanted in us, a spark from His own altar fires, a6 a light to guide us nearer to Its source. Shut out reason? Never! It is all that saves us from being & mere machine. Why, even the brutes reason; and are we less than they? The very creeds which are required of me to accept in blind faith had their rise jn the reasoning of minds who dared to think for themselves—their progress through struggles many and severe, and their present consequence through the martyrdom of many who espoused thelr cause. They have had their day and accomplished their mission; we have grown older and stronger and require more food, more light. We cannot live on the dead husks of the pene we must have the ever-living, ever-grow- ing fruits of the present, and Woe to him who tramples on the mind— That deathless thing. He knows not what he does Nor what he deals with; man may rear again et his foot hath ‘crushed ; or light anew 1 his breath hath quenched the soul, oh, tremble and be: ‘To lay rude hanis upon God's mysteries there! B, E. WASHBURNE. An Indignant Hebrew. To THE EpiroR OF THE HERALD :— Ibeg a few words in relation to the card of “A Son of Abraham,” the self-appointed follower of the “meek and lowly Jesus,” which appeared in your columns last Sunday. It is evident this note, though brief, teems with vindictiveness and rancor against the Jews, for he uses the word “Jew” every | time with apparently increased emphasis until, with the last “Mr. Jew,’ he seems to exhaust the very venom of his souk Now, if this were to come from any other source it would not be so hard, as we are quite used to abuse pretty well by this time from all skies; but when an attempt is made to stab us in the back by a deserter from our own camp it be- comes at once intolerable and to the last degree disgusting. : Did it never occur to you that the little word “Jew” is one of the most expressive words in this or any other language? Mark the manuer In which it is expressed and by whom; note the expression of the eye, ehe facial features, the compressed jaws, the amount of emphasis given in ‘das adele ing it, and you can pretty nearly tell whether we have a friend or foe to contend withal in the per- son naming It, and so have I judged the note of this “son of Abraham.” But we have in our own yo- cabulary another word quite as expressive and full of curious import, ‘“meshummad,” which does not alone mean apostate, but is synonymous of all that is loathing, base and contemptible, and it would be well for all mankind to know that all honorable Jews are so closely rivetted to their faith that death has not yet, in ages past, ossessed terrors sufficient to cause them to pcome false and recreant to its principles and teachings. It would also be weil for the Society for the Conversion of the Jews to know that for everyMleserter from our faith they may succeed in converting into Christianity, so sure do they lend a helping hand in developing the baser parts of a scoundrel by nature, who will not hesitate, at the first opportunity, to desert and betray them to the next highest bidder, Go to any quarter of the globe where Jews do dwell, and ask to have shown to you a “meshummad,” and you will behold “A fixed figure for the time of scorn To point his slow and moving finger at.” MOSHE SCHNURRER, oe and unmistakably @ veritable Hebrew je Ww. The Coming of the Me h from a Jew- ish Standpoint. To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— In your issue of the 19th inst. some one signing himself “A Son of Abraham,” &c., attempts to reply to my article of the 12th inst., In which he does not seek to disprove that I was entirely correct in my statements, but that in ancient times the Jews had a medium between God and them- selves in the shape of sacrifices. In this he is entirely correct. But I defy him to prove that any such fdolatrous worship is now indulged In by the Jews. That oy have no medium through which they pray to God Ican prove by the following: Moses, the great Jurist, who in his time performed greater wonders than even Jesus lays claim to (see Exodos from Egypt). i8 not looked upon as anything more than a chosen servant of God, not as hisSon, And while we revere his memory as one of the wise men of ancient times, we do not make an idol ofhim, Now this argument of a “Fol- lower of the Lowly Jesus,” puts the Christiaifreligion in a pecuilar light from the following fact:—That as I clearly prove the Jews have done away with all superfuous worship, the Christians have com- menoed where they left off, and have made second God of one who was no greater than Moses. He also speaks of a Messiah thai is to come, as the Bible prophecies, There he is also correct. But it is also stated that when such does come the whole world will be at peace with each other, Now, did the advent of Jesus, the Christian Messiah, bring the desired peace? No. Most emphatically no! Now the Jews await the coming of the Messiah. And from a Jewish standpoint I will, for the benefit " define what we under- and by the Messiah, en that per! ‘et hidden in the womb of time and to which all nations turn an anxious eye, when all the continents and islands of the earth are united in one bond of brotherly affection—in short, when one law governs all nations, tongues and kindreds of the earth, and that is the law of love— then will the prophecy of the Soming of a Messiah be fulfilled. ‘e expect no man, no Holy Gihgst, but a time of universal peace, when the Society for the Conversion of Jews can lay down their armor and hoard up their money for a more pepatenie object. By publishing the above you will place me under a lasting obligation; and with the assurance that on this subject I will not trouble your valuable paper any more, I remain, JEW D, 8. Comparative Theology and Heathen Mythology. To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— The Sunday HERALD has considerable to say in tree discussion of the old theologies. This is as it should be. The old theologies have their rise and progress from the old Nature worship, blending physical, moral and spiritual modes of being, where- of, in most part, the Sun was the emblematic pres- ence of the Most High or Lord of Heaven. Other- wise, the Heaven itself was God or ‘“Heaven- Father,” as personified or spiritualized in multifold aspects with reference to the unitary whole. Ac- cording to Movers, quoted in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” the “old religion of the Semitic races consisted in the deification of the powers and laws of Nature; these powers being considered either as distinct and independent, or as manifesta- tions of one supreme and aill-ruling being. In most instances the two ideas were co-existent. The Deity, following human analogy, was conceived as male and female; the one repre- senting the active, the other the passive principle of nature; the former the source of spiritual, the latter of physical life. The transference of the attributes of the one to the other resulted either in’ their mystical conjunction in the hermaphrodite as the Persian Mithra and Phoenician Baal, or the two combined to form a third, which symbolized the essential unity of both. With these two supreme beings all other deities are identical; so that in different nations the same Nature worship appears under different forms, representing the various aspects under which the idea of the power of nature is presented.” Though the sun and moon were early selected as the outward symbols of the all-pervading power, nevertheless this power was much divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel in many mythological dis- guises or personitications of the heaven above, the earth below and the waters under the earth. The land of Joseph was blessed for the precious fruits by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon—for the things of heaven, for the dew and for the deep that wrecketh beneath, Even in Jeremiah’s time a great multitude of men and wo- men declared that, so long as they worshipped the Queen of Heaven, they had “plenty of victuals, were well and saw no evil;” but when they left off burning incense to the Queen of Heaven, to pour out drmnk offerings unto her and to make cakes to worship her, the heaven was at once closed against them; no more the early and the latter rain, or the outpouring of many waters from Nimbosus Orion, mystical relation to the moon, and blended with personifications in mythological disguises of rolling the heavens together asa scroll and dumping man into the bottomless pit. In the multifarious ways of acting and suitering for the sins of mankind the sun was chieftest among ten thousand in the dark sayings and parables or enigmatical oracles of those days. Ifthe dawn was the Virgin of Israel, or the bride, and the various-tinted cloud her drapery—if this was gently moved or rustled by the wind it was a manifestation of the Spirit; for the physical and the spiritual were each other’s counterpart in the many voices from heaven. It was by the voice of the Lord and the sound his going forth in the tops of the mulberry trees that David was to bestir himself and smite the host of the Philistines, Says Mr. Grove, in his “Dictionary of the Bible, “The frequency throughout the Scriptures of person: fications of the natural features of the country is very remarkable,” However much concealed by the compilers and translators, there is everywhere apparent on the biblical page traces of the old nature worship. From the Ancient of Days to the n of Righteousness, with healing in His wings, the 1 theologies bear ‘the visage of the sun. ‘The Lord came trom Sinai, ro: up from Seir and shined from Mount Pa came with a fiery | convent gronnds, the priests and n. law in hand and with the ho: f heaven as His ten thousand saints. He was the God of Israel from the East and the earth was full of His glory. To have a ‘science of religion” we must gather up all the ancient fragments, so that Heres be lost. We must have the root gods which grow into the trunk and branches, and are s0 many trees of life, or resolvable into one, withits twelve manner of fruits for the healing of the nations and answering to the twelve signs Olsthe zodiac in the solar circle, from Alpha to Omega, The root of them allis the same, Says Max Muller, “Adonai, which in Hebrew means my Lord and in the Old Testament ts used exclusively of Jehovah, appears in Phoenicia as the name of the Supreme Deity, and after undergoing manifold mythological transformations the same name has become familiar to us through the Greek tales about the beautiful youth Adonis, loved by Aphrodite and killed by the wild boar of Ares.’” Elyon, which in Hebrew means the highest, is used in the Old Testament as a predicate of God, It occurs also by itself asa name of Jehovah. It occurs in the Phoenician cosmogony as Eliun, the highest God, the Father of Heaven, who was the father of Fi, El, Shaddai, Baal, belong to the same mode of’ being level to conceptions of those days, and Jehovah,jor Jahovah, as a divine name, was only another aspect of the same Most High, but so varied in the combination as consti- tuted him the God peculiar to the Jews, as he judged among the Gods. As per Muller, “Hebrew, riac and Arabic point to a common source as uch as Sanscrit, Greek and Latin; and unless we can bring ourse.ves to doubt that the Hindus, the Greeks, the Romans and the Teutons derived the worship of*their principal diety from their common Aryan sanctuary, we shall not be ableto deny that there was likewise a primitive religion of the whole Semitic race, and that El the Strong One in heaven, was invoked by the ancestors of all the Semitic races, before there Were Babylonians in Babylon, Pheenicians in Sidon and Tyrus, before there were Jews in Mesopotamia or Jerusalem. The evidence of the Semitic is the same as that of the Aryan languages; the conclusion cannot be different.” The Jehovah of Israel had his tabernacle in the sun, and rode upon the heaven by his name Jah. His going forth was from the end of heaven, his circuit unto the ends of it, and nothing hid from the heat thereof. Where the cherubim was his symbol he gathered the host of heaven under his wings. Beth-Shemesh was his “House of the Sun,’? En-Shemesh his “Spring of the Sun” and Ir-Shemesh his “City of the Sun,” and “whether they be original Canaanistic names, or Hebrew renderings, they attest the reverence paid to the source of light and heat,’’ Samson is a name of the sun, and, personated in mythological disguises, he performs the twelve labors, as did Hercules or the other sun gods. Cc. B. P. Free Church of St. Mary the Virgin. On Friday evening, 24th inst., this beautiful little temple of catholic worship was filled to the outer doors to witness the solemn rite of confirmation by the Right Reverend Horatio Potter, Bishop of New York, administered to some thirty or forty young peopie of both sexes, The scene was most impress- ive. The young ladics dressed in white, with long white veils, and the men in black, kneeling before the magnificent high altar, covered with exquisite flowers of every hue, with hanging vines of ivy, and illuminated with a hundred candles, presented a truly beautiful spectacle. After his solemn admo- nition to the candidates, the venerable prelate con- clnded with a fatherly encomium upon the labors of the Rev. Thomas McKee Brown, rector of St. Mary's. Within the chancel were the Right Rev- erend Bishop of New York; the Rev. Thomas McKee Brown and Mr. W. B. Noyes, rector and assistant rector of St, Mary's; the Rev, Canon Dorret, “rector ofa bg of ashes, once St. Paul's church,” Chicago; Rev. E. D, Cooper, Church of the Redee: , Astoria; Rev. C. M. Morrill, and Rev. C. M. Parkman, This evening, the Rey. Dr. Dix, rector of Trinity church, will preach at St. Mary's, Solemn Obsequies of a Franciscan Sister. At the Convent of Our Lady of Angels, Peekskill, N. Y., on the 12th inst., died Sister Mary Benedict, of the Order of St. Francis, at the early age of twenty years. The life,-in religion, of this good Sister was of brief duration, having made her solemn vows exactly flve months before, but her sacrifice was accepted and she is now enjoying its reward, The funeral services were conducted in the chapel of the convent, Rev. J. J. Grifin acting as celebrant of the requie veral other priests assisting, oir leading and chanting the solemn services, The coffin next fol- lowed, carried by six Sisters, the remaining mem- bers of the community, the pupils of the Academy and the relatives and friends of deceased bringin; up the rear. The priests and Sisters carried THghite candles, which added to the solemnity of the occa- sion; but what deeply moved and affected all wi as the sight of six Sisters bearing the body of their de- cer Member to its dnal resting place, thus teati- St. John's woman, clothed with the sun, was in | fig: Bonirid love for her who was so ardently attached to them in life, Religious Enthusiasm at Englewood, N. J. On Monday night last Father Gavazzi lectured in the Presbyterian church of this place, for the pur- pose of furthering the Protestant cause in Italy. Written notices Of his lecture were inserted in ‘every daily journal sold here, and the floors of the railroad cars were literally studded with the an- nouncement of the event. But while Father Ga- vazzi was ae ee in the Presbyterian church, Father Coghlan, from the oj ite eminence, lec- tured to a large audience of Protestants and Cath- olics on the subject of “Sacramental Confession” in the Catholic church. As it is expected that the fire will be kept up from their respective heights durin, the week, the resulta of the campaign are look for with interest. Religious Notes—Personal and General. ‘The Southern Baptists have voted in council to raise $20,000 toward building a Baptist church in Rome. Rev. Duncan McGregor has accepted the call of the Park Presbyterian church of Troy to become their pastor. ‘The Christians of St. Louts, of all denominations, meet on the first Sunday in June to form a County Bible Society. A Congregational church of twenty-six pag with excellent prospects for usefulness, was forme at Selma, Ala., May 12, ‘The pastoral relation between Rev, H. B. Holmes and the First Presbyterian church of Kingston, N. Y., has been dissolved. The American Bible Society has made a grant of Bibles and Testaments to the Southern Methodist Church to aidin its work among the Indians, The Right Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, D.D., will administer the sacrament of Confirmation in re Mary’s Church, Bergen Point, New Jersey, to- ay. ‘The widow of ex-President Tyler, with her daughter and infant grandchild, were baptized and recelved into the Catholic Church, at Georgetown, on the 1st of May. Rey. J, W. Healy, D. D., has organized in England aFreedman’s Mission Ald Society, of which the Earl of Shaftesbary is president and Arthur Kin- naird, M. P., treasurer, The First Congregational parish in Pittsfield has voted to request Dr. Todd to remain in the position of pastor emeritus, to continue to pay him the same salary as in the last few years, and to give him the use of the parsonage. THE METHODIST EPISCOPACY. Sketch of Its Origin and Members— Wherein It Differs from Other Episco- pal Churches=Daties, Responsibilities, Salaries, &c., of the Bishops—Present Status. The election and consecration of eight Methodist Bishops a few days ago has called public attention to the Methodist system of episcopacy. It is so un- like that of the Catholic or of the Protestant Episco- pal Churches that a sketch of it may not be unin- teresting. The great distance between the American Method- ist Church and the English Wesleyans, and the impossibility of Wesley exercising proper supef- vision over both, led to his consecration, in 1784, of one of the most eminent and worthy of his own preachers as Superintendent of the American Church—Dr. Thomas Coke. Dr. Coke was subsequently lost at sea while voyaging to India asa missionary. He was thirty-six years of age at the time of his ordination. Dr. Coke subsequently consecrated Francis Asbury, who lived, labored and died here; and the venera- ble Father Boehm, who was his travelling com- panion for some years in his early ministry and de- lights to talk about the devotion of Asbury, is now in his ninety-seventh year, in almost daily attend- ance in the Conference. Asbury was thirty-eight years old when he was ordained. The General Con- ference which metin Baltimore received and recog- nized Coke and Asbury as Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and thenceafter those men and their successors consecrated to that high office such men as the General Conference elected, In 1800 Richard Whatcoat, at the age of sixty-five years, was ordained a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Eight years later Wiiliam Mc- Kendree, at the age of fifty, was added to the episcopal list. In 1816 Enoch George, aged forty- eight, and Robert E. Roberts, aged thirty-seven, were ordained, and in 1824 Joshua Soule, aged forty-two, and Elijah Hedding, aged forty-four, were added, In 1832 James 0. Andrew, aged forty-two, and John Emory, forty-three, were ordained. In 1836 Beverly Waugh, aged forty-six, and Thomas A. Morris, aged forty-two (still living), were added, and in 1844 Leonidas L. Hamline, aged forty-seven, and Edmund 8. Janes, aged thirty- seven, were chosen to this office. In 1852 Levi Scott, aged fifty; Matthew Simpson, forty; Osmon Cc. Baker, thirty-eight, and Edward R. Ames, forty-six, were elevated to the episco- pacy. In 1864 Davis W. Clarke and Cal- vin Kingsley, aged respectively fifty-two, and Edward Thompson, aged fifty-three, were or- dained, and at the present Conference Drs. Bow- man, at fifty-three; Harris, at fifty-four; Haven, at fifty; Wiley, at forty-seven ; Merrill and Andrews, at forty-six, and Peck, at sixty-one, were elected and ordained, Besides these two missionary Bishops (colored) were ordained for Liberia—Francis Burns, in 1958, and John W, Roberts, in 1868. These high officials in this country huve always been elected by The reve nt delivered a most touching discourse on the sacrifice made in entering the re- ligious state and on the happiness of living | and dying in it. At the conclusion a procession formed ‘and moved towards the eautitul little cemetery situated on the the Conferences, except those ordained and sent out by Wesley. So much for the number, names and ages of the Methodist Bishops. There are and have been thirty-one of them altogether, including those recently elected, The duties of those bishops, as defined by the dis- cipline, consist in presiding at the annual confer- ences; to form presiding elders’ districts and to ap- point the preachers to their charges and missiona- ries to neglected portions of our cities and to our colored people and to foreign stations; chaplains to reformatories, sanitary and charitable institutions, to prisons and in the ‘army and navy; also those preachers who may be appointed to labor for the Eas benefit of seamen and for the American Bible Society, or for any State Bible Society aux- inary thereto; the presidents, principals or teachers of seminaries of learning which are or may be under Annual or General Conference superintend- ence, or the preacher to the Five Points Mission in New York and the American chapel in Paris, and also, when requested by an Annual Conference, to appoint a preacher fora longer time than three years to any seminary of learning not under Conference supervision. They may also, when requested, ap- point a travelling tract agent, temperance agent or agents for the literary and benevolent institu- tions and for the German Uggered fund, They may also, in the intervals of Conferences, receive, change and suspend preachers as necessity may require. ‘They have a general supervision of the Church at large, and are to travel over the entire feild and oversee the temporal as well as the spir- itual interests of the Church, They are to conse- crate bishops and ordain elders and deacons; to decide all questions of Jaw in Annual Conferences and to prescribe the studies in English literature and science for those applying for admission to Conferences, ‘These are the disciplinary duties of the bishops, besides which they are called upon to assist at the corner-stone laying and dedication of churches, of which the Methodists average about two per diem throughout the year. They are expected and are called upon also to attend and deliver addfesses on all connectional interests and on undenomninational topics, and in a thousand ways their presence and induence are sought. They have a concurrent or # controlling voice in every measure that comes before the Church in the interim of the General Con- ference, and this has paver rise to & discussion in the Church papers and in the present General Confe- ¥ rence as to the propriety of saddling them with so much non-episcopal work. But very much of this Jabor will be taken off their shoulders by this General Conference ; and, with the reinforcement of eight more bishops to the episcopal board, the duties and burdens of the ofice will be measurably lessened, Hitherto the Methodist bishops have had no par- ticular districts or dioceses to attend to; but on Friday last the Conference fixed the local habita- tions of the newly elected, and ina few days will detine the ciettiete bat which each shall have par- ticular supervision. t this districting will not and cannot interfere with the disctplinary require- ment that they shall travel over the entire connec- tion. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, the | bishops meet in council and draft a plan of Con- ference visitation for themselves, And inasmuch as they change this plan every year, all the bishops in turn have an opportunity of going over the entire field as well as having a special oversight of a par- ticular district. Last year the reduced numbers of the Board increased the labors of the four effective bishops, who, between them, travelled over fifty thousand anes taking nearly one- half of thi 5 The salaries of the bishops are fixed by the Book Committee and average about $4,000 per annum. This, together with their travelling expenses, comes out of the profite of the Book Concern In New York. The present General Conference has, however, taken this burden of salaries off the Concern and placed it upon the whole Church, but permitting the Bishops to draw upon the Concern for thé next four years for any deficiency that may occur in salaries. — It is believed that by 1876 the Church will have become 80 used to giving for this object that there will not be a deficiency after that date, ‘The oid bishops have been allowed a year’s leave of absence, with salaries and expenses paid, 80 that they can travel where they please. The new men will have a little more work to do in consequence. The friends of the pisnope have sometimes pre- sented those officials wil Tealdences, furnished and d. Itis prphatie that some of them mayo he same thing for the ne" elected bishops. In many respects, a8 above in cated, the Methodist Episcoy aoF 18 different from any otter, and is maintained solely for convenience of ecclesiastical supervision of the Church. METHODIST GENERAL CONFERENCE. Lively Disoussion Over Conference Boun- daries—Black River and Bingham Vic- torlousBalloting for Missionary Secre- tari neous. Dr. Stephen Allen, of Maine, led the devotions yesterday, The journal was read and approved. Drs. Gillette, Fish and others, of the Baptist Home Missionary Society, expressed @ desire to present their fraternal salutations to the General Con- ference, in accordance with which Monday, at eleven o'clock A.-M., was fixed for their reception, So much of the report of the Committee on Boundaries as refers to Black River Conference was taken from the table, read and discussed, Dr. BINGHAM of that Conference presented memorials and petitions in favor of enlarging the boundaries of his Conference, which were curtailed by the Gen- eral Conference of 1868in opposition to the ex- pressed will of the representatives of the Black River Conference. During the past four years only two elders have been elected in that Conference, and if its present boundaries are retained and the Gen- eral Conference pursue its present course toward It the Conference will have to be blotted out by-and-by, The Doctor read from the journal of his Conference its action for a series of years on this question, and argued earnestly and eloquently against the minor- ity report of the committee, which asks that the boundaries remain unchanged. Nineteen men out of seventy-two limited the boundaries of his Con- ference in 1868, and eleven of this number only voted for the limitation, Dr. SLICER asked how it came to pass that so few men in so large a committee could settle so im- portant a question. GOT WHAT WAS ASKED FOR. Mr. PuEtrs, of Central New ‘York, which Confer- ence was formed partly out of Black River Confer- ence, said the latter had got just what it had asked for and what for several successive years it had tried to nee But it now wants to cut up Central New York, so that they won’t have room enough to sleep in without-having their legs hanging: out. Parenter.) The restoration of the Black River nference boundary would make Central New York one-third of what Black River is now. Dr. Ives, of Central New York, said this question arose out of a jealousy of an older sister (Black River) because the younger one (Central New York) had marri¢d more comfortably. He con- tended that Black River Conference would not have grumbled had not Central New York outgrown her. After some further discussion on both sides Dr. OLIN, of Wyoming, moved to refer the reports back to the Committee on Boundaries. Lost, Another motion to adopt the minority report was also voted down. Dr. QUEAL moved an amendment to the com- mittee’s report to add Oswego county to Black River Conference. Lost. CONTENT WITH HIS VICTORY, Dr. BINGHAM said his Conference want the whole or none at all, Dr. LinDsAy wanted the Nt report recom- mitted, and Dr. Kynnett wanted it given to a spe- cial committee of fifteen, and Dr. Queal wanted it indefinitely postponed; but these motions were successively voted down, and the previous question. was ordered, by 189 to 52, The report was then adopted, Black River Conference had gained its victory, and Dr. Hibbard, of East Tennessee, made a speech asking the victors to be magnanimous. He also presented a resolution asking for a commission of seven from each of the New York State confer- ences to settle the boundaries of their respective conferences and to report to the next General Con- ference, Dr. Curgy did not want such an important ques- tion kept open for four years, and he moved for a committee of one from those conferences to con- sider and report as soon as possible. Rey. S. MEREDITH protested against bringing the Troy Conference into this quarrel, and that confer- ence was omitted. Dr. HipBaRD was of the same mind with re- gard to the East Genesee Conference, and he wanted Black River and Central New York to settle their own disputes, Dr. Curry’s substitute and amendment was adopted, and the delegations representing those conferences were given until Monday to select their committeemen. The REPORT OF THE MISSION COMMITTEE was taken up and that part which calls for three secretaries was adopted. A vote was taken by bal- lot, which was barren of results, The whole num- ber of votes cast was 387; necessary to a choice 194. Of these Drs. Dashiel received 162 votes; Eddy, 145; Love, 118; Reid, 114; Walden, 84; Cowles, 78; ©. A. Holmes, 51; J. P. Newman, 42; Gee, 42; Jocelyn, 41; Butler and Gibson, 37 each, ‘and Ives, 20—others scattering. ‘The report on the Church Extension Society was taken up while the tellers were out and was dis- cussed by Revs. Buckley, Kynett and others. Mr. BUCKLEY opposed part of section 1, which consti- tutes seven members of the Board a quorum. It placed the management of the entire business of the society in the hands of the secretary and three or four men. He opposed section 6 because it re- quired preachers to report to their Annual Confer- ences the amounts apportioned and raised in,each charge for this cause. He also opposed the report because it had no provision for the removal of an incompetent or insane secretary. Dr. KyNeTr answered those objections and showed the necessity for having them retained. The discussion was cut short by a motion to adjourn, which was carried by 142 to 139, THE CHILDREN'S OHURCOH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. - The Thirteenth Anniversary at Steinway Hall—Addrosses by Clergymen and Lay- men. The thirteenth anniversary of the Children's American Church Missionary Society was appropri- ately observed yesterday afternoon at Steinway Hall. At three o’clock between fifteen hundred and two thonsand children of the Protestant Epis- copal Mission Schools filed into the hall in classes and took seats in the body and on the second gallery, under the care of tucir teachers and other officers, A large number of ladies and gen- tlemen and clergymen interested in the Sabbath schools crowded the platform. The chair was occupied by the Rev. Dr, Dyer and the ceremonies opened with the hymn “Haste, ye Nations, to Adore Him.” Selections from the Psalms and a chant followed, and then the Apostles’ Creed and a prayer, Conel Slipper, of Brooklyn, was introduced to the children and made a simple yet highly entertain- ing address to the little ones, in which he pointed out to them the various ways in which they could contribute to the mussionary cause in this country. The musical offerings were of a high order and were wellrendered by the youthful voices, especially the hymn entitled “The Last Commission” :— From over the ocean there cometh a cry, Oh, send us the Bible to save ere we dic ‘The hill and the valley, the mountain and plain Are waiting for Jesus, the Lamb that was slain. Chorwe—Then shout! shout the tidings over land and seal Till every nation the call obey; Oh, send the blessed Gospel over land and sea, Till everywhere the soul Is free. Then up and be doing, away with all fear, ‘The grand coronation of Ohirist draweth near; ‘The winners of souls shall be found with the wise, And shine in bright glory Ike stars in the skies.—Chorus, Addresses were also made by Rev. W. H. McVick- ar, Alexander Tyng, of Ulinois, and Rev. Mr. Riie of the republic of Mexico, The oiicers of the so. clety speak in the highest terms of the liberality of the children, who they report have contributed in the past two years $15,000 towards the missionary cause. FATHER BURKE'S LAST LECTURE. ‘The great Dominican preacher delivers the last lecture of the course at the Academy of Music on Friday evening, May 31, the subject being one of the most attractive and popular upon which he has yet treated. In his hands ‘The National Music of Ireland” will receive full justice; for Father Burke ts intimately acquainted, not only with the history of [Irish music, but is thoroughly conversant with the lege and science of the art. The synopsis of the lecture informs us that he will dwell at length on the genins and character of Irish melody, give a re- view of Its history and describe the mission of the Irish bards and the important part they played in the government of the country from the earliest period. As this is the last lecture of the course in the Academy of. Music there will, of course, be a large audience. The number of tickets sold will, however, be limited to the accommoeations of the building, and those who desire to hear Father Burke should secure their tickets in time. A JERSEY ROLLING MILL HORROR, An occurrence of a most horrifying description took place recently in Oxford, Warren, county, N. J. William Ford, fourteen years of age, was em- ployed ina rolling mill there. He fell asleep near the fly wheel of the main engine, an immense wheel which makes sixty revolutions per minute, oe ved set that half of it revolves in a pit some fee! deep, This pit is but a conple of inches wider than the wheel, Some of the workmen, kat ing they heard a peculiar noise at the wheel, went and looked in and discovered a shoe at the side of the heel, and on farther investigation the body of the boy was discovered terribly mangled, It is supposed that on suddenly awakening and tempting to walk from the &pot, while yet half awake, the boy fell into the pit and was round into numberiess pieces. His remains had to be carried home in baskets and pails, Everything was recovered with the exception of his eyes and one ear. The men were so affected by the occurrence that they refused to work, and the mall was stopped the remainder of the wi 3 “THE FRIENDS.” Annual Conclave at the Ruthere ford Place Meeting House. THE TRADITIONAL RAIN. Gathering of the Patriarche and Matrons. THE SPEECH OF SILENCE. Secret Meetings of the Elders and Ministers The Great Day of Public Worship. “The Quakers have come into town.” This last week of May, accordingly, if we believe time- honored tradition, should be distinguished in the yearly calendar by the floods of the heavens being let loose in an unusually profuse manner and de scending upon the earth with the refreshing gen- tleness that will call forth the climax of verdancy in all nature; and in the metropolis will make the contrast between the array of architecture and tho bits of cooling green that cheer the dreariness here and there strongest and most pleasing. POPULAR SUPERSTITION, How the superstition-attending this annual event first arose it might be very difficult to determine, if one were so disposed; yet it could be easily imagined that the simplicity and cheerfulness of those quict followers of the great George Fox, whem they assemble in such great crowds, to use a subtle analogy of thought peculiar to Dr. Quincy, “might have pervaded the very soul of the atmosphere with. that sympatny of instinct that does really subsist im the universe,’ and the grateful heavens pour blese- ings upon the waiting earth, that wreatheth all her face in happy smiles and giveth forth the breath. of incense sweeter than any that ever perfumed the altar of pagan temple. They come with the spring as if in company with the early songsters, and, even as guilcless as they, seemto soften the heart of Nature (and would it were of mankind too) into’ showers of happy tears. But, fortunately for the good temper of matter-of-fact human beings, this emotion on the part of “our common mother” has interludes, ever in the month of May, of serenity, in placid contrast with her gusts of feeling. THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE. The yearly gathering of the Friends in New York, which is called by them by the simple name of the “Yearly Meeting,” is one for the purpose of trans- acting the business of the society or Church. The same sort of an event also occurs once a year in Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Providence, Kingston (Canada) and Des Moines. Each of these places is the centre of a district, corresponding for the purposes of religious government to a diocese ina church under episcopal rule—thus to compare two types of sectarianism as widely differing almost as itis possible. The congregation of staid, placid- looking men and women from all parts of the coun- try, near and far, is an immense and emotional sight, although the crowd is not so great as the one a few weeks later at Philadelphia. The church in Rutherford place, Stuyvesant square, is crowded to its utmost capacity. The aisles, which run down through the long rows of plain, cushioned seats, are filled with a throng of men standing, and so on some occasions is the ves- tibule. It is one of those warm, softly-breathing days, so often sung in languishing rhymes, so that any description of them now is trite, when the very treesand plants and earth seem dozing in & gentle trance, and only the birds chirp and twitter dreamily in the seemingly lifeless boughs; the foun- tain plays unconsciously with a dreamy sheen evanescing forever in its cooling spray, and the faintest semblance of a breeze steals through the scene with welcome, grateful kisscs on the brow and lips and hands. LIKENED TO THE GODS. The doors and windows are thrown wide open, and through them the pete branches of the trees about the church hang listlessly, starting and stir- ring but faintly, and the wee sounds of drea vanishing music come placidly in, like the far off, whispered canticles of disembodied spirits of Joy; The great assembly sits mute, with scarce signs of being, and as if the warm light Did keep Acglimmering o'er tho forms on every side, nealnsares like life and thought; immovable, deepe eyed; with marvellous benevolence and peace depicted on many a face, so that to a stranger whose mind was in the mood for fancies like those of Laon it well might seem that this was that same celestial council into which he was led by the fair woman; only there was here no hall Whose glorious roof Was diamond, which had drunk the lightning’s sheem In darkness, and now poured it through the woof Of spell-woven clouds, hung there to screen ts blinding splendor. But Shelley might have been inspired in the pice turing of that splendid scene by a ies assembl like this, where an air of beatitude reigns in tl sweet, still ey and on the tranquil faces, wherein “the dove sat visibly brooding.” ‘There is no doubt that the Convention of this year at the Rutherford Place Meeting House will discuss matters of greater popular interest than ever before. It willbe the largest gathering that hag happened in many years. The recent agitations in the small diss: ing portion of the society—the “Orthodox"'—would seem to point to the same rest- lessness in the ranks of the other, as like incongru- ous elements, ready for excitement, exist in both. Tne desire to modernize Quakerism among some young men of the ministry isthe cause of the trouble, “SPRECH IS SILVERY, SILENCE GOLD! The most prominent preachers of the “Soctety of Friends” are now in this city. The eiders and min- isters of both sexes held their secret council on Sat- urday—the “Seventh Day’—and to-day the solemm convention begins. Both in the morning and in the afternoon is held the great public “meeting,” for worship alone and not for discussion. On this occasion some of the “great sermons” are preached from the lips of gifted men and women, and prompted, as they say, by “the spirit of truth.” Other sermons equall powerful are preached during the week, but more apropos of the subjects of debate. To see and real- ize the full majesty of these annual meetings one should go to-day, When the audience is immense and the silence, as Lamb says, hath an eloquence, and where one Is alone and yet accompanied by & vast multitude, through ali of which, by some mys- tic influence, runs a common, undefinable sym- pathy as the waves of the sea. It is not to be per- celved or proven, but to be felt—a something inex- plicable yet real, as strong as the thrills of fervor which leap from heart to heart when swayed by the great power of burning oratory. It is the oratory of silence—the best after all—for havh not the Prophet said, “Speech is silvern, but silence is golden.” The reverend poet, Whittier, will be in New York to attend the Orthodox yearly meeting, which be- gins in the Twentieth Street Meeting House on the 30th of May. The one series of meetings follows the other closely, and the members of the two opposing branches of the society often mingle together ver, socially as if they had never separated in their walks of faith. ey attend the sessions of both yearly meetings when it is convenieut. The saying of “How the Quakers love one anothe: seems not less applicable to-day than in the times when they so nobly clung to; her under the rod of ersecution and oppression, and they seem still to Pave in them, the world over, the making of heroca as well as of saints. A STEER STAMPEDE. Wh Excitement in the Streets of Newe ark—Six Persons Injured. One of the most exciting occurrences ever wite nessed in the streets of Newark took place om Friday afternoon. Robarger, a drover, from Com- munipaw abattoir, had a drove of cattle, among which was @ massive ox, In Belmont avenue the latter became enraged at something, and broke away. A lad escaped, but a young man named Ritzel was tossed twice and then gored by the beast. Down Springfield avenue it dashed, causing fear and consternation among the affrighted citizens, Several attempts were made to stop the ox, but to no account, Turning out of Broad into Walnut street the beast ran down a lady, Luck- ily, she was less hart than fitghtened, Corner of ulberry street Rev. Dr. Findley, a Presbyteriam clergyman, was tossed, trainpled, an arm and several ihe broken, Th, Tiallfoad avenue Peter Rowe, a flagman, Ww: red and his thigh tore o} frighttully. Justice Mills tried to shoot the be but narrowly escaped being torn to picces himsel Several other persons were more or less. pune hurt, Finally the bull was shot and its throat by a plucky butcher named Myers. None of the in- Jured persons will die, Crowds of persons gatteces along the streets through which the wi sage At least 1.500 persons were in at ta eu