The New York Herald Newspaper, July 8, 1872, Page 8

i RELIGIOUS. ‘The Closing Sunday of the Season--- Pastors and People Taking Thelr Summer Vacation. Sermons and Services at the Sanctuaries. NEW YORK apsorbed in | and pee Soh for Christ's sake, and as His steward. Men should Temember that they are STRWARDS 4 They sbould conduct their business for Jesus. If they elt that Jesua has sent their bi that woulda would become neutralized, and mammon worshipera, They should he ‘The gigantic establishments are sending men to Junatic asylums; men were ovyerwor! their brains, Let them resolve that when they had enough to occupy their attention and energies they would not strive to add toit. His final point was that ee impressions are sometimes lost, because those who’ are the subjects of them ge way to procrastination. Pharaoh kept telling ‘oses that he should beseech the Lord to-morrow. Felix awaited for the convenient season. The only ‘way aman could the freshness of bis con- selence was to Keo his heart up to the conscience. ‘They might succeed in STAVING OFF THE EVIL at present, but it would come with treble torce in the future. They might stifle their convictions all Br. Storrs on Prayer as a Condition of God’s Blessing. THE DOXOLOGY IN WALL STREET ee Q Sermon at Kingston on the Horror of “a Continental Sabbath.” A New Presbyterian Minister's First Sermon. bane nteetenrenenet Weary Ward Beecher on Hope.as an Element of Christian Life, Be. Chapman and Bishop Marris at John’s Methodist Church, 8T, PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, ‘Whe Necessity of the Christian Perform- Good Works—Salvation Only At~- tained by Works of Love and Charity— Discourse by Vicar General Starrs. ‘The attendance at the Cathedral in Mott street ‘waa quite large, notwithstanding the heat, and the weual masses were celebrated. The sermon was preached by Rev. Father Starrs, who took for his Yext the passage of Scripture in Matthew vil. 156— “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves,” &c, He said that in the Gospel, from the ‘3th to the 2st verse, our Saviour admonishes Ais @isciples on two very important points, In the Gret place He warns them to BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS ‘and evf, and in the second place He inculcates the great moral duties of the Gospel, of performing good works, in order to procure our salvation. He declares that ¢very tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. In e@ther words, every professed Christian who per- forms not good works shall be cast into the fre, ‘This is one of the most important subjects—the mecessity of performing good works in order to @ttain the kingdom of heaven. That good works are necessary to salvation 1s laid down in other Portions of the Scripture. Christ says:—‘“Not every e that says Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- fon of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my ther who is in heaven.” THE WILL OF THE FATHER ts that we keep His commandments. We must not Ve disobedient to God. This caused the expulsion our first parents from the earthly paradise, If ience is necessary to salvation, then disobedl- of His commands excludes us from salvation. We must perform good works in order to gain | Beaven. 1 acknowledge that neither fornicators, | @runkards, nor murdereis nor evil-doers shall enter foto the kingdom of heaven, Only the just and re who do the will of God shall enter into that Einadom, it may be said that the merits of Christ's are suflictent to cbtain our salvation. ‘This not true. The mercy of Christ alone will not @ave the evil-doer. If here a man performs good works by the spirit of prayer, then his good works are sanctioned by THE MERITS OF CHRIST'S MERCY. @ur Saviour says “Let not thy lett hand know What thy right hand doeth.” chapter of Matthew -we find this subject laid down ina pe manner. There we read an account of the day of final judgment. of the just and the Wicked. He invites the just to enter mto the rest prepared for them. Why? Because “I was ahun- | and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and | ye gave me drink.” He says to the wicked, “Be- | gone.” Why? Because when I was hungry ye | gave me no meat, when I was thirsty ye gave me | Bo drink, &c. Then we are told that eve ene will be judged according to the works Re performs here. know am speakiny to those who acknowledge the necessity 0! rforming good works in this life in order to at- satvation. Letus see whether we have com- 4 with this duty of the Gospel. Our Saviour ug that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cast into the fire. You are the TREES PLANTED IN THE VINEYARD OF CHRIST. You, young and old, rich and poor, are trees in Bis vineyard, and each one must bring forth fruit Aged season, We are not all bound to bring forth the same kind of fruit, but each one according #0 his state in life. Of him who has much, much ‘Will be required. Of him who has littie, lite will be required. Man mnst give to the poor and per- form works, or he cannot be excused. Whatis ;the proportion man is requested to give? In Jooking through the ordinance of the old law I find each one was obliged to give a tithe of one-tenth @f his yearly income as A PORTION GIVEN TO GOD, Ht may be said that you cavnot give, as you must support your families, But you must give a child’s ae God. If you cannot give money you can acta of charity; Visit the poor, cheer the sick, and perform such other works as lies in your rer. Thus you will lay up treasures for the next , where moth and rust cannot =. nor ‘thieves break through and steal. “Blessed, blessed are those who dic in the Lord, for t follow them.” SROADWAY TABERNACLE CEURCH. Man's Dutics in Respect to His Religious Convictions—Sermon by Rev. William a. Taylor. ‘fhe Broadway Tabernacle congregation met for religious services yesterday morning at Association Mall, corner of Fourth avenue and Twenty-third street, What might have seemed a thin attendance im their massive church here appeared a goodly gathering, Rev. William M. Taylor, the pastor, reached the sermon, taking for his text the ‘Words, “Quench not the spirit.’ They had all of them, he began, broken the commandments in Beart if not in reality, All had convictions of re- gious duty and obligation. It was to such con- Vietions St. Paul referred in the injunction em- | raced in the text. After further general prefatory remarks, he went on to say that very often good fappreesions are lost because an individual ylelds to ome besetting sin. Trees are killed by a single ‘worm. Many a man has been RUINED BY A SINGLE HABIT, He quoted some forcible lines from George Her- Dert illugtrative of this point, and then proceeded to show that according as one yielded toa beset ting ein or is victor over it, ts he Jost or saved. Every one should know his weakness, If it be the | intoxicating cup they should forswear it at once yather than be irretrievably lost. Against this fas- @inating abomination they should strive witn all the energies of their nature. Abstinence entire and absolute was the only salvation. The same rule held good as to any enslaving habit. Until they Mited this anchor and broke away they were in dan- . From this he went on to enforce the fact food Impression# are sometimes Jost by not eaking away entirely from evil companions, Through such companionship the best convictions erestified. Many disiked the TORMENTING MOCKERY @ ridicule. One of the first sacrifices demanded of who could be religious is to keep aloof from ridiculing religion. To the theatre and all wnholy things behind such would lead them, He was yong to the Weak and not to the strong, Kt might be safe for the latter Ed to the theatre jonally, but it was not safe for the weak, spiritual life of a matured Christian might not endangered, but to the new convert there is nent danger. It was the duty of Christians to the lantern to proses the lighis of the newly verted from befng biown out. They were to be the ctors of such. By their frank, genial, hearty ood, it was theirs to keep new converts satisfied with their company rather than the ungodly. Another point was urged— ite interest of their foun greatly don nds the of attention given business. into evil ways ‘they soon ‘Bo- the refined oath; they their the family weyers they je their ‘when the Jaull Ig their own; ther become In the twenty-fifth | ‘iy works shall | through hfe, but by and by its fires would leap over the very flames of hell, lay they should yield to the Impressions in them and decide for Jesus, Re- sist procrastination, To-day was theirs. To-mor- ‘row did not be!ong to any of them, To-day they should seize the opportunity to attend to their souls’ salvation. 8T, PAUL'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Foss—The Use of Power—Infiluonce Exerted for Good or Evil, The Rev. Dr. Foss preached an excellent ser- mon to@large congregation in the above-named church yesterday morning. The learned divine took his text from Matthew 28, xvilii—‘‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” and opened his discourse thereupon by drawing atten- tion to the fact that the words of his text were ad- dressed by our Saviour to His disciples just prior to His leaving earth, He had passed through all the aufferings-he had to endure during His sojourn in this world; had endured THE AGONY OF CRUCIFIXION} had risen from the dead and was about to reascend into the kingdom of heaven, Then it was that Christ began to assert His omnipotence, and Mat- thew has recorded that hia great Master bade His disciples go forth and teach the world and Ile would be always with them. All the evil done on earth is the result of ‘THR SELFISH USE OF POWER, Evil of all kinds springs from this basis. We find that this is so among nations, among companies, in families—everywhere, All the good that is in the universe of God and on this earth emanates from the right use of power. God is utterly unselfish, and it was His unbounded love that induced Him to create mankind. He is working out His own glory and every good action done on earth tends to ac- complish this end, The preacher thought that GOD'S GREAT OBJECT was to please the eherubim, seraphim and all His heavenly host when He sent His beloved'Son to save man from sin and the punishment its commission entails, This was the result of right exercise of wer, All the benedictions which men enjoy from ‘he superabundance of love Christ bears to us comes from the proper use of the power He pos- gesses. We ought to exercise any influence we may possess in Lke manner. Some have the POWER OF WEALTH, others of extraordinary intelligence—few, in fact, are without any. By striving to advance Christianity we please Christ, who is all omniscient and holds every power, We should not dare to raise our hands in rebellion against God, for no one could hope to win ina contest with his Creator. We ought therefore to seek to do this good work by using our influence to further THE WORKINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. Any effort that we may make to do this, as the text saya, will be assisted by the power of our Savior, and He will reward the sower of the good seed that will elevate His glory when the day of jadgment shall arrive. A large number of communicants attended the sacrament, which was administered at the conclu- sion of the sermon. WEST TWENTY-FIFTH STREET U, P, CHURCH. The New Pastor’s First Sermon. A tolerably full congregation assembled in the West Twenty-fifth* street United Presbyterian church yesterday forenoon, to listen to the first sermon of their new pastor, Rev. Samuel J. Stewart, a young clergyman, apparently not yet on the shady side of thirty, but of good delivery and evident cultare, and who has been hitherto ministering in the State of Ilingls. The Scriptural lesson was the first chapter Of the First Eptstic of Paul to the Corinthians, and the text was the first clause of the seventeenth verse of the same— Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.” By these words, he said, Paul did not | reject baptism; for he himself at times baptized, though he generally teft that work to his associates. His words rather subordinated’external ordinances | | to spiritual forms, and the Quaker need not quote him as against baptism, for he was not. Baptism should not be put aside, for it was upon the same authority as preaching, occupying, however, a secondary position. But while the minister ts sent primarily to preach, he was not sent to live for ought to be a literary man and should cultivate all his faculties, not relying ogee | rg his piety for | the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls, In the present day there was too much IGNORANCE IN SHE PULPIT, | and too much trusting to piety without mental cul- ture, The best talent shonid not be given to worldly affairs and the poorest toGod, Paul-was Jearned in all the logic and rhetoric of the East, and his great success was largely attributable to his superior mental culture. The Gospel should be preached with pure simplicity, but its beauty and effect should not be destroyed by ignorance in the nise of simpifeity. Political principles should not & preached (rom the pulpit; but when questions were concerned the pulpit should take a stand on the side of truth and right. Intellectual or doctrinal preaching should be combined with emotional pene or that which touched the heart; but a gospel all gument or all sentiment would not satisfy. There ‘Were those who delighted in hair-splitting dogmas; but the minister was not sent to preach mere philos- ophy, even though it be @ religious philosophy, and | one intellect should not be fed to the starvation of | a hundred souls. There were also those who liked the simple Gospel, but who likewise had | AN ITOHING EAR FOR SENSATIONALISM. | Such a desire was wrong, but while doctrine was necéssary it should be interestingly stated. There was too inuch milk and water plety—a piety which Could not be explained by its possessors, tio matter how well they could illustrate all other matters. ‘The old Romish notion, that ignorance was the mother of devotion, was false, and an educated | Church was necessary for Christian progress, | Preaching the Gospel was the great work to which all others should be made secondary; but it would be of no more use to preach Christ unless the sins of the ‘ople were int. ed out to them and they convince of their need of Him than it would to tell a man of a od physician unless the man could be convinced hat he needed a physician. During the sermon and in conclusion the preacher announced that while he remained pastor of the church he should endeavor to preach Christ and Him crucified, and to take a stand on the stde of temperance and social reformn, though never in @ political sense, and that he should not hesitate to point out sin wherever he might discover it. He knew that he could not boast of long years of experience, and was conscious of weakneéns; yet, feeling that Christ had sent him, he believed that Christ would give him strength. FOURTH UNIVERSALIST CHUROH, Dr. Chapin on the Law of Good and Evil=Mr. Greeley in Church. The unusually warm weather has deprived Dr, Chapin of most of his congregation. ‘The services yesterday morning were very thinly attended, The | reverend gentleman announce’ that after the ex- of morality ercises of the morning the church would be closed until the 16th of September. He took for his text Romane, vili., 2—‘For the law | of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” The | apostic Paul here uttered not only his own expe- | Tience, but the experience to some extent of every | genuine Christian in the universe, The term law Js used in various relations by Paul, and sometimes in contradictory senses. Theology has overcrowded religion with terminology, and much of its power has been lost in consequence by being smothered under technical language that simple minds cannot comprehend, ‘The law of the spirit of life as Paul uses it here means simply gospel, ‘The law of | sin and death doubtless means that consctonsncss of the power of evi! in our hearts that all men have. We cannot always know what is right and what is wrong, but every man endowed with a man's facul- ties must generally be able to judge between them. He Jnstinctively fecls that there is aright and a wrong even when he cannot judge between them. Men too wijlingly submit to the contro: of evil when this confict leo up in their eouls, It is not on the battlefields, ripped with caunon shot, ploughed with leaden missiles and drenched in human blood, that the greatest batties are fought; but inthe human soul, when the confiict between right and wrong takes place, You have all seen, bo doubt, the famous print entitled the “Game of Life,” wherein @ young man {s represented at the chessboard con- tending against the Demon of Evil, staking Ng eto nities, fortune, character, health and hopes in the Jalal game, While behind him stands the auacl of literature alone; yet, for the sake of his calling, lic | to draw bim away from hi faen, however depraved, really game. t ; ; ally to Oe SIN: ite. poy A their guilt They wish to make their sing no sins at all, Not even the worst of them defends evil as evil. Js, tl » & consciousness of In_ every man, The reverend gentleman continued at some jena to expound the meaning of the apostie, During the opening exercises, when the preacher ‘Was read! the morn: service for the seventh day, at the point where the following words are ut- Gai impressively by the preacher and intoned by Ths thowy ie neten aud Mien aaa Ana ‘we afe arisen and upright Horace Greeley, in his black alpaca, strode into the room. He was accompanied by a middle-aged lady, He took his white hat off, smoothed the few hairs and wrinkles on the top of his head, and, opening the door of his pew, made way for the lady and sat down. He looked cheerful, as if the words of the lesson of the morning had a significance Personal to himself, ia view of the near approach of the Baltimore Convention. During the prayer he bowed his head upon his hand, and throughout its continuance lis venerable nob could be seen rising and falling in cadence with the words of Lord, shower rare. When the preacher sald, ‘01 hy blessing upon the Chief Magistrate of this country, and upon all who are in places and offices of responsibility and power,’ the venerable poll nodded more rapidly than usually, asif the Philoso- her it be laughing even the back of his ead at the idea of any INessing doing the present administration any good. He was so impressed with the pager. apparently, that he dia not raise his head from its Mevotiond! position until some time after the prayer had ceased, and the people, com in In crowde, made noise enough to disturb him, and even dui the sermon that fol- lowed he frequently returned to his devotions and leaned bis head upon his breast and closed hiaeyes bebind his spectacles in humble supplication to the Throne of Grace, When the congregation was called upon to sing the 260th Hymn the pious Phi- losopher rose with the rest, Psalm book in hand, and opened his mouth as if sini though like the individuals in the Jubilee chorus it was impos- sible to certify that he was joining in song merely by opening his mouth. The Philosopher remained patiently to the close and then went home with his ‘fend Johnson. CHUROH OF THE MESSIAH. Correspondcnee of THought and Action— Imagining the Pleasures of Sin Leads to Its Commiasion—Early Piety the Best Safeguard to Virtue—A Dig at Tammany’s Corrupt and Fallen Chief tains—-Sermon by Dr. Farley, of Brook- lyn. The services at the Church of the Messiah, corner of Park avenue and Thirty-fourth street, were yester- day morning conducted by Kev. Fred. A. Farley, D. D., of Brooklyn, who chose for his text Proverbs iv., 23—“Keep thy heart with alldiligence ; for out of itare the issues of life.” There is, he began, a beautiful illusion in this moral precept to the chief physical function of one of the great organs of the body. The heart is «the grand centre of circulation, Thence start the arteries which, branching out, distribute the life-blood to every part of the system. As long as the heart can receive and propel blood hfe re- mains; when the heart ceases to beat life ceases; and in proportion as the blood itself is pure or impure, as the action of the heart is or feeble, The force of the precept 1s obvious. The heart is the grand centre and source of moral action. Thence originate the motives and purposes from which all human conduct flows. As the heart itself, then, is pure or impure, is filed with good and holy thoughts, plans and wishes, or the contrary, will the character of ! the individual in reality be good or bad— will fud approbation or censure in THE JUDGMENT OF GOD, The care of the heart, then, is the lesson of the text; and how important, how indispensable this is! Itis the government of tho ht, the control of the motive, the regulation of desire, the right direction of the affections which the text contem- piates when it charges us “to keep the heart.” No reflecting person Will doubt or deny a natural and close connection between thought and action. not the mind when called upon to decide between conflicting claims or interests—will it not be indu- nay, governed, by the rushing in of every previous thought or idea which it or the heart has cherished? The power of such previously indulged thoughts is such that when in the solitary musings of the man they have been permitted to array SIN IN DAZZLING AND BRILLIANT COLORS the hour of actual temptation will clothe it in even more attractive hues, and make its power next to resistiess, Conacience has already been disarmed by the revellings of the mind in anticipated enjoy- ments; the fear of God has already been dissipated by the foul sophistry of passion, and either fatter- ing himself that the eye of the Almighty is with- drawn, or that there will be time beyond for re- pentance, the sinner casts off the shackles of a stern virtue and a holy religion and yields to the arch enemy of the soul. He had no impenetrable buckler or shield, thoroughly tempered by a rigid process of discipline and contri, | Whatever virtne such @ one possesses is sult of circumstances, and not of a rightly ed and cultured heart. The man who is thus ercome made his mistake in not laying the foun- ov dation of his virtue in the thoughts, tion well laid, the superstructure would rise easily and be substantial and firm. In the absence of ACTUAL TEMPTATION the chambers of imagery in the soul may be filled with all things pure and good. All the considera. then hold the mind by their legitimate power and Strengthen it for the hour of trial. But how few thus “keep their hearts!” What multitudes give full rein to thelr corrupt and vicious fancies! How | Many flatter themselves that they are uncon- demned, because while they cherish the thought they withhold the action! And what too often is the consequence ’ Desire, inflamed by ever; incentive but actual enjoyment, will be gratified, Appetite roused and sharpened to the keenest edge by an abstinence which is still kept brooding over its indulgence will be satiated, and thus the obstacles which a merciful Creator has placed in the way of tranagression are one after another over- come by the DISORDERLY REVELLINGS of the imagination till the sinner in thought be- comes the bold violator of every divine and human law, dishonors and ruins his own soul. But so re- luctant are we to surrender that many are ready to resist the claim of such a religion to the “keeping of the heart” as a crue! and arbitrary ex- action. They are unwilling to give up these, as the: ne Well for New Yor! er PUBLIC OFFICIALS given up the speculation in her money as their own, and then taking it! We must not wear virtue asamask. We must know that it is not enongh to do no outward offence, The inward and outward man must harmonize, Christianity begins with the first springs of thought, and thus at once makes virtue more easy and secure; for it is be- fore the awakening of the passions, And always remember that there is always one eye upon you ; always respect yourself. GRACE CHURCH. The Lord’s Supper—A Warning to Such Would Partake Unworthily—Chris- tian Strangers Noting the “Absence of Brown.” Grace church, despite the continuance of the death-dealing heat of the week last past, was very well attended yesterday, which fact should stand asa proof that this sacred edifice, while laying claim to hold, direct and apply the pencil with which the gossamer finish of elaborated gentility is laid over what Is known as the “Joudest style” during the entire season of home enjoyments, is not at all void of its other usefulness, EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF BROWN, It is true that during the morning service, which consisted of preparation for and the partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the rotund form of the devout sexton was not seen cither in the front or aisles of the building, as is usual, in that delightfully artistic pose of his, which is be- leved universally to be a lifelike representation of “AN OLBAGINOUS CHRISTIAN IX THE ACT OF STRIK- ING OF Brown was not there in the body, though he may have been in the spirit, and his assistants were thereby much perplexed by the continuous in- | quirles of curious strangers, who had evidently come to the house of God in the hope of & glimpse at Brown. This, the reporter is in- formed, is not a perplexity confined exclusively to the heated term, when Brown ts never there, but extends throughout the entire year, whether Brown be there or away. There seems, it is eaid, to be a prevailing impression that Brown is very fat, and strangers have a persistent curiosity con- cerning genteel and oleaginous matter done up in Sunday clothing, a8 Brown ts presumed to be. ‘These ULGAR COUNTRY PROPLT, | the reporter is aseured, fail utterly to compreliend that thet which is simple fatness in common men is in Brown, the Grace church sexton, a super- abundantly rotund gentility which ts seemly, and which can only be accomplished by years of P sa petual combination of genius and kindiy care. He— put the choral service js now commenced, and, re- turning Brown to. the shades to cool until fail, the stranger congregation ith the single utterance of determination to return in September and see Brown in PANTALOONS OF AUTUMNAL DRAB, resnme control of their eyes and tongues, and give | $0 the service thelr care. which arg Bow devo- sound or unsound, wil! the health be vigorous | will | ‘That founda- | tions and arguments against yielding to sin will | ed as the song ro!ls roundly out | sti words:— was calling’ Saat in the following Ore ae eT, bat Thou art 1 Tam w ty Hold me y powerful hand, Two other linea were potently appreciated under the heat of the day, as was shown by the very gen- eral spi lication of handkerchiefs to Mps that seemed to lack moisture, ‘They were:— fs Open now the a ae fountains hence the living waters flow. The lessons and songs of the morning ented, Rev. Dr. Creamer ascended the punt and de- livered a very brief discourse, which was specially applicable to the occasion, which was + “PAUPAKING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. ‘The preacher called eloquent attention to the fact thet the New Testament contains warnings to all Such as would jom in the communion service by artaking of the blessed sacrament of the Lord's upper. ley were warned, he said, to come, not to the ‘klong of the sacrament unworthily, not to dare te come toit in other than the deepest hu- mility, and there was one poaltive command, one duty implied, which stood out singly and alone, and they must see to it that they went out and per- formed that duty before they could feel competent to the partaking of the sacrament. That duty was to sec that their relations to their fellows were, a8 «it was declared they should be, in accordance with the declarations of the Saviour in His SERMON ON THE MOUNT, If there was any one against whom the person proposing to partake of the sacrament had even shade of sinful feeling, or any one who by him had been given cause for unpleasant feeling, It was the bounden duty of the one Seeking to partake to first out and make such restitution 2s would enable him to approach the communion acceptably. one had done wrong, the wrong must be righted; and if the requirements of duty had not been met prior to coming into the church he or she must, a3 had been declared, leave his or her gifts at the altar, GO OUT AND PERFORM THE DUTY, and then return and parteke. They must come to partake of the communion only when they could realize that they felt forgiveness to all who might have injured them or reviled them, and when rd had a feeling of Christian friendliness toward all mankind, Enis course was positively necessary for fll to toliow. It was asnecessary before coming to rtake of the sacrament, as it was on the bed of death. It was on this subject that the CLERGYMAN FOUND HIS GREATEST DIFFICULTY. how best and most fittingly, how most effectively to present the subject to sick. and suffering men, He (the preacher) had always felt that no one should be permitted to go to death unshriven with- | out having been induced to do all that was possible to make full restitution where due, give forgiveness for wrongs, and endeavor to bring about a re- conciliation between the sick and ali of mankind with whom there ie, 4 have been enmity, In this manner were those who sought to partake of the bread and wine warned of their duty and encour- aged to perform it, and when the discourse had been an led the elements of the sacrament were served, BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH OHURCH. Mr. Beecher and His Vacation—His Last Appearance for the Season—A Sermon on Hope as an Element of Christian Life—The Misfortune of Being Born in New York. Mr. Beecher preached his last Sunday morning sermon yesterday previous to the pastoral vaca- tion, It was announced that the church would be opened throughout the vacation, and that next Sunday Mr. Beecher's brother James would occupy the platform. There wag a larger attend. ance than there has been for several weeks past, partly owing to the prospective absence of Mr. ‘Beecher, but mainly to the circume stance that it. was the first Sunday in the month, when candidates for church membership are fully admitted and the day ap- pointed for the administration of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, Mr. Beecher’s subject was “Hope as an element of Christian faith.” The text selected was Romans vill., 24—“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a | man seeth why doth he yet hope for.” In a some- what lengthy introduction Mr. Beecher elabo- rated the thought that the Chrisilan character | was characterized by tne element of hope; | that was its central sentiment. He did not know any other system of religion that had this as a characteristic. Almoet all the religions outside of Christianity have the element | of fear as a propitiatory position. Where fear was | the generic element it was a servile religion, It ‘Was true that conscience formed an important ele- ment in religion. It very properly did 80; but con- selence was not the result of religion, and all the seventh chapter of Romans weut to show that, We never were £0 pure as our conception of purity. We never got such a control over passion as that we were forever free from its throbs and fevers, Now, em that in its results is disturbent is peace.’ Christianity alone, so jar a3 he knew, made this hope THE GENIUS OF RELIGION, But nowhere else was the aim of life made so high. | We are to be perfect men in Christ Jesus, Christ- janity demanded that men should be perfect in the whole erystal palace of their moral sentiments. | Then let us consider what the law of Christianity (then the circumstances unger which men Every man was in He comes into life with a new deal as ii If the seed of the tily was cast, and with minor excep- tions, the same lily would appear in any part of the world where it was deemed desirable to. grow | lilies. This could not be said of man, The Men are born, all have an ¢ character, For example, a child born in New York had not the same chance as a child born elsewhere, in the Middle States in a Christian household. | This was a problem that was simple enough when you dealt with mankind; but it cannot be so dealt With, Man must be taken step by step, and | dealt with according to the influence with whieh he had peen surrounded, quired that man should be dealt with as he ts, and | not as he was not. Thus, when he canic to look at men in the light of this fact, he conid only under- stand their being saved by hope in this way. That it was the nature of God to mark out for men widely AN ULTIMATE CHARACTER, out of which there should be given such a hola upon | God that we shall hope, that we shall see something inthe Lord Jesus Christ that inspires hope, thus we are saved, not by or for what we have, but for what we hope to attain to—a position that shall not be unworthy of God. Every soul, then, that begins to aspire, to look upward, had a right to say that he was saved by hope. Mr. Beecher here drew @ parallel iiustration ween the parental love and God's love, in the unvaiying fact that it was the unlovely child, the froward, the seapegrace of the family, that the love of the parents went out after. As to the future iife, if a man got to heaven by the skin of his teeth, he would have an opportunity to develop what he neglected here, while the man who had developed his nature into a higher Iife would go up higher, An earnest appeal tothe au- dience to heed the promptings of their Rigid which was kindlin, thin them a hope that they | might be saved, and to allow that emotion to mould itself into fact by uniting with those who remained at the communion service, closed a very faithful discourse, The benediction was pronounced, and about two-thirds of the congregation left. 8T. JOHN'S METHODIST CHURCH, The Breadth of the Divine Law—Scermon by Rev. Dr. Chapman. Yesterday morning Bishop Harris was present in St. Jolin's Methodist church, Bedford avenue, He assisted in the Introductory exercises and admin- istered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper after the sermon. The pastor, Rey. Dr. Chapman, preached a brief discourse from Psalms exix.,, 96—“But thy commandment is ex- ceeding broad.” In his opening remarks the preacher said that law was not the agent that acted, but the rule according to which ke moved, ‘The laws of nature were but the methods of God's operation in the material world. God was not only everywhere, but everywhere active, and always acting according to law. One of the most | interesting resuits of the scientife investigations of modern times is the discovery that all | Movements that come under its observation oceur according to fixed, unalterable and uniform law. We couid readily see that the movements of the planets are and must be according to fixed law, | but it was not quite so apparent that the waves of | the sea, the spray of Niagara, the movement of the whirlwind, the fight of the bird, or the trembling of @ leaf, were equally under the control of a fixed and inexorable law; yet it might with safety be affirmed | that such Was the case, and this universality of law constituted the condition and basis of the harmon: and order that prevatied in the material world. God has not only a natural but @ moral law—the one pent payureree to non-intelligent and the | other to Inteliigent creatures, The latter could be and was resisted by multitudes in Christian lands, pai | of whom not only lived in igorance of but In wilful violation of its provisions. There were men who bad no rule of life, but were governed oy their impulses or by some master pas- sion, or who accepted their standard of life others, or from the practices and customs that pre- vatled where they lived, All such rules were as variable a8 the passions, the interests, the civiliza- tion or the uneertali iy at of their own conscience, and Were, consequen' ¥ false or defective. There | were eome who made the rules of @ Church their Christianity was for all | men; it contemplated men Just as they are, it re- | | no more right to violate his | life of one who never i § ition. country, the locality, the principles under which | Miractious interpositio fect upon the moral | legislated for every power of man’s nature. applies to his physical belug, and mately associated Was inun’s phy the moral that he could not violate one without injury to the eke lence or by intemperance In eating ad very truthfully remarked that there was much condemn at the present time in this directton—not oniy in the vicious and Immoral habits of the aban- doned and profigate, but in the unnatural and irra- tional pressure that was brought to bear upon chil- dren in the common schools by the senseless at bition of parents and teachers, as wellas by the terrible strain to which the nervous energies of men In business Iife were being subjected. There were men failmg in business and professional life an really guiity of snicide as if they pressed the gg to thelr hearts and let ont their life's ie fearfal destruction of the physical strength and health of the rising gene- ration is a matter of serious concern to every philanthropist, The law of God also ex- tended to the mental being, laying every man under solemn obligation to serupul obey the Jaws that govern mental development, No one had 8 right to allow his thoughts to dwell ages mnpure subjects, or to let his fancy revel al immoral scenes. ‘The condition of all virtue and praise was that a man think upon things that are true, just, honest, lovely und of good report. But especially did God's law extend to the moral nature, where all virtues and vices have their roots, and where destiny 18 decided, divine com- mandment was universal as to nian’s being and Ife, and he was under obligation to obey it in all circumstances, No man could go beyond the sphere of ioral Jaw, for it was stamped upon his nature and wenteverywhere withhim. What aman could not do in Brooklyn he could not do in Paris; and yet frequently men felt themselves absolved from the stern obligations of a high-toned morality and indulged in practices when abroad and among strangers that they would blush to do among their friends, ‘The speaker enumerated the various specious excuses made by mankind for non-com- pliance with the divine law, pietured how far short the most moral came of meeting {ts strict requtire- ments, and in conclusion briefly alluded to the great work which Christ had accomplished in fully meeting the demanus of justice and placing mankind under asystem of grace. There was freely offered to every sinner pardon, justification, renewal and eternal life on the simpie condition of repentance and faith inthe Lord Jesus Christ. The cross and its bleeding victim are the world’s only hope. CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS, Sermon by Dr. Storrs—Prayer a Condl- tion of God’s Blessing—The Opportuni- ties. of Lif—A Page from the History of the Nation—The Doxology in Wall Street. There was a slim attendance at the Church of the terday morning. The simmer hegira and the in tense heat have largely decreased the attendance during the past few Sabbaths. Previous to the sermon yesterday, Dr. Storrs an- nounced that in pursuance of a previous notice a collection would be taken up for the Brooklyn Chil- dren's Aid Society, He said that he need not com- mend this institution to the sympathy and assist- ance of the congregation. Many of that .con- gregation and of all congregations represented there that morning had in time past been very liberal towards it, and he was sure that they would gladly continue to be so in time to come, The collection was then taken up, after which Dr. Storrs announced his text from the Epistle of St. James v., 16, last clause—‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The preacher said that a Sunday or two since some of his hearers would remember that he called their attention to the nature of prayer and to the reason why it is required by God as a condition of blessings which he designs to bestow, The nature of itis very simple and obvious, Prayer is a de- sire expressed God with a due recognition of the relations which exist between Him and our- selves, It is a desire expressed to God with hu- millation, since we are finite and He is infinite; with peuvent) since we are sinful and unworthy and He is holy; with ce ENCE IN HIS WISDOM, since He is wise as well as mighty, ‘ynat. desire is oy ere to God through prayer, whether in one form of language or another. So that we see why it is that God requires such prayer as a condi- tion, because prayer fs a blessing to him who offers it; and it 18 for his good that God requires it, for in the offering of such prayer the desire for which it arises Is renewed, the sense of dependence upon God is refreshed andthe sense of gratitude for His kindness is made deeper, Dr, Storrs said that the noblest life upon earth ‘Was the life of prayer In which desiro for blessings that God conferred was continualiy manifest, and so there was no life 80 perilous and poor as the prayed. Thus far he had proceeded upon this subject the” previous Sabbath, and so toa certain extent and in one direction he would resume __ it, on and consid- ering, he would ask the question:—“How far may we address our requests unto God? To what ex- tent. may we go in our prayers for His blessings *" ‘To this he would answer that we might go to that extent which entirely overlooked the obvious dim- culties In the way of the fulfilment of our requests. ‘The apostic urged large bequests, but it would be said that that wasin the age of miracles, and that the age of miracles was now ended. There were NO MORE OF THOSE DIVINE SURPRISES breaking in upon the ordinary course of human afairs. ‘They were for a foundation, put now the structure of revealed Christianity had been raised upon them, The age of miractes, continued the preacher, was passed, and we were not to ask for that which could only be accomplished by such Cod could touch the minds of men and make impressions that would be signal ond fruitful. We had felt it, Indeed, ina measure we can work upon the minds of others by our words, which would change the direction and action and exert an influence upon their future career, What we could in this humble way God could do much larger plan and with here do a far more beneficent effects. were states of the mind which might be produced by a touch of the divine Spirit by which everything that was before invisible was feal and everything upon before unimportant became iminential and im- pressive. The traveller AT GENEVA 7 looked out from the hil! of that pleasant city south and southeast in the direction of Mont Blanc and saw nothing there but the dull gray sky. It seemed impossible that there could be anything beyond his sight—nothing hidden beyond this gray eky, But on some brilliant, charming morning, or on some lustrous, resplendent evening, he went out upon the same hill, looked in the same direction, and there rose the mighty mountain—the monarvh of mountains—shining in the morning light.as if it were hewn from marble. That was the ditference In the atmosphere, Dr. Storrs in alluding to the opportunities of life, observed, that there were moments of Ce bert in the life of every mnerchant whieh if he avatied himse!f of would bring him onto success, How often did we hear a man say, if he had known snch and such @ Soin was to occur he would have leared millions. That man did not know his op- eg le Tt passed by him in the darkness and he did not know it. Now, God knew every such piomeat of opportunity. A PAGE FROM THE NATION'S HISTORY, ‘The preacher remembered during our late war there came a period when the whole destiny of the war and the country turned upon a pivot, asit were fa few hours of time. It was when the ‘Merrimac, Wuilt by national akill and from the national trea- sury and afterwards panoplicd in iron, came sailing out from Hampton Roads and met the Monitor. If that great sbip had gone up the Potomac to Washington, taken the Navy Yard and the capital and then come to New York, as i! might have aone, and laid this city der contribution, the govern- ment of France would have recognized the con- federacy. England following in the train, the whole tory of the war wonld have been greatly changed. What the resnit might have been we cannot say. Five honrs? difference in the arrival of that little antagonist of the Merrimac would have made a great difference to the country, No wonder that they SANG THE DOXOLOGY IN WALL STREET, and when they stopped to sing the Doxology in Wall street, in midday, was it possible that the age of miracies bad passed ? Dr. Storrs argued that the Church which had the most power for good in it was not the wealthiest one, but the one in which the power of prayer was most deeply and most constantly used, The strongest * was the one in which there were prayerfal men—in which prayer was prevalent, In py ol he exhorted all to feel that if they asker God for blessings and He did not give them— if they asked si ely und He did not grant them, it was because He saw it to, be for thelr blessing and the blessing of others that He should not, Then their duty was uttef submission to His will. THE PULPIT AT KINGSTON. —ncereeidpsemretinaate SEOOND REFORMED CHUROE, Hot Shot Thrown into Beecher’s Doctrine of “A Continental Sabbath’'=—Discourse by Rev. ©. A. Stitt, D. D.—“The Chrise tian Sebbath the Bulwark of th Nation.” Krvasroy, N, Y., July 7, 1872. It having been announced that the Rev. Dr, Stitt Would discourse on “The Christian Sabbath the Bulwark of the Nation,” there was a full house this morning at his church, on Fair street, The Doctor took his text from Mark t!., 24—‘"Therefore the son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” After alluding to the national jubilee and the ringing of bells consecrated to God and iiberty the Doctor sald:--" want to discuss the Sahbath oueation ig relatian to the nernstuity of Pilgrims, corner of Remsen and Henry streets, yes * perpen . “My point ts this: the fe of @ Ohristian nation and Oneiseienit that hola eo bahaiaidp ering posts allegiance to God and tratif Why, asked the Doctor, are the nations of 7 all the while rocking in Tevolution, or neeraag aa Iurching and sinking fn the Yolling sea of DIPLOMATIC STRIFE AND CARNAGE ? ; Because they have no Sabbath Anchorage on God’ eternal truth; and having no Personality of tian principle, how can they be expectea to ha faith im one another? The , 48 the root true worship, {s essential to individual ana life, Modern speculations about the Sabbath it a4 @ matter of human conventionality i cholee—not asa divine law. The whole qi i resoives itself into a single point— 18 THA SABBATH A RELIO OF WILL WORSHIP, suspended from exploded Jewish law, or a af institution? If the, Sabbath has been swept at by the higher law of Christianity, then let us ¢: Punge it from the decalogue, and . GIVE THE WORLD A FREE LIGENSE to turn tt (as did Engiand’s King) ‘into a day cae uted recreation. But if it fs of God do not let us treat as Joab did Amasa, or say, ‘Hail, Master,” and betray it into the hands of its enemies, The Sab< ith law was, indeed, the Jachin and Boas of lewish Church and State, But it was not made the Jow, pnt for the man. It was planted in It is the pillar that upholds the moral universe God. On the one side, hoary with centuries, I r i A COMPLETED CREATION on the other, in the gnnlgnt of the’ resurrection, morning, a completed redemption! ‘the speaker, after proving that the Sabbath had been kept the Creation to the Passover, pointed to the wot of Jesus, who rescued the Sabbath from superatis tion and scepticism. | +The Lord of man ig the Sabbath.” “The Sabbath was made for man”! in the noblest meaning of manhood. Jesus was SUPREME LXPOSITOR AND VINDIOATOR of the Sabbath law. Was this an empty claim ? how he honors it by rising from the dead and meeting with his disciples on the drst day after hii resurrection. As Lord of the Sabbath He institute: the change from the seventh dayto the tirst, H alluded to Sabbath perversion Into a cast ™ statue by THE RITUALISTIO JEW and the stern and grim Puritan, and told how theff children had turned about and dishonored it an torn away the flower with the weeds, and how, clearing away the igs Anite mortar, they had marred and broken the statue. He alluded peers school who claimed the liberty of tl ‘abbath—recreation—and predicted the decad of Sabbath church going and worship mainly for tw: reasons; first, the prevailing change in cur idea God—God never rested. He must energize whe: there is law. But the Bible says He rested creating; and that is the reason why we are to on the Sabbath from labor. Second, change of pop+ ular sentiment in regard to the Sabbath, — “Popular opinion,” say they, is a later form of revelation. ' A NEW BIBLE. 4 The leading minds of the age are drifting to 4 a liberal Sabbath. The only regret expressed abou cessation of Sabbath worship is the lows of if social benefits and of } PULPIT ELOQUENCE, Now, much as I deplore the conclusion, 1 God for this honest utterance. It has cleared a) the rubbish and shown the turtle’s back, whicl sustains the world's theory of a liberal Sabbath, i comes to this at last. On what are you gol bulld the Sabbath * On the inspired word of or the self-inspiration of progressive humanity f; Waio is Lord of the Sabbath— } JESUS OR THE NEW REVELATION ? “The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." What Sabbath f ie Sabbath which is the monument creation and redemption, of which God said, ‘“REMPMBER IT TO KEEP IT HOLY.” \ Does that mean Physical recreation and amusementy or rather gre apart from a secular. to a he use? The Sabbath is a temple dedicated Almighty God ; men want to retain the temple, bu! erase the inscription » “HOLINESS TO THR LORD.’ Let us do it and we shall soon read “Ichabod” the wall; and on the tottering temple of tiberty, . MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHAKSIN.”? ‘ The Doctor then adduced three po irmaaites for t] ‘ . Sabbath as a day of worship and religious lean | First—Because God designed it to meet the ne ties of men as immorta: beings. The Ameri brain 1s too active to turn the Sabbath into a day physical and mental repose. H TUE SABBATH IS A VACUUM H ; and if not filled up with worship and religior thought and deeds of charity it will be devoted ‘ Visiting and feasting, travelling and plegeure, REVELRY AND DRUNKENNESS. ‘ "4 Rob God of the Sabbath and you rob humanit of hope, virtue and immortal glory. Second— a Divorce the Sabbath from church-worship and you _ strike a death blow at religion, and expose en nation to God's judgement, lere he spoke of tl © pita of the Church and the Gospel ax a civilize an A LIFE PRESERVER. than a man can breathe in vacnom, The Sabbatl is the ectric cords laid in the deep sea soun to bind us to heaven. Cut the cable, or iet the DEVIL. PLAY ON THE WIRES, . and you shut out the light and love of Heaven, A Sabbath without worship is a nation without Gods ‘Third—A Sabbath of mere recreation is not oniy @ deathblow to religion, but It opens the FLOODGATES OF VICE AND IMMORALITY, and imperils the nation. Here he spoke against the violation of the Sabbath liquor laws. He tia said, Lam pleading for God and sadering hamanit when Lamdeprecating " A CONTINENTAL SABBATH. The Sabbath is a barrier, like a Holland dyke, be; tween the nation and the ocean of siu. Pull outa pebble, and the trickling stream will bh? an ocean Hood, Late Beecher, BAG will go back toa strict Sunday don’t work well.” Go back j in the tides of bia: SABBATH DESECRATION, ‘ and it will take a race of Titans to close it. On, : this Sabbath question the nation stands or falls. |! j VICE, ORIME AND INTEMPERANCE ' * are running riot with a secular Sabbati:. > THE SABBATH 13 GOD'S BATTERY kis ) to level the breastworks of sin and corruption. Let Satan take it and he never spixes his cannon. te will wheel them round and charge to the muzzie with his own cartridges, and sweep the country K | The nation can no more live without the ca with the besom of destruction, SUNDAY ON THE SANDS AT ROCK® ... ‘ AWAY BEACH. : vi 4 a ny i What a scene of bustic, life and animation there 4 1s presented on the Rockaway excursion boat each ¢ recurring Sunday in the hot days of July and the a jatter weeks of June! 6 We are here at Peck slip, one of the last stop- ping places of the handsome steamer Nelly, White on her Sunday afternoon trip down the! glorious New York Bay to Rockaway Beach, b; As we reached the dock it ix noticeable that the steamer which lies broadside on to the rotting timbers of the wharf, has her lower and upper, decks crowded full of passengers, who are laugh- ing, shouting at each other and enjoying them- selves, There is some delay before the plank 1s! 2 withdrawn and cable slipped from the pier head ers in order that four or five dozen of lemon soda votties may be brought on board. But at jast we are of, and the vista of the Upper Bay expands h! before the eye, and every one seems happy at the prospect of a day's pleasure, It is a cheap day’s fun, and does not cost more than $1 to enjoy, the splendid ocean breeze and the exhilarating in- fluences of the noisy, happy crowd all around one. ‘These, it must be observed, two or three kinds people who go on these Sunday excursions. Let Jook at them as we push rapidly out and through the Narrows into the open sea.and into blue waters, ‘There is a young couple on the upper deck, near the wheelhouse, who seem fully satisfied with thetr 8 trip, which opens so pleasantly. There is a young . wife and her husband, and a little baby, wha is tumbiing over the deck In infantile good ‘rhis young wife has a charmingly innocent. face, air of dazzii Rice cyes, and & mass of ove: fn which crowns a brow white and ing fair hair, ag a sunbeam or the reflection of a jewel in wine. She is dressed neatly in white gar- ments, but plainly, and a simple bit of biue ribbon at the throat is her only innocent attempt at ornament, The husband ig a frank-faced, sturdy-looking man, of twenty-five ‘ years or thereabouts, and he seems a piain matter. offact kind of fellow, with a great feeling of rever- ence for the baby, who is evidently the Jord of the family on sea ag well as on land. ‘The husband car. ts ries a large, well filled basket, from which he pro-, ceeds to take the provender for the coming meal. Being outside of ihe Narrows now the salt alr sharpens the fainily appotive, and good digestion is certain to follow with practical, hard working People, as this mau and wife evidently are, i And for the information of smail families or pars tles of two or three who desire to make tie trip to ’ Rockaway on Sunday we will pen a slight deserl) tion of the food provided for this littie family. Ph the affectionate husband dipped into the basket bronght forth four bottles of Philadelphia ale, half a HOT. und of cheese and a box of satdines 4h the ese were followed in thelr order by thre otfully oranges, & small plece of boiled ham an ? Forty- some onions, to be cut up, and, lastly, there wag torween. Vottle of milk for the baby aud A chunk of cold bo + after- logns Sausage for the husband, Man, wife ang “ baby fell to; and the appetites of these poor peo » who had, no doubt, to work hard ali the week an honest living, were wonderful to see. The finished, the husband &® cigar and Ii Finding him to be ‘of e sonal tere of mind ¢ 4 That'he'es'g painter iy von manages first to strike for eluht boura’ and wn got Je at