The New York Herald Newspaper, October 14, 1872, Page 4

4 _ RELIGIOUS. Another Day of Physical Rest and of Spiritual Activity. Service, Song and Sermon in the Sanctuaries Yesterday. -—— Bellows Discourses on Peace with God. Professor Tyndall's Prayer Test and the Rev. George H. Hepworth. Dr. DR. SCUDDER AND HIS IRON CHURCH. JFrothingham Shows How Error is the Stepping Stone to Truth, Ae TE es ‘BEECHER ON THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, Wr. Starr's Exposition of the Gospel of the Day. ALL SOULS' CHUROE, Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Bellows on Peace : with God, Dr, Bellows preached yesterday morning at All Nous’ Church on “Peace with God.” The audicnee fwas somewhat slim and still showed the influence ofr tho Summer migration, but the exercises were \characterized by a fair degree of earnestness. Dr. |Bellows began by remarking upon the comparative jist saness with which men, except in occasional ses of their lives, longed for peace with God. Peace from their creditors, peace from the exacting cares of dally life, peace from the competition of fin in business or in reputation, and perhaps iso, in some cases, peace from the fretful irri- ution of thelr wives—that kind of peace they all felt. But their need of peace with God they obstinately refused to recognize; Whey heeded not the voice of conscience, which constantly, sometimes in (hunder tones, told ‘them of their natural condition. The voice of con- «lence was indeed like the chirruping of the frienet on the hearth or the singing of the bird in tthe cage, which was unheeded in the rush and woar of the busy day, but at alght, when the streets cr hushed and quict and the lights had gone ut—and how sadly olten the lives went out in this if of ours—rang out in the silence and the dark- es, and Seemed to shake the very walls of the jouse. The original relation of man to God was ne of separation and of alienation. And this was proved, peiape more conclusively than by any- hing else, by the universal existence of {ine religious instinct in human nature, ‘Vue rudest and most savage peoples rec- ‘ognized their need of making peace mvith God, and barbarous and cruel as might be heir rites of worship and atiempts at propitiation, he fact that this ‘eeling existed proved that tt was founded on truth. 1t might be called superstition; hut superstition itself was the evidence of the ho- ier and better side of man’s nature, and proved ‘he spirituality of man and his superiority over the brutes, Dr. Bellows concluded his discourse by an rloquent though brief tribate to the memory of Mr. Seward, whose closing words to his children as hey stood near him in his death chamber— My hildren, love one another’—showed that he had indeed made his peace with God, yr, Bellows extolled the great services the dead statesman in the cause f littman freedom and for the salvation of the Jnion, and remarked that these services had never peen adequately requited. In 1869 no man had a blearer title to the Presidency than Mr. Seward, pud if he had been made President perhaps the war might have been averted. But he allowed no pelfish pique to interfere with what he felt to be is duty, and he cheerfully aided his innocent sup- tanter, the noble Lincoln, in the work of saving he life of the nation, So, again, when Mr, Jolin- fon became President, Mr. Seward had remained ut the post of duty, even at the cost of obloguy and suspicton, Dr. Bellows also alluded to the intellec- tual greatness, the tender and affectionat fon and the courage and unselfishu had marked Mr. Seward’s character. LYRIO HALL, Ecror the Stepping Stone to Truth—Ilow Creeds Are Made of Errors and How Doubt Makes Bettcr Ones—Sermon by ©. B. Frothingham. Lyric Hall, on Sixth avenue, opposite Reservoir Buuare, contained, at yesterday morning's servi- ‘ces, the game large and fashionable congregation, fkev, O. B. Frothingham preached, having, as au @ startling and paradoxical subject. “Last unday," he began, “I spoke of ‘The Soul of Good Ju Things Evil,’ to-day I propose to speak of ‘The ul of Truth in Error.’ Lchoose no text from the ate because there is none init to serve my pur- NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, OUTOBER 14, 1872.—TRIPLE SHEET, down the beasts; they wore Aghting among themselves. Waa ail life to be mt in keepi up lie? In their poverty and they dream: beautiful dream; could not put tt in the picture because they saw no improvement, so they were over ane wah we regret om ney Take another doa ‘ i. Toofelne of dopant), ‘The first man ainnned, and its canseancenes were hopelessly fastened on his descendants, How could men have 80 deluded themselves? They saw weakness and imbeoility. Tho mon who have gone before us have bequeathed themselves, They 7 nized it and called it depravity; we pecomnies it and call it crudeness, I¢ is notthe power that ping down, but the power (hat Iifts up. Let as look at another doctrine, A HORRIKLA DOCTRINE. It is the doctrine of election. God of His own wilt Preordains some tor eternal blias and some for eternal woe. Were they instigated by malignity that they cast this a) the rnal? They were asking @ question secking an anawer, for ev: thoughtful person looking ae life ts startled wit! the allotments of fortune. does the Caucasian rule the African—for any fault of theirs? Why ts one child born put another & cripple—for any fault of theirs? We see these ti and forget them; they saw them, but could not lee eo only answor they could give was that the Almighty's power is supreme, and that the Almighty does aa the Almighty chooses, If they did not show much pogo hy they showed an indomitable trust. here is yet another doctrine still more frightful and hideous, But a Sommity ama it was taught in New England, and with tearful clearness, it is the doctrine that teaches the EVERNAL DAMNATION OF THR WIOKHD, It 18 to-day an integra, part of the Calvintatio faith, Pity denounces it; reason denounces it; common sense denounces it, Amd who were thoy that entertained it? Were they tiars aad impos tors, who thonght s y ‘ GOD A DEVIL? Not fo, The people that belioved thia doctrine. were the: eat » A waa & convic- tion of the ness Of sim. As Draco, the old lawgiver, gave death for all offences againat the law, saying the least deserved death, he could give nO greater for the greatest; 40 they thought the Swallest fotble and peccadtilo deserved damaation. That such people could hold suck @ doctrine shows that there must have been in it some truth; that there was asoul of truthin creor, We are just Penning to suspect this, but it is a magnificent thing even to have got on the traok. Our old system of polemics is done with, Only to believe is to put on the garment of humility, No more bonst of having reached the end; nd more assumption of being the leaders of all the world, 8T. PATRICK'S OATHEDRAL. Sermon by Very Rev, Dr, Starrs—Hxposi- tion of the Sunday's Gospol—Forgive- ness of Injuries and Love for Enemtoi— How Flesh a Blood Keel Upon the Subject. The Cathedral was, a3 usual, exceedingly well attended yesterday. The chill temperature of the morning caused many to be present in heavy win- ter costumes, and the gaiety of aummor fashions und summer airs seemed to have altogether disap- peared, High mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father McNamee, assisted by the usual numper of acolytes. The mass, as rendered by the organist, Mr. Schmidt, was by Pavseron in F, the moat tractive and impressive of which were a full chorus in the “Gloria,” the “Laudamus Te,” soprano solo, sung by Mile, Chomé, “Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi;" a bass solo by Mr, Urcha, the ‘Agnus Del;"' @ solo quartet and chorus, and at the ofertory, “O Salu- taris Hostia!” by Mercier, was very finely given, After the reading of the epistle and gospel by the celebrant, the VERY REV, DR. STARRS ascended the pulpit and made the requisite an- nouncements of the Sunday, He then proceeded to explain to his congregation the value and neces- sity of ecclesiastical institutions, and made urgent appeals to them to be liberal in supporting the can- didates jor the priesthood in the diocesan Seminary of ‘Troy. The reverend gentleman chose his text from St. Mathewt xviil., 85—‘So shall My Heavenly Father do to you if you forgive not évery one your brother, from thy heart.’ The great and glorious object which our blessed Saviour had in view when he delivered thepparable related in this day’s gospel was algo one of the principal objects which engaged his attention during his abode among us—naiely, to promote PEACE AND GOOD WILL among men. He came down from the celestial reals to organize, as it were, a permanent re- conciliation between men and His eternal Father, and as the principal means of effecting this He inculcated the necessity of man being reconciled to his brother. shail My Heavenly Father do to hd if you forgive not every one your brother from hy heart ;” aud, again, “Forgive,.’ he says, “and it shall be forgiven to you.” Inno part of the Scrip- tures Is there a more vivid representation of the merey and love which Christ extended towards men than in the parable referred to. Under the le of a master forgiving his servant a lary he could not discharge He exhibits the iod to sinners, and under the similitude of amaster who, on the other hand, ts unwilling to forgive @ small amount, he pictures the vice of that man pleading forgiveness though he himself is unwilling to forgive his offending brother. The parable is stated in the strongest terms. The amount of debt which man has con- tracted with God A sin is represented as amouit- ing to 10,000 talents, and the amount that man can receive from his fellow man, no matter \ mercy how great the injuries, is represented as amount- ny ) 1 pence, ‘his immense debt which hé sinner oweg his Teeter, God is willing to forgive on condition that he would forgive the tujuries received from his offending brother. Hence it is that our Saviour commands us to be merciful as God Himself is merciful, and to LOVE OUR ENEMIES and pray for and bless those who persecute and calumniate us. When St. Peter asked the Saviour “How often shall my brother oifend and I forgive him?—shall it be seven times?’ Christ answered, “not only seven times but seventy times seven times.” St. Paul also recommends us to be charita- bie in the same sense, for he says, “If I deliver all my goods to feed the poor and deliver my body to be burned and have not charity it proiiteth me nothing.” It is trae THE REPUGNANCE OF FLESH AND BLOOD pose. It teaches the direct reverse. Satan ts the frtuiea of wickedness and darkness. When he peaketh a lie he speaketh himsclr, for he ts the Greer of Lies, The angel lays hold of Satan, the pid serpent, binds him and throws him into a dun- weon for a thousand years, to give the peo- ple atair start. With those simple people there ‘was no shading, as there ts with us. It was white or black, perfect wickedness or periect: virtue. ‘This arose from earnestness of disposition; but earnestness of disposition Is sometimes objection- able; itis objectionable when aman calls a man differing from him a liar, impostor, hypocrite. As ‘noon as 8 fall conviction dawned upor them they abhorred ali that disbelleved. Thirty years ago Mohammed was spoken of as the liar, the apostate, the prime impostor. It took three hundred years to soften the word to liar. A century after his time a painter represented him and Anti-Christ as together, WRITHING IN HELL. Wheu the Catholic missionaries went to India they were surprised to find that the people had a religion almost like thelrown. Had they called themselves Catholics it were a miracle, God had been before them; as it was, the devil had becn before them, The Protestants, in the argumenta tive age, believed the Catholic religion to be a tem of impostures, nd all the other sects were impostors and their enemies, How strange it is that people will not be | essary, and will be certam | certain when it isn <when it is impossible. They wilt confess themselves Jgnorant of the administrations of society, but not pr the administrations of the universe. They are peg content to go on day by day, couféssing hat they Know not what a day may Ming forth, ut do pot suggest to tiem their want of know! | edge of the future—the impencetravie, the unfath- ‘omable, Why is this? We can give reason. This CLAIM OF INFALLIBILITY a8 instilled into us a spirit of doubt. If a doubt Is comimg near ‘hink, say anything, but do not doubt. In an onest doubt is more faith than in all the creeds, Creeds are doubts at present put to rest; doubts re the fathers of newer, better creeds, itis doubt hat bears witness to the livemind, With the first jogle of reason in the brain doubt begins. The infant for a while plays with his toys, but before jong breaks them to discover their secret, This was fomerly considered INNATE DRPRAVITY. (It 18 the grow: not the wicked mind. wider child breaks his toys. yo the Bible con- wdered a8 written by divine inspiration? Why re priests considered holy? To illustrate this doctrine, all Unttarians hold that i THE UNITY OF CHRIST IS AN ERROR, in error in Scripture, an error in philosophy and in error in common sense. It is incredible that a an could be God—Goil-man. we would cease to be God. Jt isa gull between the Anite and the finite, What questions did the peo- first ask when they heard this doctrine? All the randest qualities—love, justice, pity—were tne st human qualities; they were also the sweetest jivine powers, And when they thought of the best Divinity came down and met mankind ascending. fake the old doctrine, which represents man as nade perfect and in & garden where fowers and feats grew spontaneously. We say this is a mis- ake—we know it isa mistake, Naturalists tell us that the farther back we go the wilder was nature, Man was @ very rudimental creature, perhaps BORDERING ON AN APE. Tt was a beautiful allegory. Each sect assumed Intallibility, | ou flee—study, pray against it. | The | If God could be man | f men they thought of these qualities perfected. | E, | They were keeping | to forgive inflicted injuries is something so palpable that we cannot but notice it, and lament so deplor- able a fact, Every persecution has its source in this evil reluctance to forgive injuries. Stripes, and brawls and domestic quarrels hive their germ in the game shell, and develop themselves into bloody deeds and frightful ontrages because one person will not forgive the other. The horrors of the battle fleld, with all, its consequent maladies and calamities, may be also traced to the same unholy origin. Contrast the hateful man with him who ix peaceably disposed. The former is the slave of @ cruel passion, of anger, aud of revenge; while tne latter wields @ more powerfl influence in every stage of Ife, and bee pee himself In bringing solace and comfort and happiness to the wretched and op- ressed. ‘Blessed is the peacemaker, for he shall int rest in heaven ;” and blesse! also is the for- giving man, for he may hope to be forgiven, For- give those, then, who trespass against you, if you Would that your own trespasses should be forgiven. | It is thus you will profit by the lesson which to- day's gospel so beautifully inculcates, and make your own lives among men peaceful and unembar- rassed, By living in the Spirit and not in the spirit of the fesh you will draw down blessings on your souls and one day merit a place in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, to live in a state of indescribable beatitade for ail eternit; STEINWAY HALL, | | Sermon by Rev. George H. Hepworth on | | Professor Tyndal’s Scientific Test of Prayers—The Efficacy of Prayers. At Steinway Hall, on Fourteenth street, a very large mass of people congregated yesterday morn- ing to hear their pastor, Rev. George H. Hepworth, | on the “EMcacy of Prayers.’ After the introduc- tory hymn and prayer Mr. Hepworth arose and commenced his sermon, announcing as his text | idges vi, 17—“And he said unto Him, If now I | have found grace in Thy sight, then show me a sign that Thou talkest with me.” This was the re- markable demand made upon the Lord when the world was in its infancy. God taught the world When it was young, illustrating His presence and His truth, Gideon said, in order to be sure that Ged was with him:—“I will put a sheepskin outside my coor, and if in the morning the fleece be wet with dew and the brown part dry I will believe.” Inthe morning the fleece was found to be wet and the other part dry. Then Gideon said again:—‘‘l will do the same as before, and if the brown part be wet and the fleece dry I will be- Heve.” And, behold! it wasso, He shouid have believed at first im God's word, without material proof, A thousand years went by, and in the time f Chriat the world was as BOEPTICAT. as before. There were men who doubted and who wanted every bis | demonstrated, and who be- heved what they saw and understood—nothing more. If God would come down tv them and tell j them ali the whys and hows they were ready to be | convinced by proof or sign. Christ said:— the world is no longer in its injancy, Lam talking to men, and | will explain what is necessary, and you must judge, not by your logic, but your ives. you shali have no sign whatever. | have raised the | dead; caused the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the blind to see, and Is not that enough’ We are no longer children that we should have pictured | books pnt before ua to illustrate the story. There are thousands of ways to TEST TRUTH. juestion of prayer comes up with renewed | The eMoacy of prayer is no unimportant matter which you can lay upon @ shelf to lnvesti- | | they inspire us with new zeal in the service of our | mercies of the past, humbiy penitent for all its | NINETEENTH | circumstance, and be came to the conclusion that gate after a while. If you can feel that there is a God who knows and loves you, and to whom you can open your heart and call your Father, you need no test. Then you feel that your shield La and that this life is an arena in which you are sure of success. Evil no state can take the victory from you, I don’t stand here a8 A PHILOSOPHER, and T am pot afraid ¢o suvject prayer or say other reality to test, There are two ways of testing its truth. Firat, with physical truth my brain grapples. The laws of nature are unknown to my mind. For instance, you say & comet will appear to-morrow night. 1 100k over your mathematical problem, and when to-morrow night comes I will test ita truth, There ix another realm of truth which I can sub- ent to teat, No man’s understanding can compre- end nearness to God. You cannot prove this as you ta) @ & question in matter, You cannot un- dei id the purport of prayer. It is always a mis- take to pray for a physical change. New York city is FULL OF FILTH in the Summer, You might pray for a change, when if you did your duty by cleaning your streets it would come, Itis mean to pray to God to do your work. Suppose all prayers were an- awered what a confusion it would make! there are certain physical laws established, and these you must obey, Is there no test of pre ? No test whatever by which the truth can e proved? A child was taken sick and I was sent for, The mother came to me with tears in her an and said, “I cannot part with her; she is my 1." She wrung her hands and wept. When I went into that sick room I knew that Death, with his dark wings, was hovering around her child and that she could not be saved. I told the mother that her child was going to heaven, I prayed, not for the child's restoration, wut for the mother’s re- beilion against the decree of God to be checked, I prayod to the great God, to the dear Christ, through whose agontes this little child wad to be taken up to heaven and clothed in blessed immortality, ‘That mother’s rebellion melted like ice before a tropica: wan, and she said, ‘‘Not my will but Thine be Gone.” We slumber on the wings of prayer and wake in oternal life. MADISON SQUARE PRESBYTERIAN CHUROH. The Mixstonaries at Work=—A Convert from the “Black Crook.” About two hundred persons assempted tn the Madison square Presbytorian church last evening for the purpose of listening to the addresses of the representatives of the City Mission. The services Were opened in the usual manner, after which the venerable Dr. Adams, pastor of the church, intro- duced the Rev, Mr. Pock, Mr. Peck is a fine, vig- orous-looking old gentleman, whose jocks have been whitened by the frosts of perhaps sixty years, He told his hearers, in a concise manner, his varied experience during the arduous labors of thirty-six years in the Clty Mis- sion. Among other incidents he related how they never close & mecting at the mission he has charge of without first asking if any one present wishes to be especially prayed for, and on one occasion how @ mere lad of fourteen years of age arose and re- quested to be remembered. He was remembered, was speedily converted and is now pastor of a Aourishing church in Albany. A CONVERT FROM THR “BLACK OROOK.!" When Mr, Peck had concluded the Rev, Mr. Collins, @ young man, who ts the esteemed pastor of @ mission in the Seventeenth ward, was intro- duced, His experience had run through but two years, but yct he had many tales of sorrow and of religious triumphs to relate. Two years ago his mission was established, and now he has 291 members in good standing within his fold, Some time ago a youth of about eighteen came to him and stated his desire to join the mission. After a few minutes’ conver- sation Mr. Collins was convinced that che boy was not yet prepared to assume the solemn obligations and so told him. A few weeks later the lad again presented himself, having in the meantime become converted and given the pastor the history of his previous life and habits, He had been travellin; with the “Black Crook” company, his father an mother are now with # circus, and altogether he and they had been pretty ‘hard -cases.”” He was tuken into the church, and is now using his utmost endeavors for the conversion of the wayward parents. Many other stories of a similar nature were told. A coliection was taken, with, it is hoped, a very satisfactory result, SOUTH REFORMED CHUROH. Christian Gratitude=The Service at the South Reformed Church, Fifth Ave- mue—Sermon by the Pastor, Rev. E. P. Rogers, ‘There was a very large congregation yesterday inthe South Reformed church, on the corner of Fifth avenue and Twenty-first strect, who had come to weicome back their pastor, the Kev. E, P. Rogers, who had been travelllug in Europe during the summer months. The church was very prettily decorated in honor of the occasion, and large baskets of Mowers were grouped together at the head of the chancel. The Rev. KE. P. Rogers selected dora text Psalm cxvi., 7, which reads—‘Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from teara and my feet from falling.’’ Mr, Rogers commenced by saying this psalm, like many others, seems to have been writ- ten ro express the gratitude of the writer for some signal deliverance from calamity. The descriptions which it gives of danger and trial are remarkably graphic. The writer speaks of himself as having been compassed with the sorrows of death and seized by pains almost like those of infernal tor- ments, und then he speaks of the | PRESERVING MERCY of God as interfering for his deliverance and of himself as a striking Illustration of God's interpo- sition in behalf of those who call upon Him in the day of trouble. “I was brought low and He helped me.’ If this Psalm was written by David there were many occasions in his eventful life which might very naturally have suggested it. He had experience of almost every variety of trouble and sorrow to which men are exposed in this world. After giving an account of David's experiences Mr. Rogers added :—“But though David's life was especially eventful and his experiences wonder- tully varied, yet no Christian can go through the world without a somewhat kindred experience. We are all liable to great sins and exposed to great sorrows, and if we accustom ourselves to study closely and candidly the course of God's providence toward us we shall find tkat we often can use the language of David with great propriety and force. How many of us, as we meet to-day in this house of prayer, after @ more than ordinary separation, and look back upon the past, can say and have reason to say, ‘Return unto thy rest, O, my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, for Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes ite tears and my feet from falling.’ For myselt, in the SPECIAL, CIRCUMSTANCES in which Tam placed to-day I feel bound to testify in this public manner to God’s especial goodness to me and mine in the months that are past. That God, who has so mercifully guided me aud my com- panions over sea aud land, has protected us from all danger, has restored strength to the weak, has modified, If not utterly removed painful an distressing causes of personal apprehension, and ermitted me to return to my native land and riends and to those sweet and sacred relations and duties, deserves, indeed, the poor tribute of His servant's grateful acknowledgment.” ‘The rev- erend gentleman concluded his eloquent remarks by saying, “Let us all, then, return unto the true rest of the soul, which is found only in CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES, in a life of active service in the cause of Jesus | Christ. The Lord hath dealt pountifully with us all. How full of providential mercies has been the history of our lives? Whatever our trials may have been—and none of us have been exempt from | ve never been so numerous or great vered as onr mercies, And the gra- | cious blessings of our lives, those which come to us | through the gospel and tie work oi our Divine Re- deemer; these blessings, Which unless the Bible is | a lie, and all Christian experience a delusion, are | inestimably and eternally precious, how should God and Saviour, Opportunities and demands for Christiau work surround us on every side, and our days for labor are shortening. Grateful for the shor ate by and sins, courageous and hopeful for the future, let us return unto the rest of a believing | soul, implicit faith in God, earnest work for God. Yea, “return unto this thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountinilly with thee, For Thou | hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, aud my feet from falling.” STRERT CHUROH. Dr. Hall on the Efficacy of Prayer in the Delivery of the JewseThe People’s Duty Towards the President. The Nineteenth street Presbyterian church was yesterday morning occupied witha large and re- spectable audience. The pastor, the Rev, Dr. Hall, omciated, He chose for his text Daniel xi, 15-24, and Jeremiah xxv., 11, The discourse was chiefly devoted to the discussion of two very important | points—the relationslup existing between the | prophecies of Jeremiah and thuse of Daniel, ana | PRESBYTERIAN the importance of prayer as a& means of delivery from great affliction, ae instanced in the caso of the Jews, captivity in Babylon, The Jews were well ac- quainted with the fact propliesied by the prophet Jeremiah that their captivity In Babylon would endure for seventy years. Daniel well knew that | shght reference to the circumstances under which One might aay that if the Lord had foretold that at the end of the seventy years their’ captivity should come to am end there was no reason for praying for it, But the experience of all Christian life is against this 3up- position, The immediate question which was be- fore the mind of Daniel had respect te that which Would follow the close of the Jewish captivity. The deliverance of the Jews did not.como at the close of the seventy years. On the contrary, seventy times seven yoars would pass before Daniel would make Daniel prayed earnestly for them, and it ought to be our duty to habituate our- elves to the searchin; Erepraresy witb earnest prayer to the Aimighty that he woul enlighten our eyes; for experience shows that a man may be able as & st¢tesman or accomplished a# 8 scholar; he may be 9; Daniel was to his genera- tion, and yet if he were not holy he waa dead. It is essential to observe that Dantel’s prayer abounds in 4 confession ef sin. hing can be more ex- pit than his acknowledgment of iniquity before |, and in this respect he sets very com tory example, It ia easential to notice that Daniel in his confession identifies himself with the pre- ceding generations, When the Lord made a covenant in-wucient times with nis people and gave them the ‘Ten Commandmerts the people were specially bound to obsorve them, Men who did not under- étand truth were wout to look at these Coumand- ments in detached fragments, and inore particu- larly the second one. But Daniel did not look at it #0. He understood the reason annexed to the sec- oud commandinent, and it waa according to its spirit that he identified himself with the office given him, The substance of Daniel's prayer was @& petifion jor the restoration. of Zion, the rebuilding of God's holy mountain and. the reconstruction of the sanctuary, 1t wad a patriot’s prayer—a prayer from a person who loved tie Church to the God who sald that He wag ‘able ¢o build up Zion. and restore her waste places,” @ prayer which it was predicted beforehand would ascend to God, who showedin the case of tho Jews that when men's hearts are turned to Him His wrath would be turaed away trom them, TUK PROPLE'A PRAYERS FOR THE PRESIDENT, It Is afact that there ia too little prayer for the Church, and more especially for the one catholic, invisible Church, over the whole world, Ought there not to be prayers offered for those in office and over us? Soripture strictly enjoins that prayers should be made for those in authority, and ts it not ®& special instruction of the apostle that prayers shoukl be offered by all men for kings and those in Bisa pisost of authority? No matter to what party the President may belong, no matter who puts him in power, no matter what his character may be, there is no reason why good ople should not pray and supplicate for him. Haa he not all the common characteristics of man? Has he not all the duties incumbent upon any citizen? Is he not in the highest office to which the peopte can raise him? And, above all, does he not stand forth as the representative of the nation—his honor our honor, and his digrace our disgrace? For these reasons it was @ duty upon them as loyal and pa- triotic citizens to pray tor the President—the rep- resentative of the people, They were bound to pray for such a person in accordance with Scrip- jure, LOVE, GRACH AND MERCY, Regarding the nature of Daniel's prayers, we must look at the pleas by which these petitions are urged. ‘The first of these is God's great love, and the second, the great mercies of the Lord. “We dare not present our supplication for our right- eousness, but for Thy great mercies.’ There are three words found used in the Old and New Testa- ments. At first sight they seem Lo be much alike, but are not really so, They are—love, grace and~mercy, Love is the basis of truth; race is the manifestation of the love that has been called into existence; and mercy {s the message that grace brings to us from God, The Lord is great in creation—He is great in His manifestation, He offers to supply all the wants of all individua!s, What sleepless care and Vigilance to anticipate the needs of every indi- vidual! But His crowning glory is His great mercy, THE ANSWER TO DANIEL'S PRAYERS, The answers which God vouchsafed to Daniel's prayers were given through Gabriel. The angel told him that his prayer was heard and that that which he desired should be crowned. Accordingly, Dantel gets a revelation how and why the Lord should cou Those in captivity were restored, Jerusalem was regained and Zion was recon- structed, Thus the whole history of Daniel showed that it was through prayer that the delivery of the Jews was accomplished. a BROOKLYN CHURCHES. eet PLYMOUTH CHUROH. The First Contribution Towards the Golden Wedding—An Old-Time Crowd and a New Departure at Plymouth Church—Sermon by Mr. Beecher on the Past and the Future—What He Heard at Four O'Clock on a Summer Morn- ing. The first Sunday of the second quarter of a century of the history of Plymouth church was opened with an old-time crowd yesterday morning. Every pew was crowded, every standing place was occupied, and the throng swayed itself into the lobbies. The colorless, cheerless and cold morn- ing, with a gush occasionally of the cutting north wind, did not drive any of those who were outside worshippers to neighboring churches, where they could have heard the Gospel proclaimed with more physical comfort. Bravely these outer-temple worshippers bore the Autumnal chills, and if their countenances were any index to their feelings they soon got Summer within their souls. Aiter the singing of the anthem, in which Miss Lasar rendered the solo with that grace, finish and tenderness that has given her so high a place in church music, Mr. Beecher led the congregation in a short opening prayer, which was followed by the reading of a chapter from one of St. Paul's epistles, Then “Rock of Ages” was sung, and this won- drous hymn sounded the key-note of the morning service. From this point to the pronouncing of the benediction and the singing of the closing hymn, ‘Rest for the Weary,” it was as though the church and congregation had taken “a new de- parture,” and asif a new campaign against the Devil and all his works had received a Pentecostal baptism. Mr. Beecher’s subject was “The Past and the Fu- ture of Christian Life.” His text was selected from the third chapter of Paui’s Epistle to the Philip- plans, the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth ana part of the fifteenth verse—“‘Not as though I had al- ready attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, ifthat I may apprehend that for which also lam apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are benind, and reaching fortlr unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for tie prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.’ The introduction of the sermon set out with a this spas was written vy the Apostle, at a time when he belleved it to be the last epistle he should write to them, and previous to his expected execution. It also included an explanation of what Mr. Beecher said was sometimes regarded as a dificult passage, namely :—“I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also lam appre- hended of Christ Jesus.’ Pani foliowed after AN IDEAL OF CHARACTER that he himself did not apprehend or could real- ize, but which was imaged for him or apprehended in the mind of Christ, A slight reference to the use Pan! made of the past in his varied experience pre- jared the way for the main subject of the sermon. fhe past had its usesfor men. To take a retrospect rightly was healthful, but the past was to be used as wine in medicine, and not as food. The past should be used as a granary from which men take seeds to plant for a new harvest. Tho use of the ast in this direction was commended, but a mor- id melancholy that setiled itself down on mere memory and gained from it no new vigor for the future was vehemently de nonnced with a Beecher-like eloquence | of scorn, now and then interspersed with that cuaracteristic mimicry of the characters de- scribed, that is peculiar to the Plymouth pulpit. The best way to deal with old sins was to have @ new life. It was s‘ill worse to go hack and have a contentment with the past personal history, What a man’s past in this world was is not a fair epitome of what he is or what he is to be; the future would develop undeveloped conditions, Men too often regard the future us @ release irom labor, God is an artist, and works behind screens, it is in their ultimate state, and not in their bud- ding condition, we know what flowers are; and it is so With man. We don’t know what God ts doing for him. He was troly a man who was full of en terprise, had created new thoughts, had spread | for himself a better table, nobler thoughts and higher endeavors, These were specially the sign of A SOUL LIFE. Those faculties, then, in which we take note of | the things not scen, the spiritual, and when they | are mace active within us, ave facuitios that 1a) hoid of the future Jor us and ts specially the work | of ‘mankind. The shrinking souls of the Church | were severely dealt with. These were the men cf filty who think that their work is done or they have done enough, Then there were the lazy ol] men, who muttered childishiy about the past; the senti- mental young men, vhe were sickly and jacka- daisical, and who ¢:2 aevhing hut sorrow, smirk and look forlorn, We live only under goort indn- ences. We are like trees, we need to be well | shaken, Under loving and vital influences God | is with us and immortality is ours, It is never too late to | mend; never too late to be sowing seed, All this which was true of the individual waa equally true of the family and was equally true of the Church. “We with the end of their captivity would begin their National glory. It was net unnatural for the Jews to be indifferent to these prospects of their nation but Danlel set them a pyost adgirable cxaruple, have,” said Mr. Beecher, “recently passed through an experience that no Church in the world has ever passed through. God grant that out of that experi ence We shall distribute seed that shall fractify for eternity.” We have a working Church ; we have more Reayibs latyers gud motwers Mgry ferveMt, Zeulgys | Sity be one of the earliest and crudest. young men and maidens than we ever Bad Let ug concentrate all this on visniog. souls from Sak ness into the marvellous light of God’s Mar. Beecher concluded showil witet was he apparently hat wahinetse that iad “lifted somewhat unw: at lifted its head and seen only, proba! the gray light of By and by there was another TALMAGE'S TABERNACLE The Sorrow, Beauty and Antiquity of Christ—The Pastor's Pathos. Mr. Talmage's sermon was on “The Sorrow, the Beauty and the Antiquity of Obrist.”” Tradition aad an ancient document, said the pastor, tell us that the hair of Christ when He was upon earth was chestnut color to the ears, then flowing down in golden curls upon the neck. My text says that His haira were white. This, of course, is a figurative representation, As Jesus died at the age of thirty-three years, we are apt to think of Him as a young man; but He is living yet. That makes Him more than an octogenarian and a cen- tenarian—aye, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two years of age, But the Bibte tells. us that He was present @t the creation of the world; that makes Him six thousand years old, Jesussays of Himsejf, “I was set up from the everlasting, from the beginning, or before the world was," so that makes Him as old as-eternity, He is an aged Christ. There is nothing that so soon changes the color of the hair aa trouble, You see a man to-day with hair jet black; if you see him four years {rom now his lair will be white, Meantime his property is gone, or he has been bereft of his family, and that sorrow accounts for it. Marie Antoinette came fo Paris greeted by shouting, the mightiest Frenchmen her escort. The populace actually tried to unharness the horsea from her carriage that they themselves might draw it, Beautiful in person, beantiful in heart, the whole French nation worshipped her. A little time passed on and I be- hold her on the hurdle or sled drawn toward tho place of execution, her arms pinioned, one eye en- tirely put out, the color of her face extinguished. History tells us that that woman imprisoned, her husband executed, her children torn from her em- brace, THE KNIFE O¥ THE GUILLOTINE sharpening for ner neck—in one night her hair turned white. Well, Jesus had enough sorrow to whiten His hair. He had dwelt in the palace of eternity, the archangel one of His bodyguard, the unialien ones of heaven glad and drawing His chariot. But here you see Him drawn on the hurdle of our humanity toward the place of execu- tion. Tnis king the Disciples found one morning on the beach frying His own fish and toasting His own bread for breakfast, seated on the well curb, thirsting; His coat GAMBLED FOR BY THE ROUVGHS who wanted it; the police after Him for biasphemy, The filthy villains hawked up the phicgm from their throats and spat iton His clean cheek; pur- sued as though he were a tiger, His dying drink vinegar, sucked out of a sponge, everything seemed leaving Him; He was forsaken by every- thing but fiends, executioners and the darkness. Oh, that was the night in which His hair turned white, Methinks some one of the Roman soldiers would have humanity enough to step out from the ranks and ray, “Stop this butchery.” Oh, no! The world wanted blood, and as long as a single globule remained in the veins of Christ the anguish must on, and the winepress kept crushing the purple clusters until the last drop was out. 1 hear the hammers ringing through the darkness—thump, thump, thump against the cross. The work is done,’ Let the thunders toll out this funeral of a God, and the organs of the winds weep this requiem. Ah! methinks the golden curls have gone from His cheek and the aubura has faded from His brow, and Wis hair ts “as white as the wool,-as white as the snow’’; sor- row and anguish turned it, ‘The beauty of Christ. __ WHIMSICAL FASIUON changes its mind very often as to what is the best color for the hair, God declares he likes frost color best when He says, “The hoary head is a crown of giory if it be found in the way of righteousness.’’ Waiting for the door of one of my parishioners to open, looked through the window, and saw grandfather with a_ child on either knee, his face beaming with benedictions. ‘The granddaughter, half grown, stands behind the chatr and runs her hands through his locks, As grand- father stoops down and kisses the children x night, it sunset embracing sunrise; it is the Spring crocuses around about the edge of the snow bank; it is the white locks beautiful in the domes- tic circle, Two hearts have been pledged, Against the marriage altar there dashed A WAVE OF ORANGE BLOSSOMS. The two families, in a semi-circle, stand around the altar, Father and mother give the first congratula- tions; but let them not tarry too long, for grand- father is coming up with trembling step. “God be good to you both, my children,” he says, as he takes their hands, ‘Then ' he seals his word with an old man’s kiss. The bridal veil was graceful, but I know something more beautiliul than that; it was the long white locks of grandfather at the wedding, Are you not pee to admit that my text means the beauty of Christ? Have you not seen him? paaen the dark night of your sin has He not flashed upon your vision? Beautiful when He comes to pardon, to comfort and tosave. Some of us have been in the darkness of our sins, and eclipse after eclipse has passed over the soul; but after a while the Sun of Righteous- ness poured his beams upon our hearts, and we cried, “The sun, the sun!” Beautiful, with the children ae around His neck; beautiful in the home circle of Bethany; light for those who sit in darkness; rose of Sharon, lily of the valley, alto- gether lovely. It is NO NEW CHRIST that has come, The telegraph doesn't announce the arrival of a stranger; it is an aged Christ. If L should tell you He was a thousand million years old it would give you no idea of His antiquity. He comes down through the periods when there were no worlds—before light. He heard tue first rock jarred down to its place in the mountain socket; and He saw the first star beam on the darkness and the first wave swing in its place. He comes with all sympathy, with all kindness, with all love. Are you ready to receive Him? Have you received him? He will never fer sake those who put their trust in Him. Some of us, in our own families, have had instances where Christ bas been kind and loving to the aged. mother’s hair had turned white until there was not one dark thread init. Altera iife of usefulness—a blameless life—she came to her end in peace, No beggar ever came to her door and was turned away. No pvor wounded soul ever came to her and was not pointed to Jesus. Having seen her eleven children in the kingdom of God she had only one desire before she died, and that was that the gon on missionary ground might come back that she might see him once alive. When the ship anchored in New York and the mis- sionary son stepped over the parental threshhold, she said, “Lord, now let me, thy servant, eace, jor I have seen thy salvation.”’ ‘rom afar to see only the house from wl soul had departed. It was a cloudless day when we carried her out to the last resting place, The withered leaves crumpled under wheel and hoof as we passed, and the setting sun shining‘on the river made it look like fire, In_ concluding Mr. Talmage exhorted all to seek the Lord and take His yoke, for it was easy. THE IRON TEMPLE, The New Church on Hancock Street— Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Scudder on Spiritual Truth and Its Identity with Christ-How to Attain It and Gain Redemption. The congregation of which Dr. Scudder is the pastor have recently erected on Hancock street, near Franklin avenue, a new church, which for novelty and fitness of design 1s at least one evi- dence of a degree of progress in the much abused architecture of this country. The structure is entirely oftron. Its exterior is light and graceful, its form uniting variety, unity and beauty of orna- mentation, The interior has none of the gloom which usually pervades thes precincts of ecclesias- tical buildings. The old styles of design— the Gothic, the Romanesque and the Nor- man—are all tgnored, and in their stead is displayed the presence of a utilitarian taste, a harmony and © stmplicity of detail which con- tributes relief and pleasure to the eye. In the ar- rangement of the auditorium of this new temple | the comfort of the congregated worshippers was Most consulted, and the resnlt attaimed 18 one of the most impressive examples that could be used in favor of a reformatory and progressive schoo! of architecture of whose efforts this must of neces- The seats, Which will hold avout three thousand persons, are in semi-circular rows, one rising above another, a8 in a lecture hall, and each affording a fine view of the pulpit and the audience, The light of the in- tertor is very cheerful, the walls being white; and, though it is mellowed by falling through panes of stained glass in the windows of the clear-story, it Jas mene of that strange pglixious, OF rather Yesterday the ing every mans the rains . Th wer Scudder preached [ro ie Rev. Dr. Scudder im the text:— “What ia Truth?” Acco: ier, eae it acim nun dunce which when utte! ir Our the word—truth, an 5 well should us chip cied and make the most 0: our temporal bodies. ut that was the first story of tue structure, com taining the kitchen, Jaundry and pantries, i there was the truth of intellectual life. In this delved and tolled even as miners do into the bowels of the eurth, until to-dag there remained of their busy brains but foraakes hol loned m nes, surrounded with and debris but out of wilich could come no altven or gold. Neverticless, he did not depreciate scieu- tific truth—only the fanatic devotion to its pursuit. Then there was ‘ THE TRUTH OF OUB SPIRITUAL NATURA, which included all that pertained to our immortat gouls—man and 0g, fe and eternity, time and deatiny hereafter, It was like the topmost story in &n astronomical Observatory, where a man site above the earth to observe the stars, The two jJower stories—the animal ani the inteliectual— were built merely to uphoid tius third story, where the soul calmly sits and investigates all moral aud spirtiual truti. ‘The world aiforded ws @ very mixed state of things. Goad and evil were suvtiely entwined, aad 4t became man's hourly and. momentary duty.to disortminate right and wrong. it was of the high- est import that he should dseover what the trute Wus—error never could save him, He might velieve in it with all his aeart, but it would eventualiy wreck = him. And yet no man could riso np and say that he had discovered absolute truth, Yet One had once ssid, in answer to the question of the text, “Lam the Truth,” and had uttered it with @ majesty, au authority anda divine power that had given birth to the Christiaa. Church, and had sent heralds ail over the world te reiterate that claim, until every soul should be satiated, CHRIST THE “TRUTH.” Christ was the truth in two ways, He was the real representation of God to us—the image of the invisible Father—the Divine reality, In the highest of all possible senses He was the truth, The preacher painted in a hideous light the ot mythology, and continued that Christianity had wren us 8 Christ, and tuc contrast had only to be drawn for us to see that Osiris, Jupiter and Odin were nothing but myths, absurd dreams, Wilt o' wisps, to lure men to destcuction. Secondly, Christ was the fountain of all spiritual truth, whi flowed from him as waters of life out of @ perennial spring, or foods of light from the sun at midday, m Him came the truth that re- vealed what man ought to be. It was ead how fat we differed from that ideal man. The truth of re- demption which the accumulated wisdom of no age was able to solve He took in hand, saved the world? It cost Him His life. He arose froin the darkness of the sepulchre, displaying THE NEW TORCH OF REDEMPTION, a new luminary, For many centuries these truthe of His have been put to the proof, Lu other spheres of thought that which is accepted in one age is dis- laced in another, But notso with the traths of ‘nrist, that fow in all countries andall times tike a mighty river that will never dry up. They have endured every test, have illumined myriads of be- nighted souls to make them tree with the liberty of sons of God; have bound up broken hearts. Surely, no one has honestly put them to the test without becoming a disciple of His, So far as men sce the truth they are bound to accept it and to hold it. Pilate was false to what he knew. He threw away # pearl—sold it for ‘ee for office. How significant was this? Men fail eternal life because they will not follow the truth as far as they can see it. They may ask what is truth; but they do not wait for an answer, and ow Second thoughts do not desire to know whatit is. Jesus Christ is the truth; accept and follow Him. Pay the same price for the truth a9 a thirsty man pays toa spring of waterin the mountains. He can have as much of it as he cau take without money and without price. SEVENTH AVENUE METHODIST EPISOOPAL OHUROH. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Wild—Faith Made Vistbie—Spiritual Conception a Fleshly Fact—Life Revealed and Theory Proved. Dr, Wild preached an effective discourse yeater- day morning, selecting his text from the first chap- ter of John and the first clause of the fourtcentts verse, “And the Word was made flesh,” con- tinuing as follows:—Marvellous ana grand are the doctrines of salvation as revealed to us in the Bible. Pure and sublime are the words of ever- lasting truth—healthful and saving in their effect and experience upon all who accept and practise the same, Life finds in them a happy certainty and death a healing baim—eternity an increasing aud inviting glory. Happy are the people whose God Is the Lord, and wise is the man who believes to live an@ trustin Hisname. {love to contemplate the ful- ness of the Gospel and speak of its freedom, its emancipating and elevating power. How sad the consequences, how vast the ruin and destructive the forces of sin! How deceitful and wretched, corrupt and polluted, weak and uncertain the conduct of man? but how vast the love, how great the power, how safe the work and clear the way that leads to life eternal! The thoughts of God be- come a Word and the Word becomes flesh. The life of that Mesh becomes the light of men, and the death of the same becomes an atonement for sin. Great is the mystery of godliness. The resurrec- tion of the Word through the flesh is the Father’s pledge, Christ's seal, the Spirit’s witness, Heaven's joy, man’s type and earnest of good things to come. FAITH MADE VISIBLE, ‘The ancient realm of faith was very. Tanch_ larger. than the present domain, for the ancients had td believe in a Saviour to come; many of the proplie- cies were then unfulfilled, Now some have been fulfilled, and the promised Messiah, which the prophets foretold and whose day they but dimiy saw, became a living fact to the Apostles. Jesus to them was a prophecy fulfilled, the invisible was now visible, and the Word of the past was the flesh of the then present, so that the object of faith and dim visions of Feopncts day was noontide splendor and living fact with the Apostles—they could say “we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life.” Ifwe carefully analyze the term word, We shall find it to mean idea, sentiment and life. Human language is designed to convey idea, senti- ment and individuality—thus language is revela- tion, So Christ is indeed a divine idea, express- ing the will of God, especially touching redemp- tion; He also is a divine sentiment—a sentiment of mercy and disposition of love—and He was dil- vine life, “for in Him dwelt the Godhead fully.’? Christ is God's Ly revelation to man, and the Scriptures are the great revelation of Christ, and tne saints are the revelators of the Scriptures. Divine idea and sentiment become a living, fleshly fact in Christ. So should the ideas and sentiments of Jesus become in us living, breathing f We should, as Christians, be “living epistles, read and known of all men.” Christ is the wisdom of God— the saints are the wisdom of Christ. Jesus is the power, of God, so the saints are the power of esiis Christ reveals the Father clearly and cor- | rectly unto us, so should we reveal Jesus faithfully and traly, It is not enough that we have spiritual ideas, creeds and flaming theories, To resist temp- tations and overcome sin it is essential that these ideas come forth, that our creeds live, and that our daily walk and experience expound and prove our theories, We are not saved by idea alone, If God only had had an idea of theory, of redemption, we | would not have been redeemed, ‘The divine idea went forth to live, suffer, do the right, and so musé we. Christ, in assuming flesh, came near to us, that we, in fain, might be near to God. The “Word becoming Mesh” was a@ divine accommodation, adapted to and beautifully meeting human limita- tion, In this thin od met suitably the universal instinct of man for a visible God. . Living in a world of visible and material existence, as we do, it is very natural for us to ask, to desire, aGod that we can see, and ene whose power, wie- dom and disposition shall answer to the arguments of the senses. All this we have im the highest sense in the person of Christ. He aaks us, as well as the | Jews of His day, to believe Him for His works’ sake. He subjected the divinity and invisibility within t the judgment and test of the sense without, And we, His followers, have only a right to be credited for our faith and divine life within, as our works without will allow. By the rules of common sense we must be judged, And we should remember that many a man that can neither prove nor disprove our creed in the abstract can easily discern the truth or falsity of the same when submitted to his senses in a living form, SUN, LIGHT AND BRAT by the regular conrse of nature are solidified, are visible in the vegetable world; here they can be seen and handled, and in their seen and solid form they ean be made to serve 4 thousand purposes that they could not in their volatile and invisible State. So divine life ana. warmth should solidify by assuming # seen and tangible form. The sun i this way acer descents from the heavens to dwell on earti—so the Sun of Righteousness desires wo re-live on earth through His saints, When the ploughman shall overtake the reapers, as the | prop! het says, then shall the millenium come. hat means, | presume, when our hearts and heads shall be equal; when we shall do what we know tobe right; when no right shall remain wnborns when our haw’ one shall be equal to our creeds and our devotion equal to our profession, My dear friends, let your theories be yore by your life- work. ‘Take the impressions God has given to yé and use them in His service and for His glory, a may wisdom be justified to you, that -COMRUSY YoU Mission iy yous ‘preweud iileas a o