The New York Herald Newspaper, March 10, 1873, Page 4

A SPRING-LIKE. SUNDAY, owds of Church-Goers Greeting the Warmth and Glow with Worship to God, SENSIBLE AND SENSATIONAL’ SERMONS, Frothingham on the Fate of Foster. CRIME AND CONSCIENCE. The Question from the Pulpit, «Shall Murderers Be Hanged ?” CHRIST IN THE CONSTITUTION. The Rev. Mr. Pewers Annihilating the Reli- gious Amendment Arguments, Dr. Clarke on Christianity and Culture. Brother Beecher’s Return to the Bosom of His Flock. SERVICES IN CATHOLIC SANCTUARIES. Father Bjerring and His New Departure in Greek Oatholicism. The clear, sparkling skies of yesterday attracted an immense number of persons from their homes, and wher the early church bells were merrily and yet tenderly ringing their chimes for worship the streets in the vicinity of the sanctuaries in all parts of the city were dotted with church-goers whose faces wore the pleasant aspect of content and good nature. The pews and aisles in the fash- lonable edifices were crowded, and the music and the sermons seemed to have a fresher impress than usual upen the minds of those who listened, whether they were disposed to be very deeply de- vout or otherwise. The spirit of the young opening Spring seemed to pervade all things witha new and strong impulse of awakened life, with which the thought of the multitude throbbed gladly tn unison. The warblers in the parks might have been heard in musical response to the mellow peals from the church towers, and the bright and charming Spring costumes of the ladies, which are beginning to be seen, made the scenes out ef doors very attractive and picturesque. If every one who was abroad had gone to church there is no doubt that they would have been fully rewarded for the effort, and this idea will be found to be ex- emplified, it ts believed, in some measure by the character of the selected discourses, which will be found reported velow. LYRIC HALL, Conscience and Crime—Prejadices Against the Death Penalty—The Prin- ciple of Expiation—Revenge and Pun- ishment Should Newer Be United—Ser- mon by the Rev. O. B. Frothingham. The services at Lyric Hall, in Forty-second street, yesterday morning, were unusually well attended. Phe singing by the choir was, as it always 1s, ex- cellent. Mr. Frothingham’s subject was, ‘“Consci- ence and Crime.” This theme has been suggested, be began, by the efforts made to secure a doomed manfrom the gallows. Clergymen, citizens and men of letters have, with one voice, appealed tothe Chief of State for the purpose of saving a fellow creature. The widow of the slain man adds her touching request to the petition. She begs that her agony may not be increased by a second murder. The children of the man in the Tombs will grow up under a dark shadow. If we inquire into the justice of this appeal, it is net to be found (m the character of the murderer, for he was coarse and uninteresting. He was mo honor to his kind, no blessing to his family and no ornament to society. The murder was unprovoked and accom- panted by an insult toa woman. Her protector, am unoffending man, defended her. The miserable wretch cherishes a revengeful feeling against him and watches for an opportunity to discharge it. He seizes the only weapon at hand and kills his victim. He said he was never in such a state be- fore. If his first yielding to temptation was so brutal as this what would his second have been? If even great efforts were made in a fair trial to weigh every atom of guilt it was done in THE TRIAL OF FOSTER. Every procrastination that the Courts allowed was seized upon. It was public opinion that tnter- fered. It was not logic nor reason nor conscience, Public opinion is made up partly of a keen sense of justice, @ feeling of pity, a dread of inflicting pain and @ moral fear of committing a fauit. The prejudice against the death pumishment is so strong and stubborn that it can be inflicted only against & vagabond who bas no MONEY TO PAY COUNSEL and no relatives to intercede for him. If that man is released from his ‘ate there is no need of bring- ing a fellow creature to the gallows. A new kind of penalty should be introduced, Nothing can be more unjust than for a community to pretend to feel towards grintnals as it does not fe Every murder trial is a scene that makes a reasonable man biush, The prevarication, false swearing, deliberate lying and indecent pretence to which men resort is astounding. It takes weeks to re- cover from the immoral effects of a murder trial, One thing is plain, that the arguments in favor of criminal punishment are repudiated by the ractical public mind, This is the solemn text rom Genesis in language so ardent that its weight cannot be avoided—Whosoever sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” If we take away the gallows we endanger life and preperty. The opponent of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT vrings page alter page of siatistics to show that the puuvishment of death has no weight with criminality. He would demonstrate that, where death is decreed crime is greater, and when death is mot penality crime is smaller, Brutality pourt: brutality, yet the people are Dot persuaded, fhe relation between pun- ishment and crime has never been established; crime and punishment grow upon the same stem that produces society. Of course where crime abounds punishment i¢ austere. In @ barbarous country it is impossible to abolish strict punish- ment. Where crime is not the rule but the excep- tion it is possible to mitigate the iaw. The pros- ect of dying at the hands of justice is feariul. Life 18 sweet on any terms, in confinement and sorrow; life, with the deprivation of every luxury and comfort, still live, In soctety there are people who m @ trade of violence and robbery and who live by ermme. They have no fear of death. THE GALLOWS TR stands side by side with Calva CXplation is as old as religh tie clergyman in this city whose whole religion is based upon it. What does conscience require ? ‘The utter putting away from the idea ef punish- ment the sentinent of revenge. Vengeance is sometimes spoken of as a natural instinct—some- thing that was handed down to us. The spirit ef revenge never prevailed in that solemn antiquity as we know it. The criine ef a king or peasant was treated the same. Consider what your malefactor is—a poor, untavght, uncared for creature; grow- ing up in viec, badly nurtured, Wickedness is in we very corruption of his bleed and in his tisezes—a piece of the offsconring of the earth, living in the mud and mire and becoming like tf. Is such creature as that afit object te take venge read * It would be as sensible for a child to attack the stone against which its foot struck, Oan we feel vengeance against gi whe are only trying to gét their share of the things in this world jature never inflicts punishment. If ® child yy? his hand in the fire the consequence is ain anda burn, Nature does vot break the child's ieg. Ifa man git olf with food he has dys. The principle of There is @ Calvinis- NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, that 1¢ defeats its own ends in every case. Gon” sclonoe is to give-enery poet wrote a etest in ile 6. Orevebe— OHUROH OF THE MESSIAH “The Religious Amendment” to the United States Constitation—An Em- Phatic Denunciation of the Movement— Sermon by the Rev. Henry Powers. The elegant Church of the Messiah, Thirty-fourth street and Park avenue, was very well filled yes- terday morning by an attentive congregation, tt being announced that the pastor, Rev. Henry Powers, would sslect as the subject @f hia dis- course the proposed addition of the religious amenament to the constitution of the United States, The reveread gentleman took his text from Galatians v. 1—‘Stand fast, therefore, on the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be, not entangled again with the yoke of bond- age.” In these words, Mr. Powers began, we have an illustration of the apostolic injunction, “Be, ye angry and sin not.'’ A certain fiery indignation seems to be expressed in them and pervades the entire letter ag well, of which they forma part. Evidently the Apostle Paul was righteously mad when he wrote this epistle to the Christians of Galatia—a fact which you will not fail to perceive if you read it carefully through. But there was a cause for this Tesentment and a grave necessity. for its expres- ston, for the Apostle's official integrity had been assailed and the purity and suMiciency of the Gos- pel he preached had been called tn question. These Christians of Galatia were his own spiritual chil- dren, and but a littie time before this writing bo had imparted unte them the truth as it 1s in Jesus, in all ita simplicity, its spirituality, universality and freedom from every legal and ceremonial restriction whatsoever, and most gladly had they accepted it at his hands, with every expression of esteem and love for him. But, a8 Luke informs us, certain men had come down from Judea and taught the brethren that “it was need- ful tor them to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses,"’ and, that they might the more veadily accomplish their reactionary purpose, THESE “JUDAIZING TEACHERS" strove, by mysterious acts and insinuations, to lea- sen the character and influence oi the Apostie and to raise up their own on the ruins, representing unto his converts that if he were to be served a8 an apostle avall he was yet much inferior to the others, and especially to Peter, James and John, whose’ {olowers they professed to be, and alas! their success was far too great for the peace and purity of the Galatian churches, 80 that great also Was the danger that the liberty wherewith Christ bad made them tree would be thus speedily lost. in their voluntary assumption again of the old Jewish yoke of bondage. Hence the hot and righteous indignation of the apostle, and his immediate endeavor to stay se great @ perver- ston of the Gospée}l, He vindicated his own char- acter as an apostle, that he might vindicate and proclaim the trath with which he had been en- trusted; and this he did because he clearly ap- prenended the sure destruction of the new and etter faith if thus it was allowed to be subservient unto the old and worn-out ritual. Mr, Powers then proceeded to give the thoughts by the utterance of which Paul saved the early churches in their time of gréatest peril, and Sepeln bine 8 But “eternal vigilance is the price or liberty,” and now again, a8 many times belere’ throughout these nineteen hundred years of Christian history, this hateful yoke of Jewish bondage is oiered unto us. Nay, rather, it has been assumed and worn in some degree by the great majority of Christian believers until this present, in spite of Paul's protest and contrary to the very essence of the Gospel; amd it is disciples of the Old Testa- MARCH, 10, 1873—TRIPLE SHERT. faith, and the consequent. anion of Church and Btate et snaps Oe worst of all ble forms, and Carl Schurz would be ariven” fro it eoalted States Senate, and such men as Judge J Hoar, of Massachuactta, from the House of Representatives, for they are not Obris! im the sense of this amendment, and could not, therefore, take the oath of office which it In We should have suck “Christian statesmen” as po eyed f and Whittemore and the pious gentlemen CREDIT MOBILIEE FAMR. No wonder, then, that there are protesta against the movement. And fet us Aes im such protests, Not, however, a8 those who bave surrendered their Serigtes ‘th, but first, and with the greatest mphasis, in the mame of that holy religion Hpvne ies camel wie lei Hl ci ie of whose essen! ry this movement completely abrogated, and in the second place, in our character as Americans who love our country and value the entire political freedom for which it stands; and im the third and last place, in the hope of peage and prosperity and continued progress in the development of every part and function of the body politic under the Constitution as it now stands, Mr. Powers then at length and eloquently sub- mitted his reasons for making these protests, em- bodying, first, that the proposed amendment is anti-Ohristian; second, in the name of our com- mon American citizeuship, and last, because the amendment is in its nature revolutionary. The pastor's emphatic condemnation of the whole movement evidently received the fullest en- dorsement irom the large tongregation. 8T, STEPHEN’S ROMAN OATHOLIO OHUROH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. E. McGlynn on Prayer—=Why We Should Pray and How We Should Pray. At the principal mass in St. Stephen’s church, Bast Twenty-elghth street, yesterday morning, the Rev. Dr. MeGlynn, pastor of the church, delivered @ plain, practical, colloquial discourse on the nature and necessity of prayer. After reading portions of the Gospel (Matthew xvil., 1, 9) and epistle (I, Thessalonians, iv.), the reverend preacher entered at once upon the discfsion of the subject which be had previously promised would form the theme of his discourse, He showed that it was especially appropriate to debate on this subject in this holy seasen, as it was net intended tobe a season Of penance more than a season of prayer. The one GREAT OBJECT OF PENANCE, he said, is to so subdue our baser nature that it may cease to obstruct our better from a union with God, which is prayer. We should understand Moat prarer 1s, how we should pray, and what we should pray for. Prayer is generally defined to be the asking of things proper to be had from Goa in the sense ofa petition. Ina Christian sense prayer 18 broader, and is defined as the raising of the mind to God—really WITH Gop. A OONVERSATION y Tt is one of the first duties of a Ohristian, as may be gathered from the teachings and examples of Christ Himself when He ia ‘Ask and you shall recetve, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be see unto you.” Here we have His command and His gracious promise. We have the law and the inducement for us to follow it. The life of Christ was a life of prayer. He prepared Himself for His public work by 1 hehe le did not go into the wilderness only to fast, but also to pray, and daring His public work, we read, He spent whole nights in prayer. So we have the positive command and example of our Saviour, and it arises from the very nature ef the work we have on hand that we should pray; we should be intent on the saving of our souls; we should prepare our souls by prayer to receive the grace of God, which can only be obtained with our co-operation. THE {DEA OF THE GRAOB OF GoD implies a free gift, a something we have no right to but have great need of. To get it we must ask for it; must pray for it. If we had aright to it we mentand not the New who are to-day attempting to place this fair land of Gospel light and liverty— this land in which the truth that makes men tree and blessed is known and loved as never elsewhere or hitherto—in bendage to a rule that would work again, i it were enacted, the SUBVERSION OF OUR RELIGION. It ts, therefore, @ time for the feeling of a righteous indignation akin to that of Paul, and the re Roar lees ‘Of it also, in 80 far as that may be needful to stay the consummation of so great a crime. But let me, ina word, explain. On the of January, 1864, a convention was held in , Pa, for the purpose of or- anizing &@ “national association to secure the re- lous amendment to the constitution of the United States.” Such assoctation was, in fact, organized then and there, and ® constitution adopted of which the following is, the second article :—‘The object of this society shall be to ob- tain such an amendment oF the constitution of the United States as shall suitably acknowledge Al- mighty God as the source of sl power, andauthority in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the ruler of nations, and the revealed will of as of supreme authority in civil affairs.” The eriginators of this movement were very largely Scotch and Irish Presbyterians of the different denominations; but when the first National Convention under the new constitu- tion was held at Pittsburg in 1869it was found that the cause had meanwhile made such progress that the association numbered among its adher- ents many of the best representatives of almost every branch of the Christian Church im this land. Since 1869 its growth has been quite rapid, and its activities have increased correspondingly, and now it holds several conventions each year in different parts of the country. ‘For the purpose of creating @ public sentiment in favor of its objecta,” It pub- lishe: newspaper, it distributes documents in great quantities, and is striving toimfuence legisia- tion at Washington and at the capitals of the sev- eral States. The President of this socie: last year was Judge William Strong, of the Unite: States Supreme Court, and among its Vice Prest- dents were such men as these :—Bishops McIlvaine, Eastburn and Huntington, of the Protestant Epis- copal Church; Dra. TyDg. of New York, Cuyler, Brooklyn, and Mayo Fi nitarian), of Cincinnati; Drs. Taylor Lewis, of Union College, Seelye, of Am- herst College, and Winn, President of 8 Col- lege, and governors and esquires, and HuNORABLB MEN OF ALL CLASSES too numerous to mention. Said Secretary McAllis- ter, at the convention in Cincinnati last January, “It was the attack of enemies of our common Chris- tianity upon the Christian features of our national life that struck the alarm and sounded the ri cry which has drawn together many of the citizens of our land and banded them in this associ- ation.” “Avowed atheists and infidels, communists and Papists, uniting like Herod and Pilate, have been plotting and workit tor years to expel re- ligien from our school: turn our Sabbath into @ holiday for revelry id par de.’’ “Shrewd and far-sighted men * e long and ever- more loudly been demanding their ‘rights of con- science,’ as they are pleased to term them; their ‘right’ not to be insulted with religions ideas and A) in civil matters; their ‘ it? not to have a book which they hate read where their children go to be taught; their ‘right’ mot to have the govern- ment with which they stand connected in any way recognize a sacred day, a solemn oath, an exercise of prayer or anything of the kind of which they do not approve.”’ Quotl also what was sald on the same occasion by the orresponding Secretary, the Kev. L. P, Stevenson, Mr. Powers said, and the specification under the heads named, beside those made by Mr. McAllister, are the enacting of laws for the eniorcement of Christian marriage the suppression of blasphemy and licentlousness, tor the stopping of Sunday maiis and trains, the clos- of public libraries on Sunday, and the setting aside of State legisiation when it shall not be in harmony with these ideas. The sort of zeal, also, bation hy this movement is pushed may be in- ferred from such remarks as those which fell from ad) t the convention in 8 ago. Said Rev. Jona- earth would soon. be- the constitutis were 80 as to rec @ God wer.’ A Mr. Holmes pro- ork would yet see the day hell if not soon smended as the source of all phesied that “New when the streets would fow with blood, even worse come a than in Paris in the days of the Commune, if Jesus Christ ig not soon recognized In the constitution ; and a Mr. Milligen theught ‘that the constitution which was drafted by the Pilgrims ON BOARD THE MAYFLOWER was in favor ef Protestant Obristianity, and that no one therefore who x Opposed to that had any right in this country.” If, therefore, continued Mr. Powers, these -meanisg persons who are in such dead earnest, and 8 at influence over the governing class in this country, who have taken alarm, ag they say, at the rapid spread among us of other religious ideas than those which the; believe to be the true ones—if these men shoul succeed in this endeavor thus to pat God and Christ and the Bible into fundamental law of the land, then to attempt to enforce this amendment, as is their avowed pui to do, by te legislation, what would be some of the i ? Simply that Jew and Gentile and liveral Christian, as well as the Atheist and Free Rel'gionist, Secularist and Positivist among us, would have no rights aa such that the orthodox Trinita Evangelical Christian would be bound to respect. There would be by this amendment the Car aye of the third section o! the sixth article of the constitution as it now stands, and which expressly provides that ‘no religions test shall ever be required a8 a qualificatien to any office or public trust under ry United States,” the object of which was, as Justice Strong tells us in his “Commentaries on the Constitution,” ‘to cut off forever every retence of any alliance between Church and tate in the national government, for its origina. tors were fully sensible of dangers from this souree, marked out in the history ef otner ages and countries, and net wholly unknown to our own,’ and “that without some prohibition of re- ligious tests, a successful sect in our country might, by once possessing power, pass test laws witien could ya ~j Yona’ bah all the offices of trust and pro’ tional government.” Now, the friends of this move- might demand it. For this reacon it is our Lord says, ‘‘Ask and you shall receive.” Prayer is also commended by the lives and ex! le of the saints ofGod. The greater saints, we shali find, were the More frequent prayers. A person may not have been good, but he is good as soon as he has learned pray right. It was said of an enemy of God “Benold he prayeth.” It was nt if he could Pray ne was no longer an enemy of God. THE NATURE OF PRAYER. The nature of a conversation with God can be gathered from our own nature, who wish to con- verse, and the nature of God, with whom we have to converse. PRAYER SHOULD BE HUMBLE. We should approach God with respect, with awe, with dread. We should endeavor ‘to see God and ourselves. If w cceed in this we shall make a good prayer and shall see ourselves better than we are used to see ourselves. We should remember that all is naked to the eye of Him with whom we are about to converse; that it is net the time or lace for array, for hale for eae on airs. We have no rights; nothing but duties to perform. pal are conversing with One who can see ata glance, PRAYER MUST BE CONFIDENT. We should ask with a confidence based on Christ’s own command. If He wishes us to pray it is good for us to pray, and He does not ask us to perform @ mere mockery. We should ask with a confidence based on the nature of God; a confl- dence based on the Christian virtue of hcpe; God's ness and power on one hand and God’s fidelity on the other. PRAYER MUST BE PERSRVERING. This arises from the nature of the case. Our prayer is heard even when we do not get the tem- poral gift we ask for. Is it not good sometimes to have an excuse to talk to some great Poon) some One from whom we can learn some- hing? With immensely greater force should wo find an excuse to converse With God. This is the philosophy of prayer, and prayer is better for us than hoy gg else we can ask, unless the grace of God itself. True prayer is like heaven itself, as heaven is but converse with God on most intimate terms. ter, and conatsted of brief addresses, interspersed | portion'of tne text towards which he more’ par: with singing and prayer. THE BUSSO-GREEK OHAPEL. A New Departure for Greek Catholi- clam—Am English Service and a Crowded Church, An innovation, probably the first of tts kind in the Greek Christian world, has been introduced Into the Mttle chapel of the Russian Embassy in Second avenue, near Fiftieth street, in this city, Rev. N. Byering pastor. It is perhaps alreaay generally known that the pariors of the pastor's house have been fitted up asa chapel, and there the services are conducted every Sabbath. Recently the ltude chapel received @ new coat from the hands of the painters and artists of the brush, which has tmproved its appearance and greatly relieved the sombre white which it wore before. But the feature.of deepest interest is not the coloring of the ceilings and walis and panels of the chapel, nor the richly embroidered vestments of the priest and his assistant, tnough these are attractive, but rather the rendering of the entire SERVIORS IN ENGLISH, Hitherto the Litany and prayers have been said and sung alternately in English and in Russian by the Rev.+ Father Bjering and kis assistant, But there came such apressure upon the pastor, not only from his own little Nock of Russians and Greeks, but from English-speaking Catholics and Protestants here who occasionally visited his ohapel, for @ complete English service, that he could not well turn them away. Hence after much labor, and with the authorization of the “Most Holy Governing Synod of Russia,” the Bering. has, translated inte English the old liturgies of St.John Carysostom and Basil the Great, the fathers of the Church, which haye been preserved to the faithful in all these ages in Greek and Russian. Yesterday was " THE SECOND SABBATH OF TRIAL of this new régime, and it worked admirably. The liturgy 1s priated in pamphlet form, and certain Portions are set to music for the use of the choir, which consists of three male voices—treble, tenord andjthe deep bass voice of the assistant. The choir is not yet thorough master of the language and the music, but with a little more practice will improve, no doubt, The chapel ts too small for female voices, and indeed for many or strong male voices. « The little chapel was crowded yesterday with Strangers, and the priest and choir at the close of the service were complimented on the part which the latter bore in the service. The prayers opened with an invocation to the Trinity, a prayer for sal- vation, for the peace of the world and the stability of “the holy churches of God” and their unity, tor this particular church, for the governin; synod and ita oishops, presbyters, deacons, &c., for THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD OF RUSBIA, and for the overthrow of their enemies on ever: side. Then follow prayers for various objects, suc! as for those wno are sick or in bondage, in danger, necessity on a journey, by land or sea, &c. A part of the 1 Psalm is intoned by the as- sistant priest while a prayer is inaadibly offered by the priest. The Beatitudes in Matthew Y., are intoned also by the assistant, after which, while the choir sing, the pee proceeds to make the “little entrance,’ and prays for the entrance of angels and archangels, &c., with him, The spite read was from Hebrews, portions of chapters xi, and xil., by the assistant, and the Gospel from St. John, part of chapter 1.—Philip onding Natban- lel, &c. Half a dozen times during the service prayers are offered and adoration made to “our all-holy, spotiess, most blessed and glorious lady, the mether ef God and ever Virgin,’ and her inter- cession is asked, So that Roman Catholics will not find very material difference in this service from what they woul@ find in theirown, The sacramental elements were Fen ‘aken of yesterday by S ROKHOR of the congregation at the close oi the e. THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN OHUROH. Sermon by the Rev. S. J. Stewart—A Picture of Modern Socitety—Steeped in @ Slough of Mawkish Sentimentality— The Rafi s Revolver and Society's Handkerchief—Social Strychnine With a Rhetorical Crust. At the United Presbyterian church in West Twenty-sixth street a sermon was preached yester- day, which was piquant with tdeas and sugges- ttoularty called attention was the words uttered by the Voice, “This ts my beloved Son, with whom 1 am well pleased. Bear ye Him.” The reverend Father spoke in opening ef the two missions of Ohriat on earth—the one being to teach and the Other tosave man. As proof of ‘HIS DIVINE MISSION Ourist wrought many miracies on the earth, in- ciuding the raising of the dead, making the lame to walk, changing the water to wine, &c. At the same time He concealed His divine majesty and pean but on the occasion of His ti ration to Hi three beloved Aposties He gave more glorious aey of His divinity by giving them a gim of His majesty. All this was done to prove o them His divinity and mission. We gee the Becessity ot teachera from the errors of the pa- gans garding the object of our creation, and aso from the theories 01 modern philosophers, who fallinto the error of lowering man to the level of the brute creation. Christ came to save the Bisolens lives of His children, but we do not hear now because there are NO MIRACLES PERFORMED, The minister quoted from the words of God to the rich man irom whose table Lazarus ate the orumbs to show that miracles would have no effect now. God declared to the rich man that his brothers, to whom he wished ® messenger sent, would not belleve even if one rose from the dead. to-day, said the minister, if one rose from the dead, there ‘are some who would not believe. Our hoy religion 1s enough for us, if we follow its prevents Let us not be incredulous, The word of God has reached us from past generations. God declares to us that Christ is His only perotsen Son, who He haa sent to you, brethren. This is w! the eternal Father gays to us. We are to hear His words from the Church He has tablished. The Church is a sure guide for us, id it will last until the crack of oom. Here in the Church and the word of God, dons worthy of the consideration and reflection of those who have the good of society and the pres- ervation of the dignity of justice at heart, The @hurch is a small one and was slimly attended, but the lucky few heard a sermon which did not fall to make an impression on them. The text of the sermon, which was,preached by the pastor, the Rev. S. J, Stewart, was taken from Genesis ix., 6. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.” After reading the text Mr. Stewart talked to gome length on the law ne had just quoted. He said it was one of the oldest rules to be found in the Holy Book. As the law regarding the bie nau tion of the man who killeth his brother is the oldest so also 1s the crime of murder the first grand crime committed by the children of men. Cain slew Abel and was thenceforth an outcast upon the face of the earth, We learn from Genesis that the rule of AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH, is not only a human law but a divine one, and the efficacy of putting this rule into practice is proven by all history. Society is a vast structure, and its strength and durability rest not alone with any one nation or class, but upon the individual actions of its individual members. Each man should con- sider that acertam amount of the labor of up- holding the social fabric rests on him, and that when he weakens or disobeys its rule his part of the labor falls on other shoulders, Such is the present condition of society that the few who have obeyed the laws are unable The reverend orator then described the manner in which our Saviour had commanded us to pray by explaining the Lord's Prayer, and closed with a fine peroration and exhortation fouuded on the various peints of his discourse. JOHN STREET M. E, CHURCH. The Association of Local Preachers=An- mual Sabbath Services—The Folly of Worldly Wisdom=The Plan of Re« demption, The annuai and special services of the local preachers of New York aud Brooklyn in connec- tlom with the Methodist Episcopal Church were held yesterday, morning and evening, in the John street Methodist Episcopal church. When the cen: tenary of Methodism was celebrated in this church a few years ago, the Association of Local Preachers gave to the church a contribution of $1,000, which fund was invested in interest-bearing bonds for the benefit of the church, and the trustees of the church in recognition of the generous spifit of the offering resolved to set apart one Sabpath in the year for special services by and for the local preachers. At this annual gathering all the local preachers who can do so are expected to be. presetlt, ther as worshippers or officiating in the services, There are about FIFTY LOCAL PREACHERS of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New York and Brooklyn. At the morning services rostrum was occupied by the Rev. L. S, Weed, pastor of the church, and the Rev. Daniel T, Ma farlane and other local preachers. Among other preachers present were Messrs, Chark Applegate, Dykeman, Owen, Van Buskirk and Carr, After the usual Intreductory exercises ev. . {ariane selected as the text for his sermot e thirtieth verse of the first chapter of the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. The reacher said that from. i Rerussh Of this chapter it could be learned that thete wére dissensions in the Church at Corinth; that Satan had been at work, and that it Was a noticeable jact that when- ever the sons of God met together Satan was most certain to present himself; and so it came about that some of the members of THAY LITTLE BAND declared themselves as fellowcrs of Paul, seme of Apollonina, others of Cephas,~ and still others proclaimed themselves as followers ef Christ. It was im reference to this that Paul in his letter reproved them and urged apon them t Christ should be te them all im ail. Christ sent him to declare the Gospel message ia the simplest and plainest form, kst the numerous converts should be attracted by the power of the esterday the pulpit apostolic eloquence and not by the tig of God, In other words, it was by the wonderful mercy of God, His ee His love and His truth that they were to be saved, and it was through His Son, ‘as the source of all divine goodness, that the to derive all wisdom, righteousness, just! and sanctification. God had made CHRIST THR SOURCR OF ALL WISDOM to us, and in compassion with this wisdom all earthly wisdom was as naught and but foolishness. Of what avail in the life of eternity would be the doctrines ofa Spencer, the teachings of a Huxley, the science ofa Darwin or the pl losop ay. of a Fiske ? What sort of missionaries would these be to the world? Imagine a Darwin or a Huxley sent to the deng and hovels of New York's Five Points or to Water street to preach to the degraded crea- tures there of science aud porn. let a dis- ciple of Jesus Christ, with his mind well stored with the truth and wisdom which cometh frem above, 14 among them on his mission of mercy, hoiding up t e cross of Christ as the Saviour of the world, let him go and tell them the story of that cross, simply and plainly, and some heart would be touched by THE DIVINE MESSAGE and brought to the feet of Jesus in submisston. were cation ment are such 8 sect —iney are all Protestant Christians, who say that their object is TO BXCLUDR THE ROMANIST, as Well as all the non-Christian, as. 1. tian elements ef society, from on In the pepsia. Nature dees not burn his house. A man ag gorge himself and get off by paying 4 ong ° Tate Ss. De eo TEN DOLLARS TO NATURE. Our whole idea of punishment is 0 out of joint all i government; and hence the ‘dea ‘thia amend- iment about the Bivle as the supreme sa CAN) civil affairs, Which no adherent of Romanism Gubscribe to. We have, then, here the establish- ment of constitutional law of @ particular rei The preacher then proceeded to extol the glort- ous ita of Christ's redemption of the world; of the divine gifts through Jesus; of wisdom, te eousni Sanctification and’ redemption, and Sar naive neva a ditaet lcoless down by dod heaven that man take Pari to the work of bis own suivation, IN THE EVENING the services Were of # more miscellanegue charac: longer to uphold the edifice, It is fast falling, and when it falls it is the law-abiding citizens, who have striven to uphold it, that will be ruined in the crash, and not these who have deserted the build- ing and are without its bounds. Law-abiding citi- zens see this and are in despair of saving the structure; but they will ere long break soclety’s rules, leave the noble mansion to fall, and, in a wild passion of anger, pursue and destroy those who have been instrumental in causing the fearful calamity, When thisis done they will return and rebuild. The rottenness and dilapidation of the Present structure are such that it will mot stand atching. Reasoning men know this, and the day not far distant when these very cool and calcu- lating citizens will resolve themselves into hot- headed and unreasoning work, under the name of VIGILANCE COMMITTEE and rid themselves of these traitors and rebels, In these days of the Crédit Mobilier exposé and the unveiling of the shameless sins of municipal marauders people very naturally become very sceptical of the existence of anything noble or homest in our political or social organizations, They are disposed to say that the reason crime goes unpunished is that our legislators either haye Dot the ability or are unwilling to make an plain laws, ey claim that the ambiguity of many parts of the Jaw is studied im ition on the Reople, and that legislators, guilty of corruption, 0 not Know how soon they may indicted, con- sequently they make ample provistons for such an emergency by leaving many ha tthe through which they may crawl when brought to trial. There is a sort of ippenty ic in this, but the hilosophy is pseudodox. it is and always will be, suppose, a human failing to see the faults of others, while in our far-reaching view we remain Joyously eblivious of the faults which belong to our selves. Now, if seciety instead of ranting about others faults would invertits vision, a picture would be presented toit which is ey more sickening than anything it could imagine. Robbers d villains must Rave a certain amount of pluck and coe to execute their plans, but society has none of this, @ consequence of which is its some- times expressed amazement and fattery of the daring deeds ofruthiess robbers. Te return to my argument, Let society loek at itself and con- template its own figure. What @ sickening, loath- some object it is, with its MORDID WISHY-WASRY LUKEWARM SENTIMENT, dripbling out ites whining Le crammed with sentimental nonsense, for i lite of the man who lately robbed it of one of {ts members, Its versa- tant he TE is something One week it cries in sten- for vengeance and blood, and when its demand is complied with it weakens at the knees and vents a poetic prayer im extenuation of the crime which a few days previous curdied its genteel blood. The ruMan puts his hand into hia pocket, takes out his pistol and s! 8a citizen, When he Is co! viet oclety pul and into its pocket, takes Out it# handkerchief amd weeps. Poor creature! Ica tenderness will cause its death. A case in point is that of the murderer of Mr. Putnam, ‘whose widew has sigacd a petition to Governor Dix to commute the sentence of the murderer of her bread-winner to imprison- ment for life. In ae this the lady displays com- mendable charity and fergiveness, but Governor DLg, who is @ lawyer and a statesman, knows that the criminal statutes were not exacted for re- venge but for the administration of justice, and that it was not alone Mrs. Putnam who was affected by the murder, but every member of the community. If an example is not made of some of these men, the genera§on of the twentieth cen- tury will be an elegant GANG OF CUTTHROATS AND MURDERERS. Parents should look to this and demand an ex- ample for the benefit of their children, Some of the newspapers have the happy facuity of cover- ing the social strychnine with a most delicious- looking crust of rhetoric, and, thus concocted, the young idea takes into its system the insidious potson which in maturer years will kill the soul and breed a thousand crimes, 8T, PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL The Lesson of Christ’s ‘Transfiguration— His Mission to Teach and to Save—Dis- coursé by the Rey, Father Kean. that the Church has preserved, WE OAN GET THE WORD OF GOD IN ALL ITS PURITY. God says, “He who hears-you, hears Me; he who despiseth you, despiseth Me.” So we find He has appointed the Church as teachers of His Werd, and il we hear the Church we hear Him. If we despise the Church we Conia Him. We cannot mooret some truths and jdiscard others. St. James de- clares that he who breaks one commandment breaks all; so you see we must accept and obey all the Word, and not be lead away by the foolishness Of liberalism, that accepts part only. God Gate “This is my beloved Son; hear ye Him.” He di not say hear Him in a@ part of the truth, How strange tt is that so few believe. The reason is that God gives grace to some and not to all. To those who will receive His grace He gives tt in all its full- ness. To those who will not receive it He closes their minds. For those who will receive it HE WILL KEEP BACK NONB OF HIS GRACE. Let us be careful that by no cause of ours God shall take from our minds any of the light that shines upon us. God has shown us the way that We may be strong in fighting against temptation. Let us always accept with eagerness every word of God as given to us. Let us read books sanc- tioned by the Church, and not only have faith, but SHOW FORTH OUR WORKS, If we live good lives we shall behold the transfigu- ration of the Lord, and can say, “O Lord, it 1s good for us to be here.’” BROOKLYN CHURCHE*. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. Nature of Spirituality and Morality— We are Made of God and Every Man Creates God—Moral Selfishness— What Mankind Is Cannot Be Learned by Law=—The Religion of the Fu- ture—Sermomn by the Rev. H. W. Beecher. Yesterday the pastor of Plymouth church was welcomed back from his Western tour by an im- Mmense congregation. The holy sacrament—de- ferred on account of the pastor’s absence—was ad- ministered yesterday morning. Mr. Beecher’s text was Matthew xxil., 37-39, inclusive—‘Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy Ged with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, This is the frst and great command- Ment, and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This sentiment was uttered not once or twice, but was made the root and fountain of all the apostles’ teaching. The antiquity of this view is to be considered. It 1s @ fact that the Divine‘character was delineated, not gradually, but perfectly, three or four thousand years ago. Time has added nothing to it, nor has it taken anything away. Although principles have been ata up and the knowledge of the Divine method of creation increased, yet no knowl- edge has been thrown on the Divine nature. It pare out as bright 3,000 years ago as it does 0-day. There are two natures in man—a physical nature and a soul nature—and in regard to both there is the development of the grand principle of this DIVINE BLEMENT. “Thou shalt leve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself.” This opens a twofold view, viz.:—1. Nature of spirituality, or religion of sentiment. 2 Morality, or reli- gion of conduct. The one relates to the vast in- visible realm of thought—fature. The other to the realm of visible thought—presemt and practical. We have both morality and religion combined. They cannot be separated; they have the same root; they are not two elements in accidental juxtaposition, but are reciprocal and philosophically needful to each other. Itis the disposition of some to make religion the whole of life, and quite undervalue the other part. Not that they are WITHOUT CONSCIENCE, They are afraid that, because they have seen that they will be demoralized, and so go to the other extreme, they stand apart and meddle as little with practical life as possible. Andon the other side are those who exalt Mate and disparage religion, There can be no spirituality without ere They are indispensable to each other. T hold the unity of the Supreme. command, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself,” and the two together. The practical side of spirituality tends toward vagueness, enthusiasm, idealism, moral selfish- ness, and all these elements uf spirituality tend to run into Spanlty, If men were as much alive to practical religion as to idealism it would bebetter, It has been said that, while we are made of God, every man creates God; not in reality, not in personality, but in their own realiza- tion. if we had no knowledge of the earthly sen- timents we would not know the meaning, when applied to bighert things, of mercy. If we did not understand the meaning of mercy here how would We appreciate God's mercy? There is selfishness in every faculty. There is selfishness in kindness, in worship and in piety, There are many who separate themselves {rom the world and become SELF-CULTURISTS, th nk they are made of finer qualities, have a per- fect sense of self—an introversion, and say, ‘What wilt thou have, O self, 0 Soul?” The onty school against which Christ the school of the self-culturiste—the P Without ethical development moralit, Narrow, secular. It needs a larger horizon. Men need to have the range of ee enlarged, What manhood is canmot be learned by law; what one owes to his neighbor cannot be found out by law. It says thou shalt not twenty times for once it says thou shalt. The positive parts of law are few. Law is adefence. No man can find out what are his duties by asking the law. We need the spiritual element to enlarge the moral; we are not actors for a time, but FOR ETERNITY. If faith be 80 phn ha as to leave an impression on the minds of a congregation, that unless a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, thena WITNESS FALSE WITS is borne unto them, Suppose I were very fond of grapes andI should say te the gardner, let the Toots and leaves go, they are of no consequence; ee me the fruit only. Can grapes grow in the air $ do a that unless a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, but I say also that on your way up, it is better to have a lower grade than nothing. Men are educated go ti ant - het weeny dri - 5 are they sej le but goon tothe ratte. Just at this tame we need te bring this matter forward, because there springs out recrimination in TIME OF REVIVALS. Men are flinging at rel! because some have teat ouke ethics, 0 it is that the poor orahsts suffer. But by and by some of the Spiritualists lie a little or steal a little; then the moralists have their time 5 then they pelt each other. Spiritualists say tha‘ moralit; 1s not good for much, and some of itis not, How much better if they worked together. The world has never yet seen either side de- veloped in the full INSPIRATION OP LOVE. What whole bodies have ever made an exhibition of spirituality underlaid by morality? 1 know all joke was rise become: ach other ries are benevolent elements. No in- auseey can sustain itself unless it. 1a3 a benevolent object. Every man w works, 1s working in channels which d meant to be true benevolence. A ran ting shingles on a@ house, will he not think of ail the famulies it will protect in the course of time? of the children who * ay’ up under that roof? Will not the fragra: f the thonght pervade his work? If men would vut connect these things, and not think, “How much ll I get for this day's work?” This is my moral While mn are talk- ing asto what shall be the coming neligion, I ask men and they answer, “It is not in mp.” I ask the gue of Ld gt H ys it is God. What is od? God is love, The ey tig the future 1s surely this—love thy God with ‘ail thy heart and with ali thy soul and with all thy*mind, SEVENTH AVENUE W, B, CHURCH. Dr. Wild apon Chariy.y, Pare Heart and Good Cavascience. A very large congregation attended the services at the Cathedral yesterday, ‘The Rev. Father Kean Preacbed from the ‘firat nine verses of St. Matthew, 4s*rrivtive of Christ's sransicuration, But the Dr. Wild, of the Sever.th avenue Methodist Epis- copal church, Brooklyn, preached a sermon yester- day morning from, ‘First Timothy, 1. 5—“Now the end of the commsnament is charity, out ofa pure a heart and of = good conscience and of mith un- Soigned.”.1o his in¢eoduotion the reverend speaker Get fortn the comprehensiveness of Christianity and {te adaptivensss ¢o man's weakness, hopes aad fears. The effect of tue gospel proclaimed ite divine origin, and its, power-to bless and enlighten Geclared it an all dipl thing for man to believe, z oie Moye: Whether wraecor false is er gard to it and 2 au man, struggling with the world’s rout {t they fought the good aight, kept the faith, ram the race and won the prize. One must incape- ble of observation if he could not discern a wholc- some difference between the man thai ‘ed and the man that did not. The commandments had wrought chastity, made pure the heart, toned the conscience and made faith sincere and effective. They had given shape to nations aud allottea the destinies of races. They had been inscribed on the banners of freedom and enfolded in the pre gressive achomes of civilization. A great many people made conscience their law, paileving if they kept a pure conscience they were all right, In the speaker's opinion it was » sentiment—but the mere reflex of the man's de- cision. What a man believes is right his conscience never opposes. Accordin; 70 «that theory ® Hindoo mether was right when pressed by her conscience to throw her child into the Ganges. If we were to be entirely guided by conscience we Would have a queer thing of it, for conscience had Tun through the world with the strangest idiosin- crasies, which its subjects were loth to dispute, Love sanctified conscience and intellect; without it both were as sounding brass. It needed this element to make preyore acceptable; but many petitions, Sampson-like, were shorn of their Strength because lacking this quality. . The reverend gentleman concluded hts remarks by eee his congregation to seek the end of the commandments, for therein was the perfectness of divine excellence, the end of toti and strife. TOMPKINS AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHUROR. A Sermon by Dr. Clarke on Paul’s Visit to Athens—Christianity and Culture— A Shy at the Beecher “Manhood” .Controversy—More Hope of Conversions in Five Points than on Fifth Avenue. Dr. Clarke preached yesterday morning to a large and appreciative congregation at tue above church. The text selected was the sixteenth verse of the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apos- tles:—“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given up to tdolatry.” The circumstances of the visit of Paul to Athens, and his probable reflections whilst there, with a short description of the then city, formed the introductioa to the discourse. Then the practical end sought by the preacher in the sermon he was about to de- irce of con- the living, a COMMtOre to the dying to weary one La rougt: liver, was announced, namely:—The proof that beliof in Christianity and culture do not always go together. This position was variously illustrated all the way through. If there was any city in which Paul might, with more confident expectation believe that his Gospel messaze would be received with {a- vor, it was, certainly, in Athens, by the cultured Athenians. The narrative of his visit, as given ip that chapter, showed with what almost scorn that message had been received. It had been always so. Christ preached at Jerusalem, among the devout Jews, but it was on the Pings of Judea, prong, a half-barbarous people, that the greatest moral tri- umphs had been achieved by the great teacher. HUMAN NATURE, when {t was cultured, when it had encrusted ttsell around with the refinements, tke learning and the taconite of men, rejected the humility that Was needful to the acceptance of the simple Gospel truth. There was more hope of the conversion ot sinners by the preaching of the Gospel in Five Points than there was in Fifth avenue, “The car- nal mind is at enmity against God.” The Athenians had erected altars to all the virtues and to all the vices—nay, further, they had erected an altar to “the unknown God.” They re: fused, however, to inscribe upon it the name of that God whom Paul preached tothem. Yet the Athenians were Greeks, distin. guished by virtues, by the development oi & culture that is the admiration of the world. Was Dot this “the manhood’’ that was now so loudly praised, and which it was said religion came into the world to develop? Paul did not, Itke some modern ministers, drop the Christian in the tourist or the missionary in the-wanderer, There was Much at Athens that might have tempted Paul aside to the neglect of his great work of preach- ing the truth, His historical associations received on all sides abundant illustrations, and he might, perhaps, have been pardoned had he gratified Lia Paul took cultured taste. THE LAMP OF HIS FAITH with him. The history was a sublime instance ot the integrity of the faith of Paulin the truth that wasinbim. Paul's spirit was needed to-day. culture would not avail us in seeking Jesus. simple faith that receives and accepts Jesus and His work was all that would truly avail us, No matter what our culture was if we failed to give our heart to God; our amiability, our refinement, our accomplishments, our virtues went for nothing, and we crucified Jesus afresh, if we did not give up to Him and the prompunes of the grace of God in our hearts that which was felt and knew should be sacrificed in His cause. There was a danget finding its way into the Church in these modern times—that worldliness and religion could go along the broad way together. Day by day it was made more evident that the separation must be distinct, and the old-fashioned truth was just as patent now as it ever was that the broad way leadeth untae destruction and the narrow way unto eternal ite. THIRD UNITARIAN CHURCH. Religion and Mor: —The Duty of Man to Repent—Discourse by the Rev. Mr. Camp. The Rev. Mr. Camp, of the above church, yester day preached from the following text:—“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand’—Mat thew ill., 2. He stated, in opening, that the grand word with which John introduces himseif to thos who would know what the prophet in the desert would say stands for something LARGER AND OF NOBLER MEANING than the word as it appears in the English Bible. It means vastly more than repent—reformation—not only sorrow for sin, but a determined purpose to conquer and cast sin ont, “Reform, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” If we had no other word of direction—if the teachings ot Jesus furnished nothing by way of corroborating this thought—if James had never written this sterling chapter, still we should be justified iu emphasizing this announcement. Jesus speaks with unmitigated scorn, with a severity, too, to those who seek to enter His kingdom by any other way. Jesus says, “inasmuch as ye did your duty to one of the humblest, ye did it unto Me,” and He teaches the worthlessness of everything else ag compared with this. Cnrist seemed to impress upon His hearers that Our The RELIGION I8 NOT A SERVICE so much as a life, that its presence is not proved by @ word “ef our ritual, but by a holy temper, a tendency within us towards divine things; and, therefore, the minister concluded, that we sre in the truest sense combining this work and building up the Kingdom of Heaven to-day when we call at- tention to and emphasize this important fact so eagerly and forcibly announced by John, and so faithfully and truthfully exemplified by Jesus—viz., the essential relation between morality and relig- ion. It is desirable to know the utmost we can concerning God. In the stars, the sea, the storms, in everything the seeking soul shall find its God. God is sum and centre of goodness, and we can never fully know Him or understand this inifeable peace which comes from Him until we are willing to so prepare our guest chamber—the heart—that THE DIVINE GUEST SHALL COMB and fill.us with His own heavenly delight. To un- derstand goodness we must be good; to know God ‘we must be God-like; to build up a kingdem, which deserves the holy title, we must attend to the cul- tivation of morai qualities; we must reform and refresh our lives according t me lofty ideas, and thus shall the kingdom of heaven be reached. Can any’ short of Almighty grace @eal tenderly and justly with the man who dar pretend to pray while he knowingly actsa lie? I prefer the simple, sincere, rough honesty efaman who may be profane, whose shadow may never darken a church door to THE OILY-TONGUED MAN who can discourse so serenely about religion, but is full ef all manner of uncleanness. The minister spoke of the duty of Christians in @ charitable line, and said that nearly every well-to-do family wastes enough each day to keep ahumaa being alive; and we have a spiritaal waste as well. In the name of religion weary men and women are defrauded, They ask for bread; they know that nothing else can appease the imperative clamor; too often they have been offered a stone. Instead of the simple divine word of the Gospel, whic means encouragement, uplifting, growth, which SPEAKS TO A HUMAN SOUL in the most natural, persuasive tone, they have been asked to belleve stem which has merit in their estimation only a8 it bas diMculty and con- tradiction—something to compel unquestioning forth, something which human reason cannot ex- plain’ana must, therefore, let alone. The clergy- man dwelt at some length in elucidation of tha diference between reiigion and fnorallty, and stated that the time of triumph is delayed by our ‘unwillingness to conquer what is base and unworthy and to eject the devils, which have learned how to manage us, who know where we are weak, where best to assail us. He conciaded by saying, Oh, brethren, when I think of our responsibilities what we may do for and be to each other; how the dear, divine cause flourish under our care, and hew we may consciously spread the biessing of God's truth; how we may in spirit encourage and strengthen others; it seems to me we ar¢ greatly blest. 1 love and more this precious jaith which tells me that my feebiest, biindest ef fort to find God is not @ failure—not without prom: ise, and | love to reiterate the blessed word. form' come out, ‘of the Geom, and drearinesa inte the warmth 4nd light. You have but to turn you! @ eves toward God ant Ba meets you with § os aunile of tieaveniv welcome