The New York Herald Newspaper, April 28, 1873, Page 4

4 CITY CHRISTIANITY. Soul and Sense Delighting in the Sun- shine of Spring-—-Crowded Churches and Cheerful Discourses. Beecher on the Backward-Locking Sons of Time—The Past To Be Forgotten in fate, the moot became a fact, a living fact, in the shape of the edifice which now shelters us. By those who were not with us during: the time Lad were planning and building this house, let it na be supposed that it was as easily done as said, ie such ia not the case. We had our little money difficulties, and more than once 1 was temp! rae te despair, owing to the tardiness that Mad - fested by some and the utter inaction of 01 But THR DARKEST HOUR af is the one before dawn, and I have lived, thank God, to see the Church of the Covenant a gem of church architecture in the great Babel of America, It would be an inexcusable injustice in me uf 1 were to bid you goodby without making mention of the doings of others, without whose ald and ad- vice this church must have never been. These gentlemen, many of whem are now in the oity, worked with me day and night and were never slow to give me the benefit of their pockets and their heads, two essentials which are imperative a Purgatory of Old Age. The Radical and the Secta- rian Religion. Talmage on Teaching the Scrip- tures in the Schools. Splendid and Solemn Services at St. Pe- ter’s—The Farewell Sermon of the Right Rev. Father Quinn, ———— ne A Curious Valedictery in the Church of the Cove- nant—Hepworth’s Dogmatic, Storrs’ Sooth- ing and Frothingham’s Zsthetical Eloquence Yesterday. Our Sundays more than other days of the week seem to be blessed with the rare sunshine that now and then brightens the gloom of this dreary Spring, and yesterdsy was bright and charming. Accordingly the strects of both our sister cities were filled with charch-going people, who poured into the sacred edifices with a cheerfulness which ‘was almost eager and sat in happiness to sing hymns and listen to words of kindly and holy counsel, Among the Catholic services of the day the most important were those which occurred at St. Peter's church, in Barclay street. Here a vast throng of ‘worshippers gathered, and the Rev, Father Quinn, recently elected Vicar General of the diocese, to succeed the late Father Starrs, preached his fare- well sermon to his people in words of touching elo- quence. The Rev. Mr. Prentiss, of the Church of the Covenant, also preached his valedictory dis- course before leaving the pulpit forever. ‘The reports given below will be found to repro- duce the most original and striking utterances of the preachers yesterday, and therefore should not de devoid of interest to the serious public, OHURQH OF THE DISCIPLES, How Christianity Proves Itself—Dif- ferent Religious Systems and their Basis—Sermon by the Rev. George H. Hepworth. The cheerily bright sunshine of yesterday, though with an accompaniment of wind and dust that savored of a painiul prolongation of the ides of March, attracted a large and fashionable attend- ance at the services yesterday morning at the Church of the Disciples, corner of Madison avenue and Forty-fifth street. The Rev. George H. Hep- worth preached the discourse, his subject being “Christianity Proves Itself,” and the text Colos- sians 1., 13—“Who has delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the king- dom of his dear son.” I make no exaggerated statement, he began, when I say that the chief im- pulse of a Christian life should come from Christ. If you are @ sculptor you are very foolish if you do not study the best models, and sol say of the Christian, let Lim choose for his model. THE BEST MODEL. And if there is a best model, let us sit at His feet and learn as children of aparent. And let us be proud that although of ourselves we are ignorant an® weak, through Him we are wise and strong. But you say to me, How can I believe in Christian- ity? Lanswer you that I will meet you on your own ground, I ask you to test Christianity as you would a political question, Ido not ask you to be- lieve unless there is reason for it; but I am sure that if you require even mathematical proof it can be given you as much as in any of the ordinary oc- currences of life. First you ask me why I am such A FANATIC ABOUT CHRISTIANITY? Why ts it laccept such asystem of thought? I guswer, because of its intrinsic worth, it has lasted 1,800 years, and that is its best proof. Its promises have never been broken, and if you obey its commands you will reap its rewards. Every other system has a man in its centre. These other systems are feunded, flourish and decay. This system has Christ as its centre; aud, far from pale J itis every day growing higher, deeper and broader in its pewer. Again, I believe Chris- tianity to be @ divine institution because it is in accerdance with all ef God’s works. We look on the Pyramids and we know instinctively that they are the work of man. We look on thepromontory, and we see the waves dashing at its base and the firmness in the roek, and we Know itis the work of God. We look at the Gul! Stream. It is too large for man to have commenced. It carries the warm ‘water irom the tropics to the otherwise cold coun- tries of the North and makes fertile # land that otherwise would be as barren as the wastes of Labrador. When I come to Christianity, I come to the Gulf Stream that starts from the tropics of God’s warm love. 1 see it go across the whole ocean of our life, making flowery vales where ‘would otherwise be snow and ice. And I say there is too much power there for man, and therefore it is God's. And again | accept Christianity as a divine institution, and consequently having power over my life But, you say to me at once that CHRISTIANITY IS NOT WHOLLY ORIGINAL, Can it not be true because it is not original? You can’t hide beyond that fence. It Is a curious fact that all great things come in bits. The steam engine, the telegraph, the printing press were not the works of one brain. They were the fruits of many thoughts of many men. The man who Rut the thoughts together we call the inventor. ve Know that virtue and merality nave existed in bits Bince the world began. Not even the barbarian does wrong without afterwards feeling remorse. es, these BITS OF GOOD were stars in the ancient heavens, and men for ages lived under their light. But who does not know that when the sun comes up the stars fade ? We travel under the larger light—not that we are ungratetul to the stars, but that we are more grate- tui for the greater light. It is so with the religious systems, Every system has been a star; but each has faded before the sun—Christianity, It seems ‘tome as if those great men had played just a: man sometimes plays on @ big organ with two pipes. One man appeals to the judgment and an- Other to the passions; but Christ piays on all tne and draws out ail the stops, and now plays iy and tenderly, and now strongly and B nly, and now he thunders; but every touch is ‘the touch of amaster, and the harmony thrilis ana throbs her a whole being. He can elevate or depress it, What man is there who can PLAY EVERY TUNE. 1 know of only one. Ah, there is but ene Master | and that Master is on the throne of heaven. What heed 1s there forme togoon. There is but one thing lett. Only one way remains for proving Christianity. You might argue with me all day about a match, stating that by certain laws of cnemistry It Would not light by drawing it across @ rough piece of marble; but when I draw it across 1t does light, and yeur and my argument are not worth that (snapping his thumb and finger). If | yeur chemistry does not preve it so much the Worse for your chemistry. Put your Christianity to the test, not with the microscope or scalpel, but | take the Sermon on the Mount as your guide and tee if it does not lit you upwards, CHURCH OF THE COVENANT. The Rev. George L. Prentiss’ Valedic- tery—He Bids His Congregation Goodby for success. They are synonymeus a8 homo- genous, and without one tl her was compara- tively useieas, One can have but an adumbra- tion of the ZEAL AND DETERMINATION these gentlemen displayed in pushing on toward completion the church. Lam not fulsome when [ say they were cxampies of superlative generosity and Christianity, When I leave you I do not intend ever to return to the pulpit, but my heart and all good wishes will forever be clustered in the church and its.con- gregation. Goodby, my friends, and may the God of blessings smile as propitious, on your efforts of the future as He has on those of the past! 81. PETER'’S ROMAN OATHOLIO CHURCH. Interesting and Impressive Services— Farewell Sermon by the Rev. Father Quinn—The New Vicar General—Im- posing Musical Exercises. A more than usually large congregation assem- bled yesterday morning at the well-known and aacient tempie of worship on Barclay street for the purpose of assisting at the farewell ceremonies and listening to the farewell words of the pastor, who had, during nearly a quarter of a century, presided over the flock at St. Peter's, and also of his assistant, the amiable young curate, who, from the time of his ordination, some four years ago, had won the love and had grown in the estimation of all who worshipped at the time-honored shrine at which he ministered. Some twenty-four years ago the Rev. Father William Quinn was appointed pastor of St. Peter’s church. He was young, active, ambitious to do well the laborious duties which are parts of the lot of a Catholic priest, and flinched not at facing the responsibilities of his new posi- tion, Those responsibilities were by no means few or slight, The church was loaded down with debt; the uptownward tendency of business was forcing residents of means away from the lower wards; commerce actually battered at the walls of the church, and demanded its removal to make way for warehouses, such as were springing up on every side; the locality was too good to be over- looked if it could be secured; but the lamented Archbishop Hughes determined that nothing should be left undone that would preserve intact the church, which he proudly styled ‘TE CRADLE OF CATHOLICITY in the city of New York.” Tocarry out his idea the Archbishop placed Father Quinn in charge of tne parish, knowing that it required one who would and could untiringly work to relieve the church from its embarrassments, and, with his keen in- sight into human nature, knowing, also, that Father Quinn was the man he wanted. Results have shown the soundness of the Archbishop’s ideas. The young pastor went fearlessly to work, and yesterday he had the pardonably proud satis- faction of being able to state that of a peculiar debt, amounting to $120,000, not one dollar re- mained unpaid. Under his supervision the church has been beautified, the attendance at the schools, comparatively speaking, has been increased; the ordinary mdebtedness on the church building has been largely diminished, on every hand there are evidences to show that the wolves which threat- ened the dismemberment of his flock had not frightened him away, but that he had been a “good shepherd” and not a “hireling.” The death ol the late Vicar General Starrs created @ vacancy, to fill which Archbishop McCloskey has appointed Father Quinn, For the purpose o1 attending to the duties of the Vicar Generalship Father Quinn was obliged to retire from the pastorship of St. Peter's and yesterday he delivered his last sermon as pastor in the church, ‘The altars were brilliant with numerous waxen tapers and devices of natural fowers. The ofticiat- ing priests wore vestments of gold cloth, heavily and tastefully embroidered in bright golden thread. The sprightly young acolytes wore snowy surplices and crimson soutans, and all together tended to make A BRILLIANT AND IMPRESSIVE PICTURE. The mass was celebrated by the Kev. M. C. O'Farrell, assisted by the Rev. J. M. Phelan, as deacon, and Rev. M. J. Phelan, as subdeacon. The Rey. Father Valois, of Montreal, officiated as | Master of ceremonies and directed all the move- ments within the sanctuary in most masterly style, At the appropriate portien of the mass the new Vicar General ascended the pulpit, and alter Pitg some ordinary novices proceeded to deliver THE SERMON, He took as his text the gospel ef the day—John X., Ll—which coptains the parable of the Good Shepherd, who is ready, if necessary, to lay down his life to protect his flock, The reverend gentleman Went on and explained the beautiful figure drawn by the Divine Redeemer in the parable, and how fully the character of Christ was exemplified in the persen of the good Shepherd. ‘It would be difl- cult to conceive any figure which would represent 8o truly and beautifully the character of Christ a8 that of the shepherd. it embraces in itself, as any one can easily understand, everything that im- plies great interest, great care, great vigilance on the part of the shepherd. It implies the greatest tenderness, the greatest interest in the weifare of the flock; the greatest anxiety to protect the flocks from harm and danger and providing for them sustenance andahome. When men had violated the commandments of God, when time rolled on from generation to generation, from cen- tury to century, men turned a@way irom the face of the Heavenly Father and were buried in the depths of iniquity and sin. He who presents Himself to-day as the Geod Shepherd comes into this world, 1s conceived and born in 4 miraculous manner of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and ajter some years of retirement He ap- pears among the péople in the character of a shepherd. No amount of opposition could inter- fere with the discharge of the solemn duties He had assumed. No f representations, no calumny that the Scribes and Pharisees might hurl on Him, could deter Him or canse Him ever to de- sert His flock, aud He preved His teaching by lay- me down His lite for thein.”’ fe then proceeded to show the delight our Di- vine Redeemer took in using the simile of the shep- herd. That when He gave His command to St. Peter He said to “PEED MY SHEEP, FEED MY LAMBS." He showed that the priests of the Catholic Church, having been ordained by the grace of God to carry on the work commenced by Christ on earth, had been faithful at ail times. He appealed to history to corroborate the assertion, and the countless army Of martyrs to demonstrate the fact that they were ready at any time to lay down their lives in the discharge of their duty. THE FAREWELL was given in a few words. He said:—‘To-day, be- loved brethren, I cannet leave the pulpit without saying a word or two more. It weuld look, perhaps, like affectation if I did not do 80 am announce to you that some changes have been lately made by the Archbishop. Father O'Farrell, “who has been here from the time of his ordination, upwards of five years, and Wuo has gained the esteem, the friendship and the love of all, has for his untiring efforts in discharging the duties been rewarded by a promotion to the pastoral charge of the city of Rondout. His pres- ence here F ypten ng me from saying more about him that would like to say and which he justly deserves; but I can say that I congratulate the Catholics of Rondout for having obtained a |g ol 80 devoted and socapable, Another change vas been made, in my own case. It was not a matter of command on the part of the Archbishop; but athough Ileave you with regret, 1 couid not decline the offer that was made me under the cir- cumstances which surrounded it. My place will be filled by Father O'Farrell, Sr., who has been here nearly three years, He ‘will come here during the present week and take charge ot the congregation and the parish. 1 know him very weil, and | think it would be dimcuit to find a cler- gyman who wenid be better calculated to give sat- isiaction, When! looked back twenty-three or twenty-four years I thought it would be well te say nothing. There have been many changes in that time. ‘Stany who were ef great aid have passed away. (Here the speaker's voice trembled slightly and pocket handkerchiefs appeared in telltale tion, After @ pause of @ moment he proceeded.) Many have passed away. Their pla worthily filled by those who came after them. and Prays for Their Future Welfare. dhe Charch of the Covenant was filled to reple- tion yesterday with @ fashionably dressed congre- gation, who assembled to hear the farewell sermon of the Rev. George L. Prentiss, who has been pas. tor of the church for eleven years past. The vale- dictory was a departure from the genera! rule in point of style; in fact, it was not a valedictory, but an historical résumé of all that had happened dur- Ing bis pastorship. The substance of his remarks will be found in the following :— THE SERMON, When the alarm of secession was thundered peross the broad expanse of this country, and when already in the distance the roar of the cannon and rattle of musketry could be heard, the project of building this church was first broached. irring times which followed, when he ar ebay 8 GXsapOE WeUBbind AR bs palaiace of ‘There have been many difficulties here. The dit- | culties have nearly ali gone, and we can say that Ol a debt of $120,000 owing by the church NOT ONE DOLLAR HAS BEEN LEFT UNPATD, and, what Is more peculiar, is the fact that of the | whole amount of the money there was not more | than one hundred dollars that was not claimed, The | money was owing to many people, in sums of $50, | $100, $200, $300 and go on; some a8 high as $1,000, | thas all been paid. ‘There was some embarrass- | ment. For three or four years the interest was | HOt paid, but at a meeting of the creditors it was agreed upon by @ large number to remit the inter- est for @ few years and take the principal. There were many who were paid the interest, and others Who Were satisfied to take their prin- cipal, as they had not expected and bh no hope that they would be paid, The debt on mortgage on the clureh has been greatly reduced, | but it would not do to mention what the amount is; it Would not do to have you feel that you had nothing to pay, The current expenses for sup- plies, vestments and so on are very large and must be wet, I may have done things taat 1 guguid Si have done better, and Imay have omitted to do many sens that [ should have done—many things for which I may have to answer belore the judg- ment seat of God, I thank the congregation tor the many kindnesses, I have ne recollection how of any difiiculty, of any want of rendering. I can’t say now what I would like to say. 1 will re- member yox in my prayers, and all I can ask is to be remembered in yours." The reverend gentleman was evidently much ed. His voice trembled as he neared the close, ter making the above request, he turned quickly and descended from the puipit, The hand- Kerchieis and eyelids were again in suspicious con- tiguity when Father Farrell proceeded, at the close the sermon, te sing the “Uredo,” His notes were given with an evidently involuntary tremble. THE MUSICAL EXBROISES consisted of Haydn's Imper Biederman presided at the while Mr. W. F. Pecher acted ys leader. The tet comprised Mrs. Easton, soprano; Misa ‘Tobin, alto; Mr. Savage, tenor, and itr. aud, basso,’ and was assisted by @ chorus of forty voices and an orchestra of twenty pieces. At the offertory Mrs, Kaston sang @ semi-recitative proximity to several cyea among the congrega- | have been | rayer by Bragga in exquisite style, with organ Seoompaniment and violln obligato, The effect ‘was fine indeed, It was long after noon when the services con- cluded, and the immense congregation slowly dis- persed, CONFIRMATION SERVICES. ‘The Most Rev. Archbishop McCloskey In the after- noon administeredithe sacrament of confirmation to some five or six hundred persons, male and female, including a large number of adults. In the morn- ing the holy communion was received ior the first time by aiarge number of old and young. Father juinn had undoubtedly a day of extraordinary ex- itement on his farewell, and neither he nor those who were present at any of theservices can readily forget the day. CHURCH OF THE HEAVENLY REST. The Outline of a Social Danger—Our Density of Population—The Tenement Houses and the Misery and Crime Grow- ing Out of Them—Its Remedy—Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Conrad, The Rev. Dr. Conrad, of the Church of the Heavenly Rest, preached a sermon last evening in aid of a charitable institution known as the Shepherd’s Fold, his subject being “The Outline of a Social Danger.” After referring to charities in general and the duty of Cnristians to contribute to their support, he stated the object of the Shepherd’s Fold to be the rescue, the keeping and education of the little ones. In considering the social danger which affected and threatened our city, he referred to the ‘rapid increase of our population and the tendency toward an undue density arising from the pecu- Marities of its situation, An island, long and nar- row, the avenues and streets were being filled with costly edifices. Again, with the great in- crease of commerce it is constantly encroaching on our space, and the effect of the two is to herd THE POORER POPULATION within such confined space as to tend most toward the increase and development of vice and crime, Those who resided in thelr costly mansions could form no idea of the hideous condition of many in the city. Me spoke of the tenement houses in the various localities, where fever ebtained a perennial lease from which it could be ejected by no local owers, He quoted from the report of the Board of Freattn to show that they were the abode of not only contagious diseases but of every species of vice. The mass of the families numbering from three to five persons, occupied but two rooms, and in the houses there were from twenty te one hundred and flity such suits of apartments, and in them is engendered the disease called the tenement house rot. There are in New Yerk 5,832 tenements, To- night 9,700 of the population will sleep in miser- able, repulsive cellars. In a portion of the Eleventh ward the population is crowded in at the rate of 196,000 co the equare mile, and in one por- tion of the Fourth ward at the rate of 290,000, The densest portion of London contains but 175,000, 21,000 less than in the Eleventh ward. The speaker then depicted ‘THE CRIME, THE LAWLESSNESS AND DEGREDATION which grew out of this cendition of affairs. The records shew that 60,000 of the population live by crime. During the past year 86,629 arrests were made. In considering this army of criminals, he said, we may thank Ged that it is undisciplined, as it has the inclination to any crime, even to the sacking of the city. ‘This is but the record of the crimes which are known. He referred to the riots of 1863 as show- ing the force of the lawless element when once aroused to action, and said it still exists as power- ful now as then, He described the energy of the American character, exhibited among criminals as well as all others, making them burglars where the Englishmen would be pick- pockets, and murderers where the others would merely use their fists. After referring to the radi- cal spirit abroad among the working class and its tendency toward the doctrines of Communism, as exhibited in France, he argued that the principal remedy for thus lay in succoring the children and Pre rennin their growing up to lead a life of vice. le eloquently depicted the good which the institu- tions for children in the city had already done, and urged upon his hearers, as good citizens and Christians, to contribute toward sustaining them in their work. LYRIO HALL Rooted and Grounded in Love=—Differe ence Between the Radical and the Sectarian—Sermon by the Rev. 0. B. Frothingham. April's closing Sabbath and the warmth of its brilliant sunshine, theugh rather rudely tempered by the still lingering blasts of early Spring, found the usual large and fashionable congregation in attendance at the services yesterday morning in Lyric Hall. The Rey. O. B. Frothingham, the popular pastor, occupied the pulpit, and, as is more oiten the case than otherwise, took no text from the Bible as the basis of his discourse, but an- nounced as his subject, “Rooted and Grounded in Love.” Everything that lives, he began, hasa root. Even the air plants, that seem to live on light and atmosphere, still draw their sustenance from some tangible thing. The ROSE OF JERICHO that flourishes in Egypt and in the Barbary States pulls its root out of the ground, winds it around its body and rolls away to better soll so as to get succor. The higher the plant the deeper the root. Plants that live near the ground need but shallow sustenance. The oak tree that lasts thousands of years reaches down furlongs, stretches out its Toots on every side and draws its sustenance from a continent. It coils about huge rocks, and goes burrowing down into the centre, where things that died centuries before are going to mould. All the force of iaan cannot start it, and the tempest only strips off its leaves. It lives in two worlds—the upper world of light and glory, the under world of darkness and gloom. Every man and woman has a root, and the grander the man or womaar the deeper the root, The man whose shadow falls across centuries draws his sustenance from the centuries that have gone before him, According to the height of character isthe depth of the root, is a man rich, he blossoms and bears fruit; is he oor, he shrinks away, dries up and perishes, Here isa man who, in his season of popularity, seems noble, The very breath on which he lives is taken away when the SUNLIGHT OF COMMON FAME is removed. In England a man believes in mon- archy, in France he praises the Empire, and in Mecca he takes off his shoes and kisses the black stone. His faith comes trom the ground en which he treads. He i8 a rose of Jericho. If he has roots nobody knows where they are, Here is @ man who has a deeper root, He believes in his precursors, The red biood and | the blue blood ef his ancestors wind to him the life on which he lives. He carries himself with noble pride and never forgets the stock from which he sprung. Suppose @ man strikes deeper than this. He does not care whether a man ts of the East or the West; if he belongs to the same country he is a brother. He believes in AMERICAN IDEAS, Does he equally respect other nations? Ais root may be noble and true, but it can be shaken by Prone passion or impulse. He is a patriot, out nothing else. Suppose a man strikes down his roots lower than this—‘ar down, below caste, ancestry and country. into human nature, not asking the nationality, but the humanity—a man who asks only if another has Divine faculties in his breast. He strikes his root into a principle and touches men at the point where they ail touch each other. This is the noblest, deepest root of all. When a man strikes down into the core of things you see one who is proofagainst triais and temptations, The detinition of a radical is a man who pulls up every- thing from the root. ‘The radical says, “I come not to destroy, but to fulfil.” He would pull up the weeds in his own garden, but nething else. another definition is @ man who can never rest tii he gets at the root of everything, forever pulling up lus corn TO SEE HOW IT GROWS, This is the definition of the scoffer. The radical is a man who believes in root, and wants to know in what soil he is planted. All he desires is to knew that his root goes down far enough te keep him, A sect 18 @ part of a whole, and @ sectarian is @ clipped man, a plant put into a box instead of a field, Every human being has strength of some sort, but this sectarian 18 an apple tree planted in the cleft ofarock, Ail it brings forth is one apple, and that one sour, The less there 18 in @ long-necked pottle the more noise it will make in coming out. He holds to a little- shred doctrine, and believes that no one else has any truth at all. The radical cannot be a sectarian. Wiat is @ church bat A BUNDLE OF SECTS? There is something grand in the idea of a church, an organization that lives through ages, The churchman carries about him an air of dignity and repose that seems to be a part of the organization to which he belongs. Yet what respect has he for other charches? His mind is slow and opaque. He prays as the Church prays, out of a book, The Churcu takes care of hi aud forgives im, Wher he talks to other believers it is over a fence, for he cannot help believing that he is in the safe place. The Catholic Church says it is older than the Bible. Is it older than the Old Testament? The experience of two thousand is packea away in its recesses, What convictions, hopes, andicipa hong and superb conceptions of the world that is and the one to be! .e man who sinks bis roots so deeply in that old Bible that they take up everything there will be a giant among men. It depends upon how deep he puts his reo! and whether he puts it on the letter or the spirit. The man who will fix his roots in the the New Testament, going down below the errors and mistakes, will lead a life as peaceful and sweet as ig ever seen in the world. The Christian radical roots himself into the heart of Jesus. The teat of the radical is not that his mind cannot rest. You may know him by his patience, serenity and trust, by his not boing content within the itmits ofa church. Heis rooted and grounded in love. TALMAGE AT THE ACADEMY. The Bible in the Public Schools—The Tabernacle Pastor's Sermon Yesterday Morning—A Tremendous Congregation and Frequent Applause. A tremendous audience gathered at the Academy yesterday morning to listen to the discourse of Mr. Talmage, on the question of the Bible in the public schools, and frequent applause was given him dur- ing the delivery of his views on this matter, Start- ing out with the assertion that the Bible was the king of books—the mighttest force that the hand of God ever projected among the nations—the preach- er proceeded to state his reasons why he was opposed to the expulsion of that book from the common schools, If you had anything to say against expulsion, you should speak now or for- ever hold your peace. (A voice—‘‘Bully |’! and ap- plause.) In the first place he was opposed to it because such expulsion would decide that a great multitude of the children of this country should have no moral and religious culture. We must take the community just as it is and recognize the fact that the vast majority of people do not read the Bibie in their households, and do not send their children to Sabbath schools, so that the majority of the children derive all knowledge about God and Christ and eternity from the Scripture lessons of the day school. And if in the future history of this country there were to be here, a8 many had estt- mated, more than three hundred millions of peo- ple, then that Christian man who voted the expul- sion of the Bible voted that more than two hundred millions of the future population of this country should have NO MORAL OR RELIGIOUS CULTURE, Another reason why the preacher was opposed to expulsion was that the book interfered with no man’s right. The Jews had made no violent oppo- sition to it, As te the Roman Cathelics, the conse- quence of their opposition had been the establish- ment of schools of their'own, and the preacher in- uired if 1t was fair or common sense to expect that those who went out irom the common schools and took their children should have an influence over these who remained and wanted their chil- dren to read God’s word? Ifa majority had gone out already, was it right that they should come back and tell who had remained that we could not ™~ have our own sons and daughters reading that Bible? No; the very moment they decided to leave the common schools they proved they ought not new to have any right to come in and say, “You shall not have the Hely Word in the common schools.” Mr. Tal- mage held that the Bible was the most unsectarian of beoks. Wickliffe and Coverdale and Matthew were Catholics when they made their translation under King Henry VIII, who was himself a Roman Cathohe, and -our translation, the King James translation, was substantially the same thing; so that this Book was no mere a Protestant book than it was a Roman Catholic—nor so much. He knew of no instance where teachers in our public schools had tried to make proselytes. Another ob- jection to expulson was that it would be WARRING UPON THE CONSCIRNCES OF MEN. Asa wajority of the people in this country were Protestants, he asked whether the conscience of a Protestant was not worth as much as the con- science of a Catholic? ier If the Bible were expelled our Romish brethren might be leased, but he wanted it understood that the best feelings of hundreds of thousands of Christian peo- ple in this country would be warred upon—people ‘whese hopes for heaven were hung upon that book, and who believed it to be the only safe foun- dation for a republican form of government. The Bible was also the best school book that there was. Bring all other books and put them in a pyramid, but put the Bible on the top of that pyramid. It was an interesting thought to him that when the clock struck nine the teacher tapped the bell in the schools of this country, the Scriptures were opened, and after the lesson had been read the little heads would bow (or used to bow) in the prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven” — A WHOLE CONTINENT RECITING PRAYER im concert. Now, however, an influence came to the school door and said, ‘Clese the Bible—stop that prayer.” The right to take the Bible out im- plied the right to take out every ether book that acknowledges God, and God would be fiishonored in the estimation of the young people ot coun- try. When the school governments of this coun- try decreed that the Bible was nota fit b for tle common schools they started in the minds of thé young the idea that the Bible was a dangerous book. You had no right to throw dishonor on this book or arouse a suspicion in the hearts of chil- dren—a suspicion that would mever be gone. Another ground of Mr. Talmage’s opposition to expulsion was that the wise men of t! country who founded amd maintained the government were opposed to expulsion, and to prov: this he quoted from Washington, Webster, et al. Now, my friends, said the speaker, I prefer to stand in the assocla- tion of men of that class who have believed in having the Bible in the common schools rather than to stand in the association of those men who, BORN IN THE DITCH OF THE POLITICAL CaUcts, have been cursed to crawl on their belly through the slush and slime of partizanship, demanding the expulsion in order to please the foreign vote and anxious te lick the filthy heel of the emigrant be- tore he had time to wash his feet! (Applause.] But Thave a better argument: Icontend that this 1s a supreme book from the hand of a Supreme Being, and has @ right to go anywhere. If that Bible were written for all lands and ages, who are you to come up and say to the Lord Almighty :—* You may send that Bible anywhere, but not in our common schools?” Then, again, I am opposed to the expulsion because the common school is a cre- ation of Protestantism. (Applause.) The whole spirit of the Catholic Church has been against the common schools. Archbishop Hughes said :—‘*Com- mon schools are nurseries of rationalism, licen- tiousness and atheism."’ He believed in common schools, didn't he! (Laughtet.) Roman Catholic newspapers also, year ofter year, have been war- ring against the system. You say, then, the Catho- lics will demand a part of the public funds to go to — schools, That, I suppose, will after a while re THR GREAT QUESTION in this country. I cannot forestall, but I will sim- ply say we might better let the public funds go over to them, and have our common schools sup- ported and maintained by the charities of the Christian Church, rather than to have such dis- bonor thrown upon the Word of God and the Bible hurled out from eur common school system. (Loud applause.) am also opposed to the expulsion because the God of the Bivie has taken this country under his especial care and evidently intends it to be a Christian Bible reading people. Another argument I advance is that intellectual culture without moral culture is worse than ho culture at all. “Knowledge is power,” fer good if consecrated; but it is a power for evil if unrestrained and un- ided by moral principle. The great curse ef the jand to-day is the educated villain, * * * * * You will mark that I have not said one word against the Roman Catholic Church, I simply de- mand that the consciences of the Pretestant be con- sidered worth just as much as the censciences of the Roman Catholic @hurch. I have no faith in the | bombardment of that church. It has never bat- | tered down a cathedral, but it has built a great many. I have no fear, however, that the Roman Catholic Church will ever kindle any fires in this country. A FEW WORDS TO THE POLITICIANS. But there is ene source of danger, and that is | the politicians who are threatening the safety and | the very existence of our institutions. Look out for their machmations, Ah, there are some of them here to-day. I can tell them by their bloated cheek and bloodshot eye and their lecherous lip. (Ap- plause.) [know them! Ah, youare a miserable crew, you politicians, ativere and applause.) All you want is votes, But there is astorm of in- dighation and wrath arising that will sweep this frauduient, drunken crew that hang around the city halls of our cities te political perditien and then tumble them down into a deeper pit, where all thieves and pickpockets and adulterers have their eternal residence with Satan and Bill Tweed! (Sensation.) In conclusion this preacher exhorted the friends of the Bible to be vigilant and defend their rights, BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH CHURCH A Congregation that Crowded the Side- walks=The Brooklyn Scandal—Henry C. Bowen and David Dudley Field at Plymouth Chureh—A Sermon on the Backward Looking Sons of Time=—The Past To Be Forgotten=—The Purgatory of Old Age. The Brooklyn scandal and the sensation articles consequent thereon in the local wewspapers no poubt helped to fill Plymouth church yesterday morning with a congregation larger even than usual, Standing room in the lobbies was not obtainable, and hundreds were turned away who could get no nearer the church than the sidewalk, There was some curiosity manifested, among the regular con- gregation, as to whether Mr, Henry 0. Bowen, the cause of all this towg talk, Would put in ap appear. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, APRIL 28, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEET. ance, This curiosity was satisfied; just before the commencement of the service he entered his pew, accompanied by Mr, David Dudley Field. The “great and good” ex-deacon and the distinguished New York lawyer appeared to be attentive hearers of the Word, and to find it good to be there, The sermon was a reproof to the back- ward looking sons of time, and the text selected was the twenty-second verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew:—“Bat Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let thedead bury their dead.” The language of Christ was not to be taken in its literal sense; there was always behind the spparent and outer meaning an inher significance that we might find by reflection, hb the. teaching touched the earth it never materialized itself, and though the teaching of it was to be simple it was full of Piaget) and full of figures, ene words, ‘4 the dead bur; ir dead,” seemed heartless and dis et ful the memory of the dead, The young man in the 1, to whom these words were addi an ex- 0088 muon Ohrist Knew to be a pretence, a ud, Christ did not answer the ex- ternal circumstances as it strikes the reader of thi but the internal circumstance that Waa in the young man. Mr. Beecher spent a little time in thus illustrating the narrative out of which the text originated, and then proceeded to educe the truths derivable therefrom. To follow Christ was to grow up in all things with Him and to nave interpreted in us the nature of Godhead itself, A new growth in virtue and manhood consists in going forward. It was right to look back upon our Life for the sake of com- paring ourselves and ior advancing, but not to excuse ourselves for not advancing, ‘The past may be made to become . 4 KIND OF GUARD, but no man has a right to make his past lifea stumbling-biock to bis present lile. The past of any man’s life is his own cheginess) and Lege 9 OD se whatevs e@ may have Bak Ths ie , Mr, be er said, he would employ as a rute of criticism with regara to prace tices which were mischievous, Every man has been a creature of circumstances. Kvery man has had times of ignerance. Every man has had his battles with temptation. Every man has had his old scars, Every one has @ past out of which rose Spectres that nore his pride, and which blurred the vision of his moral sense even. It was nota use of the past to dwell perpetually upon the oid sinfulness. Some men felt it to be their duty to look back upon the sins of their youth, their manhood, the sins of their iater life, store them yp and look at them and use them asa development to 4 means of grace, When men have done wrong and got the bo is) that comes from sorrew, they should leave behind their past and go forward, Still worse was it for men to get into a liturgical confession of their sorrow. LET THE OLD SINS GO; fou cannot find them on earth, they are not in ieaven, and God has not cherished them, for He has said, “I will remember thy sins, no mere for- ever.” Why then should man be fumbling in the yd ay ard of his old experience to raise spectres? lope is the food of the soul, it is sven said that we are saved by it. Semen should not save up these delinquencies, these si these sorrows of the past. What should we think of ourselves if we saved up all our cast-off hair, our chppings from our finger nails, the offal of our body? How much more should we despise to do that by our seul that we would not do by our body? Under all these cir- cumstances, then, it is the duty of every one even to hide tne sins that he has been gutity of. The Same was true of the regrets as to lost opportunt- ties. Many people lament their lack of education, and regret that they had never been to College. Weill that might, one would think, be cured by looking at some people who have been to College. Would Chief Justice Marshall be any less ‘a Chief Justice if his chief justiceship were taken from him? Was John Milton any less John Milton when he was blind and TURNED OUT OF OFFICE. Shakspeare would not have been anyless Shaks- eare had he never had a house ora theatre. 2 people mourn too bec: they have lost wealth they never had, but only ex) ved to have, Don’t think so much ef your pocket. Think more ol your moral sense, more of God, more of immor- tality; these are things that are not touched by circumstances. Then old age is feared, and when it comes the joys of manhood fret them, and such pope are continually contemplating themselves in the light ofthese regrets. ‘The Catholics be- lieve in Purgatory devoutly, and so do I believe in @ purgatory, for I have seen it. An old man, sur- rounded by childhood that has no car ror its in- Jantile joys, is beset with a chronic grumbling. an old age that has no unction, no joy and is always singing mournful sougs. God deliver me from going to heaven through such a purgatory.” A few practical admonitions and cheering words closed the discourse, and the benediction was pronounced after the singing of “The Shining Shore.” CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS. The Meaning of Truthfalness=The Power of Love=—Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Storrs. Yesterday morning Dr. Storrs’ church was well attended, and the dark interior was brightened by the Spring sunshine falling through the many colored glass on the worshippers below. After read- ing the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Dr. Storrs se- lected the fifteenth verse of that chapter for his text:—"But speaking the truth in love May grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” The duty of veracity in speaking is a principal and universal maxim recognized instinctively by men as being @ duty required by nature; con- science recognizes @ lie and rejects it. But in these words of the text something more is im- plied, not only speaking the truth, but acting the truth, honesty as well as truthfulness. Moral light is also implied, not only that we speak the truth, but that we are really truthful. This is es- sentially implied in the precept, SINCERITY, Asincere character is honey without wax, with- out flaw, sun-tinted. Sucha character is required when we find the word sincere. Be truthful in all things, in actions and speech, in virtue of tnis character, and he adds to this, speak the truth, act the truth, live the truth, in love to God and to man. This is the highest maxim of human ethics. Be sincere, not only in character, but in love. It suggests a general principle in the government of God and rule for future character. Just as the sun giv olor to flowers this love enters into every feeling and gives to it its own glory. We see that illustration many times in our own experience. When health and vigor are complete, in seasons of leisure, with no sense of immediate duty andin the companionship of friends we are essentially and completely happy, and if we could take this day and carry it in the future that would be all we would desire. Yet we love and give gratitude to God—a gratitude out of which comes the highest songs of praise. It is leve combined with enjoyment which makes gratitude. On the other hand we have a sense of pain, our hearts overwhelmed with sadness, and with weariness of heart we contrast eur state with the past, but with this state let the element of love to God enter again and everything 1s changed by the mere force of love to God, and then comes forth a submission te His will, which 18 dear to His sight; a submission which makes all future trials lighter, and it is merely the sense of pain and weariness combined with love to God. Again, we have yielded to temptations when we should not; we have been proud; we have offended against our conscience and against God; we have grown old in years without growing mature in Christianity. Ideals which we formed in our youth have faded from us, and as we look on what we are and re- Member waat we might have been, it is a con- tinued self-repreach, and into this enters THE PRINCIPLE AND POWER OF IOVE. And observe hew instantaneous the change! It is not now a dull, leaden reproach; it is a sorrow fl reproach. The power of love enters into this pain, and then come the hymns in which | the heart sings itself forth in joy. And so we have a conviction of truth concerning Christ. We recognize the portrait of a life serener and sa- premer than any other, Asin a picture gallery we can single out the portraits from the other pic- tures, so the moment the portrait of Christ stands | beiore us in the narrative of the Evangelists we recognize a true picture. We see Christ with His pierced yet kingly hands; we see itm intellect- ually. Let the element of love into this intellect- ual condition and you have faith. There 1s faith recisely—intelligent conviction united with love, ‘ou know how it has caused dying lips to burst forth in song. Men who have @ resolute intention to do right in all things, to refase all wrong, and say, “I will do precisely right and walk in the strict line of | rectitude,” have a grand purpose, 4 principle | which, if carried out, would remove the stains from | history. But itis a hard line, and every man who tries fails somewhere; bat with such a purpose of obedience, combined with love, comes religious submission. A man says, “I’m as good as any man; 1 pay my debts; Icheat no man; I go to church.” What 18 the difference? Just here;—Your PURPOSE T0 DO RIGHT 1s as jd, but there is no element of love, There is a strong desire in us for some good, Love enters in combination with desire, When one has this love towards God, with this desire for good, though he utters no prayer, his eye will fash with prayer, his whole being will be instinct with it. Thatis the ditference be- tween desire and prayer; we desire and love, and that is prayer. So you may all know the reason why Christ came into the world, Why did He not accomplish His work on some other planet, and send angels to preach afterward? It was that He might so reveal God to us that we would love Him. We see Him in His amazing self-sacrifice; we see Him pouring His heart out, given to hariots and publicans; we see His love o/ individuals, Christ shows that He came to inspire the love of God in our hearts. There is no other revelation like this of Christ to inspire love in our hearts. If the Gospel has failed to do its work it is through our inditfer- ence. Speaking the truth is good, Soting the truth ns FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL, WallStreet and the Dulness in the Stock Market. The Defalcation in the Atlantic National Bank and Its Lesson. DISHONESTY VS. MISMANAGEMENT. The Money and Gold Markets—Saturday’s Bank Statement. WALL STReRr, Sunpay, April 27, 1873. The subsidence of the recent stock panic and et the excitement that attended it nas been followed by the gradual relapse of the market into QUIRT AND DULNESS. The last three or four days of the week were, in fact, intensely dull, notwithstanding the contem- potanecous steady relaxation in money and the more cheerful condition in general of the financial Situation. The serenity of the week in this respect was disturbed only at the very close, when the ex- traordinary revelations from the Atlantic National Bank sent everybody home to ponder over the mutability and ‘uncertainty of the Wall street de- partment of human affairs, The bank in question was not @ popular one with the bankers, or with the Stock Exchange people, but it was far from being regarded as unsound. Ite SUDDEN COLLAPSE produced only a slight effect upon the stock man | ket, for the reason that comparatively few brokers’ accounts were in the concern, and the street was but little affected by the defalcation, What the effect will be in the ensuing week, when the defal- cation has been followed by the bank’s suspension, is another matter. It aggravates the unfortunate character of the event that it should happen at @ time when the public mind has been rendered so sensitive by the prolonged stringency in money and the vague fear of a more serious result thaw the “break” or panic in stocks week before last. Itis NOT ALTOGETHER FAIR to charge the monetary situation with the failure of the Atlantic Bank, for an honest and conscien- tious officer at the cashier’s desk would have had no such confession to make as Mr, Taintor volun- teered to the Chairman of the Clearing House Com- mittee, and his bank would have been to this hour 8 good as the best of them. It will be useless, however, to endeavor to make the public see that personal dishonesty is not the real reason of the trouble in this case, and thas our banks are just as innocent of complicity with Mr. Taintor as is the Church with the occasional minister who falls frona grace. There is a wide-spread fear that there are OTHER TAINTORS among the cashiers and otner Ocean and Atlantic banks among the numbers of our local institu- tions, And yet the essential character of banking operations in this city has been, ina general way, strictly conservative. How many failures have there been from actual mismanagement, from dis- counting bad paper, or from an undue expansion of credits? So few, even in a long series of years, that they could be counted on the fingers of one hand. ‘The Atlantic Bank has been bankrupted by a theft as much as if its assets nad been stolen from the counter by “Dutch Heinrich” or its safe bursted by “English Harry.”’ Toa certain extent misman- agement in one way can be alleged, because of the NEGLECT OF THE DIRECTORS to make themselves acquainted with the actual condition of the bank from time to time. But the average director is'an easy-going man, content to” believe his cashier incapable of dishonesty, espe- cially if the latter be in good standing in society, possessed ofa fine house, and, more than all, a mem ber of the church. If the commotion which islikely to folloy this affair results in putting a higher pre- mium on sterling honesty and integrity it will have proved a blessing in disguise, . The dritt of the money market during the week has been foward LOWER RATES, and signs are already plentiful that the Sommet will witness a glut Of money at this centre which willbe the antithesis of the recent stringency. Notwithstanding the contraction of the three per cents during the past two years, there is just as much paper money in the country, and the greater part of it will find its way to Wall street for tempo- rary deposit during the interval of inactivity in the country hence to the Fall. The rate on call loans ranged as high on one day as 40 per cent, but by Friday and Saturday had settled to an aver- age of about 7A 8 PER CENT. The relaxation has encouraged transactions in commercial paper, and some moderate amounts have changed hands at about ten per cent discount for prime names, the quotation ranging from nine to twelve per cent. A firmer tendency in the foreign exchanges has also been developed, but Tates are still far below the average at this season, showing that the demand on account of importa- tions of foreign goods has been less active than would have been anticipated in view of the amount of the imports. It is estimated that the amount ot FOREIGN GOODS in bonded warehouse is not far from $300,000,000—— enough to supply the country for over six months to come. In certain cases it is asserted the consump- tion has been so inadequate that the factors or brok- ers to whom the goods had been consigned were compelled to reship the packages in lieu of sending bills of exchange. This fact, in connection with the current heavy exports of domestic produce, explains the difficulty encountered by the clique im reviving the speculation in gold, the price of which has been sustained at a range of 117% a 117%. In the stock market steadiness was the rule, if we ex- cept Pacific Mail, which was feverish and fluctu- ated several per cent. LATEST PRICES OF GOVERNMENTS. The following were the closing quotations Sat- urday evening for government bonds:—United States currency sixes, 114% @ 115; do sixes, 1881, registered, 117% a 117%; do. do do., coupon, 120% @ 121; do, five-twenties, regis- tered, May and November, 114% a 115; do. do., 1862, coupon, do, 118% a 118%; do. do., 1864, do. do., 118% &118%% ; do. do., 1865, do, do., 120% @ 120%; 1867, registered, January and July, 117% @ do, do,, 1865, coupon, do., 117% a 117%; dow 1867, do, do., 119% @ 119% ; do. do., 1868, do. do., 117% @ 118; do. ten-forties, registered, 111% @ 1124; do, do., coupon, 113% a 114; do. fives of 1881, registered, 11434 bid; do. do, do., coupon, 116% @ 11645. THE COURSE OF THE GOLD MARKET. The extreme fluctuations daily in the price of gold during the week were as follows:— Aignest, Monday Tuesda, ‘The last sales Saturday were at 1173¢, the quota- tions closing at 117% @ 117%. THE SOUTHERN STATE BONDS. The Southern list was exceedingly dull, seldom more so. Prices were fairly maintained, and de- cided firmness was shown in the Missouris, Ten- nessees and South Carolinas, to which descriptions the small business of the week was almost exclusively confined. The Lonisianas were altogether nominal, while of late the Alabamas have been ignored, on avcount of a wholesale grant of State ald to railroads, the movement taking the torm ofa dona- tion of $4,000 a mile to railroad corporations will- ing in return to exempt the State from liability fer the bonds already issued to the roads and en- dorsed by the State. In other words the State has agreed to pay twenty-five per cent to be RELEASED FROM THE OBLIGATION of paying the old bonds in case of default on the is good, living the truth is good, but doing itall in love is what God demands of us. Every endeavor, every desire is to be glorified, and then will G open the gates of Hig kingdom part of the railroads, The following were the closing quotations of the Southern list:—Ten- NeSssee, CX-COUPON, 8Y & 804; dO, MEW, THM & 9OME