The New York Herald Newspaper, June 23, 1873, Page 4

€ GOTHAM’S GODLINESS. Religious Services in the Metropo- lis and Its Environs Yesterday. A FRESH BREEZE OF THOUGHT. The Doctors of Divinity Awaking from Their Early Summer Doze. IS THE SOUL A PLANT? The Nature of Christ and of His Help to Humanity. Dr, Bellows Giving Advice to Young Men Who Are Secking Fortune in the Great City. BEECHER ON BELIEF. Memorial Honors to an Eminent De- parted Minister. INTERESTING INSTALLATION CEREMONIES. a A Vigorous Discourse on the Uondition of Our Criminal Calendar. The tax of the Summer heat upon the nerves of the metropolis is beginning to be strongly felt, and no instance could be given more indicative of this fact than the effect which it has already had upon the members of the congregations that assemble to do worship at the altar of humiliation and praise onthe Sabbath. Yesterday the inevitable *thin- ning out’? among the chureh goers was very mani- fest, although the brilliancy and abundance of the light costumes donned by the fashionable people still lingering fora space in the hot precincts of the town were not less attractive and impressive to .the observer who may have been a lover of the picturesque than they have been heretofore. The pvercast and hazy sky did not prevent the strects from having a lively and animated appearance, suggestive of cheerful and contented piety. Many of the discourses which were preached were singu- larly felicitous and fertile in fresh thoughts and novel views of the old, old story of sin and salva, tion, and as such they cannot be read without some appreciation ana interest. The suburban congregations, as might be ex- pected, grow plethoric in numbers as those of the tity dwindle away. Reports of services which take place In the environs of Gotham wiil now, there- Jore, begin to claim a place in these columns, and two very interesting sketches are given this morning. §8T, PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL The Parable of the Lost Sheep—God’s Mercy and Love for Those Who Have Gone Astray—Discourse by the Rev. Father Kearney. The congregation of worshippers at St. Patrick's | Cathedral yesterday was quite large, and the music was of the usual high order of excellence. The telebrant of mass was the Rey. Father McNamee, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Fatner Kearney, who selected for his subject the Mfteenth | chapter of St. Luke, from the first to the eleventh verse, wherein appears the parable of the shep- herd, who, having ost his snvep, ieft ainety and nine and searched for the one vhat had gone astray; and the woman, who, losing a groat, searched diligently antil she had found it and called in her neignbors to rejoice with her. The clergyman stated that Christ uttered these parables in order to show His mission. The shepherd who had lost his sheep searched diligentiy until he had found it, and then ac returns to all his friends and asks them to re- wice over the finding of the one that had gone aseray. Sowith the woman. Sue searched for the groat until she had found it, and then cailed in her neighbors to rejoice with her. We can understand how great was the desire of God to bring back the jost sheep who had strayed from His fold. Adam fell froma grace in the Garden of Eden and rebelled aguinst.God, but the Almighty calied him and at- tempted to bring him back. As God did to Adam in the Garden so He does everywhere to- day, and He will continue to do so as tong as the world endures. He does not call by His own voice, but He has raised up ministers through Him to call back His lost creatures. By the lessons of Christ, by the words of the Saviour, by the confessor, those who speak by His voice, lie is calling back those ‘wno haye gone astray.’ By the dread and fear of punishment He is calling those who are lost. By inspiration the man who hus gone astray desires to return and bow down beiore the throne of God and speak to Him as a Father. When these feel- {ngs spring up in the heart then it is that God ts calling back the lost sheep. When man thinks of God’s love it brings him into a desire to re- turn. Then God is seeking. When aman sees the road to hell, the punisument and torment that await him, when fear of this punishment springs up in bis heart, then is it God is seeking him. hen man disregards God’s mvitation and goes farther and farther (rdm him then it is that God is merciful. When he comes back through suffer- ing God takes him in and there 18 joy. The soul has been offending God is brought back, and he shell have greater love of God to thank Him for this mercy; and if our hearts find light trom God we have cause to thank Him, When we find men still in the broad road to de- struction we ought to pray to God to be merciful and bring them back to Him from a stage of sin, We are thanktul that He does not hurl Ais thun- derbolts upon this city of crime. We read of His destruction of Sodom and Gomorran, when He promised that if ten righteous men were found He Would not destroy the cities, There must be ten just men in our city or He would destroy ua, Let ug pray to Him to bring back from their sin and crimes those men borne into the Church who have strayed away. Let us pray for all who belong to us that He will bring them back. ‘these are the lost sheep of His fold, and if we would have them brought back we must pray with our whole hearts and not give up until we be with the angels in heaven rejoicing over the dnding of those who have gone astray. The amount contributed yesterday week at the Cathedral, for His Holiness the Pope, was $900. CHURCH OF ALL SOULS Sermon by Dr. Bellows on the Way of | Holincss—Advice to Young Men Seeking Fortune in New York. At the Church of All Souls, on the corner of Fourth avenue and Twentieth street, yesterday morning, before an unusually farge Summer con- gregation, Vr. Beliows preached a very admirable sermon from Isaiat xxxv.,8—“The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” ‘The prophet here alluded to the way,of holiness, the plaioness Of Which was such that not even the ‘ool could err therein. There were no impediments in the road, no mazes or dubious bypaths. It was a plain direction which needed not a guide, The way of holiness is merely a holy hearted sim- plicity of purpose, a singleness of eye to see the tight, a strong love of goodness, and a resolute will to seek and possess it. It needed not cducation or suitivation to secure the holy heart. It was fre- quently possessed by the little child, the benightea savage, the ignorant slave, while the unholy heart Was too often to be found among OUR PROFOUND SAGES, our most brilliant thinkers and greatest victors in social or political contests. Some of you remem: ber the great snow storms that visited New Eng- land some thirty or forty yeas ago (and, I think, last March one of them was still visiting New Eng- land), when the great fall of snow obliterated all the fences and covered all the roads so that no paths were visible, A thaw succeeded, however, and carried away the lighter substance of the snow, leavi hard crust over all, and making one flelds and roads alike. Thus to the er sll wave are the same, all lead in | and Fourth avenue, yesterday morning, the way of holiness, It needs only that a man heart be turned the right way, and no matter what direction his feet may take he follows in the way of holiness, But let not-my hearers mistake : THE SIMPLIOPFY OF THE WAY of holiness for ease, The way is easy enough to the heart that would follow it; but the difficulty lies with the heart. It is dimicult to keep the heart bent on the achievement of gootnee, to bind it down to the longing for the ways of holiness rather than the ways of the world. What is needed 19 8 firm will, @ strong resolution to keep the heart pure and true—set towards the heavenly goal and sailing by the stars. There are no people 80 bad as to ‘aphoid sin, or to belicve that the righteous way is not the best and its goal the greatest. But the other ts the easiest way—its re- wards are superficial, but they come sooner, and they lack the strength of will to wait and work for the greater and higher reward. Every year THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE are coming to New York to seek their life's path- way; coming to this desert of pavement to gain name and fortane. Ab! what a waste is always to be repaired in this greatcity! How few keep their footing! They come, like the strong waves Hee the shore, with high arched heads and swelling breasts, only to strike upon this i promon- tory and be broken, Every year their ruin 1s re- corded, and every year the newer generations come in, like the constantly recurring waves, to take their place. Not one in ten is strong enough to withstand the shock. Nine out of the ten are floated out to add to the wrecks and ruins of the year before. How many who have achieved mer- cantile or protessional success have been able to hold on to their souls, to resist THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE GRRAT CITY and to keep their hearts resolute in the way of holiness? Could I obtain a hearing of the youn; men and young women who thus seek the city, would say to them, not as some might, ‘Flee for your lives back to your homesteads and villages,” for theirs is @ noble and a worthy ambition. But I would say to them, ‘Put on the whole armor of God, seek out the society and sustaining friendship of the virtuous, attend the House of God and cling to that Teacher who most sensibly touches your soul, Devote yourself in busy hours to the interests of your employer, or to the necds of ‘your business if you are your own employer, and in your leisure moments seek the libraries and the picture Relleries, or, better still, pursue in the privacy of your own chamber & course of solid reading, which in itself offers a stronger security than anything else, except re- ligious training, against the wiles and temptations of sin in a greatcity, Keep strictly to the early teachings of religious parents, forget not your early prayers, and, in company where there may be sneerers, sceptics or atheists who disdain the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being, have the courage and resolution $e, progeny your belief, and in reply to their taunts and sneers show them that you can be more affable, more agreeable and more attractive company with your belief than they with theirs. SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH. Installation of the Rev. D,. B. Jatton as Pastor—Sermon by the Rev. R. 8S. MacArthur—Selfishness and Abnega- tion—The Principles Respectively of Sin and Grace. The formal installation of the Rev. D. B. Jutton as pastor of the congregation of the above named church took place yesterday ‘afternoon in the presence of a large assemblage. A voluntary per- formance by the choir opened the interesting pro- gramme. A portion of the Holy Scriptures was read by the Rey. W. H. Pendleton, and prayer ‘was said by the Rev. Mr. Brouner, pastor of the North Baptist church, The sermon of the occasion was preached by the Rev. R. S. MacArthur, who, at the appointed time, came forth and took his text from Matthew x., 39—“He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.’’ This remarkable saying of Christ is recorded by all the Evangelists, and by two of them twice. It was an axiomatical saying, well understood by His disciples. Considered literally, itseems (10 be acontradiction. Considered practically, it seems to encouarage THE WILDEST FANATICISM. This, however, is not justified by the latter por- tion of Christ’s saying. Is it the profundity of it that renders it obscure? True, the higher truths, whether of art or of science or of religion, seem to be obscure. Human language almost fails when it is expressing human thought; it totally breaks down when expressing divine thought. This saying is so full of truth—Christ packs so much truth into his sayings that no one generation is able to take all the truth therefrom, | Nevertheless we may explain this saying of Christ when We bear in mind that in the first place He Speuks of the natural, physical iife, and in the sec- ond piace He speaks of the higher spiritual life. Hence, whoever fluds physical life alone is without | the higher life, without which one is dead. And whoever loses his physical life and becomes a mar- tyr ior the sake of Jesus, he gains that lile of glory which is the only true and enduring life, Eternal life 1s indeed the KEWAKY OF ORLIDENIALL When a man proposes self as the object of his worship it 1s easy to see the result. Society is sus- picious of such @ man; i shuns him, and defeats his projects. God will withdraw from him, and allow him to fall into his own snares. The man sinks from life to death. Never had a min @ greater opportunity of illustrating either portion to have surrendered Christ to the Jewish rabbie before they should walk over his own body. Ido | not judge Pilate from the Christian standard, but by the Noman iaw, and according to that law he Was guilty of grievous wrong. it was so with Judas. They were two men with whom self was such an object that no parent daré name a child after them. But when we remember our own frailties, our | severity is turned into pity, and we ieel disposed to cry out, “Lord save us, lest we fall.” A fitting example of the force of each portion of the text is to be found in Cain on the one hand and Paul on the other, The first sin was the result of supreme selfishness; the HEROISM OF PAUL was the consequence of the self-sacrificing spirit within him. When you reduce sin to its last an- alysis it becomes selfishness. The opposite to this is’ self-abnegation, and it must produce opposite effects; and thus can the second portion of the text be illustrated. Christ Himself was a marvel of self-abnegation, He lived not for himself, but for Him that sent Him. And as Christ was thus obedient unto God so was Paul unto Christ. He lost himself in Christ; he gave up his life, and by so doing found the noviler life that wilt endure for- ever, Such ® man sees. in God everything; he loses all iear of his Creator, and from his vision of good in God acquires a@ sympathy for his fellow man. Miserable is he wno cannot partake of the life of another, and sym- pataize with him. Happy is the man who forgets himseli and lives an unconscious life, by losing self, in.the love of his fellow n The reverend speaker here went at length into illustrations of such action on the part of men, mentioning, among others, the late Chief Justice Chase, .who lost his case in a Cincinnati Court torty years ago, while asserting the immorta' principle that ‘a man’s a man for a’ that,” thongh his color be black, The world wants such men; God wants such men, and He extends His providential hand to them, saying “Come up higher.” The law of the teXt is a8 uliversal as gravitation, AS ETERNAL AS GOD. Its operation is more awork of the heart than of the head. Hereupon the reverend speaker cited himself as one who had personally experienced the truth of the text since his becoming a pastor. And to the reverend brother who comes among us, to him and to every one of his flock, no higher law | could be lald down than this, “He that findeth his life shall lose it; but he that loseth his life tor Christ's sake shail find it.’ At tne close of the energetic discourse the whole congregation rose and chanted the appropriate hymn commencing with the following stanza :— All hail the power of Jesus’ name, Let angels prostrate tall Bring forth the royal diadem And crown Him Lord of all. The ceremonies were then brought to a close with a fervent prayer otfered by the Rey. Mr. Reid, and the charge delivered to the pastor by the Rev. C. Rhodes, The Rev. Dr. Dawling, on behalf of the ministry, extended a cordial welcome to tne new pastor, An address to the congregation was delivered by the Rey. T. T. Anderson, D. D. | ST, PAUL'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL OHUROH. The Trial of Jesus Before Pilatc—Ser- mon by the Rev. ©. D. Fos: There was an immense congregation at St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church, Twenty-second street who listened attentively to the sermon preached by the Rev, C. D, Foss, the pastor, He took his text from Jobn, xviil., 28-40, ‘The subject which he had selected, he said, was the trial of Jesus beiore Pilate, If they might judge of the importance of any event by the space ac- corded to itin the Seriptures the judgment trial of Jesus was the most important of all events re- corded in the Scriptures. This was not the case With the death of Paul and Peter. How many de- vout Christians could give a particular account of this trialy They all knew how he was dragged be- fore Pilate, how He suffered great indignity there and how He was taken to the crucifix. How many were aware that there were nine separate scenes in the trial of the Saviour? First, Pilate qnestioned Him and said He was innocent; then He was hurried away to Herod, and 80 on till Pilate mace his fourth plea for the release of Jesus, This showed how necessary it was for Of this remarkable saying than Pontius Pilate. He | was mbitious politician, and it was said to him, s release this man thou art no friend of Ces It was self that he had to consider on the one nd; truth, justice and right on the other, Pilate should ve done right. He ougnt not them to atudy Scripture by Scripture. Luke slone told them gf the threefold accusations against the Saviour. There was no mention of these important facts in the narrative of John, which was the full- est of all. Judas’ betrayal of Him by @ kiss, the assembling of a great council for the more em- phatic condemnation of the Saviour, the mob smit- ing Him in the face—all these were great scenes in this trial. Murder in their hearts, mad with rage, these men, who thirated for the Saviour’s bi were restrained by superstition, and sent in to Pilate to ask him to come out. Pliate, coming out, saw the Jewish priests and Senate, and in their midst a prisoner, who was no ordinary prisoner. He stopped them in their career and as! “What accusation have ye against this man?” They were Boa piaed and indignant. Pilate was a Roman, an A HAUGHTY SPIRIT inhim. He said, ‘Take Him away and jud, according to your laws,” They then stat their charges against Him. Their real ch: was sup- zoned to be blasphemy, because the Saviour had leclared Himseli to be the Son of God, but they said we found this fellow perverting the nation, refusing to give tribute to Cesar, and He has de- clared Himself Christ, aking. All these accusa- tions were utter falsehoods, but Pilate must listen to that charge that Christ bad proclaimed Himself aking. Pilate went into his inner judgment hail and called to Christ to follow him. He followed Pilate into the judgment hall. Now they came to the critical period of Pilate’s life. O that Pilate’s eyes would have opened and he could see himself a condemned man before this King of all kings and this Lord of all lords! He asked Jesus, “‘Art thou the King of the Jews?” Jesus meant to go to the heart of Pilate and returned the question by an- other. He asked him whether he had asked this question by his own desire or whether he had been PUT UP TO IT by others. Jesus finally told him that He was not a king of this world. “To this end was I born, that I' should bear witness to the truth,” he said. Pilate said, “What is truth?’ But he took Jesus out before the pene and said, “I find no fault in Him.” This fact placed the people, the Jewish rab- ble, in a peculiar position. When they found that the Roman government was unwilling to affirm the sentenpe of death they multiplied their charges upon Him, ilate sent Jesus to Herod. The trial before Herod passed off quietly, Jesus said nothing, and Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. When Jesus was brought back Pilate called the chief priests to- einer and said he could not see that this prisoner ad done anything deserving death. Pilate then could have released Jesus, and this cohort of Ro- nan soldiers would have set Him free; but Pilate did not release Him, He said, “I will chastise Him!” and he did this in order 10 CONCILIATE THE HIGH PRIEST. The very moment he said this a letter from his wife was handed him. The letter ran thus:—“Have thou nething to do with this just man.” God had sent a message to her heart in her dreams. But the rabble and chief priest all shouted, * Him Him!’ Pilate was overborne by this clamoi ave orders that Jesus should be scourged, The Roman soldiers then took Him into the in! hall, stripped off his clothes, and scourged Him till the blood ran down to the ground, and then they covered Him with a purple cloak like that of * military chief. They put a crown of thorns pow His head and placed a wreath in Als hand) They fell upon their kees before Him mocked Him, hailing Him as the King of Jews. Pilate then took Him out before the rabble and said, “Behold the Man!’ But he was finally compelled to tell them, “Take ye and crucify Him.” He washed his hands of His blood and said to-the Jews, “Be His blood upon you,’ and they readily said, “BE HIS BLOOD UPON US. Pilate was afraid that if his Reman master should hear that he had released @ man charged with sedition he would lose his office, and so he delivered Him up, The reverend preacher asked his hearers what did they think of Christ. Would they despise Him and crucify Him afresh, or woula they love Him and accept Him? Might God help them to wisely answer this question. DR. HALL'S CHURCH. A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Imbriec, of Jersey City—The Nature of Christ and of His Help to Humanity. The warm Summer days are gradually drawing people away to the country and thinning the con- gregations of our fashionable churches, In the ab- sence of Dr, Hall, now travelling in Europe, the sermon was preached by yhe Rev, Dr. Imbric, of Jersey City, The text was taken from Titus iL, xiv:—“Who gave Himself for us, that He might re- deem us from alliniquity and purify unto Himself & peculiar people, zealous oY good works.” The reverend Doctor began by stating the cir- cumstances under which the text was given. Titus was called to preach among the Cretans, whose character was represented as extremely bad, and who also were troubled with misleading teachers— an iil soll with ill seed sown uponit. The apostle urges Titus to meet the case first by inculcating sound doctrines, and, secondly, by seeing that the lives of Christian professors were pure and holy; hence his instructions to the various classes of men. In the text he gives @ reason for this, namely, that Christianity, which Titus was to preach, was no new philosophy or humanly devised scheme of renovation, but an entirely new heaven- sent principle, and was distinguished by these three particulars :—First, that CHRISTIAN MORALITY 18 SUPERIOR to the morality of the world—‘Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, godly in this present world.” Secondly, Christianity was sustained by a peculiar hope—‘Looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Thirdly, that the source of this moral life and hope was peculiar, namely—not in man himself, but outside of man, in the God who created and redeemed him, “who gave Himself tor us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works," In discussing this point, which was the burden of the sermon, the preacher showed that men every- where, as well aa the Christian Church, were con- scious of evil and desired and aimed at reforms both in themselves and also in society at large; the distinction being that outside of Christianity humar schemes of reform have been sought in the resources of man himself, whereas Christianity alone points for tue solution of the problem to ‘A DELIVERER OTHER THAN MAN HIMSELF, This is affirmed in the text; we are saved not by our own goodness nor made better by our own endeavors; but, as the text declares, He gave Him- self for us, that He might deliver us from all iniquity and that might purity us, To ain peace and virtue according to hristianity, then, is not by sinful human nature climbing laboriously up hopeless steeps towards heaven, but it is heaven’s mighty arm reacting down to earth, and of its own grace and power raising 4 the rained man to peace and holiness, It is not the vain attempt of the Ethio- pian to whiten his own skin, but it is the voice of the Son of God calling forth the dead Lazarus to life and love, Next, Christianity presents as peculiar the Being by whom this ts accomplished. Here the preacher showed that the “who” in the text points to the preceding verse, which reveals the unique character of the Being who saves lost man, He ts described, first, ag the great God; secondly, by bis human name Jesus; and thirdly, by His official name, the Christ. It is this unique Being, neither God alone nor man alone, the wonder of the universe, whom Christianity reveals as THE PECULIAR AND ONLY REDEEMER from human sin and misery. Third, Christianity presents as peculiar the mode in which this Being ‘Who gave Himself for us that He might re- us,” &c,, &c, It is the actual devotion of all the powers of this unique Being for the accom. plishment of this work. He gave Himsel/ for us; and, more than this, that Me gives Him- self in our place, ior t is the mean- ing of “tor us. Christianity does not cry to the restless, siniul, degraded human creature, “Only be @ little stronger and more de- voted and you will succeed in overcoming sin and loving God’’—the vain cry of the world’s schemes for renovation the world over, and which is ever answered by the pitiable response of the helpless soul that he cannot make its unioving heart love God—but, on the contrary, Christianity puts man aside and sets this mighty Being in his place; He goes forth as the victor for man, He conquers death and hell and sin and metes the justice of God; He redeems the sou! trom debt and gives it peace by His word and He Ws it by the mighty power of His spirit. ‘The last point, CHRISTIANITY #RESENTS 18 A PECULIAR RPSULT. Man, thus redeemed, is raised to the highest dig- nity and devotion to God, ‘Made a peculiar people zealous of good works.” . The preacher here showed from the light of Scripture that human beings redeemed from sin are ex- alted to a place of honor ,and dignity, and manifest a devotion beyond even that of angels; ed sinners are God's peculiar treasure. jose Of hia discourse the preacher drew two important applications. The first was personal, and applied to those who are seeking, and never finding, rest, The diMficuity was, as he showed, that they tailed to apprehend this pecu- liarity of the Christian scheme, that it places our he) P _gxtmeny ovrstne oF OURSELVES, and in the hands of the Son of God. The second ‘was a caution to the Christian Church agatnst com- piving with the custom of the times im joining with the world in carrying om moral reforms to- gether: To do go, he showed, 18 to risk laying the glory of Christianity mm the dust, First, because their aims are so distinct, the world’s reforms seek only outside renovation ; Christianity con- siders no reform of worth which does not reach the heart; and, secondly, because the power relied upon in the two cases is so dimf@rent. The world’s jorms are based upon the belie! in man’s power td renovate himself, Christianity, on the contrary, insists that all power of renovation comes from the incarnate Son of God aione. How can these two agree together and working into each other's hands? Some compromise must be effected, and that compromise will be not by the world resign- ing its distinctive principle of reform, but by Chris- tians renouncing the foundation principle of the Christian scheme, This bas ever been the result. The speaker therefore entreated the Christian eongregation to abide by these distinctive princi; ' learn to do for others they come to do easily for -ples of Christiani to remember that, as the of God is come,” and Apostle John says, the Sou “that in Him alone is life,” He is the living Head which came down from heaven, of which aman Must eat ifhe would live forever; that the whole world lyeth in wickedn’ and that no scheme of reform can succeed which seeks to mingle the Principles of these two together, TRINITY BAPTIST OHURCH. Murder—The Condition of Our Criminal Calendar—Where the Responsibility Rests—The Influence of the Late War— Foreign Emigration—The Public Press—Criminal Literature—The Hu- man Heart—Sermon by the Rev. Dr. J. Stanford Holme. Notwithstanding the threatening weather, & large audience gathered at the Trinity Baptist church in Fifty-fifth street, last evening, to listen to the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Holme, on the sub- ject, “Murder; or, the Condition of our Criminal Calender; Where the Responsibility Rests.” He selected for his text a passage from Matthew, xv., 19—“‘Out of the heart proceed * * * murders.’’ He opened by referring to the condition of our criminal calendar and its demand for our serious consideration as Christian men, and sald, in at- tempting to answer the question why the crime of murder is so fearfully prevalent in our day, He would first reter to some of those in- fluences .which may be supposed to be more remote and aiterwards attempt to trace the stream to the fountain head. And first he constdered that the prevalence of the crime 1s traceable in no small degree to the influence of our late war, That terrible struggle left a fearful shadow behind it. It cheapened human life; it has familiarized us with seas of blood, and what men themselves. Again, great importance is to be at- tached in this connection to FOREIGN EMIGRATION. A large proportion of our emigrants belong to the lowest class of European population, And they not only proportionately lower the standard of our national morality, but they even sink us in the gradation of the criminal calendar below that of the nations from which they come; and this be- cause we are destitute of a system of police equal to that of Europe. The European police, in their wonderful ingenuity and system of espionage, con- trasts strongly with our imperfect and ineiicient organization, And this should be taken into account in estimating the causes of the preva- lence of crime in this country. Nor does the influence of the crime of the lower classes end with their actions, but extends to the highet and more cultivated class, a3 the dilchy lanes and dark slums of the city send out their loads of contagion and pl to the elegant dwellings of the rich. Again, wi cked men and women are rendered even more perate by the evident inequality of the laws. ‘The laws are professedly based on justice and exe- cuted with fairness; but men who, thoagh them- selves wicked, are not lost to all sense of fairness see that this profession is, in a great measure, a mockery; that what professes to be justice is ‘A’ MERE GAME OF CHANCE OR SKILL where the cunning slip through and the strong leap over. Who doubts that had Stokes been in the same social and pecuniary condition as poor Nixon he would now be where Nixon is? This ine- quality, this unfairness, this absolute injustice cor- rupts the community. Another cause of the increase of crime is the pub- icity given to it by the press inourday. It fo- miliarizes the public with deeds of vivience, and thus aids greatly in their propagation. Pope has thrown more philosophy than poetry into the well known line Vice is a monster of so frightful mien As to be noted needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, tamiliar with its tace We first endure, then pity, then embrace. AndIam persuaded that few more powerful in- fluences can be conceived of than & constant fa- millarity with scenes of violence to bluut the moral sense and to lead to the propagation of crime. The influence of the daily press is almost incalculable and incredible. Every day it is pouring its stream of influence on the public mind and when the youth of our city are brought in daily and pouty contact with the mass of criminal literature whic! it contains is it wonderful that the MOST FEARFUL RESULTS should “follow? The speaker then referred to drunkenness as the parent of all vice, and in trac- ing the stream of vice back came to its fountain— the human heart. Out of the heart, says the text, proceed murders. And if we had more insight into these nearts of ours we should discover in our own ungoverned passions—our anger, our malice, our feelings of revenge—the germs of murder, The Apostle John says, “Who so hateth his brother is a murderer.” He may not have imbued his hands in blood, but he has the spirit of a murderer in his heart, The speaker likened murder to the belch- ing forth of the volcano of the human heart, burn- ing with the fires of hatred and malice. $0 God declares every angry man a murderer, and will so hold him responsible. Atter SE nae to a con- siderable extent on the cultivation of the spirit of hatred rife in the community, the reverend gentle- man, again referring to THE NEWSPAPERS, said:—‘I am sorry to say thata good many of our newspapers have just this spirit in them. They priae themselves on being honest haters. They are more honest in this than in anything else, and they infuse this spirit into their readers, and is there any wonder that the volcanic fires of hatred and passion are continually burning and viazing and bursting forth into murder and deeds of vio- lence? That deed is furnished. almost daily, suf ficient to stock a city with murders lor a twelve- month,” He closed by urging ais his hearers the duty of cultivating the spirit of love among them- selves and exercising their influence to promote tt among others as the only practical means for- lessening the prevalence of murders among us, which legislation cannot by itself do. BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH CHURCH, Mr. Beecher on Belicf—Its Nature and the Responsibility of Man in Regard Thereto—The Relation of Right Living to Right Thinking—Men Responsible for Trying to Find the Trath. Mr. Beecher preached yesterday morning to a congregation somewhat diminished in numbers by the advance of the Summer season a sermon, in its characteristics resembling the more popular series preached some two years ago, evangelical in tendency and abounding with a wealth of illus- tration. The subject was “The Nature of Belief, Its Importance and what it Embraces.” The text was selected from the ninth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, the thirty-fifth to the thirty- eighth verse inclusive—‘Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found him he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Sonof God ? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on Him?’ And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee: And he sald, Lord I believe, and he worshipped Him,” It is evident, said Mr. Beecher, to any one at all acquainted with the literature of the Holy Land and its speculations and belief that truth meant one thing at Jerusalem and at Athens another. Ifat Jerusalem a man believed it was taken in areligious sense and as a token of per- sonal feeling towards God. It was the relation of man’s own self to his master. It was, indeed, seen in its perfection in the absolute fealty o the soldier to his general, of the clansman to hisf chief, of the child to its parent. The belief in Greece was different, although it had some of the features of that of Jerusalem. There was the ac- ceptance of certain evidence, and the belief was in the main on intellectual process. After the Master | ascended the preaching of the carly days was the preaching of Christ and His mission and the giving to the belover a certain condition of life and char- acter. The power of the Christian religion was eminently manifested by the setting forth of ex- ample by the early Christians, and eminently more than by the ge be creeds, After a certain time OREED-MAKING came into vogue. The nature of God, the nature of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Ghost and their co-operative relations were discussed, ‘The Greek mind tended towards the psychological element as it was then understood. In the Roman mind the analysis of this belief took the form of law, of government, of polity, of organization, and this became the work of the Romish Church. Tai survived even 80 late as Elizabeth’s day in Eng- land when the question of the actual presence of the body of Christ in the sactament was discussed. Ul anybody wants to see this brililantly put let them read Froude’s “History of England,” the best history of the time ever written, despite its many faults. So that it came to this in the day of sectarian development that right belie! was equivalent to right living. In our own day there has been a powerful reaction to all this, and a reaction has set in against all crecds. Almost everybody has advanced beyond dogma and beyond systems of theology. most every man says that he has advanced beyond right think- ing, and says that right living isthe ouly thing that is true. Now, the first question that one meets is this—Is belief the normal condition of mind, and ig it subyect to man’s will? Is man to be accountable for his belief? My reply is that BELIEF 18 PARTLY VOLUNTARY and partly involuntary. When belief depends upon circumstances over which we have no control we are not responsible, It is man’s duty to attend to the subject, and to put the mind in guch ap ar NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JUN 23, 1873—TRIPLE SHEET.” |” tude as that he should be likely to tna the right. Aman is responsible for investigation. Ifa man goes without rignt belief ,he has not cared to investigate, he is responsible for w lief, or for no belief. Om the er band there is much in man’s belief that he could not nelp getting. For example, two and two make four, not because you have a right mind, and not because of any cour- tesy you pe have. The character of a man’s mind will determine the way in which he will see @ trath. Sentiment is brought toa man who nas No sentiment, andthe sentiment will not be seen orfeit. If mathematics is brought to me, I am at once in a@ cloud. On the other hand, bring me a truth that is in sympathy with nature, and the tn- tuition in me is like a flash of lightning. Aman who has not this intuition does not see that which flashes on me, +A quiet remark is made in com- any, and jostenty the spirit of mirth is invoked. sy the side of you is * A MOST DECORUS PERSON who says, “Explain that to me;1 don't see what that is.” You explain it, and then he don’t see it. The sense of humor is notin him. The Scriptures nowhere require a man to believe in a technical right or in the theories of belief, They hold a man accountable for the manhood of Christ Jesus, that ‘ttern of manhood where are found the traces of jod, Men say then does accurate belief amount to nothing? t me ask, is it pot possible for truth to be so large that ten men may believe in it and yet each ono has only a sectional park and yet the whole ten sections may be the whole truth, and yet not one of them may have the truth or the whole truth? Mr, Beecher here gave an illustration of this position by taking in imagination certain ideai personages to'value a tree, each having his own ideas of value, according to the way he looked at it—one Jor wood, another shade for his cow, a boy tor the nuts he could shake down, the artist for its beauty in the foreground, and the student for its won- drous manifestation of the goodness of God, and yet while they were all right, not one of them jal exhausted the hundredth part of the value of the tree, ‘ruth is of at value; just as itis Important as it is to know a road forty miles long Lam going to travelon, J sk aman about the road. He says it is not of much import- ance about the road, the grand thing is to get there. But if I am going to walk along it FORTY ime itis important that I should know its character- istics, So it i8 with the application of truth to life; the truth tells me of the way, and is thus a guide unto my path, For example, I may not’know any- thing about the abstract rights of property, but it 1s important that I should know the difference be- tween my neighbor's pocket and my own. So do men’s views of God, of His providence, of His rela- tion to them, affect their course of liie; and a man who does not belleve in a personal God Will act a8 though he did not believe tn it. Mr. Beecher drew from the ahove subject a prac- tical’ application of the responsibility that was upon each mau to do his best to know what trath was; that was his duty; the shape that took would depend entirely upon his individuality. TRON TEMPLE, St. Peter’s Last Words—The Conditions, the Act and the Effect of Growing— Flowers for God’s Paradise—Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Seudder. Dr. Scudder’s church was full yesterday morn- ing, notwithstanding the dubious state of the weather. Before the sermon there was a beautiful group of children presented for baptism. Dr. Scudder announced that next Sunday would be children’s Sunday, and that he should preach o sermon for children. He then said that he did not want the older people to run away, but be present with their children; he said it only came once in two months and that they ought to make it a sort of jubilee. He then selected his text from the third chapter of the second epistie of Peter, eighteenth verse—“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” We listen with interest to the last words of great men. When the wise and good and experienced and the inspired depart from this world, we expect in their final utterances they will leave us some WATCHWORD OF HOPE, and we treasure up words they solemnly speak when they are on the brink of another world, The text I select this morning is the last words of Peter. Listen toit; it is quite worthy :—“But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savionr Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.’’ This sentence may be con- densed in a single word—growth. This season 1s the most active in work. All vegetation Is grow- ing now. Our gardens are ail in bloom, the prairies have put on their richest raiment. It is the time of growth. All nature speaks .to us and says, ‘Are you growing also? < There are two different aspects ofgrowth—growth of the crop and growth of the individual—collective and individual growth. In the latter sense we must accept these words of Peter’s, First, let us look at the conditions of growth. A plant must have a soil to stand in; it must have aiso air to ex- pand in, an elastic element, m@bile—with breezes to ian it: it must have moisture, and, above ail, the plant must have sunlight to bathe in. IS THE SOUL A PLANT ? “Must it not then have soil tostandin? That soil is truth, the perfect soil is the Book, the sacred Scriptures, in which, when the soul is planted, | It contains all the other elements, too. | it thrives. Jesus is the sun of righteousness, shining down from His high estate. Having observed the conditions of growth let us observe the act of growing. Every plant is a worker. They send out their roets to gather mois- ture. The plant needs carbon; it gathers it from the aiy; it takes nitrogen from the soil. Most beautifully pertinent are these symbols. The human soul, to be saved, must work without ceas- ing. Third—The effects of growth: a plant by growing perfects itself, makes ftself attractive, and also produces fruit for others, A good plant and a snake are exactly opposite. A snake con- verts the good food which it eats into poison and the plant converts good fruit out of the very soul. There is a cotlective and vitalizing effect pro- duced by working. We are constantly breathing out carbonic acid gas, and thatis poison, Plants Separate it into its two elements and take the carbon to themselves, and so make the atmosphere pure. How vast and beneficent is this process! The tendency oF the present is towards idolatry of nature. There is a man, a great writer, who writes and prints the word God with a little “g.”” He does not believe in AN INDIVIDUAL GOD, and so publishes his disbellef with his little “g.’’ Those - professing themselves to be wise make themselves fools. Now in opposition to all this— and mark this—the antagonism to Christianity is no new thing, only the dead antagonisms of the past galvanized into a short Ife. The Apostle tells us to grow in knowledge of God. Knowledge is light. Grow in grace, a8 a pliant does. There is a typical form for man, and that is Christ—that is, | we are to grow in knowledge and grace till we re- semole Christ. Here we have the whole process laid down in II. Peter, 1., and besides this giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to Virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to broth- erly kindness charity. Now, in the last place, recognize and seek the influence of Him who fashions oir souls. Do flow- ers know what they do’ The spirit of God lives in flowers, just as it doesin the human heart. The spirit of God dwells in plants, They have no will. But the spirit of God will not dweii in our hearts unless we wiil it, and if we seek it He will make us flowers for his own paradise. | will close with two thonghts. First ts that all growths are from littles; thereiore be intent upon growing; be intent to add to yourselves one ring each year, as the trees do. Lastly, look at the limit of this growti, to what Peter exhorts us. Every plant has its itmit; every animal has its limit. You can teach a dog to take a penny to a baker's and get a bun for it; but you cannot teach him that for ten cents he must get more buns. But how is it with man? In body he ts limited, but the mind has an unlimited sphere. The move we know the more room have we tor knowledge, So it is with grace. If we are God's children we shall grow in grace and knowledge. 8T, ANN’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHUROE. Sermon by a Young Priest, the Rev. Father Danicl Sheehey. The Roman Catholic Church tn the diocese of Brooklyn ts being constantly revisited by a class of priests of more than ordinary ablity and use- fulness, Among these is the Rev. Daniel Sheehey, | | | @ valuable addition to the strong force of Catholic priests in Brooklyn. CONFIRMATION OF CHURCH CANDIDATES. Yesterday morning 500 children of the congrega- tion of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church, corner of Leonard and Mauger streets, Brooklyn, E. received holy communion. After the the mass itor, Hove Jour McDonald, called Edward McCol- um, @ little boy, before the altar rail aad presented him with @ handsome silver watch as areward for honesty. The youngster, it appears, found @ pocketbook containing a large amount of money, which he returned to the owner. In the afternoon several handred bor were confirmed by the Right Rev. Bishop Loughlin. SERVICES AT HEWLET’S STATION, L. I. St. Patrick’s Church—Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner Doing Penance—Ser- mon by the Rev. Fa! r Dorris. In passing over that much travelled branch 0 the South Side Railroad leading from Valley Stream to Rockaway Beach one cannot avoid observing. pretty white-painted and green-shuttered little church, with its attractive cupola and cross, which etands in from the railroaa about six hundred yards. This structure, reared last year, standa a8 @ monument to the Jaith and zeal of the small congregation resident of that vicinity and the untiring energy of the worthy pastor, Rev. Father Dorris, formerly pastor of St. Stephen’s church, Brooklyn, This country church, which is under the titular patron- age of St. Patrick, appeared to excelient ad- vantage at the services yesterday. The altar was handsomely decorated by floral contributions, and the regular worshippers were reiniorced at the principal mass by Catholic guests from the Woods- burg Pavilion, about half a mile from Hewlet's, There were also present several people from Rock- away. The pastor preached A BRIEF SERMON, taking for his text the Gospel of St. Luke, Iv, 1-10, He dwelt upon the joy in heaven over one sia. nerdoing penance, of which the Gospel treated, He urged the unrepentant to pause for a moment and endeavor to contemplate the length and depth of God’s love and unbounded merey for sinful man¢ To consider the infinite love which prompted to come down from heaven, take upon Him. self all the travails of humanity—excepting sim alone—and in the end die upon the hard. wood of the cross, that we might enjoy that inheritance of eternal life aud happiness for which man was cre- ated, but was debarred from by the sin of our first Parente: But while God is all merey He warned his earers that He was alsoaGod of justice, and would require from each one of His creatures, a Strict accountability of the manner in which we have passed our lives on this earth,. and how far we have been derelict in the discharge of our re. ligious duties and in the fulfilment of the laws alas! who, living year after year in a state of sin, CUT OFF FROM DIVINE GRACR which their eripping eee are treading; yet they say to themselves, ‘Time enough for repentance; strength; continue on in my sinful course and in good time, when old, will repent.” devil. ‘Put it of until to-morrow,” whispers the Evil One. Rash postponement, which may lead to the loss of the immortal soul, tor which 80 great a hearers, Who had not made their peace with to tose no time in doing s0, and to bear in min the consoling words of the Scriptures concerning the joy in heaven over one sinner doing peuance. He urged them to lead HONEST, SOBER AND VIRTUOUS LIVES, Combat their besetting sins by constant supplica» tion before the throne of Divine Mercy, and te regularly approach the sacraments of the Church. It ma; hot he gre of ince Just here to state that the erection of this neW house of worship in this sparsely populated section of Long Island has en- tailed a burden upon a few in the payment of the debt. Tolighten this encumbrance will doubtlesa be a pious, self-imposed task on the part of the hundreds of Catholics who from the two cities seek the rustic attractions of Hewlet’s, Woodsburg and Rockaway during the present season. WORSHIP AT CLOSTER, N. J. nl Memorial Service of the Rev. E. & Hammond. Coster, N. J., June 22, 1873. To-day has been a Sabbath of impressive solem- nity to the residents of this quiet hamlet on ao count of the obsequies of the Rev. E. S. Hammond, an estimable citizen, an eminent clergyman of of the “Classis of Bergen.” Mr. Hammond graduated at the TheologicaY Seminary of New Brunswick, N. J., in 1842, since which period he has been a faithful servant of hia Lord and Master in the gospel ministry. He haa preached with unusual acceptance, in most in+ stances, as a beloved pastor to several churches in different parts of New York and in New Jersey. A few years ago’ he moved to this place, where he labored with all his energy of body and earnestness of mind to organ: ize and to establish a Christian church, which now exists as a cheering monument of the unswerving fidelity and ever abounding zeal in his Master's service. Knowing his unquestionable competency to discharge the duties of a more responsible sta tion, and reposing implicit confidence in his fldel- ity and Christian earnestness, he was chosen by “the Board of Foreign Missions,’ under the auspices of the Reformed Church, to labor as A MISSIONARY AT THE COLORADO RIVER RESERVA TION, Arizona, and about the same time the President of the United States, feeling assured that Mr. Ham mond was a man of the true Jeffersonian stamp— x honest and competent’’—appointed him as Indian Agent at the above named place. On the 7th of May last, as announced im the New York HERALD, Mr. Hammond tore himself from the bosom of his dear family, bid a cheeriuladieu to his friendsand associates tn life, forsook the com/orts, the laxuries, the privi- leges and inestimable blessings of civilized amd refined society, and started, com pareve, alont for his destination, jar beyond the bounds of civilization, to do what he could towards civilizing, christianzing and evagelizing the wild savages of heathenish Arizona. It Was @ herculean task. The responsibilities of his station were of over- whelming magnitude. Having arrived at San Bernardino, before he had reached his appointed station, he was attacked with pleurisy; and there, far away from those who loved him ‘as their own dear seives, he breathed out his precious life and was committed, “earth to earth and dust to dust,’ with. out a look, a word, or a tear from tender friends IN HIS DYING HOUR, Still, stranger hands administered to all ius want: and stranger friends of the Masonic fraternity ot that place honored him with a respectable burial. ‘He has left a wife, an estimable lady, and five lovely danghters, of superior accomplishments, to Tourn his joss, at an age when a wife feels the imperative need of a tender husband’s arm to lean upon, and When daughters experience the need of ee counsel, paternal confidence and affec- n. jon. Our country required the life of Mr. Hammond ag an offering on its altar, and the victim was ready at the appointed place and hour of sacrifice. Our country, thus far, has been possessed, subdued and Christianized at an immense cost of human life; and before the wilderness and the solitary places shall rejoice and the desert blossom as the rose thousands upon thousands of our best men and Women must sacrifice all that they hold dear, even their lives, to promote and accomplish the mo- mentous enterprise of promulgating truth and disseminating intelligence throughout tho uncivie lized realins of the globe on which we dwell. ,,At the appointed hour of service the church at Closter was thronged to listen to a discourse by lately ordained at Niagara, and appointed assistant | the Rey, Dr. Gordon, of Schraalingburg, who, after at St. Ann’s church, on Front street. Mr. Shee- hey possesses zeal—the cardinal virtue in a priest of & propagandist Church—a ready tongue, con- trolled by an excellent judgment, and @ presence very much in keeping with the even- ness of his character and temper. Well read in | the ways of the world and profoundly learned | in the schoo! of Catholic teaching, Mr. Sheehey is | peculiarly fitted for the discharge of the duties en- trusted to him by his superiors in the wide field of Christian effort, of which the pastorate of St. Anue’s is the centre. Yester: at the half-past ten mass, the young clergyman addressed the congregation in an excellent sermon, plain when plainness was required and ornate and chaste when a fight of fancy was not unwarranted, which seemed to pow- eriuily affect the large congregation assembled. He took for his text the Gospel of the day, and without much intreductory verbiage enlisted the attention of his hearers in ‘that all- onaiy question which must necessarily con- clude all human discussion. Death, in its surprises, its manifold forms and sudden estrangements, was eee vividly before the mind, and from the wreck of humanity presented the pet At eloquently to that higher life and purer®xistence tobe obtained by the Christian aiming for the crown and reward, The theme, 80 ever new, yet 80 stale, was dexterously managed, and tho atten- tion of the congregation was unwearied until the well constructed discourse was toa close by an agecting and fitting appeal, Mr, Sheehey the choir had sung the pathetic hymn, I would not live alway, announced for his text Hebrews, xI., 4:— “HE BEING DEAD YRT SPRAKETH."” He showed how not only good men, but wicke men, live and speak after death, often exerting more impressive influence a Bi TA were still alive. A very impressive int was offered by the Rev. P. V. Van Buskirk nd the choir sung several appropriate beaatiful braee The church was on 4 draped, and the oceasion was one of deep interest and of profit able solemnity to the entire audience. dice araieotinhanss ies AY MORNING DIVERSIONS IN WIL SUNDAY vee At about half-past one o'clock yesterday morm ing an unusual tumult took place at the interses tron of Union avenue and South First street, Wik lianmbarg. The report of a pistol having beer heard, Officers Lewis and Bennett, of the Sixts* precinct, hurried to the scene, and there found about thi or forty ee men and young womey in deadly conflict. The officers quickly dispersed the crowd and arrested two young men named James Kelly, seventeen years of age, and Joha Turner, articipating in the incipient riok They were subsequentiy bailed by Justice Kamem Ayoung man named Thomas Malone received « pistol shot wound in his right arm. The bullet waa extracted by Police yurgeqn Byady. © upon approaching Hewlet’s Station, the very. ransom was paid. The speaker then exhorted his! this place anda beloved and influential member’ laid down for our guidance. There were too many, ,, are nevertheless conscious of the precipice tipon — Ah! this'is the ° fallacy of the argument of the poor slave of the’ I will enjoy the present opportunity of Nealth and + ‘ =« -