The New York Herald Newspaper, October 6, 1873, Page 4

4 “SABBATH SERMONS, Delegates to the Evangelical Alli- ance in New York Pulpits. The Dean of Canterbury Condemning Denominational Conflicts. A Parisian Pastor on the Past of Miracles. A London Clergyman on Chris- tian Charity. AN IRISH BROTHER ON BROTHERLY LOVE. A Reverend Yorkshireman on Fair Play in Religious Conversions, A PREACHING HINDOO PROSELYTE. en The Protestant Council from a Catholic Standpoint. Father McGlynn on the Great Gathering. Frothingham on the French Pilgrimages. BEECHER HOME AGAIN. LYRIO HALL The Pilgrimages to the Shrine of Mar- garet Mare Allacoque at Paray le Monail, and What the Rev. O. B. Frothingham Thinks of Them. All the attractions of preaching by so many dis- tinguished delegates to the Evangelical Alliance did not prevent the usual large attendance to hear Rey. 0, B. Frothingham at the services yesterday morning at Lyric Hall, on Sixth avenue, opposite Reservoir square. The subject of Mr. Frothing- ham’s discourse was the “Roman Pilgrimage,” and his text John iv., 21, ‘Jesus saith unto her, «Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, not yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.’*? The summer just past had, he began, been memorable for extraordinary events, interesting the whole Christian world. One of these extraordinary events was the revival of Catholicism in France—such 4 revival as has not been known for 1,000 years. Many thousands of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, flocked to Paray le Monail, an obscure village in France, to bead HOMAGE TO A DEPARTED SAINT. For the past five months this little village has deen the scene of most extraordinary excitement. Allthe villagers have devoted their time to the care of the pilgrims coming there. Two centuries ago there lived a nan, Margaret Mare Allacoque, who claimed to have had intercourse with Christ. She declared that on a certain occasion Jesus pro- posed that she should give him her heart. She consented, and thereupon Jesus took from her breast her fleshy heart and from His breast His divine heart, anc, wrapping one in the other, Placed them in her breast. Some time ago her re- qmains were exhumed and the bones strung on wires and covered with wax, and the wer of healing 18s believed to be- long to the remains thus exhumed. A mot- ley crowd of men and women came there and kneeled before that shrine. it was a conjunc- tion of things that cause laughter. France, two ears ago, passed through a terrible revolution, ker prestige taken away, poverty, death, burning of villages, every conceivable disaster ialung uponher. There 1s always a REACLION FROM DISTRESS TO DEITY. A revival of religion aiways follows a financial revolution. The masses of people in France are in @ paintully anomalous condition—no general pub- lic school system; no widespread intelligence; ladies careiul in dress and exquisite in their toilet, their lives vacillating between the ballroom an the coniessional, jadies who will dance all night and pay priests for masses in the morning. Such are the proper VICTIMS OF INGENIOUS RELIGIONISTS. It is natural such should go On this pilgrimage. But why do others go? Why statesmen? Why men high in political station? The instant that tne acnemes of the monarchists to restore the Empire promise fulfilment then this revival begins. The Modern reign of Louis Philippe was supported by ecclesiastical power. The moment Napoleon ‘ascends the throne he invokes the power of the Roman Catholic Church. ‘The full power of the Church of Rome is bestowed upon the usurper. ‘The Church was obliged, irom its constitution, to be in league with Louis Napoleon. ‘The Churei is despotic. The Koman Church bas no sympathy with a republican government, There isa great, essential DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPUBLICANISM AND RO- MANISM. Republicanism means tree schools, freedom ot thought and action, every man bas power to enter heaven only through the gate of the Roman Catholic Church, No, men of sound, solid ideas, men who trust the power of the human heart to tnd its way to the Supreme, will not be among the pilgrims to Paray ie Monail. The careless willbe there—men With no religion, men who look on the Church as a police force. ‘there is one bugbear in France py terrible than anything we can conceive of. phe BUGBEAR OF SOCIALISM. Socialism is a French peculiarity. Eminent social- ists are all Frenchmen. The works are all in French. It was the boast of Louis Napoleon that he kept socialism under. He told the French people that if he siackened the reins those tigers would cut their throats. It was by socialism that he justified himself in his forbidaing of popular assemblages, tn his restrictions on the press. Napoleon had passed away. ‘The Empire was down, Socialism was again ranipant. The Church and socialism were lord, French socialism is anti- religious. The whole middle class, the merchants, the manufacturers—a class caring nothing [or reli- gion, a class with no aspirations—these men are now with their means favoring the revival which they laugh at. It is not that they care for the Church. ‘They dread socialism. They are scared, and they kneel. They had rather be protected by a power they venerate than be crashed by a power they dread. All this explains the interest in this revival shown in France, But does it explain the interest snown in England and this country’ The English are not superstition: Why, then, do noble dukes and lords take express trains and cross the dread- ful channel to worship this shrine? Why do Americans cross the Atlantic to worship at this shrine? It is not because they are superstitious. It is because they are Roman holics, She re striction of this Church and that POWER THAT ONCE RULED THE WORLD is what all Roman Catholics are interested in. The English Catholics hope that England will be- come Catholic. Here too there is a hope that the old Church of the Middie Ages will have its strongest seat. As they look back on this whole tory, what lessons does it teach? What is the purpose of the Church when it is resvored ? As @ form the Catholic worship is most beautiful. I a the beatitudes, intensifies the mir- acies, For humility, devotion, self-conservation, the Roman Catholic Church was without @ peer. U this Church, with its enormous power, its wealth, its many churches and its ardent ministers, meant to lift the humanity of the nineteenth centur, and give toit npr aspirations, he would say to {' God speed! If it would inculcate broad, sweet charities, ana make its members feel that there is # beautiful spirituality in religion, he would with- hold his opposition. Such was not its onject. It ‘Was to overthrow republicanism and establish @ GREAT CATHOLIC EMPIRE. What a spectacie! ifthere was anything that should nerve them ,to new efforts, it was this spec- tacie. A solemn responsibility ‘rested on them. ‘They had seen within the past two weeks what re- suits follow an abuse of financial trusts, What consequences must foliow an avuse of those higher trusts, God grant that they may feel their re- sponsibility. It was a matter that concermed all men who wish for social order, social harmony and social progress. Alter the discourse, which was listened to with the closest attention, an announcement was given of the coming Convention at Cooper Union. It was stated that among the subjects to be discussed were “Keclesiastical § of Free Religion,” “The Foreign Mission System,” “Evangelical Alliance and Religion of Humanity,” ‘Religion and Seience,” “Kilect of Free Thought or Religious NEW YORK ‘HERALD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1873—TRIPLE SHEET, The Roman Charch believes | Institutions,” ‘taxation of Church Property.” “Raligion and State.” Mr. Frothingham expressed a hope that there would be a large attendance, although theirs was not ® popular sect, and they contd nok expect to come up to tue Evangelical FRENOH EVANGELICAL CHURCH An Eloquent Sermon by the Rev Dr. Coulin, of Geneva—No Necessity for Mir- acles and Apparitions—The Safety of AU Lies in the Bible—The Danger of Indifference and the Curse of Doubt. The Rev. Frank Coulin, D. D., of Geneva, Switzer- land, preached yesterday morning, and quite elec- trifled his congregation. He is a most eloquent man, and surprised his hearers by an erudition and thoughtfuiness, allied to a pleasing and mag- netic manner. Mr. Coulim possesses one of the largest congregations in Switzerland, and came here as a delegate to the Evangelical Alliance Con- ference. He began by saying that, after all, it was not sur- prising in some aspects that so much indifference existed in tne world regarding religion, On the one hand, we were asked to believe in and sacri- fice our comforts to something which we could not see or hear—to something impalpable, while, on the other hand, we had all the joys of life alluring uson from religion, He confessed it was a hard thing to put simple faith beside actual fact and give up the latter to the former. But this was pre- cisely where God expected us to show our devo- tion to Him, “Ab,” would sayone, “if I could only know what passes in the world; if I could only hold @ conversation of ten minutes with some one of THE DEAD WHOM I HAVE KNOWN IN LIFE how speedily I should give up all thoughts of the world and work for the future salvation. If any one of those who were dear to me would come down and instruct me in what was useful how quickly my indifference would change to devo- tion.” But this does not occur. We must believe from the evidences we have or not believe at all, The manifestations ef God’s presence are numer- ous enough for those who wish to be saved with- out more being added. And then, again, would it be of any practical value that we should | in these days be given the real manifestations which were common of old. The ancient Israelites were brought constantly in immediate contact with God. Did that keep them without sin? Thou- sands listened in the plains and on the mounts of Palestine to Christ himseli— they heard his words, they saw his miracles, and yet were not convinced. If such supernatural evidences were to come tou . they would come to us in one of two ways, either | collectively or singly. Either we should all be con- stantly brought in contact with the presence of God and His miracles or we should be specially and singly favored with apparitions and ocular EVIDENCES OF ANOTHER LIFE. In the first case, what would happen? We would grow indifferent by the very constancy of super- natural revelations. Like the soidier on the battle field, who, by constant familiarity with death, grows So that he thinks nothing of it from its very irequency, we should grow cold and indifcrent to that which was so common, like these who saw Christ and were not convinced; like the Israel- ites who saw God and were not improved; like those who witnessed the miracles and yet did not change. The irequency of supernatural reve- lations would in the end work nothing but indittfer- ence, Now, il these supernatural events bappened single to one at a time, there can be little douvt that they would fill us with awe and make us run to- wards a better life. The real fact of that wiicn is only now a beef would so impressiouate those who saw it that the result would be like a clap of thunder and would leave the recipient under its terribie influence. But would it be lasting ? Would not the first strong impression gradually fade un- tilit became as a@ dream and then as the mere shadow ofadream? Like the drunkard who sees his companion die of delirium tremens, the sight 13 80 awlul, 80 osetia 9 that ne immediately col- jects What faculties he has left and pouder: over bis own situation. Then, spurred on by the terrible example, he vows that he will go no further, but will stop on the path of peril. first impression is immense, and it would seem as if the terrible example would forever cure him, and yet at the first temptation he :ails, and pursues his course as if he had never made vows and thought over his own wretched exist- ence. You see with our weak natures the strongest impressions are but shadows, wiuch fade away the further we go from them. It is then doubt- ful whether real manifestations would be of any service in reclaiming men from sin. If we cannot believe and ponder what God has given usin tue teachings oi Moses and the prophets—and, better | Still, the teachings of the New Testament—then no other means would do any more good. it is THE INDIFFERENCE OF THE WORLD which 1s its worst sin. You find respectable men and women moving in Christian society and going under that name who are as benighted but more responsible than those who know nothing. ‘the av- erage man and woman who does not practise the laws set down by the Almighty believe the general truths of the Bible; believe in an alter life, believe in Christ, believe His teaching, and yet, when told that God reserves ineffable bliss for those who love and serve Him, answer they have not the time or the will to do what God ordains, They donot say this in so many words, but this is what all their answers end in. And then when told that God, while He has tntinite mercy and goodness and offers everlasting bliss to those who serve Him, {8 equally severe upon those who do not, and reserves for them everlasting punish- ment, they shrug their shoulders and answer, “Time enough yet.” But death comes on them when least prepared, and their indifference is their ruia. Doubt is better than indifference, 1 respect honest doubt. But wnatis honest doupt? There are people who say they ,are doubters, who only have in their mouths all the stale argu- ments which can be picked up at avy street corner, and which have been a thonsand times refuted over and over again. These are not doubters. To be an honest doubdter requires at | least as much study and thought as to be a@ be- | liever. One must have given days anid weeks ana years to the sole study of religion before he can pretend to argue and doubt those points upon which others have taken an equal time to study and believe. Such peopie are the worst class, be- cause, besides being stupid and wicked, they make other fools like themselves. It is sate, then, on generai principles and without going into any of the obscure passages which the bible possesses, to believe its teachings, such as appeal to the heart. The command to love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself caunot be wrong, | and if this is observed it is ALL THAT 18 NECESSARY to salvation. You need go no further. It is un- | necessary to go into any questions of doctrine. | Only observe that one principle and ee are safe, Let us, then, believe and practise. It can do no- body harm; it will certainly do us all good, and then, Woen death comes unawares upon us, we can | rest confident that the good God will pardon our errors; will look upon us kindly, and, remembering that while we have been sinful, we have tried to love Him above all things and our neighbor as our- selves. He will take us into His bosom and to ever- lasting life. In the prayer which followed the Rev. Dr. Coulin asked God’s blessing upon the assembiage of tae | Evangelical Alliance and that harmouy wight reign in its councils. SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Smyth, Dele- gate From Ireland to the Evangelical | Alliance=Men Should Love One Another | for Christ's Sake. At the Scotch Presbyterian church, Fourteenth street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, the ser- mon was preached yesterday morning by the Rev, Richard Smyth, D. D., Professor of Theology in Magee College, Londonderry, ex-Moderator of the Irish General Assembly and delegate to the Evan- gelical Alliance now in session in this city. The pastor of the church, before Dr. Smyth's sermon. gave a long and eloquent prayer, and then, after the singing of a hymn by the congregation, Dr. Smyth announced his text from the Acts of the Apostles, the filty-sixth and sixtieth verses of the seventh chapter. These two texts relate to the ecstatic vision of Stephen, the first martyr, and to the prayer he made for hig enemies just before his death, They are, as it Were, an expression of CAUSE AND EFFE Stephen was surrounded by his enemtes—nhope- lessly in their hands—and he was fighting the battle of his Master. His speech before the coun- cil was strong and vigorous; the speech of aman pleading 1D @ great cause and not for himseif. There Was nothing in it that showed @ compassion or @ tenderness, a8 we find in the Saviour’s speeches always. But when the vision comes to him and he sees Jesus Christ standing at the right nand of His Father, he is moved to pray, and that rayer is, “Lay vot this sin upon them.’ ‘rom this \dden Change to tender mercy for his persecutors we see the effect upon Stephen’s mind of the vision of the Saviour. And itis a strange fact, too, that thie ig the only time in the Scrip. tures we find Christ mentioned as standing by the side of the Father, as if ou this occasion he were pleading strongly for poor human beings. Stephen wanted todo something for Christ before leaving the world. Under the imfnence of the vision, the impulse was to pray for his enemies. As Abraham of old, when he was told that from him should come the Messiah, was giad, and in the juluess of nis heart prayed for the doomed city; so when peers heart was glad after the vision he prayed Jor his persecutors. The speaker, alter Meagan | the meaning of the text insthis way, argued from it the DUTY OF LOVING ONE ANOTHER, and that the Jove which bound together our com- mon humanity shouid be centred in Christ, who, whether in his hnman sufferings here below, or in his pleading voice at the fatuer’s side as Stephen | saw him, was ever the Saviour in whom all our hope | | Holdich, Durbin, Foss, Eddy and others. | gregation united in singing @ hymn, | to devotional meditation. show that not to one fold or to one particular place, or to any one nation or continent should his love of mankind be confined, It should be just as broad as was that earth whereon these people lived and moved who believed in Jesus. In Christ was this great love for humanity, and from it followed our hope for salvation; in Him we rested, and just as we loved Him so should we love all that concerned Him; and the concerns of Christ were universal, wherever there was @ Christian heart. In speak- ing, merely in passing, of the Evangelical Alliance, the preacher said it would be a useless labor, were its work not to be founded sincerely upon the solid rock of love for all those who believed in Christ, the world over, The service was interesting and agreeably varied by the singing of hymns, The kev. Dr. Smyth has an exquisite touch of the brogue of his native land, and ts a most effective speaker, CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION, A Broad Church Sermon by the Rever- end Dean of Canterbury=The Unright- eousness of Quarrelling Over Sectarian Matters—“One Lord and One Faith.” The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, situated on Filth avenue and Tenth sfreet, was filled to overflowing yesterday morning on the occaston of the preaching of the Dean of Canterbury, who re- cently arrived in this city to take past in the Evan- gelical Alltance now in session. The text chosen by the Dean was from the fourth chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, third and fourth verses—“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in One hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” He then spoke as follows:—There is at the present moment a general longing for Christian unity, so that ailmay goin togetherin the body of Christ. Since the days of the reformation, people in various countries have been strug- gling for liberty of conscience. Men, too, often look upon their own religionas the only one by which they can be saved, and by so doing forget the Divine injunction not to divide the body of Christ. We are all answerable to God for our re- ligious belief, and also that we do not violate the | consciences of those who hold different creeds. RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY has, we all know, produced much misery and dis- cord. What all good men desire is that people of every land should love the Lord with all their hearts and souls, and thatthe knowledge of Him should be in every part of the world as the waters cover the seas. St. Paul alludes to these religious wranglings when he sSays:—‘“l, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you thatye walk worthy of the vocation wherein ye are called, withall lowltness and meek- ness, with long suffering, forbearing one toward another in love.” By this the apostie shows us the desirability of Christian unity, He speaks as a prisoner abd says he is willing to sacrifice his life for his Lord, Tue Ephesians, to which this epistle of Paul was directed, were not all Jovers of God, and many of them were plunged in idolatry. He, therefore, addressed himself to a small knot of peo- ple who had given their hearts to God, and told them tuat they had been summoned from world- liness to a higher calling. They were to pray to Almighty God for help with a feeling of their own humility and nothingness—not being proud of their being little, but bemg really convinced of their lit- tleness; the talents that God had given them were to be made use of, and an account of their steward- ship wasto be rendered, St Paul was deeply sensible of his unworthiness, and that all a man’s virtue is butas nothing in God's eyes provided he does not feel repentant and humble. It is THE DUTY OF THE DISCIPLE of Christ to forgive his fellow man, as God in the pienitude of his mercy forgives us, not once, but thousands of times, aud although God so loved us, we can never feel the brightness of His influence and spirit unless we live in love, and forgive our brother aught that we lard have against him. Another duty 18 to keep the unity of the spirit, which should correctly read as “the spiritual union,” for in the translation the adjective has been substituted by the genitive. The spiritual union, or spirit’s unity, applies to all things in- ternal or external. The union exists among ail lovers of God, and His influence strengthens the bond in the unity of peace. Ii, therefore, we are at peace one with another, it is ‘wrongfal to feel ll will against a neighbor tor his religious principles, God has given us the Scriptures, which we are commanded to search in quest of eternal life. There is no reason why we should try to exterminate other people's theological ideas, for we are told there is but one body and one spirit in Christ. An old writer puts it thus, “The body of Christ consists of ail the faithful who believe in Christ, as Enoch did in God.” This spiritual body is not amere inanimate body, for in it we live aud move and have our being. Our Lord alludes to Himself as THE VINE, of which we are the branches, and what a glortous privilege it is for us to have His spirit imbuing our heart with divine love, and oh! my bretnren, let me hope that none here will be indiffereni to the spiritual bond, so that ali may bring forth fruits to the glory of God. The table of the Lord’s Supper is set ior you to-day. Do not let the appeal be in vain, but make public pro- fession of your desire to serve the Lord. God tne eternal, God the inflite does not forget the ex- istence of one of us, and rejoices when a sinner is saved from everlasting destruction. Like a father, He knows our wants and our infirmities, and tea- derly leads us to the right path, from which we have all strayed. Whatever our earthly lot may be, let us never forget we are heirs of a heavenly immortality. Feeling the love of God, and remem- bering how Jesus came on earth to save sinners, Jet us live in brotherly peace and not try to destroy the belief of other sects of Christians; but let us constantly study our Bible, for in Holy Writ we are taught better than human lips can tell us our duty to God and our fellow man. In conclusion, let us hold the truth in unity of spirit, and may it be often said, a8 in days of old, “How these Cnristians love oue another.” 8T. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH. The Blessedness of Christian Charity— Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Rigg, of London. Yesterday afternoon St. Paul’s Methodist church was weil filled by a congregation drawn thither by the fame of the Rev. Dr. James H. Rigg, of London, a delegate to the Evangelical Alliance from the Wesleyan Methodist Church and prominently identified with the educational movements of that influential denomination in Great Britain, and President of the Wesleyan Training School at Wes: minster. There were a number of distinguished eWucators in the Methodist Church of America present to greet thelr transatlantic co-laborer, among whom were Professors Miley and Kidder, of the Drew Theological Seminary; Drs, True, The ex- ercises were commenced with the singing of an anthem by the choir, after which Dr. Rigg read the cignty-fourth Psalm and tbe thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and the con- While the collection was been taken the organist performed “The Last Rose of Summer,” which, however ap- propriate to the season, did not contribate much Alter this artistic per- formance was concluded the Rev. Dr. Rigg an- nounced his text, which was part of the eighth verse of the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistie to tue Corintiians— “CHARITY NEVER PAILETH,” The discourse was not so much a succession of original thoughts clothed in elegant diction as @ clear and masterly exposition of the entire chapter of which the text formed apart. In his introduc- tory remarks he said Corinth was a new city at the time the apostle wrote this letter and fuil of new life, It had risen in wonderlul splendor and power, with amazing energy, from ite complete rain by the Roman hand, and its life was all the more exuberant because it was so new and 80 young. Centrally and mainly it was the life of @ commercial city which, with an amazing hurry of growth and development, had grown exceedingly rich, Jt was a seaport also, the mart of ships and of seamen from Past and West and from every part of the earth, It was full of pride of its new power, life and wealth, Like every Greek community it was also full of the desire for philosophical and literary display. Ita | sky, climate and all its surroundings tended to fill it with excitement and intoxication of every form of pleasure and of Ley O To such a city as that the Gospel came by the lips of the Apostle Paul, and the Christianity which grew up within it could not but participate in the Wee ee of the soil and climate in which it grew. je people of Corinth valued above ail things inteliectual giits and were jJond of intellectual dispiay. They looked upon Christianity rather as A PHILOSOPHY than asa faith to be received by the lowly and penitent heart. The Apostie did not undervaiue these intellectual ie and acquirements, but m his letters he called their attention to the more ex- cellent way of Christian love. Prophesying, he taught—which meant talking to people to edifica- tion, exhortation and comfort—would be done away with in the heavenly state; and the gifts of tongues, though almost miraculously exerched iD modern times by missionaries who arranged the jargon of heathen dialects into grammar, would aiso cease there, mir Bet knowledge and culture, on which 80 many prided themselves, would vanish away a8 @ mere taper was put out in the presence of the great eternal and all radiating light of heaven, Our knowledge of all divine things was only partial; the vast continent of divine tratn had never been explored, and what had been Jearned was acquired little by littic. Our piles of divinity and endiess complications and distinc- tious were to be done away by a far superior mode ol knowledge, The impertect Knowledge of earth would be done away by the larger, deeper, surer and truer knowledge of the everlasting state, In rested, The leading idea of the preacucr was to reterence to the things unseen and eternal we DOW thought, reasoned and talked, as the Apostle beau~ tifully and truthfully said, ‘as a child;" it was mere ‘baby talk; but in the full development of the infinite state we would think and speak a8 men. The meaning of the phrase, “WE SKE THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY," was defined to be looking through a metallic mir- ror, which only imperiectly reflected the object looked at. But in the world where there was no shadow, but where all was pure and transparent, their knowledge would be true and far-reaching. The preacher proceeded to show that, contrary the sentiment sometimes expressed by Watts and narles Wealey, faith and hope, as the text dis- tistinctly afirmed, would forever abide, but the greatest of them all was love. Faith belonged to spirits who where dependent upon an independent and as long as there was an attainment to be reached or a mission to be performed hope must also remain. Charity or love was a reflection of the divine nature, This love of God was shed abroad in the hearts of all who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, UNIVERSITY PLACE CHUROH. The Rev. Narayan Sheshadri, of Bom- bay, on the Regeneration of Man. The pulpit of the University place Presbyterian church was occupied yesterday by the Rev. Nar- ayan Sheshadri, of Bombay, India, a minister of the Free Church of. Scotland, who is now present in this city attending the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, He was clothed In a gray robe and wore a white turban on his head, He is a converted Brahmin, and, since his conver- sion to Christianity, has been preaching his new faith amon; the people of his native land, = In Stature the Rey. Sheshadri is short and thick; his complexion is dark. bis command of tne English language is remark- ably good for a Hindoo, Choosing for his text the truths contained in the first ten verses of the sec- ond chapter of Paul’s Epistie to the Ephesians, he sketched out the transition riod in the liie of a converted man. ne man by nature is not only dying, but absolutely dead. The Christian heart of the man has never begun to beat; dissolution has be- gun to take place. From this torpor Cnrist’s power of salvation can release us, The lives that we lead after this regeneration are absolutely resurrection lives. There are so many things that are new and beautiful to us tnat we discover a new world. The very beau ideat of humanity is a truly converted man. 81. STEPHEN'S ROMAN OATHOLIO CHURCH. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. McGlynn—The Evangelical Alliance=The Presump- tion of the Christian Young Men and the Christian Old Men—True Evan- gelical Unity. At the high mass in St. Stephen’s church yester- day morning the Rev. Dr. McGlynn made an elo- quent protest against the action of the Evangelical Alliance in ciassing the Roman Catholic religion, under the head of superstition, with infidelity, as the enemies against which the iriends of Christian unity have to contend. His vindication of his Ohurch against the attacks of her enemies, couched in vigorous but chaste language, produced a great effect on his hearers. After reading the Gospel, Matt., xvi., the preacher said:—It is not, as you know, the custom of the Catholic pulpit to take notice of the latest sensations—the latest startling murder or divorce case—but the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in our midst, an event so sensational in many respects, would seem to justify some notice from this place that will not involve any departure from the seli- conscious dignity of the Catholic pulpit. It would be affectation on our part to seem indifferent about the doings of that association, Apart from the interest which we all feel in our fellow man in his aspirations after truth and Christian unity, we cannot but feel a special interest In the delib- erations of THE CHRISTIAN GENTLEMEN of the Evangelical Alliance, one of whose chief avowed objects is to opstruct the progress of the Catholic Church. No, we cannot be indifferent when we learn that their avowed object is to op- pose infidelity on the one hand and Catholicity (which they calumniously call “‘superstition”) on the other. The Church that taught their ances- tors to give expression in language, aud, from besotted savages, made them civilized beings—the Church that gave their countries saints and in- teliectual giants, compared with whom these Christian young men and these Christian old men are MERE TODDLING INFANTS, called a superstition by these respectable gentle- men! It willbe wellto meditate on the true type of evangelical unity, to protest against the as- sumption of these Christian men that they are the representatives of Christianity as taught by Christ. It is right that some voice should be raised here to rociaim that there are hundreds of millions of rue Christian hearts that cannot be weaned jrom allegiance to that Church which the Evangelical Alliance vilifies a3 superstitious. It 1s a charity on our part to remind the pious Cd tea and learned divines irom Europe that it would be well jor them to direct their batteries against the millions of men and women of their nations, and lately of their own communion, who look on the Word of God asa fable. They have at home, even in their pulpits, men who deny the truths of revelation, who wear THE GARB OF MINISTERS, that they may the more effectually undermine the Christian edifice. And this mere handful of men, disclaiming at the outset to represent any Church or to have any divine bhatt to teach or to de- fine doctrine—a conference of well-dressed, medi- ocre respectabilities, who relegate most things that Christ taught to the regions of mere opinion, and who kindly agree to differ about most things that the Christian Church of all ages and the Church of the great majority of Christendom to- day has always taught to be the very Word of God— hag the effrontery to assume to itself the title of “Evangelical,” and to shamefully violate a com- mandment of God WRITTEN UPON THE HEARTS of all men as well as in God’s revealed word:— “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” These men have the harditood to cail P the name ot superstition the religion of the one joly Catholic and Apostolic *Church, the Church of all ages and of all nations, the Church — that given them all that they ater of Christianity and of civilization; that has buiit their cnurches. their colleges an their schools; that has preserved for them the Christian traditions, “The many things that are not written in this book,’ as St. John says in his Gospel; that has preserved jor them with such tender and religious care the written Word of God; this Church that to an im- partial visitor from some other sphere or to an impartial and well-instructed visitor from @ pagan land would present itsel( as the Christian Church of history and the embodiment to-day of Christianity, as it has come down from Christ and his Aposties—if there is any such thing on earth— this church 1s dismissed with a sneer as a super- stition or denounced as an enemy of Christianity by these self-constituted Christian young men and Christian oid men, who, if they are Christian at all, are such only because of the greater or smalier, the more or the fewer shreds and patches of Christian teaching and of Christian practice which their ancestors carried with them when they re- belied against the divinely constituted authority of the Christian Chureh, and in bravery of which these, their descendants, now parade their HARDLY COVERED NAKEDNESS, like some savages that we read of, who at times make pomp of scant, mutilatea fragments of tne garments of their more civilized visitors, The true status of these gentlemen is that of recalcitrant children of the one Catholic Church of Christ. And their refusal to accept her teachings and seek ad- mission into her commnnion, if tts at all excusa- ble, is to be excused only because of their igno- Trance. And ignorance is but A POOR BXCUSE for men who set up with so much pomp to teach the world the ways of Christian truth and unity. Let us then for our own spiritual comfort and tor the instruction of some, not of this told, who may be here present, meditate a little upon the true evangelical type of Christian pple as we find it in the holy evangel of Christ, and it has ever been held in the Christian Church, In the opening speech of Pid wal ad mecting the Rev. Dr. Hodge is reported to have said at the Le, ee of bis discourse on Christian Union :— “The Church of Christ is one. There is one faith, one Shepherd, one King, one Kingdom, one Father, one family.”” The Rev. Dr. Hodge, like many an- other man, spoke better than he knew; and his words will suggest for us thougnts derived from God’s word to the strengthening of our own faith and the instructing of others. Yes! the Church of Christ is called @ household, family, @ flock, kingdom. Christ’s visible househoid must have head; Christ's family must have a father; Christ’s flock must have a shepherd and Christ’e kingdom must have aruler. The grand new republic which Jesus founded, finding its subjects in all States, being in the world but not of the world, should not be without a visible head, This is what Christ promised in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Other men not indifferent about the coming of Christ, bad mistaken who Christ was. But when Christ asked tho aposties, Peter, as their spokesman, answered for them, “Thon art Christ, the Son of the living God.” ‘Then Christ, with’ the wisdom and au- thority of an tncarnate God, declared that the answer of Peter was not from flesh and blood, and constituted him the rock on which the church ‘was to be built, against which THE GATES OF HELL should never prevail. But these Christian men say that the church did fall, that for one thousand y the Christian Church was sunk in idolatry, And Christ tells them that they lie, that the ates of hell Il never inst His hurchy that He will be with her until the end of time, Again, in the Gospel of St. John we read that Christ constituted Peter the shepherd of His fold, If the gentlemen of the Evangelical Alliance are sincere and unprejudiced in thelr search alter Christian unity, let them come into any Catholic charch and the priest, humbie in all that concerns the man, but powerful as the minister of Christ, will point out to them the road, and the only road, The Alliance has a} to true Christian unity, PPro. Augustine—‘‘In essentials priated a ‘ing of Si unity, in doubtiul things liberty, in all things charity.” In the bosom of the Holy Roman Catho- lic Church they can find true unity, unshackled lib- erty and perfect charity. Let SE Dea God and ask that great saint to intercede wi inrist that the scattered children of Israel may be gathered into the house of Jacob; that there may be but one fold and one shepherd, A NEW MISSION OHAPEL OPENED, Inauguration serviees were held yesterday by the Port Society at the tasteful chapel just erected by the City Mission Society, at 135 Greenwich street. George W. Lane, president of the society, presided, and addresses were made by Rev. B, F. Willard and Rev. E. D, Murphy, W. D. Harris read a report which stated the attendance of seamen at that mission to ve 65,422 in the last nine years. CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. The Transfer of the Rev. Father Maguire to the Parish of Irvington. The Rev. P. J, Maguire, first assistant pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Coriception, yester- day bade farewell to his late congregation. There was ample evidence that Mr. Maguire’s exodus was regretted by the members o! the fold over which he has been resident pastor. Father Maguire has been appointed pastor of Irvington, one of the most beautiful spots upon the banks of the Hudson River. Alter his eight years of service at the Fourteenth street church, no one will fail to congratulate the reverend prelate uponnis trans- lation to a rural paradise. BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH OHURCH Mr. Beecher’s First Sunday Home—The Doctrine of the New Testament—The Fruits of the Spirit—Mr. Beepher’s Views of Death. Yesterday was an auspicious day for the begin- ning of a new year of work, Mr. Beecher has re- turned, much strengibened and invigorated, and ready for another year.of work. As was to be ex- pected, an immense throng fillea Plymouth church and the sidewalk outside at an early hour, Mr. Beecher chose his text from the First Epistle of John, third chapter, second and third verses—“Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; put we know tbat when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure,” There is a most striking contrast in the spirit of modern science and the spirit of the New Testa- ment, and nowhere is this tound more than in the views taken of man. Science tends to take man us he was, the New Testament as he is to be. ‘There may be no antagonism in these views; they may be the complement of each other, One de- scribes the destiny, One looks at the planting of the seed, the other follows with the eye the flower andthe trnit. Therefore there are heard to-day, one voice saying, man is of dust; the other, MAN 18 IMMORTAL, One says man is animal, the other says man is of God; one says we come from beneath, the other | Bays We are to ascend. These aye not necessarily in conflict, but they are so. 1t is well jor us to know where men came from, but it is better to know where we are going tv. We know that we are sons of God. There is one theory that men fell from high estate, and another that we begun low and are working up. Supposing our progeni tors did fall, their descendants could not tall, for we begun at the bottom. The New Testament has two “sights,” speaking as we speak of firearms. lt speaks of the present and of things as they ure to be. ‘the presene is only important in sight of the future; it assumes that man is low and erring and sinful, and the Jact remains that men are so low and siniul that they need DIVINE INTERPOSITION, divine succor and heip to lift themselves to a state in which they can call themselves sons of God. That men are susceptible of gradual change all allow and admit; but can that nnrelding: be ac- celerated? Can it be induced by man himself? ‘That is the ground the New Testament takes. It declares that what is low in man can be elevated and that it ort be accomplished speedily by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are not to suppose that this is revealed as a new truth, for there was more or less recognition of divine influence in Him before it was twilight; now the sun of right- eousness arose; men are lifted high and speedily into new life. Human nature was JOINED TO CHRIST by His incarnation. Our relation to Him was re- vealed by His sufferings. There is one truth in the New Testament which inspires us more than any. itis that there is a direct down-thrusting of the power of God, and it is this nearness of man to God, this direct approach of God—a God that it is possible so to approach as that we Know that we are near Him. ‘This is the doctrine of the New Testament. It is a fact of nature just as much as turnips and squashes and potatoes are. Men be- lieve they are natural; but moral conscience they don’t believe in, because they think it is not science. Nature begun with a clod ends with a man, but a man that God sees, I hold that the up- per forms of nature are more forms of nature, so to speak, than the lower. Here, then, we stand. That selence is doing its” food work outside of the Bible; in other words, yy and by, when the century is turned clean over, when the side now in the dark sees the sun, it will recognize its relation to and dependence un those spiritual influences. THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT are very beautiful, even as we look at tnem, though we seldom see very ripe ones. (Laughter.) In Galatians you will find that inventory of the fruit of the spirit—love, Joy peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temper- ance. These are only a specimen, as one goes into a garden and picks a bouquet, not some of every kind, but enough -to represent the style of the garden, so the fruits of the spirit are not exhausted here. What do we know of tove? You will say if we know of any- thing we Know of love, we that saw the whole web of lie woven of gold and silver threads of family airection, if there be anything we know, we know about love; but we know nothingoi It; we have seen something of it, but we have not seen it regnant, so that justice took on the gar- ments of love; never have we seen it in its ampli- tude. Shall he who has heard an instrument half tuued say that he knows what it is? How much do we know of joy? A great deal, as @ great, boisterous boyish joy; but who knows of it asaraiment? How many are there that know of it thus? They know its flash and sparkle. I'm very fond of music, even an oid broken flute from a neighbor's window is musical to me, if it is far enough off. When I went to Boston and heard the new instruments with such scope, such length and breadth, I felt | had never heard music besore. I think thus of CHRISTIAN GRACES, as ofaclarionet witha learner at the end of it. I've seen all manner of Christians, one-stringed and two-stringed, but all discordant. Take this band of music, playing sweetly here now tor those who can hear it, take this idea of the infinite truit- fulness of love, coupled with joy, while it shines in amplitude in heaven, it yet sparkles on every blade of grass, bountiful in its universality and its individuality. Who has known such joy’ if there be any here, let him speak ; no one, even the Perfect Man, hath seen it. If joy has so much, how is peace? Absence from pain is supposed to be peace; sleep is supposed to be peaceful, but it is substantial annihilation. Who knows of it. We read glimpses of it in enthusiasts, and men smile and think it is adream; but no, it is @ reality— subtie, dificult to realize, but real and long sutfer- ing. There is@ great deal of suffering, but not much long suffering; and gentieness, not weak- ness. How little does any one know of these? Now we see why we know 80 little of our sonship to God. Here, then, we have the Christian idea of mau- hood, taking man as he is and lifting him up and Into Dew and higher life, in whicn he isa son of God coming into his relationship. When once he has come into their relationship he has gained the victory over the world, he has new views of Itie, & new sphere, he has conquered the world in this—that he feels he is not of it, though init. It does not yet appear what we shall be bho all these buddings shall open in a better I brought from the White Mountains some speci- mens of nature-—leaves, of gold and scariet, and brown and mottied—ana, taking them out, tsay, Here is what I brought home to show you, Would anyone get an idea from them of tue Yast mountains and the hillsides covered with their glories? When I show you this handful of leaves, and you say, 0, now I Know what you have been talking about; but, poor creature, (33 don't know anything aboat tt. Who ever could describe the beauty of the Hudson in all its gorgeous color- ing of autumn? Would not the man be & lunatic who down and wrote to his wife, ‘My dear wife, 1am now going to deacribe to yon all | saw going WA the Hudson from New York to Aibany.” (Laughter), When nature is teaching us a lesson we never learned, when nature ts going to die, and throws out all ita glorious colors, how grand ts nature! No man could describe even matter in words, All that the SUMMER OF GRACR has brought to mun all its boundless capacity for lights and shadows, what are they? I say if the janguage Of the Scripture, ‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” Whatever you think of the development of theory benind, let me tell you that the development of theory before wortby of your attention. Let death assume an entirely dif- Jerent piace in our imagination—I don’t mean when you come to die—for ninety-nine out of 100 don’t know when they die; but our habitual contemplation of death should be changed from ot and melancholy. 1 know that nature will have way, and it is not possible to break off rudely the ties of life and hot suffer; but I would not have the sufferers look into the grave for those who are gone, I would to God that mothers who visit their children’s graves might look up and not down, My children twinkle above me like stars, Inever have ond gone purposely to the place where they are Tatd, 1 never slall look in the | dust for them—they rose ana are with God, and my thoughts will not follow them thro the ground, Whatever your views of man rise always, Have you ever noticed the dandelion? Nothing but a bunch of homely leaves at first, close to the ground. Ina few days it liits up its head and blossoms. Wait a few days and it ne. There are our children, Wait again, and it comes once more.it comes an airy globe, more symmetrical than human hands could fashion ; so light that a breeze will biow it away. They are our children, sons of God, This view of death ought to inspire that sense of our worth which pride ongns todo; and, if we are of the household of faith, if, through: Unga, we are children of God, no man lives but may develop @ personal sense of his worth—so that sense of loneliness which is apt to fall on sons, a feeling of uselessness, a dread of being old— they are of just as much worth whom God holds in reserve as those in the front of the battle. We are not useless because Just now we are not called on to work on unrolling an Egyptian mummy; and, by the way, I don’t think the Egyptians were so handsome as that they should preserve themselves for the inspection of future generations; but on unrf#iling a mummy ou Will find some wheat, which has kept company for 3,000 years with @ hideous mummy; you put it in the ground and it will shoot upwards and down- wards, as though it had not been laid away for 80 long. ‘If wheat will keep 3,000 years, Lam sure men will. Look larger, don’t look with the compass ore gu ora pint, We are sons of God, once having e ' DIVINE FAVOR, once tasting of the grace of God; and it matters very little whether we wait a year ortwo. In the convulsions which are taking place, the failures of banks and companies, the glory and chief treasure Of man cannot pe touched. What is the use of being a Christian if you can’t be above these? What is the use of being a rich man’s son if you can’t have money to ruin yourself with? Is there no cure for heartaches since the: heart of Jesus was pierced ? Other men’s treasures make to themselves win; and ny away, but a Christian's treasures shot make themselves wings and fly homeward. When the earthquake comes and youcry “I am ruined! Lam ruined!” are you ruined because the dust is shaken off you? Are you ruined, you that Christ thought of in Gethsemane? You whose name ia written in the Book of Life’? You for whom ts laid up the crown and spectre? Oh, the loss of things in this world is often gain, hen autumn comes we dread to see the leaves iall, but when they iall we see & house that they hid before. Many a man’s vision is closed with foliage, so that he cannot see his Father’s house. In tii» consciousness of God, in this certainty that we shall rule the storm as Carist ruled it, Christian brethren, take hold of this pillar, We know not yet what we shail be, but take hold of these things and they shall crown you with eternal rejoicing, LEFFERTS’ PARK SERVIOES. Sermon by the Rev. Thomas Primrose, of Yorkshire, England—The Worth and Power of Divine Grace—Conversion to God the First Stepping Stone to Hap- piness. ‘The cool shade under the trees of Lefferts’ Park, in Brooklyn, was peopled yesterday afternoon by a quiet but large assembly of worshippers of nearly ali denominations. The services were conaucted as usual by @ lay brother, who first announced the titles of several appropriate hymns, which were sung by the whole congregation. Prayer was o!- Jered by a reverend clergyman, whose name is un- known, and was succeeded by further sing- ing and the passing of the subscrip. tion plate, to which the contributions were pientiful. The Rev. Thomas Primrose, of the town of Redding, Yorkshire, England—a delegate to the Evangelical Alliance—was then introduced. He announced as the text of the sermon which he was about to preach Acts Xi., 22, 23:—‘Then tidings of vhese things came unto the ears of the Church, which was in Jerusalem; and they sent forth Barnabas, that he gould go as far as Anti- och; who, when he came, and _ had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them ali that, with purpose of heart, they would cleave unto the Lord.’? It was said, the preacher began, 700 years prior to the actual incarnation of Jesus Christ, by Isaiah, “Of the increase of His government and of His ple there shall be no end.’ God has certainly been in the midst of them. His government has witn- stood antagonism, conspiracy and hatred, but by His wonderful working, the very efforts made by the impious and opposing have been the means of its further spread, its glory and its decisive triumph. Christianity must reign until all enemies are put under its foot. He would not detain his listeners with illustrations of this theme of the power of Onrist from scenes in the “old country,” trom which he came, but would refer them directly to the context. He described the depth of infamy and degradation trom which these converts, whom Barrabas was sent to look after, had risen to find the light of Christ, the hope of the cross and the sanctilication of faith, These examples taught the value of PRESENT SALVATION. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’? Was an old saying familiar to many—(hear, hear)— but it was as applicable to salvation as to the other affairs of daliy lite. They were offered a free salvation—iree as the atmospheric air or the rising water of our springs. It offered us the cancellii oftallour guilt through the shedding of the bi of Jesus on Golgotua’s hill, He could wash us and make us whiter than the snow. He bore ail our sins away—a sacrifice of nobler name and more precious blood than was ever offered in olden Inythological worship. It the Gospel had ‘fair play” with them this aiternoon it would save them all. (Hear, hear.) When Barnabas came down to Antioch, he saw the grace of God and was glad. The preacher said that he himself had been made glad by scenes which he had witnessed during his own labors in England, Wales and Scotland, when men had been made to realize their unworthiness, and from that state of humility and penitence had risen to find reconciliation with God, Many of his listeners had felt an overpowering joy in the sense of the change that had been wrought in them, and were lost for expression of thankfulness and gladness. Thetr feeling was best described by a line from a familiar hymn, My heart doth dance at the sound of His name; and that was THE BES! DANCING EVER SEEN on the face of this planet. (Laughter.) This which had so triumphed at Antioch, was sufticient to save and convert all. He blessed God that it had found him out in Yorkshire, forty-two years ago, and had saved in him a young rebel against heaven. And the grace that could save Thomas Penrose could save OR (Hear, hear) He then narrated a tale.of John Philips, now a preacher in London, England, who when a boy, inter- fered mischieviously with the primitive worship or the Methodists, He was brought betore magistrate, and the cry was raised that he should be punished severely, when a single voice declared that he should be saved and corrected and made & preacher of. That was tne British love of “FAIR PLAY.” Grace could be given toanybody. There were some who wished it to run in very narrow grooves, but this was not to be allowed, (No, no.) He narrated how he preached in & women’s workhouse in Yorkshire, where the women were used to hav- ing their daliy bread dealt out to them by the pound, and how he gave to them the text, “It is done as thou hast commanded,” and assured them that, Whereas aloretime they had little pieces of the bread of lite dealt out to them, they would now have great lumps. And tt had pleased the Lord on that occasion to save one of the souls of these poor persons. The preacher also condemned the hiding Of grace by those who had received of tt. Christ had a claim to their lips’ utterance and their tongues’ confession. Had they been skulking in the thickets, lurking in the bushes, FEARFUL OF CONFESSING JESUS? It was their duty to utter the memory of His good- ness and make His name glorious. The converted could not sneak into Heaven, No, They should have aright royal and magnificent entrance into the everlasting Kingdom. Ii they had God's grace they had spiritual prosperity; and they who dia not rejoice in the salvation of a soul did not re- semble Barnabas, They lived at the North Pole of the spiritual world, among icebergs, and had need to approach nearer the Torrid Zone. Their hearta were unlike that of the old lady who told Wesley that her heart was in tune, although her voice was not. He prayed that their hearts might sing for joy, and that God might tune them toa grand praiseful pitch. Conversion to God, he said, in conclusion, is the first stepping stone to happiness, ‘The Joy of the Lord 1s the strength of the godly.” See to it that you have clean hands and pure hearts and yon wilt grow in the strength of faith, If you cleave to the Lord you will be useful and happy as He would have you be, and will see at last the friendly hand Pe your Kider Brother welcoming you to His King- jor, ‘The Rev. John Ashworth, of London, also a mem- ber of the Alliance, delivered a short address and the services then closed, ST, PETER’3 CHURCH. Bishop Quinlan, of Mobile, Al Brooklyn, Secking Help for His Im- poverished Diocese, At the principal service at St, Peter's church, cor- nerof Warren and Hicks streets, South Brooklyn, the Right Rev. Dr. Quinlan, Bishop of the diocese of Mobile, Ala., stated that the lately deceased acting pastor of the parish of St. Peter's had Roos to aid him by permitting @ collection to be taken up in aid of the Gathedral at Mobile, This Kind promise had since been guaranteed by the present pastor, and on Sunday next he would be happy to receive their contribations im aid of the subject mentioned. He said that the corner-stone of the edral Was latd thirty-three years ago, and ten y later the edifice was solemnly dedicated, It is not fin- Ixhed notwithstanding the lapse of years noved, owing to the tmpecuniosity of the parishioner: ‘The war had, of caste etcey. tended to impove: ish the people of the diocet He had yearly to contribute from his personal slender income to the support of the priests of his diocese, The great object in view was the completion of the Cathedral and tn furtherance of this end # collection will be made on Sunday next. An excellent sermon was delivered by the Bishop upon the gospel of the