The New York Herald Newspaper, January 19, 1874, Page 8

PULPIT AND PEW, Services and Sermons in the Sanctuaries of the City and Suburbs. Bishop Cummins on Sensuous and Spiritual Religion. THE RUSSIAN-GREEK SERVICE. An English Clergyman on Conversion. iy ene a Beecher and Modern Concep- tions of God. Sermons by Father Quinn, Dr. Duryea, Father Nicholas Bjerring and 0. B. Frothingham. REFORMED EPISOOPAL OAUBOH. The True Faith and the True Worship— Simplicity Better thau Ccremonies— Sermon by Right Rev. Bishop Cam- mins. Right Rev. Bishop Cummins preached yesterday | morning to a large congregation at Steinway Hall. i Quite a number of those who attended were Metho" | ists or Presbyterians, or belonged to other non- | Episcopai churches, Some of them came from Brooklyn, Jersey City and other suburban towns: The reverend Bishop took his text from St. John, tv., 24—-God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” In anar. | row valley, the preacher degan, with his sonorous, | ringing volce, among the highlands of Samarta, | lies the Moslem town of Nablus, Degraded as. it | nowis by the sway of the false prophet it was once the resting place of the ark of God and tne centre oj union to the tribes of Israel, It was the | spot Where Abranam first pitched bis tent in the | land of Canaan, where the bones of Joseph were buried aiter their long joarney of forty years in the | wilderness and where Joshua gathered all Israel TO BEAR BIS LAST WORDS of counsel and of warning. But that little town had a higher distinction suill, Jesus Himseli going up to | Jcrusalem rested by the side of Jacob’s well, wearied with His journey and seeking refresument from its waters. A thoughtless woman, coming to draw water, found ner whole past life unveiled by the stranger sitting by the well, recognized Him as@ prophet, and at once introduced the great controversy between Jew and Samaritan. Point- ing to the mount on whose summit once stood the Samaritan temple, she said:—‘‘Uur fathers wor- shipped on this muuntain, and ye say that in Jeru. salem is the place where men Ought to worship. Insiantly the Jew was lost to sight, and the Re- deemer of mankind spoke:—‘Not alone on the mount is the Father to be worshipped, but the whole earth is a temple and every spot hallowed round. God is aspiril, and they taat worsiip im must worship Him in spirw gud in truth.” How siow was the human race to learn this great truth! Stilt the great controversy was waging, Jerusalem or Samuria ? Father to be worshipped ? and net mechanical ; A MATTER OF THE SOUL and not of forms or external rites; a rational wor- ship, whose ouly basis was truth, uechanging and eterual. No element or propensity fa the Duman cunstitution Was more pronounced than Was its religiousness. Man was emimently a religious being; and by that he did not mean a good and boly vemg, but one who instinctively ciung to some higher Being and craved His aid and protec- tion. It was the mightiest testimony to the original grandeur of the human soul that now in its wreck and ruin itt could not quite break away from its Creator. Dreading and fearing it yet | clung to Him and sought to propitiate Him. | Wherever man existed, unaer whatever varieties | Of civilization and culture, he must Dave a religion. | There never yet had been tound the nation or the tribe, the lowest and most degraded, without a Wworsuip Of some order, without a God wnose favor was to be sought and whose wrath was to be ap- ased by some rites, however hideous and revoit- ing. Religion had ever been the mightiest force or jactor iu human history, The most widespread and lasting systems had been religious systems, the most powerful lears were religious tears, the bitterest hatreds were religious hatreds, the most destructive wars HAD BEEN RELIGIOUS WARS, the most cruel and sanguinary persecutions always were religious persecutions, the most bit- ter prejudices were religious prejudices, Where one man hud dicd jor his country a hundred had died for their faitn. Man must have a religion; everywhere, in all wages and countr es, they found | some kind of worship, however degraded it might | be. To the Romaus and Greeks tuere were gods | without wumber; there were divinities that | cwelt im the weods; there were divinities in tne | forests und the sea. Mars was the popular concep- tion o. the spirit oi war, and Veuus the embodi- ment of the popular conception of love. But tne Most sublime incarnation of the divine human faith was the religion of Jesus Christ. Aiter a while | the Hebrew ceremonies became more important than tne living troths, and it was in such an age when Jesus Christ came and said, “Wor- spip | me in the heart, not in tue boay.” Had this maxim always been kept | iu view? No: the religion of Curist bad been | perverted and corrupted, and the great ¢ Gort thus | far had been to bring down the faith to the level of | man, Qneen Elizabeth went to church every Sun: | day and was washed by the priests, but this was | Stil not godiiness but flith. Altars must biazo | with light, meense must exhale a delicious tra- grauce, ALL THE SENSES MUST BE SATISFIED, ‘end this was religion, was it? No, it Was am inven- | tion of the human seuses, and it already began in the apostolic ages. orrupted irom the #im- icity that ts in Chrivt’—these were already St. words, Here Was this stupeadous power, rug, colossal tempi and Super- | S$ its name—superstition, meatead of | rational fairh, a religion of austere ritual and easy | morality, a religion of sensual ceremonies—in a | word, Ci a counierieit presentm mt of Jesus Christ. it Was the my ase it Was such Amidst alt the progress of the axe evii-hearted man always re- Maibed the sam «l refa ed to worship Goa in the true spirit. Sentimentslsm, tne outgrowth of a sensual temperament and highly wrougat | imagination, was aiso one o1 the worst evils of this | superstition. It surrendered itseli to the effects wrougnt by sculptured stone, it was rapt to the third heaven of ecstasy by the soft cadences of music. How beauciiul wes this ritual, but was-it also true?’ This was the main question which they must always keep in view, Truth was not What delighted their senses. iu Oberammergau they would see Calvary turned into a taeatre and the crogs into a baubie. He DID NOY WANT {£0 SEE THIS, nor did he waut to alt in churches the exact counterparts of those in pagan temples, ‘There was no true altar but the cross of Christ. If they beheli men bowing with reverence before dois they inust retuse to join these men; it pictures of Christ and the saints were set up (as they were being set up now by so-called Protestant churches), HW paintings of Christ and His di-cipies weve presented to the eye—be they painte: the greatest painters who ever lived—if music became the mere d or fessionai singers to attract peopie to tl rch as they wouid to the vpera, Uey must call ita profanation of God. Oh, he wouid rather pray with some congregation on the hill-side tian see the paid chorwsters in white robes praising God by proxy. Was this trath? And was the worship from the beart? This was another question that must be asked. A lovelier than all giories of marbie and canvas was the soul reflect- ing its beauteousness im devout worship; more grateiui to God than the most ins of Music was the broken cry from @ contrite and sin- cere heart. Whatever ritual leit the heart of the votary unmoved, unmarked by any sell-sacrifice, was superstition and not a worship of Goa ‘in truth.” There was a medieval legend of Who, in lis cell, prayed to God, when ie appeared to him VISION CLAD LN CELESTIAL, LIGHT, “Who art thou?’ the knight asked. ‘Worship me,” the vision said. He was about to fali at the feet of the apparition when he noticed that the hauds were without marks Of the terribie nails, and he refused to worship him. The vision then vanished, tor it was only Satan clad in saintly roves. For such tokens they must always ask, “Tae temple of the Lord” bad always been tue ery thus jar; but now the cry of Prot. estantism must be the “Lord of the temple.” Be this the work of this RKeiormed he tea Church, Be this, beloved, their blessed work. After the sermon the rev- erend Bishop addressed a few words to the con- ea. i@ said that henceforth there would pao worship every Sunday, in the mornii et Steinway Hall and in the evening at lyric Hi 4m Sixth avenue, nears Forty-second sweet, Lt | jected to tats temptation. fishe! Where and how was tue | Jesus apsweied :— | Only by a worship in spirit and in trath; spiritual | nity adapted to the human hesrt, | NEW YORK to worship in two dif. w that it wae im; in this manner; but ‘the best they could do. For ocdkey Raps wae core: that they would bave to P wenen Was oe Rot suited worship. would be necessary, how- comtented with the present arrange- Organize a regular vent of the a r vestr} ay it was importaat that Perens venee to the congregation regularly and in their names as soon as possible. When aSlogptn ta toupmachise wid watt e « mn woul to sing. They would try to have congregational singing in at least one Episcopal church tn this city, and he was thankiul to hear their voices one ing so ferven: id lustily in the pratse of ‘After the singing’ the reverend Bishop Offered an ardent prayer and pronounced the blessing, and then the serviges terminated. SEVENTEENTH STRERT BAPTIST CHURCH Version and the M by Which It Be Accomplishtd=—The Trust Which Must Be Placed im Christ— Audrew an Example of Promptitu The Rev. J. U. Needham preached yesterday at the Seven'eenth street Baptist church. He is an English clergyman. He took for his text the im- med:ate manner in which Andrew the Apostle Jollowed Corist when called upon. Mr. Needham said:—We most look on Christ in the nature of a high priest, We must bear in mind that we are His servants, This is one of the main principles that should guide us in our feelings toward Jesus. We render service to Him as @ sertant does to us. eo When converted a man takes upon him this condition. There is no probationary state to go through. From the day the man recognizes Ubrist and ts converted from tbat day he begins to be His servant, and serves Him, Andrew was a model workman, and he put on the armor of his apostolate tmm diately. He had just iound Jesus. if some phi- losophers had been present when Andrew went forth to preach the Gospel they would have ques- tioned and denied that he was sufficiently edu- cated t do it. They would have told him if his desire waa strong to go into some college and learn first the business in which he was about to embark. Bat Andrew did it, and was not sub- et he wags nothi but an ordinary rman. The divine will woul not hinder him in his mission. As a fond Chris- tiau, just converted, he went forth bringing peo- ple to Jesus. Prompticude ts the great desideratam with those who really love When Abraham was called upon by the Lord Jehovah to sacrifice his son Isaac he did not hesitate or put it off a week sO as to, If possible, east his eyes upon his gon a littie longer heiore leaving him, but went early the next morn- ; voz, not hesitating & moment. He did | Rot even obey the dictates of his own nature, but went promptly. This lesson appiies to us. In the service of God we must act promptly il we wish to bring souls to salvation. I you are indil- Jerent in this manner, if you do not care to save perishipg souls, if you have no desire to bring souls out of darkness into light, there can be but | little Christianity in you, ‘nat other can you be than a saver of souls 1! you are a follower of Christ? I don't say every man ought to be a pastor. Isee those here who are growing old and the furrows of ime aré making wrink'es on their brow. You | | must be prompt. ‘ou perhaps regret now that | Opportunities have passed; that you did not put | more iaith, more energy, in your past efforts for | Christ. Days have been wasted; sinners have | gone down into the dead land and there bas been ho effort made to save them. Your duty is not simply to build churches and say here aro the | Saints and wait for the sinners to come in. Your | duty ts to go out ana find them and bring them in. | Let us be hearty in doing this and Christ will see | your faith. Andrew in his work was personal, and he went to see pe individsally and win them over. God will bless who do this. Go to men aud speak | to them earnestly, and exhort tuem to change their mode of life. butvonhole then and speak to | them of J and Wait with them until you see | thetr conve decided. Stir tnem up snd re- | main with them, as they will fall back again into their nap. The present is the time. Dont put it om, | but go at once to your work. Do tt speedily. There | isa Spanish proverb which says, “The road of by and | by leads to Dever,” and tne man who says.not now | may miss the chance, and the opportunity may never come again. Jesus won't question the mo- tive, and if you believe, just come to Jesus and trust in Christ; He will always welcome you and | receive you. THE BUSSIAB-GREBK OHAPEL | A Sermem by Father Nicholas Bjerring | om the Sacraments of the Chureh. A numerous audience was assembled yesterday at the above church. The gorgeous ceremonial of the services has proved very attractive to a large number of the wealthier classes of the city. With the authorization of the Synod in St. Petersburg the liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and Basil the Great have been translated into English and set to music for tie use of the choir. Prayers were offered fur the Emperor of Russia, for the King ot Greece and for the President of the United States. The Rev. Father Nicholas -Bjerring preached as follows :— Although I have had opportunity on former oc- casions to explain the same doctrines, yet would I fulfil the wish of some again to say a few words in regard to our veneration of the mother of God and of the samts, and at the same time to give a short account of the other doctrines of the Church; and this I do so much the more readily, because the doctrine of the veneration of the saints often gives rise to misunderstanding on the part of those who are not weil acquainted w.th our Church, In rendering the Holy Virgin the honor due to her as to the pure Virgin, who was chosen to become the mother of our Saviour, the Protestant communities fear to lower the majesty of God, and, so to say, to divide the devotion which it behooves a Chris- tian to yleld to his Redeemer and Lord alone. Whereas our Church, faitntul to sacred tradition, firmly believes the Holy Virgin Mary to bo, not an ordinary woran, but the elect and blessed instru- ment of God in the work of our redemption. The Church believes that she, who bore in her womb the God Man, who wept tears of motherly love and woe at the loot of the cross, in tne solemn hour of the atonement for the sins of mankind, and in these sacred moments, received irom the very lips of the Divine Sufferer Himself the words of filral love ana care, entrusting her to the guardian- ship of His beloved disciple, and his person confided us all to her motherly love, The Charch believes that she, the mother of our Lord is sacred to us above all women, and holds in the kingdom of her divine Son a place high above all others, She believes firmly both in tue willingness | and power of the holy and blessed spirit of Mary to pray for ws and witn us—she in the resplendent giory of her heavenly abode before tue eternal throne of her Son and God, for us who belong to Bis immortal Charch. If the Virgin Mary ts honored with the highest election by divine grace, then she is equally so by divine just.ce. She is raised high above all by | election, because above ail soe appeared worthy of | election by the qualities and inclinations of her soul, an among other qualities by the purest virginity, by which she has ascended like a sun, high above ali the ancient and certainiy above all the future world, Thereiore is | the virgin mother of Goa unto the Chureh the ex- | alted type of virginity. For Virginity was un- known, lay even despised, among the Jews, anx- fously awaiting through the birth of the Messiah the redemption of human kind. It was first under- stood and desired by the pure seul of her who re- | solved to embrace life, bereit of every earthly tle, | that she mixzht the more freely give her whole hear: to heavenly things, and whose virginity was | crowned by a divine maternity. She stands on the brink of the Old and the New World as the glorious tree of the Uid Testament, which bore unto heaven the fruit of salva- | tion, which is the new covenant of God with man. In like manner, as the Church acknowledges the honor due to the Mother of the Lord, she believes | in the iutercession of the saints and ordains rever- ence towards them, Prayer addressed by us to the suinia to obtain their intercession, or rather the communion of their prayers proceeds in nowise from a feeling of doubt in the divine mercy or in the saving nearness of God. But as we know that prayer ought to be fervent, persevering and pure, and fecl our own weakness, we call upon the saints of heaven, upon our breshren in Jesus | Christ, that they may lift up on the strong wings of their pure and ardent prayer our own imperiect and cold ones; and this feeling impairs not in the least the just and firm belief of the Church that holy, in the absolute sense of the word, is God alone, and that the holiness of the saints is but a AH of His grace, Another consequence of our ith is the communton of love and prayer vetween the Church upon earth and that of heaven is our hopeful prayer for the souls of the departed. ‘ather Bjerring then explained the Holy Liturgy and the ceremonies, also the sacraments, and he said that the Greek Church accepts, as the Roman Catholic Church, seven sacraments, ‘Through baptism the Christian is made a member is admitted to the Holy Supper, not iu virtue of his own merits, but out of the infinite mercy and love of Him who has died for man on the cross, Fatth- ful to this humble belief, the Onurch grants the Holy Eucharist to little children, without waiting the time when they may understan J or merit the mystery of grace, before which the angels of heaven prostrate themselves oa Sone, compreh ing. rd wal A a every renewal. of the and he re it at cred, act is is my body; this is my blood." id wherever dwella the body and the biood of the Iso risen up, there Lord, who 1s crucified, but is “Greek church ai90 dwells His aptrit aud His divin! tion.—Th breserves, in ap uminterrupted lime, the grace be- Sacrament of ordina! e of that body whose head is Christ, and thereby he | HERALD, MON DAY, JANUARY 19, 1874——WJTH SUPPLEMENT, stowed by our Saviour on His The bishop or the is the minister of Christ, and not the of the community. He owes his allegiance Christ alone, and high above his human weak- ess we behold bis perfect type in Him who is “a priest for ever aiter the order 0! Meichisedec.’’ ‘The sacred images are of a significance which bas been so often explained that I find it useless to mention tt here. Every one knows that, accord- ing to our catechism, ‘icons are leaves, written with the forms of persons and things, instead of letters,” and that “‘whilgt we look on them with our eyea we should mentally look to GOD AND T0 THK SAINTS REPRESENTED ON THEM.” ‘Those who will study the doctrine of the ortho- dox Church—not in the errors and weaknesses of human superstitions and Jalitngs, but in her own divinely inspired rites and institutions—will ap- preciate the matchless purity of our beloved ihuret 1 shall not deny the errors and mususes which attach the external life of this Charch on account of her unworthy mem- bers, But never has this Church erred in the faith, which she preserves un- changed in its original purity. We do not assume to ourselves any prerogative of yxodness, Un the contrary, woe unto us Who have so little prodied by the pertect holiness of our Mother Church. We are daily showing that we know her not by the narrowness of mind with which we cling to her outward form, oring or disregarding tne divine quickening spirit, which is her very goul, and with- out which that form 1s but a litetess corpse. The best among us fall grievously sh. rt of the ideal of the Church, which towers high above us, bearing aloft the standard of the Cross, ST, PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL Meditations on the Name of Jesus Christ-Sermon by the Rev. Father Quinn. The weather has seldom any perceptible effect on the attendance at the Cathedral, Hail, rain or sunshine, the edifice is generally thronged to re- pletion, especially at tae last service. At hal!-past ten o’clock yesterday morning mass was com- menced, the Rev, Father Kane being the officiating clergyman. The intertor of the Cathedral presented @very impcsing appearance, particularly in the vicinity of the altar. At the termination of the first gospel the Rev Father Quinn, V. G., preached a sermon, taking his text [rom the gospel of the day, according to St. Luke—*‘And when eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, His name was called Jesus, which was called oy the angel before he was conceived in the womb,” The reverend gentle- man called attention, in the course of a very forci- ble sermon, to the great power, love and efficacy which belonged to the holy name of Saviour. It was at once suggestive of goodness and greatness, and mankind could not fail to be amazed at tho EVERLASTING BENEFITS ; which had been bestowed through its all powerful influence. Jesus himself had said that whatever was asked in His name it should be granted; and it was impossible to estimate the glorious and wonderiul gifts conferred upon humanity by the instrumentality 0: that sacred name. This was seen in the power given to the Apostles, whose miracles were all performed in the name of Uhrist. Not only did He himself show His greatness in healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and raising the dead to lile, but super- natural, divine power was given by Him to His disciples. The reverend preacher dilated at length upon the innumerable wonders which in the name of Jesus had astonished the world, and cited many instances where its very mention produced tue most beneficial effects, POWER, EFFICACY AND GOODNESS were concentrated in that name, as witnessed in the events of His life, and since His glorious resur- rection. Then, again, the irequeucy with which the name of Jesus Christ was used by St. Paul in his episties was significant. Scarcely a thought was presented wherein we did not find that name brought in as an example of devotion and love. The gospel of the day reminded the congregation that they were called upon to meditate upon this adorable name, having in view the great end of their ex- istence. For the love maniiested by Christ for mankind there should; be nicen ne praise and thanksgiving. They might go in spirit to the holy name, to Bethiehem, and visit the manger in which the Saviour was born; they might go in spirit to that boly name while with His mother and St. Joseph He was obliged to fly from the persecution of the world; they might ent sar in spirit through His career on this eart! itm- self to no particular class; not cevo' the learned more than to the unlettered, but to all the world. That name carried mankind through tue various incidents of His sacred life. It brought us also to the great sacrifice on the cross, when He offered Himself up # victim for the sons of men. We might accompany Him in spirit even to the tomb, while for three days he rested there ap- parently DEAD TO THE WORLD, and also might they be present im spirit at His glorious resurrection, when, with all the bright- ness of the we a ascended into Heaven. The reverend gentleman conciuded a viene herr discourse by ailuding to the example which Christ had given to the world, and by showing how much reverence was duc to His holy name. He also ad- verted to the ingratitude of man in speaking of Him other than in the most devout and respectful manner. In His name nothing could be asked lor in vain, and through Him ee could be obtained to enabie man to withstand all temptations. ‘The mass selected for the occasion w: cine, in E flat, Mr. Gustavus Schmitz presi the organ. At the offertory “‘Salutaris,”’ by Panal- cani, was nicely sung by Miss Sullivan. The services terminated shortly alter twelve o'clock. LYBIO HALL Rev. O. B. Frothingham Upon Public Amusements—Pharisaical Puritanism and Recuperative Recreations—The Opera, Theatre and Opera Bouffe—How Amusements May Be Made Salutary and How Managers Should Strive to Please. Mr. Frothingham, the leader of the ‘Independ- ents,” gave illustration of the independence with which he expresses his views upon subjects of pop- ular interest by discoursing yesterday morning upon “Public Amusements.” This is one of the subjects, he began, that come nearest my heart, and it is one of great importance. I take no text, for the Bible is net a book of sport. The-people in the New Testament bad smail time for amusement. Their leaders were always drawing them in the op- posite direction. The people of the New Testa- ment had a still more earnest task. They felt that life for them might be very short, indeed; the thoughts of Christ were ever before them, ahd the gates of the new world were open toreceive them. Yet these people had their joys too, They had joy in their love teasts, The Church of the Middle Ages encouraged amusement and so did the Church of Rome. THE CHURCH FOUNDED THE THEATRE, taking the lead in feeding that taste for the dra- matic entertainment. The Puritans, whose de- scendants we are, made war against pleasure. They frowned upon amusements of all kinds, They were Englishmen of the lower ciass, and looked upon the world as cold and heartless. They could not spare a moment of time, and their preacners were always telling them that they had no time for smiles, The Puritans hated (un, but they were jus- tifled in it by what pleasure consisted of in those times. All smiles were evil, all pieasures were low, ail beauty, grace and the charm of music were associated with something indecent and indelicate. ‘The Puritan was too nobie and too much seli-re- specting. He could better afford to go THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT LAUGHTER than go through life with a heart full of tears. Soctety is greatly changed, and all the conditions are different. ‘here is no class of dtlettante, sumptuous people who kill time and drone across the world now. There is now no sucii class, or it 1s 80 Very small that it is as good as none, e are on a plane with men who exeroise their faculties. The theatre has lost its offensive feature, and geese itself has now a different part to play. ‘e need amusement for recreation and diversion. We would nave more of it instead of jess, It is not a universal want. There are plenty of people to whom amusement 18 @ bore. Philosophers need no recreation. We could not think of Plato as got to @ theatre. The more cultivated beceme the less leasure — they Amusement is for children, but we all children. Theodore Parker was & man of wide sympathies, a man to whom every door in the world was open, yet he said that what he wanted was not books—he had enough of them—but pleasure and fun. He wanted to laugh. A clergyman in Boston used to slip away irom tue Puritan city to ours and go to a theatre in Cham- bers street, where an excellent actor was playing. There this maa would sit for an hour or two, hay- ng thrown off ali burdens, and laugh like @ boy. here are people who are overstrained by the duties ot their calling. They are comparatively small, and do tne work of many. The people who complain of their work are not those who do the most. The human constitution bas an exhaustiess capacity for work. Physicians tell us t the number of nervous diseases is rapidly increasing. It is not too much work, but TOO LITTLE PLAY. Labor is not the curse, but nothing but labor is the curse. The teacher who is always instractiny in the paths that have been trodden before, am aay ing the old phrases that have been told 80 often, and who takes care Of a family and children writes for magazines and becomes interested In the cause for the education of women, is overtaken with insanity, and then comes the fearful end—suicide. A man whose life has been sunshiny and joyous, and who has been brought tn contact with the exquisite creations of Proyi- dence, is always working on one thread dies in the very prime of hia power when he peeded but @ few years to complete his great work. It ts this unceasing labor, this regu‘ar old route that breaks men and women dowr. How to employ leisure is an important qi tion, Every man has these hours to do with and with as he likes. How is she leisure of sport lite spent? Are we witieg these hours are the most they are spent in let stupor, in ayetes, in heated vallrooms and at the gaming table. Most wasted and ruined. We are airaid to allow the workingman eight hours instead of ten lest he should misuse the extra two hours. If they could only be spent in INNOCENT AMUSEMENTS! But we know they are apt to be used in guilt and to be wasted. What ts to be done? “Use them tor rest,’ you say. What is rest? If itis anything tt is the ‘reaction from labor, Sleep is not rest, @x- cept to the physical frame. It is the sense of not having sensauion; tue feeling of entire repose. We know what it is in the morning, when tie world ts still and when we are just on the edge of | yesterday and to-morrow, to lie in that de- | licious, “dreamy state, without regret—with aaim, hazy procession of ideal creatures trooping | across the brain. It is @ state so delicious that we would prolong it indefinitely if we could; but soon the noise of the day begins, and with it | ends our rest. One jeels rest in the presence of a | loved and trusted friend. Rest jrom toll is im- possible, so that people look for rest in heaven, and even there, if it lasted one hour, they would wish it to be broken, Amusement is that which | lets in through the gates of joy a food of pleasure. It is not pleasure, because pleasure is always associated with iatigue. Amusement, in which there is no tll temper, which cannot be cross nor cruel, is like the baim of a summer morning's breeze, What does the amusement of society amount to ft to acknowledge that wasted ? Sometimes G THE OPERA is one source, but it is too subtle and penetrating tor amusement, It 19 jor people in whose hearts no sorrows pr@ss, The opera was first introduced | on the occasion of a marriage. 1t has always been | carefully guarded fromthe vulgar. It 18 not for | the people, but tor tie aristocratic. There are no elements of popularity in it. Even if the prices were greatly reduced few of the working clasa would go. ‘The great place o! public amusement is THE THEATRE. There ts no person go poor or so stupid that he cannot enjoy it. It can touch every spring, present all kinds of ideal worlds and fashions, a great many Edens. It 1s one of the amusements of which men never tire. Is it what it ought to be? it ts not, Chiefy ior the Treason that it is not native. Much of tt comes from England and represents ideas and institu- tions of which we know nothing. Much of it comes from France, and seems to saturated with a kind of indescribabie uncieaniiness. They are u passionate people with southern blood in their veins, and the sincerity of our people is offended by this kind of theatrical production. It seems impure to us—these wild theories of lile and want of rest. To my mind THE OPERA BOUFFE should be, with its valiet, its songs, its scenic effects and gorgeous costumes, one of the most en- Joyable of entertainments, Yet it seems to cou- tain an element that would tend to beguile and transport men. No grace, no finesse, no elegance will cover up that Jeeling that itis not pure. I am periectly willing to concede that the oftice of the ttieatre is to amuse; to give people a look into another state of being than that in which they live. it is not the manager's piace to correct the morals of the public. Itis not his place to cor- rect the plays. He must cater to the public tastes, Certain kinds of drama are declining. The hervic drama has disappeared, and the days of ee tragedy are numbered. It was well enough in jueen Elizabeth’s time, but now it is out of date. ‘he awful sorrows of Othello and Desdemona are overs up. Those managers who do their utmost 0 PLEASE THE PUBLIC desire the gratitude and thanks of the Somenaandy Consider the gloom that gathers about the hearth; the unrest, the unwillingness to see the bright side of things; think of the temptation of the grog shop and the gaming table, that draw people uway in their hours of leisure. Who mig loge uae the lass in an hed hardened wretch snatches the our of delirium and forgets wife, children and self? The responsibility rests upon the intelligent | men of the community, who must relieve a8 much a8 possible the wants of others. OHUROH OF THE MESSIAR. “Strong in One’s Self"—Sermon by the Rev. Henry Powers. The Rev. Henry Powers preached to a large con- gregation yesterday morning, at the Church of the Messiah, Park uvenue and Thirty-fourth street, selecting as his subject “Strong in One’s Self,” the text being Matthew xu., 35—‘‘A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.’’ The celebrated British traveller, Mungo Park, informs us, the pastor said, that during his first expedition to the interior of Airica, which expedition he had undertaken tor the purpose of tracing, if possible, the sources of the River Niger, aiter having endured for a long time unparalleled Jatigues and trials and reverses, he was robbed one day by a band of black marauders. His com- pass was taken trom him and all his money, and with only a few coarse garments to his pack he was leit alone in the heart of an unexplored and savage country 500 miles from any European settlement, amid the wild beasts of the forest and their wilder aud less piti- ful human companions. Having, therefore, no hope of escape, in the first moments o/ his anguish his mind became unsettled and his spirits despond- ent, and so he lay down to die. But as he threw himself on the ground a small and peculiar kind of moss met his eye, whose roots and leaves and cap- sules were of such an unusual appearance that they immediately excited nis attention. In examining these more closely he forgot for the time HIS FORLORN CONDITION, and was lost in admiration of the wonderful skill and beauty of the meanest works of God. Then coming to himself, he tells us that the thought arose in his mind, ‘Can that Being who planted and watered and brought to periection in this obscure region of the world a thing which appears of so small importance look with unconcern upon the situation and the sufferings o/ His spiritual off- spring?” Cheered by the reflection ana encour- aged to further effort he roge above his embarrass- ments, and lived to publish in alter years this in- cident as a lesson to all the world. ‘The lesson contained in it is simply the need we all of us have sorely felt at times of the possession of something other ana better than the good things Of this world, something that shali remain to us as @ source of comfort and strength and continued achievement alter our earthly possessions and ad- vantages have been all taken away. In Mungo Park’s case this something was nis accumulation of scientific knowledge and the moral ability he pos- sessed of turning it to account tn the moment 01 his distress, and generally it is “the good treasure Of the heart,’ as the Master puts itin the text, which the faithiul in this lie aie enabled to lay up, and which serves them asa sort of epirituai reserve fund when their ordinary resources are completely exbausted. I would not say, nor would | it be true if T did say it, that a man cannot be a | Christian unless he ts well educated, But this Ido | | say, that no one can continue to be a Christian and itve a8 such for any length of time in this evil world unless the loves and aspirations oi his soul are turned, to some extent at jeast, into the con- scious experience, OF TRUTH AND GooD. For what bas God rewarded us with the mys- teries and riches oi His wisdom and power, i it be not with the desire aud purpose Ol having us cultivate our mental gits and inquire into the majestic methods of His infinite reason, and en- noble ourseives by an acquaintance with the beauty and order, the skill and goodness which the depths cf the earth, the sea and the sky, aud tie sweep of His moral providence enfold? When the mental faculties are awake and vigorous, i the heart be consecrated vy a Christian temper, then the character is made more massive and complete. If God give usa noble faculty we may be sure that there is no danger tn training it to the utmost, provided it be kept in subjection to the true spirit and purpose of life, and made amenable te the Le pe! uses, In proof of this, what a wonderful spectacle that man ever makes of himself who retires from the world with treasures of wealth only, or who per- haps has been svipwrecked by the chances of trade—some old man, possibly, whose bodity facul- tles have failed him before nis energies have given out, and who is either restiess or melancholy or listless and unhappy, because the customary ex- citements of activity of a fashionable position or @n infivential post have been denied him, and who, therefore, has no love of truth tn @ world so tull or wisdom, ho exquisit® taste in a world 80 fall of beauty, no mental ajjpectite where nature is iur- ant us ery, such @ bountiiul repast. When his hour of pienty runs over, or when luck PLAYS HIM FALS Ey or the bodily members ail tail the stronger mina within, there is for such @ one no independent manliness on which to fall back, no inward resources to support the soul; and hence, by every consideration of enlightened self-interest and of gratitude to God for the oe of reason, should every peison strive to lay up ome store of knowledge, and endeavor to form some pure mental tastes as a foundation against the evil fortune that for him ay lark in the time to come, If, however, we approach the spiritual aspect of the question, we shall have still stronger cause for asserting that every one should possess within himself a treasure of good things, such as right priuciples, affections and the accumulated strength of good deeds; for it is not enough, in order to estabiish the purity of any soul, that it should just rub and go in the effort to keep itself un- spotted from the world. That {its virtue may be serene it 16 Beosenaty that 1¢ possess a fund of moral strength, which is more than equal to any sudden demand that may be made upon it, Our Heavenly Father would have our triumph over evil to become some time an easy and habitual thing, 80 that our hearts need not be fretted and worn away by keeping them aiwaya At THE TOUGHEST STRAIN, It ls not @ goud sign in the case oJ any one he ve to wrestie tong and doubtiully wiia the y “emptations lue. The true Chris- tian ought to feel, aiter a time, whether Jonger or shorter, that he is not only equal to the ordinary trials of iufe, Dut superior to them; equal and superior even tothe greatest trials that can come upon him. ‘ot that he will me boastiul or haughty, or n self-reliant—ior “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he {all’’—but, simply, be- cause & passion grows by what it feeds upon, and because the force of virtue increases by its exer- cise a8 well as does the tendency to sin. There- jore the good man’s resources of power, like his mental stores, are cuitivable faculgies, and 80 be- come right instincts that naturally seek the good ana holy affections which abide in the heart jor- ever, and by their positive attachments do away at last w.th the necessity of aay vigorous or even Conscious conflict with the WORLD oF SIN. Now we are prepared to inquire, What are specifically some o! the good things which the good Dian, 48 thus described, is able to bring out of the good treasures o! his heart ? Mr. Powers answered this question at length and eloquentiy. He held, first, that wisdom 1s one of the good things; not knowledge simply, put wisdom, which results from knowl when it ts rightly used, and by which the mind is able to distinguish oetween the ap- ay and the reality of the outward events of We, and to attain thereby unto tue conception of the bidden things of God, Again, a good man has treasures of memory and of hope in his heart, which he can bring forth as occasion desires. Still the good man has, also, resources of hope. "To the intellectual wordling and cold-hearted thinker the world presents a sad and choeriess prospect, or such @ nature can see only the sin and suffering, the error and the selfishness of men. But the good man feels and knows that goodness, rather than evil, is the great fact im the universe of lie; that Providence is | more powertul than the finite obstructions and ais- turbances which it encounters; that divine law is mightier than the anomalies which the feeble senses see; that wrong and evil waste themselves while the deepest instincts ana undying sym- patbies of every son of man are seeking and desiring the holy and the true—and so the clouds are tipped and tingea WITH A GOLDEN RICHNESS from the bright light that is behind them; and out of the good treasure again of honest and faithful hearts—hearts that are in ‘harmony with God aud gocd—come prophecies of the triumphs of the spiritual kingdom, on earth as in heaven. Is it not self-evident that when the evil days are on us there is naught thatcan give us periect peace save a weil spent life? Is it not conlessed by all that what God bas enabled one to be, to du and to suffer in order to become wise and good, is the surest oundation of His confidence aud joy in the coming time as well? Perhaps you say, humble and despondent friend, “1 cannot be thus wise and great; m not learned or particularly fortunate tn the accidents of life, From whence, then, must come the com- fort of my soul tM adversity 7’ It comes simply from laying up in your hearts, according to your ability and opportunity, these treasures of wis- dom and Eoornes and love, for a man ‘is ac- cepted of God according to that he hath, and not Sonne to that he hath not.” His cup of hap- iness 18 full, how sinall soever or large t may be. It does not essentially mat- ter whether you up in your Be et or not; but it does matter, and see to it that your reason is full, “that your affections are edu- cated and that your deeds are beneficent, and you shall have that sense of God which passeth all un- derstanding.”’ Tnere is nothing else that can meet tuicken and sorrow comes; when bereavements open the grave and losses shatter your fortune; whea your good name perhaps is eclipsed for the time or a single transgression casts you down. these days of excitement and misfortune and con- tusion let us not forget our reason, our judgment, our moral sense. Let the truths of the soul and of God and good life be remembered. BROOKLYN CHURCHES. PLYMOUTH OHUROH Mr. Beecher Preaches on “Man’s Concep- tions of God”—What Paul’s Conception Was—tThe Natural Philosophers Work- ers Together with God—How the Con- necticut Woman Brought Up Bight Boys successfully—How Judge Noah Davis Represents the Idea of Justice. Plymouth church had its usual crowd yesterday morning, and Mr. Beecher preached a sermon on ‘Man’s Conception of God,” which contained more than the usual Beecher characteristics. The text s2lected was the second chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the kphesians, the fourth to the seventn verses—‘But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace are ye saved), and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages tocome he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.’ One of the most interesting studies, said Mr. Beecher, in the New Testament is the progress or develoyment which may be traced in the mind of the Apostie Paul. From the time he entered upon the Christian life to the time that he leit it there was in him—as there fs, or ought to be, in every noble-minded person—a steady develop- ment and growth, so that the last part of his ilie is vastly richer than the earlier part. More to be admired, not in conduct, for of that we know but little; but that there should be revealed in his later writings that which 1s more transcendently lovely than that which could to be revealed in his former. Whatever doctrine of inspiration we may hold there is that which ‘travels with it, a some- thing that is part of it and inherent in it. There is no such thing asa divine inspiration, that takes out of the divine nature A PRETENOR or a truth, and thrusts it, as it were, into the world without any human mixture. Even human worlds are discovered through human organs, and the discovery of these implies the evidence of the senses themselves That which is true of the moral nature is still more true of that which works through the higher senses. Alter a reference to the inspir- ing influence of the power of association in con- nection with the memories of those we loved and revered, Mr. Beecher proceeded to speak of the opening of the conception of God in the boundiess- ness and largeness of His grace. What tnis con- ception became in the human heart depended greauy upon the use that was made ofit. The reason why tle sun produced in one place ger- aniums, Lilies and azaleas and does not pro- duce’ them in another place is not because there 1s any difference in the sun. The sun shines on the south side of my hen- nery, and it is a place tor the cows to warm themselves and for the chickens to nestle. The sun shines on the south side of my neighbor’s heunery and it produces flowers. My neighbor makes another use of the same sun. Just so it is with the difference that God’s love is to different men, There 1s a sense in which every man may be said to make his own God. I am speaking now of men’s conception of God. Every man forms his own con- ception of Go Any person to whom God comes a8 a reality is one to Whom God has really come, for God never reveals Himself and bas never peen seen in sections or chapters. In the Ola Testament God has been revealed more forcibly under the representation of a regnant power, as God over all nature, God over the nations, The reason of this was that the human mind was occupied durii these early periods with just such things as thi physical and sensuous life had to do with. In the Old Testament God is always revealed as the God of adaptation to want. Inthe New Testament, in the tulness of time, in the RIPENESS OF TIMB, the idea having grown by the stem, made itself a soft and liquaceous development, there came as the result a view of God, and as the result of such development, the God of goodness, gentleness, sweetness, patience, suffering, long suffering, ten- derness. Now these qualities existed in some de- gree in antiquity, but they have bh no such de- velopment as in later times. Paul’s idea of God was 8 divine effervescence and tropical. It grew with him through his life. Nowhere to him was God the God of tne nation, He was a God of at- tributes, The distinction of executive and legisia- tive power came still later. Passing on to the con- sideration of the influence of the idea of God upon us, Mr. Beecher proceeded to illustrate it. When I present, he said, the name of Astor, what are the ideas originated by that mame? Millions of dollars, When I present the name of shake- speare what do you think? Not of the dollar. No man has such aconception of him. He thinks of the wealth of imagination, of thought and of dramatic power. When I mention the name of Homer @ distinct conception arises. Then there is the name of mother. There are children whose mothers have weaned them by the mouth, but not by the heart. ‘here are names that are’ wonder Workers, names th i send fire through 100,000 men, When thousa of men returned from & necessary war and passed through Washington, and the name of Sherman was raised, what shouts came up, Now, when the name of God is men- tioned what does it bring up? An abstract plil- osophy ; something that you are afraid of. That 1s what it does on men collectively. What is its effect on this congregation, which isa pretty fair Bverage congregation? When the name 18 pro- pounded is it a name that makes your soul quiver? When you are sad with business cares and some one says that your WIFB AND CHILDREN are expecting pou home, why, it takes the wrin- kles from your brow; at Toast] hope It does. When you are loaded with trouble ann care Sy some One says God, does it touch yout Does mean everything that is sweet ‘doa lovely ? Does that mean all that you aspire to and ven million times more? Does it mean some one who has said that He loves those who are dead in tres) and How can God love sinners? I don’t know; yet I do. For I see a woman, the wife oi some man who 1g loathsome withia and loathsome with. the exigencies of life when disappointments | Our, Whose lacner and motner Dave cast nim of, bas Who ts over, cared for and loved by this woman, who when he dies everybody breathes more freely and thanks God the monster is gone; ane mouras, and her heart is full o! grief. a on varry it up into intship; carry it up into angelhood; carry it up into prpeiparibies and powers, and what are the riches of ’ Does your God brin; such & Possession to you that He is to you a God riches? I don’t mean rich in power, rich in those owers that are Made great, as voys make snow- balls, but 18 He rich to you in those qualities that made Himself of no reputation among men—rich in those qualities which He manifested when Ho took the towel and said, “1 am your Lord, and 11 do this I do it to show you the way?” What, then, are the reasons of ¢] comparative differ- ence in the conception of the divine nature? Une reason is that we have dweit more upon the external revelation of God in nature, ana less upon the internal revelation derived from human expe- rience. In our day I think God vas illustrated Himself by the hand of natural philosophers, Iam not alarmed by what is called the infidelity of theae men. They are all workers together with God, though they DON'T KNOW IT. Mr. Beecher iliustrated this by a sketchy and dra. matic representation of the manufacture of an ex- quisite piece of silk, of great richness and beauty ofcolor, ‘tracing back the manufacture to the silk-worms, he asked if any one who did not un- derstand it could believe that the crawling worm: hundreds and thousands of them, were the origit roducers of that beautiful silk. You seo @ minis er or @ deacon, who is a wonderTully strict, ex- emplary ma: model churchman, and you teil him of Herbert Spencer. He says he ain’t one of God’s workers. Well, you tell him of John Stuart’ Mill, *‘Why,"’ he ies, ‘Mill, he didn’t believe in aGod even.” Do you think that God works in this world after the iashion of your little pendulum? I believe in all these men as workers, It is a, matter to me of very little consequence whéther these individual work- ers believe as the Jews did, or believe as the Brahe mins did, Mf the result is that it brings about the great work. Nevertheless, all that the scientific men are doing is to bring out that side of the divine nature which is calied material, and if you have nothing but a scientific god, a god that pre- sides over aD alembic, it 18 not a god that makes divine music in the soul. When you jurther and teach that men to be Properly taug t must be taught God’s law, @ man gets to think of God as kind of Judge Noah Davis, who, though a man great goodness of heart, does not allow it to adect him in the administration of justice. But God is not such @ judge, and not such an administra- tor. He is Lord enough to say, ‘1 will have meroy on whom I will have mercy.” Now men may admire justice, but no man ever loves it. Thera an idea among good and faithiul ministers that e LAW WORK must be done, and tien you must bring in the Goa- pel, and that the only way to stop men in their wrong doing is to bring in their consciences and make them {ull of fear. Now, [am very much of the opinion of the Connecticut woman, who had Brought up might strapping all done well. When asked ho id, “Well, I brought them up in the fear of God and the horsewhip.” 1 that the best way to deal with men is to deal with them according to the circumstances in which you find them. Every man may measure the siate of feeling he has towards God by the memories which the name of God ex- cites in him; by the raptures, the hopes, the bless- ings and soe Jone that are excited ip him. WhenI lived near thé woods o! Indiana 1 wondered what a rairie was like. I looked at my garden, and put other gardens by the side of it, and I lived to realize it.. But when I rode out one day to the edge of the woods and looked on & prairie, the boundless, oceanic extent of land- scape, with its miles and miles of fowers, what ‘was my little plot of garden in comparison ? What is our conception of God now to that time when we snall see Him as Ho is ? Emphasize that word— see Him as He ts, When Kane had been shut up in the North two long winters, nad mever seen & tree, and when he began to go southward and get into a temperate zone what joy he must have felt! And then when at length New York Bay burst upon him, with all its memories of persons and things, how heartfeit must his joy have been! Bear your burdens and trials now. You are going where there will be no burdens and trials, where the revelation of all mysteries shall be made manifest. The sermon, of which the above is but an ab- stract, was closed with prayer, aiter which the choir and congregation sung “Homeward bound." CLASSON AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN OHUCRH. How the Rev. Dr. Duryea Would Have His Flock “Obtain Eternal Life.” ‘The immense congregation which assembles each Sunday in the Clascon avenue Presbyterian church to catch the words of wisdom which flow from the lips of their learned and earnest pastor, Dr. Dur- yea, availed themselves of the fine weather yeaterday to turn out in full strength. The charch itself presented a remarkably cheeriul appear- ance, the Christmas evergreens with which it was tasteiully decorated not having yet been removed, The text selected was the eighteenth verse of the eighteenth chapter of St. Luke—‘And a cer- tain ruler asked him, saying, ‘Good master, what shall I do to obtain eternal life’ ‘The sermon preached from these words, like all those emanating from Dr. Duryea, was most ex- cellent, The ruler referred to in the text, said the Speaker, was a Jew, and, like all his countrymen ot that day, was lamentably ignorant of spiritual affairs. The words—‘‘Good Master’—with which he ad¢ressed our Saviour, comprehended the en- tirety of his knowledge of that which was perfect. One of the commandments promised long life, and this Jew probably thought that by merely keeping this he would attain all he desired. Here the reverend gentleman explainea what Christ meant when He asked of the Jew why he had‘calied Him good, and then added that “none ts good save one, and that is God.” Sceptcs have endeavored to prove by these words that Jesus Rimpelf did not claim to be one of the Trinity. This ‘was wrong. Jesus did notrabuke His interrogator for calling Him good; He merely said that none is jood §=gavo one, and that is God. He did not aisclaim being good; He only wished to reveal Himself fully tothe man. Aiter this he claimed that which none but God can ue- mand, ‘Sell all that thou hast and distripute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.” Was that not godlike’ After repeating all the commandments save tho first, Jesus finally gave him that: “Thou shalt nave no other God before me.” Here then is an answer to the sceptics. This ruler was familiar with the commandments, and, having broken none oi them, seemed to enter- tain a sense of perfect security, He had not killed any one. He had not stolen anything. He had not committed adultery. He had not borne false witness aginst his neignbor, and he nad honored his father and his mother, Yes, he had kept all these commandments, but still there was something else for him todo, He did not know what it was, but we know. He thought that, ashe had not done anything agains: God, therefore God owed him a debt of gratitude. How would it be for me to go to my neighbor and ray, ‘Kind sir, I have tived beside you twenty years, and during that time have not stolen anything (rom you?" or “I have met you on many a dark night and did not kill you; therefore, you owe me a debt of gratitude ?”” No, I do not claim anything for not violating the commandments. Tothe best of my knowledge I never violated one of the commandments, and yet 1do not ask you toeven pass a series of resolu- tions in my behalf, True, this ruler had done noth- ing against God; but what had be done tor Him? What he needed to do was to love God. Jesus told him to sell all he had and “Come, follow Me!’ A proper interpretation shouid be put on these words, {It is not meant that every one must sell all he has that he may the better follow the Saviour; but it is meant that we should be just and, above all else, unselfish. Jesus knew that while this man retained his riches he would never save his soul, therclore he commanded him to dispose of them, ‘He who has houses and riches should be as though he had them not.” We are com- manded to put away all that may in any wai Stand between God and ourselves, Prosperity often @ far more severe trial than adversity. It may be very well for a man to say ‘I never did so #0.” No, but had you been in my place what would you have dune? There is no Virtue in not dutng that which you have never had a chance to soul. = do, Ay, verily, “how hardly shall et that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.” The severest of all tests letting @ man have his owo way—letting him have everything he desires. IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT IN JERSEY. —— A College and Church To Be Erected by the Franciscans—Trenton To Be the Headquarters of the Order=A Large Hospital Completed. ‘The large German Catholic population of Tren. ton, N. J., have been obliged to worship tn a small ohuroh, totally unsuited to their spiritual necessi- ties. The Franciscan Fathers, who have charge of the church, bave at last selected a site, on which a temple is to be raised that will be an ornament not only to Trenton, but to New Jersey. The Superior of this Order, Father Keller, with the aid of Father Peter Jacchetl and tha other priests belonging to it, will, as soon as the weather permits, commenco the erection of a large seminary in Unambersburg, on the outskirtsot Trenton, for the education of candidates for the Priesthood. An eligible site of four acres in area has already been purchased, at a coat of $6,500, ou which to locate this building. It will accommodate 100 students, and no pains nor expense willbe spared in making it one of the most admirable CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGK