The New York Herald Newspaper, May 25, 1874, Page 4

4 } nature of the mission of the Swatara in conveying | in tts teaders. John Gougn P E NTE Cc @) Ss T | the sclentifie corps to the remote quarters of the rape Cause than auy other person, because globe to witness the transit of Venus and deter- and contrite; he humiliates himself; | Celebration of the Anniversary of the Birth of the Christian Chareb. Frothingham and the Blos-| soms of the Season. BEECHER AND UNIVERSAL SALVATION, Lecture by Dr. MeGlyon on the Union Be- tweea Chureh and State. Soorce PRRSBYTERIAN CHUBCH.—The Rev. Mr. Hamilton, from Belfast, preached in nis accus- | tomed pu'pit yesterday morning, and took his text from Proverbs iv.,23—“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out ol 1t are the issues of life.”? Gracs OHURCH.—The Rev. Dr. Potter officiatea yesterday, and took as bis subject the celebration of the Coristian epoch known as Pentecost. The sermon was sbort, sharp and decisive. Alter it the monthly communion service took place. CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHUBOE.—There was @ large congregation at both morning and even- ing services at Rev. Dr. H. M. Scudder’s church, Bancock street, Brooklyn, yesterday. “Be Ready,” the subject of the evening admoaitory discourse, ‘Was very impressive. CHURCH OF THE PROPLE.—Tms edifice, which is known as the “Adelphi Academy,” located on Lafayette avenue, corner St, James’ place, Brook- lyn, tenders tree seats toall. The Rev. H. 0, Pen- tecost preached on Obristian life in the forenoon, and in the evening on “Some Disappointea Peo- pie.” St, Ggorce’s CHURCH.—The sermon st this charch yesterday morning, which was preached | by the rector, Rev. Dr. Stepnen Tyng, was remark- ably brief, it being communion Sunday. He showed that the end of revelation wes through the Holy Spirit, and that by this Spirit men became be- | Nevers in Christ and His followers. CaRBOLL PaRK METHODIST CHURCH.—The con- | gregation attending this little church, which is | situated corner of Carroll and Hoyt streets, Brook- | lyn, Was edified by a discourse on “The Secret of Life,” by the rector, Rev. L. 8. Weed, in the fore- noon. In the evening the pastor instructed them on “What the Disciples Did When Let Out of Prison."’ FUFTH AVENUB PRESEYTZKIAN CHURCH.—The Rev. Dr. Paxton preached here yesterday, and took for bis text, “Why spend thy money for that which is not bread, and why labor for that whico satuisfeth not?’ The main idea was that men work and hope & great deal too much for the joys of this world, and think not enough of the inflnitely more impor- | tant world to come. CHURCH OF THE Messian.—At the Churen of the Messian, Greene avenue, corner of Clermont ave- mue, Brooklyn, Rev. Charles R. Baker, rector, preached betore a falr-sized audience in the fore- Boon. in the evening, “The Catholicity of the | cbarch” formea the subject of the reverand gen- tleman’s discourse, Which was atventively listened Wo by tne congregation. PoURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.—In this church | yesterday a fair congregation assembled to hear the pastor, the Rev. John Thomson, D. D., preach rom St John, xv., 10:—“It ye keep my commanaments ye shall abide in my love, even as 1 bave Kept my ‘father’s commandments and abide in his tove.”’ The test of love for God was keeping His commandments. It was idle for those who did not do so to talk of having love for their | Creator. THIRTY-FOURTH STREET REFORMED CHURCH.— The pastor of this churci, the Rev. Isaac Riley, | discoursed yesterday upon Matthew. vi, 12:—‘“For- | give us our debis as we forgive our debtors.” On jasi Sunday he had explained the words, “Give us ‘mis day our cally bread,” and showed how the jowest wants of human nature were provided for Ry what prayer. They were the wants of tne body. Tye pres: Xt referred to wunts of a higher order—ie wants of the soul. 7 | Mw BwctaND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.—Yes- wertsr morning Rey. J. H. Lockwood, pastor of She Sovub th street Congregational charch, Brootiyx. & D. preachea, to use a ministerial serm, & Texreal rather than a topical sermon from Romans, vil. 28—"For all things shall work to- gether ior good to them that love God.” He dwelt wich emphasis opon the certainty of God's care Bnd the comprehensiveness of it towards those who were “tue called according to the divine pur- CuvRcH OF THE HOLY LyNocENTS.—At High Mass im this church yesterday, the Rev. Mr. Callahan | preached irom the gospel of the day, beginning with tbe words, “If any man love me he will keep my words, and my father will love him.” The main idea of the sermon was that Pentecost was the birthday of the Church, Generalli’s “Cre- do,” “Gioria,” and “Kyrie” were sung,and Weber's “Sanctas” and ‘Agnus Dei.” The organ was un- der the direction of Mr. W. Berge. Surrna WELSH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.— There was yesterday morning quite a large attend- ance at this little church, on Eleventh street. near fhird avenue. A young man, Rev. Mr. Murray, a Neentiate, preached the sermon, his text being Ezekiel, xxxvi., 26—“‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 1 put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and i will give youa heart of flesh.’’ His subject Was regeneration, and he taught the idea that no one couid be a Cliristian without conversion. EBENezER Baptist MEETING Hous#.—A zealous volunteer, the Rev. J. N. Badger, of Warwick, Orange county, preached yesterday to about thirty Persons upon Jod xxiil., 1-6, beginning with the words, “Then Job answered and said: Even to-day 18 My complaint Litter; my stroke is heavier than My groaning.” ‘Trials and sorrows are sent to turo our thoughts from earth to heaven. They are not sent always in chastisement. They are often the work o/ love upon the part of God, and they eught to be borne with fortitude—at least with patience. | Free TABERNACLE METHODIST EPISCOPAL | Cuurcn.—The Rev. Lucias H. King preached in | this church yesterday to large concourse of the brethren, His text was {rom the second epistie to the Corinthians,ninth chapter,seventh verse—“God loveth the cheerful giver.” The reverend gentle- Man incuicated in earnest terms the hecessity of a free and cheerful heart in the discharge of Chris- Uan duties. If we cannot break the loaves and fishes we can take up the fragments and distrib- Ute them, Such was the true principle of Caris- tanity. PuUGRiM Bartiwt Cnvacn.—In the absence of the pastor, the Rey. J. Spencer Kennard, D. D., now absent on a delegation to Washington, the services were conducted yesterday by the Rev. Henry 8. Day. He selected as bis tex’ Philip: pians ti.,. 15:—“That ye may be vlameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” The preacher pointed out bow pnre and holy the lives of Christians ought to be; that they ought to be burning and shining lights in the midst of a wicked world. ON THE SwaTaRa.— Yesterday afternoon the last sermon was preached on board the United States steam sloop-of-war Swatara, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, before Captain Rajph Chandler ane the of. cers and crew of that vessel, prior to her departure jor the South Pacific. The preacher was Rey. Noan H, Schenck, of St, Ann’s-on-the-Heights. The reverend gent.eman exhorted his hearers as to their Christian duty, and dwelt upon the exalted | more successiu: is because of the Want of huuility | stood uD | above. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MAY 25, 1874,—TRIPLE SHEET. mine questions of great penefit to science. FROTHINGHAM ON PENTECOST. ‘The usual large congregation assembied in Lyric Hall yesterday morning. Mr. Frothingbam dis- coursed on the decline of the pentecostal theory. He said :—This 1s the day of Pentecost (Whi Sun- day), a day commemorating the season of bics- soms. It always comes in the springtime, wnen the earth clothes itself in new verdure and the nu- man Leart opens itself to the glow of a transfigurat- ing spirit, The festival ts always in the spring. In the springtime Moses goes up wo the Mount and receives the law. In the springtime Curist came Up from the baptism of the Jordan. In the spring- time the Spirit was poured out upon Christians. ‘The story, as we read itin the New Testament, is this:—The Son of man is crucified, He rises from the grave, He ascends into heaven, He comes back for a brief moment and breathes upon a few of His trmediate iriends the Spirit, which is the Spirit Qf trath; He ascends again, and while the disciples are assembled together in one piace looking (or- ward to the fulfilment of divine power, all at once, 42 82 instant, the chamber in which they sit ts filled with a mysterious power; hearts beat more quickly; souls are awakened, and from that day Christendom dates its birth. Christendom cele- braves events in this order :—First, the resurrec- tion; second, the ascension ; third, the bestowal of the Spirit, This Spirit, which was supposed to descend from Christ, was iodged in the disciples, inthe apostles and in the teachings which they promulgated and in the institutions which they founded, and domesticated itself, as it were, tm the Church, The Church is the receptacie on earth of the divine, living Christ. They adopted the outside forma of the sacrament and the lit- uray, and men were connected with these institu- tions by the faithful observance of these forms, insuring to members all the power which the spirit of Christ bestowed on the Church. This is the Catholic faith; this is the faitn of the English Church, Which is virtually and easenniaily Romap— that the Spirit does not flow in caprice or at un- certain intervals, but is @ steady reservoir of power drawn off by believers in the Roman Ovurch and the Knglish Charch. ‘hey sa‘, Would you be converted ? Would you be redeemed? Would you be enlightened ? Would you regenerate yoursell * All you have to do is to be faithiu! a8 members of your Church. In this way direct communication with the imspiration from So you observe the Catholic faith re- jects the belief iu temporary movements; It does not believe in any sudden inflooding of spiritual life; it discounteaances all excep- onal movements. “Go to church, be faithiul to the Churco,”’ it says to all, giving no heed to spas- | modic movements. “Cling to your membersnip, and everytaing you desire will come.”’ The Prot- estant faith is very different. It questions tue consecration of priests, repudiates the power of the Pope and of the hierarcay. It says, notin this way o! the Church, “Go to the Bible, concert in the spirit of truth, humble yourself, pray, resolve, and the Spirit will come down;" but, above all, the Protestant faith, by Its doctrine oi treeuom, Opens the way for belief in ebbs and flows of whe Spirit. Protestantisin says tne Spirit comes and goes, Whenever Christ wills He opens the gates, and the regenerating Spirit pours on the arid earth. Want Jor it, pray ior it, and it will come, and so the Protestant Church believes in reviv- als—expects them. Protestantism expects a new outburst of this spirit of Christ in this Pentecostal season, Now, it is not to be denied that this faith in a descending spirit, controlling and directing, sent atthe CAPRICE OF GOD, it cannot be denied that this faithis dying out. Luther’s wile said to bim, some while alter they had left the Catholic Church, “Martin! Martin! why is it that aforetimes we prayed and feit our heart beat and now it isso dead?’ Martin telt it himseif. He did not know what it was and could only hope it would aot last. We suuile to-day on reading that the men, Eng- | Mish and American, who are engaged in revising the text of our Engltsi Bible hacer: ig prepare for the labor of the day by partaking of the cummun- ton and offering prayer tor the guidance ol the Spirit, We smile and say, i! they are honest, good scholars and good wen, I! they love and trust, why pray ior the Spwit when the Spirit should be 10 them? Ifthey are not good scuolars, why pray at ali’ It will not help them; the Spirit only comes to those who tiave it, ‘Lis faith in the descending Pentecostal Spirit 18 dying out. It is not I that say = it 19 @ general confession. Some ascribe it to the PREOCCUPATION OF THE AGB, some to the working character o! the age, which compels men and women to work for What they need instead of praying for it. But whatever it is to be ascribed to, here is the tact :—Bibles are iewer and fewer, they take up @amalier amount of inrel- ligence, are less wide 1n scope ; revivais of religion CEASE TO TAKE HOLD of intelligent thinking men and women. Here is tue state of things, The Pentecostal Day is done; we are glad of it or this reason—it 1s bet- | ter that we should Gepend on the Spirit within ourselves than to ce waiting for the the spirit irom on uigh, Ybe Spirit is never supposed to come on scientific men; it comes to o:tuodox people and | true it 18, it 1 better for men not to expect the spirit ‘rom on bigh, it 1s better to nourish the spirit within—nature, affection, human con- science; and yet if this belief in a Spirit irom avove | did not make men turn their eyes upwards it made | them believe in @ power wituin themseives by rea- son of divine influence; and yet this would tend to a Kind of sel/-worship, aa absence o1 the uplifting spirit, a decline of reverence, @ decrease of the sense of the MYSTERY OF THE WORLD, be a discredit to what men have always considered tne grand virtues, nobleuess, honor, numuity, vir- tue. “iow seldom now one speaks o( honor in the sense it implies, how seldom do we hear such words and feei that the power is in the speaker, This 13 tue tmpression—that men nave iailen toa lower Standard, that the love of mouey, simply as money, Wiich means bread and wine auc cumiorts, tue willingness to do anytuing to get it and keep it, the low, groveliing standard to which men have come, seems to be acknowledged as an existing thing which cannot be prevented. We don’t assume that men are noble, we think | You see it in + that all men can be bought and solo, private lie, you see it in reiigion—a letting down of character, a letting down oi expectation and . hove, Wuich may be traced to this decile m the idea of an endiess reservoir of power, ‘lake away this and instantly there comes @ depression Of humanity, @ 1088 Of Vitality; peopie go stumbling along, happy if they have brains, wretched U tuey have not, and under tie id laith we may see the individual power, If anything seems perfectly true it is this; that notuing can live alone; that everybody must live in 4 world. How gvon one feels solitude. Leta person of great capacity, ol large mental resources, jet nim seciude himself enureiy tor a whue from society. and immediately @ kind of deadness comes over him, his purpose lapses, he goes outs and we # human hand, and it all comes back to Lim. What is the worst punishment that can be in- flicted op @ criminal? Not death, nor pain; but solitary confinement, without looking on @ human lace OF Speaking to @ Siugie person. itis worse than deatu; itis insanity; it is the tenure that zoopnytes aave upon the earsb. The solitary pris- oner, losing day by day nis sense of vitaiity, hears somewwing i tne next cell, a lite scratch it may be; he listens and tries to eect a | communication, if only an iaruculase one; ail at once he jeeis that he 18 noc alone—he is numseif again. How strange this is. An illustration o| it 4s the cure by mesmerism. I am not responsible for the facts I read in medical journals, but nere it is. Every person, it 1s iound, bas an atmosphere @0Out Dim just a8 Wide as the radius O/ the will he himseli sheds on tue world. Here is another man. he tga vacuum, Let one come in contact wiih the other and iustuntiy, as water flows from nigner to lower level, this power is imparted to tue weaker one, Tuts is tue cure of Duwanity, The coutact with this mesmeric individual 1s 80 sudden, swt and searching that old habits are abandoued and heaith takes the place Ol chronic disease. It 1s simply @ restoration of equilibrium. Wheao with griel, she cast about her for means of re- cuperating. was a Church woman, but the institutivus Of religion seemed to do uotuing jor her. What should sue Go? Sue thougni oi estav- Msuing @ communication with suffering, sorrow- ing, tried und tempted humanity. sne dressed herself as sny ordinary Woman and went to a hospital, and seated terselt by Lae side of a poor womau and talked and read to her, and that ex. ercise ol sympathy with @ feliow-mortal found ver peace. What uad this woman, who had seen ile, who had had sorrow upon sorrow and had learned to bear tt ail With hope and trust, to giver she ‘Was the iui reservoir, and the Queen had 4 Sweet aud regular Nuw come to her. There ts stored up i bumanity & mass Of power, Moral and spir- itual, wh is simpty incalculabie. What wealtn of human ie wnd experience 13 stored Gp in the life o1 Jesus, of the aposties, of Mahomet, of Paul, of all te rest of the great souls that have lighted vumanity, Tms is the pentacostal spirit Which 18 able to console, but you must coaturm to its conditions, a8 im the Ola taeory you lad to com- ply with conditions. The story of St. Philip illustrates the conditions, He was a Saint ol great renown, much depended upon by the Pope. It seems that in aconvent was a certain nun Who was thonght to have certain wonderful gilts, The abbess wrote to the Pope of her aud asjed him to come andsee her. The rope cousnited St. Philip just as ne had cowe off a jour- ney and asked him what to about it. St. Php, who Was much sotled witu traveling, not wanting to change nis garments, mounted his mule and rode to the convent and requested to see the nun. She appeared, and he, sitting im @ chair, held out hie muddy boots, and told her to puli them off. and refused, St. Philip immediaiely went out of vile cohvent, and rode tu the Pope and told him he heed not be alarmed avout her for she had not the foundanion of @ Caristian spirit—numility. reason tis temperance movement has not been The you put yourseli in | Queen Victoria lust her husband, flied | She, used to | | Le treated with great consideration, was augry | bas done more for the cause be bas @ sympathy with the weaknesses of his fetlo men, and thousands owe the! vation to him. It is Genes how to talk Pia ‘AS AN ABSENTEE: us power, We shall not be | lef without a Comforter, aad we shal! have the | fulfilment of the th | ail ued tage te OF Wie Gace that passe’ PLYMOUTH CHURCH Ssivation by Grace Through Faith. Piymouth church yesterday was more densely crowded than usual—tbough that seems scarcely | possible, Among the audience were about 100 | Tepresentatives of the Indiana press, with their ladies, who, aiter the benediction, claimed Mr. | Beecher as # former resident of the Hoosier State, and were presented to him in the lecture room. Mr. Beecher’s text was Epheatans, u., 8:—“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” The salvation of men is the result of the divine nature; it is the eMuence and effect of the dispo- sitton of God. Whatever theories may have been hitherto entertained, whacever phystological ex- planation may have been made, the fact will become more and more apparent that te reason of men’s satvation in the end ts that the tendency of the divine government, which ts but avother word for the effect of the divine disposition, is to communicate evertasting life to men. No ex- position of Christianity will be abiding and effective which does not take into account the whole of mankind @nd all the ctrcumstauces which act upon men. {t Is easy for us to form theories trom the study of @ thousana men around about us, the best descended, the best educated and the most favorable, as our specimens; bat n0 theory springing up from Christianity will be vaudd and permanent which is not able to take into ac count the whole race, under all their ‘circum- stances and under all the influences that are act- ing and will continue, according to the constita- tion of things, to act upon them. What does ideal perfectness require a man to be? Or in other words, what does the law of God require of man- kind? For the law of God can be nothing other than the law of ideal periectness. Divine law 1s the ideal law of perfectness as God regards it in rei- erence toman. Such alaw as this demands perfect conditions of body, for man can nomore act rightly | without these conditions in this world than a | | steam engine can go to sea without a sbip’s hull | under tt. We all Know that the mind grows sick with the body, and grows well with the body toa certain degree; and that though we may not be abie to mark the limita‘ions exactly, yet the gen- | eral truth is universally admitted that the bod: and the mind in this state of existence affect a are dependent upon each other; and tiat lor the highest mental action there must be the highest bodily condition as well. THE IDEAL PERFECTNESS which God aemands will govern all the appetites and all the passions whieh are put into man’s | economy for their good; passions whose abuse | has been so terrible; passions that in the long | race of history have wasted the world. There 13 not one of them that is uot its central nature divine, wise and necessary @ constituent ele- | ment of humanity, and it is the right use of | them, limitiog them simply to their normal func- uons and a proper government of the passions | and appetites, that is demanded py the ideal law | of God. That law also requires the governing or the passions and developing the social affections by education to moral predominance by the light of the reason and imagination. Now, consider that tuis is to be done in some sense against nature; or, in other words, it is not | the tendency Of a man’s physical nature so to de- velop towards the spiritual. The flesh tends toward the flesh, towards coarseness; not towards the in- visible ahd the spiritual, That 1s the result of will, effort, continuous influence. And ali this various against the church, smd not only in heathen lands, where the light of the Gospel has never penetrated, but siso within tne confines of civilized Karope, Haughty monarchs have dared to battle down the ramparts of the Church be- neath the unrestrained sword of persecution. Such 1s the policy of the boasted enlighten- ment of this nineteenth century. In order to sustain what 1s called freedom in its vaguest sense men attempt to blot out all the finest and noblest features of Christian government, to sub- stitute civilization and rationalism for reugion and secular education for the trae light of the Gospel. The Pope, the Episcopacy and the priesthood are tw be gagged in Prassia by the edicts of Bismarck, or to be sent, like many of their predecessors, to pine their | lives away in exile, while all manner of property lawfully acquired by and belonging to them is to be confiscated. Yes; Omsarism bes long mnce prevailed in Bussia and Prussia, constitutionalism in Spain and Communism tn France, Italy and elsewhere, and all combined forces to anntbilate, if the true of God, and it matcers not, whether monarchy or repubi the object i the same. Every conceivable de sign that each and all can concoct; every fourish ot trumpets, and all the united onpoes jon of re- ligious and ravionalistic sects is direct against Rome and the successor of St. Peter and their ad! Bat is there any tear of this on t of uniaithful nations and ment None what ir. The of Catholicity was never 40 Coad as at present, nor were the children o/ the Church ever more faithful. It is true the temporal power of the Pope is well nigh gone, but temporal power was never indispensably necessary to the Church, The speaker then showed that during the first 300 years of the COburch’s history she had no temporal power, and yet the then known nations o! the world seemed to grow datly under the influence of her light. Here was quoted s trom St Pau to the Ro- mane, from the early fatnera and from pagan authors, showing that at that time the doctrine of Christianity was being preached throughout the entire world, as it is also attested by the writings of Pliny the younger, Tertullian, St. Justin the Martyr, and others, Without temporal power, therefore, the Cnurch retained its catholieity and apostolicity, and built herself up in every land, even while tue blood of 10,000,000 of martyrs was moistening the earth. During all those yeara of ceaseless persecutiol did the bishops and Urge of the Churc! abangon their principles or duty, shrink, or Jear the hand of the tyrant? No! The very reverse. It ig true Catholic mations became heathen; but the fault was not with the prince, not with the Ohureh, It is true Catholic princes have been persecutors; but tue Church is not vo be heid responsible. The Church advo- cates and always has advocated moral means alone; hence she is not to be held responsible for the maleiactors of any age, past or present. Is it poses then, that we have anything to dread rom the present clouds which surround us and which seem to darken the norizon oi our hopes? Here the Archbishop por- trayed in eloquent words the growth of radicalism in France and Germany during the present century, and dwelt especially on the cha- Otic position of Kurope during the imprisonment of Popes Pius Vi. and Vii. fe then showed from history how ail the royal enemies of the Church came to an untimely and deplor- able end. Napoleon I. began by attacking the crozier, like Bismarck, but he died an exile and a sorrowiul man, The tate of Pharoah and his host, of Nebuchadonozar, 01 Antiochus, of Herod, of Nero and of each o1 the other persecutors o! the pontiff and the Church was similarly deplorable. Wherever Catholicivy failed 1t was not irom any- thing in itself. 1618 equal to every emergency by the power of the divine hand which instituted it. But the seeds 01 divine laith sometimes fali upon a rock, a8 mentioned in the Gospel. Hence na- tions bave not tailen from the faith by persecution but are prepared by their own errors for the fall, The Church lost 20,000,000 Catholics in the fourteenth and 20,000,000 more in the fifteenth century, but the nations that fell away trom the Church were virtually 10: before outside her pale. Then arose Owsarism. and priests were appointed, but they werg not the whe! Church development of the ideal man is to be done, too, in riect harmony and symmetry witnin itself. hat that symmetry is we don’t know—differing in different men; yet every man has to deveiop all that is in bum ino a personal harmony, to be found out by every man separately and specialiy. Tus ts to be continuous, perpetual; that is to say, we are to seek not a mvod, but a character; not 4 Masa of | feeling, but an abiding disposition ; not some Lapp: hour ot inspiration, bat through dark and throug! lught, through calm and through storm, through battle or through peace, we are to seek abidingly the highest form of character which shali put alt ‘iat 18 in man into harmonious relations with | bimself and with God and the invisible world. There is the law ol God, there is the ideal man- hood we are to aspire to; that is, substantially, | fected by which men are judged and ure to be | judged. ADAM’S FALL. Let us observe the facts 0! man’s creation and | condition in this worid. Ii we are to take the old reasoning, and say men Were created holy, and tell from their first estate through their great progen- itor, and since that time the race lis @ Jallen one and therefore to be treated as one that nas alien | | by its own jault in some way, we discuss the ques- | tion very briefly and most unsatisfactorily. But | DO such reasonings can possibly continue. It is | not true, in respect to each Individual, as that | | theory would lead us to suppose, that we fell in our great forefather in any such way as that. The effects of individual experience or of the race are accounted tor by divine arrangement just as much as the nature of the eartn, the rising of the sun, the law of life and growth, oy the creative | | decree of God, absolute and inevitaple. Men are born into the world empty; there is nothing of them in the beginning. There are germinant ten- | dencies in them; undeveloped forces, carrying | | Certain potential conclusions, but chaotic, helpless. Man at birth is a city aketcued | out on paper, but not built, Men come into the world nothing, but with capacity of being something. It is not s0 with the animal creation; they at birth for the most . part know how to use ali their faculties; man alone must learn. Tnat is the aivine constitution—it is not the accident of map. it might as well be said that men are re- sponsibie for the shape of thelr aces as to make them responsible jor these conditions that bring | them into life at zero, aud make it impogssivie ior any man to learn anything except by siow stages of evolution, And the most difficult thing to be Conceived 18 the development o! tle divine charac- ter in man. If there is any truth that will heip mankind it must cover the Whole human tamily— must be able to solve ail the morai physiological plenomena. There are men who bow down in reverence to a text, but jump a fact—proioundly reverent at the revelanon o} God in the Bible, but most iractious and presumptuous in drawing from Goa’s revelation in actual life. are we not to develop our characters by the guidance 0! Him above? Thanks ve to God that there 1s such @reauisition! When 1 see how men come into life, how little of divinity there is in tuem and how slow the process o1 attaiming it, I am giad that there is a law that still silently in the heavens requires, Be thou periect as I am perfect.” Consiuer what forces society generates; what massive institutions men find aiready in so- ciety, Whi'n they cannot go around nor dig under nor go through; they ail shed their influence upon men, How impossible it is for a man to throw himself out from the influence of those around him! When f look at the actual tacts 1 not only do not wonder that civilization has progressed 80 slowly, but !hat it has progressed at al. The strougest argument to me of a divine government ig the upward tendency of the whole race toward | the divine nature, H OUR GRACIOUS FATHER. | Upon this set of facta what is indispensable is the equitabie administration of sach @ compas sivnate and considerate Head as shail take into consideration what man is, what the way along which he is to travel. what tne difficulties, and how impossible it isto him to obey the perfect law or reach the ideal perfectness of manhood. In other words, it is indispensabie that we should believe accoraing to the representation in the fourth of Hebrews—God is alive and powertul, sharper than 4 two-edged sword, piercing asunder the soul aud the spirit—a descerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. “All things are naked ree open to the eyes of Him with woom we have | to do, Now we come to our text. Some ministers take @ text and fete it, and you never see it again. But this time I put my text at tue other end and preach towards it—“By grace are ye saved through Jaith; and that not of yuurselves; it 18 the gilt of God.” Whacis grace? It ts that divine compas sion, infinitely higher than the sweetest affection that ever bioomed in inortal soal. It thete be those here that are distressed at themselves, that feel their lowness, their hardness, their ungracious- ness, their unilluminated condition of goul, look up. ‘You have a igh Priest that is touéned both with your infirmities and your tendency to sin, and has been an offering tor sin (or you, You have | a God in sympathy with you, that knows just what you are ana whence you came. Whatever may be your want, or lear, or triai, or need of impulse, by the grace of God you shail have it, Ibis by the grace 01 God we are saved, and we shall yet by | Uhat grace join those around the throne tn giving | glory, honor and blessing and power t Him who Sita thereon ‘orever THE CHUROH QUESTION, Lecture by Archbishop Connolly, of | Halifax, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral— The Trials and Triumphs of the | Catholic Churen, The Most Rev. Archbishop Connolly, of Halifax, | | lectured to an immense congregation at St. Pat i rick’s Cathedral last evening. A number of clergy- | men Were present on the platform, The Arch | bishop commenced by saying:— | Ifever there was a period when the Church of God seemed to be deprived of earthly power that | time has now come, Wherever we look it will be | found that we have scarcely one nation leit of all men of whom Jesus says, “Not you havé chosen me bat I nave obvosen you.” They were the nom- inees Of an aristocracy, and the groundwork ot their religion was thus cut out for the here- siarchs. No wonder the whole world in this age should stand aghast w see Bismarck playing the Persecutor, tnanguraung a bew war, which makes apy Christian man detest his policy—a war of kingly prige, of gross ambition, of folly aud nonsense nd madness, against the rock of Jesus, which has stood the shock of centuries, and wili outlive per- secution and ner persecutors. Bismarck 18 not satisfied with kingly power; his ambition woud , lead him to grasp also at papal authority, and hence hia raconian code, which he tries toeusorce on the Catholic clergy of Prussia, never remembering the words of the Saviour—“Give unto Cesar whai belongs to Cwsar, and unto God What belongs to God.’ The Catholics of Germany are not disloyal; they have proved their loyalty on the biood stained battle-fieids of France. But they obey the Church o! Peter tn spiritual Matters, hence no more are they disloyal than a | chila because he obeys his father. The Archbisho; closed his admirable lecture oy showing statisti- ; Cally that Catholicitv was now in the zenith of its greatness, having 200,000,000 members, 200,000 wriests, 400,000 religions, and 1,000 bishops The lecture was listened to wito uninterrupted atten- tion and evident interest in the subject. 8T, STEPHEN'S OHUROH. The Christian Pentecost—Sermon by Rev Dr. McGlynn. Yesterday being the anniversary of the birth of the Christian Church the festival was celebrated With unusual splendor in St. Stephen’s church, East Twenty-eiguth street, The altars were taste- fully decorated with fowers, that of the Virgin being an object of special interest to the taithml present. At the base of the statue of Mary, the immaculate mother of God, nestled an immense bouqnet of artistically arranged fowers, while at either side of itdrooped the modest lily, fitting emblem of the mater purissima, The solemn high mass was sung by the Rev. Father McCready, assisted by & deacon, sub-de: con, master of ceremonies and a large corps of well drilled acolytes and torchbearers. Dr. McGlynn preached from the Gospel of the day, Joha xiv., 23-31, and invited his hearers to join with him in glad rejoicings at the return of the great feast of Pentecost, Last Sanday we refected how our Lord, in His great mercy, had during His mortal itfe been shaping the body of His Church after the manner of the creation of the first man. He gave a promise that He would endow the society of poor Gali- leean Jews with a lle far above the lie of the | body. He assured His Aposties that He would give a life to their minds by the light of which “the deptns of the wisdom of God’ would be easily discernible, and a life to their hearts, by the fervor and glow of which tueir best adections would terminate in God. We are called on to-day to celebrate the birtn of our mother Church, her natal day, and we were, indeed, unworthy children of such @ mother if we di not Fejoloe and ve glad at the return of this festival. #he not “the bride coming down from heaven, the city of God, the tabernacie among men, the very body of Carist animated vy the apirit of God.” He has made good His promise. did not leave us ‘orphans. He sent the Paracilete to cheer us in our orphanhood and teach us all trath, The words of the gospel of this day are full of most important truths; they contain the great | mystery of a Triune God. We have the Trinity in their attriputive functions tn the act of man’s re- demption. The Father sending the Son to shape and lasnion the body oi the Church, the Son telling the miant Church, “1 go to the Fatner, tor the Father 1s greater than 1, and the Holy Ghost, the Paraciete, vivilying the newly formed body of tne Church. Our Lord tells us that if we loved Him ‘With tnat perfect love with which He loves us we would rejoice, because He goes to the Father, We shonld be giad because Christ has gone to His roper place on the right hand aide of the Father, fis equal 1m power and majesty and giory. It is of Hm that the Church has been singing siice her in- fancy, “The only begotten Son oi God, born of the Fatner beiore ail God of Goa, Light of Light, true God of true i; begotten, not made ; co! substantial with the Father by whom all thing: he has je good the promise that He gave His Church a8 @ corporate body, and to-day we cele- brate the anniversary of the fultilment of that romise, Let us rejoice over this heavenly birth; let us glory in the assumed foundation of our Christian faith, The promise o1 the Holy Spirit was given to each individual. Not only has He given the spirit that proceedetb irom the Father in the sacrament of Holy Orders to His ministers, but in @ special sacrament, which most Catholics Feceive, the sacrament ol strength, through which flow ule wondrous gifts of the Holy Ghost—wis- dom, understanding, counsel, fortitade, knowl- edge, piety and the fear of the Lord, Let us beg of the Holy Spirit to renew the spiritual mark of the graces we received in the sacrament of con- firmation. It we would be worthy children of Christ we must be obedient to His Spouse, our mother, and enter into her spirit to-day. Our hearts are con- ponte yearning alter peace. The world has it not We must go to Christ for it. He and He alone can give it us, ‘Peace I leave with you, m; peed 1 give unto you; not as the world givetn do give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it-be afraid.” There is @ peace which the World cannot give and cannot take aye A a ce Which surpasseth all anderstanding. Peace With ourselves, peace with our fellow man and peace with God, is a tripie fruit of the abiding o1 the Holy Ghost in the soul, Let us pray that God ma give us that peace, and, while our feet the ' were made.”? | who have been favorable to Catboiicity, The | kings of the earth have, as it were, in the pride of their pight earth, this Spirit (rom heaven will breathe into our peur and reise tem our destined relates | e should glory in such @ mother, for is | BS poor What Kind of God do We Worshtpt— Sermon by Rev. George H. Hepworth. Rev. George H. Hepworth’s sermon yesterday morning was listened to, as usual, by an exceed- ly large congregation. He teok his text from the Book of Psalms, Xili., 2—‘My soul thirsteth tor God, for the living God’'—and elaborated the theme above named, He dweit, in his introduction, on the vartable temper of David. No man could read those psalms without being moved by their sweet influance, and it was on this subject of the univer- sal desire for the knowledge of God that he was going to speak. When they spoke of God they were frequently conscious of a desire for 4 more defintte knowledge. They could not investigate Dature and the world without coming to the con- clusion thas over this boundless, wondrous unt- verse @ supreme power must needs reign. Concerning the friends they had around them, they had great cheer in seeing their faces and grasping their hands. It was a great thing to look into the face of a friend who was true, not in healtn only, bat also tn sickness; not in wealth only, but also in poverty. The man was happy indeed who had one friend at least. When he (the reacher) looked into his own soul he thought it autiful—that there, least, was some spiritual likeness to Jesua Christ. It was possible for the mind to have at least a taint conception of their great benelactor. JRBUS CHRIST WAS A MAN nd bore human features. Bat in their hours of meditation there was an unsatisfied kind of hunger, because that nameless idea of God was tncupable of human representation. They could discover nothing trom which they could make | picvure. In the middle ages many a painter tried | to pictare God on the canvas, and still the effort was so unsuccessful that the world turned away from these paintings in disgust. ‘The, Must, therefore, be contents with ignorance. They must remember that He was Almighty because He could not be expressed, ‘The clearer their conception, the further their real insight, There was no knowledge, no science, } Which could adequately tell of His glory and His power, The world had felt this desire of a more intimate knowledge of God for a long time, and | yet how futile all its efforts in that direction had } been! To ve sure, Ged had written Himself in everything in nature, but they had not cunning enough to arrange the letters 80 as to be able to read them in consecutive sense. This last week | be (the preacher) was reminded that only in the | word “revelation” they got anytning like an ade- | quate idea of God. At home it was a lavorite | amusement to throw letters together indiscrimin- ately and then tosee what words they could spell | Irom them. God vad thrown His autobiography into letters—thrown them together in such man- | mer. Some man of science sound one letter, an- | other read a second letter, another divined the meaning of a third, and 80 on. Tyey were sur- ised at the wonderful works conveyed in every Fetter. Yet everybody feit that THE SENTENCR WAS NOT COMPLETE. Tne Lord’s prayer was an instance of what bad | already been discovered. it contained as much theology as was needed by wankind and more morality than the world could exemplify in a thou- sand years. Their conception of God was reflected in their own hearts. If this conception of the Di- vinity was high their lives would be high; if it was low thetr lives would be iow. Their imaginations drew their spiritual ideals and called this image their God. The novie principles of Coristiantiy were embraced in this glorivus conception, And | ee how indefinite was all knowledge of God, | Eternity, for instance, was an aturibute of God, | Which no man coula possibly understand. It was | Mot within the scope of geometry or mathematics, ' | | the! | ers i i gs Buel; e275 iit ip H if fh f Fe Last Night. Last evening avery large sodience assembled tm the large hall of the Cooper Union to hear the Rev. Dr. MeGiynn lecture on “Ooriss or Cersar,”” uader which terms he typified Church and State. Fathers McCready, kin, Merrick and MoGovern, with representatives Of the professions and every branch of indostry im the city. The lecture was preceded by s sacred concert under the direction oi Mr. Danjorth, the organist 01 St, stephen’s churet. At the concle sion of the concert the Rev. Father Merrick, & J., as the representative of Sister Ulrica, of the direo- tion of St Joseph's Home for the Aged, in benalf Of which institution the lecture was given, intro- duced Dr. McGtyna in « few well chosen sen- tenoes. The pastor of St. Stephen's was ‘received by loud and continned applause, When silence ‘was restored Dr. McGlynn spoke as follows:— One day there stood betore a Roman Governor ® man whom his enemies called @ maleiactor. He was on trial for tis ite, They said that he bad proclaimed himself King of the Jews; and, more- over, that he had announced himself as the son of God and dissuaded the people trom the payment Of the tribute to Cesar. When was questioned concerning the tribute he made the celebrated apswer:—“Render unto Gwear the things that are Owsar’a and unto God the things which are God's.” Being further questioned by Pilate and Cataphaa, tne high priest, he acknowledged that he was @ king, but that his kingdom was not of this world. Pilate would have liberated him as innocent, Toe multitude who were present at the trial thonght with the High Priest, and with rade clamors accused Pilate of being an enemy of Tiberius, The Roman Governor, the immortai type of corrapt judges and time-serving politicians, delivered him up tothe fury of the rabbie, thinking that by washing his hands he absolved himself of THE CRIME OF MURDRR. The King, whose kingdom is not of thie worid, is done to death on the lalse charge of sedition, ef interfering with the temporal power, although he had previously counselied the greatest obedience to the Emperor. “Render unto Cwsar the things Which are Uwsar's.” From that memorable trial of the Founder of Christianity and His unjust exe cution dates the confict between Ourist and Cwsar, Church and State. ‘The society founded by Jesus, the Vhurch, asks only @ little spot of earth here and there, where she may pitch ner peaceful tents and gather in her children and teach them the sublime truths of which she is tue guardian und the tnterpreter. She enters into no rivalry with Cwsar. the contrary, she is his best friend and advocate. It mateers not whether Cesar be Pagan or Obristian, Protestant or Catholic the jurch teaches that he is God’s mtnister, and binds her children under pain of sin to be subject to him tor conscience-sake, ‘Let every soul,” says the Apo tle of the Gentiles, “be subject tu higher powers 5 for there is no power bat irom God, and those tuat are, are ordained of God. Therefoi tnat resisteth the power, resisteth the om | dinance of God; wherefore be subject of | ighinent), but also for couscience-sake.”” ; xitl, 1-7. | The mind went back as tar as Mstory could carry , it; it pierced the time of table and | legend, and yet sciences pointed at layers of stone and geological formations which it must | Rave taken millions of years to create. How could | they therefore have known an eternal God’ The | less they knew Of themseives the more they knew ol Jesus. The jess they trusted in themseives the more they wonid confide in Jesus. ‘hen there Was the power ol God. Everybody had probably felt some time in his liie that Sa HE WAS MERELY A FEEBLE STRAW, floating on a wild, rough ocean. They had felt that they were nothing and that He was everyvhing, 80 that the first thing they Would do was to stand in awe and in dread of God. Tney had all feit that | they were merely tools in the giant nands of some | supreme ruler, But there was something very different in this relation. li it were but so this church would not bave been built. Every church | edifice was the exponent of the encouragement | which the heart felt in knowing that there was no | hatrea in this relation, but only love, And why had they aright to claim forgiveness ? No man could fee! a clear conscience in accepting | this pardon uniess he first accepted, as a titie decd, this book (pointing at the Testament); and 80 | they must come baok to this book, after all. Let ein it; let them understand it; let them love it, | _ How strange it was God was so much more willing to give than they to receive! If they really lonzed | for communion it would surely come. He remem- dered a pretty story ol @ Persian and a Hebrew who boasted of the superiority of the sun and of | Jehovah over the God of a Chrisuan. The Cnris- tian bowed his head humbly and satd he worship- Ree a God greater than the sun and than Jehovah, | could they transfer themselves for one moment | only into really owed to the cross, { KVERY JOY, BVEBY BLESSING THEY HAD came from the Uross; every progress and triumph of civilization came from’ tne Cross. Let them, thereiore, remember that their bodies would pass away and mouider in the dust, but that their souls would yet remain, The only true taing in this world was that God ts love, God in whose | image their souls were to rest in peace! | THE QUIET QUAKERS SOMBRE SERVICE. The ‘yearly meeting’ of the Quakers com- | Menced yesterday, religious eervices being held at | place at half-past ten A. M. and four P.M. [t has | been long proverbial that with the Quakers comes raiu, and this year strengthens the superstition. ' Nevertheless, the morning was not sufficiently un- Pleasant to keep @ large audience and many of the Friends from assembling; while the afternoon service, though not so largely attended, attracted many. The dress of the Quakers appears sim- Plicity itself, but their place of meeting is even | plainer, The meeting house in Rutherford piace | {8 & most perfect contrast to its gorgeous ; Meighbor (St. George’s). Its plain white walls and corresponding ceiling are unreiieved by any attempt at decoration or embellishment, while the straight back grained benches assist in giving to 1 the place @ primitive appearance. There being in | the Quaker form of worship no use for a pulpit, | that usually monumental piece of furniture is dis- | pensed with, and in its place are vencues, facing the rear oi the room, which are generaily monop- | olized by the elder portion o1 the congregation, whose staid and immovabie features lend solem- nity to the scene, length of the church, divides the iemale irom the male portion ol the congregation, and, as i tae | idea of exact equality must be carried out to | the letter, the brothers wear their hata | throughout the services. The dress of the females | 18 often seen and easily described ; a trifling differ- | ence in the shade of the gray dress or the slant of the “poke bonnet’ is all that distinguishes one | from another, | Gray coats stretching to the heels, black coais cut \ in the claw hammer style, black hata that are not | Of the “spring style,” soit felt hate of the Southern | larmer pattern aad white “beavers” with long far ; 4nd enormous brims—ali these go to make up the habiliments of a gathering of male Friends. The ser- Bat with the maies itis diferent. | necessity, not oniy from wratn (i. e. fear 1 pee mn, Aud in his letter to Titus about nis paa- toral duties he telia him. “Admonisn them to be acess to princes and powers, to obey ata wi to ready atevery good work.” The prince the Aposties, the rock on which Christ built His Church Is not less explicit. “Be ye Re bes there fore, to every human creature for 's sake; whether it be to the king as excelling, or to gov- ernors as sent by him.” 1, Peter ii, 13, 15, if Owear were wise he would cherish and foster the church as his most powerful heiper in mak: his subject virtaous and loyal,hapvy and contente If any government would perpetuate itseli, and like the church become stronger and more vigor ous every year, let it give her juli lioerty to preach her crucitled Founder and teach His doctrines and administer His sacraments, But, if like Pitt Cesar jorgets that the caurch i his vest (ri and comands her children to pay tribute to mim and grudges her the litte pain of earth or the itverty which nrist requires for His kingdom, then let Cwaer beware. Even as the first conflict vetweem OBRIST AND CABSAR in the person of Pontius Pilate resulte so did every succeeling one througt the sages. Pilate showed his friendsiip for Te berius by wickedly sanctioning the murder of Jesus, and what was the result, Not long alter events occurred, the very reading of witch makes the blood curdie: the abomination of dese- lavion tn the temple; the mothers of Zion cursing their fecundity: tne sepulchres burst agunder, Jerusalem depopulated; its walls levelled wo the ground ; its inhabitants disversed through the earth and the world in arms; Rome despoied of her Ciesars and her gods; the cities laid waste and the deserts peopled, While ignorant savages rivted sad , Fuied in the Eternal City. his God was their Father in Heaven, and | aganism, they would realize What they | the Hicksite Quaker Meeting House in Rutherford | A harrow aisie, running the | History holds up the leaders of Oxsarism as bea- cons to Warn temporal rulers of the fate that awaits those who sacrilegiousiy invade the sanctuary of Christ’s kingdom on earth. Pilate, who sacrificed an innocent iife sooner than risk the danver Of los- ing his master’s favor, was banished and died as Judas did; Herod was his own murderer; tue Jews, as a na‘ion, couquered and banisned to tne end of the earth. Nero, Yomiau and other impe- rial Roman persecutors were ali either murdered or dethroned, Aimostin our own day Napoleot Who embodied in himseif the sou) and spirit Cesar, the mighty conqueror, whose very name became a@ terror, whose Victorious legions had en- tered nearly every Kuropean capitai—he, who made and anmade xings at pieasure—woula lata have become the Pontifex Maximus like the Owsare oi old, ruler tn the spiritual as in the temporal, but he counted witnout is host He braved THE SPIRITUAL THUNDERS of the successor of Peter and scofingly exclaimed when he heard that the pour old High .'r1 Pros Vii, had excommunicated nim, “Does tne stupid old man think that bis ball will cause the arms we drop from the hands of my legions?” Kven so aid they drop. Not long alter his lesions were arin a giiug across the icy steppes of Russia, the maskel fallen (rom their frozea hands and they tr decimated, The sua of bis glory soon set. \e, for whom the greaiest part of Rarope was tvo gmail, became a soivary prisoner on ® rocky isiand. Like an eagle chained to @ rock he pined and iretted away nis days, His melancholy death on the barren St. Helena, is @ poweriul lesson oa State interference with the kugdom of God. It would seem as If history had taught her lesson in vain, sven to-day, Owsar 18 play- ing the part that Pilate did in Judea, Nero at Rome, the Czars of Russia and the Tudora of Engiand. The present persecution of the Church in Germany and Switzerland ts out another chapter in the tistory ol the conflict between Christ and Cesar. In these countries Uesar in the person of Prince Bismarck and the Bernese Coun- cil trumps up the old charge 01 sedition against Christ ahd His Kingdom, and the wigh priests of error and infidelity nound on the mouern Pilates in their nefarious atemp(s to do to death the “spouse” of Christ, The union between Churok anu State, which the Prussian Chancelior t# try. ing to Jorce, is foui and incestuous, and will, it we are to judge irom the pas', give birth w monsters, in the shape of events, to which the civinzed world woud gladly close ita eyes, The rabbie, too, join with the high priest in clamoring jor the blood of Christ che King anu the destruc tion of His kingdom. it ts sad to tnink that eve \ in this our favored land men are fouad wtiing @ join in the cry of thc rabbie and sympathize with the despotic government in Germany, wotoh trying to unite in the person of one man the pre rogatives oi Christ and Uwsar. But, thanks t@ God, these menj are lew who let their sectariaa bigotry get the better Of their respect for liberty. | Asa citizen Of this tree and vappy land I protest vices yesterday had all the Quaker characteristics © ot simplicity. The iouse being filled, the doors | were closed by the usher, and as the congregation | | began to cease the rustle consequent upon comfortably poising themseives, and the usual church couguers wearied of that amuse- | ment, a silence, projound as it was strange. filled the room. Nota muscle moved the faces of the y | veneravie Quakeresses, who looked within the depth of their gray bonnets like statues, and state | ues of saints, while beneath their broad-brimmed | hais the brothers resembled men “who do a willul | stilness entertain, with purpose to ve dressed in | an opinion of wisdom and gravity.” This silence | lasted Jor about twenty minutes, when it was broken by a voice from the corner o/ the room | ‘with these appropriate words, “Out of the abun- dance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The | effect was more solemn) readily imagined, and as the venerable Quaker pro- striking than can be | i} against this misdirected sympathy sor the German tyrant And bastard Repubiic of Swith eriand. Here on this side of the broad At lantic—thank God, it 189 broad—we have a true union of Church and State~the Church teacking order, morality, patriotism and obedience to the law, While the State protects the Church, in her property and tn ber min ‘y and in the employ- ments Ol the various orders and agencies w' 6he employs for the difusion of troth and the Practice of Onristiau charity, That ta the trae unton of Church aud state, cach moving tn tts own sphere and protecting wud mutually assisting the other, You will, | au sure, join with me in gt J ol that union, of which we ure ali so proud, perpetua, Dr. McGlynn was iistened to throughout with the greatest attention, whue his remarks on the con- dition of Christ and His kingdom in this country cligived [requent applause. ~