The New York Herald Newspaper, October 18, 1875, Page 8

8 “THEOLOGY. How Well and Variously It Was Expounded Yesterday. —_——— THE ATHENIANS’ “UNKNOWN. GOD.” An Inquest Over the Dead Body of the Past. ST. PAUL AS A CORONER. Frothingham on the Liv- ing God. An Atheist a Man Without Bloom or Verdare, Who Worships His Body and Turns on His Own Axle. MASONIO HALL. “7x LIVING GOD”—SERMON BY MR. 0. FROTHINGHAM, “The Living God” was the title of Mr. 0. B Frothingham’s address yesterday morning, and the briefest synopsis of his discourse would be comprised in the assertion that God, in that preacher’s conception is the embodiment of love, honesty and truth. Whether there be a God? if se, where he is? how Be shail be seen and received? are the most important questions of the day, What splitting of hatrs; what subtle shades of division between panthetsm and theism, Ifit were only a matter .of definition, of dia- lectics, its true comprehension would not be so vitally mecessary, but there 13 an impression that something andefinable of goodvess, of wisdom, of love, attaches to it. We cannot define the word only; we must feel it 0. BR THE GREAT QUESTION ‘The word “atheist,” in the popular mind, embodies a main without faith, hope or yearning; who is every- thing to. and of himself, and nothing to anybody else; who is touched with no verdure, blessed with no bloom; a man who turns on bis own axis and worships his body only, The question is, “Is God alive; is this power, force, whatever it is, alive?” Therefore the anxiety to make God appear as a living being, How wild these endeavors arc! The commonest form of forming this this belief is the attempt to demonstrate that God was bodily alive many hundred years ago. There was the sweet Christ, and tho Holy Spirit came down on the gentle wings of tho dove, and the gates of heaven opened and down came the assurance that God had fisen, and tue very graves yielded up their sepulchred | dead. 4 GOD OF THR PAST OF NO ACCOUNT. This isavery difficult task, Go to the Holy Land, You will see nothing but dust and ashes and ruin. The Lake of Nazareth is surpassed in beauty by Lake George, and the flowers that grow there are trans- eonded in fragrance and sweetness by those that blos- som in your own garden. Even if we accept the re- vered records of Christ’s life in the Loly Land we should only come to the sad conclusion that the God ha@ appeared and disappeared, If God has gone the light of the night watch might as well be put out. A living God is not a lived God, anda God who does not live now but did two thousand years ago is nothing to me. THE ORTHODOX GOD. Another attempt to escape {rom atheism fs the asser- tion that at the end of time, beyond the grave, wo shall bave demonstration of the living God. What is this ‘Dut to say that we must come to another life in oraer to see Him? He is, then, a God whose term of life can be mapped out by the statistician. A most singular God! The God who lived in Palestine or who liveth in heaven is not a living God to us. The revivalists know that, and their device is to bring Bim in. Common, orant Spiritualists, by dint of obstreperous singing, uk they can summon the divine presence which ‘Would not come in asweet silence. Thus the revival- Mets think that if they only pray hard enough, af only a snfficient number of people shout loud enough, He will come down. They say, “Now is the appointed time, we have secured Him for fan hour, seize your chance.” Do you tell me that ‘their work is only made for the purpose of bringing F sniged toGod? But the method is equally eccentric in case, “You must put yourself into a spasmodic, eccentric condition,” they say, ‘in order to see God.’ ‘Then this God is only ephemeral, only lasting spas- modicaily? Wall you say that a living god is less even ‘aud steady than a living man? GOD IN NATURE. The best method of seeing God 1s through nature. It teaches that whatever life has ever been on this earth ig thereon now; that every atom of the universe pul- Gates now as warmly with life as tt did millions of years ago; that there has not been a moment when the hand— ifa hand there is—has been lifted up from this palpi tating universe. The rain, the snow, the sun, the moon, the stars—they all follow the same physical Jaws which they obeyed thousands and millions of years ago. Creation, as science shows, is a process, Rotanart. God did not finish, but He only has begun. This universe is not a skilful contrivance, but is a con- glomeration of living powers and laws. ‘The physician ~ deeper into this revelation when he goes to nature healing and regenerating forces; the artist, with a Single eye to the loveliness and beauty of nature, paints 48 on the living canvas, GOD IN MAX. But, after all, nature does not reveal the Deity in its full aevelopment, It is only when you meet a living man, 4 living soul, a living heart, that the Deity starts {nto fulness of being. The mind of Richard Proctor is © grander testimony to the living God than all the con- Steilations he measures. When science belts the globe and the waves of thought rush hither and thither we Ihave another grand revelation of the Deity. The leap of love is quicker than the leap of lightning. I say God 4s revealed in man—the working God in the working man, the loving God in the lovin GOVERNOR Tr ‘The men who turn alder upon their roper times to rhere shall we find Him? tripped of its sof cataract underneath? been robbed of comfort and Village. verdure and obs Bo now, when w ved the fierc have feet, If you ask ine where I Bead you to men who are trying ‘who are exposing canal frau: see the living God I will o redress some Wrong, who are studying sta- Bistics in order to arrest pauperism. 1 will point you to the honest men and women who are trying to live and noble lives. Honesty, truth, love, wherever y afe, there is the recr power of the living God. CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLEs. HE RELIGION PAUL PREACKED TO THE aTHE- WIANS—SEEMON BY “EV. MR. HEPWORTH. Yesterday morning the Church ef the Disciples was filled by its usual large congregation. Mr. Hepworth preached a very eloquent discourse, taking for his text the seventeenth chapter of Acts, twenty-third verse:— For, as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THR UNKNOWN GOD, whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare I ‘unto you. This chapter from which my text is taken ia remarkable because it contains the account of the fird Contact of Christianity with the speculative thought of ‘the age. It had measured itself before with the preja- dices and superstitions of the common people; it waa ing, the reg erating Row to cross swords with the sharp blades of Athenian | Fhetoric, subtlety and logic, St, Paul’s journey to Athens was full of incident, caused by the apirit which Christ stirred within him, and when he contemplated the intelligent metropolis of the world be the evidences of culture and refinement, St. Paul was a plain, simplo-hearted, earnest scholar: the only one of the twelve who had enjoyed the advan- tages of a liberal education; the only one who, accords fag to our human judgment, was fitted to cope with those cunning philosophers who cared less for truth than for victory, He went at fret + was bis custom, Then, in his quiet he talked about Jesus of Nazareth. o the synaj , a obtrusive way, in the midst The ef the city, at the foot of the amphithe eof hills, th market place—where strangers from al) around oe wont to gathor—he held his little meeting, till at last hie simple story attracted the attention of the aristo- cratic, who were at first inclined to laugh at him as a Dabbier, or'mock and ridicule Lim as an entiusiast, : A MAN OF ONE IDEA, man of unbalanced mind. But at just their attention ‘was 80 engaged that they requested him ¢ an opportunity fora calin hearing. They reques him io meet them ata given time on tue hill, whero #cholars were wont to gatber and to argue, that they might listen to bim patiently and find out, if they could, what was this strange story that seemed to fas- cinate the common people to such an extent. Paul, wnappalied, relying entirely on the grace of God for ‘what he shall say, stands before them and delivers this | ‘An alter speech. Let us look at it for a moment unknown God.’ I think that statement a very {important mptiom of mational change. Tho Athenians had appealed to the} Pabedaierid or eo ak ~ # aoe NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1875.-TRIPLE SHEET. To an UNEnoWwn God to rescue them from’ their embarrassments, and they were saved. ‘Thon it was, m gratitude for their security, they built an eltar to the God who was unknown, and who had proved Himself to be superior to Jupiter and Mars, And it seems to me that when Pani made that state- ment the old dynasty of mythology crumbled into dust, They bad lost their confidence in their gods and had come to believe there was some other deity upon om they were to rely, ‘Then St. Paul delivered that po ree a at rane held over the bon dy of the past The ple were by ® mother buried her children and never Toeked ap exept with tears of despair. There was NO UNITY IN THE HEAVENS; no sense of eternal justice on earth; everything was at loggerheads, Religion came as a guest and went again. People hoped and dreamed, but their hopes fell tothe ground) Bt Paul came to them with & story, It was short, simple, plain, incisive. which he said was fresh, and the doctrine he taught was exceedingly full of and it was so incixive that it cut into every man’s conscience, high or low, rich or poor, More than that, it was direct; it did not deal in glittering generalities; it did not argue; it was the simple statement of a man of God who uttered the truth, I want to assert, concerning the doctrine of Christianity, that it is entirely original with Christ; that He is THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER of our faith, The words of the Bible have been uttered vefore, Many of the thoughts of the New Testament have been thought by men before they were by Christ, Is this saying they are not original with Christ? What is originality? Let us look atthe definition and we shall go down on our knees with trembling hearts before the Cross of Calvary. Christ is the first and last of our taith. He is respousi- bie for it personally. Sometimes when you are at sea you find floating on the tide a chip, It tg simply an isolated piece of wood and has no definite connection with any other piece of wood youever saw. So it is with the historic tide of time—here and there a most beautiful saying. But they have been simple statements of philosophy, not component parts o great plan, the end of which is the salvation of a race. When Christ came He took these thoughts and so collated them and filled with His own personality that they, from the moment He uttered them, became an operative energy in the history of the world, Talk about origi- nality! There is nota man or woman in this house but has had a dream like Milton; not one but has some time caught a glimpse of eternal life. But when @ man comes and puis gill these vague dreams into shape, is that man the autllor of your faith or not? Are these things original or not? Most assuredly they are, for an operative influence is everything. When others speak the words melt away lke snow flakes, but when Christ speaks a thrill passes through the world. Now, having settled that question, let me say that the religion which Paul preached was different from any other religion for two great reasons. First, its moral demands; the Gospel of Jesus Christ requires, that a man shall hold himsel/ unspotted from the world. GOODNESS IS NOT A VARNISH, itis astate of heart Purity is not a pretence, it isa genuine condition. Love, justice, truth, tbese are to be the governing and controlling principles of your being, and not mere matters that come out eloquently from your lips. Christ demands from you an assent of ‘affection, and when @ man's heart is engaged, then the whole man is en- iste One great peculiarity of the olden time fs its creat hesitancy to believe in immortality. In Athens a whole class of philosophers scouted the idea. Paul, instead of arguing the matter, stated the fact, “I have come to tell you of (his unknown God.” God sent His only-begotten Son on earth, That Son, named Jesus Christ, died, as every man dies, was buried, and the third day after was raised up to life again by the power of the Almighty, Startling assertion! It is one thing to talk in general terms of the future, but to look a man square in (he face and say, “] NAVE SEEN THE MAN; know that he was dead; 1 know that he was raised again.” Oh, the earnestness of a man who can talk that way! "This book contains o great many things beautiful and divine There is a moral therein; there is a beauty and purity in that book which we cannot fail to perceive, and yet that is all nothing by the side of the one stupendous revelation—we are to live again. Jesus Christ. gives His word tor it, and He hath told us plainly enough that they who die, die not; that they who are laid. y in the grave, are lifted up to another life. Oh, friends, do we understand this ? do we appreciate this? To live for a time and catch a glimpse of heaven, and then to die and pass into nothingness, I could not thank God for life if this life were all If Weare but slavish creatures of aday, God pity us! But if we begin in time as children and end never, but ever approach nearer to the divine light, though never quite reach it, then our manhood becomes dignified, and what this lit: tle day cannot give us the everlasting day will supplyy Tho scholars of the past, where are they? But tue lit Ue speech Paul uttered is written in LETTERS OF GOLD after eighteen centuries Lave gone by. The Chris- tianity of Bethlehem, of Calvary, of the Sermon on the Mount, is but to-day a faint streak of the rising sun and some future generation will walk in its full light. — Set us worship the sun. Let us be thank/ul for the dawa, Let us be thanktul for all, but, most of ali, for God bav- ing raised Christ from the dead, and given us a promise of rich immortality. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. MR. BEECHER ON THE POWER AND PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE—MUSHY AND DISCONSOLATE CHRISTIANS. Plymouth church was crowded to the doors yesterday morning, and hundreds of people who had waited pa- tiently in the long lines which lad been formed in front of the edifice before the doors were opened went away without gaining admittance. The preacher’s platform was decorated with baskets of autumn leaves and flowers tastefully arranged. Mr. Beecher preached from the familiar woras of Isaiah :—‘‘Cwase to do evil; learn to do well” To learn to do well, he said, is the way to cease to do evil. Over- come evil with good. Put away sin by putting on righteousness. This {8 the way of reformation indicated in the pages of Scriptura If the Bible be looked at from the stand- point of art or political economy it is mo book, Neither will it do to test it as a science of social philosophy. A book it is, too, that has in- spired art as high as any power that ever existed. A book it is of political economy that among the Jews, when they were a secluded nation, has tanght lessons that men will never be willing to let go. The time was when in the want of ali other books, and mostly of oiner knowledge, men were shut up to the Bible and praised it, not too much, but wrongly, teaching people ‘that it was a kind of universal arcanum; that it had in | it something of everything; that it was a perfect ency- clopedia, That time has gone by. WHY THE BIDLE WAS MADR. Tho Bible was not made as a mero book; it was not made for any literary power; neither was’ the world made as we construct an engine {n our machine shops. ‘The world has grown up by slow methods; but it is a greek world, a wonderful world ands world of strange ities and powers; and the Bible is made of the Ww all about him | they do not do harm, they do not do wrong, but thoy 3 | the leaf to the root instead of from the root to the i I seo behind | SNA Ab del ak sr same powers, apparently thrown together luosely, un- | compacted, and yet from beginning to end bearing pro | cisely the tame testimony in respect to God. + out & period of 3,000 years, in different countries, ) different languages and under all circumstances, it has | strack the sane note—the character of man, the neces- Through- sity of change, the mode of changing, and the philoso- | phy in details even in respect to changing from vice Bappiness we discover the volcano that was under our | jo ite firs andsin. Thereis noother book that will ever super- | sede this, for this reason—that there never was any other book so absolutely filed with the experiences of the human soul. It is life over again; only it is lifo | over again under the genial influences of a Divine | Providence pointing ten away from their sor- | rows and their sins to @ higher and a nobler state, And the teachings of the Word of God are never confused, never self-contradictory, never obscure. Its primary,’ fundamental principle {s that relormation from evil should begin at the source of all conduct—that 18, it stands in marked contrast with the practice and the teachings of all other systems. The fun- | damental teaching of the Word of God in regard to the reforimation of man is that reformation must begin at | the centre and work outward; not outward and work in toward the centre, ‘Ye must, therefore,” it \s said, “be born again out of the heart of the Saviour.” The Bibie does not set aside all forms of outward help, but it teaches that he who would lead a higher life must have strong desire for a higher life, just as the seed must have a desire to sprout in order to sprout, The be- | ginning of every true life that rises above the animal | has its origin in this aspiration—a y: thing higher, truer and nobler. The Bible recognizes the fact that the elements of a good character are up in stages, layer upon layer, but the desire to lead a higher life ‘must precede tho building up of this character and the desire comes at once ig ingtantaneons, and {it becomes cog through long series of experience. 1 work of God must begin in the soul as ite new heart is the indispensable necessity for the now life. The motive power is what men want—the know! edge and the purpose to livea differont life from that of iniquity, This ia the first step; this is the main. spring of all reformation. So that ‘when mon begin to | reform by dropping this vier and that misdemeanor, do not understand the true theory of working out their salvation, because they are attempting to work from They act like unto the master of a mili who should when his water-wheel stopped in time of drought, ful to polishing the machinery ana oiling the joints, The motive power is wanting, the centre has given out, Pani said, “Let him that hath etolen steal no more.” A man with the instincts in him will Gad it very bard not to steal, and if be bas nothing but this command, “Steal no more,” he will steal again, Bat 1 Bays also, “Steal no more, but go to work. You need property, you have @ desire for it and go to work for it. That's the antidote for stealing. You must raise inthe man @ right feeling, which will put down the wrong fecling. You cannot say to an ill-temperca i, “Pat down that temper,” and have him do tt, y, “If you don’t put that temper down ring else down.”’ You then raise another ag which is strong enough to overcome the temper. the economy of self-government consists simply in power which one class of faculties has to over. come and put down another, for it seems that the mind acts like a long board of one ormation cowsiste not xo much in directly opposing evil tendenci ing ¢ feelings and tendencies which shall overrule them and effectually put them down. We must strike for the positive, und not the negetive There hes been 80 much preached about “a chamge of will” that men seem to think that reformation is assured by getting up @ That | earning for some- | ing up for Jesus,” when the man can’t stand up That is a mere cant phrase, All true reformation in the right condition of @ man’s will, when a man says, “I have made up my mind, I am re- *solved,” and then thinks the machinery will work out all the’rest, he will soon find bimself in the ranks of those who are ever beginning but never get along. These resolutions, without being reduced to any tan- gible form of action, are as beautiful as an apple blos- som without a germ, and just as fruitless, Instead of merely striking at this or that evil habit, a man should at once begin to do good, and the moment he does sq the desire to do evil is dying in him, When a man has given way to his bad nature he has generally given way to everything that is active im him. A returned Californian, strong as a grizzly bear, ag indifferent to his conduct as if he had no soul, putting himself in tho fulness of his manhood, right’ along in a large way, wherever he goes, begins to have roused in him an im- perlect sense of danger and of future damnation, He is told that he must repent, give up his cu; is oaths and companions, and everything else; that he must come up and join the church and be a Christian, He is told don’t do this | and don’t do that, until his idea of bein, @ Christian is a don’t, don’t, don’t, all aroun the animal circle. Ho ts putled fn, every place and all the time, when what he wants is to lethimselfout. He was like a wild horse of the prairie before and now, if you bring him into harness, he mere! pa kicking, but he does not pull at all. Before he ea “Chris- tian’! he was not good, but there was something 10 him; but now be has jomed the Church and HE 18 ALL MUSH. The man has overcome wrong, not by doing right, but by drawing himself in; and he is an imperfect charnc- ter, The true Christian man is a large and a free man. No man is free until he can do what be has a mind to; and no man can do what he has a mind to until he has made ap bis mind to do nothing which ts not right. The dried up drunkard isa pitiful spectacle, He isa man wno bas been in tho babit of frequenting a barroom, where everything was warm and brig! b and good natured ‘companions always welcome: him with a slap on the back. He attends a temperance meeting, and in @ paroxysm of right feeling determines | to stop drinking. Now he has nothing to do to occupy | the time he spent in the dramshop, He cannot visit his old companions, for he is told to keep away from them, but he steals to the window, perhaps, and looks in upon'them. If there ever was anything inthis world so disconsolatp as virtue under such circumstances | don’t know it. My wonder 18 not that so many go back, but that anybody ever goes forward under such circum stances, ‘THE CONCLUSION, In conclusion Mr. Beecher added that it was easier to reform the whole man than part of him, A man should not be taught to hoid himself in all the time, but should do positive good. What would you think of @ music teacher, said he, who should never teach his pupils any- thing but to avoid discords? What would you think of a husbandman who should advise his neighbor not to do anything but keep down the weeds on his farm and not to go in for any crops atall? There area great many who in their material business go in for crops who work freely and largely in their worldly affairs, yet who in their spiritual lives merely try to Keay out weeds without making any effort to gather a harvest. How many there are who in material things work from tho centre outward who in spirttual matters work from the out- side inward, who are merely kept from wrongdoing by the foree of public opinion and the institutions by which their outward lives are outwardly surrounded, That spirit is, perhaps, good so far as it goes, but it does not reach up to the knees, still less any further up. Break off your sin by righteousness, overcume evil with good and purge away darkness and death by the getting of that good by the power of God. CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH. THE MOBAL OF A ¥OUR-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD DRAMATICO-RELIGIOUS DRAMA—TBUE UNITA- BIANISM—SERMON BY REV. DR. WILLIAM 2 ALGER. The Church of the Messiah, corner of Thirty-fourth strect and Fourth avenue, had a pretty full attendance yesterday morning. An interesting and impressive discourse was delivered by Rev, Dr. William R. Alger on the text Romans, {i., 6—‘God will render to every man according to his deeds,” In the day of judgment, he began, God will deal with men not on any principle of favoritism, but according to the inflexible rules of right, Paul did not say believe this theological dogma and you shall be saved, but he taught the truth embodied in the text. The fashionable teaching was that the best way to be prepared for the day of judgment was to repeat cor- tain words of faith and go through certain formulas, A well spent life was the only preparation that would stand the test. Every man would be judged by his deeds, Truth alone could stand, A most important tesson was enforced in the text, Here was the BASIS OP A TRUE THROLOGY. There was a dramatico-religious performance given tour hundred years ago in the cathedrals of the old, the title of the drama being “Everyman.” He would present an epitome of this antique drama and show its appneability to the present time Every- man {is walking by himself, thinking only of riches and his pleasures, Death coming up to Every- man taps him on the shoulder and tells him that he has forgotten hts God, and that he must go with him to God and bring his books along and render up his accounts, Everyman asks for delay, The grim messenger listen’ to no such pleadings, but tells Everyman he must speed | away with Lim. Everyiman offers a thousand pounds | to be allowed to remain and first adjust his accounts, With a grim smile Death tells him, “If I'd accept bribes the whole world would be given to me. No, sir. Icare | not for gold or jewels.” While Everyman starts along with Death and is full of lamentations and wish- ing that he had never been born he meets Friendship and solicits him to accompany him on his | long and perilous journey. Friendship refuses to go aud Everyman applies to Kindred, but with no better success, “Taxing his whole energies to think of somo ono who may be of service to him he finally thinks of Riches, He had loved Riches all bis life. But, says Riches, *1 cannot accompany you. It {s because of your love of me that you are covered with blots and | Stains.” Then says Everyman ‘Curse on you, Rich | 1 loved you greatly and devoted all my time an thonghts to you and you now desert me.” With uttering ‘tis anathema, Everyman im turn cails on Heauty, Strength, Sense and Knowledge, and tells them of the piteous strait he ta in, and beseeches them to accompany him on his journey. Neither of these will go, At last he thinks of Good Deeds and makes known to him his wishes. Good Deeds expresses | great pleasure in going with him, On the Journey they start together. Death at length sends a dart to the heart of Everyman, but Everyman clasps Good Deods to his arms and dies @ happy death, and the portals of heaven open before him. Having thus epitomized this old drama the reverend speaker dwelt at length upon the moral underlying it—a moral thus quaintly ex- pressed in the drama:— If-wiedom, old and young would find, This moral let them alweys keep in mind, All other friends will Everyman forsake, Good deeds alone can he to judgment take. A man may have doubts a8 t0 obscure questions in theology, but if he has lived a good life, scattered bene- } fits about him, lifted up the lowly, helped the poor In their afflictions and, m the fullest und broadest sense of the word, been a man of good deeds, then he will care nothing for death, but look unflinchingly on his ap- roach as the welcome messenger to convey him to is God! This was the despised and neglected UNITARIAN DOCTRINE, He submitted that in the tace of the glittering multitudes about different views their doctrine was | founded in reason, in common sense, in the Scriptures | and in the truth of God. in that tremendous picture of | the day of judgment, drawn by Christ Himself, and which | | | had been the awe of the world ever since, tt was laid down in unmistakable terms that they who ministered to the sick and sorrowiul, who lived pure lives and whose lives were made up of good deeds would be the accepted ones, and that those who ed by on the other «ide wrapped up in cold, selfish indifference would be condemned. Very many dehberately set aside the declarations failing from Christ’s own lips and teach a wholly foreign doctrine. His word was that if you ministered to suffering homanity you would be gaved. The great majority teach that the judgment of God will be, “Inasmuch as you believed in ny Godhead | and the sacrificial formulas of the Church and its creed and were baptized, you shall be saved.” Absurd and blasphemous is all this, a wasting of energy on THEORETICAL REDEMPTION. | The Unitarian doctrine directs attention away from | the dreams of a cloistered past. It is a devotion as much: needed as it is unfashionable in this city. There should be men enough in New York to support a ra- tional theology founded on Christian truth. It was grievous two see the doctrines of falsehood and fashion So widely taught. Meanwhile they would only look humbly to God and remember that it devolved on them, to faithfully discharge their duty, come what may, knowing that in the end every man would be rewarded | exactly according to his deserts, CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS, SERMON BY DR. DEEMS ON THE EXAMPLE OF JOB. | The Church of the Strangers was filled to repletion yesterday morning on the occasion of the return of the | popular pastor, Dr. Deems, from Nashville, Tenn., | where he has been for some time past in the interest of | the Vanderbilt University, The Doctor preached @ highly interesting and instractive sermon from the text found in the fifteenth chapter and eleventh verso of Job:—“Are the consolations of God small with thee? Is there any secret thing with thee?’ After describing the great excellence of Job's charace ter the pastor described his great sufferings, The hardest to bear was the suspicion of his friends. This question addressed him by Eliphaz, the Temanite, wag more painful than all his boils and bereavements, A friend can hart so much more than an enemy, Kl phaz was a friend and was a great man. He had taken seven days and soven nights of silent observation of | Job in the midst of his suffering, He had heard 40'S GREAT OUTCRY OF agony, Fe ee reer lanced.-when | 4 had feasoned with him and heard his reply, and end goes down the other goes up, The law of ref. | | Naawmathite, foot the operation of other | 6) gown on the dunghill and gcraped bimsolf with » | | potshord, and these three comforters, miserable com- | forters though they were, sat around him with their | rent garments and dust sprinkled hair, the four grow Annie. apo | Qo aad olMlaManhegs Whe WAL OM pay fb Haat iu the responses of Bildad the. Shuhite and Zophar the Those were all great men. When Job Syn. at all | were In conference. It was not a child nor a fool that begins | pierced Job’s soul with this flerce question, it was his but | intimate friend, one of the kings of thought, When Eliphaz considered the great height from which and the great depth to which Job/had felt that there must some secret cause at work which he had failed to do and. after days of talk with Job, in which on both sides some of the finest and most powerful thoughts were uttered which ever went op record, Eluphaz lost his temper and hurled at Job the flerce question in the text, Do not be too hard on him. He and his two asso ciates and Job were four great religious men, ALL GREATEST MEN ARB VERY RELIGIOUS. Eliphaz had read human history correctly, and Jewned that ail sinners are sufferers, and that men’s secret sins at last bring out a visible cup of misery, The tallacy of his logic was im concluding that all sufferers are sinners, That 1s not true, Ite fullacy lay in assuming that there are no causes at work im @ man’s history but auch as are patent to our inspection. He knew nothing of that assem- bung of the sons of God when Satan came up, and of God’s putting His hand on nature for highest urpoges, And this i# the besetting sin of the phi- Recphy, of to-day. We ignore the spiritual world and its mighty forces, gGod does not stand off and I the great machine work, He must oftener Le rs hand on it than we know or suspect. Remember that even Job did not take this into account, and was as much perplexed by his own situation as his friends were, He could only reply that they were “miser- able comforters” and say ‘if your goul were in my soul’s stead I coud heap up words. against you and shake my head at you.” We are taught to be careful of our judgment to others, especially of suf- ferers, But there is a great principle involved in these questions which should lead each man to try him- self by them, not his neighbors, ‘Are the consola- tions of Gqd Small with me?” A man may have MANY CONSOLATIONS THAT ARB WORLDLY, his health, wealth, faine, success, and the consola- tions of God may be small with him, He be without any of these and the consolations of God be small with him. Or, in either case, the consolations of God may be great with him, | The consolation of God docs not spring up naturally in the heart, It comes from trust in God. Here the preacher took pains to show the distinction be- tween the depression of spirits which comes from bad health, adverse surroundings, &c, and that which arrises from spiritual causes. If’ wo are suro that spiritual consolation is small with ug, there may be with us, although there was not with Job, some secret thing, The Doctor pointed out several of these secret things and enlarged upon them. First, something unre- pented of, something smothered, for which conscience troubles a professor of religion.’ Second, some secret wrong feelng toward your minister or some other brother, toward some man or toward God. Third, the secret neglect of some duty. Fourth, the secret love of something not compatible with the love and service of God, lust of the flesh, LUST OF THE EYE, pride of life, vanity, pride, ambition, covetousness, which may lurk in the heart of men outwardly exem- y. What must I do on such discovery? If my bor is involved L must go to him and make it no matter how long ago, no matter how hard it If God, then I must recollect that my most must right may secret sins are in the light of His countenance, Stand before Him and resolutely tear the rout of bitter- ness out of my soul Ifit seem to tear me to pieces, if ft seem as though It would kiil mo, I must pull on the accursed plant, tugging at it until 1t'come, and God wilt help me, and Into every such self-inflicted wound He will pour this consolation abundantly. Let us do it thoroughly, let us do it now. THE TABERNACLE, LESSONS FOR BUSINESS MEN—SERMON BY REY, T. DE WITT TALMAGE. Rev, T. De Witt Talmage preached to an assemblage of about 5,000 people yesterday forenoon in the Taber- nacle, Schermerhorn street, near Third avenue, Brook- “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving tho Lord’’—Romans, xii., 11—was the text of the reverend gentleman’s discourse, Thore 1s, he said, no war between religion and business, between Bibles and ledgers, between churches and counting-houses, Religion accelerates business, sharpens men’s wits, sweetens acerbity of dispositions, fillips the blood of phlegmatics and throws moro velocity into all the wheels of hard work. To the judgment it gives mot skilful balancing; to the will more strength; to in- dustry more muscle; to enthusiasm a more consecrated fire, Yon cannot show me a man whose business prospects have in anywise been retarded by his religion. By business men I mean tho industrial classes, who are divided into three groups—producers, manufacturers, traders. God intended business life to be a glorious education and discipline, and He started us in life giving us a certain amount of raw material, + out of which wo were to hewourcharactera, After our young people have graduated from our schools and colleges they need a higher education—that which the collision and rasping of everyday life alone can effect, Energy of soul ts wrought out only in fire, You are here to develop your energy for His cause and for His kingdom. ‘Thero {s enough unemployed in all the churches of God and in the world to-day to reform all empires and all kingdoms and people In three weeks, Oh, how mach idleness amid sirong muscles and quick forces and stout hearts! How many deep streams that turn no mill wheels and haul on the bands of no factory! Ob, for fewer Idlers and for more consecrated Christian workers! We want men as cminent in the Church as they are eminent in com- mercial circles; and it is possible that these things will be achieved, for your mind immediately calls up the names of men in the past and of men in the present who are serving God at Christian altars and character ized by great beneticence, while at the same time THEIR NAMES ARB MIGHTY ON EXCHANGE, and the mere announcement of them affects the Leg 4 markets of all the world God intended business life to be to you a school of patience. How many little things there are in one day’s engagements to perturb and annoy and disquiet you. Bargains will rub and men will break their engagements. Collecting agents will come back emptyhanded. Tricksters m business will play upon the “hard times,” or what they call the hard times, when in any time they never pay and under all circumstances they fail. Cash books and money drawer in @ quarrel. People going about shopping and unrolling good that they do not intend to buy and try- ing to break the dozen. Moro counterfeit bills in the drawer. More bad debts. Under ali this friction men break down, or they are scoured up into additional brightness, How are you going to got that graco of lence? Not through hearing ministers preach about ee ryon got itat all you will get it in the world where you sell hats, and plead causes, and tin roofs, and mako shoes, and turn bannisters. I pray God that through the turmoil and sweat and exasperation of your everyday life you may hear the voice of Christ saying, “In patience possess your soul: let patience have a perfect work.” God also intended business life to be to yon a school for the attaining of knowledge, Merchants do notread many books, study many lexicons, nor dive into every profound subject; yet through the force of circum- stances they get intelligent on the questions of politics, finance, Geography, jurisprudence and ethics, Now what is o use of all this intelligence un- less you give tt to Christ, Can it be that, notwith- standing ali your acquaintance with the intrica cies of business, pd are ignorant of those things which will last the soul long after the bills of exchange and commissions and invoices, consignments and rent rolis have crumpled up and been CONSUMED IN THR VIRES OP 4 JUDGMENT DAY, God further intecded business life to be to you a schoo) of Christian integrity. No age of the world ever offered 80 many inducements for scoundrelism as are offered now. There is hardly statute in the law books that hag not some back door through which miscreants can escape. Ob, how many deceptions in the fabric of foods! Commercial life plies the land with trickeries innumerable, and there are 8o many people in Brook- lyn and New York who live a life of plunder, that when ‘8 man proposes a straightforward, honest business it 18 almost charged to greenness and want of tact, ‘This ought not to be so but I can tell you it requires: more grace to be honest now than it did’in the days df our fathers, when business was plain and there were no stock gamblers and woollen was woollen and silk was silk and men were men, How rare it is that you finda man who from his heart can say:—‘‘I never cheated in trade; I never overestimated the value of goods when 1 was selling them; I never covered up adefect ina fabric; I never played upon the ignorance of a cus- tomer, and in all my estate there is not one dishonest farthing.” larger sympathy for business mon. I think it is shame that we in our pulpits do not oftener preach on this subject and show that we appre- ciate the sorrows, struggles, temptations and triais of business. Men who toil with the mind are very apt to be suspicious of those who move In the world of traflle and think that they get their money tdly and give no equivalent. In conclusion, the speaker enjoined his hearers to quit all fretfulness in busmess and to seck business grace, for the lack of which 60 many baye been ruined, THIRTY-FOURTH STREET REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. FAREWELL “SERMON BY REV. DR. RILEY, The Rev. Dr. Riley yesterday preached a farewoll sermon, at the conclusion of a pastorate of seven years, to his flock at the Reformed Dutch church, Thin ty -fourth street, of which the following is a synopsis, He said that, looking on the many pleasant remem- brances of tho past seven years, and recalling the kindly intorcourse and feeling that had always subsisted between his congregation and himself, he found it im- possible to preach what was usually known asa fare- well sermon, Ho wished his people to consider that ho and they were parting only fora short time, He was not willing that he should have even the appearance of breaking away from them, ‘TUR SERMON. He took as tho subject of hie discourse Eph., ii, 14—For this cause [ bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jusus Christ,” and the suceceding verses to the end of the chapter. In running throngh these verses, and trying to catch somo- thing of their meaning, we see exactly how they meet our wants to-day, There is an earnest prayer for gifts recorded here. And we may note {n the first place the Payasuse of tke jnienwily pf paajne axanmnamd—\T Jague my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ‘This is no idle wish, It is the expression of the most solemn prayer that can be uttered—tho most earnest desire the soul can entortam when bowed down be- neath an overwhelming weight of feeling. The source from which the blessings prayed for are to come is God—God im the peculiar character of the lather of owr Lord Jesus Christ, The idea implica that we are to come to God as spildien, * tho attitude and wi oe of children, Every day He is pouring down ings on His people, 4 God’s power to confor blessings is expressed in twentieth veree—“Him that js able to pi ceeding abundantly above all that wo or think.” Paul ‘ex, e8 yond the reach of i he oversteps the bounds laid down by the teachers of rhetoric, be- cause ho has more to say than has entered into the mind of man to conceive. The blessing toa dins for 1s expressed in the sixteenth verse:—“To strengthened with might by his syiritinthe inner man.” The measure of this blessing is given in the words, “According to the nches of his glory,” the Hebrew’ expression for ‘glorious riches.” God gives Mberally to. all He is a jouse never to be exhausted. He refuses none, And if there is anything wo want it ig to be strengthened in the imner man. This gift to the inner man, meaning the true self, is not simply for the outer hfe; it is not a giftas the world gives, but one from the {innermost soul. In the geven- teenth verse the biessin that comes from Christ is more particularly spoken of:—That Christ may dwell in your hearts by fuith Christ is the Head of the Church, and the prayer implies not only that Christ may rule as such, but that He may also reign in His people's hearts; may come to dwell tn their hearts as a home; be the mover of all their emo- tious, the spring of all thelr desires. ‘The wo “That ye might be filled with all the fuk ness of » tradscend our comprehensions, We only know that the promise {s that our largest capaci- ties will he filled to completion, Even were our do- sires to grow to that yearning that consumes the soul they will be more than satistied, In conclusion Dr. Riiey called his peoplo to witness that he had always spoken to them of theso things in days gono by; that he had known no knowledge among them but that of Christ; that they might believe the words he knew to be true, that he knew to be enough and more than enough to fill every desire of tho heart; that he had proclaimed again and again in their pres- ence that Jesus was the Saviour—that galvation through Him was our only hope. S81. STEPHEN’S CHURCH. THE DIVINE MATERNITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY—SERMON BY KEV, DR. M'GLYNN. Yestorday being tho Feast of tho Divine Maternity, a large congregation assembled at the last massin St Stephen’s to do honor to the mother of Christ, The music was of the high order usually heard at St. Stephen’s and seemed to excito and increase the devotional fervor of the congregation. Immediately after the first gospel the Roy, Dr. McGlynn ascended the purpit and delivered a sermon of much power on the philosophy of devotion to the Virgin Mary. Ho founded his arguments on the gospol of the festival— Luke xi, 42-52, and said:— ‘THE SERMON. The Church invites us to-day to do honor to the great prerogatives of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is tho teaching of the Christian fathers, as well as of the Church, that Mary is truly, and is to be called, the mother of God, This is buta sequence of the cardinal doctrine of Christianity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, Mary is the mother of God, If she ts not, her gon ig not God, and our belicf in Christianity isa delusion, This doctrino ts coeval with the Christian religion, In the early part of the fifth century a bishop of the Church, carried away by intol- jectual pride, asserted that there were two persons in Christ, and the laity, so firmly grounded were they in the faith that the son of Mary was God, branded him as @ heretic, When, in the Church of St, Sophia, Constantinople, a bishop had the audacity to question the divine maternity, the peoplo rushed from the sacred building, horror-stricken at his impiety. St Celestine L, the then shepherd of Christ's flock, anathematized the error, and in the third General Council Nestorius was condemned, and the Catholic doctrine that Christ is God authoritatively defined. As @ corollary to that doctrine the same Council declared Mary to be the mother of God, Christ is God. Mary is the mother of Christ, There fore, Mary is the mother of God. Those who refuse to acknowledge the divine maternity sin against logic and against the fundamental article of the Christian faith. Tne early fathers loved to contemplate the analogy be- tween the new Eve, Mary, andthe old Eve, by whose fall oe and its countless train of evils entered ino the worl St Panl speaks of Christ as the new Adam, and the fathers of the Church teach that in the supernatural order Mary discharges the same office ae Eve in the natural An angel of darkness salutes Eve in tho gar- denof Eden and she falis into his snarea. In the fulness of time, when Christ was to be born, the wonderful Virgin, 'to wnom the pagan poet Virgil alludes in his fourth eclogue—the stem that was “to bring forth the flower of Isracl’’—was saluted by the Auge! Gabriel in the beautiful words, “Hail! fall of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among Women.” And God's messenger tells hor why she 1s blessed—‘Beboid thou shalt concetve in hyd womb and shalt bring forth a gon, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.” Atthe flat of Mary, ‘Behold the handmatd of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word,” were ful- filled the words of St. John, “The word was made flesh and dwelt among ua” Scarcely had this wondrous miracle been wrought in Mary’s womb when she charitably went to visit her cousin, St Elizabeth, and the mother of Christ’s precursor eried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Whence ts this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to mo?” St Elizabeth pro- tests that Mary, the mother of her Lord, did her too much honor in coming to visit her. In this day's gospe! we read, “Ho went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them” How pregnant with meaning this short history of many years in the life of our Lord! He was subject to Mary and Joseph. Tho eternal Son of the eternal God sub- ject to His mother and foster father. He honored and obeyed Mary. How, then, can we be indifferent to this woman, whom Christ has honored, revered and obeyed? ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH, HOBOKEN. CENTENARY OF THE DEATH OF ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS—SERMON BY DR. FREEL. The centennial of the death of St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Order of Passionists, was celebrated yesterday morning with appropriate ceremonies in the chapel of the monastery of that Order, called the Church of St. Michacl, in West Hoboken. A solemn high mass was sung at eleven o'clock, tho celebrant being the Very Rev. Father Thomas, Provincial of the Order; deacon, Rev. F. Vitalian; subdeacon, Father Anthony, and master of ceremonies, Father Paul. Tho music was of tho highest order, The mass performed was Dachauer’s No.2, The organ was accompanied by an orchestra and a full chorus of singers The choir was under the charge of Mr. L De Grandval. David BR, Harrison, the oldest organist in New York State, lent his services for tho occasion, and Mr. Eben led the orchestra. The singers wore from St. Mary’s church, Hoboken, and several New York choirs, At the offertory, Bristow’s “© Salutaris” was sung by Miss K. Savage, The altar was beautifully decorated and lighted with over 200 wax tapers, The church is largor than any in New York city. It presents a striking contrast to our cramped up city churches, and remind one of the old European cathedrals. The interior, however, is not gloomy, the walls being painted in bright colors to and well executed paintings adorn the walls at short intervals, There wero fally 1,000 worshippers present at the services, but the church was not at all crowded, ag it affords seats for at least 1,200 persons. ‘THE SERMON. ‘After the reading of tho gospel, Dr. Freel, of St Charles Borromeo’s church, Brooklyn, ascended the ulpit and delivered a sermon on ‘The Cross of Christ." is toxt was from St Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, vs 14—"God forbid that I should glory but in the cross of our Lora Jesus Christ, by whom the world is cracified to me and I to the work It i indeed a cheerful and honorable privilege for me, said the preacher, to rejoice here to-day with you all, celebrating the centennial festival of the glorious St Paul of the Cross, This spactous, splendid, magnificent temple, erected by the disciples of St. Paul of the Cross, Is indeed tn itself a most eloquent sermon in stone anda most splendid panseyric of the ijilus- trious founder of the sionist Order, Wo sre fulfilling tho command of tho Holy Spirit, Laudate Dominum in sanctus ejus, “Praise the Lord {n His saints,” for God t8 wonderful in His saints, Over one hundred years ago it pleased the Lage hf wo raise up an extraordinary apostle, a great model of the saint whose name he St Paul of the Cross. For fifty years and more St. Paul of the Cross preached the cross by example and by word to a world growing weak fn faith and cold in charity, and he has continued to preach during the last hundred years through the faithful members of the glorious Order he has founded. In this noblo band the great founder twelve apostles there was a Paul, A VESSHL OF ELECTION, in every succeeding age the Almighty gives to this wisdom and the power of Hisall-saving and all-powerful cross. Espgeially to-day let us flor in the cross. Ib was under this banner that St, gained tho victory over the fallen angels, It was from he cross that Christ reigned and as He said, bein, lifted up He drew all nations to Him. The whole eart tremblod with an earthquake, so that it caused the philosophers at Athens to say that either the whole earth was about to be destroyed or the God of nature was dying. The successors of St Peter were likewise destined to conquer the world by the cross, Our present Pope, Pius IX., described ty @ prophet hun- dreds of years ago as crux de cruce (cross of tho cross), ceremonies of the Chu: thoughts _be- J represent various kinds of variegated marble, Statues | himself lives again and speaks and labors, showing | forth the wonders of God in His saints. As among the 80 holy Catholic Church vessels of election to preach the | ichael and his angels | most appropriately canonized St. Paul of the Cross about eight years ago, In the presence of more than 600 bishops, 2,500 priests and 100,000 persons. The sign of the Cross is asod in all the sacraments and crons On that may St of the (ony near the lesa Boats blessed of my Father und possess the for you from all eternity,” CHURCH DEDICATION. DEDICATION OP ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, AVENUB, BROOKLYN—SERMON OF LOUGHLIN, Yesterday forenoon the thirty-seventh Catholi church of the city of Brooklyn, St, Michael's, was { mally dedicated to the services of Almighty God. i building, which is situated on Fourth avenue, betwi Forty-third and Forty-fourth streets, Gowanus, wad commenced last spring, It stands on a firm rockd foundation and is of brick and wood construction. Thq dimensions are forty-five by eighty feet. The dedi tory services, which were of the usual impressive der prescribed by the Roman Catholic ritual, were co1 ducted by the Bishop of the diocese of Brookl; Right Rev. John Loughlin, A solemn high mass was» offered, the pastor, Rey. Dr, Joseph O'Connell offleli ing as celebrant, Rev, William Keegan, of the Church tho Assumption, as deacon; Rey, Father Creighton, Our Lady of Victory, as sub-deacon, and Rev. Father Dutly, ‘of St. Charles orromeo’s, as master of cer monies, After the Gospel Bishop Loughlin preach @ short sermon on faith, taking his text from 5t Matthow, THE SERMON. He said that withont faith it was impossible for us de saved. Faith must ever manifest itself by works it Is sincere and earnest. In no other form could it acceptable to God. bd faith we are enabled to see will the eyes of the soul all that is beautiful and glorious / life, all that bespenks for us the happiness of etern: reward in the Kingdom of God. Faith is indestructibi and God has Himself promised that the gates hell shall not prevail agamst His Church. How great, then, Is the blessing which the Catholic enjoys i Ddeing born in that raith which He has established. Bus itis notalone im believing that the work of salvation can be rang No, we are responsible to God for our every thought, word and act, and we must render to Him an aecount therefor, lence upon the Catholia, rests the responsibility of setting a good example to hi fellow man in all that pertains to trath, purity an honesty. By their works shall they be’ known, Hi complimented the Catholics of the parish of St Michael's church upon the proof which they had give: of their carnesiness and intention to honor and serve God, by erocting the new edifice which had just bee dedicaied to our Divine Lord and Master, The Bishop urged them to continue in the the fuith, to bring up their children in the way f whieh they should walk, to set them the example of good Christian life by regularly approaching the t nal of confession and the sacrament of the ouch: The papal benediction was given at the mass and congregation dispersed. APTERNOON SERVICES, In the afternoon, between four and five o’clock, thy convention of Irish civic societics of Kings county. the St Patrick’s Mutual Alliance, Hibernians an Father Mathew Total Abstinence Societ; ciations—paraded in a body and visited little church, each member coniributing his mite ward the edifice, The cost of the building and grount will be about $15,000, The church owns about on quarter of the block. The parish, which is sparsely settled, relieves about 800 people from the tedious jo noy which had heretofore to be encountered by thon ta order to attend mass at St. John’s church, Gowanus The parish extends from Twenty-eighth strect to Ovings ton avenue, which latter is just outside the Brookiym city line, YOUNG MEN'S R. ©. ASSOCIATION. ‘The National Union of Young Men’s Catholic Associag tions, of which Vicar General Doane, of Newark, is Pres dent, and Mr. M, J, Drummond, of New York, Becretanyg has issued a circular to the several associations and lites rary socictios of the United States urging them to pul themselves in affiliation with the National Union, so thad theobjects of tho Union, as declared in its constitution, may be attaincd—namely, the advancement, intellect ally and morally, of the Catholic young men of Amer< ica, by establishing a fraternal feeling among the asso clations already existing and by founding new societiom, ‘Tho National Union was organized in February of ‘ig ear, and already twenty-two societies and association ae affiliated with it They represent New sae Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Patterson, N. J.; Newark, No J.; Rochester, Troy, Buffalo, N.'Y.; New Brunswick) and Trenton, 'N. J.,’and other places. ‘fhe circulat calls attention to the wonderful growth of the Catholid Charch in this country, which has been due, say thd officers of tho union, in a great measure to the large emigration from the Old World. In the nature of things this emigration mustsoon assure smaller pros portions, The continued advancement of the cori then must depend upon her children here. Piaced, they are, under free institutions, unhampered to a great extent by the whims and fancies of despotic isto r ractice 1 i he asst uh the future of the Church in this land, they say, is fu!) hope and promise. But how can that future be thet save through intelligent and organized effort? The are many prejudices to be removed from the minds those who are not of their faith, and many errors to bq dissipated. Every new society on a Catholic basis is one step in doing this, as attention to od precepts of their religion will make them go citizens of the State as well as good Christians The appeal fs then to the young men to push forward the grand work of union; and to Catholic young men thera can be no appeal so strong as that which has the prog ress of the Church at heart, A Nationa: Conventiont will be held in Philadelphia on July 1, 1876, and it u hoped that this Convention will be memorable in th annals of tho National Union, and that while they cele~ brate the Centennial of the Declaration of ihe work of bo f will also make marked progress in the work o! Catholic unity, Their aid and co-operation Is asked i spreading the union so that {t may be worthy of thet Catholic young men of America, It is their union, aud ou them its progress dependa, THE BIBLE DENOUNCED, The little town of Union Hill, N. J., ts agitated overm discussion, which took place at the meeting of the Board of Education on Friday night, in reference to the road ing of the Bible im the common schools of that towns ship. Mr. Fritz A. Meyor, the President of the Munict+ pal Council, who is a member of tho Board of Educa- tion, rose from his seat and offered the following pre~ amble and resolution: — Whereas the constitution of the United States doem not recognize any particular form of religions worshi, granting to each citizen the right to follow his own opin. ions as far as religion 1s concerned; and ‘Whereas the teachings of the Bible are, wholly or im Perk, rejected by a groat many ofour citizens; and ereas much valuable time is wasted by readin Portions of the Bible during school hours; therefore i ‘ it Resolved, That the customary reading of the Bib! at the beginning of the school be and the same ig hereby abolished. Several members wore excitedly opposed to the reso. lutions, Mr. Meyer urged that the consciences of the Hebrews, the Catholics and the non-religiomsts should not be iusulted by further uso of a book against which they entertain strong convictions, He charge: that there were lowd passages in the Bible, and that the Koran, the Talmad and other books were supe- rior to it The discussion was postponed until the next mecting. , UNION PRAYER MEETINGS, The first of aseres of union prayer meotings wil) occur this evening, at Dr. James M. Ludlow’s churchy ‘at the corner of Fifth avenue and Forty-eignth street. The Rev. Dr, John Hall will conduct the services, and in opening them will deliver a brief address {nstructing his Rearers upon the power and proper object of prayer, Afterward short prayers will be said by other clergy, men and by members of the congregation, and the singing of appropriate hymns will be indulged in. Sim- Jar meetings will be held every evening, except Wedy nesday, until further notice, TALMAGE’S LAY COLLEGE. ‘The collegiate institution which is connected with the Brooklyn Tabernacle, of which the Rev. T. Do Witt ‘Talmage is the pastor, will be opened for the season af half-past seven o'clock to-night, The faculty of the in- stitution consists of Mr, Talmage, Professor Chapman and Drs, Lord, Twing and True, ‘Tuition in it is free and undenominational, and from 1% 800 persons hi already graduated, The Rev. Dr. Duryea will deliver tho special address at the opening, and there will ba other interesting oxercises. A MORAL MASS MEETING. A mass meeting of the members of the east side churches and temperance societies is to be held tow morrow night in the Church of the Sea and Land, ag the corner of Henry and Market streets. Tho Reva 1. L, Ouyler will deliver an address, and other reverem gontlemon will, speak briefly, ‘There will also be soma | Inusi¢ rend PUBLIC SCHOOL SCANDALS. ARRAIGNMENT OF A MEMBER OF THE JELSER CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, Terence J. McDonald, a member of the Board of Eda~ cation of Jersey City, who was indicted for malfeasance in office, was arraigned on Saturday in the Court of arter Sessions at Jersey City. He pieaded not brag and was admitted to bail in the sui of $2,500. r, McDonald complaing that he has been made scapegoat in the matter, as the other members of tha committee were equally culpable, yet he was the only member af the Board who was indicted. Mr. Hollins, who proferred the charges against th Board of Education, has been called upon to accept nomination for the Legislature, but he refuses to accep any public office whatever. ' He says ho 1s so thor- oughly disgusted with pubile office after his brief expe~ rience that no consideration would again induce him ta enter public life. Meanwhile the investigation pro« e888 slowly, and not only have Mr. Hoilins’ chargos Seon proved by overwhelming testimony, but revela« tions of other frauds have gradually come to light. the awarding of contracts and the appointment o' teachers the conduct of the Board has been most repy Even this building ta built Mint F9ry On Say day Of JudauMen WR Abad AML, rehensible, and but for Mr, Hollins the facts might neveg J Juave come vo ligt,