The New York Herald Newspaper, January 3, 1876, Page 6

6 — SPIRITUAL EXHORTATIONS Mow Christians Act During CARDINAL MCLOSKEY'S ADDRESS What Talma bling ge Knows About Gam- and Gamblers. NEW MEMBERS AT PLYMOUTH —————— on the Idolatry the Time. CHURCH (OF THE DISCIPLES. THE MlLLSDORNK ON TRE WAY--SEEMON BY THE REV. DR. HEPWORTH. Mr. Beecher of Yesterduy Mr. Hepworth’s church was crowded, a | fact owng probably not more to the beautiful weather thas to the unusually interesting servicea, Bestdesthe service of holy communin, celebrated om the first Sunday of every month, seven deacons and two deacon- esses wore ordained yesterday and fifteen new mem- ‘bers were added to the church. Mr. Hopworth selected Bis text from Exodus, xii, 4—‘‘And this day shall be ‘unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it @ feast to the Lord; throughout your generation ye shall keep it a feast and ordinance forever.’? The children of Israel may be said to have had two crowns which they were commanded to wear alternately—the first of onyx or the crown of fasting, and while wearing it they sat in the dust looking at their past ‘with regret and sorrow, recognizing their own little. ness and the greatness of God, Jifting up thelr haads in supplication for mercy, Tbe other may be called the crown of diamonds, the crown of flashing brightness and whiteness, the crown of joy and thanksgiving, They wore it during thor feast day, when joy filled every heart throughout the nation, when tender and triumphant songs went up to heaven from 10,000 lips, Those days of feasting and fasting were of serious im- portance and great moment. The people of Isracl, like the people of America, were $0 impulsive that they needed 4 CONSTANT REMINDER of certain facts and responsibilities, and the feast days ‘and fast days of olden time were set along the journey ‘these people trod, that when they came to one or the other they might hesitate s moment, confessing themselves to God, thatthey might receive pardon for time past and encouragement for the time tocome, And these were so froquent that they had no sooner passed one than they trod on the heels of another. Brethren, 1 think this ig the mission of our great ational and individual days of memorial; they are times when we stand stilland think for a moment Let mo ask you to hesitate with me for a moment around this milestone which God has set on our journey. Wehave twelve months behind us, God nows if we have twelve months before ua The past i@ certain, the future insecure. We have that ‘which we have; that which we hope for we may or may not have, as God wuls To-day we celebrate the season and hoki our thanksgiving In our usual places in the sanctuary; but when another twelve months ehall have tolled away its days and_ nights, who knows where you and I shall be? Perchance pursuing our avocations with earnest- ners and vigor, us now; or we may lie asleep, the busy world around us, while another tone shall bave been added to the chorus which sings around the throne of God. It maxes little difference where, if we only serve the Master. Well, we are growing older. Since last I spoke in this place on this particular theme we have ‘undergone many changes. Some would find it difficult to tell how they have got on. Still, God's band hath been merciful to us, and bere we are, one more leaf fone, the consciousness of two or three nipping frosts iu our lives, but still able to bear {ruit for many years to come, and as hopeful asin the past. Well, we can- not forget that with God there is no such thing as time The great thonght of the Scriptures is that all time is present to Him; no such thing as change to Him We are children now; anon we grow older, anon Wo become men and still again our eyes grow dim “ghd winter snows are spread over our lives’ What a ehange im us! But with God there is neither variablo- hows bor change. ie was yeyer a child; He will never ‘ow old. We live on a | while, ‘Seventy years more or less, and that is a very short time out of the great circle of eternity, and it is so precious that wo most needs divide is up into sections and call them spring, summer, avturon end winter, And so we reckon time by seconds. So valuable is the minutest atom of eternity, we prize it infinitely, and we would not lose ‘one moment of our earthly existence, We know noth- ing beyond that We cannot reach into heaven and understand how Adam’s time and the Judg- ment Day stand side vy side, And yet time Mw very variable with us The old poet was right, who said, “We live in deeds, not words; he ives the most who thinks the most” Have you ever noticed how long time is when you are waiting for Bomething to come to pase? But when we are prosper- bus and everything goes well, then how time ticks it self away! Bo, life, afer all, depends not upon the time we spend ‘on earth, but inthe way in which we pend it Eternity is bere, not there, and be begins the eternal life who begins the life of God. ‘This, then, is a mi. ype im our religion, and it seems to me we ought to ask ourseives a serious ques- tion, and the question to be asked here, and which must be answered some time, is, How far on io your journey are. you ? Is God closer to you, or is He further off? 1s tt better with you mow than ever? Ifso, thank God fori. You know what God bath done for you; you cannot forget that Calvary stands alone, shrouded in a midnightcloud The cross, ME STHBOL OF THE WORLD’s reIvETIOR, how stands it in your life? Isita Magers! to you? In the face of this question, I read the book with a thirst describaple, and | lift my voice to the unknown God 0 thank Him, wherever He is, for the oe thst ‘will not let me rest till I say, ‘I believe in the her Cd and when | follow that marvellous journey of that mar- vellons people throngh the desert ‘and to the promised Jand, and when I am told that journey type of human hfe. and that lam wandering somewhere be- tween Egypt apd Canaan; when 1 read that and belicve it to be a fact, then 1 can Bing for joy, There is something too deep for utter- fance in my heart, and on my Knees I say, “Thon art the ressurrection and the Life; and I can make these words a certainty anda fact by that book. You know when the Israulites were wandering through the desert they came across THE WATERS OF MARA, and oh, how disappointed they were! They were thirsty, and yot dared not drink; and they complained Wo Mowes, and he waid, “Take of the wood and cast it into the water, and it will be sweetened.” Oh, if we conld take of the eross and cast it into the bitter ‘waters, and drink and drink till we were satisfied! 1 ‘want you to feel that I have talked this morning in the ‘utmost simplicity, because | have talked with the ut Most solertude. | do long to be of some good to your souls Thank Gea for the work we have done and grant we tay stl) do greater work in the time to come ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. LESSONS FOR THE NEW YEAR—SEMMON BY CAR- DINAL M'CLOSKEY. The Cathedral was densely crowded yesterday. The Rev. Father Kearney was the offciating clergyman at Inst mart Carfinal McCloskey occupied bis accus} tomes piace to the left of the altar, and with bim were Rev. Father Quinn, Vicar General, and Rev, Father Farrel Rev. Father Kane and Rev, Father Dogan were also present At the termination of the first gospel Cardinal Mo- Noskey ascended the pulpit and addremed the congre- ation in eloquent sod alfecvionate terms It was moet, he said, that at the bepnming of the new year he sbould offer them bis mort cordial greeting, with the assurance of bis hopes and sincerest wiehes for the temporal and epintoal welfare of each and every one of bis people, absent or present. Scotiments such as these wero ap- propriate at any reason of (he year, Dut during these | Gays of the holy Chrwtmas festival they received a | Digher and holier sanction Christians were drawn togetber more clorely by ties of common faith m the great and prevcos mysteries then being commemorated, They ‘it themselves more closely united im the rpirit of Chrivtiam ebarity, of which these mysteries were the only true source. Christmas Day had gone, and pow, while we were stil) Handing on the threabold of the new right that we should pause # moment aud refect apes the past, and in doing so, what wae the fret thought (hat itecif? How swiftly bad the part year gone from os! Ew Year seemed to be shorter than its Predecessor, More and more swiiily we seemed to be carried down, and the end will come, bow soon foreach | er every one of us we Know not. How many of our resviutions are etitl taliiied, how many promises bright bi Diasted The Cardinal Lehrer) co the gree taohe whic had followed THROUGHOUT THE anv, the Holy Father cont tred the favor timuing st Six months longer. There was pond fhe sud tinat the faithful should take home to their hearts at this time. The mystery of the virth of the Lord, was ina certain sense the source ofall the Mysteries aud it was eerential!y and fF mystery of inunite love nod mOnite mercy to w loved mankind as ly xed bis only beloved Sou for thew and announced that eur, wae it not | retemption, Stuce God so loved as, we must love one an- other, We must ove Him with all our hearts, and our neighbors even a9 ourselves. Any one who said be loved God and bated bis neighbors the tratn was not in him. ‘The iecling of charity must Bot be narrow or coufined, bot widespread and universal. We must love cor neigubors for Christ’s sake. No matter how dtfii- cult 1} may be to draw our hearts to others, let it be borne in mind that God never demands that which it is mpossible for us to do, Man can readily and easily follow the precepts laid down by the Almighty for his | guidance and future happinese, “The Card: adverted to she harmony and love which should prevail in every how 0 the affection which parents shouid show to each other and to their children, whose fate hereafter depended to a great extent upon their proper training And We must love not only those who are loving toward ourselves, but also those who hate and calumelate us. We must return good for evil We mort pray for those who speak 1) and injure us, and this can be accomplished by praying for the grace of God so w da He asked the congrogation to pray for the Holy Father and the afflicted Church, for a iong hfe for the Vicar of the Lord, and ‘thas @ may be given to the Church, of which he was the divinely appuinted head. In conclusion, the Cardinal exhoried the cougregation to pray for one another, to the end that they might be bronahe nearer, as the yeur tlew by, to eternal salvation. The address Was listened to with earnest attention, and at rts close med his throne, to the left of the altar, ™ Father Kearney proceeded with the } } } | arrangements were, as usual, very cred stavus Schmitz presiding at The mass selected was by Terziani, The ‘Veni ator,” ag arranged from Handel, was sung by Mmo, Ellenreich with great taste and expression. At the offertory, Mme. Bredelli sung the ‘0 Salutaris’”’ with Temarkable sweetness and power, and indeed the entire mass received a thoroughly artistic interpretation. | PLYMOUTH OHURCH. ME. BEECHER ON THE “IDOLATRY OF TIME”-— WAY CHRIST 15 NOT PHYSICALLY MANIFESTED TO Us. | The crush at Plymouth church yesterday was unusu- ally greah Twenty-nine new members were received— fourteen upon profession of their faith and fifteen by letters from other churches, Three of the new mem- bers were baptized by Mr. Beecher before the sermon, It being communion Sunday the pastor extended his usual invitation to those present, whether members of the church or not, to remain after the service and par- take of the elements, Mr, Beecher again called the attention of his flock to the fact that the annual auction sale of eittings in the chureh will be held om Tuesday pight next, at seven o'clock, and be entered inv a somewhat lengthy argu- ment to prove that that method of disposing of pews was the most democratic and liberal that could be adopted. The text of the sermon was a clause In the thirty- fourth verse of the eighth chapter of Romans:—‘dt is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us,’? Already the apostle felt, proba bly, the beginning of what might be called the idolatry of time, When the disciples ran to the sepulchre of the Saviour and beheld the angel it was said to them, “I know whoin ye seok; he is not here, be hath arisen,” and ever since the world bas needed an angel to make known the same truth, sines we are yet to day as much as ever endeavoring to realize a Christ of time, a Christ of the antiquities, a Christ in Jerusalem, 1t is true that by idemtitying Christ with an age, and with a place and with an act we may in some measure help ourselves, but the help should be to put away our thoughts trom | these material circuinstances and enable us to fashion for ourselves the conception of a Saviour of no age, no period, no race or condition; human, but above aii as a Saviour made personal to us by His earthly life, and then Iifling himself up into the immensity of an in- fnity, In a very small measure, have no doubt our thoughts of the Saviour have been aided and exalted by the works of art, but I think they have beeu far more degraded, narrowed and imprisoned. For po man canever have a fixed and accurate conception of God without having a false God. The mistakes of idol- atry were just that, and only that, MXN HAD JGNOBLE CONCEPTIONS OF GOD when they thought they could represent Him by carved wood and stove and mélten metal Any conception of the Roler of the Universe, any conception that cas be limited and so made fixed and definite ig jigelf a denial ‘of the infinite, and he who worsbips a God !n form is said to be an idolator, But we may have just as dedpite inteliectnal forms as they who make their gods out of TMatter, and the mischiot consists not im port God, but in such a fixed way of looking at God as to make Him just what He seems to us in one par hour, whereas the world itself and time are God whatever there is that is heavenly, strong, grand, or smal} and exquisitely minute, whatever in the aud fiucx of human thought and feelin whatever bas en rich, right, pobie, gener as and self-sacrifcing in ‘human’ expe. rience, are but many experiences in that vast love of God in man. He who takes such a eoncep- tion of God may have right notions, in # manper, but it is wrong in method, and it becomes iw Tact as Inmiting and minimizing tbe Almighty aud the hafoite. Wheretore all that training which makes it a matter of duty to go back when you wish to think of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, to go back to Palestine, to atteaipt to & Him as He walks across the valley of the Kedron and sits under the vines at Bethany or toward Jerusa Jem again, ts not pro Je when it becomes familiar. It is its freshness that makes it protitable and this thinking about Christ as He was 1,! years ago touds to make Him an antiquity and not a hving human being. Just so far as we can make Him distimet to our thought by the use of archwology and kindred sciences, just so far as history may bring His moral character before our eyes, they are useful, but that which makes us look along the horizon to find Christ annihilates Christ, for He is vertical, ‘“Obrist died,’ Yea, rather a better view then that, He rose and lives and impleads; and that conception ot Christ as some- thing living, interpreted to us by the letter and by the history, and then made far more fruitful by the opera- tion of our own mind working through imagination, throagh analogies and through various experiences by which we are perpetaally augmenting in ourselves (he notion of such a being as Christ the Saviour, that constant habit of fashioning over against our wants, our experiences and our exigencies, a Saviour that ex- actly mects that want, that experience, that exigency — this, it seems to ing is what the apostle wanted to give the disciples, This is THE CHRIST THAT IS PRESENTED TO US BY the Scripture and by the apostie. By wrapping Him in the cerements of the past and thinking of what He looked like, then we come to think of Christ always historically, Eighteen hundred years have gone past and they are a burial Jt 18 substantially @ burial of Christ again to think of iim 80. That is one way in which we may be robbed of Christ, and we may be robbed of Him in the other di- rection by those who lift Him too high. The one sinks Him and puts Him in a pyramid of history, as if He lay in the cerements of death yet; and the other lifts Him into Godsbip, and, for the sake of ennobling our conception of God, raises Him to metaphysical and ab- | stract heights so far above the interests of common | life that we cannot reach ap to Him, It ts wondered by many why the race should not have presented to it some stated appearance of the divine nature, why we should be left to ind our way by this dim and uncertain hgbt, that imaginauon and the reagon strive But this is the very part of a man’s nature that | from matter; this 18 the very part of a man’s nature that needs dev. lopment and cul- ture; this 1 that part ofa man’s nature which marks the separation that has been gained between the territory: of the animal and that of the spiritual, and any force that would have brought God down t meu would certainly have promoted ease, but at the expense of development In power of emotion, in power of imag- ination, in the power of lifting one’s sight up through } the whole realm of intellectual conception. And no man has ever yet enough developed the important fact that the invisibility of God and the necessity of striving tor Him by ‘THIS HIGHHER INTELLIGENCE OF THE NUMAN SOUL, like a law of re that works day and night imper- ty, has bad more power to develop the human race out of apimaiism toward spiritualism than any other single fact That which men bave mourned over ‘and wondored at has been the prime factor in the de- velopment of the human race in this world, If you | plaut a convolvulus seed and let the sun alar off ive upon it steadily, it will begin to develop and grow ard Ubat which stimulates it, and work its way up from the base dirt, out of whieh ft was born, and | twine until at last it shall open tts censer and exbale its fragrance voward the source of all its excellence. And Map drawing out of the earth has had bis soul ennobled aod bis whole growth has been, perhaps unconsciously, dat nevertheless directly, a reaching up for that which ‘was the source of live and of being. We have the unt versal force for the good of men hidden, because no | physical form could represent God, and because tt 18 | better for the individual aud for the race that they should strive to gain some access to and some famil- tarity with ap invisible and all-powerfal wisdom and | good, Thefefore Christ stands at the right hand of | God to imtercodo—the centre of the pniverse, the | source of power. “itis Christ that died; yea, rather | that is ritem again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."” FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH, A SERMON TO THE AGED BY THE REV. pr, ARMITAG. The Fifth avenne Baptistchurch was attended yes- terday morning expecially by people well advanced in years, it having been aagounced that Rey, Dr. Thomas Armitage, the pastor, would deliver an address to the | aged, At the conclusion of the usual introductory ser- | oes Dr, Armitage gave out bis text, taken from } Peale, tnx. ‘Cast me not off in the time of old age, forsake not when my strength faileth.”’ He ean The text contemplated a deeply interesting | period of life, “ the time of old age,” whea the sands of | Dfeare fut running oot; when it is that a man baving } | avy religious feelings in his mature begins to bethink himseif of the great hereafter and to torn to bis Bidle for consolation and support It is @ period §=owhen = thonghts , mus) wecessarly arise in the mind of the mauper in NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1876. which the past years of life have been spent; when thoughts of opportunities neglected come up in their fullest might, and the questions have to be answered, whether the services rendered during the stewardship with which we have been tntrusted have been faithfully or honestly carried out, and whether any hope may be entertained of receiving that promised reward which we are taught to believe will be ours in the spiritual world, and can we look to ha’ tsa teus when we face the great and awful throne of God, “WELL DONE, THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.” Great age renders most objects venerable and com- manding, and so It js, perhaps, that all people of ad- vanced years generally turn to look with veneration on our religion, and to feel that itis the only stai upon which they can lean with safety, We who are younger venerate “old age,” because it is an uncommon thing; it is a wonderful thing. Consider the delicate texture of the body, tts ehangeless tendency to deterioration, its interesting isolations from friends, family, faculties, and often fortune. It ts a time of fearful’ peril, and when the cry comes from the heart and up to God, “Forsske me not; cast ms not off;” can it be thatan old man may be “forsaken” and “cast off” from God? What @ terrible possibility! Think of it, friends, In your charabers, and consider whether ha fearful result ean arise in your case from an increasing and inveterate hostility to God that you have been mauifesting; from wilful delay Gf repentance, tll bodily pain, decay of the tn- tellectual powers and blindness’ of heart have sealed F ge doom. The awful ) ardy of old age can only @ averted by flying to the throne of mercy. The text is a prayer to the loving God. There is hope if you will but be diligent even in this late hour. But, in order to obtain this merey now, every secondary consideration must be laid aside, What is now done must be done quickly and with all your might, It is a great chance whether you bave another year to do the work of a life time in, “Try the expenment by throwing yourself to- day upon thy naked Word of God. Plead the prayer of the text—''Forsake me not.” Get about the work of a lifetime in a hurry, aud pray to God “Cast me not off.” At the conclusivn of the sermon a collection was taken up and the sacrament partaken of MASONIC TEMPLE. MONCURE D, CONWAY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT, The Masonic Temple, corner of Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street, was crowded yesterday morning by persons desirous of hearing Moncure D. Conway on “The New Testament,” He began by describing lis first impressions when visiting the great library at St Potersburg. He said that the walls were built up with books and volumes of ancient and modern lore, guarded by the national officers, but not so closely as to forbid strangers access to therm, All were [ree to the student, but that which Mr. Conway sought and desired mach to see Was cased over and watched with the most jealous caro, It was that old manuscript of the New Testament which had been discovered by Tis, chendorf in his search after the best and truest text of the New Testament 1t had been found ina convent on Mount Sinai, and as it appeared beneath its glass covering in the custody of the Empire's officials it was yeilow with ago, and altogether suggestive of the great esteem in which the scholars of to-day, as well as Tischendorf, beld it, An Empire stood guard over it, and there was something pleasant withal inthis, as Mlustrative of the eagerness of the world to arrive at the truth touching the bistory of Christ and His teach- ings. Here the preacher entered into an elaborate de- scription of St. Catherine’s Convent and the supersti- tions which invested her memory with the monumental house where this old manuscript was discovered in the Holy Land. ‘Superstition,’ said Mr. Conway, “4s the howage paid by ignorance to truth.” Lingering on the thought bere begotten the speaker speculated ou the ries of events that must have led to the ealment of the cherished manuscript in the build- ing erected on the site of what is vulgarly believed to have been that of St, Catharine's ascension to beaven, War, strife and religious turmoil undoubtedly must have made some devout soul possessed of the documen- tal history of Christ's career oo earth conceal it there for preservation. _ Its discovery was a glorious reward for Tischendorf in his attempt io purify the text of the Scriptures. The New Testament had no such intrinsic value in itself as that which bas warranted its transla- tion into 160 different languages and its distribution at *o many millions cost. Had the Moors been successtul in their efforts to establish themselves in Spain Mr. Couway bad no doubt that the Koran would huve now been in every American household instead of the Bible Here he explained his reasoi for this as- eertion, and jJeaving this thought the speaker touched upon the present. freedom in else actually other than religion where, although coer- clon no longer existed, as even freedom in this regard ad beep obtained for us by our forefathers, 1y regard to in®estigation an: ploratfon thé Inclination yet remained to fasten our beliefs and faiths upon aspira- tious and pious frauds of Mitty generations, Then fol jowed Mr. Conway's treatment of the character and acenracy of the present versions of the New ‘Testa ment He condemned In round terms the corruption in translation of this part of the Scripture by the priesthood wheu as aciass, in the Dark. Middle and earlier ages, it monopolized books and learning, Here, two, he declired that changes were made iu thd adapta- on of the ideas intended to be couveyed by the original writers of the New Testament to suit the pur- poses of the priests and to secure to them influences ever meant by the authors, llustrative of these corruptions he related how on one occasion not so ery remote a clergyman travelling in a railway car in England with a countryman got inio controversy with the latter about the Trinity, and supporting its doctrine quoted to the rustic tuat text from Johu relative to the three heavenly witnesses, Said the countryman to bim, “Didn't you kuow, ir, the text yoo bave just mentioned is spurious ?”’ es,’ replied the clergyman, ‘but I didn’t know that you did.’ This, sald Mr. Conway, is the sort of spirit which actuated the translators of the New Testament in all former ages, Translations were made by ancient bishops on, uced theories relative to Christ, such asthe Incathation and Deity, which were only imported, 80 to speak, to gain the popular bear The speaker remarked that the idea of the incarnation had a peculiar bold upon the world of that day, from the traditions concerning Zoroaster and others, who bad been accredited with superbuman ilove for mankind by being invested with a previous godlike ex- Isience which they had left to come down w man’s level to save him. Then the speaker andertook to state his reasons for believing that Christ, instead of having been a poor and, soctally speaking, an illiterate man, was in reality one of the upper classes, whose parents were able to bring Him a long journey to Jerusaium and give Him such an education as rendered Him fit to be chosen by the elders in the Temple to illustrate the Scriptures as they then existed to the assemblage. That Christ hould have lost afterward His property, station and standing was only what might have been ex; “i It was the fate of nearly all revolutionista, All related in the New Testament of to-day, to the nity and iuearnation of Christ—Mr. Jonway attributed rather to theological dexteri than t© acci- dent, And in this connection he spoke of the con- clave of revisers at Westminster Abbey wondering how they could have overlooked such a mau as Dr. David- son, one ot the best Hebrew scholars, in their pro- nounced desire Lo revise the Scriptures or New Testa- ment. The immense advantage of having an expert scholar in this work Mr. Conway commented upon, saying that such a one would do more toward settling for ever most points than ail the books of controversy printed. The speaker's address was" full of pointed sarcasins Against Saperstitious belief in miracies, and he said that the apostle Paul realiy was the ‘only writer who was anything lke contemporary to Christ that had not even mentioned the rumors of thi having been worked. Mr. Conway's estum Christ’ was that He was a superb soul who was the direct foe of the dogmas and superstitions of priest- cralt—ay, even those of t riesteralt of to-day. ALLEN STREET METHODIST CHURCH. REV. CHARLES K. HARRIS’ SEEMON SALUTATORY to 1876. The Allen street Methodist church, between Delancey and Rivington streets, was crowded to repletion last evening notwithstanding the threatening aspect of the weather, The pastor, Rev. Charies K. Harris, preached “salatatory to 1876. The text was taken from Pro- verbs, xxvii, 1—'Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."’ Mr. Harris said:—This text contains in one preg- nant sentence all the substance that makes ap the sum of a man’s life in its ignorance, its feebleness, ite de- pendence, and its uncertainty, What a mediey of events lie within the !mpenetrable vaults of this year, the intricate recesses of future history, to be only re- vealed when passed! 1876, the monarch of all our des- tintes, whether they be tarones or principalities, events or men. Upon the platform of his days @ world's ac, tions are to be marshalled. Great and small, good and bad, tragedy and melodrama, pantomime and comedy, all will have their hours aed then vanish, but not die with December's expiring breath Yet bow ignorant are we of what shall be the deeds and tnings that shall make up these solemn histortes of each of us; for this young heir of Tyme, like his sires, has but a brief existence, aud sees no same minute, hour, day or season twice; yet 18 he se- cretive as sea-girt caverns. Nor wizard, nor witch, nor fortane-telling gypsy can woo him toadisclosure, Nor wondrous wana of charm, nor mysterious enchantment of the black art, can enforce his obedience. You may ask Time, ‘What ot you this year!” But there will be no response, You have aiready asked him the ques- tion, “What will befalt you this year? To be sick or well? To be married or single’ To be bereaved or blessed with other thi cluded tm life's uncertain category down to tts last item, death?’ With tho solemnity and uncertainty and ignorance of the year upoa which we have entered does it not SOCND LIKE 4 GUOST'S 1.ACGIt to wish each otuer a ‘Happy New Yoar?"’ With relig- ‘on who cares for to-morrow? It cannot burt us, though it should usher in the Day of Judgment. Men, be religious, and you will be sure to have a bappy bew year, for happiness consists not in the minis- tration of the world to you, but in the minisery of God in you. Yesterday ladies were decked in silks from the Orientals aud jewels from the bowels of the earth. Dainties from foreign lands and home graced the tables, All these “4 have been seep in many hor while the hearts within may have been bursting with unhappiness, whereas homespun, linsey-woolsey and calico gowns may have covered MANY A NEARY THRILLING WITH JOY. ‘The most iavish treasure and adulation cannot give happiness to art unhappy. The reception rooms may bave been draped and ornamented with the up- holstery of fashion ; dress, refinement, culture, with all else that could mi Ddeauty more beautiful; calls on calls may bave rung through the houses with melody and gratulation as Happy New Year sparkled from lips and eyes; but, if the heart be not happy, m vain the Diessing, in vain the show, The heart is so encased with the sanctuary of its being that its hap- piness or misery are not made by that which ts material and external, It lives in the paradise or the prison of its own fabricating, vor suffers aught else to come within its sacred chambers, In wishing you, then, a happy new year, | do but wish for you anew hear, Yours may uot be fortuue’s smiles, Simmloosing, and cheering your pathway; but with new heart the year must be happy, for po earth clouds can gloom 4 soul on whom the rays of the Divine smile play. With such @ heart you will havea happy year indeed. In your religious experience and God’s ap- proval of you, im your Church fellowship with ea other, in your homes, in the gifts and graces which ip- finite Jove will 80 freely bestow on you, and in the cherub chiudren faces that you will bless—the olive plants that make sweet and beautiful the garden of the mothers’ and fathers’ hearts. Then when the fina) hoar shall come which wiil beat once our great sorrow and our greater hope, you will close your eyes on life’s brief years to_be in the epirit realm with “Happy New Year” that shall be infinite, felicitous, rapturous and eternal. CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH. YIGHT ROME, BUT DON'T ABUSE THE CARDINAL OB POPE—SERMON BY REV. DR, ROBERT 8. MACARTHUR. Yesterday, atthe usual Sunday morning service in the Calvary Baptist church, im West Twenty-third street, the Rev. Dr. Robert S. Macarthur preachod, tak- ing bis text from Isaiah, xxi, U1, 12—“Watcbman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night” The rev. erend gentieman said that the past year had been one of great commercial depression 14 opened with many gloomy fears; it closed with many gloemy facte, Men’s hearts are failing them with fear. Life is much more earnest and real than it wasa few years ago. The care of providing for a family marvellously sobers a young man. Expenses have been reduced, but factories are closed, and thonsands of laborers bave deen discharged Poverty is in many ahome, To many & man of busivess, to many a laboring man, to many a poor widow, to many a motherless girl, tho nighi is dark and cold, and,the hope ef dawn has well nigh died out of the heart Close the grog shops, and pauperism, crime ana thousand kindred evils would die out We shail have national bankraptcy if we continue as uowise as we have been in the past Our commercial embarrass- ments have been caused, in part, by our extravagance. Pay day has come, and we have now to settle up. Our lives, like our currency, have been inflated. Let us not despair, however. Jesus is King. Right is righ God is God and troth shall triamph =I th titel world light and darkness have coromingled. have had great upheavals and reforms and remors of reforms; but not much reformation has taken place The watchman in the pight bad taken oagniseses of the state of religious thougnt and action, epression in business had interfered with the missionary work. Retrenchment bas begun even with Christian business men im a reduction of their contributions to the cause of Christ Dr. MacArthur hoped that every Baptist, man, woman and child, weuld give at least $1 to the work of higher education among the Baptist ple. The past year bad wit nessed great boldness and aggressions on the part of the man Church. The Pope had created a Cardinal, with the rank of a prince, in our republican country. ‘Rome has endeavored to destroy our public school system. Protestantism is aroused Rome ts watched. Wherever she has shown her hand she has been beaten. Let the clear issue be raisea between Catholicism and Protestantism to-day in our country, and we can outvote Rome twenty to one, The Method- ist or Baptist denominations, not to speak of the other great religious bodies, united, could out- vote Rome Nevertheless, we must be vigilant, “wise as serpents, harmless as doves.’ We shall not win by abusing the Cardinal and tho Pope, bat by out- doing the Church of Rome in works of faith and love. We mast meet her on every field, and be more than her- match in argument, in politics, and, above all, in charity, The reverend gentleman paid a handsome tribute to the Heratp for its devotion to religion in reporting sermons and religious matters. After the regular service about 300 persons in the congregation partook of the Baptist communion of bread and wing FIFTH BAPTIST CHURCH, BROOKLYN. REV. D, P, M'LAURIN, OF CANADA, ON “TEE LIFE AND LABORS OF PETER AS A DISCIPLE OF THE DIVINE MASTER.” Rev. D. P. McLaurin, of Canada, yesterday occupied the pulpit of the Fifth Baptist church, in Hooper street, Brooklyn, His discourse was on the “Life and Labors of Peter as a Disciple of the Divine Master,” He chose for his text the words found in John, xviu., 26—Did not I see thee with him in the garden ¢”” He traced the peculiar phases in the character of Peter, who was a man goyerned by strong impulses, affectionate and fearless, but one whose want of con- sideration often led him into serious difficulties If be exposed a fallacy he fearlessly disrobed it of tts phan- tom habiliments and mercilessly held it up to the rid- culo and contumely of the world. He was always first to act and first to speak; he was impulsive, and when the Lord asked the disciples what the Erne thonght of Him he was the first to speak. je sees Christ walking on the billowy Tiberias, and at once exclaims, “Lord, If it be thou, bid me come unto thee,” Jesus bade him do so. He starts, he begins to sink, his strong faith leaves him; im the next breath he cries ont, “Lord, save me, or I perish.” The minister ctau that no change had taken piace in Jesus; none in the storm; none in the ship, nor in bis fellow dismiples The change was all in changeable Peter, who, with all his mistakes and impetuosity, seemed to be a favorite with the Master. Alter briefly reviewing some of the more prominent instances in which Peter displayed his jeading ‘traits of character in his relations to the Saviour, Mr. McLaurin, spoke of the courage and strength of Peter when in the garden with the Lord he boldiy declared, ‘Though all men shall be offended be- cause of thee, yet shal! | never be offended ;”’ and yet he had not added, “God helping we.”’ Peter's error in this particular, the minister showed, was a common one the present day, when we all say, “I will do that “1 will do this,” &¢., with- out any reservation of “God's heiping me.) Peer was bravest when nearest the Saviour, and when in His company he had no thought of denying Christ. It was tn the company of His enemies that he suid, “I know not the mao.” Soitis with every Christian. When in the fellowship of Christ, living alife of prayer and ood deeds, we are proof against the darts of the Wicked One. Our armor in bright only when BURNISHED PRAYER AND DEEDS OF LOVE. Tf on our shields Christ’s tmage can be seen the orig- inal is not afar off, The minister stated that this tall showed how far It is possible for a Christian tesin and still retain the love and compassion of God. It also teaches us that the Christian's lile is a walk upon the slippery bilside. BROOKLYN TABERNACLE. REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE'S SERMON AGAINST GAMBLING AS A PUBLIC INIQUITY. At the Brooklyn Tabernacle yesterday morning Rev. T. De Witt Talmage continued bis subject, “Public Tniquities,” selecting his text from Isavah, v., 18— “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope.” The particular phase of popular sin condemned was gambling, a folly or crime so prevalent to-day. Its ad- vance and evil results were skilfully depicted by Dr. Tulmage, who said that there was about 3,500 profes- sional gamblers in this cluster of cities. Out of the 800 gaming establishments how many do you suppose are honest? There are first class gam- bling establishments, Just step =a _—sidittle way outot Broadway; you go up the marble stairs; you ring the bell; the hiveried servant introduces you. The walls are lavender tinted; the mantels are Ver- mont marble There is the rouletie table, a fine and costly plece of furniture, There is the banqueting room, where tree of charge you may sumptaous viands, wines and ci Then you come to the second class gambling estal ment, to which you are intro- cod by some “roper in.” Having entered, cards, loaded with quicksilver, poor drinks, will soon you to get rid of ail your money. You wantea to see, yousaw, Then there is ‘THE POLICY snor to bers Ny bet on numbers, Betting on twe num- bers is called ‘a saddie;" betting on three numbers is called a %gig;"’ on four numbers it is called a “horse,” and there are (hoesands of our young men leaping into that “saddle,” thas “gig,”’ and mounting that “horse” vo ride to perdition, always one kind of sign at the doors, “Rxchange,”’ a most title for the door, there wm that room aman exchanges health, peace and heaven tor loss of health, loss of home, joss of family and soul. There is ina great many men & disposition to hazard. There are others who go into this sin through sheer desire for gain. Tite professional gambler never drinks enough to upset his judgment When o young mam makes up bis min to live beyond his income Satan bas bought him outand out, and it is only a jnestion of time when the goods are to be delivered. r aman makes $1,000 and ged $1,200 ali the barpies of darkness cry out, ‘ Men de- frauded tn gaming establishments at fools enough to tell of 1b Once in a while, ho , there is an exposure, as when in Boston the police swooped down Upon a gaming establishment and fou im it the rep- resentatives of all classes of citizens, from the first merchants on #iate street to the low A) ‘treet gambler. One of the main pipes leading to sewer of iniquity is the excitement of business life. Is it not gambling @ significant fact that nearly all the da of York are in proximity to Wail street? Men go into the excitement of stock gambling and from plunge into the gambling houses, justas when men are intoxicated they go into the liquor saloon and get more drink. The howling, it jamping, Bedlamitish crew in the Cy into the gamiog houses After farther allusion to gambling and its causes up and down town bere and in Brooklyn Mr. Talmage said that our difficulties in this country wil never be cor: rected until the producers hold a larger proportion to just to keep up their frenzy. Mr. Talmage said that pext Sunday he would preach to Brooklyn c ty oflicias, THE MESSAGE IN MADRID. Spanish Press Comments on the Ameri- can Executive Utterance. WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN CUBA Are the Other Nations Likely to Precipitate Intervention ? German Imperialist Ideas of a Colony in the Western Hemisphere. Mapmo, Dec. 10, 1875. The main features of the reception of rresident Grant's message in Madrid have already been com municated to the Renatp by cable, and I had boped to be able to have forwarded yesterday the abstracts of the leading editorials in the more prominent journals | But the great national holiday of La Concepcion inter vened, The day is universally observed, and, unlike on Sunday, every branch of business is suspended, I might almost say that for one day the Spanish people did not even talk of politics’ There were no news papers issued on the 8th, and the result was that the few short paragraphs contained in the afternoon and midnight journals (for La Epeca and La Politica are issued at about ten P. M.) of the Tih fed the flames of curiosity until the 9th Many of the slower going papers waited until this morning to issue their “leader” on the subject As will be seen by a peru- sal of the extracts which follow there are decidedly two opinions in Madrid regarding the Message WMAT THRY SAY IY THR PRERS The Juparcial, the most moderate and liberal paper of Madrid, of to-day says— There is nothing in the abstract of the Message which we have received contradicting the opmion which we have long beid regarding the luture good re- lations between bot governments, and we almost dare say that a document concelved in terms so satisfactory to Spain has not been read before the United States Congress for years. We see with satisfaction the dis- claimer of any desire to recognize the deadly civil strife ip Caba as a canse for the acquisition of the island or tor favoring its independence, but on the contrary a wish to see the struggle ended What advantage would Caba be to the United States? In the first place, to possess colonies or islands apart from her domain necessitates the employment and mainteuance of a large army and navy, aud that government has always shown a distnclination to lavish great soms of money on these costly luxuries, Now, in regard to the increase of territory. Is it likely that a nation which possesses, between the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, an im- mense tract of country which is @ marvel of fertility and mineral wealth, should long for any more? Be- tween those two extremities there is an immeasurable territory, which is called the West, where 1,000 Cubas ‘e contained. A railway traverses the continent, and an express train dashing along at the rate of tity miles per hour requires six days to cross from one extremity to the other. Does the United States need any more Jand than this? What the Americans desire is that Cuba sbould prosper, thut her population should be augmented in the ratio which her fertility and area permit—in a word, that it present itself at the door of the United States market as the producer of the arti- cies which the Americans need and as a buyer who may give expansion to commerce, THE ISLAND OP CUBA has an area about equal to that of Bugland and Wales, but her fertility ig infinitely greater, England main- tains a population of 20,000,000 inhabitants, while Cuba only contains 1,500,000, With peace ‘and a good admin- istration the tecund Antilic will possess the population which it should havo, and which the United “tive for her own couvenience, certainly desires ber to have. Cuba should be the garden spotof the world But there ig a phrase in the Message which attracted our notice. The President says that be “ioresees AN INTERVENTION IN CUBA may be pines by otber nations, but only as a last resource.” We cannot possibly comprehend bow any Powers could force such an alternative upon the United States, nor would it be easy to explain how the United States’ (which denies any tnclination to interfero in our civil strifes) could permit herself to be dragged into such a quarrel by the urging on of some other Power. May it be that this vague allusion refers to the cause of fear which has beon felt for her from the threatening attitude of Ger- many toward the Antilles? The Id is not ancon- scious of the inquiries which the Berlin government bas instituted at Washingtou—or through her Wash- ington Minister—looking to the | png of acquiring colonial possessions in the Western Hemisphere. We think that the Grant government bas manifested a decided opposition to the establishment of any new European Power in America, but it is not with the island of St Thomas alone that Germany's desires terminate, and her ambition may give rise to conflict for which we should be prepared. WHAT THE SAGASTA PARTY BAY. The Iberia, the organ of the Sagasta party, treats the Meseage savagely, and begins its leader with a letter from Ferrer de Couto couched in the most “blood and thunder” language. It must be remembered that this journal blows the horn of a party and a party leader whose only road to power hes im the direction of an international broil. La Iberia says;— With one band Mr. Grant refuses sustenance to the rebellion, declaring that he longs for the restoration of peace in the great Aptiile; but with the other be stirs up the incendiary spirit of the rebels, encouraging them with chimericai hopes, aiding and affording pro- tection to the jaborantes, and saying to the filibus- ters:—''Keep on, nd by your arms; have persever- ance, for the time will come when I eball strangle ail Spanish power in the Western Hemisphere and give you victory. Ishall now have to interest in the matter otber ambitious nations 1 shall tickle otber greedy lates, and their alliance sball give me the means of reaching this desired end.” ’ 4GRI somata! Be it as it may, the arrogance of Mr. Grant excites the smile of the whole world, in the United States, in Cuba and m Spain, As bis tricks aro so well known already, as nobody ignores the fact that his scheming bas for {ts object his more than improb- able re-election, bis intemperances affect no one. We lament that this last bombastic effusion of the haughty President has not been answered by the sending to our Antilles of our best iron-clad friguies, We also recall with pleasure the haughty dignity which caused the sudden departure of the famous Mr. Sickles from Madrid, who eo faith(ully represented Mr. Granv’s ideas at the Spanish capital, SLIGHTLY SERIOUS. El Diario Espanol says:— The question as presented in the Message has a gra’ enough character, for, although the President a mits that be has no pretext for interfering im the Cuban struggle, there is tn his words @ clearly apparent men- ace of entirely changing his attitude ata time which he does not fix, but which he indicates to be not far “remote” We do not agree with the conclusions of El Imparcial-regarding the mildnoss of the Message, and we jail to find the benignant feelings toward Spain 2 ARROGANT TONE in which the President speaks, Would to God that our contemporary were right; but the constant aid and sym- pathy which the filiousters receive from the United ‘States gives the lie to ail the President’s words Nor eve that the United States will annex the pal the power from Spain. 1% is the selfish policy which was recom- mended by Monroe th: uses the hag’ corp with the insurgents—America Ng Americans. a cee of polities, pregnant with hatred against nropens ; beryl aha oy policy which forgets that the New World owes its culture and prosperity to the Vid. THERE 18 NO PRAR OP GERMANY. i The only enemy which thirsts for Cuba is the United tates, La Epoca says ;— These words were uttered before Congress—a body Which understands 1ittie of the complications of Span ish politics, * * * Ali that we have predicted re. garding the final action of the United States in regard to Cuba has come to pass, From the most threatening and warlike preparations the American Republic now ts toa body of armed “bushwhackers.'’ hopeful that these opinions may continue, jor America’ eas in a warshe would have more to lose than we. La Bpoca then closes by giving a detailed account of the present state of the war in Cuba The Politica, a very tair journai, says :— Mr. Grant's terms regardi the insurrection are substantially the same as announced a year ago, The Spanish government should not forget the great neces- sity Of giving a new tnpulse to the winter camj m Cube, 80 that when the promised supplementary Mes- sage comes it shail have te confess what the Cuban » surrection has died, swaddled in its own shame, The Patria, royalist to the heart, says:— Such isthe extract of the raph which Mr. Grant's Message contains in regard to Cuba, and in which is im- plied a threat similar to those tbat on other occasions we have read in documents of the same Character pre- sented to the Congress of the United States. There- fore we are not much troubled on account of the atti- tude the President of that Republic has newly adopted, and which he probably will fy. he knows ex- actly the spirit that animaves the Bur Powers in relerence to the affairs of Spain So opened on those on Cuba If the North Americans ot ascandalous manner the cause of the fill re, Mr. Grant would have no need of lamenting that the Cuban war is potended. This is ‘ THR TRUE CAUSE OF THE DAMAGE of the North American commerce, of which Mr. Grant also complains, ly with very litte reason, because that very commerce has maintained the hopes Hiibusters and pleased the hearts of the North will support her exacting pretensions. [1 ment whe United States does not want to recognize the govern- p< sae rights, aad insists om her nop-extin m chnations toward Coba, and if Mr. Grant's desire for the restoration of peace is not reals; and he should present that ‘new comrmunteation” to during {ts present session—which seems to have aks shecncter of a threat—then our government, advised by the att tude of our country, will know HOW TO RMPEL with energy any kind of imposition that the States may Wish to exercise over our own affairs, They ought to say nothing more for to-day on the document of the President of the United States, CAMERON AT LOANDA. THE GALLANT AFRICAN EXPLORER ARRIVED O% THE WEST (OAST—HIS TRAVEL FROM UJIZ2 iy 1874—Go0D SERVICE IN THR CAUSE OF SCIENCE—STANLEY'S MISSION AND WORK. (From the London Telegraph, Dec. 17.) Intelligence bas been received which announces the gafoty of one of the most gallant among African explorers; for lieutenant Cameron, who bad neve: beeg seen nor hesrd of sincehe quitted Ujiji in May, 1874, is now roported to have arrived at Loanda, on the west coast of the continent, with fifty-seven fol- lowers, “ull the party being well, and their arduous andertaking having been successful.’ Every geogra- pber will rejoice beyond measure at this happy reap- pearanco of tlie brave young officer, over whose fate tore bung so gloomy a cloud of doubt ever sive we lost sight of him a year fend eight mont!s ago, His family and friends w have the glad sympathy of the country at this news, so reassuring fur them, and we believe that it comes fust tn time to lighten some gentle hearts which were almost sinking with the weight of “hope de- ferred.” As lony ago as March in this year ‘Mi CLEMENTS MARKHAM read, at the meeti g of the Royal GeograpBical Society; @paper on the vteresting explorations which tho gallant officer bad made upon Lake Tanganyika; but the diaries from wiich the facts of that paper were taken were alreavy ten montbs old, and the only further informatio the accomplished ‘Secretary couid Es shred ren io the following words, Mr. Mark~ aun wald:— done mort valuable and disti: hical scieuce. ished service to grour. In my opinion, he jas proved hinseli \o be an able, a diligent aud « careful explorer, undaun: by dangers, uot to be deterred. by ‘iilness or ps and admirably adapted, by tact and news, for management of natives. J bope for your concurrence in this view. He has already rendered ood service. tle is now gallant); to achieve one of the most hazard: leu. may-swecs his friends must, 1 (ink, be the every geographer. ‘et the lapse of time without any tidings of the young trayeller vis even then very depressing, es- as hé Was Known W have suffered greatly trom. ess and ulcerated feet. THE PRESIDENT 0% THN ROYAL GROGRAPIICAL SOCIETY. observed sadly on ite same occasion :— pow ten montis since he started on his journey from ere and bourty wish of It ts Uji. and if he bas ‘ound shat the Lualabe was the Congo, , he ought by this | me to have reached the Yellala Fails At an: retore, definite intelligence of bic expected. It is satisfactory to kno 0 Office and Admiralty bi navel and consular officers on the west coast of Afric to look out for him and to endeavor te obtain news of him row the traders who came to const from the interior i! they met him were directed te give him every pos sie »svistance, and to send him with al spoed anddespatcl: | \\+ native land, ANOTHER 7) é ) USCHS MAVE SINCE Pal and neither Stan\:y uve any traveller or trader bax been able to send s any gleam of good news about the unseen explorer, wheu sudienly, as is the way with African intelligenov, this welcome message arrives and Cameron turns uj), safe, sound, and, no doubt, full of new scenes and + igtts, on the west coast, being the only Knugitshman, except Dr. Livingstone, who evet crossed the Africon continent from sea to sea, The bare fact that hy sas thus come back into cognizance upon the Atlantic suore is, indeed, enough to make it certain that he v ust have some interesting matter in. store for geogra, vers. His Intention was known te be to strike ac’ ss the country from Tanganyike to N we, tie furthest northerly point upon the Lualaba wich Livinestone reached, and thence to track th (splendid stream by bout, or along the banks, till he . scertained whether it.ran sato Alberi Niyanza toward ( ie, or else westward, to form, perhaps, the Cong). This problem was mdubttably one of the most fasciy ting and tmpertant remaining to be solved. If Lieut \ait Came: on had foand the magnifi- cent river Grst ms) pou by Livingstone running either northward or wes) yard, sach an announcement, coupled with the discovery by Stanley of the southernmost fountain of the Nc (o the west, must have rendered the present year :iemorable for ever in the annals o! geographical exploration. ‘THE LAST WORDS PRNNKD BY LIVINGSTONE about this myster ous changel which he revealed te Science ran as follows:— Nyaxows, March 31, 1871. look at the Lualaba bere, B. but still @ mighty river, at Joast 3. ways deep; it can never be waded at any point or ut time of the year; the people unhesitatingly declare that if any one tried to ford it he would assuredly be joss. Ie has wany lecge islands, and at these it is about 2.000 yards, or one . The banks are steep and deep; thre is clay and a ye jay schist in thelx strocture, The ot rivers, as the Laya and Kunda, have xravelly banks. The current is about two miles an hour away to the north. TO THR NORTH, ON ITS WAY TO FRED THE NILR, the good Doctor believed the Lualaba fivally ran; but he never felt quite certain of this, the size of this lacustrine river naturally made geog- raphers think of the mighty jume of the Zaire or Congo, which, running forth between. Loango and ee with a bed over a hun- dred and ten fathoms deep, and a _ flowing mass which makes the pattves ot the coast call It “Tho Mother of Waters,” seemed inexplicable unless fed by the lakes and rat of the Manuyema country. But, then, whence did its great branch, the River, come, and how was it that the Lualaba was last seen. ranning northward so much nearer the*Equator than is the mouth of the Congo? All that we have gleaned about this outiet of the Zaire since Tuckey’s time ts but little. Grandy and many others have at- ‘ Twent (aad fag Ke ‘ 8 narrower than it \s | G00" yards: broad. tacked the problem in vain from thé sea; all expedi- tions were soon stopped by the natives, the climate, or the yedlalas, te cataracts are called. Beyond these falls and rapids, it was reported, eed, to two, three, and even four miles, showing in places the prodigious depth we have mentioned; but whetner this vast affluemt drained the chain of lakes described by Livingstone, or dowed from a sepa- ratesource, was & point over which a hundred enthusi- astic geograpbers did battle, hariing latrtudes and lon- gitndes at each otber in a hail of altitudes aud observa- tons. Well might the problem fire the ambition of any traveller to deeds of daring, and MR. STANLEY DESIGNS to attack it as soon as he has setiled the Victoria and. Albert Niyanzas, and the great uncertainty of the Tan- ep bore outlet, conjecturally declared by Cameron to the Lakuga The first impression upon findi: Lieutenant arrived at Loanda would naturally have been that he had followed the Lualaba into the 0, and thus solved tne great problem. But thisis unfor- tuna not the case. His telegram to the President of of the Royal Geographical Society runs thus:— Loaxpa, Monday, Nov. 22. Tarned up all tafe: forced by adverse. circirinstances to Abandon core cee but have followed water beds between. ‘Zamberi and Congo. The following MESSAGE has also been telecraphed by Her pays Consul. Hopkina, at Loanda, to the Foreign Office, where it was. received yesterday — Lieutenant Cameron, RN. Bast Const Central African expedition, arrived at ‘on the 19th November. Came out at Benquella, all wi It is, therefore, doubtfal whether the Lieutenant hae. anything sure and certain to tell us about the chief problem of obliged . ih Nyangw. He seems to have peen obliged to give up } ‘J and the Lualaba altogether, and to have struck across: the land far to the south, Had it been otherwise he would assuredly have tel hed the fact whicl he hoped to prove; 9nd the ace of any such stave- ment gives cause to that, though he bas seen and done ‘be has missed the prize which lay open, and missed it, no doubt, from circumstances im goamatete te contre, hogy ieee hoya na of cour. ‘and capacity than the journey thus accomplished Datween the Zainbez! and Loanda to show of wana peed seamen cutest of tus choot salettion, abd i events, a sul the utmost sat it uite clear that be Lone ow pete to relate, eve though, as now appears, a obliged te leave the nay question to some other explorer, ‘ingly hat o chouned the Cassai bi ly have 0 i branch. of the about which Se ee would be wel- come, and for every reason the arrival in his native ee officer, which is likely to occur im Mena | be hailed with interest and warm expecta- tron. i is, however, too probable that we mast not count upon the settiement of the Congo question from this adventurous and prolonged journey, although it may cast indirect light upon it, and tell us new fact= about the southern coun! traversed aiready in Livingstone’s wonderfal ARCTIC EXPLORATION. Commander Cheque, who served in the government expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, lectured on the evening of December 17, at the Langham Hall, London, on Arctic exploration. He expressed bis dis- betief in the thoory ‘hat there was an open sea at North Pole, but thougit, nevertheless, the Pole be reached next year. He hoped the send @ steamer next year with pi of the Alert and Discovery. “Hedid not believe Alert would ever return to Kneland, bat thought hes crew would’?