The New York Herald Newspaper, January 31, 1876, Page 8

“THE PREACHERS, os Expounding Doctrines from Different Standpoints. RELIGIOUS REVIVALS REVIEWED. Censurable Levity of the Av- erage American. THE CHRISTIA carrer Beecher on the Love of God and Frothingham on Materialism, N'S HOPE. TRINITY CHURCH. REY. MORGAN DIX ON AMERICAN RISIBILITY. At Trinity church Rey. Morgan Dix preached the @crmoa, taking for his text Eeclesiates, vii., 6. Not all laughter, said the preacher, is the laugh- ter of the fool, The wise man says there is a timo to laugh anda time to weep. And surely this laughter which lightens weary nature of part of its load and un, burdens the heart of its cares and sorrows is a sweet and solacing gift, It is more sometimes. It takes the place of argument when the folly of disputants leaves no other legitimate answer to absurd reasoning than ‘the derision it deserves, ut after all laughter ts often outofplace. If it is intruded upon serious themes, {fthrough it sacred subjects far above the reach of | levity are stripped of the respect and veneration due them then it becomes, indeed, the laughter of the fool. And this fool, the Characteristics. His im and he can bard ressions are only skin deep be held to any accounta- bility. His laughter simply an — uncon. scious confession of inability to deal with welghty matters, an admission that he cannot consider in their true light the great subjects that most affect ‘the word and send nations into night and death. This Jaughter Of the fool is significant, It is a symptom of demoralization preceding decay. If men bogin to laugh when moral and national evils multiply, itevinces that things are becoming hopeless. Louis XVI. had a min- ister who bad a jest for every emergency; conveniently rolling on to-morrow the evils of to-day. The thunder of the impending storm wpe then rumbled along the horizon, the drams of the Revolution were ready to be- gin their long roll, the guilotine peered above the heads of king and people, yet the minister jested on, And so when people see evils closing round them, when they shrink from looking at the morrow and seek to remain undisturbed in the selfish enjoyment of to-day, they, too, strive to drown their consciousness of coming harm in laughter and jest. Among us in this land there ts a disposition to run into that lightness denomi- | nated whe laughter of the fool, There aro strange con- tradictions generated in our mixed blood. On ono side we see that careful exhaustive attention to business, eat to this people, yet as strong an inclination to ugh at evel g sober aud ridicule the most serious themes. It may be A REACTION PROM THE TERRIBLE BUSINESS STRAIN we bear, but if go it is extreme and, unfortunately, ill directed, Look at our newspapers. Those of widest Circulation have built it up on their facetious treat- ment of al! topics, and too often upon the ridicule of subjects with which it should be above their province to deal. So with our lecturers. They find that matters must be spoken of ina spirit of jest and frivolity to tickle the popular fancy, and so thoy gather in the Shekels from an audience that goes to listen to a farago of nonsense, and w pplaud nothing else, The same feature marks our books. Sound sense is a drug in the market, and nothing unspiced with jest can secure | These things would not | rapid sales ana large protits, require complaint did not this love of fun and Tidicule becowe a habit of the soul and incline us to look upon all things through @incdium of mirth, Seo how ghastly crimes are daily Foported ina way to exaggerate any amosing circum- stances conuected with them and so cover over the hideous enormity of the offence with a tissue of raillery and wit, Withoutascruple the names of the grossest offenders, of the most shameless villains, are ba about from mouth to mouth with some familiar dimin- utive tacked. on to them and associated with some sportive sally the more readily to relieve the horror ‘with whic! the laughter of the fool and this the laughter of those who think that everything must be treatoa with jest vea for sober and serious thought. are the professed teachers of re there who have vulg word. under the pa tof making it plain and prac- tical! How many there are who stand up ia the temples dedicated to Goi’s we DELIGHT A LAUGHING CONGREGATION with a display of their jocularity and wit. With the men who seek to with such ficility and ad deavors to controvert the hi in the Bible, another s cepted story of man care to point fall well the d he would un politician of to. caricaturist or sa the popular current ©: floats, and knows th rock Will destroy it a soon to bo forgotten. y religion no weapon is sed s ridicule, One en- of the world as told prove the entire Bat cach one tak with keen irony, knowing of the people whose faith or destroy. In like manner the r 3 nobody so much as the He appreciates the depth of ch the bark of his fortune *n thrust from some sharp eave it a useless hulk full This disposition of ogrs to laugh at disaster and make merry over good and evil alike is portentous, it is a harbingor of ill. It indicates that the power of resistance has left us, and we are succumbing with the best grace. When this disposition of levity appears so broadcast we can divine as its cause a secret scepticism. Itis an evi- dence of a falling off from truth, honor, justice, re: higion and charity. Thore are few gloomy sceptics. ‘The fool who says is heart there is no God has nothing to do but laugh over the ruin of life, and men who feel themselves inst the world’s ilis are fain to seek the samo But Jet us remember that to be in this world, the responsibilities we have incurred, is a honorable position. Letus take up the tasks pursue them ag men collected and reverent. And let us remember, too, that there are subjects with which to jest is to bo profane, and places—of which Goa's temples are some—into which railiery or the jest should never enter. Let us think of these things and ef the Judge we are to meet, before wnom ail faces shall blanch, al! tongues be speeculess, and before whose Shrone levity can have no place. MASONIC TEMPLE. BEV. 0. B. FROTHINGHAM ON “MATERIALISM.” The crisp and cheorful weather of yesterday brought out a large attendance at the Masonic Temple, corner of Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue, to hear the | Rey. 0. B. Frothingham deliver his usual Sunday dis- course. The capacious hall was filled with a fashion- able audience, among which preponderated a uamber Of gayly attired ladies The reverend gentleman prefaced his discourse by calling atteution to the organization of a Sunday school among the members of his society, It was high time that the liberals of New York should wake up to the importance of this subject. They should educate their children in the same faith as themselves. He could not undertake the movement on his own responsibility. Hoe should ask for their cordial co-operation. He then Snnounced the subject of his sermon as “Thoughts on Materialism,” and commenced by explaining Who the materialicts were, It was an ugly word. Materialism was supposed to be worse than {ulidelity— Worse even than aiheisin, The materialist had no faith im spiritual law. In the popular acceptation of the term he was an susceptibilities—ot kindness, love, affection, honor, hope and truthfulness—rmorose, unhappy, discontented and sensual. He was looked upon as fond of money, er, fashion and social prestige; a non-belicver in Kicas, sentiments, moraity or spiritual laws, H relatives in the grave were looked upon by bim as so much ashes, and map as but an ingenipus combination from the ground Ee was without a deep-hearted, in- tellect moment, careless of h |, living wy for the time, heediess of the sorrows and sufforings of bis fellow men, with an infnitade of waste above hit and @ bleak desert beyond. This was the generally ac- cepted reputation of tho materialist. Tho great science chemistry had developed much that was known of matier. It bad been looking | into matter until mystery after mystery had been encountered. Professor Tyndall had asked them to go ont onthe Canbbean Sea and lif upa full of water, Afterward expose it to therays of ‘sup, and in a short time it would.evaporate and dis- appear, leaving nothing butaresiduum of salt That water was matter and it disappeared as if by magic. The same procese was in operation in the whole Ca- ribbean Sea, and in every ocean on the face of the globe. ‘Tho mind could not trace the path of i wi or its @estination, In the same way might we analyze the plant or the flower, The more closely we examined the more mystified we became. The truth was that the materialist is the most finely organized and sensitive individual on the face of the globe. His researches anxieties to ascertain truth finely moulded disposition. The agg of matter was tho leat mystery of tho day, All other mysteries paled it, Mr. Frothingbam then went on to dilate ‘upon the important and solemn dyties whi per. tect ist undertook to discharge; the unravel of scientific enigmas, the hard work of the labora- , the study of the heave derneath the earth's surface. He wont on to argue that the materialist was by nature kind, generous, con- siderate, loveable and sincere. Cardinal Manning bad jimented Mr. Tyndall on.the a of his dis- Materialism was not sensual. Spiritualism eye effusion of matter, Perfect materialists aid doubt the immortality of tho soul. The Speaker thon proceeded to contrast the various differ. gages betweem materiale ibuality, FE fool of Scripture, has marked | ‘e would otherwise regerd them. This is | nable to cope with adverse fortune or con- | individual totally devoid of ail fine | ly bodies and delving un- | the leading aeanmons of both doctrines. Christian Church, and more par- ticulariy the Catholic branch, was founded upon material issaes. Ordained priests, symbols, body guards, iegte and other material nts pointed out the path of Catholic empire, Two thousand pointed oat wee ears ago a man was nailed to a cross on Ualyary; sor- | }ow and pain wero tho surroundings. ‘Those were all | material objects. The preacher next alluded to the pilgrimage of Catholics to Lourdes, where thousands | left their homes and firesides to prostrate themselves before an image and gaze upon a lunatic nun. He con- cluded by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to live up | a hope that 4] might one day fully and happily un- derstand all : ied ral was eternal, immortal and inyisible. RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. SERMON BY THE REV. MR. FORRESTRR AT THE BLEECKER STREET UNIVERSALIST CHURCH. At the Bleeckcr street Universalist church yester- | day morning the Rey. W..P. Forrester, of Newark, preached to a large congregation on the subject of “Religious Revivals.’’ He took his text from Matthew vii, 21—“Not every one that saith unto me Lord, that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven,” He said;—In this great American country every few years there is what is called a religious revival, when the people become suddenly imbued with a sort of maniacal fervor or religious insanity. Those excite- ments are only periodical, however, and last but a short time. Theycome partly from the restless nature of the | people, when suffering under a fit of depression. You , hear of some great movement in the East or the West | or the South; that some man, suddenly brought forth | from God knows where, is stirring the hearts of the | quite so dangerous as the people to religious enthusiasm, and this great man is coming to convert all before him. You hear again of the flocks of people Who have suddenly found religion | and who follow in the wake of the great preacher, ‘These revivals are not real revivals of religion; they are MERELY RELIGIOUS EPPERVESCENCES, ‘Not evonp one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shalt enter into the kingdom of heaven,’ The sober-thinking | men of the peoplo look on these so-called revivals as meroly phégomenal, and with real disfavor. The true | revival is that silent force that has been working | throughout the nation for the vival in favor of a broad, lily r | the doctrine of gonuine Christiani | manity toman. A real rovival of religion is a revival of character—love to God and love to man. When the community conform to the laws of God then there will be @ real revival The character of a man is the fixed test of the presence of religion. When the boy is placed in school it 1s not because he | is naturally depraved, but that his character may be | developed to the requisite standard, The question | for every man to put to himself who wishes to de- velop in religious life is, ‘‘Am | becoming a better man’ Am I more loyal to the truth that God bas | given met’? It is in the ordinary affairs of life thata | man’s real religion develops itsclf, in fultiling his du- ties as a husband, a brother or a father, a citizen and aman. For it aman has religion he carries it with | him in all.his acts and dealings. We don’t want A REVIVAL OP INTOLERANCE | OF narrow sectarianism that says to each man, “My | path is the way of salvation ; outsfde my path is damna- Uon,”? The preacher did not believe that such doctrines | are in harmony with the spirit of the age or charac- | teristic of the American people. The American Tract | Society at one time refused to print a tract decrying the —of man’s hu- holding 4,000,C00 of people in vondage—because thoy did not believe ita crime. When the Protestant Evangelical Conference went to the meetings of Berlin and Londen thoy joined hands with the most bigoted sects in Germany and London, and they called it a revival of religion, The Young Men’s Christian Association denies membership to any one not subscribing to the i tenets of this Protestant Evangelical Conference, and | yet calls itself the exponents of a genuine Cnris- Uanity, When the American will throw aside all these sectarian fouds and bitterness and jcin in the common brotherhood of man, following the example of Him | who died for man, dhen will there be a real revival of | religion. ST. MARK’S CHURCH. SERMON BY REY. DR. RYLANCE. Yosterday morning, atthe above church, a sermon ism,’ marked both by originality and ability. The services were interspersed with the music usual in the Episcopal service, the double quartet choir of th® church comprising some excellent singers, among whom Miss Emanuel ts distinguished. said in regard to modern revivals:—“We make con | fession of our faith in one holy and apostolic Church | meanwhile we are surprised with 100 difforont schools | of theology, and now it is a question of importance what attitude wo shall maintain toward them, ; The simplest. answer would be—We — are \ right, and all tho rest ara wrong; but to their best tastinet of what was right, and expressed | deseo sin of which any nation could be guilty—that | s, a was preached by Dr. Rylanco on “Modern Revival- | | my heart with sadness itis to have aman come to sible that God can be happy? I dont know. — reatest of all mysteries. Why should God be oy? t reason have you ever given Him fer hay ? What have 78 done to give joy to the eternal heart? | Ob, so far from that, you are standing now afar off amid the millions who are crying out, “God be merei- | ful to me, a sinn: Thatis ourecry. Those are the only words we can use in our prayer. We have no right to go tothe other end of the building. What right have we to tread where the angola have left the impress of their feet? None at all; and so the misery and agony all rise up before the throne of God, and yor he is, Our Father, who art in “heaven.” I do not wonder that the poor publican smote on his breast, for it was the man’s heart that was wrong, and he smote his breast because he must have been, in the presence of God, lnsignant at himself, With .abilities’ to obey he had wilfully disobeyed, 0, brethren! how indignant weareand have been at ourselves, Scarcelya day ¢ passes without our making on our own conduct a se- verer criticism than our bitterest enemy would make. We have analysed our motives, and nobody despises 0s so much as we do ourseives, and no one can hate us as we hate our own hearts, How we have cursed our- selves again and again because, being bad, we might be good; because, being ignoble, ‘we might be noble, and because, being peasants, condemned like a galley slave | to daily drudgery, we might be princes in tho house Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he | of David. We are like the publican in more ways than that. Look for a moment at the other man; it Seems to me the Pharisce’s prayer is nol a prayer for any of us. Itis the poorest prayer in Holy Writ, and is & model that ought never to be followed. Ifnd a | great many persons who say they aro not good enough to join the Church, and I alway: gree with you when you tell me that. If there is anything that touches church with a feeling that he is CONFERRING’ A PAVOR ON GoD. When a man fecls that he is good enough to join the Church he is pretty suge to make trouble. Those men who think themselves good are pretty sure to diller from the Almighty in opinions, There is no mau pan who thinks himself good enough to sit down at the feet of Josus, We ought to feel that everything wo have is by grace, ‘and the grace of God is not by amy right ¢ You have no claim whatever on the Almig! Dr. Rylance | | no sensible man would advise this solution of the | matter—this settling down tn apathy, Churehmen are, it is true, instinctively couservative; thoy ldve the \ quiet and orderly ways im which they have been | traimed, and this “is legitimate and just; | different thing to say that when evangelists who are not ordained preach the Word of God t should be denied comfort and aid. Must ey man who preaches the Word of God receive ordinance from a bishop’ No; the blinded zealot would not claim this, We should none will clain vivals which have latély tak that Christ ordains us alone, on place have The re- trae standerd for the multitude. The speaker here descanted at length upon the labors of Whitfeld in formor days and the work of tho Paulist fathers in the present time, concluding—in referring to Sankey’s work—by saying he hymns of Churles Wesley did more to aid the revival than the preaching of his brother John. While wo have been quarreling in a captious spirit over the work of the evangelists religion has well nigh been crushed between the upper and nether milistones of infidelity aud superstition,’ CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES. THE PUBLICAN AND THE PHARISEE. The Church of the Disciples was crowded yesterday morning. Mr, Hepworth delivered the sermon, choosing for his text St. Luke, xvii, M—I tell you" this man SPREAD OVER A GREAT PART OF CHRISTENDOM, | and while some errors have been made by popular | evangelists, great good has resulted. While l am by } My constitution and training unsuited for such work, | still T should not sot up my standard of taste as the | other.’ He said a sharper comtrast can hardly bo gested by this text, The publican was a dishonest speculator; he had bought the right to collect the taxes «a large district, and his daily practice was to increase his income by every possible kind of extor- tion, That he was rich cannot be doubted. His heart was hard; his religion could not be found; he despised everything tbat laid on his shoulders a moral obliga- tion. He would never have gone into the temple at all but for the fact that he had boon awakened in some way by God's spirit. He was suduenly aroused to the con- sciousness of personal danger, and, frightened at the | Prospect, recognizing his own iniquity, he went for the | first time in many years, perhaps, into the temple | dedicated to the Most High, and being a stranger fn that holy place he did not dare approach the end of the building, but as soon as he crossed the threshold he on mea sinner.” humility. The pharisee was a man whose business it was to make professions of holiness whether he practised them in his private life or not. He represented the logical orthodoxy and moral obliquity at the same time, There was probably not a single custom or usage of the temple which he bad not. strictly practised, He bad bolgag, juto tho temple the tenth part of his income, It was bis custom to stand atthe corners of the streets, and, with upturned eyes, to offer prayers which were addressed more tothe multitude than to | Almighty God. That man, assured of his own rightcous- ness, felt that he was ON TERMS OF INTIMACY with the Almighty; that he was onc of the aristocracy of heaven. Jesus, with that incisive penetration which was His chief characteristic, used the st kind of | logic, and said, H; on ono han that confesses itself on the other do not stand equally in the sight of God. The only position which aman ean ri paws Beeps Begun Md the Almighty is the posi a. bemility. 4 which you have done in obe- dience to the commands of God was your simplo duty. | The man who thinks If @ saint is most apt | to ner, and he who is that he is a sinner stands the bert chance in the kingdom of God. Let us look a little more closely. In the first place, the ws of the publican is one that suits you and me. Of us, as part of our daily duty, to confess ourselves before God. We ought to look ourselves over very His attitude Was one of abject worth as an incentive to duty. When a man knows | be is poor he works hard for riches; when he ia con- | fused about his own finances he grows careless in his bargains. Brethren, its our business to know what we are, whero we are and what are our prospects, If there is any foundation which either Heaven or carth can give we onght to have it, Ifthere is anything any- where that can give us a just estimate of ourselye: brethren, let us get itand apply it to our hearts, ani live a8 near as possible to the standard God Himself has setup. It seems to me there is nothing which acts more constantly on @ man in the right direction than the habit of confessing himself before God. 1 do not think it ts well to confess to cach other. There ts no confossional in the Protestant Church, and Tam thankful for it I hear enough of your sorrow now and am compelled, not unwillingly, to enter, with &@ woanded heart sometimes, into your afflictions and domestic troubles, Life seems to mo very like a skein that has been tangled, and the more we strain at it the more hea sa over the »lanet, in every hour of the and night, there is going up this agonized cry for help—think of the TANGLED SKEINS OF the wide world over; think of tho inextricable difficul- ties, of the crimes and repentance, that God witnesses, I sometimes think it was not irreverent in the man who said, after thinking of this subject, “Oh, how I Pity God." There is @ side that excites even our human pity, but what a@ bdlessed thought that God is so great and good that He can listen to every ono in town! What a marvel it is that God never makes a mistake! It ts for that reason aw ‘Bus did it ever cour Wo you bow it is vos. carefully and make an impartial estimate of our own | i geta. Think for a moment that ail | but it is a) ve our church and its ordinances, but | went down to his house justified rather than tho | you hayo received has been through the generosity of ihe Father, and what is in store for you ts from the | same source precisely. Oh, Pharisee, your chances aro smaller than you think. Down into the dust or ther ; is no hope at all. Say ‘Not through any merit of mine, bat O God! give me eternal life bocause I love the Lord.’ That is the magic of Christianity. This blessed book tells us as much of heaven as we can bear. It tetis us thatall broken bonds shall be re- united there, and we shall live forever ond forever amid scones indescribable for beauty, where there shai! be no more tears and no more sorrow. Now, brethren, will you go there? I hope so; but how will yon get there? Can yousay, ‘Lord, I have money enough to buy it ally’” No; you can have it through the grace of God and in no other way. PLYMOUTH CHURCH, ° MR. BEECHER ON THE LOVE OF GOD—-OBE- DIENCE TO GOD'S LAW THE MOST ACCEPTA- BLE FORM OF LOVE. The floral display at Plymouth church yesterday was unusually fine, and the congrogation filled every inch of space within the walls, Mr. Beecher announced that the organ concert on wext Saturday would be the | ninety-ninth of the series, and that Mr. H. G, Thunder would be the appropriate organist on that occasion, Before the sermon Miss Clementine Lasar and Miss Holbrook sang ‘Come, Ye Disconsolate,”’ and unfolded new beauties in that sweet and deservedly popular hymn, Mr. Beecher chose for the text of his discourse two separate clauses from the Gospel of John—‘‘And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.” ‘‘ Ye aromy. frionds if ye do whatsoever I command ye.’’ In tho one passage, he said, we are told that love and keeping the commandments are equivalent, It is understood that love shows its fruit, and thus that it keeps the commandments, and that it is the samo that they are interchangeable, And in the passage 1m the evangelist the same is declared of friendship, that friendship and keeping tho will or commands of the friend are equiva- , lent, The royal law, ‘*Thou shalt love the Lord thy * God with all thy heart and mind and soul and strongth,”” is a wonderful command, ad its magni tude and apparent impossibility staggers every one; for we are accustomed “to judge of love by some experience that we have bad, ahd cannot see how it is possible that a man should love ore whom he has never seen, who never spoaks to him, who never gives any sign or token of His existence such as wo are accustomed to receive from other persons. How shall we address ourselves to this vast vacuity which ts said to be tte central existence called God? How shall we love with all our heart, mind and soul, and with an intensity that absorbs our whole strength ? Now when, besides this, we come into the schools of Christianity, and espectaily in these later days, and find a great variety of experiences developing, and find perzons that are living what is called the faith tite, and what by others is called the higber iife, aud by somo the love iife, and when we hear in our conferences and conversations the experiences of one and another of the transcendental power ot the love of Christ, read- ing it in books and newspapers and hearing it (rom in- numerable persons, and when we scek ourselves somo such experience and find {tall void and vacant a great deal of hidden troubie exists’ How shall we enter into this great subjectY If one says, “I see visions and I dream how shall one who never secs visions and never dreams dreams contr t him? If Lonly Know a harp that has six strings and know what tt can do in the hands of an ordinary performer, I am not competent to declare what a Whole chorded harp of many strings can do under a master’s touch, I can- not reason mt OWER TO THE MGHER, and so it seems difficult to enter into this ques- tion—the probable ‘experience of many men and pos- sible experience in loving Christ 98 a being who epitomizes the Divine quality, the Divine love to men—and, consequently, as there is great difficulty in- herent tn the subject as relates to both of its terms, as it is difficult on both sides to mako the way direct and plain, what do we find’ We find, fn the first place, one large class of persons who are triumphant, jubilant and , striving, and rightly, to inoculate all their brethren with their ardor; to raise the standard of Christian ex- perience higher, while right by their side we bave those who say, “I have striven, and long, and there is | | no answer to my pore How shail I get that vision? | Put me in the way.”” There are thousands of Christians in every great’ community | that aro the “singing saints,” and — the are thousands who never will be singing saints, but yet are saints, All feoling or emotion is transient in its raturo, It may. be repetitious, but feeling in its nature js apt to come and go; to come again it may be, | according to circumstances, but in its very nature fecl: , | imagined than that between the tyo characters sug- | | seek always to inspire some lino of conduct, | soctal or moral sentiment in exercise is pleasureable; ing is usually either naturally in the proportion in which it is intended, and it is the law, the common law of emotion, tho social emotions and moral sentiments, that they come and go continuously and that they action, TI re good if you judge of goodne: tions or pleasurable experiences; an but pleasureableness is not the end of feeling. The object of emotion is to inspire some line of conduct or development; not to exist for its own sake. Itis music not for the sake of music, but that we may keep step toitin our march, So it may be laid down as a general law that all social and moral feeling tends to inspire action, and then as feeling is like waves that rise hore and sink again, so it 1s with embtion that con- | hects itself with emotion, making a continuous chain. Emotion is a power, a movement of the soul toward | Some thing, toward some action, or, in the eneric sense ot the term, toward conduct. | Vhen emotion ceases as a feeling, if it has smote apon his breast and cried out, “God have mercy | been rightly dealt with, it has not gone out, All feeling which does not commute itself to action tends either to wear out, and so is a very fugitiveexperienca, orittends to becomo sentiment, That is to say, & sentiment is a wholesome feeling, taking hold on prac= | tical life and making itself felt as a motive power, | Right feeling works toward the real—the practical, All | feeling incapable of expressing itself in action is sentl- ment, and all genuine feoling is capable of expressing itself more or less in action. On the other band, right | action from right purposes tends with more or less vigor to produce the corresponding fecling. It works | both ways, He that by love is led to perform a deed ot self-abnegation feels emotion; so if ho have no feeling and desires one, and for that desire’s sake performs | the act of self-abnegation, it tends to develop the feel- and iniquity | ‘e ought, all | ing or emotion, | Vo have now a foundation laid for considering our text—And this is love, that we walk after bis com- | mandments.”? That is fo say, love is not merely an emotion; that love which tends to incarnate itself in, conduct—that is the torm in which God desires lo and in this latent form thousands of men are capable ot loving the Lord Jesus Christ who are not capable of exercising tt in an emotive form. The great mass of mankind have not the capacity of developing that higher emotional power, except on extraordinary oc- casions, but they are not on that account to be dis- couraged; for loye, taking the form ot obedience to can may be the equivalent of the more hercic form, HARLEM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. THE REV, SAMUEL H. VIRGIN ON THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE CHURCH, The Harlem Congregational church, in 125th street, contained at the morning services a large and attentive audience, There was a noticeable lack of music, but to make up for the shortcoming prayer and the selection read from the Scriptures were of the very Jon; The subject of the discourse was the definin, of what the visible and the imvisible Church are am their rolations to each other. Mr. Virgin's text was | the declaration of Christ found in Matthew, x, | ‘Whosoever therefore shall confess mo foro men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.’ In every ago of the world, ho began, mankind has presented the same aspect to tho claims of God. Theit cry is aiway: wit fa little slumber, a little folding of the hands to Selfishness makes them sadly ignore the claims of God, The fruits of saving grace are enjoyed, but the of them remains unpaid. What is this payment? It is simply to confess Christ; or, im other words, to join the visibl¢ CAurch, that you may thus render your Redeemer the credit which is His duc. Many people are members of the invisible Chureh who never haps thought over a tenet or d visible Courch, This Church is the Church of the Jerusalem, of the elect, among whose m contention or schism can ever come, It nas no by; crites, and is so loved and purified by Christ that it can be accepted without spot or blemish, This 18 THE HOLY CATHOLIC Cw , orofoundiy Le! srs and he whe has no be ia which ? | St. Matthew—“And when he entered into a ship his ‘are ye fearful, 0, ye of little faith? Then he arose _ Cipline, a difference of opinion concerning which is the | present time. A Hxkatp reporter conversed with a _ . They declare that the action of the advisory council, . oh | appear clearly that it is not to be cailed, they will do their | voice or vote in the management of their schools, and | takes away entiroly the right always enjoyed by the | 8 ment ol Jersov NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1876.—WITH SU ler in thts Charen nas no part in Christ. Rage to this higher spiritual Church there is no need hastening to ize the babe, No irresponsible per- son will have cg Ag mado upon him. Now, the earthly Church substantially forms. Sho is the handmaid to the bigher Church, and is the preservor and promoter of letters and liberty. She is the off- spring of Christ and the mother of progress. Change your home into a brothel, drown fad children and fling all moral restraints aside, or cise kiss and revere the influence that restré you from such courses, ' When she dies ring out Sc sid aud ring in vice; ring out beaven and ring in hel 8T. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, The services at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathe- dral were attended by a crowded congregation yester- day, At the last mass the Rov. Father Kearney acted as celebrant and the sermon of the day was preached | by the Rev. Father Kane. The preacher took for his text Matthew vii, 23 to27—‘‘And then will I profess unto them I never knew; depart from me, ye that work | iniquity, Therefore, whosoever hearcth these say- | ings of mine and docth them I will liken him unto a | wise man which built his house upon arock, And { the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not—for it — was founded upon arock. And every one that hear- — eth these sayings of mine and docth them not shall be , likened unto a feohsh man, which built his house | upon the sand. And the rain descended aod the floods camo, and the winds blew aud beat upon that house, aud it fell—and great was the fall of it.” VATHER KANE'S DISCOURSE troated of the fleree and mutinous tags that beset | all men in their journey through life. He invoked the ald of various figures of specch to depict the conflict | that is ever being waged “against man’s better aspira- | tions and bis spiritual inclinings. With different men different passions predominate, One has an avaricious craving for Wealth, another yields to the impure yearn- ings of the flesh, another is Consumed by pride, and £0 on through the whole culezdar of sin. And these im- 8, if once permitted to have their sway, rule over men with a tyrannous and besetting poe’, that | the grace of God alone can vanquish. Of all teach- ings those of the Christian Chorch show men how to combat successfully the tendency to yielous- ness that ts inborn inthem. By approaching the sac- raments of penance and the holy Eucharist sin is atoned for, and the spirit is strongthoned to resist ev! By penance the sinner compensates in a measure for | past offences, and in partaking of the holy Eucharist— the bread of angels—the repontant one starts afresh, aided and strengthened for the right, The preacher urgently implored all who value thelr salvation more than mere worldly indulgences not to permit their passions to master them, but to make them their slaves as they should be. The music was excellent, Mr. Schmidt, the talented organist of the Cathedral, presiding at the organ, and the ueual corps of efficient vocalists assisting in the rendition of the mass, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH. There was a largo attendance at this church yester- day, the officiating clergyman at last mass being the Rev. Father Glackmeyor. At the conclusion of the first gospel the Rey. Father Prendergast preached a . sermon, taking his text from the gospel according to disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that tho sea was covered with the waves; but He wasasleep, And bis disciples came to Him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish, And he saith unto them, Why and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.’? The reverend gentleman pointed out tho great lessons taught by the epistle in a lucid and cloquont manner, showing that spccial-attention was | called to the three theological virtues—taith, hope and charity. In rebuking the apostles for their incredulity Josus taught us the necewsity of faith, and also taught us hope, by rebuking them for their want of confidence, Hope was a virtue by which we expect God’s grace as a | means of obtaining eternal life, The eternal life, ac- cording to the epistie, was God Himsolf, and, therefore, | as St. Thomas said, hope was a virtue by which we sought God for our last end, and we took God’s grace as tho only means of reaching that end, The hope of tho Christian was not the hope of earthly pleasures, but heayen itsolf, THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN was Gou's eternal kingdom. Nor was this presumption on the part of man, for he had God’s promise of graco and cternal ‘ation. Man had not merely God’s promise, Dut His pledge, and His pledge was the death of His ouly son, He sacrificed His only begotten son to save sinners, And if Christ had given His life to save the wicked what would be in store for tho just? What Ho had already done was greater than what He promised to do. But in view of His promises there was no room for despair, and wil might joyfully turn | toward the promised land. Such, then, was the fact. Such was the unshaken ground’ of our hope. | What bad moved God to such liberality? It | was a mystery fathomless as the holy mystery of ihe Incarnation. God's goodnoss | was the measure which regulated the gifts which | He bestowed upon His creatures. God's goodness was infinite, and the only recompense which God kept in | store for tho elect was Himself, This was the reward | Of hope. We must prove our hope by hoping In God | alone in this workl. We have ut to fear ourselves, Our hope was unshaken, immaculate; but we have our free will, and if we choose we can withdraw from the | law of God, But let ns hope now andto the end, and | the reward for so doing God Hiinself has clearly pointed as out. The choral arrangements, under the able direction of Dr. Berge, who presided at the organ witn characteris- tic skill and efficiency, were praiseworthy in the ex- treme, Tho mass selected for the occasion was that grand composition of Weber in E flat, which few choirs could attempt with any degree of success, but which was interpreted yesterday ina style alike creditable to erganist and choir. The solos that fell to the lot of the | Misses Werneke, soprano and contralto, were both sxttstioally: and \mpressively rendered; while Signor Tamaro, tho tenor, and Herr Vierling, baritone, con- tribuféd largely to the excellent effect which this solemn and difficult mass produced. The chorus was unexceptionable, and the services were brought to a cloge by a masterly performance on tho organ. ADVISORY OR NATIONAL? Before and after seryices yesterday at Dr. Storrs’, Dr. Budington’s and Rev. M. H. Smith’s Park Con- grogational church there was much earnest conversa- tion concerning the advisory council to be convened by Piymouth enurch, and the national council which many members in nearly all the Congregational churches look to as the only really effective means for the settlement of the questions of church rule and dis- cause of great tribulation among the churches at the number of more or less prominent members of the churches named, with generally the follow- ing resujts:—The more prominent men of the several organizations say that they do not care to dis- | cuss the needs fora national council as freely as they did one week ago, for the reason that they prefer to , await the action of the advisory council, whatever that action may bo They are free in declaring that what- evor the advisory counvil may do—if, indeed, it is to be cailed at all—wili not be nor claim to be binding on the churchos generally, for the reason that it is called by Plymouth church alone, and that church has, there. | fore, the option, if it chooses, to call only such cnarches as may be presumed to be IN ENTIRE ACCORD WITH PLYMOUTH CHURCH on the questions now in debate in all the churches. if called, canno\ because in which it’ ts to be calied, settle anything tor Congregational denomination, and that, | therefore, there will remain the same necessity for a national council after it shall bave adjourned that there is now, in their judgment, before it shall con- Less promtnent though equally zealous mem. | "@ iree in deciaring now, as they did one week | ago, that the decision of a national ocurcil of the Con- gre tional denomination is the only way.open to a inal settlement of the questions now at issue in the rebes, aud that any unnecessary delay in cailing it is simply deferring ihe settlement which» is really necessary to tho restoration of peace in the Chureh, and they deciare that so soon as the advisory council shall have closed its session, or so soon as it shall of the way utmost to secure the co-operation of the leading mem- bers of the denomination in calling a national council. NEW JERSEY SCHOOLS. A BILL CREATING A RADICAL CHANGE IN THE SYSTEM INTRODUCED INTO THE ASSEMBLY. Trenton, Jan. 29, 1876. | Much excitement has been created throughout the | State by the introduction of a bill in the Legislature | which has for its object the abrogation of the present | sebool system. connection with the people, deprives the citizens of all voters in every school aistrict to elect their district school ofligers. It also goes further and substitutes A cENTRALIZED SYSTEM of appointments for that of popular elections, and makes the city and towuship school boards salaried offices, According to the present system cach city, town and village has tho right by popuiar vote to sotect its own school trustees, but by, the change contem- piated in this bill the State of Education ts vosted with the power of appointments. Mr. Cars- calla, Speaker of the House, ts the author of tho measure, The democrats say it is an assault upon one | of cars, plenty of spare horses and two minutes’ head. | the depot there is not sucha rush for seats ason | | other lines is that many passengers bound through pre- | NINE A. ML . No. in Standing No. on | No, of Car. Car," Inside, Platforms, Total, Mees 8 #08 21. 26 | the day, {t separates public education from all 99 “MOVE UP IN FRONT.” Further Ilustrations as to How Passengers Are Packed and Pickled. A Day of Observation on the Sixth Avenue Railroad. Following up the investigations by ovr reporters as | to the criminal manner in which sweating humanity is packed in illy ventilated horse cars, the Hzratp i to-day presents some suggestive figures relative to the Sixth Avenue Railroad travel at various hours of the | 59 day, Tho Sixth avenue line rung through a very popu- lous @ction ‘o& the city, and it is one of the best equipped lines on the west side; yet, with an abundance | way between each car, morning and evening, the ca are heavily crowded below the depot. For this th i is no excuse, as cars could, if necessary, be run every minute to accommodate the demands of the public, Count was made ABOVE THR DEPOT between fifteen minutes to eight and fifteen min- utes to nine A, M, This is the period when the heaviest travel is found above the depot. The cars, it is well known, start at Fifty-ninth street, by the Park, nd, no doubt, one reason why on the route above fera walk of three blocks to the Elevated Railroad, The following are the figures taken on a few of the cars that passed down within the time specliléd:— PROM A QUARTER TO KIGHT A. M. 70 4 QUARTER TO P.M. Sap nepningcmnt we ‘Canal street, between four and five P. M. :— ae in fn No. om Total G Platforms, on . “ i 2 itd & 8 3 n 8 aL a 23 % 24 2 26 ss 16 1 By 4 18 2 Fa) 2 19 2 21 ot u 3 it 40 21 9 23 98. 19 7 26 4 35. 19 4 23 1 33. 23 4 a7 5 19 1 26 4 2 3 9 23 lo 33 iu 13 6 23 t 23 re as | 10 4 8 22 r 22 6 23 6 21 2 23 1 23 4 26 4 23 5 3 6 2 5 Pig 5 pr 4 23 6 a 3 20 wi 4 a 31 9 22 5 27 5 19 3 26 4 23 3 26 4 22 4 26 ¢ 2 6 29 23 3 26 4 23 9 32 10 + 23 nn ery 12 23 T 29 7 3 6 29 . 23 6 29 4 216 2 13 C) prs u 33 16 23 10 33 iL ae 6 28 6 3 5 23 6 3, mes 7 3L 9 7. +o 3 a7 5 100. +. B Py 50 28 Total, 46 CATS. ....00ccreads sees reces eos 298 233 eer roSSiBSSSERESSe CHOMOCCH ORE DHOM NON GHHE ANNA MA OUAR lcoomocomakmocoe coccosco! coscowooonowes laeatxchousas Total in 5 cars, a1 These figures # ut nm! depot in the hour with moro 30 607 cars arriving at the ns passengers than ceuld be seated at twenty-two to the car. BETWEEN EORTY-SECOND AND TWENTY-THIRD STREETS. The next count was made between Forty-second and Twenty: a quarter to nine an -third streets, ch ‘on southern bound cars, between nine A. M.:— « No. in Standing on of Car. Car* Platforms. Total. 18 3 21 il 2 13. 16 1 16 12 3 15 22 4 26 18 3 21 20 3 23 22 3 25 12 2 14} 18 1 19 2 5 27 19 2 21 16 2 18 22 5 26 | 9 2 pT 22 4 26 | 20 10 30 | Total in 17 CaTS.......sseeeesesseeess 55 Seven of these seventeen cars, it will be noted, were overcrowded, while on tweive of them the conductors permitted passengers to viola'e the rules by riding on hed platform while there was seat accommodation in- side. BETWEEN THIRTY-FOURTH AND TWENTIETH STREETS. The following isthe record of cars passing south between the aboyo points from nine A. M. to ten A. cs: Number Total in Standing on Without Car.” Platforms. Total Seats 22 21 SL 34 3 » ~ SiawawcaSarmwcaummnscnwnacm eww ee ~ | COM SROwWOMCCOCHOMROCAMSO SOON OCC OSU SNOSOSOONOHMAaNENEOOS eeueScesuendeee ce bus Total 5,2 cars, 234 Tt will be observed that the travel southward be- tween nine and ten A. M. ts larger than any hour in 1,143 137 Iu that time 137 more passengers were car- ried than the conductors were able to supply with seats. Twonty-tive of the fitty-two cars counted were over- crowded, ‘MID-DAY TRAVEL. , The travel between ten A, M. and two P. M. isbut light, few of the cars being full, and fully two-thirds of them not scoring over fifteen to the ear, The princi- = travel is between Thirty-fourth and Canal streets. ‘ho following is tho record of up travel between one P. M, and hal/-past two P, M. :— Of these forty-six cars thirty-seven contained from one to twenty-eight more passengers than seats were provided tor. ‘The above figures form an interesting study for those interested in the prevention of the overcrowding of cars on the various lines. AN UPHILL “WORK, To Tux Eprron ov tum Heraup;— Ihave just been reading “G, D’s.”? lottor in this morning’s Heratp, He is sound when ho says it will be an “uphill fight’? against the present out- rageous manner of conducting the car lines, for there are so many that day after day are obliged to use the cars and inwardly chafe at the imposition, but will not take the trouble of protesting publicly, Now that the Heraxp, with its usual pluck and en+ terprise, has opened up this subject, let all speak, every man, woman and child. If you so generously make thoir complaints public, it is certainly very little for them to do to express their feelings. As “G. D.” says, the people oi New York, in all elso eo par- ticular to their comfort, have allowed this nuisance to grow worse and worse, and the management of ono of the street lines 1s now adopting the same system on steam cars, I refer to the Hariem Railroad, and if the passengers are willing to quietly submit td what is now daily occuring on ak morning trains to the city and the ovening trains from the city, it willbe bat ashort time before steam travel ts as dis- agreeable as the street cars. Any person taking the 5:18 P. M. train from Forty-second street (and the others bout that time are nearly as bad) knows that the train is started with passengers standing up, not suf- ficient cars put on and empty ones standing in tho depot. Then again, when the morning trains reach Harlem, going to the city, tho passengers from above stations ve acquired ‘pretty much all the accom- modation, provided and it is stand up allthe way down. This tho management knows when the train ismade upand started. Now, for my part, | can see no difference in point of honesty in Rcinthon pay for a ticket and then not furnishing value recetve: and selling thirty-four inches to the yard or eleven tothe dozen. Lhope all will improve the opportunity to protest against these impositions of monopolists, Respectfully yours, LET EVERY ONE SPEAK, Naw Yorx, Jan, 29, 1876. THE HEADWAY ON THE SIXTH AVENUE LINE, To tnx Epivor or Tar Heratp;— Your street car correspondents havo failed to notice the fact that cars are withdrawn when most needed— viz, about seven o’clock A. M., when workmen come | down town. Your correspondent “B, F.,’’ im this day's | Herarp, says:—“I caw safely say that there is no lateral line that doos not despatch one car on an average every minute from six A. M. until eleven P.M, and from eight to ten A. M. and five to seven P.M. acar every thirty seconds,’’ Permit me to say if “6, F.’? will wait fora Sixth avenue car near teenth strect every mornimg at abot will find reason for changing his opinion. minute headway will have to be multiplied by five, and he will find three cars going up while one runs dowa. If, after waiting five minutes or longer, he succeeds in squeezing on to the packed car, he will be taken ata snail pace to Vesey street, It must be said, however, that the empioyés do all in their power to relieve the tediousuess of the journey—tho driver by a cheerful conversation with his pals on the sidewalk, and the con- ductor by alternately poking the passengers in the back and splitting their ears with his piercing whist- ling—for the doule purpose of keeping up their spirits during the funereal journey and to show that he is not proud, G. B. NEGROES AND THEATRE DRESS CIRCLES. A SAN FRANCISCO MANAGER INDICTED AND TRIED FOR EXCLUDING COLORED PEOPLE—A FEDERAL JUDGE DIRECTS A VERDICT OF AC- QUITTAL. An interesting case under the Civil Rights act was tried in the United States Circuit Court, San Francisco, last week. It arose under the following circum- stances ;—A colored man named Green purchased adress circle ticket for a reserved seat at Maguiro’s Theatr@. during the afternoon of the 4th inst., for which he pald $1 50. It was orange colored, and marked, “Admit one—Dress circle, The manager reserves the right to refuse admission to the holder of this ticket upon retarning the amount pald there. for. Good for this day only.” Green returned to the theatre in the evening and presented the ticket to the doorkeeper, who, Green alleged, said, “You can’t go in; we do not admit negroes into this theatre.”’ In the course of conversation which followed the former stated that it was Maguiro’s orders not to admit colored people into the dress circle, but Green could if ho wished go upstairs to another of the building where he could witness the per! ance. The door- keeper did not offer to refund the money paid for the ticket. Maguire, under these circumst«nces, was in- dicted by the Graud Jury of the United Sfates Circuit Court, and was tried betore Judge Sawyer and a jary. id provision of law that covers the caso is as fol- lows:— That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United | States sball be entitied to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privi- Jeges of inns, public conveyances on land and water, theatres and other places of public amusement, subject only to the conditions and limitatious established by law and applicable alike to citizens of every race and colo regardless of any previous condition of servi- ty For the defence the doorkeoper testified that be had received no orders from Maguire respecting colered people, and that the only reason he refused Green ad- mittance was that the ticket was not tor the ‘m- ance on the evening in question, which he knew from the fact that a ditlerent color was used for reserved seat tickets each day of the week, The doorkeeper further stated that he would not admit any one that evening on the ticket held by Green. Several negroes corrob- orated the testimony of the complainant, one of whom Sccaslon, Ii appeared, in sddition, that a negro named occasion. tay in e Batts made apepeniion for a dress circle ticket tl evening previons at the box office of the theatre . Total the sale of it was refused. The ree that Maguire No. No.in No. on Total Without | had given orders not to lot his (Batts’) kind of people Car, Car. latforms. on Car, Seats. | in, and just at this moment Maguire came up and said 20 6 4 | towitness, “It is no use een ee can’t got in, and 2 Ww 17 | you had better go about your business.” The testi- 3 PI «13! poe A the trial, which lasted two days, was quite nt jictory. “edge in eb ig tho jury, said that it did L not appear eepor was placed in the the- atre to exclude because of color, or for any o! ~ of the people's most inestimable rights, and ts the worst attack upon the public schools ever Some day next week tho bill will come up for tion, whon a lively time is anticipated, SABBATH ROWDYISM IN JERSEY. Yosterday afternoon about four o'clock the neighbor. hood of Warren streot, Jersey City, was made hideous by the performances of two drunken rowdies, named Francis MeGlade and Michael Mahoney, who fought each other on the hig with the ferecity of canni- bails. They were arr at taken to the First pre- cinct station house, where they will Tgovive an instal- tice this morning eoekmcoccommsowoaunckwo PEON ECH MEAN AERA ASOHSHEAOMAUanaeom SRSSSSSR Re CSB BES SaESNRSRSBELNERTL SSE z WORTH. VEL, The chief travel northward is between half, ge . than to admit those who had tickars clude those who had none. There must be so order or diecrotion of Maguire’s shown; and non ing been proven evidence as tg this fact must be stricken out. The dociaration made by Maguire to Bi without wig of previous conve mn, did not give any reason why Butts could not goin. The refusal to sell a ticket and admit the man might be for some other cause beside color, However, if it was evi- dence wexnina t was evidence of a distinct offence, It could be no evidence inthe case that Maguire had committed an offence the day previous. If Maguire had directed his employdés to exclude negroes or had estab- lished a rale of that kind for their government then the evidence would be admissible, ceeause would have carried an inference that they were acting by his directions, But there is no such prof. Thera was no evidence before the jury that Green was ex- cluded by authority of Maguire, and they therefore should acqai Jury declared the de- it Without leaving their seats the fendant uot guilty. a, A BRAVE WOMAN, © ee On Saturday evening George Schonier, while wader tho influenco of liquor, entered the Tesidence of Consta- ble William Reinhardt, on Bergon Line avenue, Union Hill, while Reinhardt was from home, and, it ts alleged, made indecent " dee’ h deapernte coeng crema as She [CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGE)