The New York Herald Newspaper, June 5, 1876, Page 11

WHITSUNTID The Festival That Christians Welcome With Spring’s Bright Blossoms. REUNION AT GRACE CHURCH. Hepworth Reverently Says Jesus Was 2 Won- derfully Popular Preacher. OUR. GREAT NEED FOR LOVE. Beecher Asks All to Bear Up Under Ad- versity and Submit to Social Law. CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES. CHRIST AS A PREACHER—SBRMON BY THE BEY. MR. HEPWORTH. The warm weather shows its effect in the churches in the steady diminution of attendance. The Church Of the Disciples yesterday morning was not as well Giled as usual. Mr, Hopworth once more occupied his tamiliar place and preached a very earnest and !m- pressive sermon, After the sermon the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was administered and fifty members jomed the church. Mr. Hepworth chose his text from St, John, vii, 46:—"Never man spake like this man.” The circumstances under which theso words were uttered very beautifully illustrate the personal power which Jesus exerted over every ono with whom he came in contact, Tho Pharisees, in the excess of their rage, determined to arrest Christ at any bazard+ Lawiul or not, it was their purpose to get Him into thoir possession and then do their will. oa Him, To this end they sent officers to attach his person, These officers made their way tbrough the crowd to Christ where He was preaching, and, while endeavoring to got = near ~—ihim, were compelie! to listen to His words, While thus standing they were affected by the rapt attention of the whole congregation, as the words of eloquence and power came with such a mighty inspiration from the jips of the Son of God. At last, when they came nearer, and were about to arrest Him, they found it impossibie, Through their cars their hearta were touched, and they were powerless to do any bidding except the bidding of God. When they returned trom their unaccomplished mission the Pharisees asked, “Why have ye not brought him?” and their reply was, ‘Never mun spake like this man,” and the Pharisees turned upon them and replied, ‘Are ye also de- ceived?” And then their self-righteousness crops out and they continue, “Have any of the rulers of tae Pharisees believed on bin? But the mob, who do re know the law, are cursed, and they believe on ian.” But, said the minister, I want to call your attention to some oi the peculiar characteristics of Christ as a preacher; to some of the doctrines He preached, and to somo, of the ways in which He illus. trated =Ais’ Own theories, AS 4 preacher He was marvellousily in earnest, He did not pos- | tess the truth, but, better than that, the truth | possessed Him, ' He felt tna, His lips were consecrated. | ‘That He must give to m: ind nothing of His own, but everything of God's, What He spoke was not the re- sult of study, but of prayer and constant communion and fntimacy with the Most High, Feeling that men | were lost He spoke with the encouragement ot a saviour, Knowing that men were on the wrong road | He lifted up His voice, bidding thery beware of future progress in that direction, aud then He said, “I am the wuy, follow thou me,’ His earnestness came irom His love of and commiseration tor every in trial It is the duty of a minister to ‘listen to the troubles of his congregation, and Jesus did that toa wonderiul degree. He never thought of Himseit. Ho was always cureful of others; and it He could do good tu a human being He did it. Sometimes He spoke oucouragiugly to those in bigh places; often He spoke to those oppressed and discouraged ‘Then Christ was A PAITHPUL PREACHER, wand that is an important point vow as well as it was then, ‘Yo tell God’s will ix one thing, and to tell the whole of God's will is another, true minister does hot spure his hearers, [t is his business to weigh in the baiance, and when a man 1s foufid wanting it is his mission to tell him sv; and the minister who fails in that as ane Jails in an important part of his God-given work. It wil never do to excuse a fault ina inan worth a million dotiars which he would not excuse in a man worth nothing, Truth told jatihtully always blesses, is always a help. The one thing we stand in need of to-day 15 a real friend who will tell us our fauits. There are very few triends in this word whom we can trust. What we would like is a friend who can | do what the surgeon docs to the body—lay bare its nerves and muscles, that he may find the fountain of life. One reason 1 pity rich men is that there is oue privilege they can never enjoy: . true friendship. He is surrounded atw: of peopic WhO always int their bats to him and bave a purpose inat, He never can find out the world’s opin- | lon of him, . {tis hard, indeed, for sach a man to know himself, It is one of the penalties oi riches. The poor man gets criticised. The whole world is ready to tell bim how much they think of hin. But when I look | back on Christ [ see a fuithfal minister vf God's will, ‘Then, in the third place, Jesus was, in its sense, a wonderfully POPULAR PREACHER, I say this with a great deal of reverence. It 1s my delight to go down on my knees to Him who preached the Sermon on the Monat, which is the impulse of the whole world’s progress, urging mankind higher and higher up tho hill toward the millennium, Yes; He was wonderfully popular, and for what reason? The oor gathered around Him and listened to every word He uttered. He was popular because He loved them ail, It was because He poured Ihs heart out into their hearts that they poured their hearts into dis bosom, And when we read the accounts of His preaching we always read of the crowds that listened Him, O that we could have heard Jesus! O that we could hear oven the echo of His tones! O that we might look upon His face, and, brethren, we shall do it some day in the .emple of the new Jerusalem; some day another congregation will be gathered, and you and [ will be there. it wilinot be in the temple in Jorusalem, but in that tempre not built with hands, Under its foo we shail all gather and sing His praises* forever and forever, My prayer this morning is that [ shall meet this congregation there, May our fect wend iu the right way; may our paths lead upward tli they converge by’ the throne of grace and re- domption, A word concerning the theories Christ preactred and the traths He illustrated. I think they are peculiar, In the tirst place, Jesus talked continu. ally about THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD, a doctrine, [ fear, that is not in your hearts yet, because he who believes that God is bis lather cannot go far wrong. Wedon’t appreciate the truth; we don't feel as if God would forgive our sins when we confess them, Tho fatherhood of God is the loveliest doctrine in the world and it ought to be in your hearts and religion, One other thing we ought to learn is the brotherhood of man. We have not | that lesson yet. lL have heard men say that we have outlived the bible. Per- haps it is so with some. I have not, and I don’t think youhaye, It is not time to look further till we have digested what we have. Look inthe Bible and you will) find a plan laid out by God that will give on all you want to do Are we all brethren? Is every man our neighbor? 1 fear not, Have we given up our self-secking? Is the millen athand? Can wo lay down the Bible and say learned by heart? I fear not. All the churches of the land ought to preach the brotherhood of wan. Then, again, Christ tanght us the immortality of the soul, and the picture Christ drew of the future is very aliur- ing. Men need nota philosophy, but an illustration of it, and Jesus gave us that also, His errand was per- fected when He 1 oe us that. He showed us selfisbness was not part of His work. Let us live wholly in Him; et us feoi always that God is with us, PLYMOUTH CHURCH. MRE, BEECHER ON SUBMISSION TO ADVERSE CIn- CUMSTANCES—CUSTOM AS THE GREAT DIC- TATOR OF MEN'S CONDUCT. “Hi in laws and customs the standard of individual conduct,” formed the subject of Mr. Beecher'’s dis- course yesterday. His text wa: ‘Servants be obedi- enttothem that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your beart as onto Christ, Not with eye-service, as men- Dleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of Goa from the heart, with gocd will doing service as to the Lord and not to men; knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the «ame shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or iree.”” One of the mischiefs of controversial study of the Word of God, said Mr. Beecher, is that we take it as it is, wholly out of the sympathies of the apostles and wholly away from the standpoint from which all the letters of the tpostles were written. The questions that came up in the Greek schools sprang from their Philosophy and were unknown to Paul; and yet his writings have been construed with reference to a solution of these ques. tions, It is almost as if one should apply the grammar of the Eng! language to the construction of a He. brew of a French sentence. Although there are some elements ly alike, yet confusion and perversion right conduct following after right dispositua. This was the Now consider tho circumstances der which these instructions were given forth. In | that day the whole family was represented by one man; the household was a ‘unit, not the inaividual. ider what were the civil governments of antiquity and what wrongs existed; consider the military spirit of the world :n the time of Christ, how utterly-adverse both government and military spirits were to the max- ims and to the spirit of Christianity, Them, too, it isa remarkable thing that the Gospel went forth into the world between Judaism and beathenism, and had, there- fore, an opportunity of inveighing against them both, And yet see the courtesy, the eminent consideration, the respect and kindness and sweet spesking that ex- ists in the whole New Testament in regard to the Jew and the heathen, BVBRY MAN THAT WROTE WAS A GENTLEMAN, as every man is that is inspired with the true spirit of Consider the corruption and wrong that existed ‘on every side, and consider that an ideal manbood was to be develo; among the disciples of Jesus Christ in ‘the jace of ali these drawbacks, and apy one would say that the symbol of the apostle would have been a flam- ing sword or a Hercules’ club, But the inward spirit of the New Testament is as iur from that as anything that can possibly be imagined; and we are astonished not only to hear no invective, no denunciation of that monster of monsters, Roman slavery, but we bear the slave himself invoked and commanded to accept the con-litions If revolution ever had « right to break out nuder any institution that was the one, But Paul did not advise it. He believed: in the command, “Overcome evil with govd,’’ ox the power by which wrong can be best suppressed, The best way to abolish & wrong, on the whole and in the long career of time, is to put that whieh is right over against it. Against every wrong and every evil then let there spring up in the heart and in the conduct of every discipic of the Lord Jesus Christ sueh a beuuty of life as shall make it 4 shame im the judgment of ail men that the beauty sball bv harmed and held under. In this way, too, ings develop themselves in the world. Christianity ‘was able to take Is place without being represented as anenemy of mankind. If it had assumed a warlike pect 1} would have been bur:ed itseit almost as soon as the Master was, It did not set ttselt agwinst the out- ward manifestations of evil, but against the roots oi evil im the whole race of mankind, and by purifying the tountains from which came selfishness, pride and cruelty, it Ererens to banish ultimately from the human family all orgonized selfishness and ambition and crueity; for the field was the world and time was the opportunity, from the beginning of it to go, very end, 't was indispensable, the speaker continued, that the staggering race of mon should have laws and govern- ments and various institutions, and we are not to judge ot those of the past by the light that we have derived from them. CUSTOMS, LAWS AYD INSTITUTIONS represent the best experience gathered up to the ime m waich they are created. [tis not wituin the power of the race, nor that of the wisest in it, to excogitate laws and customs, There had to be inflate experi- ences before there couid be general customs or general Jaws; and these represent, not simply the will of the Jegisiature or the crown that enacts them, for tne legis- Jature and the crown. ure but the causes through | which the light of all the suferings, mis- takes and actnevements of the whole race gutnered up for thousands of years streams upon the statute book, and therefore laws and customs repre- sent the findings out of the race of mankind. Insti- tutions may be w great deai below what you and I may see thoy ought to be, yet, after all, ihey represent about the best rule of right that the great unthinking, undeveloped mass of the community can have, avd to treat them with contempt or with insolence is to treat the moral sense of the individual, for the most part, with contempt and violence. Constant changes wrench | the faith of men, blind their moral sight, aud, instead | of benetiting, leave the community demoralized. So, then, we must maintain even crude things until they can ripen, imperfect things until they can be gradualiy increased and perfected, Many men look upon cuurts, churches and benovolent societtes—upon all the forms 1m which human nature bas developed itseli—inen look. upon all these things aud say they are for the vulgar or unknowing, or that they aro. vot for auybouy, and generally it is considered the sign of a large manhoud to say:—‘Lam not held under by saperstitions or by ouiworn institutions and customs; | believe in the sov- reignty of the individual ; [do , AHOUT WHAT I THINK 18 RIGHT.’? Well, we have about 60¢ men in Sing Sing that did about what they thought was right to do, and 1 would there were about twice that number there if I could have a judicious selection made. ‘There is not @ man, however reflective, however wide in historical research | and in reflections founded upoa it; there is not a man who 18 not more or loss deyendent iv himself for what 18 right and what is wrong upon the usages of life and upon the experience of the race tliat has gone beiore him. It ts not at alldifficatt fora man to say, “lL believe in justice, and let justice be done, though the heavens fal”? bat is justice? That 1s the question that has tormented the ages, We are bound, the speaker argued, to maintain cus- toms and laws until the wrong that is in them becomes S80 apparent that the average public sentiment can be brought to bear upon them, and any proposed change which is in advance of that average sentiment will fail of success, Thore was, ho knew, a great deal of ideal reformation going on, but while. his mpathies were with the authors of those movements he was satisfied their influcuce was not to be felt m the present, but would make its mark in the Iuturo by edu- cating the thoughts of ten and preparing them for a higher administration. Upon the evo of any great elec- tion, he said, all the wise and far-thinking men in crea- tion’ might ‘come together in congress and attempt to adopt to that particular movement their ideas of retormation, but all their efforts would come to naught, and the papers would cry out that they might be wise and good men in their own Sphereg, but that they knew nothing about human nature. Mr. Beecher then Teverted to his text, and anaiyzed its meaning sentence by sentence. He pointed ont the difference between the obedience of the siave and thatot the child. The chapter, be said, opens, “Children obey your patents m_ tho Lord, tor this is right—absolutely and univer- 7 But the apostle does not say that to the slave. “Slave be obedient to your masters according to the flesh. Not according to the spirit, but in the lower relations they are your masters, publicly called #0 and treated so, though in your higher nature tuey are no masters of yours,”” The apostie accepts their out- ward boaduge -as an existing fact and a present neces- sity, and advises them to submit to ft. The Lord Jesus the speaker continued, 1s our great lover, and He says to mon placed in diffeutt circumstances i this lie, “Do not Justify yourself in the development of malign passions and vengeful forces. Stand where you | are, clothed with the whole panoply of grace, and, if | yon need iurther encouragement, remember that every right thing that a man does under difficult circum- stances he does for me.’* MASONIC TEMPLE. THE THREE PENTECOSTS—LAW THE OCCASION = OF LAWLESSNESS—SERMON BY MR. 0, B, FROTHINGHAM. The services at the above place of worship were con- ducted yesterday by Mr. Frothingham. After prayer and the singing of a bymn the preacher walked to the front ot the platform and, without preface or text, be- | gan to explain the character of Whitsunday and its sig- nificance. Whitsuntide, the speaker gaia, derived its name, ace cording to some, irom the custom prevaicnt on that day of robing those to be confirmed in white. Accord. ing to others, it was so named from the blossoms with which spring favors us. Among the Hebrews it cele- brated the fiftieth day from the Jewish Passover there the departure from it of a people who, from their infancy, had never tasted of anything but thral- dom and the lash. He depicted the great figure of their leader, Moses, specially trained by the probation and trials of an ordinary Iiietime for the task of mouid- ing and Jeading that remarkable people, and conducted hus hearers through the dosert to the foot of the moun- tain where the law was.given, He then accompanied Moses to the fastnesses of the mountain, where was delivered to him that law which, tor 4,000 years, has played #0 great a part in forming and controlling the moral, social and political ite of humanity. CHARACTER OF THE LAW. No law ever iwposed pun mankind equated the Mosare law, from the majesty and terror surrounding ery, the universal 1 and equally ui sal | mi ness Of its provisiuns, and the marked, distinctive effect which it had produced upon the people to whom it was delivered. It specitied man’s relations to all thimgs above him and to nil created things — below Kim. It was @ law of terror and judgment, pain avd horror to him who disobeyed tts. prov full of bright hope and promies to Tt was one of tenderness, too, ns, but one man who st obliged B tended that the very minuteness af its provisions rendered it faulty, inasmuch ws those who strictly obeyed them were apt to, and did disregard the higher and indefinitely nob'er code which ts written in the heurt of every nan, This was seen in the character of those who most rigidly complied with its positive com- mands, aud who ontside it (fur no law can cover every porsible vontingency) were a vile, rapacious merciless crew. Hence one was naturaily led to the thought that law itselt may become the very CAUSE OF LAWLERSSYRS, and this not only in the moral, but in every other order. Here the preacher traced the rise and progress of that spirit which, in one sense, Is becoming so great a calamity, and threatens io increase—namely, tne manta for finding Iaw in everything. Sevence, he said, | was in the beginning merely elementary. Man co: tented himself with a very superiicial knowledge of the heavenly bodies, He sabeequently examined th carth and himself in it, and, appl: peory of 1 universality and resistiess force of iaw, be camo tot conclusion that the favetions of lis body, and even t action of his brain, his (hoaghts, will, fecling, emotion, &e, were merely the ontcome of forces which bad been acting possibly with resistless power (rom thou- sands of years back in the past. The inevitable cot clusions and deductions in the case of the marde: the thief, the disseiate, &e., were drawn by t er and Ieft to combat themselves, Me contended ty would result from any such a measure . Cone sider how wise all tho writings of the New Testament are, inasmuch as they converge toward one point— pamely, practical ethice—right disposition and s . however seience might draw her meshes over the | an unusually large congregation. and the giving of the jaw on Mount Sinai, He ask bis hearers to accompany bim io i thought to the land of Egypt and witness universality of canses and eff ets, still there was a votes within him whieh told him he was a person, that he had a will, and o choose to do or to leave undone, and therefore ne must look fora way out of this incarceration of the mind which science threatens to fofliet upon those who looked simply at her material triumphs, THE BECOND FENTRCORT. This was, his hearers would tnd, if they would look at the picture of the second Pentecost, presented in that bumble upper chamber in Jerusalem. The description given of the supposed coming of the Holy Ghost (Chrustian yle) by Mr. Frothingham was remarkable for calm assumption and quiet humor. According to him the disciples there assembled were simply chatting over past events and comparing notes. They became excited. The windows were open. A erowd gatbered. The crowa below became excited, too, ‘The disciples above began shouting and talking nonsense, tn which all the excited foreigners below taucied they beard their own tongue, although the people above were only speaking Hebrew, and toleravly bad Hebre’ that. The cloven tongues of fire were referable tw the same exalted condition of the imagination, Here we have, continued the speaker, a pertect picture of our modern revivals 2,000 yerrs old. Although not named, Moody and Sankey and all spiritual leaders of like feather wero mercilessly batiered, the preacher contending that there was in New York to-day no abatement of iawlessness, no less crime, no more domes- He Virtue, no noblerideas among the youth of both Sexes than when the revival began, and that its effect jood was absolu’ pull, The same was the history revivals from the time of Paul down same will be the case to the end whenever the emotions are appealed to, the heart untouched and the intel- lect unmoved, "Tiecrimes and orgies prevalent at the very birth of the Christian Church were adduced as coniirmatory of this view. But the second Pentecost eflected a great good, im that it released men from the thraldom of the letter of tho law, and substituted in its place, as is the caso 1n Paul’s writings, the ideal figure of Christ, according to whom we Jeurn to love truth and justice, honor and integrity for their own sake, To duild on any emotional foundation js to leave the edi- fice open to rudden destruction at any moment. A glowing tribute to the late meeting at Boston, the ob- ject of which was to see whether anything could be paca to exalt and ennoble humanity, concluded the dis- ourse, ST. VINCENT FERRER’S CHURCH. THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE CHURCH—SERMON BY THE REV. FATHER M’DOWELL, At the Dominican church, Lexington avenue and Sixty-ffth street, yesterday morning, a solemn high mass was celobrated in hoaor of Whitsunday, The celebrant was tho Rev, Father Rochefort; the deacon, the Rov, Father Lavellé; the sub-deacon, the Rev. FatherSlinger, The music of the mass was Weber's in G, with a Veni Creator by Lachner and an/O Salutaris by Verdi. To make the festival the more marked the regular choir was augmented by the Choral Union of the church, the other singers being Miss Morrison- Fiset, soprano; Miss Tracey and Mrs, Walker, con- traltos; Messrs, Joseph Ott and Gropshel, tenors, and Messrs. Marshall and Walker, bassos. The sermon was preached by the Rev, Father McDowell, pastor of the new Church of St, Agnes, His object in addressing the congregation was to ask for Gnancial assistance in erecting the. edifice. But be- fore alluding to this matter he preached a short dis- course on the gospel of the day, connecting the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles with the divine com- mission under which the Catholic priesthood have ever since officiated. Ourholy mother, the Church, he said, calls her faithful children around her altar to-day to celebrate the great testival of Whitsuntide, when God sent the Paraclete. Christ tells us inthis day’s Gospel that be will send the Holy Spirit to confirm His Church's mission, and this promise was fultilied in the descent of the Paractete, In ts day, when there is so much indiflerenco round ‘us, we may turn to the obligations imposed on us and give them oar most attentive constderution, There must be a priesthood for the people which is di- vinely commissioned to perform its sacred functions. We can rejoice that we Catholics have a priesthood so appointed to teach the Gospel and to forgive aud to ro- tain sins. In worldly aflairs people go to those who can instruct them when they desire to learn, and 89 it 1s in religious things, we should receive knowledge ot what concerns our souls from those set apart by God for that special purpose. There cannot be a religion without a priesthood. We sce men around us every day preaching in twos und threes of universal salva tion and inculeating other special doctrines touchicg the matter of salvation; but whence comes the commis. sion under which these men preach? The Church has always been the defenaer of the people’s liberues, ow often has the Pope shielded the oppressed when. the hordes of devastators would bave swept away Christianity, Sec, to-day, in our own country, in the euse ot the poor Indians, how tne’ ’ priest lives among them, pleads for them and helps {asae ia) pak: ame ca We heros ab cio Ee Germany, all ot which was once Catholic, the priests have stood by the people as the defenders of their civil and religious liberty, and they were feared and perso- cuted only for the reason that they were xnown to be the peopie’s best and truest frfends, We shonid ree Joice that we have at all times with as those ministers whom God has appointed to care tor the spiritual guid- ance of the world. Father McDowell then went on to say that he was in this church for the purpose of asking for help to build the Charch of St. Agnes, and coneluded by thanking them beforehand for whatever assistance they might give bim, GRACE CHURCH, THE REY. DR. H. C, POTTER RETURNS To HIS PULPIT AFTER A YEAR'S ABSENCE—THE MAG- NEIISM OF MEMBERS, The Rev. HM. C. Potter, after a year’s travel in tho Hoty Land, has returned to his charge and appeared in hos pulpit at Grace church yesterday, His return to his pastoral chargo was signalled by the presence of AS appropriate to his return Dr, Potter recited that portion of the Acts relating to the manoer in which the aposties received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, On that. occasion, he said, none were absent, and it wasa subject worthy of no little consideration that notable religions events {rom the earliest times were associated with the,magnetic power of members. Moses, that -ancient patriarch of religion, who preceded Christianity, when addressing the children of Israel concerning these things, delivered his message im one place to great assemblages, And so it was in the Saviour's own time, The mightiest movements oi His Goapei were discovered when men were assembled in great numbers. 1n the family, too, in older days—when the family was in some ineasure a church—the same thing 1s noticed. We rend in this connection of the action of Abraham and his children, Isaac and nis children, Jacob and hig sons, And in more recent times the tamily ‘was an important clement and lever im religion as weil asthe State, The family was of the first importance in the Middle Ages as a nursery for certain principles. Upon the natare and importance of these principics rested the power of the family for good or evil. So is it with nations that, adly when actuated by some great guiding principle, they become great and powerful, In- spired by NONLE AMMITIONS smuli nations have conquered larger ones. Continuing ip this vein, De, Potter said be was glad to find himself again among his congregation, whom he was pleased to sec assembled on this day to commemorate the day of Pentecost. Tt was well day they should course and concor gracious providence of God he was permitted to Gnd them ou bis return of heart and one mind. ile dwelt upon their fidelity and the privilege be had to stand once more and speak to them where ir anited voices had sy often ascended in prayer and praise He thanked those under whose care the work of the ebureh had been carried on during his absence, and commended his brother clergyman, the assistant pas- tor, who had obtained for himself, by the judicious Fiormance of delicate duties, a Warm place in the carts of the conare, Death had taken off the familiar faces during bis absence of some whose lives and prayers had bee en for this congregi He thanked God lor the goo: now at rest, Whatever he had learned abroad he had learned votbing more clearly than that the duties God had called him to periorm were the best for bim and the place o( their discharge was the dearest and best he could wish. ST. THOMAS’ CHURCH. THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR—SERMON BY THE REV. DR. MORGAN. At St. Thomas’ church, Filth avenne and Fifty-third strect, the Rev. Dr. Morgan preached a short sermon on the glorified Saviour, taking for his text Acts 1li., 13—"'The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified The words were spoken by Peter, the apostio of Christ, as he stood atthe gate of the temple in the midst of the people who had gathered about him and were gazing with wonder after the Jame man who lay at the gate Beautital and had been cured. Ho had told thenr the work was not his, bat that of the Jesus whom they had. despised, and whoin the great Jehovah had exalted to sit at his right hand in heaven. The preacher then drew the atten- tion of his hearers to the events in religions history which the churches have been recently celebrating, the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus, and the giving of the Holy Ghost In the resurrection He rom the tomb the first fruits of them that slept. nds agi upon the earth a living spirit, His promise to man redeemed, Me Himself had carried the torch of the resurrection gleaming through the valley of death, Life and immortality are brought to light and God again glorifies His son. In His ascension there is more in the FOOD FOR MEDITATION. The testament was sealed, and He said, ‘Father, I have Onished what thoa gavest me to do,* and now | come to thee.” Itinaday of jubilee in heaven; and again God did glorify Jesus. As the crowaing act of all, Jesus, having become our Saviour, here promised as that He would stand up for us there at the fight hand of the Father, wnd is glorified in the mission of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Having reached His throne He redeemed His promise and sent the Comiorter, It was not in the clouds that descended on Mount Sinal, nor in the fire that blazed around It, notin the thunders that shook Ht, but in that still, email vorwe that told of love and hope and immortality, He keeps His promise, will not icave thee.’’ His desesples became the pioncers of the new dispensation, ond spread the Gorpel all over the world, Heis your Light, your Salvation, your King. 8 son Jesns.” | We como to-day to the risen Jesus, the ascended Jesus, the glorified Saviour, the everlasting King, whose vo _ will soon be heard calling, one after ancther, His taithiul ones to come up to Him. ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. FEAST OF THE PENTECOST—SERMON BY VERY REVEREND FATHER QUINN. The feast of the Pentecost, commemorative of the descent of tho Holy Spirit upon the apostles, was cete- brated in the Cathedral yesterday with all the soiem- nity and impressiveness characteristic of the Cathohe Chureh, The weather, which was hot and oppressive, THZ seemed to have little effect upon the attendance, the | edifice being, as usual, crowded to the dvors, Solemn high mass was commenced at hall-past ten o'clock, Rev. Fathor Kane being the celebrant, Rey. Father O'Hare, deacon, and Rev. ther Mori, sub-deacon, Rev. Father Kearney oMciating as master of cere- monies. At the termination of the first gospel the Very Rev. Father Quinn, Vicar Geueral, preached a mon. Before doing #0, however, the reverend gentte- man called attention to the fact that on next Sunday a collection would be made throughout the archdiocese ot New York on behalf of the Holy Father the Popo, The text was taken from the Gospel of the day according to St. Joun, xiv., 23—31:—"Jesus an. swered and said unty him, if a man love me he will keep my words, and my Fasher will love him, and we will come unto him and abide with him.’ The rever- end preacher alluded to the great festival which the Catholic Church celebrated throughout the world. It was the anuiversary of THE INSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. This day tho Holy Ghost descended on the apostles, and Peter converted 6,000 sculs. Before that day hesitation and doubt prevailed, but the infusion of the Holy Spirt once oved all confusion. The words of the text showed the love the Saviour had for His disc:ples. Alter His resurrection and ascension into heaven He comforted and consoled them by the assur. ance and promise that the t’araclete would rome to them aud remain with them fore The descent of the Holy ¢ was the completion of the great work ofthe redemption, All that Christ bad told His apos- es, all that they had forgotten, all that He had pevsohea to them or of which thoy had an tmpertect nowledge, became quite clear to their minds, THE CLOUD OF DARKNESS which had rested over them, even as it had brooded over the face of the earth at the first creation, was im- inediately dispelled by the aciion of the Ho! descending upon Christ's apostios, who immediately undertook the great work to which he bad called them, They now tully comprehended the nature of the mis- sion entrusted to them when He bade them go and preach to all nations, And thus to day, ¢ {ter a lapse of 1,800 yoars, uuity and Cathoheity were still preserved in the Church which Christ himself established, Tho same doctrines had always beon wught, the same mys- tories had always been presepted to be believed, the same rites of the sacraments which are necessary for the sanctification of the soul and lor the preservation of theChureh, the same adorabic sacrifice on the attar— thus presenting to the world a’ miracle greater even than the establisnment of the Church itselt—thus pre- senting to tho world something that attracts the atton- tion even of the unbeliever, who, either unwilling or upable to believe in the divine character of the Church, nevertheless stood in amazement and awe at its unity. ‘The reverend genticman then proceeded to describe THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES, and alluded to the promise of the Saviour to be with them and their successors to the end of timo. In con- clusion, he exhorted the congregation in contemplat- ing the grand festival which the Charch celebrated topray to God to iluminate their minds, that they might love Him, that they might be bumble and hat they might devote themselves to works of charity and penance. ‘Tho precision and harmony which marked the choral arrangements were highly creditable to Professor Gu tavus Schmitz, the organist, who selected for the oc sion Rossini’s beautiful Messe Soilennelle,” in A minor. The Cathedral Choral Society, represented by over thirty well trained voices, sang the choruses in splendid je, particularly the Jast fugues in the “Gloria” and “Credo,” the solos being allotted to Mine, Bredelli, soprano; Mme, Unger, contralto; Mr. Bersin, tenor, and Mr. Urchs, basso, A splendid efteet was produced throngbout the church and added nota little to the impressive characier of the ceremonies. Prior to the sermpn Mme. Unger sang “Veni Creator” with great taste and expression, and later on ‘40 Salutaris. At the Offertory Mme, Bredelli renaered Conconi’s “Regini Cocli,” a difficult though charming compost. tion, witb fauitless accaracy and ina manner that at once established ber vocal excellence as an artist. The festival was altogether impressively celebrated, the ecremonies lasting until neurly one o'clock, CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH. SERMON OF REV. WILLIAM BR. AIGER—‘‘THE PLACE OF LOVE IX THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND IN HUMAN Lips.” At the above church yesterday morning the ser- vices wero commenced by singing the beantiful and which is as follows :— Thy way, not mine, 0, lord, However dark it be: Lead me aright, by thine own hand— Choose ont the path for me. ‘Tho preacher's text was trom St. Paul's epistles to the Romans, xiii., 10—“Love ts the fulfilling of the Jaw,” and the subject was treated in a scholarly man- ner, The schoolboy, he said, who carnestly studies his lessons learns to Joye study; the man who lives in harmony with orderly nature comes to be harmonious and bappy, and he who performs his duties to bis fel- low mea comes to love mankind. Tho beings also who keep the commandments of God learn to love tho Umpipresent Father who smiles on them from the beautiful order of the Cosmos, and is privileged to taste the Joys eternityMocs not surpass. Nowhere can you havo peace and joy until you arrive at love; the very definition of the word shows that it is the attraction of our nature to its destiny, and besides there is & divine pleasure in the fulfiment of it, It isvery dificult, in this state of the world and so- clety, to lead a life of harmony—one thoroughly im- bued with truth and humaniiy—and to fulfi the de- mand of tho Gospel when it “You must love God with all your heart and your neighbor as your- self,” Distracted by the vast and couflicting influ- ences that environ us, we neglect to properly exercise our affections There are self-evident reasons why we should try to overcome our natural passions and to de- sire the happiness of every human being. What joy to feol no anger against any mau, but to desire every one to be prosperous and lappy, and to contribute what we can toward that end—in flue, toward the abo- Iitton of the outward law ond the tu'fiment of the in- ward law. But, in order to do this, we must love one another as we love oursoives, instead of partici.’ pating in the flendish jenlousies, petty meannesses, ehurlish bickerings and ctildish vanities that rule the scene and All the hour, When we think of the exquis- ite suffering in society on account of the lack of human Kindness, of desolate and solitary hearts that go down to death im unnoticed misery, in very pity we should repent and help to swell the tide of human bappiness— Bot add to its surging waves of trouble and despair. As alittle tre will Kindle ® flame that will illaminate a rict, so a spark of love will ofientimes hebt jot only one heart, but bring happiness to families. Even the sweet and ecetul of a Christ disarms hostility ia a blessing to those who look upon it. the heart is reflected in the face, The wise man can go through a crowded street without dificulty, bat he does not push and Oght his way through. He proceeds with asmilo anda kind word, and the throng make way for him. The great Edinund Burke wrote to a friend “We must coneil- tate, my dear Harry, we must conciliate; if not for the sake of others tor ourselves,” and thero is great wis- and So tho peace in dom in the advice, Paradise first began with wedded love, and all was. supreme joy antil a stranger ap- Pm . lousy destroyed the fair first home; bat | son day the voice of God will again be heard tn the garden in the cool of the ae 8 The gifted preacher concluded by some exqaisite iMustrations of the power and scope of love in the affairs of human hfe, and concluded the sermon with the usual benediction. 8ST, ANN’S CHURCH, WHITSUNDAY SERVICES FOR DEAP MUTES—SEn- MON BY REV. DR. THOMAS GALLAUDET. To St, Aun's Episcopal chureb, in Eighteenth street, near Filth avenue, belongs the credit of looking out for the spiritual welfare of deaf mutes to the extent of giving to this unfortunate class ¢ach Sunday the benciit of special reiigious services. In this city and Brook- lyn thero are some three hundred deaf mutes who avail themsetyves of these stated ministrations, neid at the church at three o'clock P. M. on every Sunday. Usuaily there 1s a pretty large attendance, not alone of the deaf and dumb people who assemine here for their special worship, but of others interested tn their re. ligious welfare, besides many who go for the simple purpose of witnessing the conducting of the services in the sign language. And certainly there can hardly be conceived & more impressive spectacie than that of these SULENT WORSMIPPERS engaged in their Sunday devotions, There ts no glitter or pomp or grand ceremonies or swelling anthems, “Silence is golten,’’ says Cariyie, Thisis sometbing be- yond that, Jt is simplicity intensified, It is the purity of devotion idealized. Rev. Thomas Gallaudet conducted the services, a son of the late Rev, Thomas I. Galiandet, who, having been providentiully led to devote himeell to this work by his interest m the deaf daughter of « physician, went abroad to learn the art ol deal mutes, and accomplished bis object at Paris, where le acqnited @ knowledge of the system originated by the Abbe de L’Epa and pericctod by the Abbe Sicard, and on his retarn (ounsled the first mstitation for the education of deaf mutes in this country. Under the teachings of sueh a father and the training of his deaf mute mother—for bis father married the deaf young jady om account of whom he went to Kurope, as stated—and he himself having in ture married a deat mute, tt could haruly be otherwise than t the present well known Rev. Dr. udet, ‘a perfect master of the language of silence, but also filled h genutne enthusiasm tor this sadly afflicted clas of 4 appropriate hymn, written by Bonar, the first verse of | NHW YUKK HERALD, MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1876.--TRIPLE SHEET. humanite, The services were ia accordance with the 1 ofthe execution of the laws, | beauties of Christianity. ritual for Whitsunday. With eyes on the various les- | $ a# one succeeded the other, his lands acted as the lerpreters; aud so, in reading portions of the Serip- y “O sing unto the Lord a new song,”” every eye watched the swiftly moving bands and Ongers and pantomunic shrugs and motions, and it was as plum to them as the spoken Word. At the close of the preliminary exercises followed A RAP Tins, The rite was administered to the infant child of parents both ef whom are deal mutes, This was a very im- pressive ceremonial, beng conducted, 8 _rvices, in the #1) Then The te: ike the previous ext followed te nd they were ail | filled with the Holy he manipnlations of such a skilled master of the sign language, one unfomilnr with the symbols vould almost | {race the briet but tmpreasive epitome given | of the life of Christ on earth, with | that subsequent episode in the lives of His apostles al- | Juded to in the text. The sermon was appropriate to | | the day, and the closest possible atteution was pola to the reverend interpreter, Afior guing over the beld of | what 1s bejng done for the atvancement of Christ's kingdom on earth, be told them want was being spe cially done on behalf of the 20,000 iu this country stin- | itnrly with themselves through the aid of the Church Mission to Deaf Mutes, founded in this city | three years ago and of whieh there ar branches | im nearly all the leading cities of the country, and | through its instrumentahty the words of the Gospel are | being preached to so mauy who otherwise would be de- | prived of this b.essed privilege. 11 uppears, further, that the projoct for securing a “National Home for A and Iniirm Deaf Mutes’’ ts meeting with great encour. | agement, and the time is evidently not far away when this plan of benevoles will be tistactorily and completely consummated. Alter aclosing benediction the stlent worshippers Withdrow as quietly as they had entered the sacred edifice, and it was plain to be seen that all appreciated there kindly retigious mimistrations in their behalf, and the speeral, earnest labors of their must zealous and devoted friend and religious teacher, Rev, Dr. Gallaudet ASBURY CHURCH. WORSHIPPING IN THYIR NEW CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME—SERMON BY BISHOP JANES. Tho old Greene street Methodist church 18a thing Of tho past. Abandoning the time-honored edifice, around which there clings so many hallowed recollec- tions, and changing tho name to the Asbury Methodist Episeopal church, the remnant of the little society | which for more than forty years exerted such a praise- Wortby influenco and did so much real good in the little plain brick chureb, has at last followed the example of #0 many other church societies. and = moved further up town, This church was founded in 1851, and since that event who can rightly esttmate the service it has done? At last it found springing up all around it large waro- houses and manufacturing establishments, which rapidly crowed out the mhabitants who had for many | years Glled its pews and knelt about its chancel rail | The society now worship at the stone church corner | ot Washington square and Washington. pli This | building has one of the neatest interiors of any chureh | im the city. Yesterday the first service was beld within its walls by what is now the Asbury Episcopal church, There was pres gation. The pulpit, which is exceedingly neat and tasteful, was prettily decorated with festoons of smilax ‘and tubcroses, while on atable immediately under the speaker's desk was abed of whito roses, through the centre of which was written with modest Nittlo violets the worax “Groene sircet, 18! “Asbury, 1870.) The services wore conducted and the sermon reached by the venerable Bishop Jaues, Taking for iy text the words, ‘*For we are laborers togett i God,” found ta the ninth verse of the third ¢ the First Corinthians, the Bishop preached a very earn- est and instructive sermon, Ho argued that most people are not apt to think of God us working with man to accomplish any purpose. ‘This, however, was wrong, a8 God has seen fit to admit ian as a cola- borer with Him in His great plan of redemption, He employs man to spread the Gospel. He employed them as amanuenses in olden times and He nuw employs thom as missionaries and as living exponents of the Tho Bishop also spoke of God's great activity, hold- ing that He is ever working and is never idlo, | CENTRAL M. E. CHURCH. “THE CRUSADE ON THK DRAM SHOPS’—SERMON BY REV. C. 5, HARROWER. The subject chosen by Rev. Mr, Harrower, at the Central Methodist Episcopal church, Seventh avenue, last evening was, ‘Are we interested in the recont en- forcement of the Excise law?” Whatever answer the moral religious community may give to this question, the speaker held, should be given at once and unmis- takably, The authorities would no doubt like to know and they ought to know for the good of asall. If we are not interested In the execution of the laws let us say to the police officials that they may fight or not, Just as they please, If they wish, from good motives or irom questionable ones, to keep it up—all ight, If they can get a little reputation, or if they can get the liquor sellers to pay therr fees more promptly by the scare, iU’s their own matter; we are in- different, But if we are interested in the execution of the laws—especially if we believe in the laws in ques. tion—I think it is time that somebody held a mass meeting beside the Aldermen, the Tammany commit- tee, the Germans and the liquor sellors, It is not sur, | prising that men of distinction 1m party politics should have been scen or heard entering their protest against “the obnoxious laws’? and “the despotic and arbitrary enforcement of them.’? The sympathy of the dram sellers and the dram drinkers is of immense value in an election, No matter what the private opinions of men or to what party they belong, it ts often death to «peak on the right side, and It even might be death not to speak on the wrong side. I have | no doubt the silence ot the genoral community has al- most overstrained the virtue of some of our fellow-cit- | ions, Now, why ts it that so many are indifferent justat | this juncture? I have heard {t called a farce, only & scare to get money out of the saloon: | Keepers who bave been backward of late, Another man says “The eniorcement has been unequal, and so I’m opposed to it’? Another ix ‘diss gusted with the manner of doing tt—sneaking in, buying drinks and arresting the bartender,” He's down on such imposition. Another says “I's a while another desmses the whole thing be- ‘It’s tho work of s>me fanatics and tools in lyn and Now York who want to prevent the i frgm having his beer, the Irishman his gin, the decent American his ‘ager or his whiskey.”’ So it’s an ontrage on individual rights and liberties, Loox at these REASONS FOR IXDIFFERENCR. | This talk about a game betweon police and saloon | keepers is vory witty, of course, but it’s absurd. The | order bas come from too far up and extends too widely | to be disguised that way. And what if there has been | partiality in semo places? No one supposes that poiic men aro allangels Ax for ‘*sneak»ng around" 11's too | late to question the principle of the detective system, Any of us wonld hike to have a wateh recovered that | way. Il, moreover, this movement is but ‘a spasm," | public inarference will be accountable for it, And, 4s to the charge that fanatics are at the bottom of it, | do | not know what the moving cause may*have been, but I | have an opinion of the fanatics and lools referred 10, which 1 will give further on; and as to the movement, ‘self, L believe in it with all my beurk In the tirst place, it will be an established fact that tho authorities, who aro primarily responsible tor the spectacte of silent beer gardons and quiet saloons, have been moved by an honorable regard for law, for re- ligion and for the welfare of society. Many men who | Aro not total abstainers themselves are shocked by the excesses of the vicious, pained by the conduct of ihe thoughtless, and alarined at the periis of society. These are tn part the motives which have influenced the most responsible authorities in our city, And I deciare wo are seriously recreant if we do pot say with a hundred theusund voices, “Lord, we are with yout! But again, this outburst agai wiess ram ts a sig- nificant event at the end ot fe ive years of temper: years bave been A wave of enthusi- swept lor two oF tures years, and | then indificrence most obliterated the traces of | ih Still there has been w steady gain in public and private sentiment. Fewer church members, fower clergymen, tower of the intelligent classes apologize for drinking; a much smaller number of these ciarses than formerly have it on their tables of cali jor it at the restaurant, Meantime the foreign population has greatly increased among us, aud foreign habits hare en insroduced and tole! This bas been party from courtesy I ss of different education, partiy from political mouves. Meantime, als ance people aud moral people geverally hi wrong and fenred rapid relaxatior throughout suctety. Suddenly power that can curb the wide rebellion agains order. Is 1 true that we bave a police and a judicinry that can and will carry out the Iaw? Can we = recover from the eflvcta of mistaken courtesy to strangers, and unprincipied political con yons? Iti significant question, Ub. serve, too, that every gain has to be held by the same courage which first wins it Evasion and corruption, alter a law is made, are as bard to tight as the original diMeulties, Look at the hovorabl See their sulemn taces, their wrath- liquor sellers! ful faces, their indignant taces! rr one and spother of the Commissioners saying:—"It_ never was intended in the shape it took,” “I will protest against anything ke 1 again. I'm wot surprised at tho “back down” of part of the Bowrd. U'm ouly thanktnl that two or three seem not to bave backed down, But what they need is backbone. and 1} don't see why two of three men should have all the backbone of a city, either. Shame on them if in tuoi bigh and responsi. pl on you to stand up tor law and might, aud 1 call on the Commissioners and Supermtend- ent of Polico to be worthy of their place, men of courage and men of might Io conclusion, the speaker urged the formation of a brotherhood uf law and order, to encourag authorities and support ther ‘ork. mended « mass meeting m the samo intercst, He di clared that good citizen: t Lsipreee Meetings In their distric proper caudidates for municipal and stato urged every one to exert all possible influence in lt NFR STONE. The New Catholic Church of St. Baul the Apostle, INTERESTING CEREMO Yesterday afternoon was laid the corner stone of the new Church of St, Paul, at Fifty ninth street and Ninth avenue, by Bishop Corrigau, of Newark, N. J., with Appropriate ceremonies. The occasion had been an- * nouneed four weeks ago, and the farthful came from all parts of the city yesterday to witness the ceremony. The church when finished will be one of the most magnificent m the city, second only to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the entire Catholic population of New York take deep interest in its successful completion, The Paulist Fathers aro deservediy popular throughout the city on account of their labors in the mission, and yesterday their ad- murers paid the best tribute possible to their zeal and devotion in the cause of religion by being present in person and with their money, As early as two o'clock in the afternoon crowds of people surged around the vieinity of the site, Other crowds paraded up and down the streets for more than two hours anxiously awaiting the arrival of the procession of societies which were to form on Fitth avenue and move at three P, M. up Fifth Avenue to Forty-second street, thence to Broadway, to Fifty-seventh sirect, to Ninth avenue, to the grounds at #ifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets. Tho following so; cleties were in the procession under the care of Thomas J. Dunn, Geveral Marshal; Johu Johston, Special Aid; Patrick Quigley, Patrick Holleran, James O’Keolo, Timothy Dillon, Jobn Tobin, Hugh Boyle, Pat | rick Mulligon, J. HH. Masterson, Denis Casey, Jonn Lalley, John Gleason, Peter, = Dun and Patrick = J..— Gallagher, general aids; St, Paul the Apostie’s Guild, St, Patrick’s R. GT. A. B. Society, Transfiguration H.C. T. A. B. Society, St, James’ Y, M. i. ©. T. A. B. Society, St. Columba’s R, © T. A. B, Society, St. Bridget’s R. C. 1. A. B. So ciety, St. Michael's RC. T. A.B. Society, St An- thony’s R. C. ‘I, A. B, Society, St. Vincent Ferrer's R. ©. 'T, A. B. Society, Holy Innocents’ R. ©. T. A. B. So ciety, Alphonsus’ RG TAB poiety, St. Peter's Y. M. Association, Father Matthew's R. C. 7, A.B, societies, ’Nos 1 ‘ather Matthew MB. T. A, By societies eneral Beneficial Association, Holy Club, Emerald Beneticial Association k's Mutual Ailtance and Benevolent Asso procession arrived at Fitty-ninth streey nue about fonF o'clock. Then the formal nd Ninth ay ponies commenced, At this time every seat was on the immense platforms, shies wero decked and ornamented with the flags of all nattons— Irish and American prevating, aud tho whole space between Fifty-mintl and = Sixtieth streets Was one sea of bunting, flagstafls Innumerable and end- Joss lines stretching in all directions with streamers at- tached, all gayiy fluttering in the wind. There wero Jour platiorms, one on Fitty-ninth street, which aceom- modated at least tive thousand people, one attached to the house itself, another where a recherché band of music, of fifty performers, was stationed, under the direction of Professor Thomas Monabat 1d another, which was decked with blue velvet, trimmed with . white silk fringe, intended ' for His Eminence the Cardinal’ and the __ clergy. Ata quarter alter four the ceremonies were formally pened. A procession headed by Father Young entered the gate on the northwest corner of Ninth avenue and Vifty-ninth street. He was followed by Fi Augustine Brady, bearing the jarge cross and attended by two acolytes carrying candles inclosed in large gilt lamps. Next came two boys, one holding » book and another a roll of purchment inclosed in silver, intendedfto be deposited in the corner stone, Then came twelve boys in red sontans and white sur. | plices, followed by forty-eight boys, carrying books, in purple soutans and white suphces. After these came eighteen acolytes in purple and then 100 priests in sur. pliees, and last gamo four students bearmg a canopy over Bishop Corrigan, arrayed in fall pontificat robes, and attended by Father Searles, deacou, and Father Dwyer, sub deacon. As soon as the ‘KY were seated on the platform assigned the societies filed through the gate, crossed the corner stone and passed out through ‘the gate on Sixtieth street, Since the dedication of the cathedral in Filth avenue larger audience has ever been witnessed in this etty atalike ceremony, and as every part of the ceremonies wax conducted ia, the open air, the audience applauded loudly the most salient poimis made in the dis course of the Rev. Dr. Spaniding, the ora- tor of the day. Dr. Spaulding is a nephew of the former Bishop of Louisville, who was afterward Arch- bishop Spaulding, of Baitimyre, the family 1s an old and well known one in Kentucky. Dr. Spaulding is at present an assistant to Father Donnelly, pastor of St. Michael’s church, in Ninth avenue and Thirty-first streot, ‘Thirty thousand persons were presont, epite of the rain, which came down in torrents, the ma- jority of them waited till after the comclasion of the coremony. The procession, rs it forced down through the mar- row causeway into the hollow made for the toundation of the church, with its mingling of purple and red, white and black in the attire of the priests and the ac- olytes; the gilded vestments of the bishop, and the display of Indies’ dresses on the platforms combined, made a magnificent picture, The most porfect order wus preserved, owing to the presence of 100 policemen, under the command of Captain Jobn J. Ward, of the Twenty second precinct, aud a detachment of about torty detectives. One of the novelties of the procession was the fact of the corner stone being carried resting on a platform covered with a magnificently embroidered cloth, en- | vironed with beauti'ul flowers, by tour young and looking students in white surplices and blac! ail belonging to the Order of St. Paul the Aj In the base of the corner stone was pl utans, alony | with coins, newspapers and the document pal ished yesterday’s HeRALD containing th mes of the ex tive officers of the United States and the State of New York, of Cardinal McCloskey. Rev. Father Hecker, founder of the con; st. Paul; Rev, J. T. L. Spaulding, the orator of the day, and tho architect of the new church, Jeromiah O'Rourke, The stone also contained the names of all the members, dead and living, of the Paulit congrega- tion. Rev. Dr. Spaulding’s sermon yesterday waz on THR PROGRESS OF THR CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA, before commencing it, he read a letter from His minence Cardinal MeCloskey, excusing himself on ac- count of ill health for nov beng presect, and also expressing his bearty good will and sympathy with the Panhst Fathers in their good work. Dr. Spaulding said that though the nation as a Republic was but a hondred years in existence the Catholic Church was in existence in the country long before; but during the hundred years of the existence of the Republic the Church had made wondrous strides, Hor rapid growth could ony be likened to the spread of the mustard seed, but it grew with perfect symmetry in all tts parts, [tis with sentiments of gratitude, #0 natural to the Catholic heart, that those holy men who were with the Chareh in its early stages bere aro membered—they who withstood the storm aud battle. Among them we ean name Archbishop Cafroli and Bishop Dubois and hosts of worthy missionaries who fought the fight of the Lord amid the most dis- couraging surroundings. After these camo the great archbishop, who bade the Catholics come out and speak for themseives—Arcn op John Hughes, He had mind that could plan and a beart thas no difficulties coald make falter of discourage, To him the Catholia Church in New York owes its greatest successes, Every one knows the generosity of tho American church acd the kindness of oar Holy Father the Pope, for it when WR GAY U8 AN AMERICAN CARDINAL, But let us turn to the subject before us—the religions community who are ubout to butld this church, the corner-siene of which we are laying to-day. There are many old oraces laboring amongst us to-day, and they are doing a great deal of good, but there can’ never be too much done, The first religious community of women in this country s founded by a convert, Mother Seton, in Baitimore, «nd the first religions community of gmen was founded another convert, Father tecker. This comm work seventeen years ago, and now, to-day, they are going to lay the cornor-stono of an edifice whieh it it expected will be one of the most beantifal in Anerica, The Spe ieah Fincer = pe ge ts called atter St Paul the Apostle, who, of all missionaries, was more avalogous to tho Americin character than any known saint He was the prototype of all missionaries, He was the mort active most eager tor work-—never idle, never silent, eaget and carvest everywhere and in everything. Dr. Spautding concladed cailing on the peo. ple to aid the Pauhst Fathers getierously in their noe dertaking, and censuring the vile polwy that would tax Peburch which was a work of art and an ornament to the city. TUK BLESSING OF THE CORNER STONE took place, the Bishop, with his attendant deacon and and subdeacon, walking around the walls, while the clergy and choristers, at ig on the platiorm, chanted as 1olows phon, “Signam Salutts.” ny of the Saints.” Third—Antipbon, “Mane Sargeris Jacob” and the Psalm, “Not Dominas, While «prinkiing the stone with holy water the choristers chanted, “Ob, Quam Metuendus," and the commenced pealm, ‘“Fundamenta ost,” the anti “Par ¥terna,” and the psalm ‘‘Lactatus Sum.’? Afler the sprinkling the hy ni Creator,” was sang, and then the Bishop pri ced his blessing, All these ceremonies Were performed while the rain came down incessantly, (ending somewhat to mar thelr beauty and effectivencss, Among the men pres. ent yesterday were Rev, Fat! Goeckeln, Hudon and Thiry, of the Urder ot Jesuits, Fathers Hecker, Hewitt, Young, Deshon, Hill, Augustine Brady, Kaward " Kliiott, Searie, Simmons, Weyman and Raw’ the Order of St Paul the A Rov. S Hesly, pastor of St. Bernard's ireh; Rev Reardon, assistant postor; Kev. Patrick % ; Vicar General Quinn, Rev. da Von and were Iso preset EA