The New York Herald Newspaper, August 14, 1876, Page 8

“THE PULPIT. Sermons Prdached by Various | Clersymen Yesterday. COMMUNION WITILT GOD. . Miss Anna Oliver on “Onur Shepherd and His Care,” THE PUBLICAN AND THE PHARISEE. as Rev. Dr. Baird, of Syracuse, on | “Christ's Ministry.” THE STRAN ope SERVICES AT THE CHURCH OF CHURCH OF THE STRANGHRS. LOVE AND REDEMPTION—SERMON BY DR, DEEMS. Avery large congregation assembled in this church yesterday morning, and Dr. Deems preached trom a text derived from St, John xxi, 17:—*'Siinon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me”? The preacher said:—I think, dear brethren, we may consider ono point settled forever. It is that the Lord, who — suffered s0 much for us, would never injure the feelings of any human being unless it was necessary for such person’s own good. Yet where Jesus knowingly and purposely wounded the feelings of Simon, Why did He do so? Was it for Simon's good? Yes; Simou had denied Him after swearing the utmost fidelity. treason. Christ was rison from the dead and had breakfasted upon the beach with tho disciples He could not go away from Simon without making this matter right, and to doso He must wound his fectings, He knew Simon loved him, but He must give the semblance of a doubt in His mind, Some people think that to be a Christian isto avoid hurting | the fechings of others at all tines, This is a mistaken Idea, Tho truest Christian is he who will not hesitate to wound his fellows whon it becomes necessary, but who docs this with the greatest tenderness, No matter tow much it hurt Peter’s feelings Curist must do the night and leave an example for the world. But mark Ihe delicacy of this great surgeon, After eating of the 6 his face toward his former follower, and to him, “Simon, son of Jonas, jovest thou He know See how Simon Saviour, but there was infinite tenderness, Just where, when and how to strike. answered Him; how the words reach said, “Thou knowest I love Tne gushing Peter, who bad sworn his love Strongly a tew days belore? Ho is now « very homble man, What a Muster have we, brethren! What practical Jessons may we jearn from ‘a question which Ho put twice to His apostic! inthe first place it proves His undoabted jove tor us. Often we come to Christ, besceching, us it were, the bestowal of His love, when in fact it is we that must render our afection to Him—His love was given to us long since, He wants only our hearts; He wants only our love. Never do you go Wooing; but while Ho woos you give your affections to Him, crowned with all goodness and excellence? resist the love of the Lord’ ‘Another inference we may draw from the story of the text: He wants the avowal of our love just as we want our friends to give us oceasioually a proof of their affection for us. How often do little children clamber upon their mother’s lap and ask, “Mamma, do you love me?” The child, you know 1 love you.” ‘Then, why don’t you say so some- times?’ Jonathan made Davi he second time, so sweet was it to him to hear the repetition. So Jesus asks the uvowal of our love to Him, not because he doubts our affection, but because tt is mght wo should declare i, If my mem- ory serves me right He never catechized His followers about their love until alter fle suifered the agonies of the cross, The substance of His culture bad been to teach them obedience to the Futber and love for one @nother. For the first time pow Ho calls out, “St- mon, son of Jonas, lovest thon me ?"” Never until His Deart’s blood was poured out at Golgotha bad He asked this question. Never ull He died for us did He de- mand an admission of our love. Some preachers say, Don't teach people to jove Christ merely for what He has ¢oue tor them, Talk to them of His goodness, His mercy, His mighty power aud majesty. Teach them to love Him for these things, jor Himseif.”’ Now, this is all very Ane. You preact: thus to seraphs, but don’t preaeh in such a manner to ine, a poor hu- man being. Angels and archancels may shout around the throne, “Glory! glory! glory! Lord, God Al- mighty!” Bat there is another throng upon one side, ‘who sing, “Worthy is the lamb, for He was slain for u ‘Another truth is’ set forth in the text, which is shat love is the all-im- portant thing. Dear as our love is to Josus, it is indispensable for us and our salvation. No religion can avo without it You may give your millions to colleges and churches and to the poor; you may work good deeds among the low and simple, but af your own heart is not filled with a levo for Jesas it will avail you Iitee. Simon Peter's answer, “Thou knowest I Jove thee,” was full of a real and bitter re- yentance (or his sips. Such a feeling must move us ‘when wo come to God. That we should have been capable of wounding His great heart should overwhelm us with bitter mortilication. A tew benoficaal inferences may bo drawn from Peter's reply. It was an outspoken display of Vigorous honesty. We lose mueh oi the beauty .f this ‘onversation between the Saviour and Simon by the Sabeicticn, In the Greek lauguago the terms em- ployed are more discriminative and convey a fuller Meaning. The word used to express “lor 1h Simon's reply moans by a literal iransiation, “ove from the otiom of the heart.’ Simomcould ‘not have spoken tbus did he not know that hix love was yenuinc and real. He telt 1, and his reply Was meant to convey the meaning of a love which Bmounted to the strongest paseton. Le ielt the shawe of bis denial of his Lord, aud his beart was filled with humility and contrition. What a difference between this apostle and Jud The latter was filled with despair, the former with grief of heart, Judas went and sirangied himself to death. Simon was so sorry nd full of grief that he could only weep bitierly, He jad pot time to think of anicide. We may see great distinction between the characters of these two men, When, relore, Swen * Jesus be did so hambily and simeereiy, and upon the third asking of the quesiton, “simon, son of Jonas, Jovest thou me?” he replied, “Lord, thon knowest all hearts; thou knowest that I Jove thee,’ injury’to the Church and to Chrisiianity to suppose that when people become membors of the Charch they are expected to be free from future sia, Does not God know var weakness and does be pot understand the force of our temptation? Simon had wrenged Hita he yet repenied tmmeaiately aiterward, and the kind manner of the Saviour toward him, as shown in the text is) ine dicative of the avundance of his mercy lor those who © y to do His will, and oneval not their love. Iu conclusion, the preacher d his heart. He Where is that Who can said:—True love brings « sipner back to the feet of | Jesus There can be no pure religion on earth, or Pleasure in beaven above, without Jesus Christ, ' Ho is the soul and ive of alk | Men may stand mmperial in their intellects, grand in their achievements, grent ainong their fellows, their fortanes, hike their'm may be ample and vxtensive; bul whoevor they are, their strepgth cau avail bat little without « simple faith in the Saviour. Aman way gather his milions; bat docs he pot also gather the more precious treasure of Salvation be is poor iudecd. He may have hosts of friends and a loity position in suceiy; he may go to bis grave almost bearing the beginning of the praises Bhat are to follow bis exit; eveu eternity, were such a Mhing possible, may peur the weaith into his Jap that earth velore hos done, yet, without love in bis heart for Jesus Christ he must still be lone and anbappy. CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, SERMON BY THE LEY. STEPHEN H. TYNG, IR,— COMMUNION WITH GOD, Despite the warm weather there was yesterday quite B large congregation !n aitendance upon the morning Borvices at the Churei of the Holy Trinity, corner of Madison avenue and Forty-second street. The Rev. Btephen H. Tyng, Jr., preached the sermon He took for his text the thirty-tbird and thirty-fourth verses of the thirty-tourth chapter of Hixodus, whieh read as fo Jows :—‘'And till M he put a veil on bis face fore the Lord to speak with him he took the veil off uatil he came out And he came ont and spake unto the children of Isracl that which be wos commanded.” For forty days and forty nights, he said, Moses spake unto the Lord in the mount, and recei the Lord the instructions aud traditions which he ward communicated to tho chitdren of larnei, This communion with the bright things of God was re tho coantenauce of Moses when flected in be descended from the mount, and we read that bis fuco was so lighted wp with the great glory of his seuson of communion that the people were afraid to Jook upon him, and, according to the context, it came to pase that when he came dowa from Sinai he kept a ‘veil on his face wotii he bad done speaking. This, said the reverend preacher, was the outline of the incident. Alter speaking at somo length of tho apostolic inter. Pretation of it, he said that the toxt he bad chosen pre- here we have an instanco | But he atterward wept | bitterly and shed tears of sincero repentance for his | 80 | Who can stand belure such love when it is | here a | as, | es had done speaking with them | but when Moses went in be- | | of time. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 1876—WITH SUPPLEMENT. sented two distinct pletures. Une was of Moses veiled | love amd trust in God. So perfect is their reliance in before the people, aud the other of Moses unveiled be- fore the Lord, The last preceded the first in the order | Moses in the mount talked with the Lord face to Yace, though he saw Him not in His inaccessi, bie brightness, and he descended aud testite people what he had beard, These wo pietures pre Sented in their tarn two subjects for onr meditavion, | twot ut of tue Lord These * Uuvelled Was tue type of the serv pinaniog with God ax He manite ets of the communion with God itlustrated esseutial pe Christian ie, were the wings nls of every irue on which be | soared, in holy fancy, to the uneven things above—the } uw | | | | | | | | | | swered the query of | It is agreat | Joss knew that though | | | Lord the and by would mak They should, be arms with which he seiz-d mercies intended by a bountcous ¢ whieh he sees and hears th known to the ciiidren of Hie love. , be proportioned the one to that the hight received might be compiete in its enjoy- ment and tufluence, picture of Moses unverled in bis cammunie: ges. Aman would never find rest except through communion with God. War the centre of the soul about which we must live, in whose light the soul finds its own brightness, Am the outer ciicie was larger than the stalier, 80 he whe walk lurthost from ihe centre musi walk with less ¢ Our sanctification of spirit was uot obtained by 8 of ceremony oF external Juge Hew ith God Should commune with bim without Some said that this commuving with God Was ataystery! So it was, He who created the spirit had Mis own way of manitesting iimsett to His people. Should we never see Him in visions as of ola? hear t Damascus? Would panties with God Hitn speak to us as He dit to Paul He not speak to the soul He had formed’ “The nails on my fingers,” said Dr, Tyng, “these wrists whieh grow, which, with their muscie and vove, make up & completeness ‘of power are facts 1 understand; yet they are a mystery | cannot fathom’? A man who knew, ho added, and had feit what it was to commune with God needed no expianation of the mystery, Be- cause 1,600 men had not seen what another bad, was thut a reason why he shoula be discarded as a witness? ecuuse the testimony was net aniversal should the Church of God nut be heard, guided by God, cheered in the night seusonsy The reverend gentleman then went on to explain the conditions suggested by the text of a thorough communion with Ged. The Chr: tian who decided to commune with Ged should be as Moses was, unveiled before Him—that is, be without :’ reserve. = Every part of bis nuture should be open to God, every thought of selt dismissed. If be had ‘one eth hidden, even by anticipation or desire, his face would never shine as did that of Moses. It we came to com- mune with God for selfish enjoyment, if other than pure motives were our promptings, thea would our faces be veiied andthe glory of the Lord we would never see. It was the soul that humbled itself in the dust and asked to be as a mirror mto which the bright- ness of the divine acceptance might shine would ob- tam communion with God, as did Moses on the mount. Many peeplo’s prayers wore unanswered because they | aliowed certain "sing to be hiaden, because the | veil was over their hearte, becauso they declined to open every avenue to the soul that God might ill it witu His glory. One man thought too much of his wealth, another was uplitted’ with pride, and yet an- otuer worshipped at heart the seldish world, which was his God, even while he made a pretenco of’ really wor- shipping the God of grace and glory. Such a Christian always went out of God’s temple unsanctitied, 1t was not in the God of thunders, but in Jesus Christ wo sought tor rest—in the man of sorro psi whom we received the brightness ot the Father's glory, ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH. THE PUBLICAN AND THE PHARISEE—EXHORTA- TION BY THE REY. FATHER M'CAULEY. At this church yesterday morning tho Rev. Father MeCunley brictly commented on the Gospel of the Sun- day, which was taken from St, Luke, xvili,, 0-14. Ho said that the publican and the Pharisoo were two oppo- site characters, one being filled with the spirit of pride and exclusiveness peculiar to bis sect, and the other an outcast from the religious society that surrounded bim. Our Lord, the great exemplar, tho meek and lowly teacher, gave to us this parable as a iesson of namil- ity, of diffidence in ourselves, more especially when we entered on the holy work of prayer, Pride was ina certain sense a robbery from God of what was duc to Bim, appropriating to one’s self the meritsand glory which belonged to that God who hag suid, “Without me yeu can do nuthing,’’ Humility was the foandation of ail the virtues. It was the distinguishing feature of our Lord's carcer, and was strongly mplified in the lives of the saints of God’s Church in all ages. We might, perhaps, (htnk that it was difficult to dnd one who would boldly stand up and give expression to his Sense of worthiness betore God by exctaiming, ‘0 God! 1 thank theo that 1 am notas the rest of mon.’ Yet there were feelings of the beart of a like base n: ture which many might not bave the hardihood to Soo te yee eome. | give expression to In words, Wo all loved the virtue of bumiity as it was manifested in the lie of Christ and as we saw it in the trints and labors of the holy men apd women who devoted them. selves in all the ages to tie service of God; we admired it in every one who possessed it; but did we make any efforts ourselves to practise it, to be ‘doers of the word and not hearers of it only.’ We should be most carofal t endeavor to culttvate this virtue, to keep before our minds our utter dependence on God and our own unworthiness, Wo shouid always be humble, aud especially. so in proportion to the dignity of tho affairs to which wo give our attention, When we approashed the work of prayer it should be with hearts bowed down before God, for “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to tho hamble.”” Tho short but fervent prayer of the publican was, “*O God! be mereitul t me @ sinner.” We might well imitate the publican «igo to that gractous God with the samo confidence and contrition and the same readi- | ness to avow and chastiso our — offences, Our ingratitude should be before our minds always, | With « deep-lelt consciousness of our crimes and of | the infinite goodness of God. The Pharisee was wholly | occupied with his own imaginary merits and nover thought of petitioning God to grant the pardon of his fing or for perseverance in virtue. He believed him- seit to be raised to an eminence of virtue above which ho need not seck to ascend ner from which he was id | desire the to his | | come ana deliver mankind. His coming is not to danger of falling. His pride olinded him miseries and wants, aud rendered hin insensible of danger, realizing the declaration of+ writer, maledictions, and it shall rain him in the end.” differert the humble publican! His prayer ascended from an humble heart, to the Ki confession of the other in order | What a marvellous truth dia this | in communion | the inspired | “Ho tuat holdeth pride sbail be filled with | How | | bess that aeiile Standing afar off, ho would | | Goa’s wisdom that they would not bave their lot in | life diferent. There are vot many people on Fifth ave- Bue who can say the sume thing. Look at the mai tyrs, who, when persecuted, sang somgs of triump! Sueh a victory ail of us cum have. There are very few Chretians who actually euffer want, A great mauy | persons ruffer from fear that they sball want. I re lect a text of Seripture that a litle girl in Atlanta quotet once. It was thiss—'Cast thy — bur. den upon the Lord, and thou shalt find itatier many days.” 3 the ible, but it seems to me we quote it the same way, They cast their burdens upon the Lord aad then find them in a httle while and atiempt to carry them themselves, In the second place, we shall not want in the jite to © In the Tower of London there are many bits of armor ana the whole cesling of that place | Was Covered with flowers made from them. 30, at last, when we come to the other world we xball see the toils and troubles of this life blossom into the flowers of eter- | nity, Some of us have sat by the bedside of dying friends. We have heard the last words as they went down bis world | through the dark waters, Every one of us must travel | | that journey some time, There will come a time when | ve shall want some one near us when the eye of flesh | capnot see. A tine when we will teel that all that has been compamionable in this life has left us, We have | the Great Shepherd who can lead us on step by step through that dark water, up the shining way te glory. - | Would you, my dear brethren and sisters, walk so bear the Shepherd that when you cannot feel’ the hand of your dearest friend you can feol the pierced band that | was prereed ior you? Are there any wanderers hero | to-day? He 1s calling for you now; will you not go to | His arms and boar Him say, ‘Rejoice, rejotce: 1 have | found my sheep.” FOURTEENTH STREET CHURCH. SERMON BY REV. DR. 4, F. BAIRD, OF BYRA- cUSE. Rey. Dr. A. F. Biard, of Syracuse, at this church yesterday selected his text trom St. Joha, i. 38 and 39:—"Then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them, ‘Wnat seek ye?’ him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and ssc, They came and saw where ho dwelt, | and abode with him that day; for it was about the | tenth hour,” This imcident, said the preacher, pic- | tures Christ in the first act of Hie ministry, Tho world bad great need of a Saviour; the nations had their | governments; science and arts their protectors, but | mone of them had faith im a Father in heaven. But the prophecies of the Hebrew people were to be {ulGiled and the blessed babe of Bethtehem came upon the earth, He was the first man to digaity the com- mon duties of common life, to eunoble labor and strip | poverty of all reproach. But think for an instant of | the wonderfui ovents which the text describes Phere | was John, aman with wonderful powers of oratory, | around whom the people flocked, but when in the | midst of bis Jabors attention was drawn to Jesas and | the question was asked, ‘Who is ne?” he answered, | He it is who coming alicr me is preterred betore me, wnose shoe latchet 1 am not worthy to unloose, Jesus having leit his home in Nazareth, after neing baptized known by the people. He could not remain unknown ; and bere we meet the text again, Jobn had shaken the world by his preaching, but when the two young men caine down to hear the word and turned to the reat apostle with their question, he said, ‘Behold the famb of God tnat taketh away the sins of tho world.” ‘Then they asked Jesus, “Where dwellest thou 9” and He catd, “Come and gee.” Thus wo have Christ's great secret of making disciples and of doing good. The first lesson this teaches is the ready seizure of present opportunities, He took the young men right in the strect; they were strangersto tho town and might be gone by the morrew, 80 He seized the opportunity at once to give them the word of life John, doubtless, wis more attractive, for he was great, but the two young men were drawn to Josus and Ho recetved them with ready hands of fol- lowebtp. The second lesson that Christ teaches is Hs | recognition of the indivicual man. Some poopie are always planning some scheme of general good; some- | times for the Church, sometimes for society ‘or the | State; but very few of these persons try to influence the thdividual, Jesus did not allow the individual 10 | be lost sight of, aud while trying to save mankind He | did not lose sight of man, One by one the individuals | make up the thousands, and if we work for persons the | mututades wili come also. Tne third lesson of Christ is not only to recognize man but \o recognize our fei low man. The first principle of Christianity is tellow- ship, and I know of churches which cultivate this sentiment for Christ’s sake, and I know of others where they havo fine singing and elaborate serviccs, but they hold out no hands, and it almost soems to ms as if they bad no hearts, We must havo love first of ail if we wish to understand Christ's methods of con- verting men. CATHOLIC APOSTOLIO CHURCH. SERMON ON THE NEAL COMING OF THE LORD, Tho subject of a sermon last evening at the Catholic Apostolic charch in Sixteenth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, was ‘Reasons for Belreving that the Lord's Coming ‘1s Near.’’ The church edifice is small and the sect to which it belongs is small also, There are no ordaimed ministers, and laymen officiate in prayers and ceremonies that appear to bo a parody | of the Roman Catholic services. One of the deacons, who felt reluctant to let his name transpire, preached on thesubject given above. Ho said:—We cannot know the day or bour of the Lord’s coming, but there was every indication that 1t was near. Men generally can- not be made to see this simply because they do not want the Lord to come, It would disturb their calculations and make them uncomiort able, Unless you are willing the Lord should como there is Tittle use in showing you the reasons why His coming is not far off. If men would not be se!Qgh in their religion, and confine themselves to anxiety about their personal salvation, they would Lord’s coming, for Ho Himself desires to burn up the world, but to bring in what every Christian mn cought tolong for—namely, good government and Justice; to sweep Christendom clean of all the wicked- Mt; to raise the dead saints a translate the iiving, and to bring succor and not so imuch as lilt his eyes toward heaven, but he | the sick, weary, groaning creation—things which men struck his breast saving, “Oh God! be mereiful to me | cannot do, and wiat wili not be dove till He comes, sinner.” We were all debtors to the Divino justice, and we should turn with the pubiican to that asylum of mercy which would recetve us, Pride shrunk trom the humiliating acknowledgment of our weakness, humility disclosed she hidden wounds tn ail their de- formity, FIRST PLACE M. E. CHURCH. OUR SHEPHERD AND HIS CARE—S8EBMON BY MISS ANNA OLIVER, Miss Anon Oliver, graduate of the Boston School of Theology, preacved yesterday morning at the First Place Methodist Episcopal ehurch, Brooklyn. Her text was Psalms, xxtit, 1—“The Lord is my shepherd,” and sho said:—Our translation ot the Bible is excelient, and we all love even the very words of our Knglish Version. We hesitate often to speak of any new light thrown upon any point because our old translation is so endeared to us But ouglit wo to feel so? Should wo not consider the more light thrown upon it the betier? In the passage I have read, “The Lord is My Shepherd,” Jows considered it too sacred to be pronounced, We | may, perhaps, proiitably spend a moment or two in examination of the signifi “Jehoval” signifies “to come,” or “to be”? W understand that this term is God—Christ Jesu He 1s the Jehovah, Jesus, the angel of Joho The rock: that ied the children of Israel was Christ, Henee when David says “The Lord is my shepherd,” be means the one who js yet to come—the great Celiverer, He is my shepherd, therefore | shal! not want, was binselt asbepherd, Be knew what a shepherd's Jove for bis sheep wag When the wild beasts came to devour them he smote them out of their mouths and shielded ther from all danger, To-day on the groea hills of Palestine we would see the shepherds attending their sheep as of old, They learn to jove them as p routs jove their children, In their flocks there are she that never stray, and others that are continnaily wam- dering from the right way, and the stantly cailing them, When he comes toa stream he takes bis staf and sounds the depth of the water le Knows at onco whether they can cross or not. He waiks over first and then one alter another foliows him. And i the stream should be too deep fur the Jittic labs ke takes them up in his arms and carries them over. This Is the when ile calied Mimsett our snepherd. How is it with usin folowing Him! Are we not determined, like the foolish sheep, to folow eur own path? D'S GOODNESS. Many persons must have wealth; (hey must visit in such & set aad cannot jeave it with Ged, hoy will leave with Him their soni s salvation, but are airatd to trust Him with the wants of today, We may be ase sured that God never withholds any good from H children but with che intention of giving them som: Ling betier, and We muy be also assured that net on is the path of duty the right path, but it is the ony safe one. Christians have no’ choice bat joliow Him. We have no right to stream inay be deep and the current ray has son n His sia, and our Sheph us go torw: must the co t trusting in Him, Let is remember that the strong trees are those that have been rocked by the Lempest. The satest snip has wrestied long with ihe storm king. So we have been selected to battle with life's tempest, aud | we need now be a He i# pot only trust for | Present time, but for tho (uta will conve us safely into the harbor of elernai peace and joy if we willonly trast Him, Them wnat wil be thé troubies through which you are now passing? It is not im the rugst juxarjogs abodes that the sweetest specimens of Christiaotty are iound You koow the brown stone Iront Louse and happiness not identical by any means, There le ihe troubie, We jadge by external appearances toe oiten, — There, will come a lime when We bave passed tus lite that we } Joox back over all |he way our Suepherd has led Ki perceive it is the only way we could have ked, God has a reason for everything, but f ways guides us with aband of love. There are many inmates of the poorhouses aro radiant with their you are ail familiar with the thought that | the word *‘Lord,” which occurs 80 often, is Jehovah. The | ec of this word, Theword | David | usiration our Saviour used | Woe ought, to wish jor that time and be reudy to believe it is ne: the Gentiles.” Our 1 | trodden down of the ¢ | tiles shail be ulfiiled, | He would be seen again, rhe question is, What reason i3 there to believe that | these times are nearly iulflled? The answer 1s, Because We gee all the evidences of the end which the Lord aga its aposties fo1 (Luke xxu) He J, “When ye see these things begin to come to pass | then look up and Hit up your head, because your re- | demption draweth nigh.’” These things were “signs in the £un and moon and stars; on the carth distress ot | Matlous with perplexity; the sea and the waves roat- ing; inen’s hearts failing them for fear for looking atier the things that shall come upon the earth.” This | 18 a prophetic description of our own times. The san, | moon and stars symbolize the centres and sources | of light, guidance and order in the moral, polit- { yeal and ecelesinstieal world, In our day they are pecugiarly full of signs, of starting develop- ments and changes, Men say the old institutions are | passing away, but our Lord ‘said that these things are the signs of the end of the age and His coming. So, | too, “the distress of nations, with perplexity,” is too remarkable and univereai to be unnouced’ by any thoughtful person, And men of wisdem and thought find their hearts failing them for tear, becaus | can Bee terrible results inevitable from the commo- tions and tendencies of the time. “The sea and the theretore, . Our age is “the times of ‘d sald, “verusalem shail be ntiles till the times of the Gen- and that at the end of that time waves roaring;” this symbohzes the people, the masses heaved up and tossed about by every | wind — of doctrine, breaking ont in revolutions | and disturbances, “and overturning all that bas | been held stable, = This, too, is peculiar to our tine. So also the powers of heaven are shaking the hold of Christianiy aud the truth of Christ on | men’s conscience is being lost, and all the churches } which claim authority from God ‘and have veen the in- | struments of Jurnishing heavenly blessings are being sheken to their 8, abd Vast numbers of Christian mea are apostoiizing and deny Chrisw There styns | are unmist:kabie. The times of the Gentiles are nearly | done, Christ's time ‘or coming to take His kingdom and rule js at the door, «Toe them that Jook tor Him He will appear a second time without sin unta satva- hon.” These things are only the beginnings. They Shall culminate in the great tribulation, a8 our Lord | | Said, Sthe like of which never was nor ‘ever shall be | again." Therefore, every man ought to take warning ry emember the Lord's advices :—"Watch, theretore, word is con- | and pray always that ye may be counted worthy to | | escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.” CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH. | Gop'S GLORY—SERMON BY REY, HENRY C. | VEDDER. | At the Calvary Baptist chureh, on Twenty-third sireot, yesterday morning thé Rev, Henry ©. Vedder, of Rochester, preached, in the absence of the pastor, Mr. Vedder took his text from Revelation, un “God's glory the supreme end to which all things tend.”’ First, said the preacher, proof trom Serip- ture, aught again and again in the Bible, both im general and in specific terms God's glory is set forth as the end of creation, of redemption, of the Christian's growth m grace, of the acts of ali men, Second, proot from reason. God must choose Him- | sett as the end of all things, because to choose any other end would be inconsistent with His poriection, Lis wisdom, His blessedoess. History and experience, | too, show “that God's glory i6 ‘the only end ly attained in the world, This is not | vo represent tod as actuated by a seitish mouve, for in feckiog His own good He seeks ours; our interests are ali bound up im His The extstence of sim ts not incom. ible with the glory of God, for He overruies sintni acts to His own glory, At the last fis glory shall bo imanivest alike in the just atid im the unjast ‘Third, practical outcome of this truin. The choice | ot any other end ian the glory of Gor as the end of | Hife 1@ a violation of the fandamental law of man's na- tare, Law is unchangeable, Tamper with the laws of your physical natare, and death 19 the result. Tamper with the laws of your mental re, and your mind = becomes == “ike = sweet ells jangied | ous of tune and arsh.”’ Violation of moral there is po such passage 1n | They saith unto | in the Jordan by John, seemed suddenly to pecome | This 1s not an tsolaied passage, The same tguth | Jaw is just as dangerous and is visited with as severe penalty; spiritual denth, moral madness is the result. The’ choice of any other end in life is the essence of sin, The other eud is always self, Hence selfizbness is the root of ail sin, and all sin may be resulved iuto seiishuess. Sensual sins are the re- ult of man’s striving to please seit vy the indulgence of his inordinate appetites rather than striving to | Please God by restraining them. Less gross kinds ot 3mm have the same root, Ambition, vanity, avarice | are but those forms of sin ipto which tat man as been supremely set on seif his selfish desire on power, | esteom or wealth, Choice of God as the supreme eud | of Ife is the essence of all holiness. It is alike our | duty, our reasouable service aud our highest honor, We should choose the glory of God as our chiet end in life, because thus only can we find our highest | happiness. because it is the highest, purest, noblest | aim that we can propose to oursvives, ana because we | cannot but glorify God. It matters not for the accom- plishment of His purposes how we glority Him, vut to | us ibis of infinite consequence. Will you glorify Him by obedience, holiness, eternal happiness! or shall His glory appear even’ in your rebeliion, sin, eternal misery ¢ BEREAN BAPTIST CHURCH. SORLOW TURNED TO JOY—SERMON BY WILLIAM M, YOUNG, D. D., OF MEADVILLE, PA, The words of tie Saviour to His apostles, as men- tioned in the sixteenth chapter of St. John, **Bat your sorrow shall be turned into joy,” formed the text of a eermon preached yesterday, in the Berean Baptist chureh in Bedford street, by Rev. William M. Young, D. D., of Meadville, Pa, “It would be observed,” the reverend geatieman said, ‘that Jesus nowhere said that sorrow shall be ‘exchanged’ for joy; He said it shall be ‘turned into’ joy, This was where the diflere enee appeared between true and false consolation. The latter whispered to the sad heart of the {uture of some, thing yet to come; while truc consolation showed us | that the apparent evil would itselt be Uransformed into | falls, | joy.” Keterring to the mournful might on | Which the words of the text were ute wred, the preacher said our Lord had mingled in that one discourse the prediction of no less than two departures and oi three returns, First, there was the departure of His death, for which the Aposties had their consoiatton in the words, ‘1 will seo you again | and your hearts shall rejoice.” The second departure was by the Ascension, and its compensation was the return of the Holy spirit: ‘Because | live ye sual live | also,” The visible bad to go that the invisible might como; and, therelore, the Asceusion Was a necessity. There’ was bo third’ departure, but there was a third retura, and that is a complete compensation for the sorrow of the second going. Heaven itsell, said the | reverend gentleman, wouid be less bright ‘to-day if | there were on eurth no journeys, uo battles, no | weeping. Heaven would be Jess charming to’ the Christan rind if there were no trials und tears, | and we “could not realize the procionsness ot the text, “Your gorrow shall be turned into joy.” | Parting oftentimes shows us bow much we love; a death often unites two bearts that were severed; and no one realizes the peuce of Christ hko him who bas come through the regtons of doubt into the realms of light, “We may weil, then,” the preacher added, “mistrast the Joy which 18 not sorrow born and sorrow nursed. Sorrow is the woblest of ail discipline, and for every Calvary there is an Olivet, It is our unstake 10 overestimate the blessings of this life. We fasten around them our warmest affections and give to them our undivided time, forgetting that they are but tora moment, that they will svon pass away from us. God bas permitted sorrow and affliction to visit us here upon earth in order that we may be weaned trom the things of time and place all our hoposand trust in him,” CHURCH OF THE SEA, SERMON OF REY. DR, POVEY ON THE MIRACLES OF ELI6HA, The Rev. J. Povey preached at the Presbyterian eburch of the Sea and Land yesterday. Ho said that | in the miracies of Elisha we havo a lesson that is ap- | plicabie in our day and to ourselves. It is true we are | | unable to understand theso mysteries of the Sorip- tures less than all can we understand that of the res- urreotion of tho dead. Reason falls, philosophy fails to tell us aught concerning 1, But although oar rea- | on cunaot comprehend these mysteries, yet wo aro bound to believe them. It istrue that many say wo should believe only what we understand. But if we accept that we will find ourselves surrounded by mys- teries which will always be beyond our compre- henston, Take the miracle of Klisha in rais- ing a child from the dead. Some will say m= theso days of scientific discovery that this was simply tho utilization of hidden force, with the fwrctions of which we aro now acquainted. They will say that through magnetism or electricity the pruphet awakened the child trom somo stupor it was in, ‘But none of these forces give Hie, and remember | the Scripture distinctly says the child waa dead. This was no experiment of ecience. It was a miracle, wrought by the intervention of God. There are some pertinent lessons in this miracle ot Elisha, as told in the Scripture. And, first, it inculcates the preecpt of kindness, The prophet was passing through the place where livea the mother of the chiid he raised from the dead. He was weary and in ihe htodness of her heart itis woman invited him into ber abode, and gave bim a chamber wherein to rest And, Jo! her generosity is rewarded. Again, this woman was possessed of another ennobling virtue, She was contented. When the protection of the King was ol- fered her she dectined it, ssying that she was SATISFIND WITH KER LOT, and more, too, In spite of her sorrows and in spite of the cloud that rested on her home she was resigned. Here is a lesson for every one. You who sigh and lament over your every day sorrows; you who weep over the child or the iriend who has been taken away 10 other sphere, remember tho resgnation of the woman of the Scripture. When trials come upon you, when sorrow enters your abode and drives joy’ trom your fireside, do not abandon yourself to vain regrets. ond to —_un- iruitul lamentations, Be full of resignation to God’s will and He Himself will send you succor, Another lesson is the supplying of material means to the prophot through which to effect the miracle. Prayer Alone 18 not always efficient Tho means supplied us to accomplish something must be made use of. Jesus Christ Himself always employed the means that Offered to teach His great lessons, as well as be did the invocation of His Father's name, We, too, must use the means that God has given us to ‘accomplish the ends of every day Iifoas wellas the ends of religion and truth, We must seek knowledge, we must use the | advantages which may be thrown in our way, and | then we must join prayer to all. Take the work of evangilization, which is a task committed to us all. It is not suMcient to pray tor the conversion of the heathen or the regeneration of the wicked. The millions who are plunged in the densest ignorance in the wilds of Inia and in the des. erts of Airica, the uneducated and unreciammed who in this great city jostlo us in the street and go blindly onward to perdition—all these want more than prayer to save them. There have been means supphed us to effect their elevation. God always furnishes the instrn- ments for working out bis ends. It is tor us to handle them; it is for as to take up these means of achieving great thiugs and apply them until the ends we propose and God commits to our care are accompilshed. There are ali around us the means of accomplishing wonders. Let us use them; let ax apply them ail, and as we do it lot us lift up our hearts to God and’ consecrate our work by prayer, that ail poweriul agent that brings us | in contact with Omntpotone . LEFFERTS PARK ENCAMPMENT. A GREAT GATHERING OF PEOPLE-—SERMON BY REV. J, ODELL AND PRAYKR AND SINGING BY THR PRAYING BAND. At Leflerts Park, Brooklyn, yesterday afternoon there was a gathering of more than 10,000 peopie to take part in the services under the leadership of the “praying Band” and to liston to an exhortation vy | Rey. Joseph Odell, of Park avenue Prrimitive Metho- | dist church, Atter fervent praying and singing by the | Praying Band, in the latter of which the vast congre- | gation joined, Mr. Odell took his place at the desk and drew special attention toj the sixtecuth verse | of the First pistle ot Paul to Timothy—"Howbeit, | for this I obtained mercy, that in me first Jegus Christ might show forth all jong-suflering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everiagting.” Repeating his text, he dec.ared it to be embodiment of the great central truth of the Gos- | pel, shining out like the Star of Bethlehem leading the way to the Saviour, It mvolved the declaration a: bis conversivn, and the cause of 14, as well as the trath which was involved in it Paul, prior wo his con- | version, was, he declared, not only ignorant of the great truths taught by viour, but was also the direct enemy of ail such ag believed in Him, And yet he had no excuse for his ignorance, for he was ii a position to learn ail concerning Crist and to know the inestimable yaiue of His teaching. But for ali that i was not until he was om his way to Damascus, as an enemy of Christuns, that the vision Appeared to him, and ‘he eriea out in supplication, | “What wilt thou have me to do?’ His was a must re- markable conversion—sudden, fall and perfect. He was going out to destroy, and he stayed to kneel His | conversion was eqaai to the faltlmont of the deciara- ton that the Ethiopian might change his skin and the Jeopard spots. Paul's feeling was that he had ned = merey—that was his thought; and too, when ho least | expected it, And he was trae to the feoling he bad regarding it, giving thereafter his every effort to in- duce others to seek and find the same mercy through Christ which he had found. On the basis thus laid down tn the text amplified by the preacher, be made an urgent appeal to his hearers to seck for mere and find saivation through Christ, daring which the Park resounded with vigorous cries of Amen!" and “Giery to God!” When the sermon had been con- cluded there was a conference, during which many of the brethren and sisters wid of the bappiness they found through belief in Christ SPIRITUALISM. DEBATE BETWEEN DR. R, J. HALLOCK AND REV. c. P, M'CARTHY. At the Harvard Rooms a diseassion was beld yester- day alternoon before the Association of Spiritualists by Dr. 2 J. Hallock, « Spiritnatist, id the TF ary arthy, a minister of the “Free Church.’ The hail | oreditably. | that the subject for debate was “Do Spirits Commun: | ) paysieal. |. been making efforts to purchase the place he occupied, 4n sympathy with Dr. Hallock, although it was demon- Strated before the close of the debate that Mr, McCarthy also had his friends present. Dr. Hallock ‘was somewhat lute, and, at the request of the cbatr- man, a Mrs. Adams sang ‘Beautiful Leaves” very Dr. Hallock first took the platform and announced cate Through Mediums?” He, of course, would take | the aflirmative, and Mr. MeCarthy f. negative. Although the question for debate seemed to be per- | fectiy well understood by everybody, neither gente- | man got hear it until it was time to close. It was evi- | dent, however, that they were both thoroughly posted | on spiritualism, electro-maguetism, mesmerism and | sobjects of @ kindred nature, Dr. Hallock said tbat the object of the discussion was the discovery of troth. Spiritualism, said be, had been joohed upon at fifst wonderingiy, bat now had its be- | levers in every chime and every walk of life. We | cannot exist in error; we must have the truth In speaking of the future the Doctor said that we might theorize and anticipate as much as we pleased, but we | could not know of the future unless it be reveared to us by the instrumentality of friends gone beiore us, The speaker then read a number ot cases of “man- iestationa”—raps, caressing hands, performance ot | music upon closed and locked pianos, movements of pouderous bodies, the foretelung of the late civil war, the recognition of faces of dead friends, which, he | claimed, were all indwputable and were the best ev- idence poesible in his favor. He said they were tacts, and to be successiu/ly controverted must be inet with facts, Reterring to the late promiuens Spiritualist, Judge Kdmonds, the speaker said that when | his book went forth to the world it was condemned upon ull sides, but no one did or could axsail the facis upon which the Judge resied his | belief, The speaker said the spirits are with us; they | are not shut up ip heaven in bliss or in hell in tor- ment, They are with as and around us. It is through their mirthiulness that we know they are not in hell, Its through the lifting of heavy weights that we know they have physical strength. Does any philosopher want to go to heaven and sing psalms for ever? No! | that would be monotonous; ne yants to travel, to see | the world, apd he wants to come back and seo his ' friends Mr. MeCartny, on taking the platiorm, said that he was a strong believer in mesmerism and electro-physcnology, and while he would admit that tiere were maby unaccountable things done by the so-called mediums, yet he was not pr tality of departed spirits, Said he physchological state 18 a conditio: “The eiwctro- which is purely The involuntary powers of the mind, acting through the voluntary nerves, become entirely passive, The involuntary powers of the mind, acting through the involuntary nervous system, become reuundantly charged with ‘electro-nervous fluid, and the results are ihe manifesiations which the Spiritualists claim to be performed by the spirits through the me- diums, but which he would explain in a much | more rational manner."? Mr, McCarthy was a Spirit | ualist in the sense of a Bible Spirituahst. He be- | lieved, as a Christian minister, that the spirit of man | held commanication with the spirit of God, but not with departed spirits. At this poimt the debate took rather a rambling course and some interruptions — took place. When a point was made by Dr. Hallock bis friends applauded and when Mr. McCarthy re- ferred to some ofthe fraduicnt spiritual manitesta- tions as the “most heartless and cruel’? the brethren | on the Grst bench looked anything but spirituelle, while the speaker's friends in the rear of the hall ap- plauded vociferously, On the whole, however, the de- bate was carried on in a fair ond orderly manner, and the speakers were just warming to their subject when an adjournment until next Sunday, at the samo timo ond place, was necossary on account of the lateness of the boar. : THE KELSEY MURDER. At the last term of the Suifolk County Court of Oyer and Terminer, it may bo remembered, the indictments cbarging Royal and Rudolph Samumis, of Huntington, with the murder of Charles G. Kelsey, were put over for trial at the September Term, at the request of Dis, trict Attorney Wickham, who had but recently taken | office, and was not suiliciently acquainted with the de- ta‘ls of the case to be warranted in proceeding with it, It is now understood that Mr, Wickbam expresses the determination not to try the Sammises at all, unless those interested in the prosecution can furnish him with evidence that will satisty him that there 1s a rea- sonable probability of conviction; so it appears likely that the Sammises will be freed from the restraint bail in September, uniess something can be accomplished | by the peuple to show the Coart the necessity of con- unuing the bonds, With a view of obtaining such sat- isfying evidence, tho following petition is being circu. Jated and extensively signed at Huntington To Mou, Saxvut J. Tiupex, Govorner of the State of New ‘ork :— We, th undersigned, inhabitants of the town of Hunting- ton, in the county of Suffolk, being desirous that the marder of Charles G, Kelsey the night of November 4, 1872, should bo further and thoroughly investigated and the per: petrators of the erime discovered and brongbt to justice, do Fexpectiuily petition Your Excellency, on the part of the to oifer able reward and Sxecutive:clemency to | Any person of persous who will reveal aud furnish evidence | to convict the murderers of suid Kolsoy befure the ¢mrts of justice of this Stute, to the end that a great crime may be punished and the lives o. the citizens of the county made more seeure, Counsellor H. C, Platt, of Huntington, who 1s thor- oughly cognizant of all the circumstances ot the case, 50 1ar as they have been revealed, will soon lay th petition before the Governor, with the rance—as understood—ol his belief that thero is at least one per- son who give the particulars of the entire plot to outrage Kelsey, and who only requires an assurance | of clemency to induce him to reveal the whole of the hidoous transaction. PROBABLE SUICIDE, Some workmen, while passing along the shore ot Centreport Harbor, Huntington, ou Tuursday evening, found a heap of clothing upon the beach, and a little beyond, just above low water wark, they discovered the body of a man recently drowned, which proved to be that of Mr. J. C. Devoy, formerly and for a long time superintendent of the Sunday school in the Bethel | Primitive church, Brooklyn, Deceased had but recently removed to Centreport, where he immediateiy | Deoume active in Sunday school work. He tad recently vut was disappointed, not being able to raise the neces: sary money among his iriends. On this account be was somewhat dispirited, and it is conjectured that be may have committed suicide in consequence. A DARING SURGLAR. ATTEMPT TO ROB DISTRICT ATTORNEY PHBLPS’ HOUSE. Early yesterday morning, while the servant girl was sweeping off the sidewalk in front of Benjamin K. Pholps’ house, No, 101 West Forty-seventh street, an adroit thief succeeded in entering unobserved the front door, which had been left standing open, The thief coolly walked into ene of the rooms and commenced rifling @ bareau of !1s contents, At this stage ef the | proceedings the servant girl, who had finished cleaning the sidewalk, returned to the house, and | going into the reom where the thief was, | caught nit at his work, The girl at once rushed to a burglar siarm in one corner of the room, and was about to pull it, when the chief ievelled a pistol at her head and threatened to kill her if she touched i, The girl wisely desisted from putting his Yeracty to the test, and the No. property ‘Was missed, but the owner of the beuse ‘ound bimseif the gamer by ajimmy that the tbiet had dropped in the vestibule in the hurry of his flight, These facts were reported 10 Roundsman Joseph Cottrell, ot tho Twenty-second precinct, at half-past seven yester- day morning, but it was too late to catch the Dargiar. PLAYING WITH FIRE. Late on Saturday night Frank and James Crim- mings, aged respectively nine and thirteen, of No. 114 Fast Eighty-fourth street, while playing with powder on Third avenue, near Eighty-nfth street, were so- riously burned in the face and on the hands by an un. expecied explosion. They were attended by Dr. Golde | gehmiedt, Deputy Coroner, ot e second street, and w in Nimety-ninth str ed eleven, | who was with them, was slightly imjared, and went home, New Yorn, August 10, 1876, To ne Eorron or THe enanp:— With regard tothe removal of the emigrant land- ing from the Battery | would state that it would bene- fit both the city and the emigrant, There a gangs of bloodsuckers who have lived for years in the First ward on the poor emigrants, By removing | the landing up town the emigrants wili be rescacd from villains. | would recommend the new market, at the foot ot Thirty-tourth street, if it could be got for | tbat purpose, Respecituily, AN OLD FIRST WARDER, SAVE THE BATTERY, New York, August 9, 1876, To THe Evrton or tre Herato:— lwish your able and independeut journal would take up the good work of saving the Battery for the benelit of the peopic. It is reported that Castle Gar- den is to be rebuilt, Tt oughy not to be aliowed, and the press of this city cannot use too strong ianguage tp denouncing any man or set of men who are trying to retain Castle Garden for ihe benetit of any private speculators to the injury of the pablc health, Below ashington square the attery is the oniy park of auy importance or size where the workingman can tako his family, lhe Bowling Green Park i8 closed every Hight at about seven o'clock, when it ought to be kopt Open us late as ven o'clock during the summer months. They say the man who has charge of the Howling Green Park lives at Central Park, There are plenty of deserving and responsible men in the lower part of the city who would be giad to open and ciose the park at times when it would be of some use to ourselves ana families, Wi the press of the city anite and demand from one city government our rights im the Castle Gar- Met waz filled at the hour specified by an andionce the greater part of which it could casily be avon was deeply | red to adinit that it was through ‘the tustramen- fe | where the responsibility rests. | are said to be in excellent order. i Bowling Green Park question’ A L>BORER, TELEGRAPH POLES. VIEWS OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE DIFFERENT LINES IN THE CITY ON THEIR CONDITION, We give below the opinions of Mr. William Orton, of the Western Union, and Mr. T. 8. Eckert, of the ‘Atlantic ‘and Pacific Telegraph companies, on the condition of the telegraph poles throughout the city. They argue that it's to their interest to keep them in good repair, and claim that they do so. They protest against being held responsible before the public when the poles complained of do not belong to them and are not used tn their business. The inquest in the case of the unfortunate woman who was killed on the Sd inst. by a falling telegraph pole nas failed to elicit ‘The owners of tho polo are censured for negligence, but who the owners aro does not appear. From the evidence it seems that tho pole in question was one of the old firo telegraph lire, which reverted to the builder by the terms of the con- tract for the new line. The contractor, it appears, sold the old line to the Manbattan Telegraph Company. They now claim that W. F, Coffee, who bought the line in their interest, has re- fused to turn over the papers to the company and is now under contempt of court, The Department of En- cumbrances and the Board of Health aro battling for the right to remove poles that are in a dangerous con- dition, but although the pole in question was reported neither of these bureaus seems to have paid any atten- tion to it, This matter should not be allowed to rest until the responsibility of the death of Mrs, Maguire isdefnitely fixed and until proper precautions aro taken to avoid a similar occurrence in future, INTERVIEW WITH ME. WILLIAM ORTON, A reporter of the Henao called upon Mr. William Urtop, President of the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany, with a view to obtaining his opinion upon the condition of the telegraph poles in this city, and those of his own company in particular, The gentleman spoke earnestly and pointedly upon the subject of the recent catastrophe. He said:—‘‘In recording the un- fortunate accident it has been customary to speak of the telegraph company, and ours being the largest line many people have been led to at. tribute the blamo of the affair to us. This is entirclyzunjust, for the pole which fell down was originally erected by or for tho city of New York, I do not understand, from tho best of my information, thatthe pole wasever used by our company. My knowledge of the subject is derived from those wha are employed by this company to supermtend and in- vestigate such matters, and who ougnt to be com- petent to judge. 11 18 of no consequence to tho pablic two know who of the large class of city officals are ltable for this negligence, From the testimony pub- lished it would appear that the Fire Department wished to avoid their liability for the aecident upon a small technicality. They say the pole had been sold toa contractor and did not belong to them, conse- quently it was not their business to see that it was re- moved, One of my superintendents roports*that the Fire Department originally used the pole, and when it was no longer usetul they transferred their wires to nearer ones abandoned it, AsI remember pow, thero are in New York five telegraph companies— the Western Union, Atlantic and Pacitic, Gold and Stock, American District and Manhattan private line. To the best of my knowledge all these lines are kept in a safe condition. When ouniaiien Be up poles and wires thoy construct for use, and they cannot use wires unless the poles are kept in good or- der. My own instructions are strict—to immediately tae down poles irom which the wires have beew re- moved, I shouid be very glaa to see an ordinance passod requiring all companies to brand the pol longing to their respective lines. We have doue s0 to a considerable extent in our lines already. Since this killing was the result of gross negligence it should be made the occasion to remove ail Jurther possibility of Killing others, In setting our poles we have always bad regard to the pubite welfare and convenience, and I be Heve no person, except the employés of the compan, has ever been injured by them. Several of our own have sustained accidental injuries while 2 the act of detaching wires from tho poies.”” THR WESTERN ONION LINES. Mr. Orton next putthe Hxxauo reporter in communi cation with Mr, A. 5, Brown, assistant superintendent, who gave tho following intormation relative to the company lines iu the city of New York:—"Tne Western Union has altogether in the city limits 1,500 miles of wire and 80 mics of pole. Forty poles are set to cach mile, which maxes a total of 3,200 poies. The princi- pal streets apon which these lines are constructed are the Bowe®y, Hudson, Greenwich, Washington, West, Church and 'West Broadway, and the prineipal avenues the Second, Taird, Sixth, Bighth, Ninth, Tenth and South Fifth, All of the lines have been rebuilt within Uae past tlve years, and are considered safe and new. Every spring and fall men are sent over all the lines to examine their condition. They test tho strength of the poles with long pikes, which they place near the lop of the poivs and sway them toand ire. If any are found to be rotten or weak they are replaced by others, If they are loose they are reset. The wires are hover transforred 10 a new pole uutil the old pole is removed, The men have just compieted this work of ovorbauling, and the lines, particularly the polos, Various kinds of wooa have been used for polos, such as spruce, cedar and juniper, but within the last four years chestnut wood has been used exclusively. 1t was found to be the strongest and most endurable ever used. Good enestout poles will last for twenty years, but the West ern Union Company do not allow theirs to stand longer than filteen, At present they have no poles in the more than five years old. The work of setting the poles is never let out to contractors, but 1 done by the regutar workmen of the company. ‘Tho longest afe set toadepth of vight fees six inches and the short ones to a depth of five or six feel Neither are old pol takon out by contractors not sold to them by the company. When they rot itis generally about the aur or suriace line, and the poles 0 forty or filty feet in lengtn when found in this condition are taken out, cut of and seat to the country for use. It isestimated that {ully two-thirds of the poles be longing to the Wostern Union in this city have the stencil mark of the company upon them. All shat havo been erected within she past four years, at least, have been thas marked.” ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TELEGRAPH POLES. A Hmna.p reporter waited on Goneral 'f. 8. Eokert, the Presideat of the Atlantic and Pacifle Telegraph Company, to learn, if possible, where the blame should “rest. The followmg’ facts were elice iNed:—"That the rottin poles, lately falling, wero the property of New York city and not of the companics that have been popularly be- lieved to have owned them. Lt is, of course, to our in- terest to keep our poles in order; otherwise our wires could uot be worked, and the service of the line would ve impaired. We have the poies regularly tested an¢ receive our reports as to their soundness from the in. spectors, The tragic occurrences lately parrated in the papers in connection with the falling of a telegraph pole are much to be regretied; but is seems to me tho city aloe is responsible tor the disasters, From the accounts 1 get 4 appears uh: @ poles in question were condeaned and reports mado to the proper au- thorities recommending their removal, but no.bing seems to have beea done aboutit. There was not a wire stret.bed on tho rotten poles, and they only re- Maived on tho streets. As a rale corporations man: their affairs in a business-jike manner, and itis on when such grave events as have transpired come to be discussed in the newspapers that the laxity of the eity becomes apparent.” THE PURE TELEGRAPH LINKS. The Fire Departinent have at different times ri coived complaints of the condition of some ot their poles. These compiaints have always been invosti- gated and the poies removed whenever danger was for tound to exist, When poies have been standin, any length of time they are reguiarly examin taken down when found in an uusato condition. generally decay at the base first, and as soon as found in ach a condition they are removed and shortened and put back in their places. It iy difficuit’ to tell from appearance alone how strong a pole is, some of them will rot to the depth of an inch trom the surface and the heart rematn as sound and strong as ever. They report their poies to be in good order. During the | last eighteen months they have taken down and re- placed 1,500 of them. They are not all marked as the property of the department. There are 540 with fire alarm boxes attwched, all marked ‘Fire Alarm Tele graph,” which ies them. It ts only a short time sinee a contract given out tor 300 additional new Flee some to be used In replaciag old ones and others for the uptown districts, CRIME IN BROOKLYN. At an early hour yesterday morning Mra. Frances Jambee, residing at No, 82 Sullivan street, South Brooklyn, was disturbed by hearing somebody moving about her siceping apartment, She thought she recog. mized in the intruder the person of a young mas pamed John Smith, aged twenty-four years, who re. sides im the same domicile, The jady gave the alarm, and the burglar begged her to des: promising to leave her property unmolested. The lady acceded and permitted him to go away, but subsequently caused Bros. Smith is locked up in the Eleventh presinet station house, At @ late hour on Saturday visited the liquor saloon of Thomas Farrell, No. ul Underbill avenue, for the avowed purpose of “clearing ous the place,” Daring the struggle which ensued be. tween the gang and Mr. Farrell, Christopher Sennett, of No, 455 Underhill avenue, was struck’ on the heal and soverely injured. He was carried om teher to ‘the City Hospit Farroll was arrested, bat upon the facts being mace known he was released from custody Patrick Maaden, of No. 143 Lynch street, was stabbea in the side of tho head with a peuknite by Christiaa hens gdh ado * leat of cards in @ saloon ou jarrison near jetor assaii ae ny oe to answer, pritia sa oh argarot Scanlon, of No. 208 Hamil ; struck on the head with a glass tumbler by James’ Dost nelly yesterday morning. Donnelly was’ arrested and sere tape ot a wound isa severe one. man of respectable appearance en, few days ago at the house of Mr, Jeon Beltane c No. 17 Main street, and behaved himself in a most Proper manuer until yesterday, when he stole $00 from {CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGE] night a party of men