The New York Herald Newspaper, October 8, 1877, Page 8

8 THE LORD'S DAY. —_—__———— The Unbelief of the Age and Its Supsrstition. ‘ CROSSING THE JORDAN. Why Afflictions Are Necessary to Make Men Perfect. CHRIST AS THE FORERUNNER OF THE RACE. CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES. RETURN OF REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH— A SERMON BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF HIS EUROPEAN TRIP, ‘Tne Rev. George H. Hepworth preached, for the first ‘ime since his return trom Europe, to « very large congregation in the Church of the Disciples, Mudison avenue, The congregation gave a floral expression of the gladness with which they welcomed their pastor by decorating the piatform with flowers and plants. Immediately opposite the desk and over the com- munion tabla was on elavorate device composed of white flowers, Tho floral decoration of the organ and choir had been intrusted to the care of the ladies of the congregation, and the principal feature was an in- Scription in pink flowers on a white ground, of “Re- Joice ana be glad.”” The earnestness with which the large congregation joined 1n the singing of the hymns evidenced their delight that they bad again an oppor- tunity of meeting their pastor. Mr, Hepworth selected for his text Proverbs, xxvii, 3J—“As the bird that wandereth from her nest, s0 1s a man that wandercth trom his piace,’? This proverb of Solomon, said tho preacher, has proved itsolf true im my own experience during the months of my ab- senco, When 1 jeft you, listening to tho last “Goodby” and ‘God biess you” that came from your lips, 1 was full of fond anticipations, not only of rest for tho body, but also of refresument for the mind, and although f was in Do Way disappointed, yet 1thas seemed to me that the best part of it all was the coming back ana looking into the faces of thuse who have worked aud walked by my side, and who have always given to me their heartielt’ sympathy « and co-operation, have learned, as many of you have done, wherever ove may go the beart remains behind, eyes may look upon strange pictures and yet with but Hisle satisfaction so long as thore is a sense of loneli- ness 1n one’s Spirit that can only be sauistied by a re- turn to those who are dear to us. dir. Hepworth then described the beauty of the Rhine, the scenery on Danke, the aisles of the Louvre, in which were the wondrous gulieries of paintings; the marvellous cathedrals of Europe, the expression ol the religious onius and the religious faith of the world in all ages; fut in ail these circumstances and amid ail these won- ders he feit nimselt a stranger. fle continued by say- ing that ne offered bis sincere thanks for tho golden Opportunity that bad been presented to nim by this yacution in Europe, init he had iearncd much that he should have to tell his congregation im days to come, for he had seen much that it would be necessary to describe to them. Ho wished that every minister had so fond and intelligent a people to minister to as he had and that every minister Woo teaches tho truth 01 God could have a similar opportunity to visit the Old World and see how the hand of Providence 18 to be found in everything aud everywhere, LESSONS PROM THE OCEAN. “Let me speak tu you,’ suid Mr. Hepworth, “ot some of the marvels 1 have looked upon, In tho first jace 1 must not forget God’s great ocean, which I jove—this ocean that binds two hemispheres together, On our return we had a storm, and as I saw our ves- sel, whicn soemed a village almost in itsell, lifted along On @ great wave aud cast about in this wondrous sea as though it were a straw, I thought of Low great aud marvellous was the care of God over us all aud how Diessed was tho privilege of the consciousness that the Christian man possesses tuat wherever be is, and under whulever circumstances may surround ‘bisa, God is there to care for him, to protect nim with His overshadowing love, and whate’er may betide him he Js safe in the arms of Jesus. Then | was struck with gnotter characteristic of the ocean, ‘there aro no juodmarks on 1, 1 saw the Captain finding out where he was by the telitale sun, It seomed to me that the Christian might do something of the same sort ‘here are days when everything goes well with us, and there are seasons wien we are so entirely helpless that we feel ourseives forsaken compietcly. Yet we are sater in the wildest tempest of our sorrow when we can look through that dark night two the stars above our head and beyond thein to the face of our God, who kuows bur spiritual condition and will bring us to Him, and | all witl bo well. 1 was reminded also by tho ocean of | the great force there 18 in the doctrine of our resur- rection. You may wonder how the ocean should speak to me of the other life, and yet it did tn thuner tones, Let me teil you bow it was. I was waikin ou the deck one day'when the Captain (a man whom 1 learned to love jor his sterling und nobie character) tame to me and said, “some one has just died on board,’? When he saia this a strange loneliness came over me, and I gaid to the Captain, ‘Died here, and no cemetery. tarry the poor fellow home to bis {riends ?” What will you do with bim? Wil you ‘The Cap- tatu shook his head and said, “No; that 1s against the ules”? “What shall you do, then?” I said. He re- plied, shall bury him to-day at twelve.” Then I Femeinbered what a cemetery this ocean was; that it ‘Was not only the graves but the old ocean itself tnat shall give up its dead; and what a multituue there was that Lad been entombed in the deep blug sea, AN APPEAL TO THE CiURCH. After a very touching reterence 10 the death of sev: eral members of 018 congregation during his absence, whom ne had expected to greet on nis revurn, and to 0 the fact that others who bud been so aillicted that ho | thought he was bidding them “goouby” tor the last Mme on earth and should not say ‘00d morning”? ®gain to them until he met them in neaven, ho re- marked that he wisted-to say to the cougregation how greatly be had been impressed with the fact tbat the whole Christian Church is like one great army, of Which the leader is the Lord. Let us not forget tnar in the time of battic the success depends upon the courage and fidelity of each. Brethren, as tie oraer comes from on high for us to nee, it Us listen to it with brave and earnest hearts and remember that | each and every one of us can do something tor God. Let us obey this call with willing toet and strong arms, determined to prove ourselves valiant in the day of battle and to wrest from the strovg hund of the enemy some token of our loyalty and oure allegiance to King of Kings. Let as bs Jet there be but one bear’ that Christ offered just betore Hg left His visciples, “Father, I pray thee thut they may ali be one,” FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. “CHRIST'S MONUMENTAL HOUR"—SERMON BY THE REY. DR, ARMITAGE. The Rev. Dr. Armitage yesterday preached from Jonn xvii. 1—"Father, the hour is come.” This is & mighty and mysterious utterance, said the reverend preacher, When taken im connection with the man- ner, the meauderings, the looks and tones of Him who spoke thom they are marveilously powerful, Tho deop love which uttered them gave them immortality. They open to us a vast fleld for thought and unfold a history such a8 no words ever expressed before, They open to us a yast region of moral combinations in which the divine and the human, the earthiy and the Deavenly, the holy and the diabolical, the blackness of infernal rage from the bottomless pit with tho gentle, the good, the just from the bosom of God, all mingle in one unique development—“Faiher, tho hour is come.’’ First, it was the trying hour to which all moral energy, good and baa, had converged, In this respect it was emphatically the bour, No such hour bad struck before in the chronicles of the uni- verse, Ail moral events had but signalized it and propared for it, Lt had been long anticipated heaven and predicted on earth. had boen but its preliminary, of time and eternity, throug # apostacy had c rk hour of exclusion All Snorai history both in the annals lapse of time tho necessity irom Paradise the | ch; | f | revelation to make I woud make in | until the scenes of tnat hour met them im a their vividness ace to face. ‘That nou. was foreign to their thoughts, and they “rebuked”? Him lor mention: ry 0 approac! it meekly; they with fear and awestruck, 1ts coming atmosphere chilled their souls and made them shudder, and they ume so Denumbed that they could not compre- bend Him, when He tock them aside aad said to them, ‘*1 shall be taken, tried, condemned, mocked, scourge, spit upon, crucified.” Luke says, “They understoad none of these things.” They wera amazed, beid in awful supense and could not fathom His meaning. They knew notuing, bar He knew everything that was before Him. He foresaw that when that bour struck the whole moral universe would be in an uproar and He would bo the ceatre thereof, He knew that the tragedy of the death strug. gie Was Wrapped up tp & bour for Him, and that 1n.its bosom He would die,amid all that was brutal, and because all moral enckgy would conver; Hia in its terrible moments He exclaimed, the hour i# come. ”? It wus the tragic bour in whieh all mora! energy, good and bad, contended for mastery. Not only was 1 the Dour of expectation, but also the hour of reaiiza- Uon. Hence He calls it Himself **The hour of power of darkness”? With 18 first beatings came tbe great struggie upon which He must enter single-uanded, The current of His thoughts struck adeep awe into His spirit which inched Him into the very beart of its apguish, This was a true priestly prayer which He offered that He might be invesied with ail the panoply which the desperate encounter de densuy of deep gioom and darkness casts 1 pallover His otherwise jauguid spirit, He exclaims “My soul is exceedingly sorrowtul e h,?? That deciaration breathes of infirmiues in moral an tagon@m of a contest for the purity of God’s inexor- able throne and of a decision as to the moral relations ol ali worlds, ‘THE OLD CONTROVERSY. ‘The oid controversy between Satan and tho Son of Man was to be brought to au issue, Satan, the arch cuptain of evil, nad been staiking on toe fieid tor thousands of years, awaiting, urst, Chrisi’s com- dug asthe promised sevd, and then tue onset, Then he bad slain ‘heaps upon beaps,” tll the batile- ground was white with the bones of the sli Man ad become taint and pale trom fear that the promise of adeliverer hud been forgotton and buried in the slumber of ages, when, vnexpectealy, a Galilean peasant appeared on the field, lowly aud meek, like “‘w lamb led to the slaughter.” There was bo thunder dn bis Voice, no terror in hisfogm, and when the Late apd bowlings ol men and devils broke upon him, lke a sheep he was dumb in their presence snd pro- posed to silence their diabolical enginery by the lavish ol mysterious love, When the predicted hour struck upon the bell of time every league both of earth and hell appeared in pneir coniederated strength, Christ would bave beet put to aeath long beture he was bad he not prevented it, either vy escaping out of the hands of big enemies or by restraining their wratn, For wherever be went murder lay in ambush for lim, It required aimighty power to baffle and delay it til the predicted hour should arrive tor the Christ to lay down his lie, This murderous spirit was put under the lets and hindrances ot Omoipotence for 118 time of action, Christ lor days and weeks waiked through paralytic murder, Like ferocious beasts on the snuff of blood, crouching in their jairs for the fatal epring, so through the bars of the bottoml pit and allalong the pathway of God incarnate, aemon hate lay peering from gark ambusb, with foamn on its teeth, gleaming hell water from ye, But Aimighty re- straint lay heavy, like a great nightmare, on the cun- federate wraih of earth and heli, boiding down the infernalism ot the universe till predic- The cowardice of tis foes came against the unarmed Lamb nd staves,’?uad the witole rabbie jell tiy rebuked them. iho demons whom He bad cast out hated Him, and entered the furious mob which clamored for His infamous death, while a dim mysterious horror filled His own soul with agony, fur His keen anticipations grasped tho dire reality, He knew that tho bitterness of His sul- ferings was inevitable and without alleviation, Skill could not evade them, power could not remove them, pity could not soften them, The cup mingled with all bitter ingredients was there—it was in bis hands— “the cup of tremmbling;”? it was full, aud He had given His royal word to drink it to ite- dregs, Myetery in morals was to be succceded only at the cost of intense suflerings, His bodily tormenis were sharp, but en- durable, Degraded persecution, wounded dignity and conscious innocence could never have extorted tho prayer from hi “Fathei e me trom this hour,’? ‘The bodily sufferings of Jesus are not the best int preters of that prayer. lisjust mterpretation is fear- fully mysterious. Human vocabularies bave no terms to express the pangs of that hour. Guilt, uke a moun- tain, Jay upon*a soul which bad never known its slightest touch. The sensibilities of an unstained purity were put in the place of the polluted as il Ho ‘wore set in way against God. ihe Shepherd was smitten for the sin of the sheep. The treason of Judas, the denial of Peter, our Lord’s disgraceful arrest, 1 scourgings aud mocking and bonds had all pierceu His heart, but these were among the least of His sorrows, The darkest moment of tuat Dour passed over Him when ‘he had trod the ess aloue” and in the desertion of His Fathor cried, “Why hast thou forsaken me??? That was the hour when all the penalties and liabilities of sinful man fell upon His substitate, when the law and government of God wero magnified and ‘unnumbered millions were resoued trom the power of the destroyer, PLYMOUTH CHURCH. RETURN OF HENRY WARD BEECHER—HIS BER- MON UPON CHRIST AS THE FORERUNNER oF THE RACE. Three thousand faces beamed a welcome upon Henry Wara Beecher yesterday as he ascended the platform of Plymouth Chureb, alter his summor vacation, look- mg ruddy and healthfui as ever. Thgre was a pro- fusion of choice flowers upon the platiorm, including many bouquets and emblems sent by admiring mem- bera of his congregation. After the services a great many came forward to shake the pastor’s hand, and he extended an invitation to a number to walk down to his house and see a night-blooming cerrus, which had bloxsomea during the proceding night’ The text of Mr. Beecher’s sermon was the passage from He- brews vi., 20—*‘Whither the forerunnor is for us en- tered, even Jesus.’’ This, the preacher remarked, was the interpretation given by the inspired writer of the Hebrews of the ofice of Christ foreshadowed by their high pricst entering into the holy placo of tho temple, But the altar and the temple were then abolished; Jesus was the everlasuug and heavenly High riiest, aud He entercd heaven as the High Priest used wv eater tho boly place on bebalf of the people, to plead with prayer beture God tor theta. The phrase “forerunner” Mr. Beecher thought ‘was used in only one other place in the Bible. What the precise functions of the forerunner wero, what were the minisirations of His heavenly work as distine guished from His carthly work, were quesuions every One would Iain have answered. Many of the passages im the New Testament wero but hinis and men could not follow them up, yet they continually insisted upon doing it. As the Scripture was directed to every part of the human being, 80 men in attempting to lollow after the traih had given every ingenious theory and every possible notion antil the whole Christian world has beon filled with vagrant, erring and conflicting testimon'es on the subject of Scripture, This contrarieyy amongmen and this Indefiniteness of Knowledge had led many \o Suake their heads and say, “An, it I bad a 40 that men would not be im doubt what I was saying.” The implication in this was that the Scripture is not Tevelation, because it leaves men ia doubt, because holding it to ve a revelation Irom God they undertake to settic things that are wholly in the clouds and +o | fall ito innumeravie difficulties and divide into secis and schools of belief, Men are disposed to say “it is | all a sort of dream of revelation; if it had been a truc tou of God we would have had more knowledge, certunty.”” The obscurity of the New Testa: ment Was not, Mr. Beecher argued, in regard to auty in our relations between man and man in this life and with regard to our whole living in this world, whether | 1 beim relation to any faculty or all of them, our in- tercourse with one another, vur relations to business, our relations to civil government, 1t was not denied that the Testament was clear, and only upon one or two points bad there been any question during 2,000 | yerrs upon tue subject of man’s etnical relauons in lime. Where was tue obscurity, then? It was in re- gard tothe state of being horcaiter; the decrees, attributes, plans and purposes of God, ’ This obscurity on the very threshold was all important. tu that is, the New Testament was explicit; it was | doubttul ouly in regara to tue lite to come, All things | being taken IMto account, this very obacurity favored the authenticity of tne New Testament THE LIMITATION OF MAN'S INTELLECT. Mr. Beecher called upon his hearers 1o consider in tions iast should strike. earthly | that connection, firsi, Low litte men wore capable of considering things that belong to a fucure condition, Men could understand after-tuinus only go far as they were suggosted by foregoing ones; and they voulu only tand as much of tho hereasier as they had bad of here, Paul gave bis view of that whoo nowledge shall fail; prophecy shail tail,’ In other words, When we come into Lhe other live what wo call positive knowledge bero will fado and div. There are some things hero that will no fade, he said— falib, hope, love—they will remain, they are un- changed by death, Iu other words, the experiences which may be called emotive—soul expericnces—bo- foreshowed it, angels and va (prophets | Jong to the futare and spirit lie; bub those experiences bad looked forth the troubled al that beloug to the musele and bone, and our reiatious measured © caten a glimpsd | in the family and the State, are of tho lower type and of ste rite 4d DEED Bune bY luoepired | Will BOLAppear in heaven, The capacity of man to bards snd seers 10 piaintive poles, When they testilied | understand this tuture life was linited, the preacher beforehand the euflerings of Carat, Dynasties tud | held, by his receptive power. ‘tis power hau been founded and overturned, kingdoms rose and fell | been beid iv view by the inspired writers and by im preparation Jor this ‘“(uluess of tue times.” Every | Christ Limacif If it were possible for a man to un- altar that smoked, every sucriticil knife that cleaned d every victim whose blood gurgled from its veins a spoke of its approach, moral forces rolled up their significance as the gr a moral fata All moral events, Bigns and dispensa- tions had acted in the hands of God as measuring wands up to this unparalieicd beaouar, It was the Yed-ietter day 10 ull morul cbronoio; rposes and progroxses liad been travelling up to th fren bad never taken its eye irom the dial plate ry secoud and tw wen had listened to the ticking of breathlessly for he hour? en hud waited strike, Sin had forboded it as a crisis; moral Jaw had Waited patiently tor it to its full vindication; devils bad contemplated is us tho bate feld, the great moral | Tbermopy iw of the universe, and God had anticipatod ines the turning point m the beam of the b when boliness would bring down the scale walue, and now Jesus said, “Father the hour is come.” THA FERLING OF THE DISCIPLES. Tho mysterwus reterencos which Jesus made to this wonderiul period furnish you with a key to the @motions of ills breast as Hie contemplated Urst its jd import aod & jus terrible realty. As its began to steal over Him ho told His dis. Gaps how eeolomnly. eventiul } it be, for He “The things concerning an end,” Yot ? ‘eiteramces were strange ald uoln' Higent to them It was tho time to which ali | and all periods, | derstand higher life it would be impossibie to convey | the knowledge in homan language, Every man is conscious 01 an evolution of being iu bim, to express which there is no language, Strong feeling outruns Equator, which decided the moral past from the | language every whore, Mr. Beecher next called upon his congregation to consider the nature of soul existence aud the impos- | sibiity of its being aualyzed and defined, “li you \ake water,’ bo sard, “and resolve it into its com- | ponent guses, it 18 no loager Water; it you want vo find out of wout a flower is composed you must pull it to proces, but thon it 18 no jonger a flower.” In like manner, be held, men were continually 10 theology — atietupting to express as an idea that whieh was In- capable of being so expressed. ‘Ihe nature and powers and botog of man and the poverty of human language all prevented the lapse of knowiodge irom the great spirit reayn beyond. The preacher pa on to consider, In View of this, what was the method of Christ. “What would be thought,” be ask the Saviour bad undertuken to give cloar nteuiet and definite outlines of spiritual trains which cowd bot be thus Handled, according to tho fundamental cloments of His man existence ond human nature?’ J. sus was like a tnab, byt the imiorencedrawn by some thui therefore he was*not God, \ if one. ‘Tue actions umd Janguage of the Saviour on earth were modified 80 a6 to Come Within tho scope of human comprehension, just as a learned man teaching ap iuians does descend to the level of ther understand. NEW YORK HERALD, MO In regard vo | mgs. rhe first mark of divinity one would look for in Christ would be this dual nature; there would be double action. While withiu the scepe of things that Feluted to man’s intelligence He would b be very definite there would be the outcropping consciousness of His divine re, Im the course of the Saviour’s life nothing was more striking th: was very simple, and Gospel of John, how He seems to talk above the beads disciples, In other words, as there was in His person the double nature—the human atirivates overlying thw circumscrived and party eclipsed di- vine nature—wo should expect that there would be a flashing out of that, and there was continually, The co-existence of these two elements—tne divine and the buman—teaches that the occasionul disclosure of the highest forms of spiritual truth, but the dis- closure of that in a mystye way, in a manner that no man can preach or explore or make definite. These two developments re just what might expect from that anomalous state of existence which He 1s a 14 to have beld—God-man. Christ came into this world went back to the heavenly land order that every mau, woman and child might atter jeel that they were part and parcel of the same existence; and He went up on high as the forerunner of the human race. THE HIGHER INFLUENCE, Human iife, the preacher said, is developed under material laws, under sovial tofluences, in schools, in famines, in civil education; there is an element that 18 tod by the visibie and the physical in this lite; but 118 Hot the whole, Human ‘life is boing developed also by an element trom oa high—invisible, impaipa- ble, but nevertheless influential, The seed could not grow without the moisture and the earth about it; Dut if the eurth ig the mother of the plant the sun is ita royal father. So mon are subject to climate and to all puysical influences bearing upon them, but the cliuef jufluence ander which they are being developed 18 the great Sun of Righteousness; it is the power of Goa, not less because invisible, impalpable and silent. Krupp’s great factory in Germany, with its 20,000 employés and its mighty machipery clanging and roaring, has oot one-millionth part of tho power which in the adjacent quiet meadows is silently and invisibly swelling the'yrass and trees, ‘There is an in- nce we cull gravitation, Nota leaf or a particle of matter of any kind, tn the bowels of the earth or in the sea or ais, ia hidden from its silent band in all tho vast realm ot existence, and so there is not a living creature that escapes irom tho divine aud the inevita- ble in the whole round of human extstence. To sum up, Mr. Beecher ueclared that we had then a forerunner who had gone out trom us, and though wo could not tell what are the precise steps that He takes nor what is the heavenly organism, if there be sach a thing, we did know that Jesus our brother stands at the centre of universal power to do whatever 1s necos- sary to be done for each one of us, And we know tho great central power of the universe is tor us; it 18 ours, 14 is busied-with ug, and unless it be resisted and shut out it wili inevitably reclaim, iashion and complete us, Mr. Boechor declared that the world was but a few days old in the reckoning of God; it had hardly begun its existence, and it Was going On as God meant it should, and ali the vast and ali the stormy roiling of human lite as tempestuous seas roll, casting up miro and earth, in the long reckoning would be seen to have their place and their function and their moaning, such a3 we Calluot interpret now. ‘ears fall unheeded to- day, said the preacher; but not a tear but has a {unc- tion, If sorrows conquor us to-day there is nota sorrow but will be found one of God’s architects, All these troubles, the preacher declared, were but so many schoolmastors sent to educate the nascent race which is pressing its way upward through the agos. Alter all, he said, the spiritual power that works toward purity, sweetness, light and joy is vastly greater than all the other powers put together, It does not show out to-day, because the world is 80 young that its effects aro not very strongly marked; but in the ages it will appear, The preacher onde with an exhortation to his pearers to follow the teach- ings of the Saviour, who stood beckoning and calling to the race, t, When one reads the fourth MASONIC HALL. THE UNBELIEF OF THE AGE—SERMON BY REV. 0. B, FROTHINGHAM, The religious services at Masonic Hall, Sixtn avenue and Twenty-third streot, under the auspices of tho Independent Socioty, were largely attended yesterday morning. Some excellent singing by a well trained quartet preceded the reading of the Scriptures, after which Rey. 0. B, Frothingham offered a forvent prayer to tho Creator of the universe, in which he alluded to the ignorance und super- atition that beset the human mind and lead the souls of men astray, and acknowlodging the desire of those who, with the limited power at their com- mand, endeavor to lift up those who are bound down by ignorance, After some more singing tho reverend genticman entered upon the theme of the day and preached a sermon on the unboliet of the age. It was more general, he said, more intelligent, moro earnest and less aggressive than it used tobe. He could not furnish statistics. to show the extent of this unbelief, but there it was, visible to all, There ‘was the unbollet of far-sighted mea and also of short-rignted men. There was a refined, elegant, lofty, dignified unbelief, and thoro, was also a rude and violent unbeliet. How could they describe its origin? Some 6f at originated from science, some of it from intellectual douvis and again a good deal original trom idleness and Indifference. Neverthe- Jess, it was the spirit of the age, that very age which was tull of seekers after wealth, and of that of ours, when men care more to ascertain the truths oft torrestrial affairs than seek the mysteries of divine matters, in this age when men put forth their strong hands tor possession rather than attempt to reach the imaginary. And this unbo- lief marches along in spite of all learning and all philosophy. ‘Tho reverend gentleman then stated that there were among unbelievers quite a numbor of aggressors who continually fought against instituted religions, They were determined men, who saw cloarly and struck hard blows, They considered the Church the enemy of progress and opposed ecclesiasti- cal institutions as jounded upon fraud, con- sidered the Bible as a tissue of . myths and fall of falsehoods, assailed all religions ag superstitions and opposed all ideas of divine inspiration, These mon were anti-Coristians, anti-creed, anti-church, Though some of them wero nd rude, most of them were singularly unselt- Toey wore tall of humane feeling and” deter- mined to emancipate mankind from superstition and error, and were endeavoring to give the soul wings to fly free over the whole tnteliectual realm. They should be respected and honored, and all should be giad to serve them, Oniy their method was open to criticism, Philosophers and scientisis wore'not iu sym- pathy with these men, and this tor the simple reugon that they forget that thero is always a grain of truth in things erroneous, The buman miod when search- ing lor ligbt through ages ol darkness did not go wrong entirely, it did, indeed, find some good, Few of tucse pugnacious unbelievers realy under d tneir task, They forget that every superstition bad its day and place, and they forget out of what state of luind (hese -Uperstitions proceeded. 1t was impossi- ble that anything else could have existed. These things should not at all vo judged by our standard of truth, Disbolieve them if you please, but do them justice, There was pualli- auon even for the’ horrid superstition that lingered over the domain of human intellect. Tho unbelhiever should remember that the realm of ro- higion is pot truth, but poetry. If religions were to be pulled down then let justice be dove to all that bas been accomplished, 1t18 futile to criticise too sharply. No sensible man should be too critical, THE VALUK OF THE WIPLE, _ Take tho Bible, for instance. ts most religious part consisted of poetry. No man believed to-day te truth of Genesis when comparing tt with the doc- trines of Tyndall and Huxiey, Nevertheless, tue Bible was a fine picture to affect man’s imagination, Peopie then knew nothing out the eurth’s creation, nothing about evolution, All they felt was te immense majesty of His creative power that brovgnt order out 0: chaos, Taki the flood. ‘There never was such a vessel us Nou’s ark. Omnipotence couid not get ail the animals there if He wanted. Ot course the smallest schoolboy could pick ail the flaws he wanted in Noat’s ark. Nevertheless the meaning ot the story had w benellcial effec:. It meant th il, like a flood of destruction, would blot peoples from the face of the earth, and that the seed of righteousness and forgiveness would survive all floods and all catamiti to Abraham. It meant nothing else than that if people were only patient aii good things would come to them, continued the preacher, im this age of ours we are nservative, NOL destructive. It is our aun and purpose to build up, Dot to destroy. Itis the mission of unbelief to preserve. It 1s not tue question whether we belivve in one God or a thousand gods, We must preserve the good we find and dismiss the rest. It is folly to assail everything at once, for it must be remembered that this religion which we assail is not the creature ot day, it bas grown to be part of a people's ine, thing—art, politics, society, science—is impregnated by it Only that shouid bo’ preserveu which 18 really go0U, and let the chai be thrown to the winds. BROOKLYN ‘TABERNACLE, CROSSING THE JORDAN—SERMON BY REY, T. DE WITT TALMAGE, Mr. Talmage spoke yesterday morning on the subject “Crossing the Jordan,” tukiog bis text trom I, Samuol, xix. 18—Aad there wont over a ferrybont to carry the King’s housenoli.’? My, subject, said Mr o, first impresses me with the fact that when we cross over from this world to the next the boat will bave to come from the other side. Every day wo find people trying to extemporize a way from earth to heaven, They gather up good works and some senti- mental theories und make e@ raft. Poor deluded souls get on bourd and go down, Tho fact ts that seopticism and infidelity never yet hoiped one man to die. Of all the unbelievers, of ail the ages, not one of thom aied well, Some of them sneaked oat of lite, some of them wept their lives away, some bfuspuemea and raved, tearing their bed covers to tatters, (hats the way worldly philosophy helpsa man todie, My friends, when # man pats Out from the shore of this world on tue river of death 1m a voat of his own construction he makes an eteroal shipwreck. the boat is coming | trom the other gide, everything about this gospel is from the other side—pardon, mercy, pity, the minis= try of the angels, the power to work mitacies, Jesus Curist. God forbid that 1 snould ever trust to any- thing that starts from this side Agulil, MY subject suggests that when we cross over the river the King will bo on the boa, Now I wantto break a deiusion In your minus When our friends xo away we feel so sorry jor them, because they have to go dione. But when the soul goes to heaven it doy’t go alone, the King 1s on board the boat, “When thi passeth through the waters,’ sald the Lord, ‘1 wilt bo with theo, and through the rivers they sball aot that, His discourse” overflow thee”? Christ at tho sick pillow, Christ to take the soul out of bed, Christ to help the sou! down bank, into the boat and across the and ‘on the other side to help the séul a, i. Be comforted, then, about your departed ds and your own demise; no Christian ever dies alot “ON THAT BEAUTIFUL SHORE." My subject also suggests to me the fact that when we cross over the river we will find a solid landing. id and bis people didn’t find the eastern shore of the Jordan apy more id than re they landed, and ye great many hea nota real place. To you heaven 18 a fog bank in « dis- tance, to me it isa solid heaven, Alter the resurrec- tion comes you will ba’ resurrected foot and some- thing to tread on, and a resurrected eye and colors to be seen, a resurrected ear and music to regaie 1t. Some men in this day are maxing a great deal of {un about St. John’s materialistic heaven. Dissatisfied with it, theological tinkers are irying to patch up a heaven that will be for them at the last, have nO patience with your transce: gelatinous, gaseous beaven, My heaven 1s nota tog bank, The King’s. ferryboat starting trom @ world on thi will go to a worl on tie other. Again, my subject teaches that when we cross Over at the last we willbe mes atthe landing, Our arrival in heaven will not be like stepping ashore at Antwerp or Constantinople, among a crowd of strang- ers; it will be among good friends, warm hearted friends and all their friends, When we cross the river at the last we will not only be met by all those Coris- tian people whom we knew on earth, but all their on is will come down to the landing to moet us, 0 you and all the affairs of your life. know our garres kimdred by the poi huog in th® throne room of our hearts, Our departed friends have the advantage of us—we know not where thoir world of Joy is, they know whore wo are, Whata consolation this is to those whose friends hb: gone away. How it takes off the sharp edge of meiancholy—the parting on carth to be solaced by the rounion in heaven, What acon- solation that, when our poor work on earth is done, we cross the mvertobe met at tl landing. Buta thoaght comes through me like an electric shock:—Do I belong to the King’s household? ‘he ferryboat car- ried ovor the King’s household, and no one but tho King’s household, Dol belong to uw? Deyout If you do no}, come to-day and be adopted into that bousehoid. Como in and crossin tho King’s forry- be CHURCH OF THE INCARNATION. OHRIST'S REBUKE OF JAMES AND JOHN—SER- MON BY REV. ARTHUR BROOKS, D. D, At the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Incarna- tion, yesterday, the rector, Rey. Arthur Brooks, D. D., discoursed on Jesus’ rebuko of His disciples James and John, related in the ninth chapter of Luke, Fol- lowing this rebuke the Mastor said the Son of Man was not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them, ¥rom this lesson tho preacher drew tho inference that men should not falter in their sorvice of God and par- suit of religion because thoy were not as blameless as angels. If thoy would only persevere they would find to their great spiritual profit that the spirit of Christ pressicg into the interior of tho Christian heart will discover new auties and delights unielt before. But it was equal y ‘tain, he said, thut men could not serve th world and the Spirit at’ the same time, ‘lo one mas- ter only could they be true, having chosen Christ they shouia not falter in His service. It was almost touching, he continued, to bear men who wil not acknowledge that tney are Christians refer to their antecedents, One says his mothor was a devoted Christian aud when ho was a baby she con- secrated him to Godin prayer, 1t was the wish of her heart that be should foliow in her footsteps. An- other says he was born, baptized and raised a Chris- tian, but that he and big faith havo severed the ties that bound them in his earlier days, Many of them talk as if thoy felt they were not good enough to call themselves Christiana, and talk as if they thought that being a Christian implies the erformance of duties beyond their accomplishment. Ye should not disregard this matter, ho urged, but should endeavor to persuade them to overcome their apprehensions and try to become as good Christinns as possible, and it is possivie for all to ve Christians, if not exemplary ones Christ’s rebuke of His two disciples showed that even these were not perlect, and yet they jeft enduring evidences of their ardent lovo tor Curist und tl perfect devotion to Him, Even if we do not attain to the full spirit of Chri lito we must pot consequently cease irom striving atter it, We must not begin to fear that we are no Christians at all. Our knowledge may drag tar behind our wishes, but we are Christians all the samo, Occa- sional lapses from duty do not neutralize all our efloris aud should not be permitted to dishearten us and pervert our inchuations, 1t was not a Chris- tian act of John and James to ask tor the destruction of the Villaxe of tue Samaritan who refused to roceive them, yet they were good Christians. they moritcd and recejved rebuke for this, to be sure, aud so it is with Christian men to-day. ‘Those who wish to serve Christ most faithfully ai fail, but He will be with them to chide them and point out to them their of- fences, Be not discouraged, therctore, wherever you are 10 Christian hifo. CHRISTIAN CHARITY. In this connection, the preacher conciuded, we are reminded of the uses of Christian charity. Begin to condemn once and where will you stop? Begin to ex- communicate and who shall be leit? All mea have their impertections. To tuis fact wo are all alive. So should we ail ve alive to the evidences of the Christian spirit in all, paving charity only tor their weaknesses, re should take to hearbtho lessons of Christ’s wise rebuke, press onward and advanco furthar in His ser- vice, Only invite tho spirit of Christ to enter into us and He will make us periect. He is with ali men, en- couraging, yet rebuking, helping, yet showing us’ our faults, 8ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL. THE DEVOTION OF THE ROSARY AND ITS EFFI- CACY—SERMON BY VERY BEV. WILLIAM QUINN, V. G 1a St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday morning Very Rey. William Quina, V. G., spoke on the devotion of the Rosary, the day being the one set apart by the Church to commomorate that fostival. He said that although we bave in revealed Jaw all or nearly all that is necessary for us to know and to observe, you the Church sanctions many kinds of devotions as alds in jetuldiling that law, Among them there was none more general in use or more productive of fruit than that of the Rosary 1t was instituted in the beginning of the thirteenth contury by the great St. Dominick, founder of the celebrated Order which bears his name, atter a vision ho bad of the Blessed Virgin, who appoared carrying the infant Saviour in berarms, Tne saint was 60 oppressed at seeing the state of society, trom the demoralizing effects of war and the spread of heresy, that he determined on going among tho poople ahd preaching to them. It was then he had the vision in which he was told to use us a pon of offence the angelical salutation with the short prayer attached to it bythe Cuurch, Tue de- ‘votion consists 1m repeating the tation and prayer retaced by the prayer taught by our Lora, the “Our Father,” and conciuded by the sung of praise, “Glory be tothe Father.” This, which is Culled'a decade, has to be repeated fitteen times, and tn order to gain the indulgences attached some ono of the mysteries in the lie of our Redeemer must be medi- tated upon whilo reciting each decade. The devotion ig 80 simple as to be adapted to all, the rich as well as learned and enlightened as well as (he simple and uninstructed. No wonder, tnen, it should be so universally adopted. In proof of its eficacy ho would allude to but one example, which is recorded in history. Aboat the middie of the sixteenth century the Turks had invaded a large portion of Kurope and — threatened to subdue the whole, when tne then Pope, St, Pius V., wrote to all (no crowned heads encouraging them to unite and make common cause against the enemy, But two responded; yet with these two he determiued ‘on giving battle, A great general, Don Juan ot Aus- tria, was selected as the head, and afior locating the Turkish fleet and having periormed their devotions, ‘on this very day, in the year 1571, be ordered the at- tack 10 be nade. ‘The result was a complete victory jor the Christians, ‘he euemy’s vessels were cither sunk, captured or burned, 30,000 were either slain or made prisoners and 25,000 Christians, Wio bad beon forced into the ranks, were liberated. On that mi orable day every man went to battie wearlng a rosary around his neck, Many miracles might be mentioned having been caused through the efficacy of this mple devouon. This, then, should encourage the Jauthiul in practising a devotiol beneficial, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH, THE MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST—SEKMON BY REV, FATHER MERRICK. Atthe Church of St, Francis Xavier, Sixteenth street, noar Sixth avenue, yesterday moraing, Rov. Fathor Soler was the cclebrant at bigh mass and Rev. Fatnor Merrick preached the sermon, Tho altar of the Virgin Mary was illuminated and beautifully decorated wih flowers, Betore commencing his discourse Father Merrick announced that on tho evening of Sunday, November 4, there would be a sacred concert in the church by Gilmore's Military Band and orchosira, ns- sisted by other distinguished artists, under the direc- tion of Dr, William Berge and Mr. P. 8. Gilmore, Tho funds accruing are to be applied to the building tund of the new church, and Father Merrick made an earnest appeal for the hearty support of tno congrega- tion, Iaying special stress on the spiritual benetiis whieh would redound to those who contributod of their means, Tho subject of tho sermon was.“Tho Holy Ghost,’ and the reverend Father commenced by pointing out the tact that the creed ot the Church commenced by the recognition of the third per-on in the irinity. What do we know avout the Holy Ghost? he contmued, Without hgot we should vot be like the membors of the Church ot Ephesus, who had not even heard of 1t8 existence. ‘Ihe Holy Ghost in the Biessed Trintty was simpry the love of God, Strictly speaking God was (he Father and by His desire He ‘generates His divine Xon, Goud tho Father and God the Son knew and loved each other, They were in tact one, and the Holy host wos the re- sult of this matual love. It proceeded from ‘he Father aud Son and was therr mutual act, Tho Latin Church had, it was true, beon accused of recognizing or carry- ing @ division into tbe Holy Trinity, but this was not so, Lhe Grock Uburch diflered irom tho Latin merely in the matter of obedience; it was tho wickedness of their will, the perversity of human nature simply that Beeincd $0 Cause u diflerence in the creeds, ‘Ihey re- sisted the Holy Ghost and would not be governed or controlled by its influence, which, said tho Fathor, ‘was tho raecial characteristic of heretics and of horeti- NDAY, ‘OCTOBER 8, 1877—WITH SUPPLEMENT. cal antagonism. Each of the persons in the Trinity had special functions, God the Father was the great creator and the destroyer, oo; Ged the Son was the beloved Redee who came on earth to assuage sor- row and to atone for gin; but the Holy Ghost was the Very essence of divine love, The Holy Spirit was des- ignated as perfect jnegs—the bond of and S01 ‘The Chareh it re union between Fi ee Each of the persons Missions, as it were; but to, i nd sou! of the Church, words oi Goa the Son jor this, the preacher conclud for did He not say, 1 will send the Holy ae comfort you? and how well has Ho kept His wol CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY. THE NECESSITY OF AFFLICTIONS—SERMON BY REY, DR. TING, JR. Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., preached to a large Congregation yesterday morning from the tex: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, yo are in heaviness through manifold tribu- lation” —I, Peter, L, 6 These two episties of Peter, he said, wero writton to the ecaitered Christians who Were suffering the most severe trials and tribulations for the sake of Christ, The temptations through which they were passing smote both mind and body, and they required the tenderest sympathy and strongest support These epiat aro filled with just such consolation, That they attained their end is proved by the state of experience which these Christians represented and with which all of us are familiar. Fd the afilicted believer fai) to find rele! in these opiatle: ‘hich are filled with teuder, pitying Jove, 1t seem! if all the Bible had veen laid under Suatsivesioer of as if all tho similea, suggestions und consolatiot ‘the prophets, psalmist and evangelists wore here gat! ered and concentrateu, Certainly no part of the Bible is better adapted to the wants of the Christian when tompted and tried. It is redolent with divine Consolation, 1t is God’s herald to His suffering people No one who needs support will fail to flud it it he sits and reads th episiios at Peter's leet. Heaviness for a season 18 closely connected with heuvenliness for eternity, That heaviness necessary shown by God's saying that believer must pass through dark shadows, We readily geo how desirable in Chrisvan development and life aro afflictions that seem most heavy. Ther goodness jn the trial, whatever be may its form, that brings as face to face with the sovercignty of God, upon whom our very being depends, We muy stand belore His throne, high up, and look upon Hia face This heaviness is Wrougnt by “manifold temptations.” Tho most su shiny life has its shadows, and there al most glad experience, the most prosperous living, whon a heavy heart is borne about, though tho body seoms light and happy. Griefs that are hidden from the world, that are curried aeep down im tho heart, and told not even to the ear of dsbip and love—these ure they that bring most 4 Then the face wears a veil, behind which 18 hidden a sorrow that cannot be reached by the balm of earthly sympathy, At such é!mes our occupations and bighest priviloges lose their interest, und the haeuviest biow of ali is when the shadow falls upon our house and one whom wo have loved is taken trom among us Whatever may be tho trial the result the same. Whoever receives an aflliction as God ine touds it is in heaviuess, 118 necessary to our higher deve: UF ot and growth, Changes of dispensation with Him are aot coangeg of disposition, AFFLICTION NOT A PUNISHMENT, AMliction ia seut to M3 not as a punishment—thank Goa, Jesus has borne that for us—but ratner as a cor- rection, a8 a bac which God puts across the wrong path, that we may be turncd in the right direction, Heaviness is “fora season.’ Trials do not make up ‘the most of a bellevor’s lite, After they are passod, then comes tno great largesses of heavenly love, which he can enjoy ull the more. rrovidence brings many compensations to the spirit. It is through much tribulation tnat we attain to the heavenly crown. Trials have a special adaptivoness to the de- velupment of a full rotundity ot character, We me to such a point in this life that we can the beauty id heavenliness which jilumi- nates the edges of our sorrow, Faul says “ur light aftliction is bat fora moment”? My friends, no mat- ter for what length of time)it*may last, it is always necessary. Wo should bear our afflictions not with indifference or discontent. A resistance, a rebellious “heaviness” is the bitterest experience out of hell, Submission is not all that God wants—it is unconscious acquiescence, such a bringing of the soul into such rapport with God, such a unity as feels a cortain de- light in the midst, and even because of afflictions, Wo “greatly rejoice’ it th. ‘heaviness’? be properly en- dured, It 18 not tho losing 01 interest in the things of the world, for in all sorrow every one foels that, bat the getting nearor to heaven, —_—_—_4—____ AMERICAN TEMPERANCE UNION. ADDRESS BY JUDGE GkOO—ELECTION OF OFFI- CERS—PRESIDENT GIBBS DECLINES A KE- ELECTION AND N. W. CADY IS CHOSEN. Tho meeting of the American Temperance Union at Cooper lostitute yesterday afternoon was unusually interesting. Besides the musical entertainment, in which Professor Weeks, Professor J. Jay Watson, Miss Annio Watson, the St. Cecilia choir of boys, uniter the direction of Professor Pearce, and the regular union choir participated, there was an elaborate and comprehensive address upon the subject of temper- ance trom Judge W. J. Groo, of Orange county, N. ¥., with remarks from William Noble, the English tom- perance reformer, and others, the whole performances concluding with the quarterly circus of the election of officers, It will be seen by our report that President J. B. Gibbs, who has been the presiding officer of the union for nine quarters, having positively declined a re-election, Brother M. W. Cady, who, although » bachelor, as was stated, had a warm interest in the temperanco werk, was chosen leader for the ensuing three months after an amiable and rather amusing con- test op the partof Mr. Gibbs’ trionds that he shoula bo retained for another term, KVILS OF RUM SELLING AND RUM DRINKING, Judge Groo repeated a remark betore made by him in the hall that he was in no sense a temperance lecturer, but be found it to be both his duty as well as his pleas- ure to do all he could to promote the temperance cause, He haa, in fact, become so much interosted in the subject that he proposes < ir to speak twice where he bad spoken but ohce during the last ten in favor of tho suppression of the liquor traffic, He proceoded to illustrate the evils of rum selling ond rum drinking, first, by quoting statistics turmished by the Treasury Departmont at Washington showing tbat im the your 1871 the actual amount of money paid by tho people of the United Stutes to-eupport the traffic was $60,000,000, and in 1872 $735,000,000, He would add \o tuis the material ueed, or worse than wasted, in | the manufacture, the time ‘expended, the mereased taxation in consequence of pauperism and crime justiy traceable to the use of strong urink, the logs of labor cnused by drunkenness, and it would, he believed, equal if not exceed in amount the public devt of the United States, Stop the traific for a year and that debt coula be paid. Forty million bushels of grain, or a bushel for every Man, woman and child in the coun- try, was destroyed annually in this business, Every interest suffers from it, Tne rents of tenement houscs are raised in consequence of increased taxation to support prisons, lunatic asylums and poorhouses. Tne furniture dealer suffers, so do the carpet manu- facturer, the shoemaker, the tailor, the dry goods dealer, the grocer, ior in each of these lines of trade the money spent lor rum would be used in purchas- ing necessaries and comforts for families, ‘the cost of supporting the three State prisons in this State— at Sing Sing, Clinton and Auburn—is enormous, some $500,000 per year over aod above the sums Teulized irom convict lavdr, Kx-Governor Dix had stated that iour-fifths of the crime, pauper- ism and misery in the State were caused by intoxicaung drink, Four million vollars would be saved 1m Wen years by the reduction of the exponses State prixgns alone if rum that takes up v Hl soon become a gi is. The speaker showed sre New York eity could be governed as ensily is & rural village it rum selling was abolished, The police toree could be largely reduced and taxation for ils support, therefore, greatly cut down. So with re- gard to other immensely expensive city establish. ments, The speaker said be had only spoken of this evil in its mai aspects. The morai considerations, he claimed, were infinitely higher, inaswuch as thoy embraced the Christian Church, the family home, ibe individual himaselt, REMEDIRS FOR THE ABATEMENT OF THK EVI. The Judge then went into an argument showing what efforts had been made for the abatement of the evil. He first took up the license system, explained where it had been tried and where it had utterly failed, The moral suasion theory was then considerey, The speaker thougut i was very good go far as it went, but be believed that where ioral suasion was uot supplementod by the law it bas been a tauare, ‘There is a law wiready on the statute books prohibiting the selling of liquor to drunken men, He wanted to gee 4 Jaw Lo prevent the selling of intoxicating drinks to sober men. (Applause.) So long as there is a hieense law 11 18 uiterly impossible to getata sound public judgment on the question. ‘The speaker favored prolibition us the most eilective agent m re- moving ihe evil, He sad that proibition had never been fairly tried except in the State of Maine, where it 18 @ decived success, Some thought they would fail in the protivition work; but, he asked, dot relieve us Irom the daty of doing right? He did not believe in the dishwater temperance policy—that which held the wine glass in ove hand and with the Other wuged a war ou the saloon keepers REPORT ON FINANCES—-KLECTION OF OFPIORRS. After Projersor Weeks had sung with starting effect “San the Lite Boat,” the assemblage resolved ttself into a regular business meeting of the Temperance Unior. From the report of the Indy treasnrer it ap- penred that tor the quarter ending October 1 $931 51 had been raised vy colléctions, certificates aa ayociat Gonations, which was an increase of nearly $800 over the previous quarter, but s:ill Josying the unioa in debt $70, The following list of officers, submitted by the Com~ mittee on Noniiaations, waa, alter some spirited talk, finally unanimously adopted: President, N. W. Cady. Vico Presidonts—Mrs, Emma G. Conkling, John Noble, irs, Burnett, Recordiwg Secretary, Mrs, Carrie Willams; Corresponding Secre- tary, J. B Conkling; Financial Secretary, James A, Burnett; Treasurer, Mr: KR. Dickinson; -Chapiar W. 3. Hutchins, Executive Commitiee—J. BE. Parks, G. Dudley, Miss Arabelia Root, Daniel Ross, Mrs, H. C. Wilms, H. ©, Johnson, Mrs, Seaman, Miss Amy Lee Watking, afr, Crawlord, Misé Fanny Melton, Wal- ter Logan, Mrs, Louisa Qaies, Allred, Dickinson, Mrs, J. Vv. Tiliman, J. ad dirs, Clara W. Warner, Mre, Emma C, Benger, R, Burnott, Mrs, Walter Logan, Mrs, M, McKenna en THE RIVER MONSTER. DESCRIPTION OF THE LEVIATHAN OF THE MIS- SISSIPPI—HAS ANANIAS BISEN FROM THE DEAD TO TEST OUR CREDULITY?—BATTLY WITH A COAL FLEET—TERBOR SPBEADING ALONG THE SHORE. [From the St, Louis Globe-Democrat, Oct, 6.) Friday afternoon, at a late hour—thesun being about a half hour bigh and the sky and air unusually clear— Captain Jobn Carraway, of the towboat Bee ,Wing, baving in tow sx boavily londed coal barges of the well known Brown Barge and Transportation Com. pany, of Pittsburg, was passing a point on the river Just above the villago of landing known as Bradley’s, five miles below Devil’s Elbow Cut-off and about fif- tecn miles above Memphis, when his attention was di- rected to a loud, pulling noiso s considorable distance up tho river, At first he thought it was the roaring of a broken escape pipo or the wheezing of a disordered engine; but, seeing no smoke, and having reason to believe that there was no steam craft within hearing distance, below or above, he vory shortly came to the conclusion that the sounds emanated from another source, Five mine utes passed and the noise continued to be heard at brief intervals, and evidently getting closor, From. the deck of tho towboat a view could be had for 1,000 yards up the river, a gradual bend commencing at that distance, The sun was almost dipping below the western horizon when, around this bend, there rose t¢ viow the writhing form ofa terrific monster, darting impetuously in mid-channel down the river, Wher first seen the levinthan seemed moro like an immeng uprooted tree, floating in a. semi-perpendicular post tion along the mid-chanvel. As it neared, however, its horrid proportions became mi est, The hideousness Of tuis uqaatic monstrosity ia stated by Captain Carrae ‘way to be beyond the power of description. [is im- mense pelican bill, froin five to ten feet in length, the gigantic balldog head and the mammoth, siimy neck, appeared high in air; the vast tail lashing the waten into tury, and the enormous fing, ten foot in lengtn, sending out waves like the roll of a flyiug boat; the frequent dipping of the moustrous beak into’ the water and spouting hugo streu forty tees high oblique and whe deep, cav ernous roars thundering alon, at the briefest intervals—all these forma an Internal panorama that inadv the blood of the tow- boat captain and hus affrighied crew run coid aud their very hairs to stana on end, The monster waa in the exact wake of tue boat and barges, but it trav- ellod with such tremendous velocity that turning out oft the course wos impossible. It 1s believed tuat ite locomotion was at least twenty miles an hour, aud Captain Carraway at once realized that 1 the ponder. ous body, with its irresistible momentum, should strike his fragile vessel the boat would capsize in an instant or be shatiered to spituters. He was makiug eight mile u pour, On the monster rushed, roaring with deafening eilect, spouting from his horrid bill two Streams of water that shot forty fet into the alr aud fell iu torrents into the river on either side, THK MONSTER DESCRIBED, Tho serpentine bady swayed toriuously and with frighttul rapidity vhrough the muddy watera, whi! the prodigious foreparts of tho colossal reptile roxe and suok and swayed like a Stygian horror, threaton- ing to swallow and devour ull that came witnin ita reach, When within 150 or 200 yards the horrid rep- ul ft 16 had just discovered an obstucie it 106 track, slackeueu its precipitate pace nd jor an instant paused to coutempiate the uature of the obstruction, With a tremendous snort, so loua and deep and sonorous that 11 gave the boat a tromu lous motion, the huge creature came to a dead stop, and with its monstrous vill, head and neck reared per- pendicularly, seemod4iko a watery demon rising trom the bosom of the deep, Hero Captain Carraway, de- spite the terror that bad necessarily taken posses- sion of him, obtained # good view of the monster, at Jeast the parts that were avove water, and bis descrip. tion of the horrific spectucie is suilictently minute aud accurate to deserve reproduction. Carraway alleges ‘that there ws no doubt the monster has a pelican. shaped bill, but that its length, which has ‘etoloro been desoribed as bing five feet long, will measu: least te! et. I, uppeared more like an immons: horu than @ beak, aud 1m shape was much like the pointed sword of the spear fish, though larger and louger, and decidedly more formidable as @ weapon ot oflensive wariare, 1t was irom through this bill thas \be monster spouted water, tue water boing thrown from @ point near the head. Captai Carra- way, who is an old whaler, stated that the spouting, unlike that of the whale, which throws ite stream upward in @ straight columo, was made jo oblique directions, and that the volume ot water spouted and the height reacued were twice as great as tuat thrown by the whale, The head 1: cribed to have been four or five feet across, black and shining, and ita shape bearing a ciose resemblance to tuat of the bulidog. Captain Carraway thinks the animal bore on its head two short horns, but of this ho is not cor- tain, as the timo for observation was very short. There could be no doubt, however, as to the canine Shape of tho head, and ol the puenomenal circum- stauce that to this dog’s head was atlached a biil or beak, fashioned like thut of @ pelican, Lue neck ap- peared to be ten or twelve feet in longthgarrow aud serpentine, aud Bwaying and writhing motion like that of # snake poised in water, The sides and Under portions of the neck were evidently covered with burnished scales of changeable hue, but {rom the top of tue neck there grew what had the appearance ol @ mane, resembling tat of a horse, being thick and shiny and of a greenwh tint This maue reached irom the base of the head to the body and depended from the neck im long strands. These were the ouly parts of the body that were visible except vhe fing, Un the back there appeared to aorsal iin, filteen or twenty feet in engin, measuring along the back, and perbaps tpree or iour feet in neight being sank 1m the bowever, could ot be seen, und Captain Carraway says he inay be mistaken a8 to this dorsal fio, and only describes it ag it appeared to bim during the momentary oppor. tunity he bad jor observation. ‘The side fins were of Monstrous proportions, extending fifteen feet on either side, aud while the jwonster paused they rose and dipped buck into the water idly, throwing im. imense waves ina forward directibn, the monster by this meaue poising and steadying himself im tue cur- rent. THR FLEET ATTACKED. This attitude was maintained not longer than threo or jour minuses, aud the distance being nearly or quite 100 yards, Vaptain Carraway’s description is necessarily imperfect, but, in tho main, it 18 undoudt+ edly uccurate, as it agrees almost exactly with tic description which has heretolore been given ot ti monster by persuns who have seen bim wading shullow water or outstretched on sandbars. 3\ deuly the immense head aud neck disappeared un) the water with a Jashing sound tuat could have by heard a baif mile down the river, Foralew ments nothing was of the monster, but it quickly discovered that be was makin; course, Jor the towboat and barges. wndicated by a roiling, pointed wave that came rush. ing forward like waier impelled by a great sub- upheaval, There was great oxcitement on boara, and ube captain and bands wore all on deck, , With terror, Upon the exiraordinary spec: . A young German named Henry Decker, was on the coal barge lashed to the right of the towboat, and this barge that the monster ploughed bia First camo a violent shock and then the barge was thrown with tremendous force above the suriace of the water and almost careoned, the rear end being hoisted tweuty feet into the air, half tne cargo of coal being buried into the river, and along with it the mau Henry Decker, The lashings by whica the bargo was secured to the towboat were suappod, ‘and the shock was so sudden and strong that the tow- boat itself was almost lifted clear of the water. Ina Moment the monster reappeared im iront ot the fleet, ad, turming Lis body 60 a4 (0 jace the barge i had passed under, ugain reared iis body, suddeuly dived into the water und made tor the boats, 1t was a fort Date circumstance that the barge had become detached trom tho towboat, for this seemed to be agpecial object of aversfon to the Jeviathan, for he attacked it with a fury that was terrible to behold, First he drove into the sides with his huge beak, liting it almost entirely out of the water and send! it fifty feet away, Dben ho las it with bis tail, tho olows resound- ing With deafening effect, while, in the moanwme, tho alr was made hideous with successive rourt and Larsu, 1oud bellows. A socond time he made an assault with bis beak, striking it fairly in the gu walewund sending it scudding 100 leet down the river, ‘This last uttack seemed tu satisfy the mor for, with a bowl, he suddenly sunk beneath the surface und shot down the channel, going at a speed whico Captain Carraway alfiruis must Dave reuched torvy miles an hour.® As he moved away no part of tho body was visiblo, but the pointed wave that rolled be- fore showed 118 course, While in its wake the waters rushed like those vf @ iii In two minates Le was out of A TROPHY SECURKD, In the meantime Henry Decker, the hand who precipitated tru} barge, swam to another barge and clambered ly up the sides, with no greater damage than & thorougn drenching and a slight con- tusiou on the head, made by a falliny piece of coal, The engive had been stoppea when the first shock caw It Was put in motion as soon as it was ap. parent that tho danger had passed, and Captain Gate Taway Set about securing the detacliod barge. My the time he reached it 1 was 300 yurds down tho river, nd in a sinking condition, ‘he front end had already suuk, and the stern was raised ten feot above the water. As the Lowboat approached the wreck swung around, and a close view showed that the bottom had been ripped in half a dozen places, the portions of the gunwales still out of the water were split and splintered ay il an uxo had been used to cut and ear them ta pieces, At one point the gunwale was torn off the entire depth. As the vowboat floated again: wreck one of the hands callea Captain Carraway’s at tention to a strange object that protraded from the rear cnd of the boat 1. had the appearance ot a huge splinter, but 11s appearance was so singular tha, Cap tain Carraw: Curtosity was aroused, and he immediately by the object in order to see What it was, Upon w close view it was discovered that it was » nothing more nor jess than a piece of the monster’ Vill, Which had veen splintered off and lott im the yur wale of the boat. An effort was mude to pull th splinter out, but this underiaking was found too diffi cult to accomplish, as it was driven entiroly throug! the timber, und was as fast and hard as if it were par and parcel of the barge, Axes were brought, and th gunwaie chopped down on exher side, aud the pie coutaiming the splinter split off. ‘An examinatio showed the spliater to be four toet long kod undoubtedly a piece of the ionster’s vilk At one ond it Was twelve inches broad, gradualiy sloping until it reached a sharp poink It wax quite thin, and looked as if it imigbt be a mere Outward cow {CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGER