The New York Herald Newspaper, March 3, 1879, Page 2

2 “FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. pe Sermons and Services in Many of the Churches, TOPICS DISCUSSED. Cardinal McCloskey, Bishop Potter and Other Prominent Clergymen Preach. ——_-—___ A SOMBRE SABBATII. To the unorthodox and unfashionable people of the community yesterday was simply the second day of March, but to the orthodox and the fashionable (and the two are now very closely related in the metropolis) yesterday was the first Sunday in Lent. The day dawned with a settled cloudiness and a chill, aninviting atmosphere. It seemed as if Nature had “united with the clergy in announcing that the season of denial had come. ‘There was a notable inercase in the attendance at Catholic and Episcopal churches, It is a settled custom, among those who observe the Lenten season at all, to attend the first Sunday’s services at any sacrifice, After that exceptions may be taken. Lent does not require to be gradually initiated. Festivity is allowed such ample swing just before Lent’s ar- rival th t Fashion is ready to plunge at once into the other extreme, and gladly lay aside the mask of gayety for the more impenetrable one of gravity. The, abstemious is something that people are dis- posed to dread until a surfeit of pleasure ren. ders it positively welcome. With a more than Usually merry winter behind them and Easter smiling in the near future, fashionable New Yorkers “dropped into Lent” with genuine comfort. Had yesterday been as pleasant as many of the preceding Babbaths there would have been stronger evidences of the Lenten period; but it was not. It was one of those days when the meanest of people feel like going to church, and when even the most restless do not feel like going in search of amusement. Consequently the avenues and the Park were almost bare of hu- manity. There was nothing of interest to be seen in them, and if one strayed along the city streets to catch a glimpse of his fellow beings on their way to church his spirits were not at all improved. Everybody appeared to be wrapped up in individual thought, and those who did not look tired looked rather benign than sociable. Perhaps most of them concurred with Mark Tapley that there was no credit in being jolly under such circumstances, and if they vouldn’t enjoy the credit they positively and properly declined to be Jolly. CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES, PRAYER AND ITS EFFICACY—SERMON BY THE REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. “Master, Master, we perish,’ was the text selected by Mr. Hepworth yesterday morning as the basis of @ sermon on prayer. The incident that is indicated in the words of our text, he said, came at the close pf avery busy day. Jesus had not only been preach- ing to the multitude, but He had been called to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind and hearing to those who were deaf. Pressed upon by the multi- tude He asked the people to carry Him to the other side of the lake, When they had pushed out from the shore a little way, wearied by His wxertions Jesus laid along the stern of the vessel and Was soon fast asleep. The disciples probably gath- sred near Him, wondering at that marvellous power which even the laws of nature seemed to have peither the desire nor the ability to disobey, While Sesus lay in the tranquillity of slumber all at once danger approaches frem the side of the hilltop, and whence comes an unexpected gust that sweeps across the lake and strikes the little boat. At once they think of Him. He is not aroused by the im- pending calamity; secure as s child in his mother’s wrms He sleeps on. They, on the other hand, are filled not simply with excitement, but with graver fear, as the waves continue to rise so high that they threaten to engulf them. They rush to the after part of the vessel to awaken the Master—He who has given sight to the man who was born blind— believing that He might in some way assist them in their dire extremity. With a thorough conscious- tess of the danger of their position they arouse Him; with no gentle voice do they speak to Him, but with + voice of importunity because their needs are great. “Master! Master!” was their cry. They knew that the moment He saw their trouble that if He gad the ability He would allay it. They had wuflicient confidence in Him to believe that it they could make known to Him their wants He would meet them. They haa had no experience pf their Master's ability in such # crisis as this. There must have appeared to them to be a very great fifference between the Master saying to the dead man, “Lazarus, I say unto you come forth,” and standing on the deck of a trail vessel in the midst of \ wild tornado. He lifted His hands toward the vens and said, “Peace, be still,” and the great went down. Little wonder is it that when the disciples saw this great miracle they looked into each other’s faces and said, ‘What manner of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him,” WHAT THE INCIDENT PROVES. The incideut proves that man instinctively prays at some time or other. Prayer is the natural and in- evitable result or our spiritual and intellectual con- formation. Gratitude and sense of dependence, our hopes for the future, our fears for the past, all find their natural expression in the language of prayer. It is utterly impossible for my mind to conceive of a man having a man's nature who never utters a prayer. Prayer and praise are the music of a man’s life; they cover us with the canopy of God. ‘The man who lives alone lives a wretched life. We are interdependent one upon the other. It is the law of our nature, it is the law of our social station, it is the lew that underlies all business. There is no relation- ship that binds us to the world in which we are not dependent oue upon the other. There comes a time in every man’s life when he will not ble to an- ewer the prayers of his friend, It has come in my experience and it has come in yours. There comes atime when loving hauds are reached ont in vain supplication, when our tears fall and we ask in vain our neighbor to do that is too great for him to do. When the great calamity came on the disciples on the Sea of Galilee the disciples turned to each other in fear and wonder, and then asked Jesus; they lifted their eyes to Him in fear and wonder, and He lifted His hands up to the Unseen, and, bid- ding the tempest be still, even the winds and the seas obeyed Him. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAYER. Some ‘an teil# me that he cannot understand the Philosophy of prayer. Ido not doubt it, tor it is not the only yrave and important question that we cannot understand; it would then be surprising if it were pot surrounded with serious and grave doubts, But we are living in a world in which we know very little, There are a large number of other protiems that are mysteries to us. We judge of many laws simply by the result of their actions. No man knows what the law of gravitation is. We simply know that it is a law and we act upon it. I judge of prayer mainly by its power in results, and yet I would not have you think it is bounded by our senses. It 1 have a longing for prayer then it is an argument that there isa iistener. ‘It is legitimate for me to say that the desire, the instinct, the im- or ot prayer was placed within me by God for a egitimate use, and that my aspirations are natural aud designed ior the enlargement of my «piritual being. When I look upou tue sacred records which have been handed down to us I see all over the Old ‘Testament descriptions of what prayer is and what it has done, Notably ix thin the case in the recital of the wanderings of Moses and the three millions of wanderers. it I turn to the life of Christ I find the sawe thing. The history of the New Testament is the history of prayer. From the days of the public ministry of Christ to the hour He saw the shadow of the darkness of Gethsemane prayer was His sus- taining power. THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT—SERMON BY THE REY. DR. JOHN HALL, The Rev. Dr. Jobn Mall preached in the Fifth Ave- Bue Presbyterian Church on the subject:— Th Prophecy of Joel, or the Outpouring of the Spirit.” After the asual hymns, prayer and lesson the pastor read the last part of the second chapter of the Book of Joel, beginning at the twenty-eighth verse, with the words:—“And it shall come to pass after. ward that I will pour out my «pirit upon all flesh.” There are many, said Dr, Hall, who conte: that they do not receive all the spiritua, gain that it is desirable that they should receive, Even so, there are not a few who have heard this Gospel all their lives and there is no evidence that they have received it in their hearts, What is there to make the word of God effectual and drive away ignorance and prejudice? Not the power of any minister or church, of reason or pathos, no power can do it but the power of the Divine Spirit. I hope @ is uot a6 a matter of decent form that we ask that the Holy Ghost may be with us. There can be no permanent spiritual good in any soul, in any church, but in the degree in which the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity is with us, demoustrating the truth that He is endowed with irresistible power. I am to speak thix morning of this outpouring of the Spirit reterred to by the prophet, THE PROPHET JOEL. There is not much to be said regarding what is ersonal of the prophet Joel. The time in which he elivered his message is fixed approximately about eight centuries before the coming of Jesus Christ. His prophecy is comparatively brief, but full of method, so that we are enabled to classify his subjects and divide them into three great themes. In the first two chapters and part of the second we have a most vivid and graphie account of the wasting and deso- lation of the land by the plague of locusts. After the land is thus desolated the Lord promises abundaut raius, Then, as the natural rains came timely and abundantly to the,natural Israel, making the land prosperous, so in the passage read God an- nonnees that He will pour out His Spirit, rain of another kind, producing results of a very valuable | and permanent character, The Book closes with a excription of the peace and purity and righteous- ness that shall follow God's true Israel, his redeemed family, after that judgment day. In the passage read we have—first, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost introducing this dispensation; and, secondly, the great and terrible day ot the Lord closing up this dispensation, ‘The word “after- ward" refers to the days of the Messianic dispensa- tion, these last days, aud the Apostle Peter quotes the words in that sense, He does not mean to say that the prophecy was exhausted but that it began at thet time. “I will pour out my Spirit,” not au influence, a mere form ot energy, but a distinct personal force, whom we cau describe by the use of pronouns and to whom we can attribute personal qualities. This is what God says He will give. “I will pour out,” indicating the abundance with which this gift will be bestowed, Not that the Holy Ghost was not given to Israel, but this yift was then limited in amount and in extent. Not so in the Christian dispensation. Then both Jews and Gentiles, ‘all flesh,” received the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The moment it was known that Peter was receiving Gentiles into the chureh he was rebuked by those who were then be- lievers and in time the first council was called to settle the question. We next consider the second porticn—How is this dispensation to end? The mind of the prophet pasxes on to the next great event of Messianic times— the second coming and the judgment. The ex- pressions ‘‘the sun turned into darkuess and the moon into blood,” are to indicate the grandeur and solemnity of the great and terrible day of the Lord, Now, what is between? In the last verse is the answer—‘‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” One is not safe as a mat- ter of course. There is a real danger, a necessity for escape. He shall escape who shall call upon the name of the Lord. It is no mere guess or hypothesis or conjecture; it is Jehovah's express declaration. THE HOLY smut, Now, my dear brethren, let mo make a closing appeal to you. Culture is good, genius is brilliant, vilization is a blessing, education is a great privi- lege, but we may be educated villains, The thing that we want most of all is the precious gift of the Holy Ghost. It yom have it not it is not because there is a deficiency of supply, but because you have not asked. ere is at this moment a very deep feeling in this city ,on behalf of the people who are living in‘the ill ventilated plague spots of our city, and it is well that that feeling should be directed to some good, But my dear brethren, remember that you may transfer them to the luxuriant club houses of the upper part of the city, and, if you do nothing more tor them than that,’ they will be trangressors still—longer lived transgressors, indeed, but transgressors stall. Give them hght—yes; but let them have light that comes from the Father, Let them have pure air— yes; but let them come and breathe the atmosphere that the Holy Ghost diffuses, And when this is done, and in the measure that this is done, we shall have uarantee for purity, piety and goodness. Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord.” My dear brethren, have you called upon Him? You do not need to be heathens and infidels, nor to speak against religion; only let it alone, and how shall you escape? In many aformI have urged it upon you, and it will not be possible for you to say that you do not know about this salvation or the terms upon which it could be had. Oh, men and brethren of Christ, this is your day. Your free will can do'what it will. ‘You can live as you wish. ‘This is your day, but God has His. There is a great and terrible day of the Lord when the grievances of His kingdom will be redressed, when His own honor will be vindicated and His government cleared of all imputation and His enemies shall be driven from His presence. Oh, I beseech you in this day of grace, if you have not received His Spirit, call upon the name of the Lord thut you may be saved, MASONIC TEMPLE. THE PULPIT—ITS PLACE IN THE MODERN WORLD—SERMON BY MR. 0. B. FROTHING- HAM. The impression has gone abroad, said Mr. Froth- ingham, in his sermon at Masonic Temple on the subject of ‘The Pulpit and Its Piace in the Modern World,” that preaching and preachers are out of date; that in future the influence of the spoken word will daily become less and less. In speaking to the subject the preacher went on to say that the people are told of the smal] number of churches and how few church goers there are in this great city; that the creaking of pulleys and the whistling of ropes are the only sounds heard, and that the masses are too busy with their own interests to think of attending to preachers or preaching. ‘The time was when preachers were the eminent men of the community; then they possessed almost an exclusive university training; then there were no newspapers or magazines, and preachers were the oracular men of their own times. That time has passed away for the preachers as well as the Church. Now books and newspapers are plentiful; people read as they run, and there is no need of going to church for information on any subject. Literary men, as a class, du not go to church; they have their books and writings: scientific and philosophical men do not attend church, for they are pursuing at home their invostigations and following their own lines of thought. ‘There is another thing, too, that keeps people away from church; it is that the living age loves amusement and does not care to be always ppling with great thoughts, and the minister must grave. It 1s bis office to draw tears from the peo- ple's hearts through speaking of the eternal law, and the mirthfulness that is wholesome everywhere else sinks into nothingness when brought into the pres- ence of the doctrine of eternal life. Hence, this light-hearted, novel-reading age does not overthrong the churches. The spirit ot scepticism is abroad, the preacher has set Christian themes to deal with under his own interpretation, and the congregation are impatient to listen to an open secret about which there is a lurk- ing scepticism in the minds of even the most ortho- dox of the leading Christians. The most liberal Shristian preacher must assume, under a divine Christ, the utter helplessness of humanity, and also divine inspiration of the Bible. The clergyman not put himself on the plane of a an; all with a spirit of dogmatism ; profession to Now, this is disagreeable in the days of news- papers, magazines and conventions, when men de- mand things to be discussed on their own merits. The community is getting tired of clerical dictation, and this is another reason why pulpits are gettin into disfavor. Why, then, it might be asked, if al these things be true, do crowds still gather to hear men preach? The truth is that churches are, after all, not so much deserted as some people claim them to be. There are more living minds in the churches to-day than there have ever been heretofore. The reason for this is that there hangs a singular favaticism about cardinal doctrines; we are always interested about them, for there are hours that come instinctively when we wish to hear the Word spoken of. There is that mysterious, strange thing called death—never to be escaped—which is a fact in ali our histories, and no philosophy has ever enabled a man to over- come it. Every great age, the speaker believed, is heralded in by the preacher, 1t was #o with the Hebrew, the Christian, the Projestant ages, and it will be so with the coming ages—liberality and love among mankind, z PLYMOUTH CHURCH. THE DUALITY OF MAN'S NATURE--SERMON BY MR. BEECHER. Mr. Beecher made the final announcement yester- day morning of the Plymouth Bethel Fair, which is to be held during three days of thie present week. ‘The text of the sermon was II. Corinthians, iv., 6— “Though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” The duality of man, said he, runs in thought through all of Paul's writ- ings, There was s man insphered within a man; an invisible creature hidden within the objective one. Whether was taken the purely spiritualistic view of the soul, as being something separable and separate from the body, or the materialistic one, that it is mattor carried M4 to the highest degree of refine- ment, it practically amounted to the same thing. Ass very general statement it was true that » man’s outward life was the reflex of his inward, and that men have in some degree the reputation of being what they really are. But this state of things did not run through a mi whole nature; it w | only true of his more violent passions and thoi | which ¢ to do especially with human lite. The | man who «mites prejudices {nll in the face had always a bad reputation among those whom he hurts and hinders, Un the other hand, some men were better in their conduct than in their inward life. Their ruling desires might be unpopuler, and the rules of society, working through their vanity, might prevent them from openly seeking their grati- fication. Many men did coarse, cruel and svifish things under the mask of politeness, friensship or generosity. SEVERE ON THE LADIES. How much misery was caused by the devil appear. ing on earth in the shape of woman, There were tnany devils walking the streets in Hnsey-wools nut the et and in siting who were wors . There were those whoar whole lives were p in sordidness, who hurt whomsoever they touched, whose hands Were iron and whose fingers had claws. Their hearts were like dens of dragons, were a great many also dressed in brow: | vile | | yet their outward lives were really legal. There was nothing crueler in this world, and no more ment species of cruelty, than so to enforce one’s rights upon one’s neighbor that he was crucified on account ot them. Men who were truly great were much better inside than outside. Mr. her amplified upon the proverbial worldly incapacity of the wise, If a man did not know what to do, if he had no savoir faire, he would be very much disesteemed ina Yankee country. If he went South, where they were used to that sort of thing, it was all right— (laughter)—but New England was the hardest place in the world for 4 shiftiess loafer, even though he be well meaning. The lives of many such men, how- ever, although they speoeme as wastes, were popu- lous, rich and beautiful within. Imagination often Sapinnnd men falsely, Mr. Beecher had thrown javelin sentences against many men and afterward had found out that they were not what he thought them to be; they were the wrong meu. (Laughter.) Sometimes he had an idea that something of the kind had been done to him, (More laughter.) WILLETT STREET M. E. CHURCH. IS CHRISTIANITY A FAILURE?—SERMON BY REV. 3. E, SEARLES. We may consider Christianity in a national, so- cial and personal view, saidthe Rev: J, E, Searles at the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in discussing the much mooted question, “Is Chris- tianity a failure?” His text was taken from Revela- tion, vii, ¥. As to the several and varied forms and organizations under which Christianity ap. peared and is now visible, he said, they areof human invention and not essential to the question. True Christianity mu% be found in the hearts, lives and acts of the disciples of Christ. After enlarging at some length on Christianity as a living faith tue preacher declared that there is this paradox in Christ's teachings:—He came not to bring peace, but a sword, aud yet he came to bring peace and good will to men, Christianity is set for the destruction of evil and the bringing in of peace, of purity and of love. Its work, therefore, is twofold—to overthrow and build up. WHAT CHRISTIANITY HAS DONE. Now, what has it done? the preacher asked, and he proceeded to answer. It duya nation’s grave that stood in its way; it withstood the most terrible op- position and ecutions, and in three centuries it transformed the laws and institutions of the might- iest empire that ever existed, But it may be replied, Mr. Searles said, that Christianity did not retain her victory, But this, the preacher urged, cannot be re- garded as failure any more than changes and defeat in secular government are to be regarded as failure. After citing several instances of the failure ot governments be argued that Christianity has seen vicissitudes for the same reason, and proceeded to compare the Christian government of the earth with all govern- ment not Christian, and deduced the lesson that Christianity promotes the policy of self-government. Wherever it breathes its vitalizing breatn it promotes the best forms of civilization; it furnishes the most perfectcode of morals; it regulates the civic law of nations. Its force has been very much neutralized by its perversion from its real mission, by the en- ctmbrances of human traditions and by the undue magnitying of ceremonials and creeds, but as a power resident in the nations it rules the world, ILLUSTRATIONS OF ITS ACHIEVEMENTS, In a national view, therefore, Christianity cannot be regarded us 4 failure, and as & social cement it ‘has accomplished more than any other agency to elevate and promote human weltare. To illustrate this the preacher showed what it had accomplished in Britain since the time of the Druids, and the present condi- tion of the British people was compared with that of the South Sea Islanders. The effects in Japan and India were also noted, and the preacher claimed that the ancient religions of those countries were rapidly giving way before it. Its achievements for the social elevation of woman and for the liberty of the oppressed in all Christian nations were also pointed out, and a strong feature was made of the gigantic super- structure of Christian charities in hospitals, alms- houses and prisons, and in caring for the homeless and friendless and for the poor little foundling. ‘There is @ home in it, the preacher said with fervor, and he then asked, What has done all this? Is it the teachings of men who discard the Bible and ridicule Christianity? Does this come from men who de- nounce churches and Christians? No, it comes from the Bible and from Christianity. TRUE GOODNESS. The arguments brought against Christianity from the faults and shortcomings of professing Chris- tians prove too much, If ail the teachings and in- fluences of Christianity fail to make some people truly good, what would they be without them? The comparisons instituted by the opponents of Chris- tianity are unfair. They take the poorest speci- mens of Christians and compare them with the best people who do not profess re- ligion. The worst should always be compared with the worst. Socially Christians are the ee. The The greatest wealth of nations is in their circle. proportion of tulent and culture is in the churches, in the pulpit or in the pews. ‘The great educational institutions mostly belong to the department of Christianity. The learned professions are mainly composed of Christians, Christianity embraces the famuly relation, it alone gives sanctity to marriage wnd is its chief ‘safeguard, THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF CHIMSTIANITY. Christianity, the preacher said, has been prejudiced by the austerity ot some of its professors. Truo Christianity appeals to common sense. It is sdapted to this life and is not intended to ciroumscribe any innocent and rational enjoyment. Atter illustrating this part of his theme Mr. Searles said, in conclusion, that the greater part of the success of Christianity is personal and hidden—that is to say, it is an ex- pression of the heart—spiritual. There are thou- sands of the most devoted Christians whose humble position in society excludes them from public observation, and there are multitudes who types # outwardly may not appear to uny great moral advantage who nevertheless are heroically battling against some terrible difficulty unknown to men, aud in God’s sight are worthy of all praise for doing as well as they do. We must not overlook the fact that religion is complete in its personal spiritual benefits in each individual Christian. Spiritually, therefore, to judge intelligently and justly of the success or failure of Christianity we must know the extent of its influence upon individuals. The fact will not be changed whether we refer to the results in this world or to the final triumphs of the Gospel in the worid to come, and the crowning plory is seen in the complete deliverance from sin salvation in heaven. | About fifty Httle girls dressed 1 ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, THE FORTY HOURS’ ADORATION—SERMON BY HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL M'CLOSKEY. Alarge congregation was attracted to the Cathe- dral by the announcement that the forty hours’ adoration would be solemnized. There was scarcely standing room in the aisles, so numerous was the attendance. The ceremonies were conducted very impressively, and the music, as is usual on all special occasions at this church, was of the highest order. The altars were ablaze with lights. His Eminence Cardinal McCloskey officiated and oc- cupied the throne at the gospel side of the altar. At his right «at Bishop Lynch, of Charleston, 8. C., and around them Vicar General Quinn and tho as- sistant priests. A solemn high mass was celebrated, of which the Rey. Father Kane was celebrant, as- sisted by a deacon and a subdeacon. THE CARDINAL'S SERMON, After the first gospel the Cardinal left the throne and knelt at the altar, while the choir sang a “Veni Creator Spiritus.” He then ascended the pulpit and preached from the gospel of the Sunday, in which is narrated the fast of the Saviour for forty days and nights, and His being tempted by the devil. From the earliest ages of the world, the preacher said, fasting was a religious observance among all re- ligious, even in the pagan world, and it was but fitting that the body, which Was the instrument of sinning, should be made to pay the penalty in restraint and suffering. It was principally through the vicious in- duigences of the body that man sinned, and th Catholic Church had always inculcated the St duty of mortification, The Church in the olden time was much more severe in its injunctions than in the present day, and the fasts usually now pre- scribed were lenient indeed in comparison with the stern restrictions imposed upon our ancestors in the faith, ‘The Church imposed no more than our frail nature would bear. The observance Lenten season was not merely Th example as given in the g: 7 of the day was set by the founder of the Church Himself. ‘The fast, however, was enjoined not merely for punishment, but as conducive to greater spiritual devotion. Ex- perience had taught that it was only when the body wand its passions were subdued that the mind was free to fix itseif on heavenly things. The lives of the saints were full of illustrations of these iu the advantages of fasting and their implied belief in the perme a6 a — duty. But there was another uty which always accompanied that of fasting, which was always mentioned in connection with it, and of which the Church was never weary of Fing- ing the changes, and that was almegiving. In th: seuson of depression this duty had # double sanction. “The poor ye have always with you,” but owing <0 peculiar causes they were now more numerous than they had Leen for many previous years, Without char- ity there could be no true Christianity, and no active felf-mortification excused the discharge of this bes As we accompanied the Saviour during this tial season through the different stages of sion we should bear in mind this doubk fasting and almegiving, and then we might hope, with God's divine aid and blessing, to participate in the glories of His resurrection. THE FORTY HOURS’ ADORATION. At the conclusion of the mass His Eminence and Bishop Lynch approached the high altar, where kneeling, His Eminence was invested with a gor- geous cope, and the prayers for the opening of the torty hours’ adorstion were begun. Then a proces- sion was formed, and the blessed sacrament having be placed in the Cardinal's hands, the circuit of the charch was made, the choir singing # hymn, white and wearing ete in their hands, pre- © carrying & cross of red society having its own silken Gage the oes N Next came altar oye, rrying ghted = tapers, aud then the priests, Incense bearers ‘and SHEET. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 1879.—TRIPLE acolytes walked immediately before the canopy, be- neath which was the Cardinal, having a priest at either side of him, Bishop Lynch walked first before the canopy dnd next were the Vicar General and the celebrant, deacon and subdeacon of the mass. When the procession returned to the high altar the blessed sacrament was placed over the tabernacle, the re- monstrance in which it was inclosed thus ex~ posed to the view of the congregation. Litany Of the Saints and other prayers were then chanted and the service was concluded. The Blessea Sacra- ment will remain exposed for forty hours, when it will be removed during other imposing ceremonies. FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. SATAN’S PERSONALITY—SERMON BY THE REV. DR, ARMITAGE, The Rev. Dr. Armitage preached on Satan's per- sonality. As a simple matter of fact, in all time, the worla over, men haye believed in the devil. ‘That is, they have believed in a mischievous, terror striking being, known by some given name, who has obtained and exercised a mysterious and corrupt in- fluence on their minds. Many millions of Christians are examining the greatest encounter on record be- tween the arch fiend and the Son of God, and all are connecting it with some of the most essential truths in Christianity. They do not hold the doctrine of Satanic existence as a keystone in the Christian arch, but they cannot see how it may be removed with- out indirectly affecting their whole sphere of Christian faith and duty. They hold that one of the chief ends of Christ's mission into the world was “to destroy the works of the devil.” But if there are no such works to be destroyed, be- cause there is no devil to do them, then the purpose of that mission is undermined and the symmetry of the Christian system is broken. Of course it will follow that their devotional fears, the humiliation which they practise, and the prayers which they offer for deliverance from the tempter, become, in that case, popular delusions and Indicrous errors. For, instead of wrestling manfully with the real foe- they are but the votaries of a vulgar superstition. dealing blows at an imaginary enemy and energeti- cally beating the air, THE BIBLE THE STANDARD. ‘The reverend Doctor reviewed the various notions concerning the devil which have preyailed at dif- ferent times, all of which, he said, were corruptions of the biblical ideal. The use of the term “devil,” merely as a poetic or ethical personification of evil, is not, he med, found in the New Testament, Nothing can be clearer than the account of Christ’s actual encounter with Satan in person. Jesus met him in the desert, the temple and the moun- tain and passed throngh a threefold struggle with him. The facts of this narrative are recorded in exactly the same’ style which records all the other narratives of Christ's life. If this record is a parable, a myth or a vision, wo have no evidence that His birth, death and resurrection are not the same. The theory of the temptat.on which assumes that it is not an actual fact cannot be roved. If there is no outside tempter the sinless Qeart of christ could not engender the blasphemies of that temptation, and, in fact, nothing short of the ravings of lunacy could have seized his celestial mind and landed it on the brink of such bold blas- phemies. Whether Satan was present in the form of a man or some other figure we have no information, ‘any more than we have of the form in which the reat angel Gabriel appeared to Mary or Daniel. The postle aul attributes to him the power to take upon him the form of an angel of light, and, as Shakespeare expresses it, the devil has power to assume a pleas- ing shape. ‘The evangelist renders Satan just as per- sonal as Christ. Both these characters are historical or both are allegorical. Besides, the same reason which would exclude Satan from proper personality in the temptation would exclude the proper person- ality of those angels who came and ministered to Christ at its close, Neither Christ nor His apostles speak of Satan as a poetic figure or a fabulous image, an abstract evil principle, or power of evil, or genius of destruction, but as asolemn and iiteral entit: ‘There is # definiteness about all their utterances con- cening te awful character which stamps him with the indelible marks of life. THE FLOATING CHURCH. BISHOP POTTER ADMINISTERS THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION TO SAILORS. Three bells sounded yesterday afternoon from the Floating Church, foot of Pike street. The waning light streamed through stained glass upon a nautical congregation, gathered to hear the rite of confirma- tion performed by the venerable Bishop Potter. There were mariners of all ages and degrees in the church—spruce captains bound to see their lads safo through the ordeal; rough mates with bright, golden haired children; pretty girls snuggling close to their lovers just returned from a distant voyage, and mothers come to pray for their sons far away upon the sea. They could scarcely be called a strictly religious and church-going congre- gation, for many of them knelt when the Gospel was being read, sat through the creed and hymns and bowed with extraordinary veneration when prayers were offered for the President. But they made up for these purely technical deficiencies by responding in large numbers to the call of the confirming Rishop. An ancient mariner, toothless, gray-haired and weather-beaten, was at first a little confused when a clergyman met him on the gang- plank, and, pressing him to join the candidates, asked if he had been _ baptized. The old man hesitated for a while and then said he had been ‘most everything.” Among other things, he thought he had been or still was a Roman Catholic, and was, therefore, disqualified. Reassured on this int, he allowed himeelt to be led to a seat, mutter- ing that he had never yet found a successful remedy for shipwreck and might just as well try this, Meanwhile the Bishop had taken up his postion, and all hands were pipecjon deck. They were mostly Inds, and they advanced as timidly to the altar though it were the quarter dock and the Bishop their admiral. le laid his hands on each and made them a_ short speech. ‘My lads," said he, in effect, ‘you have Jong been under the tow of your godfathers and god- mothers. To-day you are cut adrift. Tho great enemy is bearing down on you and you must clear your decks for action. Do your duty, boys. Tho ancient mariner’s eye was brighter as he roll down the aisle and returned to his seat. Possibly he now thought himself safe from shipwreck. Pos- sibly he understood the anthem which led from the little organ as the congregation left the church — “For He maketh the storm to cease, so that the ‘waves thereof are still, and so He leadeth them to the haven where they would be.” CHURCH OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS—SERMON BY REY. FA- THER LAFFELY, OF PARIS, Father Laffely, an eloquent clergyman, only re- cently arrived in this country, preached on the “Religious Crisis of Our Day" in the French Church of St. Vincent de Paul. There was no graver, no more pressing question, he.said, before mankind than this re‘igious crisis. People might ask, “Why discuss this matter? nothing good can be effected by it.” Every age had its own weaponk of attack against religion. The Voltaires, the Robespierres and the Marats of their time had used their own pe- culiar weapons, and what laurels rested upon their triumphs, so-called? So also to-day some would at- tack religion from the tribune, others in the columns of newspapers, while others, again, by force, would close the doors of the churches, In times past the faithful had been made martyrs of, and so to-day, in some of the most enlightened countries in the world, brave and good men were sent into exile for their conscience sake, In fact, there were three forces now operating all at once to attack the Church and relig. jon—false science, sarcasm and violence. Every- where one of these is the watchword of the hour, In looking over the map of Europe, whether in France, in Germany, in Italy or in Russi where there was # combined attack against the Church, It was a borribie, miserable, quietly cou- ducted internecine war. These States, however, for- got one important thing—that religion is the supe- rior life of a State, as well as of an individual, and that the moment it enters upon a war against relig- fou the State really enters upon the period of its do- lence. IN THIS COUNTRY. There was atime when we in Europe, continued the reverend speaker, pointed with pride upon the United States of America, aud showed the masses of it, how free, how hai » how prow might be and still religious— soil, sacred to freedom, upheld the lite of the Church, But unfortunately the epidemic ot non- Delict, lemic of skepticism, was now also making id strides in these United States, And ret whon the means of attack in the hands of the hurch's enemies are canvassed, what do we find but the same old, old weapous. Nothing new. Ever and again that same cry of the non-existence of a God, the denial of Christ's divinity, and soon, But with this difference, that while in the past the hos- tile bands dared to attack only the walls they now endeavor to undermine and overthrow the entire edifice of God, Their ranks are being augmented day after day by new recruits. On inspecting the arms they use for the attack they are found value- less. They are worth nothing, indeed. After a thousand priests have been exiled and force has been spplied religion continues to live, and the Church holds its head erect. “THE $OUL THE SANCTUARY.” ‘The soul is the sanctuary, after all, of man’s ideas, and while force may for a'time subdue the mo: ments of the body containing that soul it never it never will, conquer man's conscience. Bellige’ ideas may even fora time succeed in making m lukewarm, but, after all, there is a fascination in t practice of Feligion which no sophism nor can conquer. Hence there exists no need of despair. ing. The good cause will triumph. The force the past, the tortures of bygone ages, haye only martyrs of the faithful. jose means of destro; the Churen and the religion it preaches have not successful, they have not made inroads, not even made a breach so that the enemy could effect a anent | it. No more than these efforts of the past will the false Philosophy of our day, aye, even the indifference now so prevalent, work injuriously upon the Church, man’s last and most sacred asylum. Only it behooves those who stand on the Church's watchtower to sound the note of alarm, to keep the flock under their guard well in hand and ready for the onslaught, that all may know the dangers surrounding them, and knowing it be able to resist the avalanche of infidel- ity with that supreme courage and devotion which religious teachings and religious belief have installed in man's breast. CHRISTIAN CONSOLATION, “SHALL WE KNOW EACH OTHER IN HEAVEN ?"— REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE IN ST. LOUIS, [BX TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.] Sr. Lours, Mo., March 2, 1879, The Rey. T. De Witt Talmage, D. D., of the Brook- lyn Tabernacle, preached here to-day in the Central Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. Brank is pastor, corner of Lucas and Garrison avenues. The edifice was crowded to its utmost capacity. Dr. Talmage read # lesson, descriptive of the wall of heaven, from the Book of Revelation. He preached on the qnes- tion “Shall we know each other in heaven?” The text was taken from II, Samuel, xii., 23—“I shall go to him.” . There is avery sick child, said Dr. Talmage, in the abode of David the King. Disease, which stalks up the dark lane of the poor and puts its smothering hand on the lip and nostril of the man and master, also knocks at the palace door and, bending over the pillow, blows into the face of young prince the frosts of pain and death. Tears are wine to the King of Terrors. Seven days have passed, There are in that great house two eyelids gently closed, two little hands folded, two little feet silent, one heart still. The servants come to bear the tidings to the king. He wipes away the tears from his eyes and clears the choking grief from his throat and exclaims, “I shall go to him.” Was David right or wrong? If we part on earth will we meet again in the next world? Is this doctrine of future recognition of friends in heaven & guess, a myth, a whim, or is it a granite foundation upon which to build a glorious hope? “(POSITIVE CERTAINTY.” The object of this sermon is to take this theory out of the region of surmise and speculation into the region of positive certainty. I believe that Ican bring an accumulation of argument to bear upon this matter which will prove the doctrine of future recognition as plainly as that there is any heaven at all, and that the kiss of reunion at the celestial gate will be as certain as the dying kiss at the door of this sepulcbre. The doctrine is not so often positively stated in the Word of God as implied, and you know, my friends, that that is, after all, the strongest mode of affirmation. What consolation would it be to David to go to his child if he would not know him ? We in the first book of the Bible, Abraham died and was gathered to his people, Jacob died and athered to his People, Moses died and was athered to his people. ‘hat people? Why, their frends, their comrades, their old companions. It cannot mean anything else. So in the very begin- ning of the Bible four times that is en for granted. The whole New Testament is an arbor over which this doctrine creeps like a luxuriant vine, full of the purple clusters of con: tion. The Bible says we are to be higher than the angels, and if they have the power of recognition, shall not we have as “good eyesight and as good capacity? Why, Paul talked about meeting his congregation in heaven and recognizing them. OTHER ARGUMENTS. The rejection of this theory implies the entire obliteration of our memory. Can it be possible that we shall forget forever those with whose walk, look, manner, we have been so long familiar? Will death come and with a sharp, keen blade hew away this faculty of memory? You know very well that our joy in any circumstance is augmented by the com- panionship of our friends. We cannot see a picture with less than four eyes, or hear a song with less than four ears. We want some one beside us with whom to exchange glances and sympathies, and I suppose the joy of heaven is to be augmented by the fact that we are to have our fireside with us. Heaven is not a bedwarting—it is an expansion. Here 1 see you with only two eyes, but there the soul shall have a million eyes. It will be immortality gazing on immortality, ransomed spirit im colloquy with ransomed spirit, victor beside victor. When John Evans, the Scotch minister, was seated in his study, his wife came in and said to him, “My dear, do you think we will know each other in heaven?” He turned to her and said, “My dear, do you think wo will be bigger fools in heaven than we are here?” (Laughter.) ‘Again, I accept this doctrine of future recognition because the world’s expectancy affirms it. In all Jands and ages this theory is received, and under all forms of religion, Under every ree i by every river, in every zone the theory is adop |, and sol say a principle universally implan\ must be God im- mel no hence a right belief. The argument is Trrentati le. FRATURES OF THE SOUL. Again Iadopt this theory because there are fea- tures of moral temperament and features of the soul that will distinguish us forever. How do we know each other in this world? Is it merely by the color of the eye, the length of the hair or the facial propor- tions? Oh, no! It is by the disposition as well, using the word in the very best sense and not in the bad sense, and if in the dust oug body should perish and lie there torever, and there should be no resur- rection, still the soul has enough features and the disposition has enough features to, make us distin- guishable. I can understand how in si¢kness a man may become so delirious that he will not know his own friends, but will we be blasted with such insut- ferable idiocy that standing beside our best friends for all eternity we will never guess who they are? A MOTHER'S JOY. Never in this world have we an opportunity to ive thanks to those to whom we are spiritually in- debted. ‘Tho joy of heaven, we are told, is to be augurated by ‘a review of life's work. There is a mother before the throne of God. You say her joy is full. Is it? You say there can be no angmenta- tion of it. Cannot there be? Her son was @ wan- derer and a vagabond on the earth when that good mother died. He broke her old heart. She left him in the wilderness of sin. Years pass, and that son repents of his crimes and gives his heart to God and becomes a useful Chrigtian and dies and enters the gates of heaven. You tell me that that mother’s joy cannot be augmented. Let them confront each other, the son and the mother. “Oh!” she says to the angels of God, The dead is alive again and the |. Hatlelujah! I never ex- pected to see this lost one come back:"” CROSSING THE RIVER, One more reason why I am disposed to accept this doctrine of future recognition i, that so many in their last hour on earth have confirmed this theory. I speak not of persons wo have been delirious in their lust moments and knew not what they were about, but of persons who died calmly and who were hot naturally superstitious, Often the glories of heaven have struck the dying pillow and the de- parting man has said that ho saw and heard those who had gone away from him. How often it is that in their dying moments parents see their departed children and children see their —— parents. I came down to the banks of the Mohawk Kiver. It was evening, and I wanted to go over the river, and so I waved my hat und I shouted; and after awhile I saw some one waving on the opposite bank, and I heard him shout, and the boat came across and I got in and was transported. And so I suppose it will be in the evening of our lite. We will come down to the river of death and ‘ive # signal to our friends on the other shore and fey will give a sigual back to us, and the boat comes and our departed kindred arethe oarsmen. The fires of the setting day will tinge the tips of their paddies, In my first settlement at Belleville s plain man said to me:—“What do you think I hi last night? [ was in the room where one ot my neighbors was dying. He was # good man, and he said that he heard the angels of God singing before the throne. I haven't much poetry about me, but Llistened and heard them too.” Said I, “I no doubt of it.” Why, we are to be taken up to heaven at lost by min- istering spirits, Who are they to be? Souls that went up from Madras or Antioch or Jerusalem? Ob, no; our glorified Kindred are going to troop aroun us, Heaven is not a stately, formal place, as I xomo- times hear it described; « Very srigid ity of splendor, where people stand on cold formalities and go around about with heavy crowns of gold on their heads. GLORIOUS CONSOLATION. Now | bring you this gl nsolation of future recognition. It you could get this theory into your heart it would lift « grent many shadows that are stretching across it, When I was a lad I used to out to the railroad track and put my ear down on the track, and lcould hear the express train rumbling miles away and coming on; aud to-day, my friends, if we only had faith enough, we could put our ear down to the grave of our dead and listen and hear in the distance the rumbling of the chariots of resurrection victory. Oh, heaven, sweet heaven! You do not spell ven as you used to «pell it. When you want to spell that wor you place side by side the faces of the loved ones who are gone, and in that irradiation of light and love and beauty and ay: you spell it out as never before, in songs and hallelujahs. 0 ye, whose hearts are down under the sod of the ceme- tery, cheer up—cheer up at the thought of this re union. Oh, how much you will have to tell them when once you meet them. How much you have been throngh since you saw them laat. On'the shin- ing shore you will talk it all over—the heartaches, the loneliness, the sleepless nights, the weeping un- tilyou had no more power to weep, because the heart was withered and dried up; the story of the vacant chair and empty cradle, and little shoe only half worn out, never to be worn again, just the shape of the foot that once pressed it; and dreams, when you thought that the departed had come back again and the room seemed bright with their taces and you started up greet the (in the eflort the dream broke re found ‘selt standing amid-room in the midnight— alone! ‘Taiking it all over, and then, hand in hand, walking up and down in the light, no sorrow, no tears and no death, Oh, heaven f boa atiful heaven! Heaven whe ur friends are! ven where we 7 expect to be! In the East they tak of, birds to the tomb of the dead and there ‘open ihe door of the cage and the birds fyi to-day bring a cage of Christian it sing, and I would ‘consolasions to the grave of loved ones and I would open the door wet fillall the air with the music of their voices, ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN, Oh, how different it is on earth from the way it is in heaven, When a Christian dies, we say, “Close his eyes.” In heaven they say, “Give him a palace.” On earth we say, “Let him down into the ground.” In heaven the: say, “Hoist him on athrone.” On earth it is “Farewell, farewell.” In heaven ‘it is “Welcome, welcome.” And so I see a Christian soul coming down to the river of death, and ‘he Some into the river and the water comes to the comes to the knee, and he says, “Lord Jesus, teil me, tell me is this death?” and Christ says, “No, no; this is not death,” and he wades still further down until the wave comes to the girdle, and the soul says, “Lo death?” “No,” says Christ, “this is not,” and deeper in wades the soul till ‘the billow strikes the lip, and the departing one cries, “Lord Jesus, is this No," says Chrisc, “this is not.” But when Christ had lifted this soul upon a throne of fonts foot, then sald Chirish “tines Otro This is death!” sot eae geen Sena STANDARD HALL, THE RELATION OF LABOR AND CAPTITAL—LEC- TURE BY PROFESSOR ADLER. Itis necessary that religion should discuss the same subjects which make the theme of political economy, only that while political economy regards them from the low point of egotism, religion should view them from the higher altitude of moral law, and bring to bear the light and enthusiasm of moral courage upon their solution. Political economy is based upon a partial statement of the laws that govern human nature. Man in the pages of many who theorize upon economic sub- jects seems like an automaton simulating @ form and action of a human being, but with the heart left out. Modern writers often claim great credit for our times because we have abolished the slave system of labor. The glory of Oriental monarchies was purchased by the subjugation of the masses. Even in Greece, where the grace snd per- fume and symmetry of existence were realized as they had never been elsewhere so fully and har- moniously, this admirable superstructure was based upon slavery. Aristotle says, ‘‘We must have tools to manage tools.” We have abolished slavery in name, but not yet entirely in. fact. I propose to show that labor is still unfree in three particulars:—First, it is unfree as to the means of production; second, as to place; third, as to time, It is often said that the interest of capitalists and laborers are identical, That is not true, The interest of capital and labor are identical, but not of the capitalidt and the laborer. There is this fundamental difference between the former and the latter—the former can wait, the latter cannot. To the former too long a delay means loss of interest and perhaps capital; to the latter too long a delay means loss of life. It is said the laborer and the capitalist are brothers. as were Jacob and Esau. Too often they are brothers Esau is the working mun, Jacob is the capitalist who owns a mess Esau comes to Jacob fainting er and cries, “Give me of the food which thou ownest.” “Hold,” says Jacob, “let ug strike a bargain. Give me thy birthright.” There second cause ot unfreedom—capital can move and labor cannot. Capital flies on the wings of electricity; the movements of labor are slow and cumbered and circumscribed. Walker in his census report shows plainly that the laborer cannot freely migrate trom place to place for lack of the means and courage, and that he cannot move from occupation to occupation for lack of the necessary information and knowledge of the market. He does not take udvantuge of an opening employment, but continues to crowd into the old occupations that are already overcrowded, and in which many are, per force, trampled down. ‘The gravest cause of unfreedom, however, is lack of time. Machinery is said to be labor saving and time saving; but to the mass of the producers of wealth it has only added to their burdens and abridged their scant leisure. Never was there so much drudgery as now, in the aye of labor saving and time saving machinery. The captains of industry, acting upon the suggestions of their popular economy, have continued to use human beings as tools and disre- arded their rights and claims in other respects. {essor Adler here quoted extracts from reports of the English factory inspectors, showing the gross ind.f- ference to human life which had been mani- fested by English manufacturers in the pur- suit of gain until governmental interference checked their so-called rights. He concluded by urging that if the condition of the English workingman to-day is better than it was it is due to the greater command of his time which he now has. He urged short hours of labor on all grounds, The State must succumb if two- thirds of its citizens have all work and no play, There must be time for the higher purposes of lite. On all sides the necessity of education in our pres- ent perilous position is conceded. There can be no freclom without education; there can be ng educa- tion without sufficient time. Give the people time, then, and it will be possible to make them free, TEMPERANCE. MEETING AT THE LYCEUM THEATRE—'‘SEN- ATOR” BOB HART TELLS THE STORY OF HIS CONVERSION. A meeting of the American Temperance Union was held yesterday aftérnoon at the Lycoum Theatre, in West Fourteenth street. The event of the meeting was the appearance on the stage, among the regenerated, of “Senator Bob Hart,” a once famous minstrel, who will be remembered in connection with Birch and Backus, It was also announced in the notices of the meeting that the Rev. H. Eddy, of Jersey City, would make the opening address and introduce Senator Bob. President William Mason Evans, after the opening prayer, read a letter from Dr. Eddy, in which he conveyed his regrets at being unable te keep the engagement. In the absence of Dr. Eddy President Evans delivered » shogt address on the subject of temperance, in which he enunciated again the broad plattorm of the Union and besought his hearers to reform. “THE SENATOR" ON SALVATION. After the singing of # hymn Senator Bob Hart was introduced. He sai@ he proposed to tell the story of his life and conversion in « simple matter- of-tact way, and forthwith proceeded to fulfil the romise, ie told the audience that two woeks ago o did not dream of ever becoming a temperance man, but Josus had come to his assistance, and now he was saved he firmly believed. ‘‘What o trans- formation,” he ejaculated. “This day two weeks ago I was dead drunk at a little station of the Erie Railway, and here am to give my testimony and thank God,” Before giving the nar- rative of his conversion the Senator took a retro- spect of twenty years. He said that about twenty years ago he Became ‘associated with the stage and continued to maintain such relationship until his besotted habits drove him forth. Just here the Sen- stor took peculiar pains to impress on his hearers the fact that his association with the had not the slightest infinence in making ims drunkard, It was in him, and he would have been the same in any walk of life. The pager he said, had disciples the beauty of whose daily lite even some Christians might copy with profit. He ke of his last table ment in New ‘ork with Birch, Wai id and us; of how he Piao them to stop drinking, and how, ason a jandred previous occasions he broke his word, and came to the verge of delirium tremens, “of which,” said he, parenthetically, “I see VA the papers I died in Jersey City # few days since.” it was while he was at Goshen, but he heard that Bill Dwyer, the minstrel, had signed the pledge, 1 thereupon he made up his mind to do so too, and he Dr. Lambert, of insurance fame, was present at the meeting, and a number of pi wore noticed in the body of the house, ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE. A large and enthusiastic meoting of delegates to the Convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Kings county was held yesterday afternoon in Municipal Hall, No. 353 Fulton street, Brooklyn, for the purpose of perfecting arrangements for the cele- bration of St. Patrick’s Day in that city. The utmost harmony of sentiment prevailed, and the determination was expressed of com- rati the natal day of Ireland's frou aint in & manner worthy of tneie native land, County Delegate Francis H. McGinni ied the chair and Pete: officiated © Carberry core of the rary Wom aan: was called from thirt; visions res: © their delegates Jcmes Dolan, of Division No, & was. elected Grand Marshal of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for the and the aids chosen wore Edwin Halpin and ‘heel Gillen. Atter some discussion ® com- mittee was appointed to select @ line of march and to report at the next meetin, BROOKLYN'S LIFE SAVING SOCIETY, Application will be made in « few days to the municipal authorities of Brooklyn, in behalf of the Lite Saving Association of that city, for assistance in carrying out the humane and noble work in which its members are engaged. The patrol is now kept up nightly by the four members of the « bo. tween the Fulton Ferry and Red Hook int. In the future, when its members are increased, the patrol will be extended at night. The members have already made @ record, having rescued from drowning at various periods no less than twenty. seven human beings. They are skilled boatmen and have been acting Without compensation. It is prob« able that the Common Couneil, recognizin, KJ ad. wi wo