The New York Herald Newspaper, March 9, 1879, Page 6

6 KS CHRISTIANITY A FAILURE ? Do Men Deukt teens Ministers Grow Careless ? pena JS. Believers and Unbelievers Cross- ing Swords. pela Ss MORE CREED. THE CLERGY TOO ARISTOCRATIC AND TOO MUCH PETTED--MORE WORK WANTED. To Tue Eprrox or THE HERsLD:— ‘The operations of science and the growth of human intellect have in the past quarter of # century con- tributed toward the more perfect understanding of the Holy Scriptares and enabled Christendom todraw more valuable and correct conclusions from them. ‘The best minds have for a long time rightly estimated the worth aud work of preache#, but only lately haye the people generally been swak- ened to this unique and suggestive sub- | ject. Now the thinking world are turning their thoughts toward the clergy in the different | denominations of the Christian Church, and judging | them and their acts by the only true standard—that of the Master, whose ambassadors they claim to be. The clergymen of America have become its aris- | tocracy; they form a privileged class, allowed by a | majority of our educated citizens to hold a superior | place in the estimation of society, not war- | ranted by the prominence of brain power | or moral attainments they possess. Somehow we attach u sacredness to the cloth. ‘The profession compels our respect, and the man is brought into notice through it. Ministers hold | usacred trust. They fill offices demanding the ex- hibition of the noblest and most perfect qualities of man’s heart, full of grave duties. Being public teachers, and responsible in word and decd a4 such, they are objects of just criticism. How many of it of Christ or of Paul? to know Jesus eruci- of them, ‘honoreth their lips, their hear are far from hin Mow many cry of the true feclings of pure Christian love? their professions are strong; their pract very weak. They walk not after the spirit, butatter the flesh. We tind ministers to be great sticklers for personal comfort; nly alive to their own self-interest, and holding decidedly different | views regarding what they shall preach and what practise. Gayly clothed, richly fed, +ott-bedded and well paid, they give a minimum of their time and talents to God and s maximum to the world. We see their ease, their disinclination to labor zealously, their pleasures, their summer junk- | etings, their show of wisdom and their hypocrisy, | and know that their influence is growing weaker | every day. A Sabbath service consists of a group of moral | precepts recited in tenderest cadence to a #leck and fluttering congregation, who are prepared by sweet swells of melody to receive the choice moral mor- vels, Meantime the great world outside are wander- | ing like sheep with no shepherd to lead them. If the spirit of God fully animated the hearts of the clergy they would manifest it in their works. But it is only s beautiful theory to be taught sinners. Is it not eight to believe and expect that, abounding in grace and controlled by the Holy Ghost, they should dedicate their bodies and minds to their work, spending themselves and being spent in the service of the Kedeemer? Where is there a clergyman who «vy feels for his fellow man as to thoroughly love | © = the race? Why are they not found night and day among the poor and lowly? We would like to see them prove their Chris- tian professions; invade the tenement houses, disre- arding heat and cold, poverty aud pain, persecu- ma and hatred; alive tothe practical realization of the yreat brotherhood of man. Then would men feel in its truest and strongest sense the power ot that Gospel which envelopes the man makes him lose hix identity in the work. ‘The servants of the devil serve him with all their heart and soul; cannot Christ animate his laborers with equal zeal? When the con- stant theme of a noted divine is humility and the example of Jesus Christ, who went ubout domg vod and had nowhere to lay his head, urging his isteners t» live for others and so fulfil the yreat law of Jove; while at the same time hastening himselt at the very close of life, and slready in the enjoyment of unusual comforts and luxuries, to build a costly and unnecessary country palace and fill it with use- less articles ‘of cost that his senses may be wratified and bodily comforts more tully enjoyed, we ure prone to cry out, hypocrite, and think “He is atter the flésh ‘and doth mind the things of the flesh.” The religion of the Bible is all right, but the preachers of 1i in this favored land are Many of them all wrong. Oceans of false sympathy have heretofore flowed toward them, and they are spoiled by the kindnesses of a too charitable people. It is to be hoped they will bear for awhile that yoke which is easy and that burden which is light. GREAT EXPECTATIONS. MR. O'CONNOR SLASHES ABOUT AT HI8 CRITICS— | of | five years after Christ's ascension. | Roman MORK CHRIST AND FEWER CREEDS, To rue Epiton oy tak HenaLy:— I rise, sir, to a point of order, well taken ip this unique debate, for, Mr. Moderator, even in polemics, unparliamentary (not to say ungentlemanly and un- christian) personalities are quite out of order, It your piebald quidnunces (every man his own pope) are to turn your stately columus into # quasi bear garden, or Baptist conference, a motion to adjourn sine die should be put and carried; or, that failing, the mob should be dispersed unceremoniously. Your (more or less) respectable “Brooklyn Bap- tint” has libelled me, He (almost feloniously) bears false witness that I have made an attack onthe cause of the Master! Oh, sir, an atrocious indictment as false a» preposterous. If I am an anti-Christian, what is he? If Lam @ sciolist is not hea pitiable #uatterer stabbing a pucific one anonymously? But why is my brother angry with me in particular? Surely your “Old Fashioned Christian,” in his terrific impeachment of the clergy, should have been ‘Baptist’ antagonist aud recrimi- nator. Then looking in vain (and, perhaps, illogi- cally) to your accompanying editorial for my vin- ication under such o wanton, vandal calumny, my only resource was this letter. “Is Mr. O'Connor #0 blind that he cannot see that the Churclpof Clement VIL. has given way to the Church of Christ?” Nay. The said Church of Clement VIL is the Church of Christ, and hath never “given way” to the 300 years old chapels and meetin’ houses of Pope Henry VILL. and his immediate successors; for had Clement truckled to Henry in his debauchery the probability ia that® “Protestantiom” would never have come into being wt all. By “water Idiosyncracy” I meant no offence; idiosyncracy 1s simply o peculiarity or temperament of body or spirit, and 4 sect upreared upon & pet sacrament only is a bouse built upon sand, “Does Mr. O'Connor call himself a member of the true Chure Christ?” der leave and favor of this self-comrissioned "he doos, demurely, deprecatingly. But Mr. U Connor finds himself unable to endorse mid- id Papukating Creek, run- ning like a river of death, even it pertormed (1 use the word in no dramat.e sense) in Paul Boyton like judia rubber unmentionables, imperilling Lite, limbs, morals and (ahem !) the unities and proprictics, We kuow that Jordan's river is rarely knee deep, and that actual immersion therein was, is and will be impracticable, How deep was Jordan in Christ's time is unkuown to this posterity, But what were a deluge of water without the spirit? What is baptini without tewching—without faith? Whatif Baptist” professes Christianity but possesses it not? For purely rpowes vaceination is compulsor: saving principle Papakating C: in midwinter might well be pro- fies’ nte to cite Seriptural prece- can recompounsed ers, ¥., 6, 7, ) ) were baptiz Jolin) confess: ing their sins.” Mwtt., of Yhatsoever ye ithe diveiples) shall ‘find on earth, shall. be bound im Heaven; and whatsoever yo « loose on ewrth shall | in Heaven. (Matthew, xviii. 18.) “Wh r siti yo [the «ine ciples} remit, they are remitted unto them,” (oun, Xx., 4) And did not the apostles and dis re aud writings and traditi did, “Veritas” hurtcull; y wish Christianity was a tariur A stupendous in- ment! Will an almost agonized, jal acquit me of stich & terrible ae then, less mistakenly, eulogizes “the novle work of the Jesuits, Dominicans, Trappists, Carthusians and Sisters of Char.ty in New York city,” working wyainst the many schismatic irresigions. Rey, Dr, swrrs’ noble eulogy of the noble Gregory VIL (‘the Puritan Pope”) is a sweet wid” light companion picture; while Dr. Lord's apprecia- estimates of inal Richelieu is in th 0 mood, Even Dr, Bellows 1# most gracious, He ‘complimented the Koman Catholic Chureh for its infiueace over the poopie und its ability to instruct thew as Vrotestaute never had been abie to dv.” Que Walter G. Hadley rails at me as “erratic, fippant:" | restraint of such schools of hardness, yi confounds “pailosophism” win “philosophy.” apostrophizes Leathenisim. praises Loyola patrouiz- ingly, suspects the Church is at fwult, makes his obeisance, and (ahem !) hails from Philadelphia! Liev. Dr. Debaun (Intelligencer) declares tat “Chr.s- Kev. Dr. stork (Independent)—“In the item of ‘siastical gimeracks Christianity is # failure; and these are leading Protestauts Romeward; and these | led my friend, Rev. Dr. Gans, formed Church, imto the Catholic fold.” So went Dr. Ives, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of North Caro- lina Went Manning, so went Newman. Even one Peter Bingly ison the qui vec. Pinding We isu: too Lke Antnuonianism; Uvitarianism too lke ispeak it softly) atheism, Romanism too infallible, friend Peter is now his own pope im ordinary, is of the Germon Re- | searching the Scriptures, and is swinging around the circle theological, Poor Peter! 5. K., @ lady, witu the privileges of her sex, believes “Christi wity’s forms nd ceremonies wili be swept away”’—baptism with the rest. Then the Baptist Weekly advocates “less intellect in religion and more heart culture.” Good. Next, Lrother W, 5, White admits “that about @ quarter of the world’s population calls Christianity @ failure; it fails to touch the heart of humanity, and the tendency of the age is ritualism; it has beea working tor 1,000 years, and churchism is # fsilure.” Each of these correspondents (making no count of the papers quoted) yoes further than Ido on the (alleged) failure par- el. Christ's personal ministry brought but about 12 adherents to Christianity, and now there are some 335,000,000 of at least nominal Christians, to bout 1,065,000,000 non-Christims. And even in Christ's own epoch not a few of His followers turned aside trom and deserted Him and Hix cause. Under God the Father the Jews enjoyed a theocracy; under God the Sou, Jews and Gentiles alike might have enjoyed a simiar government; and we these last times are under the gov- of God the Holy Ghost, through of sn apostolic succession. For ernance the agency | when the blessed Lord Jesus left His beloved ones He failed not to send down the Comforter, He failed not to commission the twelve apostles and the seventy-two disciples to preach and perpetuate this same Christianity. Thus John wrote some sixty- One or two of the earliest fathers of the holy Rowan Church, one and indivisible, conversed face to face with said John. Paul's initial epistie was to Rome, to the Romans. The Roman Church showeth a perpetual, unbroken anc irrefragable line of successors from Peter to Leo XML; and before chaste and pious Harry the Eighth’s time all the faithful in Christendom | were under one pontifical head, and history repeats itself. But to “Shawansbeke,” another lady, be it said, the (alleged) “ultramontane disturbances” (sic?) are trifles of the past, dead and buried beyond all resurrection. Were they ever tan- gibly present? Poor pere Hyacinthe, a wee uuit uy mighty millions, merely is foresworn, and is Jed as was one pere Luther long ago. And lastly, “Catholicus”—Et tu Brute? His petty pizint is all anent a deniderated “canon law,” a dis- carded ‘oman collar’ (O Piccadilly!) an alleged priestly punch taking, cleemonynary church “excur- sions,” and (a partly valid count) unlicensed admit- » charges. A weak showing, truly, tor a Catholic (7) contemplating ‘infidelity’ intellectual or other possibilities ! But away with all sectarian prejudices or prepossessions in the contemplation of such real aud vital issues! We are simply to discover the causes and apply the remedy to what your editorial concedes to be the “apparent falling off from Chris- tianity.” Paul like (and like Deau Stanley), let us be all things to all men for the saving of some. Each individus! must needs exhort himself, and then his neighbor, whose keeper in # sense he is, And as Dickens, when he had expended all the literary force that in him was, began to repeat himself, so the clergyman who becometh as a well run dry ueeds re- plenishing, or adrought sets in in his Church and out of it. Lay exhortation might here come in as 4 moral auxiliary and not amiss. In this regard the State might inake education more compulsot and many sins might well be adjudged crimes. ristianity is not & worn out superstition. There is, indeed, rotten- ness in the Church, and there is rottenness out of the Church, Our politics, our Legislature, our Judi- ciary are not without corruption. Our art is not high. Our literature too often smacks of the gutter. Our science is haughtily irreligious. Our law is lax, License is afoot, Our sociology is epicurean, sybar- itic. We are a vast, o fast, a last, « cast, a volatile, a frivolous, an almost godless people, and—viva! ‘ ext, drink and be merry, for to-morrow ye die So the minister's occupation is not gone; your average priest and parson does his work reasonably well, But, as inthe Roman communion, the min- ister should be a man of men, picked, tried, chosen, trained. Then the laity of the pews should grow uj more and more en rapport with the clergy of the pul- wy. We should hold up the hands of our Moses. ‘¢ khould pray to be more receptive of the preached words of the Word of God, thus avoiding s sinning against the Holy Ghost, Alas! under the personal preaching of Christ Himseit there were too many bad and unreceptive listeners. Later on the preach- ing of Paul was as foolishness to the brain-proud Athenians. Peter failed equally in Rome, with too many. And to-day, when the Church ceases to be the pastive reflex of the world, the flesh and the devil around about it; when it operates upon mam- mon, instead of being operated upon by it; when the black sheep, lay or cler- ical—wolves in sheep's clothing—are summarily ejected from the fold; when the Church visible on earth would liken itself more and more to the Church invisible in the heavens; when we of the pews shall have learned to love creeds less, Christ more and onr neighbor as ourselves (“Love thyself last,” saith the mentor); when our tastes shall have grown simpler, our wants fewer, our wishes plainer, our hopes higher, our fears greater, our ambitions holier, our oi purer, our hates holier, our lives lowlier, and our ever impending deaths’ cheerier; when we get back to lsrael in the wilderness, to tent life, to simple village life again, with Wall street un- known, Fitth avenue unknown, the Five Points a thing of the past, the Tombs used up, and so follow- ing; then—bat adieu, prolepsis! ‘The South Sea Islander, the New Zealander (Ma- cauley’s patent), the Afghan, the Cannibal Islands avoriginee, the Hottentot, the Esquimaux, are ha pilv ignorant of the vices tw ezcelsis of our ultra civil- ization, and the Sodoms and Gomorrahs of the world are neither pagan nor barbarian. How can we make civilzation and Christianity more of a success? Faithtully yours. JAMES OWEN O'CONNOR, No, 492 Vanpensitt AvENvK, Brooxiyy. IT WILL LAST TO THE END, Yo tax Eviror or THe Hewatp:— While the existence of those conditions which oc- casion the query, Is Christianity a failure? is to be deplored, heartily deplored, yet the question is no other than one that has been familiarly heard throughout the entire course of Christianity. No one during the pre ent discussion has defined in any specific way what is meant by the question asked, or placed any limitations upon it. A thing, you know, may be generally successful and yet fail in its application to some particular examples, be- cause t is lacking in these latter the proper susceptibility for receiving its truths and energy, or ip there latter, obstacles may be placed in the way #o as to effectually bar out truth attempting # pas- sage. Christianity transforms one individual hard- ened “age and iniquity into # saintly character; here it not failed in its application, Another in- dividual lives under its powertul iufluences during a long life @ moral and inte ligent citizen and man, and yoke goes down into the grave without @ single ray ot the divine light of Christianity having been allowed to penetrate his mind and ilumine his soul in any effective way. He failed to derive the precious biexsings of the Gospel becauss he failed to accept that which would have been so productive in heavenly blessings in his case, indegd, ax in the pre- vious one. So that while, with millions of indi- viduals, Christianity fads in its mission of redemp- tion by reason of its wiltal rejection by the tree will of these individuals, yet, in the cases of millions of others, ite saving mission is tully realizod in brin, ing eoleatial peace to men of good will. As it has been during the last nineteen centuries, so will it also be until the “consummation otf the world,” Christianity will be of — liv- ing power and of divine, transforming force with some individuals, while with otuers there wil coutinue to be found its entire rejection, together with # consequent spiritual darkness—darkuess deeper than Payan darkness. As before, so now, faine and spurious forms of Christianity will raise up their specious and delusive heads, but only finally to disintegrate and then to fall into the grave ot a divided illumon. Christianity was no failure because there was a Judas Ixcariot in the apostolic College. Christianity is no failure because of the many hypocrites who conceal and shield themselves within her fair borders, FRANCIS. among his CHRISTIANITY AND COCKFIGHTING, To 1x Eprron oy tHe Henacp:— A great cry is made of the destruction of Christi- anity, just as the Pharisecs anticipated turning the world upside down when our Lord taught them that leas fly«peck exactness in the outward and more dove-pertection in the inward, less sacrifice and more mercy, shorter prayers and more prac- tice would be acceptable to the Father of Mercies, If our appeal is to penances and preyers® the Brahmin can lead us all the year round, But there are practical den upon us in the garden of our Lord, F can read the accounts of the in the cockpit of New Or- New York city and Long 1s of revulsion and at Newtow: n its erueltion ? enti- of a Christian can think of those engaged brutalizing work without dixgust? There are places in South America wnere the clergy can qo turough their religious formalities in the morning and attend the cock fight in the evening, Su an alienation of — conscience from religio we can never submit to in the United States, for although our Christian sentiment cannot charge such outrages of public decency upon either Ken- tucky or Georgia as Stutes, or upon New York, Long Ixiand or New Orleans as cities or sections, yet it does demand the removal of such unchristian and barbarous practices at their hands, and will in a certain sense compel them to wear garments stained and bespattered with blood of the pit until they take pains tu put away such puvlie offences, ‘The pressure is at Lest hard upon pulpit and press to maintuin @ high moral senti- ment, and Pam sucn a believer in the superiority of ple over precept ae to look for a long period of jens teuching Unless the priueiples taught are cvined imto sume substantial arm of force fur the | ecies of Daniel brings that period to the ¢ and crime. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set im them to do 5, i PROPHECY AND THE END OF THINGS. Brooxixs, March 2, 1879, To rue Eprron oy THE HERALD:— In last Sunday’s HemaLp a correspondent signing hiwself “Watching and Waiting,” in an article on | “Is Christianity a Failure?’ alludes to the second coming of the Messial, and quoting from the proph- ing ear (1880), which agrees pretty well with the follow- ing remarkable prophecy known as “Mother Ship- ton’s Prophecy,” published in 1485 and republished in 1641, It seems that all the events predicted in it, except that mentioned in the last two lines, which is still in the near fature, have already come to pass:— “MOTHER SHIPTON'S PROPHECY,” 1485, Cw And accidents SI the wor! Around the world thor In the twinkling of an Water shall yet more wi Now strange, yet shall be true. ‘The world apside down shall be, And gold be found at the root of tree, Through ifils man shail ride And no horse wor ass be at his side Under water man shall walk, Shaii ride. shall sleep, shall talk. In the air men shall he seen In white, in black, in green, Iron in the water shall float, As ensy 4s 4 wooden boat. Gold shall be found ‘mid stone Tn a land that’s now unknow Fire and water shall wonder England shall at last admit And this world to an end shall come Tn eighteen hundred and eighty-one. PE B. A SCEPTIC WHO WANTS REASONABLE RELIGION. To Tug Eprrox or tux HERALD:— Ihave watched with considerable pleasure your correspondents’ discussion upon the failure of mod- ern Christianity, and, what seems to me, their futile attempts to meet the question. The most of them have sunk so deep in the mud of Biblical history that their reasoning amounts to nothing. The fact is becoming alarmingly prevalent for modern Christianity that the vague theories and fanciful stories of the Bible have no longer any weight with the thinking com- munity. They are stories of the imagination, based upon ideal hopes and fears, one-half of which contain the shallowest kind of nonsense, and are used only by hypocrites and credited by fouls, Cervantes, Boceaccio and — the wildest romancers of ancient and modern times are entitled to as much credit as to the trathfulness of their wondertul flights of fancy as these Bible story tellers, The ciose student of history doubts even what is claimed to be the historical records of the Bible, much less the sacredness of the songs of Solomon, or the piety of King David, or the marvel- lous tale of the children of crossing the Red Sea dry shod. It may astound many who have not looked at this matter from 4 historical standpoint, who have ac- cepted without thought, reason or research the statements of the Bivie, and shuddered even when their good sense would at times get the better of them and choke with the dose, when I assert with- out fear of contradiction’ by . any _ reliable data that the Christianity which has for over eighteen hundred years itself so firmly upon mankind was about the year 400 appropria- ted en musse by the priests of the Church from the doctrines, sermons and teachings of Apollonius, of ‘Tyana, a man who was born about the time of the change of the Roman calendar, and was eminently celebrated for his virtue, He was contem- porary with Jesus Christ, having his home at Ephesus. He was a follower of Pythag- oras, and was well known throughout the Roman Empire as a man of great learning and erndition; several Roman Emperors honored him, and many temples were erected to commemorate his memory. Plutarch, one of the most learned and celebrated men of his age, whose lives of the great Romans 1s the delight of every one who has read them, does not eveu mention Jesus Christ, except in one in- stance, and then as very ordinary person, and worthy of no special notice. He flourished in the year 50, or # few years after the time people claim Jesus Christ was Lora. He was probably as well read in Jewish and Roman history as any man of his time. ‘Thousands of volumes have been written upon what is termed in tue New Testament “the scheme of salvation,” which is modern Christianity. ‘The wuthors, from the appearance of these books, never once doubted the tallibility of the scheme, A five discussion is what the people . Let us have it. If modern Christianity is all right it can’t be hurt by meres expression oo ‘the views of the great of intelligent je who are opposed to i I on: wrong I want tobe convinced, er) Lord Thur- low said to a dissenter of the Church of Engisnd, “Make your damned religion popular and 1 will sup- rt it.’ Isay to modern Christians, base your re- igion upon moral principles, interject ‘a little reason and truth into it, and the intelligent rtion of munkind will accept it. A CHANGE, A CHANCE FOR THE UNDENOMINATIONAL, BRooxiyx, March 2, 1879, To tur Eprrom oy THE HenaLp:— Allow me to express the satisfaction it has given me to see that particular department of your paper widen out the scope of its mfluence, It was already @ great step forward when a few’ years ago the secu- lar press opened the doors to religious notices, ab- stracts of sermons, &c., but I felt the time was com- ing when it would do more than that, and that the paper that first opened up to the vision of s large and important field for » more earnest and thorough treatment of the best and deepest interests of mankiud would benefit the public and itself, There are organs in plenty for the trained and drilled Christian; whatever church he joins has one or more periodicals in which he can let his light shine in the style peculiar to each. I belong to no organized denomination, and what I know of Christendom has come to me through sin and sorrow and shame. I have experienced an ex- istence in the highest and lowest possible human spheres, and when I undertook to play loose and fast with lite, it was partly because 1 had arrived at an almost cynic conception of the diterence between theory und reality. I thank God, who so humbled me_ that I dared go into myself and try to” raise up again my own self, And although to this moment my concern is chiefly only with myself, yet no man can come to a better light without also wishing to impart so much of it to others. FEKD. 8. WINSLOW. “CLERICUS” ON “CATHOLICUS.” To rux Eprror or Tax Henatp:— Protestants of every hue and color, and Catholics too, ought to feel and acknowledge their deep in- debtedness to the Henan tor its fearless and im- partial discussion and veutilation of those religious questions which practically interest and now agitate the Christian eloment of our heterogeneous popula- tion. On recent occasion the almost unanimous expression of cordial sympathy which hailed the Hxnatp’s exposure and reprobation of the abuse of “paying to hear mass” must have been as grateful to its pious enterprise as it was gratifying to the numbers of poor Catholics whom the discussion must have religiously befriended. On this account, no doubt, your columns are still open to what- ever concerns the interests of the Church, aud “I. J. O'Connor” snd an “Old Fash- joned Christian” and many others havo, there- tore, delivered themselves of their views on the momentous question, ‘Is Christianity a Failure?’ I would be lazy to decide whether the Christian ought to feel more obliged to your corre: spondents for the truths which they so obscurely sugested than for the facts which they so industri- ously concealed, Were it not for the moderate and char.table views which the Henan, in its editorials, proposed on the respective merits of the several sub- jects discussed many of its countless readers would have devoutly thanked Heaven that they had never been discussed at all. But it is to the pungent epistle of “Catholicus” in last Sunday’s HenaLy that I propose, with your per- mission, to address my observation. From the tone and spirit of his remarks one would be sorely tempted to think and believe that in the Catholic Church, as constituted in the city, there aro “no imitators” of the first old fervent mis- sionaries, who planted the faith ‘in this new country. To his thinking “the young assistants, who speak more of the wealth and inembers of the parish than of the number of souls which they have # chance of saving,” aro but sorry sacerdotal excuses, What loving indictment to be preferred by a “Ca tholicus” against the rising generation of metropol- itan padres! But when he compares the “young assint- ants to lieutenants in the army" and describes them as “holding indignation meetings” whenever some “eloquent stranger is adopted into the diocese,” the thought would force itself forward that cither “Ca- thouieus” himself had some friend among the “lieuten- ante” of the sanctuary whose expectations had been terribly disappointed by the prefermont of some of these “eloquent strangers,” or that he was the mouth- piece of some “eloquent stranger” who keenly feels the just suspicion attaching to his own preferment, and which may have estranged, and very naturally, too, the sympathies of the priests of the diocese whow he had uutonely superseded, out sume broad hiute which ou But “Catholics” bas spokeu bravely, and thrown to open the NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 1879—QUINTUPLE SHEET. eyes—if they can be opened at all—of those for whose special delectation his letter evidently was written. Calmly considering, however, what he had the temerity to publish about the “young lieu- tenants” of the sauctuary, his own conscience in his wiser moments must reprove him, and he will repent accordingly. Because he must know and feel that we have every bit just as good priests now as were those who first preached the faith to the Oneidas and the Cherokees. The times and circumstances are different, that is all. The priest is now what he was then; now, as then, he is ordaimed for his mission and goes wherever le is sent. If “Catholicus” were a priest it might not im our day be long his privilege to lead a life of adventurous hardship and self-denial, even if he were inclined to undertake some extra mortifi- cation. The priest of the present day has mortifica- tions of his own that the missionary to the Indian never dreamed of. Volunteers for the Indian tpissions were required to have, aud they did have, ali the adventurous character and courage of explorers. With their vestments strapped on their shoulders they penetrated our primeval forests, surveyed our greatlakes and rivers ond ofien “basatted the tor, rents in a birch canoe.” But the life, after all, was a life of poetry and romauce, and if they were destitute of the comforts of oureivilization they had to wage no war against our vices either. Their people in- habited the great, green waving forest; we must look for ours in wretched tenement houses—hotbeds of filth and a. No comparison can or ought to be instituted between these certainly great men and our “lieu- tenants” of the sanctuary, because everything is different. gregations for money, and for a good reason. From whom could they expect to get it, and if they had it what wouid they have done with it? In our day money is necessary for orera nay. Why, even the HeERaLp is not given away for nothing, and “Cathol- icus’” himself had to buy paper tor and pay postage on his—with some overzealous statements—very timely and excellent communication. As this nui- sance of money is such # necessary evil all around itshould not be continually paraded as 4 fling at religion. This money feature in religious discus- sions, then, could be very well sumered to subside, and all would feel the better for it. It was really delightful, however, to find some- body capable of the attempt—and “*Catholicus” seems to have all the “intimate knowledge” necessary—at length coming out and denouncing even in measured language the treatment which poor priests have had to suffer and still seem destined to endure from their superiors. Many a wish has been expressed to see this question discussed in the columns ofthe Hezatp; for the Council of Baltimore and every other pro- vincial council and diocesan synod are Just so many 6 , and must necessarily continue to be shams, so long as @ priest is so eutterly depending on the Bishop as to be often afraid to say that his soul is his own. Nor will the late instruction of the Propa- ganda addressed to American bishops be of much or of any advantage to the priests, because those named on the commission in each diocese will naturally be the creatures of the bishop; those very individuals who, according to “‘Catholicus,” ac- company the bishop ‘as his theologians toa council, and who are looking for the mitre themselves. The traditional meet juries of Dublin Castle would not be able “to hold acandle’’ to these impending, rovin, commissions, Besides, any priest who has incurred displeasure would be » milhon times safer in the hands of his bishop —unloss he were a born tyrant, quod procul absit—than trusting to the judgments of iuen who, far from sympathizing with him, might be glad of an opportunity to crush and get him out of the way. hy, let a fore be even under the temporary displeasure of his bishop, and his former and most intimate associates in the ministry will be afraid to recognize him, Now, why is this thus? Chiefly because priests have no status, are nobodies sud seem to have no rights which bishops are bound to respect. And here * * * why is not some provision made for disabled riests as well as for disabled bishops? Does not the one receive the same sucred character in his ordination as the other? Out of the ministry is not the one as helpless and as useless a member of society as the other? Has not,the priest the ‘‘mark of Cain” on his brow, as well as the bishop? Priests work and worry and toil and grow old in erecting churches and schools and convents and asylums for every kind and character of human infirmity; they beg and they borrow; they strain every nerve to build up and to beautify the house of God; and yet for all this there is no provision made for any accident or mistortune which may humanly overtake or befall themselves. No matter, on the other hand, for what reasons bishops may be disa- bled, ample provision is always made for their lordships. But the tees Oh, he may go where Oliver Cromwell once sent the Irish; and if he rash right straight headlong to old Noll’s first station, and stop there, so much the better; he is one out of the way. How many broken hearts in the ministry to-day! How many have sunk under their mistortunes and gone down with sorrow to the grave! Thank God there are some noble exceptions among the bishops, and notably so in the State of New York! There are bishops here who feel that they are men themselves—who never tancied themselves knights of a crusade against priests, ready booted and spurred to ride the mo- ment that they get the crozier in their hands and the mitre on their heads, And this brings me to reflect that “Catholicus,” no doubt unwittingly, has done » serious injury to Bishop McQuaid by connecting his name with the reputed efforts of the bishops to have the instruction modified in their own favor. That is the unkindest cut of all. Because ‘Catholicus,” with | | | | his “intimate knowledge” of things ecclesiastical, must have known that Bishop McQuaid had enough to do at Rome, without troubling himself about what inight never concern him. “Catholicus” must also have heard the whisper that Bishop McQuaid am- bitions the coadjutorship of the archdiocese, This being #0, the rumor that he is engaged at Rome in trying to rob the instruction of whatever advantages it might have for priests, would certainly not recom- mend him to the “young lieutenants” of the sanc- tuary in the metropolis. As they could not admire any such proceeding on the part of their coming cdmmander, they would hold ‘indignation meet- ings” and be likely to deprive him ot the coveted commission, Ah, *Catholicus,” that was unkind! The whole tenor and spirit of the letter of “Catholicus” incline me to the belief that he isa soggarth aroon himself, and what he says about the Baltimore Council and the open et gy of secular priests for its requirements, strongly impress me with the conviction that he is a mouk, friar into the bargai , perhaps, he is some “ex” for whom community life was not strict and rigid enough. At any rate, whoever or whatever ho is he has “intimate knowledge,” plenty, of how things work in the Church, But he is not always charitable and often imprudent. Witness his fling at the “young lieu- tenants” of the sanctuary and his drive at Bishop MeQumid. Then he openly declares that the holy. rule of the regulars usarps the place of the canon law in theiy regard. Indeed, this is news, surely. Will not your “Cauonicus” riddie this startling and impudent declaration? In my innocence I had always belioved that religious belonged to the Church and were subject to her canous—bvoth their holy rules and themselves. But “Catholicus” complains openty in the columns of the HxnaLy—in a paper that is read wherever the English language is spoken—thut the “secular clergy ‘iolate” the laws, &c., of the Council of Baltimore, —The regular clergy at the themselves in what did not concern them,”" ! the laws and regulations made by the bishops in plenary council assembled, aud in the interests and tor the progress of religion, did not concern these holy fathers, who sat there with a sublime indifference to what was taking place! “Catholicus,” the holy fathers will not thank you fc this. It will not do to argue that they were not lc ing for mitres, like the theologians who accompa- nied the bishops; the interests of religion ought to be, and, “Catholieus” notwithstanding, I am sure were, just ax dear to the regulars who attended the Council as to the theologia: of the bishops who were looking for titres. By the way, though, I never heard that any religious, except one, Who was chosen to be bishop, ever returned the bolls with episcopare, ‘Catholicus” em- "the absence of the Roman cc ‘moonlight excursions by water.” Does “Catholicus” remember the story of the wolf in the fable, qué sprevit weas quas attingere nm poluit: he might be prevented from attending these harin- less froiics by his holy rule, which never trusts him to be out late; or by his conscience, which hax already warned him never to expose himself to danger again; but when he on that account exclaims against others enjoying what he himself is forbidden to taste or to handle everybody will sneer out, “3 sur grapes!’ while I venture to affirm that “Catholi- * whoever knows him, is just as willing to pocket “money taken at thechurch door,” and as ready, when occasion calls, to visit “places where liquor is sola” as the gayest young “lieutenant” of the sance tuary in the whole metropolis, CLERICUS. THE MEXICAN DIFFICULTIES. [From the Arizona Citizen.) Requisitions having been male from time to time on General Mariscal, as Governor of Sonora, tor the extradition of criminals committing murders and rob- beries in Arizona and fleeing to Sonora, General Mar- iseal writes to President Diaz to know what he shall do in the promises, The national authorities thereupon inform him that, although it is their desire to do everything to promote good feeling and understand. ing between Mexico and this government, it would | not be decorous to graut the extradition of Mexican citizens as long as the government of the United States does not make a formal prom: ise to reciprocate the favor; and that to this end instractions have been given to the Mex- jean Minister at Washington to ch reciprocity. ln the mean time Mariscal is directed to send to the Mexican government the requisitions for extradiion already mate, and any that may yet be made by Arizona authorities, and to continue to assiduously arrest all crim * who may take shelter {in Sonora, and no accouut to on release any criminals uutil further instructions, In the face of such stringent instructions Mariscal can only .nold on to his criminuls and wait. On January 20 he writes to Governor Fremont to this effect, and hopes his inability to do what he would’ personally lke to do may not be interpreted as wiltul and unguaranteed action against justice and the suce: prosecution of crime. He additionally write: ‘1 must also in- form you that the yoverument of Souvra has re- ceived instructions from the national government, by which it is ordered that Mexicans who have committed crimes in foreign territory, and who may be arrested, be handed over to the federal courts to ve there tried aud punished.” Gov+ ernor Mariscal therefore requests that how f vitizens of Arizona who may have been tujur by citi- zens of Souora will make their vompisints to the district courts of Sonora, to which tribunal he is going to. it these Mexicans in arrest there bow murders and robberies in Ari guna, To be sure, they never troubled their con- | THE BROADWAY RAILROAD, for the Franchise. |PUT IT UP AT | Legislative Action Requisite to Make the Grant Valid. ‘The Herarp has received the following important communication from @ well known gentleman of un- doubted and ample responsibility :— New Yorx, March 8, 1879, To raz Eprrog or THE Hxranp:— Permit me, as a taxpayer of this city, to protest throngh your columns against the propositions now | before the Board of Aldermen to. bestow the most valuable franchise of the Broadway Railroad for « | mere trifling pecuniary return to the city treasury In my opinion, and that of many other taxpayers, | this ‘tranchise should be publicly sold at auc- | tion to the highest bidder, the city at the same | tiue to preseribe such suitable conditions as will render the road a first class one in every respect. I, for one, am willing, in behalf of myself and my asso- eu , to agree to all the conditions proposed by either set of applicants, and, at the same time, to start the bidding at such public auction at $1,000,000 cash for the trauchise to Seventcenth street, aud at $1,250,000 for the franchise to the Ceutral Park. Other bidders may possibly offer more. I only ask you to withhold my name trom publication for the present, and to retain this letter meanwhile as a guarantee of my perfect sincerity and earnestness in this matter. Ihave the honor to remain, your obe- dient servant, bitnseceee A reporter of the HenaLp was sent to the writer of the above communication in order to obtain further | particulars as to his precise plana, That geutleman was found in his office, immersed in a heap of pa- pers, which, it appeared, were full of horse railroad statistics. The conversation which then cusued was as follows :— WHAT FAIRNESS AND EQUITY DEMAND. “Will you be kind enough to state to me more fully your views and plans in reference to this matter?” “My letter, of course, was brief, and only contained the gist of my proposition. I think it would be a great shame to grant such a franchise withont secur- ing to the city an adequate return, and as a matter of open handed fairness and equity I believe it should be publicly sold at auction by the Comptrol- ler. I believe that is the opinion held by the tax- payers of the city generally.” “But have not the present applicants agreed to pay into the city treasury five per cent of the gross re- ceipts, to furni-h cars equal to those in use on the Metropolitan ‘L,’ to relay the pavement of Broad- way,” &e. ‘These are all very good promises, but they are entirely inadequate to the value of this franchise. As I have already stated in my letter to the Henan, I am willing to agree to all the conditions proposed ‘by either set of applicants, to pay five per cent of the gross receipts, to furnish cars equal to the finest on the Metropolitan ‘L,’ and to build and equip and run it as a first class railroad in every particular, and, in addition, to pay over to the city treasury $1,000,000 cash for the franchise to feo street and $1,250,000 cash to the Central ark.” ONLY ONE PARE TO CENTRAL PARK. “Would you charge double fare to the Park or above Seventeenth street it the franchise were con- ferred upon you ?”’ ‘{ think the tranchise, if bestowed at all, should bo given to the Central Park, for otherwise you would compel people to pay another fare above Seventeenth street, which is clearly against public policy. The people should be enal to ride for five ceats for any distance along Broadway and to the Central Park. It should be one of the conditions of the grant that the fare charged trom the Battery to-the Central Park should not exceed five cents.” “But would the new railroad have tho right to run over the tracks of the old Broadway horse car lino above Seventeenth street?’ “That contingency is provided for unaer the gen- eral law, which allows ary new railroad authorized upon any street already partially occupied to pass over the of the already exist- ing horse car line upon the payment to the latter of an equitable amount of compensation for the use or such tracks. To compel the people to pay five cents for riding the maximum length of two miies and s half trom the Battery to Seventeenth street would be manifestly exorbitant when the Second avenue horse car line is now carrying people for five cents to the Harlem River, a distance of eight miles.” HOW TO MAKE THE ROAD A SUCCESS. “I see you have been studying the statistics of horse car travel?’ “I have done so for years past, and claim to be thor- oughly conversant with the subject. ‘The tranchise of the Broadway railroad is, I believe, by all odds the most valuable grant of any horse car line that has ever becn conferred by the city or State. ‘Che franchises of the present lines —all of which have proved exceedingly protitable—wers granted by the city without securing to the city treasury any return worth mentioning. Now Broadway is still the main artery of the city travel. It passes through the very heart of th.s populous me- tropolis. I am conviuced that the travel would be very great, particularly if tue service of the new line would be more efficient and attractive than any of the present horse rail have as yet proved to be. If you ask me what, in my opinion, would be necessary to make the road a great popular success I should say that I would have, to begin with, the must handsome and ornamental cars that can be constructed. They should be equal to the sumptuous new palace cars ordered for the Second avenue ‘L,’ a description of which, wjth their French plate glass mir- rors, &e., the Henaup published the other day. You know such cars would render travelling through this lively aud favorite thoronghfare, along its busy ortices and gay and brilliant shops, ble picasure. ‘Then I should have splendid, noble horses, that should be @ credit to the line and to the street of world wide fame through which it will pass, horses that shall wake the trip ata rattling pace. I should have such ao ample number of cars that there should be seating accom- modations for everybody, and the overcrowding and compulsory standing of passengers, which have done so much to reuder the horse car sines un- et yr should be absolutely avoided, Re,ularity and frequency of running and polite and efficient at- tendauts are other important eiements which are, in my opimon, also required to make the Broadway railroud w pericct success, and to let the people derive from its use the advan- tages to which they are fuirly entitled. Such a horse railroad—oilcring such superior tactlities and attractions to the traveling puble as were never hitherto enjoyed by them—would assuredly prove worth at least $1,250,000 it it had the right of way to the Central Park, or at least $1,000,000 if it had to terminate at Seventeenth street.” BUILD MODKL TENEMENTS WITH THIS MILLION. “And what would be done with this large sum of money?” “That would remain, for the proper city authori- ties to determine. It #ould hardly become ine to offer more than s random sugyestion on that point, that witn this amount a number of moucl tenements could be built for the relet of the sui- fering poor.” THK ALDERMEN'S POWER QUESTIONED. “You have us yet made uo formal application to the Board of Aldermen?’ “I have not done so, because iam informed by eminent counsel that the legal right of the Board of Aldermen to grant this tranchise is iuvolved in some doubt, Ihave selected counsel expert in municipal law, who are now carefully studying the subject, and if they advise me of the vatidity of such au Alaermanic Piel IT intend to make tormal application without jay.” “sat don’t you think that the Aldermen will now proceed to make the grant anyhow?” “They may do so, of course, but if there is any legal doubt about its perfect validity the matier might be taken into tue courts, and the latter, seving that the city had been deprived of this large amount of mouey by the hasty action of the Board, would provably not sustain it, aud the road would not be built until the power of the Aldermen and the legality of their grant had been confirmed by the court last resort. It must be manifest to the Aldermen — thom- selves that if their power to make the grane is not beyond wil legal question the matter would probably be contested aud taken into the cour, where it might remain for years. Such @ result would be very unfortunate and should. by means be averted, The people want broadway ratiro: Now that the “L' ways are #0 nearly completed, nothing urgently needed tue Way of travelling acco dation in New York as a first rate through Broadway, ism. They ure the most cumbrous and the slo: travelling couvey s of the kind in any great city) in world, The property owners with an alinost unanimous voice ask for the road and dec that it is necessary to save the Broadway , Which has already been div to whe ® great extent to Sixth avenue, Thus the public necessity tor such # road seens to be conceded on all sides. ‘The only interes: that could possibly be injured would be that of the owners of the present stage lines, Whosg business, of course, woud be entirely ruined, and compensate them for their loss shouldlet them be interested in the enterprise to the exvent of the capital now invested in thuir omnibus lines. L say, then, a8 every body wants the Broadway Tuiroad it should be built at ouce. No loophole should be lect open tor any possible litigation which Iniqut deter the exeoution of this needed public work or ieave it to the Hucertaintios of the law.” LNGISLATIVE ACTION REQUISITE. “If the Aldermen do uot possess the clear leaal AUCTION! | t to grant the franchise. how is it then to be ole eine “It will require the action of the lature to remove all legal doubt, and to enable the Aldermen to instruct the Comptroller of the city to put up the franchise at auction and publicly se of it tothe highest bidder. Now, if it is once An Offer to Pay a Million Dollars | $j 35Popeibie, ,nartios | are wii te at Dolieve it will take only a few days to secure from the Legislature such action as shall render the grant from the Aldermen valid, and this large sum of inoney available to the city treasury, Which certainly stands in need of it." “Will the ‘L’ railways not oppose such action of the Legislature for fear that the Broadway railroad may hurt their business?" ‘No, tor the Broadway railroad would in no wise interfere with their patronage. The more travelling | facilities there are, the greater is the traffic, This has been clearly demonstrated on Sixth avenue, where the horse car line carried from 45,000 to 50,000 people before the “LL"" road was opened, and where it still carries necrly 40,000 a day, although the “L" is carrying 55,000. ° Ey ‘body ki ‘3 that while the “Third avenue verb 15 "pow carrying nearly the same number of pas- sengers as that formerly carried by the horse car line the trafiic of the latter is still very large indeed. ‘The Broadway railroad would mostly take What ma} be called the ‘short travel,” and “long riders” would still continue to patronize the ‘L’* roals, I am confident that no opposition whatever would be made by either of the “L" companies, and in & matter of such public neces- sity nosuch opposition could be strong enough to deivat the universal demand of the people.” ALDEKMANIC VIRTUE. “It has been rumored that large sums of money would have to be expended to secure the franchise from the Aldermen?" I put no faith in such statements. I believe the | Aldermen will not disregard a public offer to pay $1,000,000 or $1,25,0000 cash into the city treus- urs, and wiil readily see that the only way of Satisfying people that everything has | been“ done squarely and above board will be for them to ‘instruct the Comptroller to put itup atauction. That is the only method of disposing of such # valuable grant to the satisfaction of all taxpayers of the city. The gentlemen who have already applied for the franchise are of such high character and eminent standing that I am sure they would not countenance any such means of obtaining the franchise as, you say, have been rumored about, and I believe they will concur in the propricty of my suggestion thut the franchise should hoy SY up at auction to the highest bidder, where they all, and everybody, will have an equal chance to secure the grant. THE COURTS. TRYING TO HAVE THINGS DONE ON TH SQuARB. Messrs. Brewster & Co., the carriage makers, sued Rufus Hatch for a bill for carriages and repaira which the latter declined to pay on the ground that the charges were exorbitant. While on the witness stand, Hatch, turning to the jury, said, “I will give acheck for $750 now, if they will call it square.’* ‘This remark, Judge McAdam, before whom the case was tried, in charging the jury, declared to be an admission of indebtedness by Hatch. To thia Mr. Hatch’s counsel excepted, and juested him to charge that it was an offer of compromise, and not a concession of debt. Judge MeAdam refused to so charge and on the jury finding for plaintiff, Mr. Hatch sppetled to the General Term of the Marine Court, which effirmed the correctness of the ruling. Hatch thea appealed to the Common Pleas, General Term, and they reversed the judgments and ordered a new trial, on the ground that Mr. Hatch’s remark to the jury was erroneously construed into an admission against himself. Messrs. John E.Cronly, John Hal- lock Drake and John Balestier appeared tor Brewster & Co., aud Messrs. Adolphus and Pope for Mr. Hatch. SUMMARY OF LAW CASES, Judge Wheeler will be unable to take up final hear ings in equity cases in the United States Circuit Court to-morrow, as expected. The will of the late Mary S. McDermott, of No. 59 West Washington place, was yesterday filed in the Surrogate’s office. After leaving several small be- quests to her brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces, she left $50 to Father O’Dowd, of Ackley, Iowa; $100 to the Little Sisters of the Poor, of New York, and $100 to the New York Foundiing Asylum. Matthew Gilligan, a liquor dealer in Park row, was arrested yesterday Be Havent Agent McLeer for alleged violation of the revenue laws in failing to erase the marks and brands on a whiskey barrel and held in $500 bail by Commissioner Deuel for exam. ination. The arrest is in connection with that of Strauss about three weeks ago for having in bd Ne session a barrel of whiskey upon which the duty not been paid. The barrel, it is claimed, came from Gilligan’s place, but the officers have not yet ascer- tained where the spirits wore made. Thomas D. Crowe alle; that his mother-in-law, Mrs. Hannah O'Hara, il ty detains his infant child, Katie E. Crowe, in Brookiyn, and that she will notallow him to see the child. He says further in his petition yesterday to Judge Lawrency for a writ of habeas corpus, that he has instituted other habeas corpus proceedings, but ceased to prosecute them in the hope of an amicable adjustment of the matter, but now, despairing of such result, makes the present application, The writ was granted the case will come up for investigation to-morrow. BRQOKLYN BRIDGE. _ WITNESSES WHO THINK IT WILL BE A DETRI« MENT TO NAVIGATION AND THUS IMPERIL THE COMMERCE OF THE PORT. The examination into the Brooklyn Bridge matter was continued yesterday at the Metropolitan Hotel. Mr. William H. Macy, president of the Seaman’s Bank; Bernard Brown, s ship broker; Captain W. B. Ostrom, who is interested in the California trade; William Degrew, a shipowner and proprictor of water front above the bridgo; Robert Simonson, @ commission merchant; John Mortimer and Henry C. Nesbith were examinel and testified that the te is a detriment to navigation, Captain of the Port Tucker was culled. He stated. that ue had charge of all the harbor masters, who have charge of the docking of all ships that come to port; in his associations with ship owners and captains he his heard much of late concerning the detrimental effects of the bridge on the commerce of the port. Most of them complain that charter parties cannot be made with ships now unless @ clause is inserted stating that the ships will not be required to yo above the bridge. The effect of these clauses would of course be to blockade and make useless for purposes of docking all the water front above the bridge. Captain McDonald, of the great derrick, was re- called to testity that he would not venture under the bridge when it is finished, because his craft presents 80 much resisting surface to the wind, that if a gale or high wind was stirring he might be throwa against the cables and have the derrick wrecked. Mr. George H. Dow, a resident of Brooklyn, who was a member of the Chamber of Commerce at the time the bridge resolutions were iu favor of the project, suid that at that time he was invited to give his views concerning the bridge, and did so in @ letter to the United States Commission of En- ineors. He there expressed the opinion that the r.dye would be a detriment to the commerce of the port, At the time three propositions were made to relieve the traffic at the ferries, and he thouyht the bridge the most objectionable of all, In auswer to Mr. Biurphy Mr. Dow said that if people had faith in stability, of the bridge they would use it, but” not otherwise. He remembered the ulkers’ strike’’ ot ten yeurs ago for higher wages. The effect of that strike was to drive ships that needed repairs from New York to other ports. He was told by a mechanic that he could destroy the bridge in half an hour if he wanted to. Atter the examination of this witness Mr. Arnot counsel for the Comptroller, put in the “caso” Miler vs. ‘I'he Mayor as evidence, and then the com> mittee adjourned until Murch 20, at ten A.M. JOLLY MASKERS, The club rooms of the Liederkranz Society in East Fourth street presented a brilliant appearance last night on the occasion of the annual masquer ade ball, the attendance being Mmited to the active members of the society and lady guests, From beginning to end spectacle was decidedly enjoyable, all enterin, into the init of the affair with hearty humor and whole-souled pleasure, The fine private ball room was most tastefully and appropriately festooned, and rare tropical. plats in convenient places en- huuced not a little the charm of the sur roundings. The costumes of some of | joliy masqueraders were exceedingly grotesque, a many ot the best teatures of the Liederkrang, Arion and Purim balls were burlesqued in admirable style. Merchants, bankers brokers who had done so much to render the recent Liederkrang bali so entertaining to the thousands at the Academy of Music last month had last evening an opportunity themselves for their seif-sacrificil efforu ef Pun. and frolic ruled sepreme tom, masks were removed, and all sorts of charactert who figured since the deluge to the present day appeared smilingly in their nineteenth century faces, After the grand banquet, a marvellous event in the way of epicurean fancy, the terpsichorean ex+ ercises. were resumed and bi ly and joyously maintained until Sol warned the genial revellers to depart. pa PREPARING FOR DECORATION DAY. Preparations aro already being made by the sob diers and veterans of the late war to celebrate Deco ration day in a fitting manner, The remnant of the gallant survivors of the “Old Tenth,” or Bendis Zouaves, regiment that has participated in neariy Afty engagements, propose to hold a meeting fot organization at No, #64 Sixth avenue next ‘Lluesday evening. Among the siguers to the call are Co.wnel George F. Hopper, Colonel John W. Marshall: Cay tains in Ines, Om as juther, » Be ihe George ¥. Taite, Hermann Cantor sud Charles W, wi