New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-04

the limbs Of sxcomn, aesticn. Bot we mnst
confess that II b. he rad there 10
certain redecming method 10 biz madness.
Should his secession eject no other object. it may
serve to remind US bow utterly Christianity
yehemently protesting to be bssed upon divine
revelation, has surrendered itself 10 human
wisdom. or to speak with accuracy, to human
foolishDess. 1t 10 startling TO reflect, that Win
traditions, teachings and myths such as no other
form of faith can boast, opulent in morality ana
philosophy so lucid that the hearts Of little children
can receive them without dscomposing the intel
lect, our Christianity has resolved itself into an
affair Of sermons, which in their turn are affairs oil
rhetoric elOcution aud euphony. 1t is useless 10
deny that we think infinitely more Of preaching
than Of calm reflection and well balanced
life. We go to church, as Mr.. Sheriff says,
:" to be tickled." Some Of US like hard
ard pitiless logic, and some Of US dulcet
sentences, fowey figures and musical Pc
RODS. A good many Of US cannot endure
preacher who is not comey to look upor, and who
has not a voice Of siren sweetness. In deciding
upon these qualifications we believe that some
women are governed by well regulated code. and
judge the preacher very much as they judge a
French bat. AS the pious crowd emerge from the
meeting house all the talk is Of the sermon and its
author. The dissatisfied pronounce it to have
been stupid, while the pleased insist that it was
delicious and edifying. Some have been bored al
most MORALLY while others have been entertained
slmost to ecstacy. The preacher is denounced as
q fool or eulogized as an angel. And all this time
there is an Eternal God above, pitifuly listening,
let us trust, to those who take His name in vain,
not merely in speech but in all their life, thought
and action.
In this country, and We believe in all Protestant
countries, preaching is regarded as the most i'm
portaDt part of religious services. 1t is noticeable
that just in proportion to its emancipation from
cumbrOus and ceremOniOus ritual, Church is prone
to fall into another extreme, and to rely for its
emotion and faith upon the pulpit. In the Catholic
Church the sermon is Of slight Importance; in the
English Church it is in higher esteem, but in the
Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and Universast
Churches it is everything. The effect of this passion
for sermons upou the minister is twOfold. He may
be sensitive. ambitious and aspiring. Ifso, he is in
great danger Of working himself into aconsumptOn,
bronchitis or liver complaint. OF course be breaks
down, and of course he goes to Europe. 1t is anig-
nOmnOus fact that the earne preaching of the Cos
pei almost always ends in dyspepsia In the second
place, ifa clergmans physical constitution be proof
against hard work, his head is very apt to be
turned by the adulation continually showered upon
him. He grows self-conceted and dogmatical he
thinks great deal more of how he shall preach
than of what he shall preach, and being the spoiled
child of little circle, his intellectual moral and
spiritual progress is too often arrested. He is
always in great danger of parting with his sincerity
and simplicity of character, and of degenerating
into mere actor.
Such being the danger of the shepherd it is evil
dent that his flock must be in perilous condition.
The pastor may decorate his crook with gay rib
boDs, may exhibit the graces of Adonis, may pipe
most mellifuously, and the sheep may gaze with
ineffable wonder upon their guide, philosopher and
friend. But these diversions may not, after all, be
very provocative of religious culture. They are
quite consistent, we think, with narrow. minded
ness, self-conceit, low pretense, and unchartable
ness We really ask pardon for interfering with a
matter which properly belongs to our friends of the
religious press, and which they understand so much
better than we do. But Mr.. Sherif's little pamph-
let was 30 suggestive, that we have been tempted
to express our opinions, crude and heterodox as
they undoubtedly are.