The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-01-06

Orange, near Hicks street, IN Brooklyn, presented
quite lively appearance yesterday evening. Not
only the representatives OF Brooklyn society may,
society ITSELF there IN corpora In fact every
body that is anybody was there. Le hdut monde,
la hatae finance. te ham commerce., Ia hdute gufn-
Qaalere-all these different strata Of modern society
were present In full force. To do whatq To battle
for virtues triumph To wressle in honorable CON-
bat as the heroic youth did Of old at the Olmypan
games' To compete for the general applause OF
the public voice with works Of their genius or In
dustryf No; what they did was merely to attend
auction and outbid each other, II possible, for
a-seat. At the operaf or circusf or for another
series Of Jenny Lind concerts, under the manage
ment OF a Barnum' No; the auction was for seats
In a church. and the church where il was held was
Plymouth church. Henry Ward Beechers temple Of
worship on Orange street near Hicks, in the 'City
edi1ce, consecrated to the service OF Cod and not
OF marnmon lighted up brilliantly, like the entrance
to any show house the voice Of the busy auctoneer
"Five, ave, nve--eghty, do ! hear, eighty-1ve,
ninety going at two hundred ninety, going, 60
ing-nincty-dye do hcar-gone ~
There was Plymouth church. The old white
familiar walls, which had often echoed the elo-
quent appeals q Father Beechern shoue as bright
a. ever under the glaring light Of hundreds OF gas
jets there was the organ, grand and majestic In Its
appearance, but silent, as II hushing It's tones In
anger a. the gatherings beneath Il; there was the
chancel, but within only busy scribes TO note
down the names OF successful bidders and the dol
lars and cenu OF the largest bids; there was the
reading desk, plainly carved OF wood brought all the
way from the sacred Mount Of Olives, where thirty
pieces OF silver purchased the treason OF Ju-
das-but 1t was "hanmered,u not by the en-
thusastic expoundcr OF the holy word, but by
the crafty auctoneer, who called for more and
still more pieces, not OF silver but Of greenbacks
And there was the congregation, nlling every pew
on the main floor OF the church and IN the galleries,
chatterlng and laughing and mcrrymsking among
Themselves, some OF the male gender even with
their hats on others noting on the diagram Of the
church the names OF the bidders ami the seats they
had secured; and the female portion, those dear
creaturesn who never be without their ctitchat
crtcisng and scrutinixing each other and call crea-
tom into the bargain. And among ell and from
pew to pew and from aisle 70 aisle passed
the pastor OF the church, Father Beecher
patting this ono and that on the shoulder.
chatting with the ladies' smiling benignantiy
on ell, and encouraging his mock BY word, coun-
tenance and gesture not 70 lag In their bids but Ego
u with Al ther inlgnt' such was the scene enacted
LAT evening at thar temple OF God par elceusnce,
Plymouth church. And the remarks which passed
occasionally between auctioneer and bidders werc
OF kind 70 suit the "solemnlty'' OF the occasion.
Put your hands In your pockets, gentlemen, and
let's have ~ exclaimed no at the desk. what
~ that ron have got 10 drink mp there ~ asked
aloud some one In the body Of the church. "Only
HidEeWO0d. We are temperance tonight replied
one OF the scribcs, and this sally brought down the
house. Thus II went on I'll all the seats were dis.
posed OF, MFR. Henry 9. Bowea paying the highest
premium, sac. tIoing going gonen