Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-02-16
Plymouth Chureh--KhO Go There.
Mr.. Beeeher and the Unitarians--
Christianity WithOut q Christ.

aNlOlty with Wllcn the GOSpel is
sought after. Let such an one betake
himselfto this wealth-bOund church
seat himself among the choristers
and watch the wOrshippers as they
come in. Bankers, brokers and mer-
chants, who for the last six days
have been cycling their neighbOrs'
business with q feeling far from that
inculcated by the teachings of the sa-
cred Book, come up the aisles, BEAM
ing, perchance, with Christian smiles,
and beautiful as to their broadelOth,
and humble as to their seats at the foot
of the altar. There are their wives
and daughters. tripping lightly be-
side them, nOdding to a friend here
and admiring a duck of bonnet
there, looking eagerly around for some
decorated pew to hold the Prince, but
meeting with disappointment, and
/ finally seating themselves, thinking,
doubtless, how nice it is to be a mem
ber of Beeeher's church. And in they
! come, filling every seat, every chair,
every step, out to the door, up on the
gallery, back to the verY ceiling
| Over this vast assemblage his eyes
wandered until some familiar face
greets them. Yes, there is Paymaster
| Eldridge, u. S. N, one of the faithful
[ of Beecher's flock. Then there is H.
| B. Clafiih, looking as modest and un-
assuming as the humblest clerk in his
establishment; and II. G. Bowen, hav-
/ ing careful ear to Beeeher's flowing
/ words; and RookwoOd, the artist,
/ singing his prayers from the choir
! Now, he sees Moses S. Beach, and in
close proximity Joseph Howard, one
of the veritable pillars of the church.
More there are in the circles fart and
| politics and letters and commerce, as
| the eye wanders from row to row; and
as it reaches the EXTREMIST part of the
| church, far removed from the pulpit,
it encounters solitary black man,
| alone of his race in all that vast as
semblage, and accorded. the privilege
/ of black seat. How he reYels in
Beeeher's elOquenee may be judged
| from the smiles which play over his
| features as the spirit of Christ, led out
| by an able hand, enters his very soul
But the eye becomes wearied of his
vari-colOred spectacle and settles now
upon the form of the much abused
and much beloved man, Beecher, the
cause of this great gathering. Soon
the fiuttering of silks and the mutter-
ing of empty gossips cease, the old
men adjust their glasses, the young
their delicate eyebrows on their up
per lips" and Miss Thursby opens the
ceremonies by ysinging from the "Mes-
siah, ~ "How beautiful are the feet of
those who preach the Lord" Then
Mr.. Beecher uttered a prayer, calling
on the sinner to seek the dwelling of
hrf5 nf ha \
ing it at a distance; He would not dis
pise them, but would soften their
hearts and draw them towards Him
self; he prayed that they might learn
to keep their hands from their BROTH |
ers' throat, and that holiness might |
prevail through all the world.
Following the singing of the 216th |
hymn the preacher announced the an |
nual contribution for the City Mission;
he was not satisfied with the offering |
made last year by his church; where /
it stood three on thelist it should have /
been first, for the wealth and the
numbers and the intelligence of the /
congregation should have warranted \
this. The church that stood first was
called aristOcratic, having q eonserva-
tive congregation, but a kind of con-
gregatiOn which he liked; a eOnserva-
tism which allowed the members of
the church to think of the poor and
Outeast. His church was called demo-
cratic; he loved democracy, the true
principles of democracy but there
was good deal of democracy he did
not believe in; he liked the self deny
ing, laborious democracy.
Then the whole congregation burst
forth in another anthem, and Mr..
Beeeher read from Paul's EpistIe to
the Ephesians, iii, 17--19:-''That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that We, being rooted and
grounded in love, may be able to COM
prehend with all saints what is the
breadth and length, and depth and
height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that We
might be filled with all the fulness of 4
God" This epistle contained the d,
very supreme of philosophy; these
words touched on the very laws of {
Christianity, which differed from all |
religions by demanding a giving up
of the heart to Christ. The Christian Z,
religion was not a system of laws, not {
q philosophy of truth, but a state of (
facts in mans own consciousness -
The personal relationship of the {
heart to Christ, which is the seminal [
form in Christianity, made a man not =
only Christian, but brought him to j
the central point of Christianity. The 6
heart allegiance is all the Christianity
Dne can have, as outside of experience 8
It is nothing but pale reflex, like to c
I lunar rainbow. The New Testa- {
nent recognizes Christ in three ways t
by the senses, the intellect and the 7
heart. The recognition of Christ by 5
he sense is not pre-eminent, and at '
he present is hopeless; the intellect t
may furnish an important guide to
His knowledge, yet the love of Christ
S generated by the heart. But there
we're those Christians who did not be-
ieve in Christ. They could be Iiken- II
ID to man having his brains and Z
nervous powers taken out and vet con- u
inue to eat and drink and live; this Y
had no Christ, and it X
vas cOwardly for these people TO call u
themselves Christians. They had
,bliterated its very genius taken out q
he very essence, yet they would not .
i've up the name. n
The speaker then gavea more elabo- Z
ate detail of the three methods of e
Christ, and at times was o
cry eloquent, tears arising to his ewes 6
nd his congregation fairly lifted up Z u
y the heart spoken words Of the ?
reacher. In the course of his discus p
ion on creeds-for every man or every >.
arty had creed or platform-he al ;. ;.
Ided to the fact that the want of a 81
ertain creed, some years ago, in Ok q: a.
nd or Cambridge was fatal, as it was ~
crime. Murder in New York, he "
aid, was not so fatal in fact, mur- 81
er in that city is not fatal. And a ~
ensation which found ventina smile, 81 81
an through the audience at the re- =
lark. ID
\ prisoner brought up before a pO- u
ce magistrate on Christmas morning, te
said: ''The city is bad th
lace; the whisky is stronger than 10