The New York herald., 1870-05-23
RUTGERS CHAPEL, FIFTH AVENUE.

The Call Of the Rev. Merrill Richardson-Elo.
qucnt Sermon ON the Immortality OF the
Soul-Thc Stock and The Whipping Post.
The Rev. Merrill Richardson, late pastor Of the
Salem street church. Worcester Mass, who has re-
ceived an urgent call from the New England Congre
gational church OF this city, his position In the
pulpit OF Rutgers chapel, Finn avenue, yesterday
morning and preached an eloquent and instructive
sermon to congregation which, besides being fash
ionable, was decidedly 'Massachuseits' in It's
caste. Rutgers chapel Is quaintlooking
and picturesque little place for public worship,
and Is fitted up with neatness and effect. The choir
attached to the church is an excellent one and sings
well In quartet ana trio. The exercises yesterday
partook Of more than the usual interest TO the
gregaion, as the fame Of its newlyCalled pastor
an orator and an elocutionist has been well esab-
ished throughout the country and consequently the
audience drawn to the chapel to hear his maiden ef
fort over q New York congregation was more numer.
Gus ana intellectual than ut all previous times.
The exercises opened by the singing OF the 75ith
hymn commencing as follows
oh, let our mnging voices rise
And Iai the ssvonrs rs death %
THE SERMON.
The Rev. Mr.. Richardson, after appropriate
prayers then proceeded 10 deliver his SERMON taking
m MS text from job as loows:-"If man die shall he
A, more interesting inquiry, said the preacher.
could not be made And job likely spoke that In
tne dawn OF history, while reasoning on that subject
posed that morning to do the same. For, though
we nad been educated In the Gospel from which
life ana morality mad sprung yet was good to take
every possible view Of such a momentous subject.
The question OF the morning was therefore, this:-
How clear IL 1t II man die that he SHAH live again
Ihe first argument from the hight OF reason aud ma
ture that he offered was tnat the thinking mind had
ever been impressed with the idea that man lived
after death. Unlike the animal, the qualification OF
mans sensual nature never satisfied him. How
that true Of
They had plans TO accomplish far higher and nobler
than the breviiy OF their lives IL was not so with
vegetables or animals man had mind that ress.
soned Tnis was true OF the mind in Its advance
ment in art, science, history and virtue. The poet,
the painter and the artist were ever trying to pro-
duce more beautiful and more perfect images. Thus
the more the mind was trained Alright the more capa-
bic Was it Of still further progression. Would wise
God create such thing as mind and tnen, lust as
II began to show Its wonderful powers annhiate itl
Would wise man dash In pieces that Complicated
matter Just as IL began to show ITS wonderful ann
Would such inau as Newton have
TO FEEL AS MERE CHILD
playing with pebblesy Was 1t wisdom OF q
mechanism like that-to crush the thoughts OF such
men In tue bud--to close forever thai door just
oopen-to XIII lnat spirit ju,t pluming its wings Tor
nlght-to place under the senseles5 sod the heart
wnich had only begun 20 beat ? Would a wise God
do thatf No; FOR removing from natures light he
said wise GOD would Cause 1t ~ live. Aud yet
when we thought OF nall OF the human race dying
nddels before they We're seven years .od, they
tnougnt that wise God never would have called
such into existence simply to send them back into
nothing. He was reasoning flom nature Let US
then assume that the COD OF Nature Is
PERFECTLY GOOD AS WELL AS WISE.
wnai aa we we sometimes ses IN this lites Guilt
and innocence cast into and starving In dungeons
placed in the stocks wrtthng In the rack--hoxged-
torinened-shut out from the genial lighl OF the
sun-month after month, year after year, sorrowing
plning, all! cted with no hope OF release, ana ii
DEATH WAS AN ETERNAL SLEEP
no hope but false hope og anything beyond the
grave. The preacher then went on In a rorcible and
eloquent manner TO depict the difference between
those referred TO above and their tormentors and
concluded by observing that God was just and would
deal with ali mankind equally