The New York herald., 1870-05-01
the Churches To-Day-Excluslvcnoss
Them.

Them.
To-day our readers will rest from their la
bors, for this is the Sabbath OF the Lord. In
obedience to the divine injunction prayers glo-
rifying the greatness and goodness of God will
be offered up, hymns Of praise will DO sung.
and from the pulpits will be heard numerous
sermons on such topics as the several preach
| ers may look upon as requiring calculation or
explanation. In the aristocratic temples the
money changers, their wives and their daugh-
ters will meet to worship; in the less preten-
tious churches the working people and their
families will meet to pray. Society in religion
is almost as arbitrary as in secular affaips
Occasionally some of the plebeians obtrude on
the patricians; but that does not occur often.
AS general rule each knows its own place,
| and keeps it. We may all go to heaven by the
same road after we are dead, but there is no
obligation upon us to make preparations for
the eternal home in the same church. gen
tleman's cook certainly has u soul to be saved,
and as she can pray for it elsewhere than
kneeling by his wife, why the domestic does
not attend Grace church or Brother Beechers
tabernacle.
1t is undoubtedly sublime spectacle to wit
ness congregation of persons comprising all
classes of society kneens together in a
church, their voices blending in suppllcalion
to the Most High. Unfortnnately, like msot
other sublime things, the spectacle is rarely
witnessed. Theoretically every church in the
city is open to any person who enters
practically many of them are open only to
those who own pews or are fashi0naby
| dressed. Let a rough looking and not oyercl an
mortal enter one of the churches patronized
by the beau monde, and the chances are that
specialized deacon in immaculate broadcloth
will approach him, wearing severely pious
countena1ce, tap tae intruding fellow on the
shoulder with gloved finger and point to tho
door. This has been done before and will
doubtless be done again. Now bodily ceanli-
| ness may be next to godliness, bat it is not
| essential to salvation. A persons soul may be
as clean as polished silver and his face be par
! ticularly dirty. We hold, therefore, that the
exclusion from some of our churches OF those
whose hair is unkempt or whose clothes are
soied is wrong, and we shall be pleased to know
| that the preachers agree with us. The true
| Christian knows no class no station ia life and
| no prejudices of society when at prayer.
] Doubtless the most aristocratlc of worshippers
| at Grace church to-day will agree with us, and
yet what fashionable lady Of them will consent
| to walk down the isle to her pew followed by
her cook, chambermaid, butler and coachman
| Not that we mean to suggest the proprie oil
doing any such thing, for i. is wholly unneces-
sary. But we have made this subject of
exclusiveness in the churches the text of this
| article because thera is hardly Sunday that it
is not manifested in a most uDchrstan-like
manner. The effect OF the best sermon is
spoiled by The knowledge that some poor sinner
was not allowed to hear it, or that he was put
behind pillar at the end of the church where
he could hear broken sentences only, and
| merely because he could not afford to buy a
new suit Of clothes or to pay the barber's fee.
| We repeat that this discrimination is wrong.
Its effect upon religion is baleful, and we look to
the clergymen to join us in the work of making
the churches free to all who choose to enter
in fact as well as in theory, 80 that cause
for reproach may be removed and the Chris
| tian faith served.