The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-11-20


| The Pish Of the PuIpits.
In our capaoiitt;; as caterers to an intelligent
and almost universal constituency, while We
seek to vary our collections Of religious news
from week to week, we do not, however, gather
1t in at random. Out Of . largo mass of
sermons which our reporters provide for US
every Sabbath we pick and Gull the best, be-
cause we cannot possibly use all. Our
readers may, therefore, judge OF the unseen by
the visible. The variety Of SUBJECTS treated
of 10 the pulpits of this city and vicinity yes
terday will be found to be equal to any
that has preceded. While Mr.. Beecher
was tracing the different steps Of creation,
and trying to reconcile science and religion
for bis Plymouth congregation, the venerable
Archbishop McCloskey was tracing the
history Of the Christian Church through its
various stages and aspects, from the time that
1t left that little upper room in Jerusalem,
nearly nineteen hundred years ago, until It
became finally and firmly established in
Rome, the then mistress of the world.
Thence onward in its conquering tour
Of Western Europe, staying only for
time In Erin's ocean-girt isle, until
1t has spread itself east and west over
all the earth. And from its splendid progress
and brilliant career he drew the sublime truth
that no power on earth or in hell can shake
it. Its foundations are sure and can never be
removed. The spirit Of license and sensation
in literature was deprecated by the Arch
bishop and the Church, and good people every
where were called upon to keep pernicious
reading out of the hands Of the young. In .
similar vein, and starting out from the
same text-the kingdom Of heaven likened
to mustard seed-Dr. Mccartney, in st.
Andrews church, and Rev. FL. Flattery, in
st. Theresas, also argued for the stability of
the Church. In st. Pauls Roman Catholic
church DR.. Hecker sounded the note of warn
ing to the Church and the State upon the fear
full increase of pauperism In our midst. The
only hope of the country he conceived to be
in the Church relieving the State from the
care of the poor. The expensive way in which
the State attends to this matter now will, if
pauperism continues to increase in the future
in the same ratio as it has in the past,
utterly bankrupt Us. The illustrations given
by DR.. Hecker were too convincing and
weighty to be wholly ignored.
Apropos Of this subject were the addresses
delivered by Drs. Hepwortb, Montgomery and
Peters, in the Church of the Messiah, in be-
half Of the New York Infant Asylum, an un-
sectarian institution. !
DR.. Merrill Richardson reviewed the nature
of temptations and their relation to the great
problem of life as illustrating how our advanc-
ing civilization brings with it the pollution Of
politics and the consequent degeneracy Of the
people and the plumber Of our Cities One Of
the most calm and thoughtful discourses yet
given on the late elections and the downfall Of
the Tammany Ring was delivered by the Rev.
Heber Newton, rector of the Anthem Memorial
church, last evening. The lessons Of the
'tgreat uprising" Of the people, as he read
them, are that, by ignoring conscience and
principle, 1t is feasible for men or for nations
to rise to eminence. But, lacking foundation,
every brick put upon their structure tends to
its final overthrow, and in one day the power
Of the organization Of iniquity known as the
s'Ring" is brought down to the ground.
There is in the result an excellent warning TO
young men to seek wealth and fame by other
and more honest means.
The Rev. Chauncey Giles sought to answer
in the Swedenborgian church the old query
put by heather ruler centuries ago-What
is truth2 And in doing this he denied the ex-
istence Of any such thing as abstract truth.
Truths are the actual processes Of growth In
nature and In man. The material universe
IL material truth in innumerable forms. Mans
body is human truth-an organized material
form. Mans spirit is spiritual truth, in an
organized spiritual form. Man is the en-
bodiment Of all the finite degrees and forms
of truth.
In the Laight Street Baptist Mission Dr..
Greeley, Of Chappaqua, told the young people
| what he knows about intemperance-not, OF
course, by personal experience, but by OBJ
servation. He was unsparing in his con-
domination Of the use of intoxicating liquors,
but, if men viii drink, he preferred that they
shall make themselves sickly drunk. He
considered himself personally good Illus
tration of how much of mental and physical
labor temperate man may perform and YET
enjoy good health.
| The Catholics of South Brooklyn laid the
corner stone of a new s'Church of the Vista
ton" yesterday, at which Ex-Governor Lowe
!, Of Maryland. Delivered ~ .oor.s. I'D,
| service in IN. =. - -,
| 'e''s' - - church of the Pilgrims ii th'
morning an interesting letter was read from
the pastor, Rev. DR.. Storrs, Jr., who is nov
travelling in Europe. 1t gives hopeful view
Of religious progress in the Old World, and /.
replete with suggestive information. It will