The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-02-19

or the city yesterday. The Rev. Il. D.
Northrop began the first Of q series of SER
mons, In his Presbyterian church, on sThe
Vices OF New York, among which he selected,
as the first and leading vice, amusements.
He admitted that the human heart was made
for happiness, and 1t ID no sin to be happy.
nor IL it sinful to seek after amusements
There are three kinds of amusements-the
absolutely pernicious, the harmless and
such as may have something said for
and against them. The latter are by far
the most dangerous to the young, because
they have o certain moral halo around
them. "You might as WE'LL" said Mr..
Northrop, ''banish sunlight as to Danish all
harmless pleasure; but to be mere pleasure
seeker is about the poorest life that any man
can lead" The theatres, as conducted, he con-
sidered as stepping stones to perdition; but
they might be $50 constructed az to damage
no one any more than 1t would to listen to .
dialogue recited by Sunday school children"
1t will be long time, doubtless, before we
shall see such theatre In New York. Special
and general providences were the. theme of Mr..
Frothingham's discourse, and, after various
illustrations to show that Providence manifests
itself only through human agencies, he con-
cluded that Providence is in the working
man, in the laboratory, in the machine shop.
supplying all our comforts and forming now
ones" But as these improvements cannot be
carried on without wealth, wealth is, there
fore, the lever of Providence.
Fixed principles of belief are what mankind
is grooming and seeking after, and they arc
what Mr.. Hepworth talked about last night.
Snatches of his own experience appear ever
and anon in his discourse. We can starve the
soul to death as well as the body, and until
the mind and spirit are supplied with proper
aliment they are filed with unrest. Atheists
and infdels are spiritual dyspeptics Mega
tions in faith are to the soul what improper
and indigestible food is to the physical sys-
tenn. Such we presume Mr.. Hepworth found
his Unitarian negations to be, else he would
not have left that fold. And now with his
fixed principles of faith we hope he may
become strong and robust and valiant as
captain of the Lords hosts. The sympathy
of Jesus with suffering was the topic Of dis
course in Grace church. 1t was fitting sub
ject for this solemn Lenten season, In which
the Christian Church commentaries the suf-
ferings of its Founder and Redeemer. This
season suggested to DR.. McGlynn, Of st.
Stephens church, also the necessity of urg-
ing the duty of penance upon his people-nOt,
indeed, as that word is too frequently under
stood, to consist Of mere formal acts of devo-
ton, but in reconciliation to God, tho giving
up of the vain things of the world and re-
framing from indulgence in worldly pleasures,
and the performance Of deeds of charity and
love, and ga simple abiding faith in
Gods great justice and mercy" which shall
bring our will into complete harmony with the
Divine will and make the possession Of eternal
joy to be ours. Surely this is something
worth seeking and praying and living for.
The mystery of the Eucharist and the SYM
patty of the Blessed Saviour were themes
suggested to Archbishop McCloskeys mind BY
the ''forty hours devotion, in the Cathedral.
Christ was represented as inviting all to come
unto Him and He would give them rest
''priest and people, young and old. great and
little, without distinction of rank or sex or
nation or tongue" Yes, this is the kind Of
universal invitation which Jesus extends to
the fallen race, and those who are wise unto
salvation accept it and accept it now.
Something like a religious Sensation" was
created in the Dominican church, in Lexing-
ton avenue, by the discourse, or lecture, Of
Father ''Tom Burke" as the good priest is
Familiarity called. He gave brief but COM
prehensive sketch of the founder of his Order,
St. Dominic, and then talked about heaven
and hell, contrasting the bliss Of the saved
with the woe of the lost, and bringing the
pictures so wildly before his congregation
that a general weeping all over the house was
the result.
The Rev. Robert Collyer, of Chicago,
preached in the Church of the Messiah yester-
day. on the ''litte flock" Of Unitarians with
whom persecution and social disability re-
main. although in modified form, in these
later days." He praised the denomina-
ton for the work which it had done and is
still doing. ''It was the pioneer to the other
sects, and the orthodox are under great obli-
cations to its men of thought" It was the
only home of comfort and sustenance to
those who were longing for spiritual
freedom from the bonds of orthodoxy. Mr..
Collyer was expected and invited to preach q
doctrinal sermon, but he excused himself by
saving tina. all his doctrinal manuscripts had
been burned and he had had no time to write
other sermons on such topics. Foreign mis-
sions received honorable notice from Rev.
Andrew Longacre, who urged the subject
upon his hearers upon the ground Of COM
mon brotherhood-we are all our brothers'
keepers and should seek the elevation and
1,,,-u.-s..I;or of fbo nathan for In THAR