The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-15

DO says humanity ana 80 says CnrlStantty.
But how lightly Christian ministers can tread
over the grave Of the unfortunate Fisk may be
inferred from batch of sermons preached
about him yesterday in different churches
Under various pretexts his name and his char
acter were held up to the scorn and reproba-
ton of the listening congregations,
while all that was specifically vicious
in the dead was detailed; but the
virtue and the goodness which lay deep down
in his nature and was not paraded before the
world in the public prints were left unspoken
and unsung. And yet multitudes of incidents
have been published during the past week
showing the innate goodness and kindness of
heart of Mr.. Fisk while he lived, and those
ministers who felt specially inspired to talk
about him yesterday might, had they read
these things, have known that he was not the
hideous monster they painted him. Mr.. Willis,
of the Hedding Methodist Episcopal church, in
Seventeenth street, deemed it important in
warning young men to avoid the way that Mr..
Fisk travelled, to abuse the name and memory
of the dead in such manner as we are sure he
ject better, or were that subject able to call
him to account for his unchristian uttersnces.
ellis life was vanity fair; his character and
unhealthy plethora dropsical ambition, a
fungus and STENCIL, cried this teacher of a
Gospel supposed to breathe only charity and
had talked as eloquently to Mr.. Fisk as he
did of him be might have converted him from
the error of his ways and saved his soul from
death as well as hid his multitude of sins.
But how much easier it is to preach about
dead man than it is to preach to living man
How delighted and instructed this Methodist
audience must have been to hear Fisk COM
pared to ga mere pantomimic Snowman, who,
with the meodramatic buffoonery of Falstaff,
combined the sinister intrigues of Dunstan,
yet without the redeeming virtues or genius of
either. A bully without prowess, champion
without belt and without battle" There
is very much more of this sort of sensation
alism in Mr.. Willis discourse, and for loose,
dsreputable and unchristian clerical bitterness
and animosity we can commend il. But for
anything of the spirit of Him who ate and
drank with publicans and sinners, and
vino had only words of sympathy and
tender reproof and warning for the erring,
but many rebukes for self-righteous Pharisees
the reader will probably look in vain. Yet we
have no doubt the sermon, because Of its sub
ject, will BE- read through and through, and
will probably be remembered longer than
many of the grander aud sweeter utterances
of the Saviour, who spake as never man
spake. But If Fisk's brilliant life and sudden
death can teach young and ambitious men to
be ready for death at any time this remark
able sermon of Mr.. Willis should as strongly
teach the beautiful lesson of charity for the
dead and solicitude for the living, which it
lacks in spirit If not in word.
Very differently did the Rev. Mr.. Partridge,
of Brooklyn, allude to the death of James
Fisk, while he too sought to impress his
hearers with the Importance of attending to
the business of the soul first. After the bloody
deed was done what time had Fisk for repent
ance and tears? the preacher asked. And
when his temporal affairs were settled where
pertinently ask, Where were they before the
fatal bullet was fired? How many Christian
ministers in New York to-day who inwardly
rejoice at the assassination of James Fisk
have ever spoken or written to him upon the
subject of religion? We may be morally GER
tain that there are few if any who thought as
much about the living as they do of the
dead. And we dare say that many of
them have applied to him personally
and by letter for railroad passes from one
point to another. Aud, doubtless, to some of
them God is saying at this hour, ''his blood
will 1 require at thy hand" The death hour
is hardly the best for Christian ministers to
do what they might have done during any one
Of many years before. 1t may have been,
however, that some one or more of those
servants Of Christ have tried to admonish and
warn Mr.. Fisk, and in the effort have, perhaps,
done more harm than good. To such we
commend the suggestions of Rev. Mr..
Bracket, of the First Baptist Church, Brook
Ign, E. D., on this point, though in his
portrayal of Mr.. Fisk, and the reference
to the latter's generosity, he has
hardly done justice to himself or to
the dead. Without mentioning names DR..
Richardson made the assassination of Mr..
Fisk the basis for an eloquent discourse on the
power of public sentiment to restrain crime,
in which he uttered many salutary truths
which society would do well to remember
The punishment of the assassin was very
lightly touched upon by any of the preachers
yesterday, who seemed to be more intent on
preaching Fisk than Jesus Christ. But sensa-
tionalism in the life of good many pulpits
in New York, and the life and death Of James