The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-28
Voices or the Prophets.

prophets to-day, though some of them are ex-
ceedingly meagre STILL While nfdelity is
endeavoring to persuade its votaries that Chris
tianity is cunningly devised fable and the
future Life myth, it is encouraging to some
Of us who have learned to believe the fable
and to live for the myth to know, as Mr..
Hepworth assures us, that Christianity proves
ITSELF" And he thinks it proves its faithful
ness and its intrinsic value by its age. 1t has
stood the test of eighteen hundred years, and
instead Of showing signs of decay it is grow
ing higher, deeper and broader in its power.
It proves itself also by its accordance with all
of Gods works. It is q Gulf Stream that
starts from the tropics Of Gods warm love
and flows across the ocean Of our lives,
making flowing waters where otherwise would
be snow and ice. He is ready to accept the
sceptic's objection that Christianity is not
wholly original, but thinks that very poor
excuse indeed for its rejection, as undoubtedly
it is. All great things and truths come in
pieces and particles, and the man who gathers
them up and concretes them into useful forms
or formulas we call the inventor, discoverer
or founder. The same thing is true also Of
Christianity.
Love is the basis of the Christian relig-
ion, and the man who would be "rooted
and grounded in love" must strike his
roots down into the heart of Jesus
down into the heart of the New Testament
where he will lead life as sweet and
peaceful as is ever seen in the world. So said
Mr.. rockingham, truly and well. And if he
had said nothing more we should not object.
But when he, having cut himself aloof from
every Church and creed, undertakes to charac-
terize our churches as ga bundle of sects," he
proves himself an incompetent witness. We
that man shall not be content within the limits
of Church. On the contrary, it is surer
sign of etching ears" and instability Of
Christian character. And we have never
heard of man who felt himself confined as
in straight-jacke while connected with a
ready to be tossed about with every wind Of
doctrine and cunning craftiness Of men who
seek to deceive Church organizations are as
necessary for the furtherance Of Christi king
dom as financial, commercial or manufactur-
ing associations are for the advancement Of
their purposes And the Christian man who
keeps aloof from the Church, if radical at
all, is most certainly one whose aim is to pull
down and not to build up Such q one can
never become rooted and grounded in the love
Of the Gospel.
Rev. DR.. Prentiss preached his farewell
sermon in the Church Of the Covenant yester-
day, and gave brief history of the origin and
continuance of that enterprise. He has &C.
cepted o professorship in the Theological
Seminary, and will make teaching henceforth
his life work; for he told his people yester-
day that when he left them he intended never
to return to the pulpit.
Rev. DR.. Quinn, now Vicar General
Of this (Roman Catholic) diocese, also
preached his farewell sermon in st.
Peters church yesterday. His text and
his theme related to the duties of q
Good Shepherd, and these were presented in
striking contrast to the careless character Of
the hireling. The former has been faithfully
exemplifed in the tender care of Father Quinn
over St Peters church for nearly quarter Of
o century. He passes the church over to his
successor comparatively free of debt and in
every sense prosperous, and he carries with
him to his higher position the prayers and
good wishes of those to whom he has SO long
and so faithfully ministered.
Mr. Beecher, by his own peculiar illustras
tons, sought to inspire hope in the hearts Of
those who are perpetually digging in the
graveyards of their sins, trying to find the
skeletons. He would give them such an i'm.
petus that they should leave behind their past
and go forward. 1t is the duty, he said, OF
every one to hide the sins that he has been
guilty of, and the same of the regrets over lost
opportunities. But the most startling declara-
ton that Mr.. Beecher has made for some
time was that made yesterday, that he has
seen purgatory, and therefore believes in it.
The reader of his discourse will perceive%
however, marked difference between the
purgatory of the Roman Church and that Of
the Brooklyn church.
Mr.. Tahnage had another tilt yesterday
with the public school Bible expulsionists.
He would not have that book put out of the
schools because it is the only means whereby
two-thirds of the children of this land now
or in the ages to come can obtain moral and
religious culture. He would keep it in the
schools because it interferes with no mans
right. 1t is the most unsectarian Of books,
and to expel it from our schools would be to
make war upon the consciences of men, and,
to his mind the right to take the Bible out
implied the right to take out every other book
that acknowledges God. Mr.. Talmage re-
ceived what he sought-the repeated applause
of large audience.
Dr. Storrs inculcated truthfulness. mnral