The New York herald., 1873-04-27
the elaborate ritual, which has nltnerto been ex.

cusively relied on by the Anglicans. .
Father Grafton electrified. confounded and aston-
ished many good people not long since oy "Ietn-
ingp the services OF the Young Mems CHRISTIAN AS
! sociation. He conducted the meeting very sue
cesslully and IL rum0r may he relied on 10 s pos
sbe that this ardent missionary VIII soon organize
regular meetings for prayer in connection with the
Advent Church. IL is only necessary to go one step
further and convert the ordinary meditatlon' ser-
! wee as now held at advent into "Gospel' preach
| ing. accompanied by congregational singing, TO in
| aupurate a wde-reaching religious influence here
! This mas ALREADY been done in London by the ad.
vaneed ed Rltualists over there and the eject on
! the people OF the British metropolis Is unpreee-
| dented. The Boston Rtualsts would then repre-
| sent three distinct phases OF Worship
First-The Alteration service including the ritual
music symbolism and other accessories the .babes
Seeond-lhe Gospel service. including evangelical
m s sn as Who the have PLAN
Thhd-The ordinary prayer meeting.
Such commnging OF forces i'm one church
would produce an activity and spirit of tolera-
tion well calculated to arouse the enthusiasm OF
dent lovers or Gospel work. The congregation
which now ssembles regularly at Advent is one Of
the most interesting features of Boston. All
gether IN the worship OF the Father of All. Can the
Puritan be drawn In and made to unbend2 ? Is he
vided he gets good strong, wholesome meat ? And
II the Puritan does 'oin in,n viii he finally capture
Advent or will Advent capture himG b.
BOSTON, April 20, 1879
"a sceptic'' Receives Light of Rather
Questionable Orthodoxy.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
In last Sundays edition noticed that "a sceptc,
called for light. He wanted to know why the con-
temporaneous writers failed to allude to the death
oil the man Christ. am glad that he made the re-
quest, and hope that the learned will come forward
and thoroughly ventiate the whole subject. Truth
is the only mmutable thing known to man, and all
religious affairs must csnform to that standard
be rejected. The TRUTH find it, is this IL know
nothing about the absolute My conscience is the
outgrowth of my education and experience-that
Is to say. had I been born and bred Hebrew
would have had Hebrew conscience, and no incli-
nation to go to the theatre on Saturday; cOnse-
quently have no channel through which to receive
communications from the Unknown. l am sure Of
this for when was a boyI experienced religion"
and when became old enough to do my own think
ing analyZed that experience and found it self.
imposed-found that had been one OF the thou
sand strings tuned and twanged by the dominic.
Measured by my standard find that something
came not from nothing. and that there is no effect
without q cause. vile habitat and improper in
struction produce immoral and wicked people;
hence devil and a hell are supernuous.
Man Is on an incline of even grade but owing to
the irregular speed with which he ascends, we can
not determine whence he came. His progress ever
has and ever shall be upward, and by and by his
intellect will be evolutionized TO such an extent
as will enable him to understand much about some
thing which he now has the brass to swear that he
fully comprehends.
Noah's ark was not as large as the steamship
Great Eastern. The latter cannot accommodate Il
pair OF each kind Of animal IN Africa; indeed, half
the number would pail her main truck under
The so-called molly conception would have been
direct violation OF the law OF nature. We are
without evidence as to the so-called resurrection.
We know that all religion Is the work or man, and
that one denomination Is just about as good US
another.
contend that the devil and damnaton-part Of
the doctrine--wi Kill Christianity, inasmuch as
threat Is a sure sign OF weakness. The Omnp0tent
that would obtain my respect must strike as with
q thunderbolt,
calmly await the summons. lie has too much self
respect TO get down into the dirt and whine and
he is altogether too honest to make believe that he
is going tG heaven on a moss-covered yarn.
NEW York, Apr, "a, 1873. EXCELSIOR.
The Redcmptorist Mission ut st. James
Church.
Since Passion Sunday mission OF the Redemp-
torist Fathers, under Father Hennng, has been
given in st. James church, James street, OF which
Rev. Felix Farrely Is pastor. 1t has been one OF
the most notable Catholic missions Of the past
Winter. It's Grst part was devoted to the women,
and Of these no less than six thousand approached
Holy Communion. The mems mission, which be-
gan in Holy Week and still continues, brought
crowds to all the sermons, at each OF which there
could not have been less than three thousand
present. Though it Is COMMONLY supposed that
women care more for religion than men, 1t is to be
remarked that at this mission the mems conf
munIons were 900 against 5000 OF the women.
This Is, unquestionably, a high testimony to the
virtue OF the Catholic people of the Fourth ward
and to their devotion to the Church. It may pe
mentioned dp,opos OF this mission that the coilec
ton in st. James for the orphans on Easter sun
day amounted to 81, 300. This parish does not owe
a dollar on It's ecclesiastical property. 1t spent
over 100000 In building and fitting up schools,
1900 children in its free school In its industrial
school 1t educates clothes and feeds a large
Der OF destitute children. The chief sodaities OF
the Catholic Church have branches in the cOngre-
CATION OF st. james. There are 500 young girls in
St Ceceia's Sodality who go monthly to commu-
MON. Among the Children of Mary there are 800
young ladies rom sixteen years upwards. There
also are the Alta Sacred Heart ana Rosary socc-
There is also the Young Mems Sodality of the I'm
macuate Conception, numbering $50, ana the st.
Vincent de Paul's and two temperance societies.
There are in the Sunday schools no less than 200
Catholic pupils.
EngIish-spcaking Teachers in Jewish
synagogucs.
To THE EDITOR or THE HERALD:-
notice in your religious intelligence, in late
Sundays HERALD, that you alluded to the scarcity
ol Engshspeaking preachers in the Jewish syna-
goges. was surprised at the statement; and the
paragraph called to my mind the name of a gen.
tlenan whom / have never had the pleasure OF
meeting or becoming acquainted with, but whose
writings have read with deep interest. | refer to
Dr. II. Baar, who is now think, professor in one
OF the educational institutions OF New Orleans
He was educated at Gottng and Bonn, and later
in lie, in England. He was fourteen years q
and came to the United States. lie has written
for the Je,osh MESSENGER and other papers, and his
on the ''ocHool auu
copied into twenty-tnree papers. lie is q
man OF line mind, superior education and sound
Judgment; and am sure ranks below none of the
foreign scholars who have come to this country.
/ am not co-religionist with DR.. Baar, and
know but little of the needs of Jewish pupts; but
do believe that there are already I'm this country
eminent Jewish preachers who are as eloquent in
the English as in the Hebrew language.
WASHINGTON, d. G., April 1s, 1873. II.
Purgatory-A World or Spirits.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
Emmanuel Swedenborg, in hts description OF what
he saw and heard in the spiritual world while he
was permitted by the Lord to have open vision