The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-28
LYRIC HALL

Rooted and Grounded In Lovc-Diners
ence Between the Radical and the
Sectarian-Sermon by the Rev. o. b.
rockingham.
April's closing Sabbath and the warmth OF It's
brilliant sunshine, Though rather rudey tempered
by the still lingering blasts Of early Spring, found
the usual large and fashionable congregation in
attendance at the services yesterday morning in
Lyric Hail. The Rev. o. B. rockingham, the
popular pastor, occupied the pulpit, and as is more
often the case than otherwise, took no text from
the Bible as the basis OF his discourse, but an
nounced as his subject, "Rooted and Grounded in
root. Even the air plants, that seem to live on
light and atmosphere, still draw their sustenance
from some tangible thing. The
ROSE OF JERICHO
that 1ourishes in Egypt and in the Barbary States
pulls its root out Of the ground winds 1t around its
body and rolls away to better soil so as to get
succor. The higher the plant the deeper the root.
Plants that live near the ground need but shallow
sustenance. The oak tree that lasts thousands Of
years reaches down furongs stretches out its
roots on every side and draws its sustenance from
a continent 1t coils about huge rocks, and goes
burrowing down into the centre, where things that
died centuries before are going to mould. All the
force OF man cannot start it, and the tempest only
strips of its leaves. 1t lives in two worlds-the
upper world Of light and glory, the under world Of
has root, and the grander the man or woman the
deeper the root. The man whose shadow falls
across centuries draws his sustenance from the
centuries that have gone before him. According
to the height OF character is the depth of the root
Is a man rich he blossoms and bears fruit is he
poor, he shrnks away, dries up and perishes.
Here Is man who, in his season of popularity,
seems noble. The very breath on which he lives is
taken away when the
SUNLIGHT OF COMMON FAME
is removed. In England man believes in mon
archy, in France he praises the Empire, and in
Mecca he takes OF his shoes and kisses the black
he treads. He Is q rose OF Jericho. II
he has roots nobody, knows where they are.
He believes In his precursors. The red blood and
the blue blood Of his ancestors supply TO him the
life on which he lives: He carries himself with
he sprung. Suppose man strikes deeper than
this. lie does not care whether man is OF the
East or the West; II he belongs to the country
lie is a brother. He believes in
AMERICAN IDEAS
Does he equally respect other nations' His root
may be noble and true, but 1t can be shaken by
prejudice, passion or impulse. He is a patriot,
but nothing else. Suppose man strikes down
his roots lower than this-.ar down, below caste,
ancestry and country. into human nature, not
asking the nationality, but the humanity--a man
who asks only II another has Divine faculties In his
breast. He strikes his root into a principle
and touches men at the point where
they all touch each other. This is
the noblest, deepest root OF all. When a man
strikes down into the core OF things You see one
who is proof against trials and temptations. The
definition OF q radical Is man who pulls up every
thing from the root The radical says, 81 come
not 10 destroy, but to fulfill He would pull up
the weeds In his own garden, but nsthing else.
Another definition Is man who can never rest till
lie gets at the root OF everything, forever pulling
up his corn
TO SEE HOW 1T GROWS.
This is the definition Of the scofer. The radical
is a man who believes in root, and wants to know
in what soil he is planted. All he desires Is TO
know that his root goes down FAR enough to keep
him. sect Is part OF whole, and a
sectarian Is a clipped man, plant put into
box instead OF a field. Every human being
has strength OF some sort, but this sectarian
an apple tree planted in the cleft of rock. All
IL brings forth Is one apple and that one sour. The
less there is in ongnecked bottle the more noise
IL viii make In coming out lie holds TO little
shred doctrine, and believes that no one else has
any truth at all. The radical cannot be sectarian.
what Is q church but
BUNDLE OF sRcTsP
There Is something grand IN the idea OF a church,
an organization that lives through ages. The
churchman carries about him an air OF dignity and
repose that seems to be part OF the organization
TO which he belongs. Yet what respect mas he for
other churches His mind Is slow and Opaque.
lie prays as the Church prays out OF book. The
Church takes care Of him aud forglves him. When