The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-01

HilI's concert saloon and Offering him 500 night
for the OF mis- hall for prayer meetings, thereby
people TO go there out OF curiosity who would
never think Of doing so without this populariz-
guided direction let them place their hundreds OF
dollars in q common fund aud their personal ser.
dealers under the Civil Damage act. now In ex-
istence IN the State. bat at presen. a
aeaa e.,er Ia TINS CITY Let the note the
numerous cases OF violence, injury ana muruoa
produced BY excessive indulgence IN quor
out the sufferers by each Of these arrays, secure
their consent and Institute suits in the nane y,
these respective parties for the damages aone
prosecute them to successful Issue IN the courts
byways and search out the thousands OF cases OF
destituton caused by husbands and atners squa an
dering at gin mills money which should go 10 the
butchers and bakers; let these cases DC ptv USE
cuted in like manner, and turn the money thus
obtained over to the families VINO are suffering IN
secret that the rumseller may nonrlsa anu naqns
the directors OF this new move remember that this
is not case Of suing nds, 9teSgsar, res ent
law. II il cannot be collected nom the liquor
dealer is lien upon the the properly wherein IN ana
the a%a It's u S To the
s be
eSefs man faaas Who needs ais ssrniSss 1ss
meess upon the Street and. Of his own famiIy az
Let the ladies adopt this course ana the indis-
criminate sale OF liquor Will cease; only such as
can o.nx WIN comPsratve safety 70 snemse1s ives
few weeks the temperance cause viii take an ad.
vanced position which centuries OF spasmodc
Water street psalm singing can never secure. 1t
may be true that this plan would AFFORD a limited
lasting reformation OF more drunkards and relieve
more cases OF suffering than can be enected by the
ers and speech makers al Of the Universe. ~
NEW YORK. Feb. %, 1874 PkACTICAL"
Public Speakers ON tho Present Age.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
have listened to q great many public speakers
OF late and have been struck with the way In
which they criticise the present age. It seems to
satisfy era oing and very morbid appetite Of the
audience TO hear the days in which we live calum-
mated. II q speaker finds 1t difncult to make hit
IN any other direction he Is sure to find hearty
response when he brings his rhetorical firearms to
bear ON the iuidelity Of the times He wakes wroth
as he denounces the community among which
he lives, and his eloquence knows no bounds as
with his trembling finger he points to the distant
past and eulOgizes It as the Golden Age.
For myself, have little sympathy with this sort
OF thing 1 am glad that live now, and would
rather be alive to-day than to have lived at any
time in the past. To be sure there is great deal
OF crime Of corruption and OF religious tnfdelity;
but what age has been clear Of these evis'
II we deny 1t is at least thoughtful
denial. and one that is IN search OF the
truth, and not the cold, heartless and scornful
denial Of the French encyclopedias Other ages
have been corrupt, but somehow history carries
pen in one hand and piece OF India rubber in the
other she tenderly records all our salient virtues,
and pitylngly grasses the record OF the baser ele-
ments. When she does the same for US we shall
stand as the peer, at least Of the times which
rouse our elOquence and our envy. l have little
patience with the men who walk backwards,
facing the past all the time. They seem to like
whatever is widowed cobwebbed with age,
whle they insist that everything newly made must
necessarily be imperfect, ii not worthless have
known such to stand before some old and dingy
picture in the Louvre, whose Outlinings were
blurred and whose coloring was defaced, with
kind OF sanctmonious awe, and pass by with
severe indifference better picture, whose
only fault was that 1t was not old. There
are quantities OF men in the nineteenth cen.
tury who do not belong here. They are
fossils unconscious Of their fOssiferous condition.
1t would be well II we had historical underground
railroad and could transport them to the tOmbs Of
the Middle Ages, for they will never sleep sweetly
amid the fresh towers, or under the waving grass
OF Greenwood.
To my mind this Is, in very marked degree an
ana calm confidence in the ways of Providence
than the world has ever seen. This faith is less
excltabie and partakes less Of the emotional ele-
ment, perhaps than that OF former times: but it
is at once steadier ana more sturdy. There is
among the people a stronger CO nhdence in that
element Of historic progress known as the work
ing OF the Holy Spirit among men than can be
found in the record OF any previous century. The
REVEALS in our churches are less noisy but they
are none the less efficient for that reason. 1t is
harder 10 rouse CONGREGATION to religious ecs-
tasy and to throw 1t on Its balance, but easier to
/ preach the living Word to the multitude than ever
before, People are more thoughtful, more calm
and more determined, while they none the less
receptive, than they were in the days OF yore.
1 am awakened TO q new appreciation OF these
statements by certain facts patent to US all. The
philosophy or science of prayer is question to
which our generation has devoted itself very assd-
! uousiy. 1t is the one all important consideration
OF the hour. The matter is discussed by the yceum
well by the pulpit; by scientists as well by
students Of theology. There is not home in the
! land that has not canvassed the subject. II some
have laughed at il as an unscientnc outpouring OF
words that go nowhere, because there Is not suffi-
Gent propelng power to drive them, the great
majority have come to Inherent conclusion.
When one man makes prayer gauge TO discover
| the exact amount OF spiritual steam generated on
the Bonded knee, another points to a respectable
citizen made out oi a sot as triumphant proof OF
the dynamic force OF a petltion to the dear Lord.
All tins deliberaton on the subject has produced
great work II carried on without prayer can never
be a perfect success and we have also learned that
prayer and laZlness come TO nothing. prayer and
| labor must be happily united before heroic deeds
| can be DONE They have the same relation TO
each other that the component parts Of Madeira
/ wine DO Nnety-nine parts are water, and the
One-nundredth part has never been successfully
Analysed. No one knows what 1t Is, but every one
knows that 1t Is what makes the water into wine
Now, IN every great phllanthropic success see
that immense pains are taken, shrewd business
! management is exhibited, and no opportunity lost
TO interest the community in its behalf The found
er says IL is all the WORK OF prayer, while the
locker on says. NO IL Is the result OF right hard
! |
| work expended is apparently cause SUFFICIENT to
account for the movement, but, after still further
! investigation, discover that the cause OF that
very WORK, work, work all the time was prayer.
Prayer is the unknown quantity in every spiritual
problem. You can't get on without II, and yet you
! are baffled in every attempt TO find out exactly
| what 1t Is. IL IS miraculous element, no doubt,
and certainly does achieve wonders III most uneX-
| pected ways.
! George Muller began his mission In Bristol in
1894 His heart was stirred by the prevalent gnor-
! ance OF the people, He prayed constantly, and
] was confirmed In his determination to spread the