The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-09-19
An Open Lsttsr to the 1ev. Dr. yoha HAN.

aole freeOyterlan church In New 1ork, aP-
peared in the Sam of the 10Th ult
"No minister of the Presbyterian Church
occupies a higher position tnao yoa, DR..
John Hail. No minister IN New York
breaches to a larger assem- mblage. With
church costing round mltoD, and situa-
ted on our most sp'eUoid avenue, you have
about you perhaps the richest cougrega
tion ia the who,e country. The chief pews
in your new house Of worship cost as much
as comfortable house, and their yearly
assessment amounts q each case to large
er sum than nine men out of ten in this
great city can afford to pay for house rent.
These facts We do not cite to criticise them,
though We do not altogether like these
great proprietary churches wherein the
rich man finds an elegant sitting while the
poor man must not only contrast his mean
er attire, but also his poorer accommodation
in the House of God, with his more fortu
nate fellow sinner. However, the churches
must live, and if they are vast in size and
expensive in equipment, if the pastor is
highly paid, aud has a fine parsonage, it
takes a great sum of money to keep them
RAINING. Moreover, the rich have full
power to make their houses of worship as
grand a. they please. Their lofty spires
and fretted arches dignity and grace the
town.
"But it is to the poor that the word of
comfort needs most to be preached. They
bTS uOW, nave always O6euS always Will
in the vast majority among men. To day
they are in worse straits than usual. The
stagnation in business of the last two years
has bitterly used the poor. They look
for ward to a winter of even severe hard
ship, and we tremble as we contem plate
the sorrows which await them as the direct
consequence of the demoraliz alton of cap
ltaiists, the mis- management of our fnau-
ces, the corruption of public affairs and
admin istra alton, and the low tone of basi-
ness morality generally striking a sinking
blow at our commercial reputation through
out the world.
cit is to capitalists that you preach, DIR.
Hall. They listen with atteDtloa to your
words, and justly pride themselves on you
character aud your eloquence You ale
no fancy preacher, DR.. Hall, catching the
public ear with jest and tammery OF words.
You preach with directness and force the
severe old doctrines of Jonathan Edwards,
and do not try to delude men into trust in
gnsh and fervors of religious delusions.
This We like. Not because it is Calvinism
but because it is logical preaching founded
in conviction, and making, if not always
enlightenment, at least serious and thought
ful character. 1t is not syllabub, but
strong meat; and the experience of history
shows that men develop strength of charac
ter and integrity of lives under such doc
trines, if they make them q rule of life and
not play thing of the intellect.
"HoIding position like yours, you have
extraordinary opportunities to serve your
fellow men, not SO great in their improve
ment, perhaps, as those of Father McG'yuu,
for instance, who has parish OF poor peo
PIE equa( in numbers to a chartered city.
Day and night he and his priests are climb
ing tenement house stairs, To shrive the
d ing, baptiz the new-SIrn, and admiuis
ter the consultations Of religion to the sick
and distressed. Hard worked, little pal &,
4 Ok~.l plr-t b..-
body of men deserving of honor al d fruitful
of good. Professionalism must silence its
assaults on Romanism until it also opens
wide it's doors on Sunday and week day to
the lowly ones of the world. To them,
with sorrowful experience of life, their
bodies bent with labor and their eyes
weary with toll, the church is haven of
| rest, a sunburst of hope; and these poorest
Catholics entering the grandest of their
cathedrals feel that it is their rightful home,
and even though their garments be mean,
| they are not distressed by contrast with
! those who wear brave raiment in the temple
of the Lord. This is point of advantage
which the Catholic Church has. 1t is, in
| deed, it's true glory, as it should be the
distinguishing trait of all churches of any
name Whatsoever which profess to teach
the doctrines of Him who came to preach
the gospel to the poor.
"But you have opportunity for great
| WOTR amOOg tue rlcnJ DF. dalI. SAy Wnat
doctrinaires and careless writers in Luxor
ious libraries may, the seat of that moral
disease which eats at the vitals of our SOC
Iety is not in Avenue D, but in Fifth Av-
enue, and gets it's spiritual banQueting in
the churches of the gay thoroughfare, not
in those of Tompkins Square. What Mr..
Lincoln used to call the plain people, af-
ford the best examples of American char
acter. 1t is among them that honesty most
appears, integrity exis'B, simple truth and
square dealing are best represented and
tue burdens of life bear hardest on
them. They rest with a more crushing
weight, because just now corruption existe
! among our rulers, eats up corporations
formed for the public benefit, buys leading
newspapers, and parades its ill gotten
gains in the faces of the workmen whom
thievery and ruinous gambling have de.
prived of the labor for which they wait
with willing hands aud hearts almost dead
with despair.
cit is to such social cormOrants, Dr. Hall
that the preacher needs to appeal above al
most all other men. Ii is they who most re
quire revival awakening. They have