The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-02


This gentleman came to America to do work
like that performed by our fellow citizens,
Moody and Sankey, in England. From his sue
cess in New York. the multitudes who waited
upon his ministry and the interest taken in
religion by those who came under his intiu-
ence, we presumed that he would continue his
work. 1t is therefore a surprise that he should
have so suddenly abandoned vineyard that
promised SO rich and ripe a harvest We
confess that the spectacle OF two Ameri-
can divines striving to convert England,
while an English divine was aiming
4 at the same result in America, was
novel and suggestive, and showed q drawing
together of the bonds that unite the two ma
tons. In no respect have America and the
mother nation so many ties of harmony as
in religion. Ninety-nine per cent OF our
people profess some faith that has its roots in
the older lands Our theology is in nearly all
| of its aspects tradition sthat runs back to
/ Rome and Geneva and Worms. With the
exception of the monstrous dogmas of the
Mormons there is no creed professed by any
number Of Americans that is not based upon
II
or the teaching of some foreign divine. The
| impressions which move the souls of men and
women abroad are sure to make an impress
sion upon our Christian people at home.
There have been several artificial and alb
normal influences at work upon the minds of
our religious people for the past few months.
Tbs elevation OF an American citizen TO the
~ IL u =
an unusual event. Whether as a pageant,
rich with the pomp and splendor and cere-
mony of Rome, or as an ecclesiastical act
bringing the Catholic Church in America more
directly under the Holy See, or as a political
measure, showing the regard entertained for
America by the Pope, the event has special
significance. We see in the United States the
growth of new and sincere spirit in the
Catholic Church, resolution to sustain the
Pope as the head OF the Church
and the creed he teaches in spite of all
the efforts on the part of the Germans
to destroy them. Our esteemed correspond
ent, "Prudentius," calls attention to the spirit
Of liberty animating the Catholic prelates
from the time of Carroll to that Of Hughes,
and he emphasizes the absence Of our Presi-
dent BY rejecting on the pride which Lincoln
and Seward would have taken in being 'tcen-
trail figures" in the ceremony of Imposing
the berTeHd." The services Of the late Arch
bishop Hughes in behalf Of the Union were
entitled to the gratitude Of the government
which he served. We have no doubt Card-
nal McCloskey would do as much for his
country, which he loves with no less patri-
otic feryor because he is a Prince of the
Holy See. But we are glad to think
that the President and no one representing
him took any part in the ceremony. We donot
believe that the representatives Of our Church
and State can keep too far apart. However
gratifying it might have been to Catholics to
have seen the President frs. in the congrega-
ton which witnessed the conferrng Of the
berrat1, the precedent would have been barren
and unfortunate. Neither the Catholic Church
nor any other denomination has ever in the
long run gained by an alliance with the State.
Religion in England suffers because OF the
Established Church. The prominent thought
in this revival movement IS that the Church
has become enervated and dormant that the
priests care more for the honors Of the episco-
pate than for the good e the people that
churches are under the control very fire.
auently Of ambitious and careless peers, who
nominate curates upon the same principle
which leads General Grant to name post
rnasters-thas it is all under the control
Of corrupt patronage. The people see
al Established Church floating above them,
with which they have no friendship, no com
munication and no sympathy. II is a dark,
depressing cloud between them and the
blessed light Of true religion. They see a
Church which, 50 far from bringing Christ to
their homes and hearts, buries Him in the
cold vaults Of a damp cathedral or under the
bishops benches oil the House Of Lords.
Therefore the revival movement in England
is a. much a anything else a crying out Of
the people for bread, for MAMMA for any,
thing that will give them life. It was this
same crying out for the substance Of true re-
ligion that gave Luther the opportunity Of
the Reformation. His revival was a protest
against the Papacy Of dazzling age, when
the Church was allied to the State, when the
honors Of the Holy See were dispensed even
as the English lviDgs are distributed now,
and when the religion Of the Catholic faith
was forgotten in the splendid temptations Of
the Established system.
The spirit Of revival in America, which
now attracts 80 much attention, has not de-
veloped itself So fully a. to enable us to con-
pletely understand it. The influence Of the
Beecher case upon religion cannot but be
marked, and in tie HERALD q yesterday we
gave a few impressions On that subject as
communicated to our reporters BY some Of
our clergymen. one minister fancied that he
f-d seen o falling off in the attendance at the
churches because Of the developments OF this
extraordinary case that Christians lost heart