The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-01-04
The Initial Sermons OF the Year.

| The Initial Sermons OF the Year.
The initial sermons of the year were
preached in the city churches yesterday. AS
an appropriate theme for the first Sunday of
1875 the Rev. George H. Hepworth discoursed
on the proper way to begin the new year. Out
OF this sprung many thoughts touching the
debt men owe to their Creator, and the obliga-
tons of Christian duty were enforced with all
the appositeness and force which always have
place in Mr. Hepworth's sermons The Rev.
Stephen h. Tying, Jr., at his church, within
q stones throw of the other chose similar
theme his sermon being best described by
the words of the Psalmist which he took for
his text, "Thou makest the outgoing of the
morning and evening to praise thee" In
other pulpits the same theme was enlarged
upon. cit is appropriate" said the Rev. DR..
Wild, ''that we consider the times and
seasons Of life this morning, the first
Sabbath of another year." and upon
this thought he based his discourse, thereby
scarcely agreeing with the great Apostle to the
Gentiles, whose words to the Thessalonians he
chose for his text-'But of the times and
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you" Mr.. Beecher preached OF
Plymouth church in the morning, his sermon
being on the indwelling of the spirit Of
God. OF late the Brooklyn divine has been
giving more attention to the fitness of his
thoughts to his theme than of his theme to the
day, and so we find that in this discourse on
the higher life he has drawn little from the
occasion for the illustration of his argument,
but sought it in on altogether different field
One thought by which he showed the differ
come was peculiarly striking. 1t was in sug-
costing the distance between Goethe and the
peasants of Germany, Shakespeare and the
yeomanry of England and Emerson and the
blue boys Of Massachusetts, thereby showing
that in the next life we shall be entirely diff
ferent beings, the distance between these and
those being as the difference between that and
this. This thought may have sprung from the
commentator Of Mr.. Weiss lectures on the
''Women of Shakespeare" with which he pre-
faced his discourse. At St. Patrick's Cathedral
the feast Of the circumcision was celebrated, the
Rev. Father Quinn preaching sermon on
this compliance with the law in the case of
our Lord, and teaching how every knee should
bow at the mention of the holy name then
conferred upon the child as it had previously
been announced to the Blessed Virgin by His
Father in heaven. The Rev. Mr.. Talmage,
having finished with the stage for the present,
arraigned bad books and bad newspapers in
his customary style, but he said nothing
against the press that is likely to excite any
controversy, and so even he must regard this
effort as rather barren of results. There was,
however, an allusion to Mr.. Vandenhoff' s
''beggarly audience Of two hundred and fifty
people" in the Brooklyn Academy, when the
actor defended the stage against the clergy
man, which everybody will relish, and we are
afraid that so far as Mr.. Vandenhof is con-
cerned it will be generally conceded that he
deserved the retort. Mr.. John Weiss occu-
pied Mr.. Frothingham's platform at Lyric
Hall, discoursing on tragedy in nature. The
other sermons were generally appropriate to
the day, and our full reports this morning
will be found to possess more than their usual
interest