, 1876-02-13
MT tWAuKEE PulPlT.sKETcHEs.

MILWAUKEE, PULPIT.SKETcHES.
THE REV. HENRY 7. ROSE, PLYMOUTH CHURCH.
TO the Editor Of The Chicago Tribune:
MILWAUKEE, Wis, Feb. 10.-Prominent amoug
tho pubc.men whom Milwaukee should delight
to honor is the subject OF the present brief
eketch,-a gentleman who within the past few
months has been invited to the pastorata Of
Plymouth Church, recently under the charge OF
the widely-known J. L. Dudley. In this in
stance We welcome the coming with the same
hea1tincss with which we speed the parting
guest, and sincerely trust it may be long ere We
have occasion to advise tho readers OF TILE
TRIBUNE that the ties now linking Mr. Rose to
Plymouth Church ara in any danger OF being
severed. It is probably safa to assume that Mr,
Rose will always be more appreciated by q small
band Of thinkers than by the less reflective
though numerically stronger rank and die OF the
Congregat;opalis: denomination. People who
gather in crowds to be tickled BY soaring fights
Of oratory, Who delight in mel1ifaous cadences,
arc eaaily excited By glowing excursions into
the realms Of poetical imagery; who are habit
ually on the alert for sounding defamation,
lofty periods, and thrilling perorations
artisticaliy worked up, will probably not
the 'npsdI pulpit ntserances aes Of Of Mr. Ross:
Those, however, VINO are edited and refreshed
by discourses developing wealth Of original
ideas, exhibiting strong evidences of coasidera-
BILE research, patient study, deep thought, and
more that such discourses should be teEsels and
epig1ammatlcaly put together-will find they
have not listened to Mr. Rose in vain
The rapt attention with which the reverend
gentleman's sermons are invariably listened to
By his critical congregation proves this beyond
doubt. It is somewhat hard matter-wl.nout
very closely following him-so get st the glst
aud bearing Of all the preachers arguments
illustrations, and appeals. What he says IL
weighty, and fraught with meaning. but his
manner OF delivery is not correepondlngly effec-
tive. His voice, though musical, is the reverse
of sonorous, aud his best sentences are often
times robbed Of their appropriate Significance by
| the comparative tameness with which they tall
from his 1ipe. He strives to give point and en-
/ phasis to many forcible arguments By the oc-
caaoual use OF his arms, but III this respect his
action is not uniformly eloquent, nor does he IN
the employment Of these legitimate platform
gcs.iculatlous prove that as an orator ho is Ito
the manner born"
The sermons OF Mr. Rose fairly bristle with
points abruptly though incisvely presented, and
are the reverse Of conventional in their compost
ton. He does not chop up bis subject in the
ancient ssHrstly," ''secondly," aud "third1y"
manner, and-eschewing the orthodox ''Dearly
beloved" mode of addrees-prefera to salute his
hearers Is simply '.My friends" In fine, Dir.
Rose appears to be more OF an essayist than
preacher, more of debater than advocate, more
OF a studiOus thinker than oIal dzpounder OF
Gospel truth.
That, as cultured exponent OF modern
thought applied to Christianity, he will exercise
3 deep anu abiding influence on those Who hear
him, there eau be no manner Of doubt; and it ia
an equal matter Of certainty that his modesty
of demeauor, his cordaalitv, and his easiness OF
approach, will readily endear him to all who seek
his regard and friendship, whether inside OF out
ede the pale OF Plymouth Chulch.
Some better idea can be formed of Mr. Roses
STYLE OF oratory BY the consideration OF few
sentences iotted down from sermon delivered
on Sunday last, bayins for its theme st. Panl's
declaration in Acto XVII, % ''For Is passed
BY and beheld your devotions, I found an altar
with this inscription, To the Unknown God"
Co,nmenclug With q sketch OF Christianity in
our nineteenth century, M1. Rose observed:
ait is happy fortune to live in this time.
Unless the dead are very happy in Heaven,
l think sometimes they must envy the
men whose time is come to lire now.
No other age has inherited 80 much mental hber-
IT, In no other t1ms has mind been left to
travel uuchallepced. Thought is un{ette.ed.
Once. like a fowl of wandering instincts, tho
mind was pepned within high palings, its wines
were clipped or broken, but now it is free Of the
whole wide earth and the blue heaven The
only danger ia that it w1 lose itself in these yast
spaces. But it is pleasure to 1--we
now in this free day. Every man may think
what he will There are no religious inquisitors
that need ba feared. There is no censorship Of
mind, There is no compu1sion OF belief. Creeds
no longer coniue straitly the expanding faiths
Of men. It is q time Of charity. Religion is as
sweet flower as ever born on ! lees thorny
stem than once. 1t is whittier light, with fewer
st1eaks Of red and black in the spectrum: It -
q face growing more aweet and kindly IS it
grows older. It blesses wider area 1t asks
fewer questions. 1t has softened ito steiner
features. hath smoothed its wrlnkled front. 1t
seems AZ though religion had returned to It's
earliest type, when 1t "2e s"ee1 rs" eospel VI
love. which came Like Christmas carol among
the d!scords OF inst tlme. ~ oas o ozoppsa M '9e
sword, Tor "hcn Us nanos Msle neses @ - nsue -
Is no lonsel 'n1uat VI anoa1;or .so, 1' AN
tion' charity, and 40 euncatoa' .a
Commenting On tne cnAnseu anu .eaan3'oG
ideas men hare concerning toe e11esence ana