New-York tribune., 1876-04-22
AFTFR EfSTER.

The custom of keeping the great religious
anniversaries of last week has certainly helped
to make familiar the events they commemo-
rate to many people who never enter church
door. Since Good Friday was made legal
holiday this custom has extended rapidly out
side of the Catholic and Episcopal churches,
especlally in the cities; even secular news
papers feel bound to urge upon their readers
consideration of the birth, death, and resur-
rection of Christ, subjects which few years
AGO were left wholly to the pulpit or religious
journals.
There were other incidents in that long ago
story which are not made familiar to us by
any anniversary but which bear as nearly on
our everyday life the events of the week
after the resurr ction, for example. The
.Jews who had followed the Savior acted
precisely as the same number OF men taken
from similar class of New-forkers would
have done under like circumstances. AS long
as there was excitement multitude OF curl
GUS people, sermons such as no man ever
heard, and every day the chance OF seeing the
deaf made to hear, the lame to walk,
and the dead to live again, they contm-
ned faithful to their Master. They loved Him,
too, in an unreasoning, selfish fashion,
though their love was not strong enough to
induce them to stand by him when the excite
ment and triumph of wonderful miracle and
still moro wonderful sermon were over. and
their hero WAS hailed up for judgment rs
maefactor, and, refusing to exhibit any divine
power, was pnt to death like the vilest OF men,
They all forsook him and fled, except the
women, who then, IA do women now, clung 70
the unpopular side and the prosecuted victim.
Even the fact that He had risen from the
dead failed to blind them to the fact much
more important to themselves, that they
must make money to live. Just as the
great mass of men who read IIIE
TRIBUNE this April morning believe vaguely
in an awful mystery of a Resurrection which
happened nearly nineteen centuries ago, and
that because of it they, when their time comes
TO be screwed into coffin and lowered under
black velvet and floral offerings into the opened
clay. shall rise to some other life. hearse
going down the street. or the old tOmbstones
in Trinity churchyard, or the blue sky over
head. may remind them of these things; but
what really concerns them is their daily re-
ceipts-how many loaves does the baker sell
how high is this railroad stocks what are
suearsq Here are the real levers of their
lives.
The Jews were precisely in tho same po-
sition. 1t might be true TINT they had touched
and talked with and been daily companions
of the Goldman foretold for ages; but it GER
tainly was true that they were hungry ana
wanted money Half q dozen of them gathered
on the dreary shore of the little Sea OF IL
Lerius questioning what to do. One, the most
self-willcd and prompt, made up his mind
on the moment. His old occupation would
still Weld him livelihood. "I," said
Peter, ego a-fshing." awe will also
"go with thee" They all went a-iish-
ing, just as nowadays the baker gives
himself up to his loayes, the broker to stocks
the merchant to his sugar. and presently lie
came to them precisely as God touches ana
calls each man of us by disease or death, or
in some secret language which only we under
stand. He gave Peter plenty of tishes-more
of his poor sort of wealth than he needed
and then put the question home to him, as he
brings it before every one of lis some time Id
our lives, when our property or ability 10
make money is placed on one side and HIM
self on the other "Peter, lowest thou Me more
than these9"
We all of us know what the Jew and Ills
brethren answered, and the choice they maue'
| Ii seems an unreal and easy thing io'
| them to do back in those dim ages, 10 tui.
| their backs on few fishes and choose lhs'eao
the Lord and giver of life. 1t would be qui'0
different thing, we think, nowadays ror .n'
baker 10 lift his soul constantly above MS
oven. or the merchant from his entry-book, o.
the broker out of the Exchange, to that ioeaA