Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1878-02-02
EMPTY CHURCHES.
N. Y. Sun.

. DP1ctc t'cnSru SHiliN lHi'c'. wv
Prote~tant breaches If Cincinnati
are holding meetings 20 debate. 1t
appears that the congregations in
the churches of these preachers are
email; that the attendance is dimin-
ishing year after year; that it is
less to-day than it was twenty years
ago, and that the outlook for the
future is not at all hopeful. The
language that fell from the lips of
the Cincinnati preachers. the dolo
rous refrain that issued from the
mouths IF the Rev NJ. Emery a. d
the Rev. D.. Morey. and the Rev.
Mr.. Mum, might almost raise
feeling of despair in the minds OF
those who still adhere to them. If
the attendance upon their churches
continues to diminish Tor the next
twenty years at the rate it has dim
inished for the past twenty years,
the costly edi6ces will have to be
given up to the owls and the bats
and the bitterns, or turned to other
uses than those for which they were
built.
But why is the attendance upon
these Cincinnati churches dw'od-
ling ? They are costly buildings
with cushioned pews aud ca,retrd
floors, and pleasing pulpite. Behold
how spacious aud attractive they
are. Hear the swell of their DR.
gans and the melody of their sing
ers. How lovely are the hymns.
This, now, is the holy incense Of
prayer. Listen to the voices OF
their preachers. soft and sweet. as
they advance through their sermons
from exordium tc peroration, as
they rise ioto eloquence, they
wander through the feds Of ina
giuation, as they roceed with their
orderly ratiocination, as they in
du1ge in appea' and exhortation;
as they take their fight beyond tic
clouds. Learned men are these
preachers; most of them have sud-
led Hebrew, Greek and Latin, as
we'll as logic, metaphysics, and
mathematics. Trained in the arts
Of rhetoric and ora,ory arc they.
Excellent salaries do they draw,
as a stimulus to their minds. They
are mostly men of good social
position, 80 called, men of elegant
manners, men who know how to
dress and dine and drive. and who
are familiar with the ways Of the
respectable world Of which t,ey
are a part.
Yet. with all these attractions,
the Cincinnati churches do not at
tract audiences, and the preachers
hold meetings to find out what they
shall do about it..
The preachers whose eloquence
is displayed in them deal with sub
Jects of the most tremendous import
to mankind. The relations of man
to his Maker, the everlasting inter-
ests Of the immortal soul, heaven
and hell, the eternal and iufexlb'e
laws of truth and right, the p,inci
Piles Of practical Righteousness in
their application to life, and the
whole duty Of man in this world
these are the then which it is
their business to expound from
their pulpits. Wha1 other themes
can equa! these in interest What
other themes can men be as desir-
Gus to know about? Yet the Gin
cinnati preachers complain that
the people will not listen to them,
and that the attendance upon their
churches is falling off year alter
year. Is it not ground of wonder
ment?
The Cincinnati preachers do well
to confer with each other abou,
the matter, while yet 'he'e a'e
some hearers lett to them. Let
them question one another closely,
and see if they them> elves ar" n"
somehow in fault. Can eac one
of them say thut he truly and firm
~ believes, with all his heart and
mind and strength, the doctrines
of his creed, and that he exempt
fes this belief in his daily life in
the world Does he go forth a.
the II brew prophets went forth
among the stiff necked and hard |
hearted sinners of their time !
Does he proclaim his faith as The !
apostles of primitive Christ'a"cy |
proclaimed theirs? Toes he be-
lieve in he'll, and is he devoured |
with yea, to save men from i =?
1t is a melancholy ard humilin
ting business in which the Cincin
alo hn,