The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1884-01-03
ST. PaaI's Churches.
3ketcnes by Our special corr
respondent.
Telling com nants upon the Characteristics
of its leadin diyines

| brightly within; d time for refiec-
ton on what is behind us all, ana of
stroDgly-Inodeled resolutions for what
is before. In piaiDEcrds, dear read
ers, the sort OF time and surroundings
for even n brilliant correspondent
| (most correspondents are in that class,
| you know.) to write unlimited gush
and nonsense, in vain attempt TO
make clear the muddle of seriousness
and sentiment which afliict5 his brain.
TO interpret the true feelings which
crowd i'll upon one ut such Il time
and the impressions must be strong
ii the survey backward is honest-re.
qilires master hand, one that can
reach the lower chords of the heart
and cause them to vibrste to the deep
pathos of human existence
Let us be practical, therefore-How
would sketch OF our more noted
churches, ,and their heads, serve, while
this mood is upon me! Churches pre-
sent everywhere as many sides for the
observation Of the curious,as any otlys
er OF our institutions, and where they
are grouped together in cities,a study
Of them is not without interest. In
asmuch as our sanity city so narrowly
escaped bearing the blighting name
OF Pig s Eye it can hardly claim spe+
cial grace by reason of its great name
sake, bnt it eTeltheless is proud of
its sanctnaries, dad of those who labor
in them.
Let us begin with the mother
church. presided over by gooI old
Bishop Grace. 4 quiet gentleman
"aose !ears sit llgh;Iy on nam, amt
Whose appearance indicates that the
otium cum dignitate which long SER
vice entities every soldier to, be he
of the Lord or of the flesh, is making
this end of life pleasant to him. The
church structures within his episco.
pate here are not Of particular impos-
ingness. st. Mary's is perhaps the
best building. betting the more aris-
tocratic character of the worshippers.
Then there are the French and
German Catholic churches, both of
substantial stone, but with little archi-
tectural beauty, the former being a
reproduction of one in Munich and
the latter a regenerated Unitarian
house of prayer. But the masses antr
those who like to have their intellect
ual faculties put under friction. go to
the ugly old cathedral with it's hard
green-paiuted seats. and listen to dog
matte John Ireland, the coadjutor
bishop. an aggressive, scholarly, ear
nest worker, doing more good i'll prac-
teal forms than dozens Of the men
who measure lances with him Oh
questions Of doctrine.
The Episeopalians are not so strong,
though there are good men among
them. Their finest church is St.
Paul's. whose rector is the Rev. E. s.
Thomas. The congregation is emf
nently respectable, and their way to
heaven is made agreeable by the suave
mud temper of their pastor, and the
gentle tonic of his sermons. Farther
up town his brother in the cloth Rev.
NJ. n. Gilbert, breaches to the flock
Of Christ Church. lie shows his far
western experience in his frank SOL
dierly bearing and manly earnestness..
and his calls to grace are bold and un.-
compromising.
In Presbyterian circles, the House
of Hope stands out like a giant among
pigmies. Its head is Rev. y. L.
Breed, a muscular christian with an
eye to affairs. Mr.. Breeds sermons
are strong and able. but not free from
roughness. He breaches to distin-
guished congregation. two United
States Senators. past and present.
some ex-governors, several Judges,
and political Warwicks beyond num-
ber. Time was when a large part of
the hope prevalent in this house of
worship,was hope-political, but some
how the sceptre of power has fallem
away Of late years, aud fat offices do
not come to converts Us often as Of
old.
The Baptlsts have novelty now,
u fighting clergyman. l refer to Rev.
r. L. Riddell who oiiiciates over
what the irreyerent term The First
National Baptist Church Nhe late
Horace Thompson was the financial
pillar thereby. This divine's career
reads like romance; boy when the
war broke out, in command of regi..
nfent when scarcely out of his teens.
the leader of forlorn hope at Peters
burgh, the recipient of sword and
honorable mention at the hands of
Congress, AMI now, after some wan
derings, soldier again, fighting the
devil as vigorously as ne did the rebel.
And do not let me forget, as DEL
icate finish to my letter. the aesthetic
chalet of the Unitarians. just now
they are without a pastor. and as even
gentle beings are missed, I suppose
there is void in the puirit from
whence came the inetfable, inaudible,
utterings of their late shepherd.
CAPITOL.
st. Paal, December S0th' 1888.
Wonder what ex-senator Windomr