The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-04-01
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent


From our Regular Correspondence
New YORK, March 81, 1886.
"Free gospel services here and no col
lection"- is the sign that floats in
front of the Academy Of Music, as al
inducemcnt for sinners to enter and par
take of the bread and water of life. Two
or three hundred years ago our fathers
considered no sacrifice too great for the
same privilege, which to day goes begging
ard catches only few worthless sinners
at that. They would take the chance of
being scalped by an Indian. If they had
a ucetipg house, it was cold as city
relations welcome-the seats were as
hard as their own doctrines-and the
sermons q trial of faith, alongside OF
which, martyrdom itself WAS paradise.
Yet they could stand a long tramp
through the mud or snow-a cold meet
ing-house, long sermon, and certain
collection for the sake of going to church.
In the city of Brooklyn, where this gos'
pei banner hangs, the crop of sinners is
bountiful; they are but little better, if
any. than we are on this side of the river,
and regret to add that this attractive
invitation failed to fill the house. Here
indeed is the gospel without money and
without price. The house is comfortable
and roomy the seats are soft and elegant;
the music stirring and harmonious, and
the Reverend George T. Pentecost being
the minister, we have every reason to
suppose that the preaching was average
ly good. Yet, sinners come not and the
harvest is not great. When the house
was at all full it was with saints-not
sinners, and have noticed in several of
Mr. Moody's meetings he had to ask the
saints to keep moving or take back scat
that sinners might come to the 'front.'
Yet, here we have an evangelist, however,
who never wants an audience-an humble
evangelist it is true-not heard of as
the Moodys, the Sankey's, the Talmages,
or the Beechers; but an evangelist whose
name will without a doubt be found
engraven on one of the brightest pages
of the lambs book of life. Doctor Ken
yon has cast his lot among the Aotsam
and ietsam of the slums. Twice week
this humble follower of Christ gathers
around him his unsavory congregation,
They are just such as the Priest and the
Levite would pass by. They are unkempt
and ragged, foul and il.mannered; just
such material however as needs by mortal
man. Brother Kenyon understands that
hungry sinner is rather poor material
to translate into spotless saint, so he
makes an insiduous attack upon Satan
by filling the unrepentant sinner with
bread, coffee and beef, and then when
his stomach is comfortably filled, he
makes lively flank movement on the
devil and knocks him out. 1t is one OF
the sights Of the town to see the good
shepherd feeding his fock-he not only
supplies their immediate needs with good
solid chunks of bread and meat and
copious draughts Of coffee which is no
libel on ats name, but he fills their bas-
kets and bags with potatoes, turnlps,
cabbage, -four, corn meal, oatmeal, sugar,
salt and other things which ere more
potent with his audience than all the
sermons that were ever preached or all
the hymns that were ever sung. is no
uncommon thing for this evangelist OF
the streets to give away barrel of sugar,
three or four barrels of -four, half
dozen barrels of potatoes, box OF tea,
sack OF coffee. two or three hundred cab
bages and five or six boxes Of soap. He
imprcsses on his congregation that
"ceanliness is next to godliness," and in
order to be cleanly they must use soap.
Is this not the kind of christianity that
made His name immortal, who wandered
among the hills and by the sea OF Galilee
nearly nineteen hundred years ago? But
there be sinners here that no gospel ever
reaches, and to whom regeneration seems
almost an impossibility; of this charac-
ter is the average New York Aldermen.
The great body of them graduate from
the slums. The keeper of whiskey-
mill is more potent factor in our poll
tics than the president of bank or the
pastor of church. The fact of man
having served term in the penitentlary
seems to be no bar to his political ad-
yancement, and therefore New York is
not appalled, when she discovers that one
of her late council was a receiver Of
stolen goods.
Convenient to all of our great thoroug'
fares, aloug in the side streets, may be
seen little shops garnished with the sign
s'old gold and silver bought and Sold"
In tray or two in the windows are the
movements of watches from which the
cases have been stripped, and all marks
by which they could be identified care
fully removed. Here very often may be
seen quaint old pieces of silver, but the
great body of the swag goes into the
crucible as soon as it is received. These
are receivers of stolen goods. A Mrs.
Williams house was robbed of large
quantity of valuable plate, and aided by
some smart detectives she traced her
property TO the shop OF Alderman Jaehne,
whose business was buying old gold and
siluer. The Alderman like key Solo
mons did not let the grass grow under
his feet after the swag came into his
possession. What did he do with it?
"Vy, pops it into de cruciblc, my dea."
| Spoons, ladies, coffee pots, teapcts, try s