Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-04-18

and % which the told New I'm
gland folks Ching with great teDacity.
There are Churches m this City that were
ount ~ English Epi' ,copalians that are
new held by Coneregationalists,
our church having been com
PEELED to give them up In defer |
ence 10 the pre- iudlce that existed In |
country where ''cvery man was free 70 !
worship Goo according to the dictates OF
his own con science." In Philadelphia |
things were quite different. There the
church esrls had the support OF the lead
ing men In the government. II has come
down 10 the present time almost intact
and n there now regarded the next thing
to state church. ! do not mean TO INFER
that Bostoners do not work in behalf OF
charitable objects. The difference IS
something like this: Where Phiiadei-
\ phian Is prominent force in any GOOD
/ work he Is such inside OF his church
organization. The Episcopal hospital IN
1 Philadelphia, the finest institution OF the
kind IN the city, Is case in point. In
! Boston the prominent citizen does his
charitable work as a member OF the
great commonwealth, irrespective OF any
religious denominations Yet while the
church TO which belong Is making great
progress, IL has still many unfortunate
I features. Boston is divided into so many
oiiques and neighborhoods the rich and
the poor being carefully separated by
we'll defined lines OF demarkation. To IL
| lustrate, here is Trinity church, my own
now a poor man would not dare come
\ within mile of it. know il is humi-
iating to admit this, but 1t ISIS fact never
theless
Trinity church, TO which Dr. Brooks
referred, Is by far the finest
Protestant church edifce in Amer.
lea. 1t is in the Back Bay
district OF Boston, where 1t is surrounded
by brown stone palaces Of great moSnlh-
cence. Trinity Itself cost a million dol
lars, apart from the land upon which It Is
built, every foot OF which was made by
bringing dirt in from the country ON Fat
cars aud dumping 1t into Charleston bay,
so you see that the lot was not procured
for song. TO properly describe the ed
IiAce would take volume. 1t Is in mod
ern gothic architecture, and Is decorated,
both outside and in, most deliberately.
The sittings in this magnificent are $40
year-not one pew but one sitting An
entire pew OF the cheapest grade costs
5000 and the pews range in price from that
figure up to $1,000 year. Naturally,
poor man does not stand much chance of
ever being able TO attend Trinity regu-
larry, for every pew Is rented, even at
these high figures. In order to gain
admission to Trinity church on Sunday
morning 1t Is necessary to be on hand at
the opening of the doors at about Q
O'Clock, and even then the chances of
getting a seat are slim indeed. The usual
custom is to Ill the chancel, and every
effort is made to treat visitors aud strang-
ers we'll. Trinity is not, like too many
others, exclusive with its wealth and
privileges, but leaves 10 stone unturned
to accommodate the people. DR.. Brooks
even goes out TO suburban churches and
breaches, to give the poorer classes an
opportunity to hear him. What there is
about the great divine that attracts the
people 10 such an extent 81 Is difficult to
determine. He is anything but an orator
He talks so fast IN the pulpit that it is
with the greatest difficulty that one can
follow his close reasoning and his subtle
logic. He never makes a gesture of any
Sort and never gives his hearers chance
TO rest between his long sentences. Yet
the people flock to hear him, and the sim
pie announcement that he is 70 preach is
sufficient to Ill any church in any of the
great cities of the country, or even in
England where he has often been heard and
is very popular. Yes, DIR. Phillips Brooks
is by all odds the greatest preacher in
America to-day.