St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-06-01
His Life and Character Set
Forth in Raey and Inter-
esting Style.
The New Bishop the Product
Of the Native Forces Of
This Age.
Preachers Must Not Hamper
Themselves With Unreal
sonable Doctrines.

| peloIe the UnlVerSallSt society yeSter-
day morning in the Grand opera house.
A carefully prepared synopsis of the
sermon reads:
Movements of thought. like heat and
cold, go in waves. Just now such a
wave is upon our country. 1t was pre-
clpltated by a monk calling himself
Father lgnatius, wearing a coarse brown
garment and sandals, having tonsured
head and hypocritical face. The agi-
tatl0n was assisted by some Incidental
remarks made by professor about to
take his chair for college work. Fuel
was added to the fame bxathe election
of Philips Brooks as bishop of Massa-
chuSettS. And now demands are being
put in for the trial of eminent ministers
on account of heretical tendencies, and
excitement prevails throughout churches
| everywhere. AS Dr.. Brooks seems to me
the embodiment of modern influences,
l think a sermon on his life and char
acter should be both interesting and
| profitable.
DR.. Brooks belongs essentially to
New England for loyalty, and to the
twentieth century in thought and feel
| ing. His ancestors were connected with
| the struggles of the nation. and were
/ well-knOwn people. AS boy in the
| time when
A Boys Mind
! is eager and immagnatiye he was faml-
| lar with the Old South church, the Old
North church, the spot where Warren
fell on Bunker hill, the tree under
which Washington took command of
the army OH Cambridge common. He
went with his mother down through
Plymouth woods, and stood beside the
bay at FOrefather's'rock and listened to
fNn stories Df cTurny Milac Stondich
and handsome John Alden. and en-
tered into all the hardships and friend
ships of that early life. He saw
Harvard college standing in remarka-
BILE strength before the world. and an
ticlpated the time when his name would
be written on her register, when he
would proudly call her "cherishing
mother" He walked about in the wind
ing pathways of Mount Auburn. where
lay the cOfflned dust of brave and great,
and reading theirStory on the sculptered
hope and endeaYor.
He was fortunate in being born at
the beginning of new period, and for
the good influences that came to him
after entering Harvard college. For
there was Long fellow. with MS broad
culture, kindly heart and gentle influ-
ence, walking up from the college to
Isis Historic House,
where, from his study windows, he
looked out upon the grateful elmS and
across the spangled meadows to the
glinting waters of the winding Charles.
Further up, emboweTed in grea elm
trees. was the house where Lowell
forged the homely wisdom of Hosea
Bigelow. and made'th thrilling songs
that stirred the patriots blood. Holmes
was seen every day moving i'll and
about the university. And in that plain
room, where you may see his chair, his
charts, and the pointer he used every
day. might be seen Louis Agassiz, great
est of teachers, kindlieSt of men. At
this time the greatest orator of Harvard
and Boston production, Wendell Phill-
ipS, with arnIor buckled and drawn
sword cleaning, stood the challenger
ready to meet any who dared to face
him. Charles Sumner was at the height
of his power. Fields was introducing
the highest literature into America.
Charles Dickens and George Eliot were
constantly surprising the world by their
advance of thought. A little later the
great scientific movements
Were FLASHED Upon
the world. 1t would be impossible,
therefore, for Phillip Brooks to be intiu-
epced by the atmosphere in which he
lived.
At the age of forty ne came a mature
man to the pulpit of Trinity church.
Since that time he has been leader
among preachers. and therefore an eSti-
mate OF his character will be of interest
Instinct seems to be the word that ex-
presses the leading trait of his life. This
instructive sense leads him to make
most of his physical endowment. He
stands like physical giant in his pulpit
and feels glad enjoyment in physical
nature, sympathy with all sports and
enjoymentS of the young; and he feels
no less, and by the same sense, all the
sorrows and physical SufferingS OF men.
His instructive sense is born with him
and is part of him, just as the sense of
scent belongs to the hound, or the ten
dency to chase game is inherent in the
nature of the hunting leopard. His re-
llgiOuS sense is instructive also, and is
like the musical instinct of a Mozart,
who composed sonatas at five, or the
painting instinct in Benjamin West,
who made his own brushes
From the Cats Fur
and painted picture at four: or like the
fighting instinct in Lord Nelson, VINO.
on the deck slippery with blood, in the
midst of flying bullets, declared he
would not be elsewhere for miliionsI
There is an eagerness and a power.
also, III this; because men have the
same kind of instructive feelings. al
though they may not be aware of it:
consequently the multitude always re-
spends to his word. He possesses no gift
of elocution, nor the light and shade in
expression possessed by Mr.. Beecher.
nor the ease and mastery of Wendell
Phillips: but the absence of egotisn the
eagernesS with which he tells his story.
and the spontaneity of his word unite
to make him man of great power.
To the students of Yale this man
gave his word as to the modern minis
try: 10 him Christianity seems the
embodiment of the Christian spirit in
the simplest way. He believes the
power of the church is in the pulpit.
and holds that churches should devotion
preaching ability. The serious obstacle
in the way of this
rs the Extreme
difficulty of combining in one man the
qualities OF preacher and pastor. The
speaker is such by gift of nature. His
temperament is altogether peculiar.
His nervous organization quickly re-
spends and quickly relapses. He is a
flame when occasion requires, but much
of the time is torpid and lazy. He is a.
man of Imagination. with mind there
fore often remote from things that be-
long to the interest of his parlshioners:
but if he is allowed to occupy his proper>
place, and use the gift with which he
was endowed, instead of relying on
others he does not have, the preacher
becomes a strong influence in his com
munity. The preacher, according to
DIR. Brooks. is not to go back 300 years
for theology, nor to hamper himself bv
doctrines unreasonable and unjust: but
with his spiritual instincts alive and
alert. and the breath of the spirit of
God to baptize him every day, he is to
go forth teaching that God is with us
now. changing and renewing our lives,
that Immortality and heaven are known
to all who live as Christ lived, and urg-
inp q LII To pnfpr into fhic lifn