Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-04-23

liturgy, GOOD Lord, deliver US"
During the short tins We occupied that
building we had q constant downpour OF
religious awakening. Hosannahi Ten mil
lion years in heaven will have no power to
dim my memory Of the glorious times we
had in the first Tabernacle, which. because
OF its invasion of the usual style of church
architecture. was called by some 'Ialmage's
Hippodfoma' by Others, Church Of the
HOLY Circus and nv other mirthfrI nornan-
tlatufe. But 1t was a building perfect for
acoustics, and stood long enough ID have its
imitation in all the large cities of America
and to completely revoiutionize church arch
lecture. People saw that 1t was thu com
mon sen9 way OF SEATING an au Hence.
Instead Of putting them in an angular
church whore each one chiefly saw the naca
part or sorL-oo1y eises neao, the au ii-nA,
were arranged in senicircle, 50 that they
could see one anothar'5 faces, an the auli
torium was a great family circle seated
around a fireplace, which was the pulpit. 1t
was an iron structure. and we suoposa1 fire
proof, but the insurance companies looked
at it, AMI after we hal gone too far To stop
in its construction they declined to insure it
except for a mere nothing. declaring that.
being or iron, II tn Ir-aTmaole material
between the sheets OF iroa took fire no engine
hose could play upon it. Aud they were
right. During those DAYS We eiucatAl AMI
sent out from q lay college I'm Ter our charge
some twelve hundred young men aud
women, many CT them becoming evan ge lists
and many of them becoming regularly or
dalned preachers, AMI l meet item in AL
parts Of the lanl toilinS nightly for Co.
One Sunday morning IN December, 1Sr2,
the thermometer nearly down to aero, | was
on my way to church. There was an excite
mcnt in the street and much SMOKE in the
air. Fire engines dashed past. But my
min was on the sermon l was about to
preach, until some one rushed u AMI tod
me that our church was going uD in the same
bind IF a ohariot thot Etiiao took from, fha
banks of the Jordan. That Sunday morn
ing tragedy, with its wringin OF han Is and
frozen tears on the cheeks OF many thou
sands standing in the street, AMI the crash
that shook the eart1, Is as vivid AS though
it were yesterday. But II was not a perfect
loss.
All are ANXIOUS to do sonnet ling, AMI a
on such occasions sensible people az. apt to
do unusu ii thing, one of thu m-noers, at
the riss OF ms lif-, rush in anon, the
fallen walls, nOunte the pulpit and took a
glass OF water from tNttable au / hrou rht il
IN safety 10 the street. 80 you see 1t was
not a total loss. Within an hour from
many churches came kind invitations to &C.
cupy their bull lings, AMI han slng against a
lamppost near the destroyed building, be-
fore II o'clock that morning, Was a board
with tue inscription, The congregation of
Brooklyn Tabernacle will worship tonight
in Plymouth Church,
Mr.. Beecher made the opening prayer,
which was full of commiseration for me ami
my homeless flock, and l preached that night
the sermon that l intendcd to preach that
morning in my own church, tbs text con-
corning the precious alabaster box broken
at the feet OF. Christ, aud sure enough we
had one very precious broken that day. We
were. as a church. ob!iterated. But arise
and build said many voices. Another
architect took the amphitheatricll plan Of a
church, which in tho first instance was nee
essarlly somewhat ru lie. AMI developed it
into an elaborate plan thathsas Immediately
adopted.
But how to raise the money for such an
expensive Undertaking was the question
expensive not because Of any senseles5
adornment proposed, but expensive because
of the Immense siZe OF the bull ling needed
to hold our congregation. 1t was at that
time when for years our entire country wCs
suffering, not from a financial panic, but
from that long continued financial depression
which all business men remember, as the
cloud hung heavy year after year and COM
mercial establishments without number went
down. Through what stru ggles We passed
the eternal God and some brave souls to-day
remember. Many a time would I have glad
ly accepted calls to some other field,
but | could not leave the flock in the wilder
ness.
Al last, after, in the interregnum, having
worshipeI in our beautiful Academy OF
Music, on the morning of February %, 1874,
the anniversary Of the Washington who con
quered impossibilities and on the Sabbath
that always celebrates the resurrection. DR..
Byron Sunderland, Chaplain Of the Unite /
States Senate, thrilled US through an |
through with a dedicato-y sermon from
Haggai H., 9. The glory Of this hous.
shall be greater than that OF the former.
saith the Lord of Hosts The corner stone
of that building had been laid by the illus
trious and now enthrone1 DR.. IrenHus
Prime. On the platform Oh dedication day
sat, among Others, DR.. bowling, of the Bap-
fist Church, DR.. CROOK, OF the Methodist
Church. Mr.. Beecher, of the Congregational
Church, and DIR. French. of the Presbyterian
Church. Hosannah. Another SO, O)D was
raised on that day.
The following sunday BPS souls were re-
ceived into our connunIon, mostly Oh
confession of faith. At two other coinmu-
Mons over 800 souls joine / at each one. At
another ingatlering o2S souls entereI this
COMMUNION. and SO many of thoSe gathered
tnrougs have already entered heaven that
we expect to feel at home When We get there.
Mv!mv! Won't we be glad 10 see them
the men and women WHO stool by US liz days
that were DARK AMI days that were iubilant
Hosannah. The work don, in that church
on Schermerhorn street can never b.
undone.
What self sacrii .es on the part of many.
Who gave almost TIL the blood came: What
hallelujahs! What victories! What wei
ulDg lndTcueS piSf e. t4 VI SI3. II
baptisms, WHAT sccramcnt>, What Dose
uuies. One Of tnehl on a snowy SABBATH
afternoon. when all brooklyn seemed y
sympathize, an my eldest son. bearing my
| own name. lay beneath the putplt IN the last
sleep, and Florence Rice Knox sang. and a
t score of ministers on and around the plat
form tried to interpret how 1t was best that
one who had just cone to manhood, and
with brightest worldly prospects, should b.
taken and We lett with u heart that will not
. cease to ache until we meet where tear.
1 never fall.
. That second Tabernacle, What a stupen
g /dous reminiscence. But. if the Peter Of my
text had known what an undertaking it is T.
q build two tabernacles he would not have
proposed two, to say nothing of three. A
an anniversary sermon must needs be some
l. what photographed. LEI me say l have
not been idle. During the standing Of thos,
two Tabernacles ffty-two books. under a
many titles, made IN from my writings
were published. During that time also | wa
permitted to discuss all thu great questions O
the day IN all the great cities of TINS cont
u nent, and IN many Of them many times. be