Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-04-14

IMAGES HIPPO ttpihcf ~ "A"e',''
Of the Holy Circus. and by other niliti'
fnl nomenclature. But il was bniieln;
perfect for acoustics and stood long enough
to have its limitation in nll tie large cit'e'
Of America ard TO completely revolution
lie church architecture. People SAW thal
il was the common sense way OF seating
an audience.
Instead Of putting them in an angular
church, where each one chiefly saw the
hack part OF somebody else's head, the
audience were arranged in semicircle, SO
,at they conld see one another's faces, anu
Inc auditorium was a great family circle
,catetl arouni fireplace, which was the
nulpit. It WIS an iron structure, aud we
supposed Greproof, bat the insurance com
panies looked II IL, and after We had gone
too far to stop IN its construction they de
clinea 10 insure it except fora mere nothing,
declaring that, being of iron, If The inilaa-
mable material between the sheets OF iron
took fire no engine hose could play upon
il. And they were right. During those
DAYS we educated and sent ont from lay
college under our charge some twelve hun
bred young men and women, many OF
them becoming eyangclists and many OF
them becoming regularly ordained preach
ers, and meet them in all parts Of the
land toiling nightly for God.
TIE fmR or 1872.
One Sunday morning IN December. 1872,
the thermometer neatly down to zero, !
was on my way to church There was an
excitement IT, the street and much smoke
in the air. Fire engines dashed past But
my mind was on the sermon ! was about
to preach, until some one rushed up and
told me that our church was going up in
the same kind Of chariot that Elijah took
from the ban..s Of the Jordan. .4at sun
day morning tragedy, with It's wria INK Of
hands ani frozen tears on the checks Of
many thousands standing Ia tie street,
and the crash that shook the earth, is ~
vivid as though ii were yesterday. But il
was not perfect loss.
An were anxious TO do something, and
as on such occasions sensible people are
apt TO do unusual things, one Of the meil-
bers. at the risk Of his life, rislld IN
among the fallen walls, mounted the palpit
ard took glass of water from the table
aud brought il in safety to the street. SO
you see il was not "A total loss. within an
hour from many churches came kind in-
yitgti0ns 10 occupy their buildings, and
hanging ag,,i a lamppost near lie de.
stroyed building. before L. O'Clock hat
morning. was board with the iuscrintion.
THE congregation Of brooklyn 1taer-
naele viii worship toni. lit Ia Piln-oath
church,
Mr.. Deecher made the opening prayer,
which was full of commiscration for me
and my homeless flock, and | preached
that night the sermon that | intended to
preach that morning in my own church,
the test concerning the precious alabaster
box broken az the feet Of Christ, and sure
enough we had one very precious broken
chat day We were, as a church, obiter.
ated but arise and build" said many
voices. Another architect took the amphi-
theatrical plan Of a church, which in the
first instance was necessarily somewhat
rude, and developed il into an elaborate
plan that r'is Immediately adopted.
But how To raise the money for such an
expensive undertaking was the question
expensive not because Of any senseless
adornment proposed, but expensive be-
cause Of the immense size Of the building
needed TO hold our congregation. Ii was
II that time when for years orr entire
country was suffering, not from financial
panic, but from that long continued tinan-
sial depression which all business men re-
as the cloud hung heavy year
after year and commercial establishments
without number went down Through
what struggles we passed the eternal God
and some brave souls today remember.
Many a time would have gladly accepted
,alls to some other field, but could not
eave the flock In the wilderness.
AT last after, in the interreynrm, hav-
ng worshiael in our beautiful Academy
IF Music, on the morning Of Feb =, 1874,
.he anniversary OF the Mashington who
iinpossiblilies and Oh the Sab
saith that always celebrates the resnrrec-
ion. DR. Byron Sunderland, chaplain Of
he United States senate, thrilled Us
through and through with deslicatory
iermon from Haggai ii, ., "Thc glory OF
his house shall be greater than that Of
he former, saith the Lord Of Hosts" The
'orner stone of that building had been laid
ly the illustrious and now enthroned DR.
renRus Prime. On the platform on deoi-
-ation day sat, among others, Dr. bowling
# the Baptist church, DR.. Crook OF the
church, Mr.. Beecher Of the Con-
yregational church and Dr. French Of the
g, geo was raised on that day.
The following sunday 3ss souls were re
eivcd into our communion, mostly on con
essiou of faith. At two other commun.
ons over 800 souls joined at each one.
1t another ingathering Ges souls entered
his commulion, and so many of those
gathered throngs have already entered
heaven that we expect to feel at home |
when we get there. Ny myi Won't we
Ne glad to See thenI-the men aud women
Who stood by us in days that were dark |
nd days that were jubilantl Hosannahl |
The work done ia that church On Schermer. /
Iorn street can never be undone.
What self sacrifices on the part Of many,
Who gave almost till the blood came! |
What hallelujahsl What victoriesl What /
Wedding marches played with full organ. |
What baptismsl What saeramentsi What /
bsequies. One Of them on a snowy Sab /
'ath afternoon, when ali Brooklyn seemed 1
0 sympathize, aud my eldest sou, bearing 1
ny own name, lay beneath the pulpit in
he last sleep, and Florence Rice Knox
ang, and score OF ministers on and
round the platform tried to interpret how