Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-04-07


IMAGES Hippodrome," by others, Church
of the Holy Circus" and by other mirth-
full nomenclature. But it was building
perfect for acoustics, and stood long enough
to have its imitation i'll all the large cities
of America and to completely revolution
lie church architecture. People saw that
it was the common sense way OF seating
an audience.
Instead of putting them in an angular
church. where each one chiefly saw the
back part of somebody else's head, the
audience were arranged in semicircle, 50
shat they could see one anothers faces, and
khe auditorium was a great family circle
seated around fireplace, which was the
pulpit. 1t was an iron structure, and we
supposed fireproof, but the insurance com
panies looked at it, and after we had gone
too far to stop in its construction they de-
clincd to insure it except for a mere nothing
declaring that, being of iron, if the intlam
mable material between the sheets of iron
took fire no engine hose could play upon
it. And they were right. During those
days we educated and sent out from a lay
college under our charge some twelve hun
bred young men and women, many of
them becoming evangelists and many of
them becoming regularly ordained preach
ers, and meet them in all parts of the
land toiling nightly for God
THE FIRE ~ 1872.
One Sunday morning in December, 1872,
the thermometer nearly down to zero |
was on my way to church. There was an
excitement in 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 a char0 that Eli jah took
from the banks of the Jordan. That sun
day morning tragedy, with its wringng of
hands and frozen tears on the cheeks of
many thousands standing in the street,
and the crash that shook the earth, is as
vivid as though it were yesterday. But it
was not perfect loss
All were anxious to do something, and
as on such occasions sensible people are
apt to do unusual things, one of the mem
bers, at the risk of his life rushed in
among the fallen walls, ed the pulpit
and took a glass of water from the table
and brought it in safety to the street. So
you see it was not a total loss Within an
hour from many churches came kind in
vitations to occupy their buildings, and
hanging against lamppost near the de-
stroyed building, before II O'Clock that
" II,
"The congregation of Brooklyn Taber-
nacle will worship tonight i'll plymouth
church"
Mr.. Beecher made the opening prayer,
which was full Of commseraton for me
and my homeless flock and / preached
that night the sermon that intended to
preach that morning in my own church,
the text concerning the precious alabaster
box broken at the feet of Christ, and sure
enough we had one very precious broken
that day. We We're, as Il church, obliter-
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 it into an elaborate
plan that vas Immediately adopted.
But how 10 raise the money for such an
expensive undertaking was the question:
expensive not because of any senseless
adjournment proposed, but expensive be-
cause of the immense size of the building
needed to hold our congregation. Ii was
at that time when for years our entire
country was suffering, not from financial
panic, but from that long continued tinan-
cial depression which all business men re-
member, as the cloud hung heavy wear
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
calls to some other field, but | could not
leave the flock in the wilderness.
At last, after, in the interregnum, hav-
ing worshiped in our beautiful Academy
of Music, on the morning Of Feb q, 1874,
the anniversary of the Washington who
conquered impossibilities and on the Sab
bath that always celebrates the resurrec-
ton, DR. Byron Sunderland, chaplain of
the United States senate, thrilled us
through and through with dedcatory
sermon from HagHsi ii, 0, ''The glory of
this house shall he greater than that of
the former saith the Lord of Hosts" The
corner stone of that building had been laid
by the illustrious and now enthroned DR..
lrenBus Prime. On the platform on dedi-
cation day sat among others, Dr. Bowling
of the Baptist church, DR.. Crook of the
Methodist church, Mr.. Beecher of the Con
gregatiorCl church and Dr.. French of the
Presbyterian church. Hosannuh! Another
S35 600 was raised ON that day
The following Sunday 32s souls were re-
ceived into our communion, mostly on cor
fession Of taitN, Al two other commuu
ions over 500 souls joined at each one
Az another ingathurlng CPS souls entered
this communion and SO many of those
gathered throngs have already entered
heaven that We expect to feel at home
when we get there. My! my! Won't we
be glad to see th.m-the men and women
who stood by us in days that were dark
and days that were iubilant, Hosannah!
The work done in that church on Schermer-
horn street can never be uudonc
What self sacrifices on the part OF many,
who gave almost till the blood came!
What hallelujahs What victories. What
wedding marches played with full organ!
What baptisms! What sacraments! What
obsequiesl One of them on snowy Sab
bath afternoon, when all Brooklyn seemed
to sympathize, and my eldest son, bearing
my own name, lay beneath the pulpit in
the last sleep, and Florence Rice Knox
sang, and score of ministers on and
around the platform tried to interpret how
it was bcs, that one who had just come to
manhood, ami with brightest worldly
prospects, should be taken and we left
with heart that will not cease to ache
until we meet where tears never fall