New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-04

A REFORMED CITY MUST RE A REGENERATED
CITY SAYS j. : PARKHURsT-AN INcIDEN-


REFORMED CITY MUST Re A REGENERATED
CITY, SAYS .. PARKHURsT-AN INcTDEN-
TAI HIT At THE PREsBYTERy
DR.. Parkhurst preached to a great congregation
a, the Madison Square Presbyterian Church yes
tcrday morning His text was. And when He was
come near. He beheld the city and wept over 1t"
duke. XIX Al The sermon had in II favor OF
politics. but emphasized the changing OF men in
stead OF the mere changing OF votes as the basis
Of reform. incidentally Or. Parkhurst gave the
New-York Presbytery hard rap because of the
Church OF the Sea and Land business
The sermon In part follows:
city has no character apart from the character
or the men that live In II. Men BY peculiar stress
OF circumstances and result OF having the stu
alton presented In way TO appeal to their natural
preferences, and in way that promises the pro-
motion Of their selfish advantages. can be led to
take a stand that looks as though they were just
the verge OF bursting forth into full-bown saint
Illness. and will shout themselves hoarse in the ad-
vocacy Of cause that bears upon 1t the distinct
stamp OF righteousness. and which they
innocently imagine they have espoused because It
bears that stamp and yet twelve months later be
swearing at the same cause that they had just been
shouting for. not because the cause had changed,
but because there was no longer anything in 1t
that they could convert into personal assets That Is
the reason why ns political victory If # political
yield fruit for more than one season its roots
fxity the victories whose buried in
the soil Of individual hearts
premely satisfied With the attainment Of an end,
without stopping to inquire whether, having been
attained. II VIII stay attained. To Christ the end
was 80 far away that you would almost have
thought Him Indifferent to the end engrossed was
the end as superstructure might rest in ultimate
and permanent security;
ballot knows that. however Satisfactory the be
havor Of his adherent at the polls may be to-day.
probably in order to make his behavior similarly
satisfactory year from to-day. That ls exactly
means that not In sufficient numbers in
oculated with Righteousness to be able to be trusted
every twelve months.
Now. II the pulpit and the Church In this city
faithful in their efforts TO make men them
selves right as the po er Leader r ana the poca
remain TO be done Politics. a. such, takes men
is very often exceedingly awkward situation.
Improving the quality OF men, changing their
hearts. teaching men with coarse and low instincts
to love and stand by what Is fine and eeva ed-that
We talk. and ought to talk. about the matter
Of regeneratng the city of NewYork. and re-
generating the city means nothing more nor less
the city. East Side and West Side az well az
along Fifth and Madison ayes: downtown as well
as up; yes, downtown as far as the corner OF Mar
ket and Henry sta locality which the Presby-
terry of New-York has decided that II is no longer
"expedent' TO prosecute redemptive work. not
wthstanding the dense and unchurched population
that is packed around It's walls. do not say THIS
out of a desire to quarrel with the Presbytery Dut
indicative of the failure the part Of one great
body OF churches in NewYork to appreciate its
Letting the churches drli uptown at ro0 rate and 10
keep pace with the northerly drltt OF reHheu anu
interesting people, to the end OF avoiding the IN
convenience of having to wash people 80 as TO
make them clean, or dress them so as 10 mahe
them decent is cowardy. and IL has In IT no sug-
gestlon or symptom OF apostolic Vs s dev w Iii
have IT, that Is all there Is 10 IT, Men whose tases
low and their aspirations brutal are not gong
10 begin nominating and electng 10 places OF pupnc
trust candidates whose record Is Clean and their
purposes high and generous III they have been
converted into making such nominations. Ana po-
litica managers not the power that will do
hall honorable
made. unregenerate city. liable to
any relapse into deeper degradation INTO Wcn
may precipitate Vote that II is inexpedlent 10
maintain redemption work in the tough wards OF
the town. leave the locality 10 the missionary en-
terprise OF the corner GROCERY man. who may not
pray great deal but puts in A good deal OF pros
eytzing effort OF one kind or another for about
into a wholesome and congenial neshborhood and
In the perfumed stiffness OF your upholstered sanct-
ridden and vice-saturated city, No wonder that
Christ weeps over Jerusalem, and that the angels
OF darkness. In da bolic glee. grin their fendish
compartment 10 the Lords tears
l love my city, and my supreme prayer 20 God
IL that 1t may be saved, saved not from Its enc
OF sin as II exists in the hearts of the individual
men and women who make this city their abiding
place and that in all these days and years through
which we passing. IN which the great problem
OF this cis-Atlantic Jerusalem plays so large
Church may not spend too much Of ts devoutness
supplcating God to put new spirit into me hearts
OF the shapers of political events. but suppicating
Church so that the Church shall grow to feel that
II and not political leaders is peculiarly anointed
cheering the highway upon which the city shall
municipality tread. but in the way Of entering re
of all classes. character ana condition, that
interior foundation shall thereby be laid for
strong municipal life and a secure municipal des-
tiny.