El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-08-02
AT THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH

AT THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH.
Rev. A. Hoffman, after an absence
on a European tour of nearly three
months, spoke once more to his people
in this city Yesterday, ard in the
evening, the Baptists adjourned their
services out of compliment to Mr..
Hoffman and attended the First Me-
Ihoaist church in a body. While Mr..
Hoffman was away, the First Metho-
dist people attended the Baptist church
largely, and Mr.. Millican adjourned
last nights service in return for this.
The returne d pastor seems to have
improved in every way by his trip
abroad Before lie left he had bee n
thinking that he would like to be
stationed in Germany in evangelical
work. But he comes home more Of an
American citizen than ever. and d es
not appear to have any desire to return
again to live in his native land. The
address of the evening was based on
the text, BE ye not unequally yOked
with unbelievers, for what FELLOWSHIP o
has righteousness with unrighteOus-
ness, and what communion hath light
with darkness?'' II Cor. VI:14. Mr..
Hoffman spoke on his church exper
fences principally while abroad. He
said that the first Sunday out at sea,
the passengers are generally too oc-
GDSUSelNeS 10 SuOW LuetF
true natures-for obvious reasons. But
sea sickness is really only nothing
more than an adaptation of the system
to the motions of the vessel, and
when that is accomplished
there is no trouble The most effective
remedy is to move about. A young
man laid in his cabin two days sick,
when one of the officers drove him out
and chased him up and down the deck.
There was no more sea=eickness for
that young man after that. After the
sea-sickness spell, people begin to show
what is in them. Mr.. Hoffman saw
some people reading their pray er books,
the first Sunday out on that German
steamer, but on the second Sunday they
were dancing. The speaker seemed To
be able to find but one Christian man
aboard, the steward German Baptist,
and the two held service together the
first Sunday night and a number Of
times after that, all by thems elves
The vessel he took hOmeward bound
was an English steamer. and Mr.. Hoff
gers held service Sunday. He
met young English divine
who laid much stress on the fact that
he was curate of church 800 years
| old, and appeared quite astonish ed
because the American did not go into
| rapture over the fact. The cause OF
the master is not que-t on Of age, but
salvation from sin. The oldest and
most venerable of all institutions il
the grave yard, but there is much life
| there. The Eogljsh and Germans sup
port state churches by taxation, but
many people who are forced to pay
| these taxes do not believe in state re
| ligion. The speaker attended state
| churches while abraod, both English
and German, and was not at all pleas
ed by the fOrmalities. In Germany he
found the formalities so marked in one
Protestant state church that it wa:
difficult to tell the difference between
| that and the Catholic.
| Mr.. Hoffman asked his father VIII!
he did not go to church, and was tolC
that be, the old gentleman, did no
care to listen to politics. The son re
| piled that he understood that the Elm
peror had forbidden preaching polite
In the churches, Yes, said, TIT