New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-16
mr. HILLS SWAPS A THRONG.
CROWDS TURNED AWAY FROM PLYM-
OUTH CHURCH.
n,,, CHICAGO PREACHER IN THE PULPIT
OF BEEcHER AND ABBoTT-A POW
rRFuL SERMON ON TIE GENIUS
\,

OF BEECHER AMI AbbOII-A POW
ERFuL SERMON ON TIE GENIUS
OF CHRIST IN THE REALM
OF INTELLECT
Tho Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hills of Chi
.ayo preached his first sermon In the church Of
uenry Ward Beecher and Lyman Abbott yester-
dav morning He proved himself to be a man OF
o,oouence. An audience which packed historic
plymouth Church. in Brooklyn. as II has seldom
haen packed since the days of Beecher, listened
s,erlbound for an hour to a sermon on Jesus
christ the Supreme Example OF Genius in the
peanl Of Intellect"
The pews were retained for the members as
,a,e rs possible, and they were admitted at the
piueapple-st entrance. Then the general public
uas admitted at the Orange-st. entrance. The
s,sles were full. and the rear and sides Of the
auditorium crowded was safe. In
the vestbue at 1870 o'clock there was a sway
ing crowd that was waiting TO get merely look
through the door at the young preacher At the
same time a steady stream of people was NOV
ing toward Fulton-st.. people who had been una
BE 10 get into the church. Among those who
used the pulpit steps seats was a man who
looked much like Henry Ward Beecher.
DR. Hills used no notes. and his words came in
torrents He proved that his voice has good
rying power and he swayed his hearers at will
Dr. Abbott conducted the early part Of the SER
Vice and the benediction was offered by the Rev.
Henry NJ. Field
Dr. Hills took his text. Whence hath this
man these things?" He said:
Nearly nineteen centuries have come and gone
.,nce this young preacher finished His immortal and
poets and philosophers alike confess that His story
the most fascinating in literature, while If His
sufferngs still melt the hardest hearts. Few and
evil were the days Of HIS pilgrimage. In an era
misery and crime. this youth dedicated his un-
rivalled genius to deeds OF mercy. and became the
nou1ed forth His sympathy in unstinted tides: hav,
ing filed all His days with glorious friendships
the fainting multitudes by His golden dreams OF
age Of better a~ better ear h better I'D
wrong. nor thought IT, became the central figure of
the e@ny daS at
when His every hour effulged with tenderness and
very vortex Of hatred while envious rulers and
malignant priests drew their weapons and closed in
upon Him. In that bitter hour friends all became
enemies until It must have seemed to Him If the
very heavens rained ISLANDERS, while the earth
opened TO pour forth falsehood like lurid lava
GREAT MEN SENSITIVE.
Piteous indeed were the sunerngs associated
with His execution. but more pathetic still His
mental anguish. Greatness is constituencies. 1t is
only in an atmosphere OF sympathy. For 1t hatred
,s poison and disrust paralysis. BY much,
therefore as Jesus Christ surpassed other men IN
HIS mental gifts. by that much did He crave the
sympathy and love OF His brother man. Cherishing
the eager hope that when at last life's end did
come He should be loved one who had loved
the poor and weak and made their burdens His.
this most sensitive heart doomed TO die at the
hands OF a mob and ended His career upon a
cross a stigma so odous TO lend a sting sharper
than death itself But now. looking backward, be-
hold what transformation hath His spirit wrought.
No princess so beautiful but that she seeks TO en-
nance iovelness by the cross that Christ re-
deemed from ugliness 10 beauty. With His name
orators inspire heroism In the people poets rnger
teachings have lent sweetness TO Handels music.
majesty to Canova's marble and massveness 10 me
Church Vast indeed. is our earth yet ~ can 49,
overtake the that Journeys forward. dragging
our planet after it, Many TO- ana great b tGs
surprises and new heroes arise Cnrl Hss
name and fame stu speeding on peioae or, e ,ir1a
great looking forward shall behold christ
radiant figure standing in the golden haze Where
earth and sky do meet.
HIS MORAL SUPERIORITY.
Confesslng that Christ's is above other
names some philosophers try to account for 1t on
grounds other than Intellectual. They explain HIS
supremacy by emphasizing His moral superiority
that is based upon His stainless character and his
spOtless life Enemies have searched His career
profane vulgar tarnish His blameiess
name Even those who have revied the Church
have, with Renan made haste to proclaim Christs
pre-eminence. saying: His worship Will grow
young without ceasng. His story VIII call for'h
tears without end while coming ages Will proclaim
that among the Of men there is none born
greater than Jesus. II Christianity has tourneyed
over the continent like a beautiful civilization.
Christ's teachings have gone forward attended by
His spotless character and reinforced by HIS stain
less life. Let US affirm that His moral putit! mas
enabled Chr-t 20 lend q roseate nue. u oui "''O0
darkened earth"
Another group Of thinkers explain HIS ,ha eG
thusasm Of the multitudes. OF necessity me hu i,
Grist-pupils will go everywhere searching for some
noble master. The young soldiers TOO long ioI
great stands forth fully revealed his followers
will for him die thousand deaths Witness the
enthusiasm OF students for Arnold OF Rugby. ana
Abelard Witness the devotion of the SGottish
clansmen TO Robert Bruce Witness Garibaldi say
heat no pay no barracks. no Tations. frequent
alarms forced marches, charges at the point OF me
low me- And they fastened 10 follow him to the
promised death. But Christ's heroism In never be-
any leader whatsoever. His courage in fronting
opposition and tyranny excelled that Of any soldier
or general. He bore himself toward HIS disciple
band after the pattern of friendship more glori-
Gus than that Of any Socrates toward his DIS
clples. or any Coleridge with his noble group; IN.
deed, His planetary mind and His fun-orbed near
sweep together all possible exceences n1at
ADMIRATION and call 1OTth udHS'tHueHt
and at the generations have come to feel that
they can pour forth before Him all that is iinest IN
thought and purest In feeling, while aspirations
deep and pure without fear OF restraint, may &c
soaring and singing toward the summit OF Hi'
lofty spirit
OF old at the gathering Of the harvest the Gre
san people assembled before their temple, ea Et
husband with his ripe sheaf his purple cluster ahc
MS spray Of flowers. and with solemn hymns ties
cast all down in a golden perfumed heap pefore tnt
marble god But to-day the unnumbered miiiloiils
feel that Christs heart IS mercy. and not nlaTpIe
and, assembling before Him, they shed forth tneli
secret Ideals their hidden heartaches their aspira
lions and prayers and hopes and fears as II an IN
Visible harvest had shed IT'S richest blooms hho
fruits before the god Of summer.
THE POWER OF MIND.
But for those who love all the facts in any CASE
II is not enough to emphasize tho passing influence
OF Chrst's dramatic story, HIS lofty morals anC
HE Icf hae confess fhA