The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 2

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MONDAY DECEMBER 26 1871 i roar at io or rurnruv no mka THU IIKISTMA3TIDK AT CHURCHES borne away by Dr Church St Barnabas sou-road Kensington As I prepare myself for midnight service 1 am conscious of never before having been so many times to church on any one Sunday o' my mortal eiiiteiice 7 'tlli SERMONS IN LONDON CHURCHES The sermons preached yesterday in the principal churches with some reference to the happy change in the con i i linn of the Prinoe of Wales dealt more in anticipation with the great festival of to-day ALL BOIlIfl' WALWORTH At All Uroavcnor Park Walwerth gar et ted on Friday last ns the centre of a new parish the Rev Dr Hill vicar preached in the evening from Matt 1 VO and 21 on the subject of the Viait to Joseph Speaking of the anxiety in which Joseph was evidently plunged respecting Mary his espoused wife the preacher said that the illustrious carpenter was evidently an earnest thinker in this crisis of the world's history and a such had hut doubts and misgivings These however were removed by the angelic viait of which he would remark that it was a visit connected with a revelation from God The object was to announeu the birib of a great character Jesus a saviour from sin the production of the Holy Ghost The mission of this foretold one was to save sinners and to destroy sin and by it the culprit was pardoned and elevated by the ahange effected in hi heart at length being eonductod to the realms of immortality The revelation made by the angel was for all mankind but ite private value to Joseph wan inestimable By these words Fear not 1 bring you glad 1 DEAN STANLEY ON CHRISTMAS In Westminster Abbey yesterday afternoon before a large congregation the Very Rev the Dean preached a sermon from the words 44 Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say He purposed to speak of a doctrine or dogma of the Christian religion which was wvuts VS IUU VUIWMMI ICMjJIIMI WIIIVU WU not often mentioned on public occasions nor in creeds or tidings of God helped this man of honest reflection out of his difficulties and perplexities As regarded its general value to humanity the religion of Jesus Christ had to do with the destines of all nations and empiiee for time and eternity ite influence would never eesse and the bounds of its power were illimitable Upon Him hung the purposes and events of all ages His kingdom could never fail to inorease the knowledge of Him and His sublime character would spread until all nations participated in the blessings which resulted from acquaintance with Hia life end teachings-until all nations should call Him blessed It must never be forgotten however that the Redeemer's birth was not an unlookod-for event The thinkers of that and previous ages had anticipated and eagerly looked for it expecting the time would shortly arrive when the Messiah should appear A great tribute was due to the men of thought they ruled the world and would by the nature of things continue to do mo Thinkers in the departments of law politics literature and religion must ever be the leaders amongst men Thought and prayer to God in the name of Christ wore in fact the two elements of power on earth Illustrative of thu was the recovery of his Royal Highness the Priuco of Wales The medical skill of the men whose thought had been brought to bear upon the case bar tfd up by the prayers of the Church had been efficacious in rescuing ike Prince so far from danger Thought and prayer brought about by the intense sympathy felt by all classes in Ike nation bad in this case ended in sue-( ess and it was but right to believe that the two means i bus used had combined to produce the present happy result The blessing of Almighty God resting upon the skill and effort of the physicians hail doubtless ruied the Royal sufferer from the danger in which he had been placed that this Meeting might follow him through life waa the eameet wish of all who believed in the efficacy of prayer The rev doetor concluded with a few lessons drau from the story of the angel's visit catechisms bnt which nevertheless occupied a prominent place both in the Old and New Testaments and which waa in fact a peculiar sign of true religion He meant the religious duty of rejoicing We were sometimes told that the Jews were severe race compared with the other races of antiquity and especially with the hearty and joyous Greeks who always had their faces turned towards the sunny side of nature but surely this was not so when we found in the literature of the Jews so many combinations of innocent merriment and uch oheei ful praise and thanksgiving as were found tu the Pnalms of David So too in tho life of our Saviour So long as He was with the disciples they were like children of the bridechamber enjoying His gracious presence When a famous French writer draw out aome years ago this side of the Saviour's life in vivid perhaps too vivid colours sn alarm was raised lest desecration and dishonour should be done to 11 is name The fact was it waa we who had substituted a picture of moroseness tn the place of the true reading Just as Good Friday the dark day of the valley of the shadow of death was observed as a dny of fast in the Christian Church so was the festival of Christmas observed and enjoined as a period rejoicing In this word we preserved the familiar salutation ot the old Greeks who when they met each other or hen they parted from each other always after he hail cr farewell treated each other with this word The apostle used the same word as they did to show that he was not afraid of it he used it most emphatically to show there was in it a most true and Christian meaniug What waa the lesson of all this to us It was simply our duty so far as we could to be happy to be cheerful because it wo not only not inconsistent with religion but to be happy nnd cheerful was one of the first religious duties On this occasion therefore we apply the apostle's precept to our Christian civilisation and wish a nappy Christmas to every man woman and child we wish it in the name of Christ in every sense under all circumstances To many in every congregation this duty might seem the most easy and most delightful duty possible to the young to the healthy and to those who live at ease To such we need only aay 44 Rojoico it is not grudged to transfer them from one religion to another ft may and often has undermined their sense of right and wrong It has no experience ef life or of history -no power of understanding er foreseeing the nature of the struggle which is going on in tho human heart or the movements whioh affect Ch arches and which is eoele siasticnl his tory hows always have been and will be again It assents to or at least to anything which is in accordant with its own religious feeling and lias no sense of falaehood and truth It is an element of division among mankind It might be compare! to a fir which gives warmth but not life or growth- which instead of training or cherishing the tender plant? dfiea them np and takes away their spring of youth But then again knowledge without faith is feeble and powerless unxuitod ts our condition in this world and supplying no sufficient motive of human action It is apt to sink into isolation and selfishness it is likely to pass into a oold and sceptical temper of mind which sees only the difficulties that surround us and thinks that one thing is as good as another and that nothing in this world now signifies What we seem to want in this more than in any other age of tho Church is the drawing together of these seemingly diverging elements not allowing these two spirits to be at war with one another and rraardiog each other with si ry looks as if preparing fora final struggle Then would urn this foolish antagonism of philosophy and faith wiiiob oan hardly he regarded with patience when we refleet on the condition of the suffering masses in our large towns and elsewhere I believe that this is the first time that the minister of another denomination preached in this ancient church and to avoid misunderstanding I should like to explain very briefly what ap-I tears to me to be the significance of such an act Certainly a olergyrnan of the Church of England does not corns here to tell you anything new He has no lesson to impart which you may not have learned bettor from your own minister! Still less does be desire to assert a question of right He is only availing hirnxelf of a privilege which though little used teetns to be allowed or not denied by the Church of Scotland But the oocation is a trifle The thing signified is of more importance for we cannot help feeling weary and ashamed of the contentions and divisions which disturb the Christian Church We meet together in business in sooietyor in the family but at the door of th church we part and that which ought to be the highest bond of union amongst us becomes the most lasting element of discord 44 our greatest love turned to our greatest Does any one believe that this separate antagonism is altogether right Nations xcem to come together and enter into relations with one another but churches when once divuleu are always divided The hard lines which were fixed two or three centuries ago are not obliterated but deepened by time Ve do not of courMe suppose tliat churches can be pulled down and rebuilt in a day on a larger and more comprehensive plan Like laws they are the growth of ages and national feelings and peculiarities are reflected and embodied iu them But while admitting the fixed character of national inatitu tions we dexire also sometimes to regard the member of other religious bodies and all men everywhere as they aie in the sight of God according to the natural feelings of the human not divided as Episcopalian and Presbyterians or Catholics and Protestants or even mn Christians and heathens We wish to think of these differences ax they will appear to ua in the hour of when we shall be occupied with our own lives and not with forms of with our own sinst and not with the work of churches In the controversies of this life we feel that the points in which we are agreed are immeasurably more important than those in which wc differ and we are sensible that all Christian churches have so far failed in their mixtion that we cannot aet up one aa rival of another We desire too that the unity of the invisible Church breaking through the visible like the sun in the Heavens overcoming the mists and fogs of winter should sometimes smile upon us Nor can we deny that the spirit of division has had a baneful effect not only on our own lives but on the nation at not only in other ages but also in this How much of our class jealousies seem to arise from this cause That those who are naturally connected say aa landlord and tenant or in any other way should be separated by religion is surely a sad evil which every one in4iis place should be seeking to remedy Again there is the question of National Education about which we are of ton told that the great difficulty is rtli-gion If the religious communities of England and Scotland are charged before a higher than man's external judgment with having delayed the progress of education If ss many of nr profound lower or 'tore of our great town sure deterioration lack of proper aourishment th statesman must alike rejoice uy no-nt irii place within tlm reach of the toiling in of unity wholesome animal food which ni tin jf failur price of British bred beef and mutton 1H out of their reach It is not long unit the St Marylebone Workhouse made a pcciJ report guardians of the actual weight rf cooked huU VrV lf obtainable from a given weight of raw meat mum! bringing out the result an 27 per cent Jo oi Pr cent Ion on uiuttm while more mi inents have shown that raw meat coati tg jipr pound came it by the loss in co king fuj by the weight of bone exactly la With this price philanthropists who desire to oonau to the well-being of tbeir poorer fellow-countriaen hv compared th coat of the admirable Australian cooler rural preserved in tins which is now sold free rot et fid or 7d a pound and it is satisfactory to know their efforts have been so far successful that tho stock AuMtralum meat now in the market which a abort tinit since hung heavily on hand is row unequal th niand that shipload recently arrived wag pcv 1 of tie fore the vessel reached the docks snd that th- to now a fair pro pc ot of the immense supplies waiting for yum at ion in our Australian colonics and in th great c-uls and sheep producing countries of the River put being brought here as rapidly as tho peopU out educated to taks advantage of the boon ML for their acceptance The only va'id objcti ever offered to Australian preserved meat by tbs who heve been induced so far to overcome th common English prejudice against novel fod try it is that it is over-cooked ind sometime it hu also just a $rnpqun of the flavour oi the tin A public company is now in process of formation for wturir su extonsivo xraie process of preservation Wi1 hu been practically tested on a commercial scale Aberdeen by which both these obj ctioni are obviated week a gathering of merchants and gentlemso prn cipally connected with our Australian and New ai Ooloniss and with the River Plato took plan si th Cannon -street llotol to hear an explanation of the ay Wr and to subiiit tisb fl sh and fowl thus treated to th gastronomicaJ erpernnevlnm rvru A bill of faro con mating of cod haddock fowl grouse partridge roast sirloin of bocf round of beef and boiled log of mvi to was discussed with evident gusto by gentlemei likely to be satisfied with inferior food and general opinion was expressed that the consist oncy of hbre and the flavour of tho various au stances were retained in much higher degree than any other system of preservation in use All tlto tins of food opened for the luncheon had undergone the tost of voyages to and from the tropics but so far as any flv'-i was concerned it could not have been distinguished tror similar articles from the larder of the hotel cooked hours before Ghristie Ksq JB late Minister to th Argentine Republic aud Brazil the of the Food Preserving Company presided and explained that the object was to work Mr Kicliard Jone ii vacuum system of meat preservation and to acquire gum concern at Aberdeen now worked bv Mesxia Forbes then to start factory at the Hunter River South Wale and finallv to carry out 4he proco Sotf America Mr Forbes explained that tba old prooees of preserving was to put the meat into th tus rxw then to place the tins in a ohloride of calcium imth which a temperature of 225 deg could A soon an tbt meat attained a heat of 212 deg in the oentre the small aperture in the top of the tins bjr which th steam escaped wss soldered snd the operation completed by submitting the tins to a heat of 26r deg for half an hour by which the meat was comp preserved but expense of ovor-cooktng and ome Uis of flavour In the Jones process the tins are connected by means of a little tin spout on the top and si ind rubber tube wuh a vacuum chamber which abstract the air from the meat and the tin immediately ut allows the heat to penetrate much more npidly so that in effect the contents of the tin art rousted rather than stewed the flavour ard cos sistoocy of fibre being as well pseserved as in a jolni cooked the kitchen range Home fine joints of beef preserved with the bone in them were on the txble showing the principle to be applicable to joints when appear sices are considered as well os to tne maast of solid neat which aa matter of economy is D- tinned tn Australia Unequivocal was born to the success of the process by ship owners who hxv used meat so prepared for their passfngors and th usual startling statistics wore given of the of sum a I food waiting for consumption at th Antipode On fentleman connected with Australia declared thd 6 000 QUO sheep and 1250000 cattle could be pred sv nually from the different colonies aa surplus stock 4 the representatives of thp River Plato cLuimd for th regions at least on equal capacity for food supply lie ug descended from our own choicest stocks there seems 4 reason for the claim set up for equality beta en Australian and English meat though one may to doubt the strict accuracy of the South American er ho siaxti who insisted on the food value of River Piste and herds being equal to any in the world An iniacst ing discussion took place aa to the best OK-ai of intro during preserved meat more effectually to the ret classes of the country ami a general opinion wa -ip that food prepared by the Lew process would muc fci i tote that most desirable consummation people at JerusaU! wept on hearing the law Nehemiah aid to them day is holy mourn not Go your way eat the fat and drink the weot and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared for this day is holy unto our Lord ither lie ye aorry for the joy of the Ioid in our strength Ho all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth beamne they had undcrsl'iod the When the Prodigal returned home it waa not enough to give thank to rod they also killed the fatted calf there was music and dancing and the father raid to the murmuring dder brother 44 It waa meet that we should make merry and Ho we may associate the sacred joys of Ghrist-ith toe ini pleasures and the mirth of gathered Only let our pleasures he pure and rational and moderate fitting for the work that is to fellow and not disabling inspiring us with praise to the Divine Giver and not alienating us from Him God maybe praised for all pure and rational enjoyments hot when festivities and mirth are such that we feet it would be mockery to praise Ged for them or when after enjoying them we are disabled from seeking Hia we may he sure that sooh pleam not suited to Christmas er aay other time in the eeee ef these who profess te be followers of Jeeua and to have renounced 44 the pomps and vanities ef this wicked But with suoh limitations as these let the ataon be one of mirth Gall home the absent chil dren let scattered households he gathered let friend long severed meet let old feuds he forgotten in friendly 44 eat the fat and drink the sweet and tend portions and make If some who ere older cannot he mirthful because of the many mournful memories the season brings let the young rejoice and let the old for their sake put on the semblance of joy Their time of weepiog will come soon enough It need not he anticipated God will give grace to bear it when the time arrives an while let them be happy But alas! there are bone)ild that cannot be gathered- desolate hearth vacant chairs for death invades ml breaks up many a home as wattci comes round and so Christmas orings no mirth But even in such cases it brings comfort To all who can receive it we wish a 44 Merry Christmas all without exception a 44 Happy Christmas happy by reason of the message 44 Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your The preacher then spoke of Christmas oomfort and the re turn of it The oomfort of the text was first applied to the Jews in captivity Though so long in exile and their city in ruins God olaimed them as his own 44 Comfort ye my He had not forsaken them 44 Speak ye comfortaMy to 44 to the It was approiriate to apply these words in the oratorio to the Messiah for the words Immediately following describe the mission of John the Baptist 44 The voioe of him that erieth in the kc 3 4 and then the chorus of verse 5 44 Aud the glory of the and then 44 Zion that bringest good 9 and 44 He shall feed His flock like a The condition of the Jews in Babylon represented the state of manhood by sin exiled from God under the bondage of Satan the soul the true temple of God in ruins But the advent ef Christ brings comfort It is a libel to represent religien as gloomy Sin causes sorrow religion takes it away If the piophet said 44 Zion that bringest good the Angel at Bethlehem said 44 1 bring you good tidings of great God's ministers are to preach comfort They have to warn of danger to convince of tin to urge to duty hut in all they are to comfort They must address the intellect and the logical faculty but never apart from the heart By the intellect to reach the heart or bp the heart to gain the by piercing the conscience to reach the or by winning the heart to pierce the conscience CbriA in all His ministry in Hia miracles and in His teaching fulfilled the text to the poor the sick the bereaved -to the most guilty and depraved who felt their need He ministered consolation and even when the guilty city sought His blood He wept over it nnd spake 44 oomforiahly to The special reasons were two 44 Her warfare is accomplished the period of painful tervioe allotted to Israel was now at an end The words might be applied to the deliverance of the Church from the yokrof the eere-mqpial law to the rescue of manhood from ite help-lesstlegradation and to the experience of the people of God for though thejr have sorrows still to suffer and battles still to fight yet their warfare is accomplished in this sense that Christ has come and has conquered and has won eternal life for them so that the issue is certain already to those who trust in Him And their 44 iniquity is The primary reference was national Israel wes regarded as having suffered an ample penalty She had 44 received of the Lord's hands double for all her The tender father who had chastened his son now threw the rod away and embraced that aon with kind 44 la Ephraioi my dear son for since I him I do earnestly remember him This was a type of the Gospel Christ was born that He might suffer for our sins 44 The Lordlaid on Him the iniquity of us He offered on the cross 44 a full perfect and sufficient oblation sacrifioe and satisfaction for the sins of the whole And so the good news is to be preached to every creature To the cuds of the earth the word is 44 Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your This comfort was to be had by all who would allow Jesus to be to them individually God with us Let ua a ltuit Uun to our heart for whom there waa no room in the inn Iet us not thrust Him into the stable Let ua give Him the chief place Break the bars Down with the barriers Lift up your heads ye gates If the home be desolate or the heart be sad Christ will bring comfort to it And very soon when a few more Christmas seasons have passed whet joy it will be to hear the voice from Heaven calling ua away from a world of toil aud grief and sin saying 44 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem aud cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished you Christ does not grudge is to you God does not grudge it to you Rejoice young man in the days of thy youth rejoice dear children in the days of your childhood Only remember that these bright and happy days are the gift of your good Father who is in heaven Remember also Oyoungman that for all these things thou will have to give acoount whether thou hast used them wU 04 ill whether thy enjoyment has been the enjoyment i a reasonable Christian man or the enjoyment of the beasts that perish Remember that between cheerfulness and levity there is a gulf as deep as between happiness and misery There is a allow of cheerfulness a show of joyousness which is not eheerf illness and which is not joyousness To make light of things which are really grave and serious to make sport of things pure tender and sacred to laugh at or with the wickedness of wicked to scoff against the goodness of the this this is not cheerfulness bat is base miserable contemptible folly There are men in every congregation to whom not only then is no temptation to levity but to the command to be cheerful seems a hard tying and a duty which they know not how to welcome The timea are difficult with many The season is gloomy and the days are short and dreary the nights sre dark and long and cold but we may be happy notwithstanding Christ as comes in the winter we might almost ty for this very purpose You have yonr families around you you make your house be it large or small as comfortable as joyful as cheerful as you can That is the first duty to which the apostle calls you and to whkh we call you on Christmas Rve and on Christmas Day Again the world is evil end often it seems to grow no better It is so difficult to do anything for the worlh without mixing in it and it is eo difficult to mix in it without being the worse for it What we do of good fa so small what we do of evil is so much It Is so difficult to do good that does no har it is so easy to do harm even by mistake All this is most depressing bnt still as the apostle says rejoice Again we may hare known much sorrow we may have seen those we love parted from us we may have some constantly wearing days of great and incurable pain or we may have some dread ful secret pressing on the mind Home wrongs which we cannot set right some misunderstanding which cannot be removed still do not cherish this grief beyond its natural time do not make the worst of all things do not think it to be a duty to be unhappy There is sadn enough in the world and in ourselves without multiplying it by our own imagination The veiy reverend preacher then spoke of the duty of cheeefulness for the sake of othersa duty which Jie said would gradually bring its own reward even if that reward were merely the sckmsnets that it was a duty 44 See how those Christians love one was the exclamation ef i heathens in the early ages 44 Bee how happy th Trm' was ft in! not so long igo when it wo Id fnv- 1en altogether a work of supererogation I'ontlnn newspaper to open tU columns to such a subject 8 the decoration of churches it ('hiintinia In the first j'i nobody would have read the remarks had there lt anything to call for notice The decorations of the poulterers and shops were much more to the purpose in those un ethetic times Secondly there would hare been really no material for such an account Beyond a few sprigs of holly stuck in the church rhandeliess and other eusy place by a wheezy old pew-opener and a stout evergreen added by the rheumatic MX ton somewhere in the neighbourhood of the pulpit ao an to make his revrrenoe look liken Jack -in-tlie-Green and it may be in very advanced parishes a scrap or so of mintletoe furtively dedic ated to the curate by a giggling distent visitor (if distiset visitors ever did or do giggle) beyond these trifling and tsstelesa decorations nothing aver entered into the minds of our grandsires in the way of ecclesiastical adornment Without doubt the mnch uialigited Ritualists iu their transition peiiod of Puseyism or 44Tractarianism had a good dual to do with originating a change of sentiment and practice in this respect though as is the custom that change has quite outgrown its originators and is in no degree the tttdge of a party At tint of course the plan of floral decoration appeared very revolutionary atid dreadful just as pleaching in the surplice did prior to the recent charge of the Lord BUbop of London but wh once Monism sense was brought to bear on the question of retaining a ministerial instead of substituting an academies! dress in Divine service or of adorning God's boose in a tasteful instead of a slovenly manner there could scarcely be two opinions among sensible people Bo it is that the Raster and Christinas decorations have come to la matters of course in churches by no means just as since the Bishop's recent visitation the surplice is quietly taking its place in the pulpit and in a very short time we shall begin to wonder how it was anybody ever made a fuss about either matter It is a 14 sign of the times that in some of the most Evangelical rhurohot in London where hitherto not a sprig of green lias appeared contributions have this year been asked and given tor 44 Bat a difficulty arise to oxer case the minds of church decorators when Christmas happens as this yesr to fall on a Monday When shall the decorations be put up It is clear they should not be in the church on Sunday for that Sunday it the Fourth in Advent and Jaringthe month's Vigil of the Nativity all ornamentation has been done away with or toned down to the most severe and chastened character Consequently in some churches where attention is paid to these aw the tics 1 matters everything in the way of decoration is omitted on tbs Sunday and appears as if by magic on Monday the decorators having prepared everything duiing the week and risen in the very small tionra of Monday to put it up No one who has not tried St would guess what that work of 44 putting up is or bow a whole ocean of decorations which deluged the arhoolhonse or vestry is swallowed up and lost wh transferred to the church The twisting of a big wreath to span the chancel arch or wind round each pier in the nave Is task before which all but the most industrious quail and te get everything in place between Sunday night and possibly an early celebration on Christmas morn requires vary large and willing staff indeed The 44 coirect gheory it still more difficult to carry out According to Ibi Ike last service on a Vigil is the first of the Feast that is the evening service of Christmas Eve is really the first service of Christmas Day and this would require that the decorations should be put up between 4 Matins and Evensong of Sunday but as this would Involve closing the church during a Urge portion of the fiord's Day theory is in most cast sacrificed to practi utility though several churches it will be noticed this rear announced their late service on Christmas Eve as the Evensong for Christmas appearing to an 3d non lightened mind to reverse the order of evening and pierning in aoontonhai remarkable manner Though cmiuenw that it would be physically impossible foe me to visit a tithe of the London churchee I resolved to take a pretty wide circuit and commenced with what perhaps the most recent oonyert to the cause of ecclesiastical decoration St Bayswater which is Ithis year decorated for the first time the incumbent the rVen Archdeacon Hunter whose preaching lias attracted Urge congregation to this once-deserted church Jiaving solicited contributions for thu purpose on plve preceding Sunday St Matthew's is a little atragglmg in some places and lumpy in others In point of wreaths but on the whole has made a successful de'-vt St James's Westbonrne-tor- ysoe the parish church of Paddington is copious enough but the wreaths are too small for the size of the church The panels of the gallery are here filled in with appropriate devices in green leaves on red baize At All Haints Norfolk square Paddington little was done yesterday the wreaths being twined round the pillars but the 44 texts being deferred until the morrow as I was informed by a pew-opener who was making her toilette in a pew previous to the eleven oclck service By the way it was amusing to notice tho effect produced on the pew oening and beadle mind by my unorthodox plap of visiting some thirty churches in morning declining the offer of a pew and abruptly retreutiug They evidently thought I had predatory designs on the hymn books or other moveables At St Star-street Paddington the doors were closed as I got there between the 44 Children's at 1015 and the ordinary midday tervioe at 1L30 though it is not customary I found for this church to keep its doors rigidly shut as do some A notice outside states that it is 44 open for private prayer at 730 am and from 12 to 1 These are invited to come who have no quiet place to pray in at At St Bryanaton-equare an immense amount of labour had been expended chiefly in the way of texts which ran completely round the galleries besides sur mounting the Communion table They were elaborate but unecclcsiastical having rather the appearance of large placards Looking in at St Jkipes's SjNgish-placf 4 Roman Catholic) I found High Mass just commenced with full Advent surroundings The same was the case at the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception Farm street Berkeley -square where one of the Fathers preaching to an immense congregation the altar ted in purple There was a curious list of Advent lsctuies outside this church: one subject being 4 Bona another 44 and a third 44 The Being the last Sunday in Advent there was grand Te Deum at Vespers St George's Han-square was true to the old sprig-in-the-chandelier as were several other churchee I though these may have been reserving themselves for the morrow St Piccadilly All Souls Uufhara-pines Trinity Church and Marylebone Church I got to the Inst just as a beadle and pew -opener were locking-up after morning service The former evidently thought it meonsAsCent with his oocked hat and gold lace to give any information to a stranger unorthodox enough to drop in at such a time The latter epigram matically informed me that the deoorations were 44 Decidedly the amt tremendous development which ever befell any ecclesiastical edifice is that which has ooine to change guondom Archbishop Chapel into St Thomas Regent street A large red and blue cross spanning the alley which lfcads from the thoroughfare to St Thomas's gives quite a Continental er mediaeval character to the locality and the clergy who I recollect used to be minister and assistant minister are all full-blown into -priests and assistant Dr Lee of All Saint Lambeth was preachina one of a course of Advent ter mous at St Thomars Behind this church lies the Roman Catholic Chapel in Warwick -street where the vestments of the officiating priests struck me as of rather a lively blue for Advent St Peter Great Windmill street almost next door to the Argyll Rooms was somewhat fully decorated bat the congregation was sadly out of proportion to the capacities of the church Here too 1 observed a notice which struck me as singularly well-timed is open all day for private devotion" It would be very interesting to learn how far auch appeals are responded to in these localities And so from the pleasant suburbs that bright springlike Sunday morning into unsavoury un-Sabbatarian' Soho The open shopa full of people give quit a foreign air to this locale and make one hok round for the Sunday Observance officers By a queer coincidence two men were prof the 44 Adesto Fideles in 44 Berwick-street and vending carols At St Ann's Soho Canon Gregory was greaching for the schools and I saw no decorations but the fact was I had lost my bearings and furtively opened a dour which brought me suddenly face to face with whole pewsful of people so 1 beat a quicker retreat than even from a suspicions pew-opener or supercilious beadle At St Berwick-street nothing was done though from printed requests for flowers on the doors it is evident something is to he done but there are no beadles hanging resplendently around the Soho churches A clergyman 1 presume the incumbent tho Rev Harry Jones was dis I for a generation what can they say 44 Lord we have maintained the confessions of faith we have taught the catechism we have preached in the synagogue we have denounced But must not the answer be that we allowed these children to perish through our divisions Are we not often alarmed at the hideous spread of pauperism and vice with which the churches seem unable to cope while we are divided amongst ourselves how can we expect carry on a straightforward fight against these evils while we are more interested about points iu which we differ than about the great truths qf religion snd morality in which we are agreed? And although we do not dreatu of a union of churches yet may we not hope to see a true sense of proportion amongst that the external may no longer prevail over the internal and that we may resoguise the ties which unite us to be far grcatei and moie enduring than the accidents which xepurate ui? ST ALBANS UOLBORN Ths pre-Christmas service at this church yesterday forenoon was not marked by aay very special obser vance and the congregation was much thinner than is customary There waa apparently no demonstrative decoration The pendent lamps around the altar were alight the priests in the seeoad part of the service wore gorgeous vestments and the anthems chants and hymns were all festal and jubilant The Communion was celebrated with great elaboration and solemnity the choir bringing all its tuneful power to the development of acred musical effects There was much genuflexion but no absolute prostration and the elements were duly elevated the great hell ringing out at the moment No incense waa used The prayers were intoned by the Rev Mr Mackonochie and the sermon preached by the Rev Mr Stanton with the earnestness fervour and power of language which characterise him He prefixed to his discourse no text and after some general introductory observations on the duty of man to love and worship God who had ee loved the world that He gave His only Son for it he proceeded to dilate on the sin of luxury which he seemed to imply wes one of the besetting sins of our time He spoke of the human body as being as it were the point of junction between matter and spirit He told how animals were endowed with instincts sufficient but limited to the necessities of their organisation whereas man in the body was endowed with instincts and desires which went beyond the simple requirements of his material organisation and thus it came about that the body continually in revolt against the souL There i tendencies in material man whioh were not sary to the 'full development of hia bodily life which if indulged in tended to destroy at once the organisation of hia body and his spirit If it asked why it was so he (the preacher) could not say he waa ignorant of this which was one of the deep mysteries of onr being The indulgence of these tendencies was what the Church celled luxury inasmuch as they were not necessary to thTdevelopment of material existence All the sensei of the body had their legitimate funotione and all tendencies to that which went beyond those fune tions became luxury Inasmuch as they exceeded actual physical needs and had no object but self-indulgence These tendencies and their indulgence destroyed physical organisation and the spiritual health of the soul and their inevitable result was the loot of the brilliancy and brightness of youth and the vigour of manhood and their effects were to be found illustrated in the sight of spectres of men and women walking about the world who had lost the grace and beauty of who died as they had lived victims of a luxury which died with them accompanist them to the grave anil would rise with them to testify against them in the hour of judgment This luxury destroyed the beauty of the heart and set the indulgences and emotions of the flesh above the high and deep emotions of tle soul which made men's lift beautiful and lovely In glowing phrase and with almost passionate neatness the gradudl diminution in the enjoyment of natural beauties and the substitution for that sense of enjoyment of a feverish factitious sensual excitement which this sin of luxury oaused and speaking of that coming of Christ which Christmas oommemorated it waa observed that at the time of His ooming into the work luxury with all its evils was at its height and He presented to the world a spectacle of purity and self-denial and gave forth a new faith which was to permeate the earth the influence of which at this season we ought to feel and to show its effects in determination to strive against the luxury and sensuality whioh was warring against the higher interests of our souls The preaoher then gave a fervid sketch of the anil progress of that system of ascetism which followed the incarnation of our Lord and which was developed vows of eelibecy chastity mortification of the body which bad produced hermits and monks and nuns and wh its origin in a desire to fellow the example of their Master in the holiness and purity of His life and which the world is ted If the preaoher did not directly recommend the adoption of something of this ascetism he urgently called on his carets at this Christmas tids to sacrifice end immolation of their bodies and souls bef Christ CABDLIIVKR8' AStiOCIA BENEVOLENT TION EDITOR OF 44 TUB DAILY TKI Sir A paragraph appears in your isuue of this having reference to the 44 Cabdrivers Benevolent to rax parsers 1 ert LABOUR AND WAVES Agents have arrived in London from South Wales ti secure the services of one thousand men in the nstruo tiou of a railwuy in New Zealand Tho men required arc skilled mechanics and steady labourers auch as masons bricklayers carpenters engineers wheel wright platelayers and excavators They will have their tar-w paid out to New Zealand snd their wages will go on front the date of sailing and other privileges This will probably relieve to some sxtsnt the seriously depressed huh of the London building trade The time of dcpaiture wdl be about six weeks hence Messrs Pearson and printers and stationers A Within KC and Messrs Kotheroe and Ban tin engineers of Ground-street Blackfriars ad have conceded the nine arrangement to their employes Tlie movement has been also adopted by Meat alder and Naldcr of Challow Works Wantage Br! The Amalgam a ted Society of Engineer have iasud in their report for the present month two paolution passed at 44 an iro(rtaiit meeting of branch tiiovrs ut conjunction with the They are ji follows 1st 44 That having heard the various report- he members present in regard to the time of com ring work under the nine system this meeting uost tlis council to at once issue a small circular to 'hr member throughout the London district recommen them to urge upon the employers to allow the work'ien to -ora-mence ut ix o'clock am each working day nno if -aible to secure the co-operation of the hole oi ths workmen so that the system might come mto practice uS later than the 1st January 2nd i arranging with the employers iu the London diitrnjt terms on which overtime must lx paid for meettog recommends the workmen to insist upon 4 day standing on its own merits and that tune and a carter be) a id for the first two hour and at least time an 1 a Laif for dJ working time after the first two hours am the council be requested to embody tnee conditions in tu circuax already agreed The report of the counc il adds that they have every reason to btdieve that neorli ti of die employer throughout the trade will hi'e conceded the nine hours by the Ut January 1K72 ey aay besides 44 It is grvtifyiug to find that this reduction in ths hours of labour has been attained without tkcmng ths good feeling between employers and their rkuieu fact it has been the means of strengthen mg he iriato position of Messrs Robert Wothersporm and Co have -educed the working hours of thei empo tines from 60 to -7 pr week The same firm mmy year ago redui id th- rk-ing hours in tlieii extensive confectionery tfitabiuaiv-t to 67 hours morning Will you therefore kindly allow me a small space to more fully explain the objects its promoters aim at and the present position of the society? The institution is intended to be in part self-supporting and there are now upwards of 800 cabmen members of it who subscribe five shillings annually The objects are threefold 1 To eatablish a fund from which small annuities may be granted to cabdrivers whose age or bodily infirmity prevents them earning a livelihood 2 To give tetri rovrary assistance to the members when in distress through unavoidable causes 3 To raise a fund for the purpose of building an asylum for the aged widows of cabmen Mr IlogsrBykyn MP has most kindly promised the land provided a sufficient sum can be raised to build the msvIuiu Those of the public who know aujrthing of a cabman must be aware that the small remuneration he reoeives or rather has quite prec ludes the possibility of he himself being able to contribute to thi particular fund It often happens that a cabman after having been out for sixteen or seventeen hour retains to the yard with perhaps only one shiHing left him when he has paid for the hire of his cab The main object however of this society is to improve the seetal and moral condition of the driven to teach them self-respect and habits of providence and by a rule recently adopted the committee are empowered to expel anjr member whose oondnet is likely to bring discredit upon the association I have on ty to add that the Earl of Lichfield is the president and the Marquis Townsbend treasurer and if there axe any of your readers who may feel disposed to help the gentlemen interested in the welfare of poor bnt respectable cabmen inch contributions aa they may be (pleaeed to gins can be paid to the account Union Bank Charing-orosa or will be thankfully received by your most obedient servant STORMONT MURPHY Hon Secretory 15 Soho-square Dec 22 this be the exelamatioa of outside world around us The holly tree its green branches when all the other trees afless is the true sign of Christmas joy because it is a sign of what Christian cheerfulness ought to be for eethe dark leaf of holly seeus Jess bright and green in summer than other trees 44 vet when the here wintry wooda we see what so cheerful as the holly So then ah all Christian happiness shine out more and more as other joys fly away Always no doubt there must be something to sober and overshadow our joys yet this Christmas when we look around us there is less than usual The brightness of the day without answers the bright thoughts within Thai daik cloud which hung over the Christmas of last year when we could only think of famishing cities hostile armies and exiled families has pawed away That dark cloud also which ten days age seemed to threaten our Christmas hppi-Uuyer which might have thrown a shadow over that cloud too we trust baa passed away Rejoice then with the joy of the psalmist rejoice with the joy of the apostles rejoice with the joy of Jeeua Christ and we shall have that true happiness which is not only to be found in serving Him but in Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE At the Metropolitan Tabernacle in the morning the Rev II Spurgeon who baa just returned from Rome preached before a congregation which crowded the interior Previous to the sermon he made a brief extempore prayer for the Prince of Wales beseeching the Almighty that hia illness which appeared to be an evil night lead him in the future to improve his opportunities for doing good GRKYFRIAK3 CHURCH EDINBURGH bv tklkuiuphJ Professor Jowett Master of Balliol College Oxford preached in the afternoon in Old Grey friars Established Church Edinburgh to a crowded congregation He took for hia text the wonb in Peter II chap i verse 5 44 Add faith virtue and to virtue In the of his sermon ths learned professor said 44 There is vo aeon to ho thankful for tho signs which we havq not of the decline and fall but of the new life and progress of tho Christian faith For now there begins to be a hope dhriatians may lay amdo sons part of that whioh a weary world ever increasing in ours of ages and tha instead of wandering amid difficulties and perplexities they may find in the sad teaching of Christ ths solution of their diffi But still in all ths triumph of civilisation there ii well as gained to ths cease of wo look back to the cheerful alacrity with which in some former times men sacrificed all their material and intellectual interests to what they to he right wo sre tempted to imagine tbs ages of faith have gone aud that aa age of anarch of industry and si social improvement has succeeded to them There is mors toleration mors knowledge than formerly but is there ths same heroism ths same self sacrifioe ths same intsnsity the same elevation of cha raster the same aspiration aftor an ideal life the same death to tho world tho same continued struggle for the good of man People ask 4 Who would be a martyr now-a-daysf And thewting of the jest lies in the truth of it For indeed wo can scarcely imagine such a power of faith in our own age as would enable a man to give np not only hia preferment or means of livelihood but life itself in defence of some doctrine or principle Nor do ws see around us that intense of ths miseries of others which makes happi-impossible while they remain unrelieved or1 feather whose only happiness is to share them There is more good sense in ths world greater material prosperity of evil than formerly but those higher types of whioh in former ages have guided and en lightened whole oountries and communities seem to be sen by ue now farther and farther off like the lights on the shove to the departing mariner and with a diminished In the present day when so many unions axe made of things that were formerly now ate are beginning to think more kindly of CathoUssand Catholics of Protestants and ths different The Labour Am gives the following succinct hcc ST ISLINGTON The religious festival ef the hour was here particularly marked by the elaborate deooration of the church The pillars were all thickly entwined witk holly am ena the galleries were draped with scarlet doth fringed with greenery on which were set forth in large letters of gold various texts of Scripture and the of the Saviour was inscribed over the altar on the pulpit and in every plaoe where it oould be seen conspicuously The Rev Mr Ewene preached to a very large congregation yesterday from the first chapter of St Peter the 4th aud 5th verses wherein is described the inheritance which God the Father of Jesus Christ has prepared for His people in heaven The preacher dwelt on the nature of that inheritance which being incorruptible and undented contrasted with all earthly possessions It an inheritance which fadeth not away dll things in it would exist in all their fulness and without diminution for aH eternity Such being the inheritance it wee pointed out that no one had aay diaim by means of anything had done or would do to obtain it hut that the only hope of it must be founded on Cnriet and Hie resurrection which had been decreed not by a stern and avenging God hut by a loving Father On this was founded a practical application and an earnest exhortation to the inheritance which was prepared ST There were very large congregations both morning and afternoon at St Paul's Cathedral In the afternKn the Rev Canon Liddon preached from the text Tim iii 16 44 Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness God is ever manifest in the flesh The preacher said that the Advent season had at length reached its close and we were at Christmas Bve The season in its expectation was over and we were entering upon the hours of the bright and blessed festival when the Christian Church kept the birthday of its founder the day on which the Saviour of mankind was born of a human mother and took hia place amongst the things and scenes of the world It waa uot the birthday of mere it was much more than that it the entrance into the human world of one who was its savionr and its judge and under conditions which made him the peer of the poorest and the youngest amongst us After explaining the words of the text 44 God was manifest in the in their true and literal meaning Canon Liddon went on to observe that Christianity had been from the first what it in the manger at Bethle hem By manifestation of Himself in the flesh ths chasm between earth and heaxtu over and a real communication with God through Hit blessed Son and Him only had been opened to man The consideration of this wss the real happiness of the condition of business in tweuty towns of hngl sml Scotland Great a tiv Barnsley Iron worker well employed Biiatou- employed Birmngl Scarcity of labour tn plate works Spinners well en ployed on contact Colliers fully employed -Nailmakers unsettled Full work snd prospects good Glasgow Activity in all industries Spinners fairly busy Man torturers fully employed Jeed Manufacturers full work Manufacturers busy boot and ai maufaotuora diuoltciiing Mimchoito- Contiuuirsqnit Generally well employed Newciu-on All branches of business active Newr Works in regular employ Nottingham city of labour reported Sheffield Hands much Stoke-on-Trent of the district fully enpi Wolverhampton and Activity continues new works erecting Yesterday a deputation of men emnleyed at the of collieries near Sheffield had an interne with the manager in refeience to an application that been made for an advance of wages and earlier pay tinis on Saturday No definite arrangement being ut the men decided to meet to-day in order to finally whether they would be content with asking a five Kj cent odvauce which is the amount that it is 'VtH will be generally conceded throughout South Yorkshire Messrs Mic helm ore and Keup ironfounJer engineer Borough road Southwark have cofcediM their employes the nine movement to coui'a-- on the let of January 1872 Panic nr a London Yesterday morning much alarm was caused in the church of 3t Clement Danes Strand by a cry of raised during the sermon which was being preached by the Rev Russell one of the curate a It appears that there was an issae of steam from a crack iu one of the pipes connected with the warming apparatus On the cry of 44 a sudden panic seized the congregation who rushed to the doors At this moment the Kcv imiison the rector stepped out into the chaucel and implored the congregation to allay their fears as there was no danger whatever This hail the di-siied effect but he announced that as fear had been excited it be bettor to bring the sei vice to a close a ith the benediction which was then riven It appears that there was not at anv time the least danger and that there it no fear of the little irregularity that did occur evsr happening again The Lots of the The following particulars of the loss of the Delaware have been derived from the two survivors the first and third mates The vessel left the Mersey at two on Monday last On the morning of Wednesday she encountered a strong gale and heavy sea and was unable to make headway The lifeboat got adrift and stove in the engine-room skvlight At ibis time the Bishop light was visible a few miles off A few hours later the captain finding he oould not weather the Bishop light tacked northward and the gale hy noon having increased to a hurricane a man was washed overboard the ship being still unable to mike headway The engines were working at an average pressure of fifteen pounds and their bearings became so hot that it was neosseary to stop them for twenty minutes in order to allow them to cool The wind shifted to the north-west and the captain seeing rocks ahead and on the lee quarter attempted to back the ship to the southwest hoping thus to weather Bishop tight on the starboard task This being unsucoeaaful attempts were mails ti wear the ship and a staysail was hoisted which was soon blown away The crew then hauled out the foot of the fore and aft foresails and being near the rocks the were reversed and tne ship paid off before ths wind It is supposed in doing this the cargo in one of holds shifted at all events the vessel refusing to answer her helm was forced amongst the breakers and a hea sea dashing over her cairied away the captain an broke in the forward decks A second and third heavy folio wing9 the ship immediately sank An attempt was made to lower one of the boats but unfortunately the tackle was let go and it was smashed against the ship's vv ni vw Medical Appointments Edward Sana we I LKCP Edin MRCS Eng ha been appoint! Medical Officer to St Home for boy Edwin Woodward LRCP Edin MRCS Eng-l been appointed surgeon to the Lynn and Sutton brnii of the Great Northern Railway vice Thomas Mar Kendall FRCS Eng deceased John Lowe CM Kdin has been appointed tu assistant meflj officer to the Durham County Lunatic Asylum field John Bott RCS Fug and AN IM': LRCP Edin MRCS Eng have been airntJ resident medical officers to St Mary's Hospital tr Diseases of Women and Children Manchester ST JAMES'S HALL The great hall was very beautifully decorated fo Christmas Across the gallery in large letters were the words 4Ged Bless the Prinee of The sermon in the afternoon waa preached by the Rev Newman Hall LLB who took for bia test the words of Isaiah xL 44 Comfort ye comfort ye my people eaith your God The following Man outline of the sermon jAfteraninetru-tal overture in which the light of hope and pesos essms thing on a night of sorrow and despair the grandest musical composition which mortal ears ever heard and to which human hearts ever vibrated opens with these oul-stirringl words so characteristic of ths great theme The mission of the Messiah was one of comfort As the 44 Consolation be was prefiguied by propheta and announced by angels The oeleetial choir whose music ravished the ears of the shepherds of Bethlehem obeyed the command first issued to IsraelitUh teachers at Babylon The anthem of the angels to God in the highest end on earth was their response to the summons of the Prophet ye comfort ye my people Speak ye comfortably to Christmas has always been a time of gladness IU festivities alas are not always holy We grieve to think of the gluttony drunkenness buffoonery profligacy often associated with revelling rather than rejoicing Not that all mirth which is not professedly religious is therefore irreligious We read in the Bible how times of worship weie also times of festivity as at the Passover All tho laws of God are iu harmony with esoh other Bodily and social pleasures may be hallowed Ity soeciil counectf with season of worsbio When who oould rightly enjoy this great festival it was this which birthday eo unlike any other birthday in the history God giant that a deep sense of spiritual truth might pervade all men throughout this happy festival of Christmas It wag an occasion for family greetings for kindly intercourse and for courtesies such as would not occur again thoughout the year Christmas had ita true meaning It would be well if all who could feel the peculiar happiness of Christmas would turn their knowledge to tome practical acoount each would do some act of kindness in honour and try all that they possibly could to relieve their poor suffering brethren There were many only too many needy recipients of a Christian charity There must be some service whicU each man could do in the honour of Jeans Christ though he were among the youngest and the poorest of the community If he could not give food he might possibly give a little money if not money then clothes He oould pey too a welcome visit and offer comfort and sympathy which was needed by those who got very little sympathy at all Let each one then in that congregation make up his or her mind to do some good on Christmas Day and only think how mqph happiness would thereby be diffused Th more heartily aud cheerfully they did what little they oould the bettor Above all the more unostentatious the charity the more real happiness would be bestowed on the giver After the sermon the hymn 44 Hark the herald angls was sung and this was followed by the National Anthem as the congregation took their icoarture li i Gilbert Angell Sutcliffe LKCR Min j' ha been appointed medical officer for the North I of the Parish of St George-in-tbe-East vice Benjamin 1 element as well as ths higher purpose of it seems to be of gnat rtanoe that we should bring together the good and the truth in all things not limited only by our own circle If instead of reverting to the follies of ths pest we oould really extract ths of ths past new prospect of Christian to us and ths gospel might realty he before tbs age If instead of returning to antiquated practices and disused symbols ths higher purpose of the eleventh century were capable of being translated into the language afid customs of the nineteenth then perhaps truer ideal ef religion and nobler forms of life might spring up among ut Or if the spirit of the Reformers and of the scholars of tbs Reformation could be re-awakened this snd other European countries ths ruinous bar-rien which divide the Christian world might fall down and an intelligent study of Scripture again become the id centre of Christians But in religion we are always returning to the past instead of storting from the past-learning nothing forgetting nothing trying to foree back modern thought into the old conditions instead of breathing anew the spirit of Christ into an altered world Faith without knowledge is a wilful and unmeaning thing which can never guide men into light and truth It will pervert their notions of God it will ned A Lond is bt 'u Baker RCS Eug LSA Loud real nry Bishopp Courtenay LFPS Glasg L-s for the South District vice Sutcliffe Richard RCS Edin and LM courting eloquently on the theme of 44 old things passed away and all become At 8t Wells-street which I reached about mid-day the Herculean task was attempted putting np the always elabo-rate decorations between one and four at which latter hour the Christmas services commenced with beautiful carol 44 Cradled all Passing back again to the suburbs Trinity Church Paddington was very gay indeed the chief care having been bestowed on the chancel and font with 1 trge crosses at the eaat and west ends The incumbent (Rev Daniel Moore) was just bringing to a close his series of Advent sermons with one on the Inspiration of riptuie 8t Paul's Onslow-squara Brompton was of tho sprig spriggy a severe anti-climax being produced ty the fact of a large bough being propped up in the ont by means of a hassock which obtruded itself on the public gaze 8t South Kensington recently built for the Rev Mr Forrest late chaplain of the Lock Hospital was one of the moat taatefully decorated ihurche I mw but perhaps with the exception of one lr we a rcidly reserve I for to dav the oalm was the teTdud Teer1 of the crew beu iu it at tU office' an 7 'puttie" ccinaor for UUII 1 Eastern District of the Palely Bridge I nu vice Kicna Dkck Brown (d Liver Josoh's Lioht The unquestionable superiority of this oil over all other kinds is thus attested by Edwin euton Ksq Hurseou to the (haring cross Hospital For several years pest I have been in the habit of prescribing Hr ds Jonghs Ught-Brown Cod Liver Oil and fiud it to be much more efficacious than other varieties of tlie some medicine which 1 have also employed with view to tMt their Hutive ulrioiUr" in Mt-wled lpeni half tdnto te id pints 4a fit: quarto te: by all Cliemuta Sole consignees Ansar Ilarford and Co 77 Strand Loudon ipsigne-i h' in or vice -1 re i ip 1 Thomas Fox Monish MRCS Eng A i been reappointed medical officer and public vvcciu District No 2 of the Toxtoih Pat a wusaip.