BEYOND THE ATLANTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 247, 18 October 1893, Page 6

BEYOND THE ATLANTIC.

Or, PEN AND INK SKETCHES OF MEN AND THINGS AMERICAN.

(By Rev. Dr. Wuitklaw.)

New York, Brooklyn and Jersey CityNew Yokk : Its Streets and People, Institutions and Buildings — Fifth Avenue Puekriteuian Chukcii and Dr. John Ham,—Up Town Churches and Woukino Men—A Scene in WallSteekt Stock Exchange — Brooklyn Bridge—'Pa lmage and a Nkw Way of FayINU CliUUOli DliliT. In entering upon the task of rocording my thoughts in a aeries of articles on what I caw and heard beyond the Atlantic, I may mention that 1 have no secret purpose o E preparing a formidable volume on America, bub simply a design to convey somo inr pressionsl received in the course of a somewhat longish journey in certain parts of the United Scticea and Canada. I make no protonsiona to speak or write with tho authority of one who has resided years on the Western Continent or of one who has Bxhaas'tively travelled over its surface: I simply claim to havo mob and talked with Americans from various quarters, and to havo seen a small portion of their extensive territory. Comparatively few people on this side of the water I believo have a proper conception of tho vast dimanaions of the New World. An admirable volume entitled 'The Now Era,or the Coming Kingdom,' by the Rev. Josiah Strong, D.D., Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance for tho United States, which has just been issued by the American press, and which I forunately foil in with the day I left for home, puts this in a striking Manner. ' Of our tifty-ono States and tarritories,' cays tho writer, ' twenty-seven ars oach larger than all England, while our entiro territory would contain England jixty-nine times. . . Thirteen of the smaller German states might all find room in Connecticut, and Connecticut might be laid down in Colorado n score of timos ;and Montana is larger that) Colorado by 42,000 square miles. . . . And Texas is larger than California by 107,000 squares miles. , . And Alaska in more tiian twice as large us Texas. The United Kingdom of Great. Britain and Ireland, the Empire of Oermany with its twonty-six States, the Republic of Frunce with its eighty-six department?, tho Kingdom of Greoca with its thirteen monarchies, and the Republic of Switzerland with its twenty-two cantons might, all bo carved out of this one territory of Alaska.'

Having in a provious communication touched upon my voyage over the Atlantic I ahall nob allude to it further than to say thnt the s.s. City of Rome, though alow in these days of ocean racers liko tho Paris, the Fih-Bt Bismarck, and tho Campania, is upon the wliolo a satisfactory vessel in which to 2ro.?a the ocean, thab tho ten days she took to traverse the wido waßte of waters (from the 11th to the 21st of May) passed agreeably, with the usual day sports upon the deck and the customary musical ontertainments in the evening in tho saloon, one of bheso being a concert) at which I was invited to preside and make a iittle speech in favour of the Sailors' Orphan Homes, and that nothing occurred to mar the pleasure of the trip excepb two unexpected stoppages in mid ocean, one tor the greater part of a day and another next night for fivo or six hours, to repair machinery, and the almost continuous blowing, through a whole night, of tho foghorn while passing the coast of Newfoundland. Having reached Sandy Hook at the Hudson mouth on the evening of Saturday, tho City of Rome next morning sailed up the river, pasb tho statue of Liberty and tha mouth of tho East River, over which was discernible tho famous suspension bridge between Now York and Brooklyn, and haying drawn up alongside tha wharf, landed her passengers upon the shores of America. Seen by one approaching from the Hudson, the Empire Cut appears a large and enterprising town, such as one might uxpout the commercial capital of the West to be, and this impression is confirmed to the tull on reaching its crowded and bustling thoroughfares. Originally a Dutch settlomenb called New Amsterdam, it has grown to be the New York of to-day, with its million and a half of inhabitants. It has overflowed tho boundaries of the Manhattan Island on which it is built, and extends nine or ten miles towards the north from the Battery Park, its southern point. It is laid out in lots. Numbered streets, from one upwards, run across tho city from tho Hudson to the East Kiver, which streets are cut by main avenues, 100 feet wido, stretching from south to north. Of thoeo tho most beautiful and popular is tho Fifth Avenue, ' the swell part of tho city,' in vulgar parlance, the abode of the Astors, Vanderbilbs, and Jay Goulds ; tho site of magnificent nmnsions,hotels,andchnrches; tliePrinco'astreet and Rottenrow of the New World, along which its wealth and fashion delight to ride or stroll. Tho far-famod Broadway winds in a zig-zag direction from the Babtery to tho Contral Park, a spacious recreation and garden ground of upwards of HOO acres, of which 43 are lakes, with 10 miles of carriage drives, and 30 miles of footpaths. Arriving in the city from the Old World, a stranger cannob fail to be struck with its combined elegance and activity, reminding him of a cross between London and Edinburgh, though inferior to tho English Metropolis in stir and to the Scottish capital in beauty. Yet in sotuo respects it is ahead of both, having sable and eloctric ■ cars in almost every street, elovatod railroads in the main avenue* (except the Fifth, which has boon kept sacred for youth and beauty to display their charms in, and for woalth and fas Won to parado thoir vulgaritios in), and electric lights in its squares and parks, hotels and stores, mansions and churches, avenues and streets. On three occasions I spent in it some days. In a previous communication I told of a visit) paid to Madiaen Square Church, of which Dr. ParUhurst is the minister. This was ; in first landing in tho city. On returning, after a journey to the South, I passed in it :» second Sabbath, worshipping in the morning with Tub Rkv. Dr. John Hall, Df the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, the largest, wealthiest, and most fashionable Presbyterian church, as its minister is She most widely known .'sid best paid Proabyterian clergyman in the city, if not upon ihe Continent. The church was well filled, us Madison Square Church had been a fortnight before, though vacanb place? hero and there indicated that nob a few of the ordinary worshippers had already betaken themselves to seaside resorts. The Doctor himself, as he fcoul v?, was on tho wing for Europe, nnd after that day would be absent three months. It was the Sabbath following the Goneral Assembly at Washington, in which Profosoor Briggs was suspsnded from the ministry for teaching tho doctrines of tho Higher Criticism, and I secretly hoped the doctor would express himself upon the subject, bub he did nor, cxeopb indirecbl}', and, as I thought, timidly. Speaking from Ps. Lxvxvii. 2, ho delivered, with a slightly Irish ncoonb, a sensible and pious discourse such asono might have expected from bhe largeheartsd, able and oloquenb preacher ho is known tobfl, bnbinstoadofdcftlingopenlyand squarely with tho Brings' heresy he wonb bsck for an illustration of his views to the. ?.mb of Dr. Pusoy, who in 1843 preached before the University of Oxford a sermon t'onciring the doctrine of the Real Presence in tli3 Lord'a Suppor, and was suspended Jor b&roe years by the Vice-chancellor of the

University, ' whereas,' said the Doctor, ' the Church itself should have dealt with him,' Othera a3 well as I were disappointed that he did not embrace tho opportunity of mare decidedly announcing where he stood in the controversy which then was agitating the American Church. In this and the other Up Town Churches I observed an almost total absence of work-ing-men. Perhaps this was owing to tho fact that working toon did not reside among the gentry of the Filth Avenue, but uo ono acquainted with Now York will deny that many of the middle and humbler claeses live quite within walking distance of this favoured locality. Dr. Sbroug Lolls a story of a wealthy and influential Now England Church, in which a gentleman at the weekly prayer meeting roae and said he had called i upon a poor bub heroic fireman who hud saved eight or ten porsons at the risk of his own life, but attended no church, and that be, thespuaker, had invited this man, along with his wife and children to come to their church. At the samo time, says Dr. Strong, the Hpeaker expressed a hope that if tho fireman and his family did come to their church his fellow members would give them (j cordial welcome and mako room for them in their pews. ' When ho took his seat,' writes tho doctor, ' tho wealthiest' and most influential man in tho church arose and eaid, "I don't want any such man or family in my pow, I don't wanb them near my pow, I don'b wan'b them in this church."' Far be ib from me to insinuate that anything liko that could ever have occurred in a congregation presided over by'Dr John Hall; but thero is no use blinking the faeb that fcliia spirit of class prejudice exists to a' considerable extent in all the large cities of America, and also of England and Scotland, and this has much to do with tho alienation of the masses from tho churchos of the present day. To a certain extent it may be inevitable that as cities swell in population and burst their boundaries the rich shall gravitate to ono quarter and the poor to another, and thab 'up town' churches and 'down town' churches shall arise in consequence ; but if ever a hold is to be rotainod or regained of tho toiling millions by tho Gospel, it will nob be by Christian people separating themselves into clasa congregations, but by worshipping Bide by side in the truo spirit of brotherhood, remembering that if thero be one place on earth where rich and poor should meet togother io is the Church. In tho ovening of tho day in which I worshipped with Dr. Hall, 1 turnod my atopa to Broadway Tabernacle. While there, I wbb interested in tho preaching, I was docidodly convinced that we had ' points to get,' as tho Americans say—that is, a good deal to learn —on this side of the water with regard to tho singing. If hardly prepared to recommond the formation of quartette parties in our chuich choirs, which in tho present state of musical culture in eomo congregations might bo trying to one's nerves, I om distinctly of opinion that much would be gained for church services in impressiveness whilo nothing would bo lonb in spirituality by aiming ab more refinement and sweetness in musical expression. Wall-street. A different visit was one I paid bofovo leaving New York to Wall-street, so named probably, from marking the limits to which tho original city extended. Long and narrow, Wall-streon has on both sides high buildings of 8 or 9 storeys, liko so many odilices in this and other American cities, to tho summit of which ono is quickly takon by means of an elovator; Anglico, lift: Scottice, hoiat. In this street The United States Treasury caught my attention. A massive structuro of white stono. approachod by a flight of eighteen steps, with a porch supported by eight strong Corinthian pillars, and having in front a statue of Washington, with an inscription certifying that ' on this sito, in Federal Hall, April 30th, 1789, Ooorgo Washington took the oath as the first President of the United States of America,' In the Inner Hall, above a, doorway, I observed the customary gilded eagle with outstretched wings, and tho significant motto underneath--/? pluribw unmn, Out of many, one. It is from this ' Spread Eagle,' everywhere to be met with, in hails, on steamboats, monumental columns, and public buildings, that tho epithet ' Spread Eagloism,' as descriptivoof Brothor Jonathan, has come; and ono cannot keep discerning that in pitching on a symbol to represent tho national clmractor and life, Brother Jonathan has beon singularly happy. If the spread eagle fitly suggests the extensive realm of the west and the wide roaming disposition of its inhabitants, it also not inaptly servoa as an emblem of the high souring and frequently oxaggerated speoch or ' tall talk ' for which our kinsmen are distinguished. If an amiable weakness ib is still a weakness, perhaps unavoidable in a people dwolling in a country where everything is immense—mountains■ and rivers, trees and shrubs, prairies and corn fields—but for all thab calculated to call forth smiles of incredulity from sober individuals who have juster perceptions of the fitness and proportions ot things. Across the street from tho Treasury, and nearer Broadway, The Stock Exchange invited mo to enter. I found a moderato sized building, aboub 300 feob long and th° same broad, though narrowed at the ono end by sido rooms supporting galleries for strangers. Into one of these galleries, which ran round threo eides of the chamber, I passed and looked down upon tho scene below. Round tho walla ran a series of telegraph and telophone boxes, communicating, I Bupposod, with ollices in tho city as well as more distant places. Tho floor bonoath was crowded with yelling and shrieking men who gatherod in groups round the stands whore the various stocks were bouehb and sold. Among these stocks I noticed well-known name?, such as 'Missouri Pacific,' 'Northern Pacific,' 1 Texas Pacific,'' Union Pacific,'' Industrial Stocks,'' Wheeling and Lake Erio,'' Ohio and Mississippi.' The members, I perceived, mostly wore straw hats and had clean shavon chins, from which I inferred they wore chiefly American, the beard and whisker boing a rocognised mark of a Scotchman. On only ono individual on the floor—a man dressed in a blue serge suit, with a white hat—did I detect a beard, though one or two in the gallery opposite had thab hir3uto appondage. I was sorry to see thab in tho boisterous throng the majority were young men between 20 and 40 yeara of age. Tho fever of excitemenb pervading all was intense. What with roaring and yelling, shrieking and bellowing, (mapping of fingers, shaking of fists, stamping of foot, and no doubb in some instances gnashing of teeth, the entire company appeared to have lost their reason. The scene looked liko a veritable ' Wild Beast Show,'a 'Donnybrook Fair,' or 'Bedlam let loose.' Even had I been ignorant of what was going on, I must havo concluded that the businoss being transacted by these frantic youths could not be hoalthy or honest. One had only to keep his eyes and ears open to discovor thab he had lighted on a 'den of gamblers.' As I turned to retiro from tho speculator's haunt a wild bhout nrope behind, which caused mo a second time to look to the area beneath. Round the Texas Pacific stall something liko a free fight had arisen, and was threatening to become contagious. Ab tho time I did not understand tho reason of the uproar, though I afterwards ascertained that thab day, and possibly ab that momenb, a speculator whose ' dealings' had long been suspocted had been detected in dishonourable conduct. The stranger in Now York who moves on is sure to find hiraaolf before long as I I did on