OD IN PHILADELPHIA--MRS. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT'S BAL
POUDRE--PRAISE FROM HEYWOOD BROUN

On Sunday, the 15th of February, Mr. and Mrs. Harry White took me to St.
Bartholomew's, a modern church of great beauty. Dr. Parkes, a man of
authority and eloquence, preached from the fourth chapter of Galatians,
verse 6:

"And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
your hearts."

I did not need to be a Scotch woman to listen to the sermon that he
preached. He said that we were fellow students graduating from a great
university, joined in the son-ship of Christ, and that we should
cultivate a spiritual fellowship with man, since the highest
personality could never develop by itself. That our names were entered
at our baptism; we received our first diplomas at our confirmation; and
the object and mission of the Church was to guide or coach us for the
various tests that life would demand from us; and that we should always
do what we could to help one another.

As I listened to the rector, knowing how easy I had found it in life to
love and care for other people, I wondered how many things I had left
undone, and what examination I could pass if suddenly called upon to
compete. Haunted from early youth by the transitoriness and pathos of
life, I was aware that it was not enough to say, "I am doing no harm," I
ought to be testing myself daily, and asking what I was really
achieving.

My attention having strayed from the sermon, I was glad to have it
recalled by hearing Dr. Parkes say that most people preferred the jazz,
the vaudeville, or the movies to the Church.

He said that he would step down for a moment into the pews and ask the
pulpit why the services were conventional, monotonous and uninspiring;
why the clergy gave unsuitable moral advice, warning the congregation of
dangers to which they were not exposed; expressing opinions on politics
which they did not share; and convincing them at the end of a tedious
service that under no circumstances would they go oftener to church than
they could possibly help.

"I will now return to the pulpit," he said; and I listened with close
attention.

It was true, the Church was often dull; but the attitude of the
congregation was wrong. They ought not to depend upon perpetual
entertainment. People went to church for various reasons. Some from
habit, some to set a good example, and a few with a yearning hope that
they might hear something to heal thei