Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1817-09-30

kt3tesbf0k aS' a1A ste ~ say Dni ~ As ETaleNt
that be meant 10 dlniaish rather than 10 oyer-rste
the number of dessitrte settlements But perhaps
II ay be thoughs. shat the number OF destitute
places II now les Eissn II was when Mr. BIS sermon
was publ.shed On the contrary, the nuaber or
places wtbpaG the stated ministratons Of the gos-
pei. il greater, than IL was even then. la 1915.
there uere according 20 the Register, les settled
ministers in the District. There are now, accord
ing 10 the authority not 50 many by Twelve.
| The Rev. Mr.. Ihurston of Winthrop. gentleman
yell known for bis carefulness in stating factssays
in his missionary sermon Of last year. page Z: The
| number OF churches in Maine without pastors, II
| now greater than il wss in 1907 He reckons 50
congregational churches in Maine without pastors
same state. In page he says 1t is judged that
upuords ef one hundred and thirty dousosd souls in
this District without christian ordinances Ma
ny q them have no bibles and an incredible number
uave only part fthe holy scriptures
In the Massachusetts, Register offSfs. we have.
(paee els and onward) the census Of this District
in 1910. I; contains list Of 233 towns and plan
tations, with the number o. inhabitants in each
place Several Of these places are, indeed. as be-
fore suggested. very small but that is probably no
fault of either of the Rev. Gentlemen above men
toned From calculation by the Register il APP
pears that the towns 10 the District have increased
during the last ten years, in the ratio of between
four and five per cent per annum. Perhaps, how
4 4 n
may not have increased in the same proportion
Let the increase of the towns and plantations then,
since the census was taken be stated at only per
cent, which will probably not be thought extraya-
CANT BY any one. This will give anincrease ofIit-
tie more than eight and halfin year. An in
crease Of eight and half in year, since 1910 wi,
give the number fifty nine. This number, added
to 2s8 gives 3i7, the present number of towns and
plantations in this District.
By the Register ofi3f7, which gives the names
of all the settled ministers ia the state, 1t appears
that there are but ia towns and plantations in this
District, which have settled ministers of any de
nomination. This number, deducted from SIT.
leaves 2sS towns and plantations destitute Of reg
ular settled ministers Of any denomination. In
the above ia towns and plantations, there are ac
cording TO the Register, f5S settled ministers; 80
of whom are Congregational, 10 Baptist, Uni
versalist, and Roman Catholics. Several of these
places have more than one minister and some Of
these have three or four. In these places nun.
Der OF Methodist churches are found ministers of
that denomination occasionally preach in them, as
they ride their respective circuits. But as these
gentlemen are not usually settled over particular
churches, as ministers of other denominations are.
their names are not given in the Register. If,
however, their names were given, as settled min-
listers, il would diminish but little, the number of
destitute places. For there are, according to the
Register, but six towns in the District, having
Methodist churches. but what have settled minis
ters of other denominations
Some may perhaps doubt the correctness ofthe
Register. in regard to the number of ministers
There have been few recently settled, whose
names are not inserted; ard few have been re-
Gently dismissed, whose names are still retained
On the whole tbs Register is probably very nearly
correct, in regard to the whole numbers One
mistake noticed in regard to Bowdonham. Tie
two baptist ministers in that place were Sc down
as congregationalists. This mistake / have cor
rected in the above statement.
According TO the above statement, therefore and
believe il will not be found materially incorrect
there are at the least OCT towns and plantations in
the District OF Maine, without settled ministers Of
any denomination. And although they may, some
Of them, be occasionally visited, by congregation
aIist, baptist and methodist missionaries, vet being
destitute Of settled minister's they may, with the
strictest propriety, be said in the language of Mr.
to be without stated and suitable
religious Instruction. fit be thought that sever
al of our plantations are SO small that they ought
otto Come into the estimation talthough they are
reckoned in the Register) then lei 81 be struck off
the list, account Of their smalIness; and there
will still be in the District, as stated by Mr.. Bal
ley and quoted by Mr.. L. Two hundred towns
aud plantations destitute Of regular settled minis
ters'
The communication in the Argus above alluded
to, is under the signature Of humility How much
of hanlig there is in the piece, the public may be
able to determine. Had the writer of it attended
little more closely TO the subject on which he wrote