New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-11-28
WOYAY AN ECCLESIASTiC.

SIR: Ipquiries written and verbal are continually
made Of me in reference to the position which woman
can now occupy in the Clerical Profession Partlcu-
lerly Of late portion of the public are beginning
to manifest renewed interest in this SUBJECT
enoush i, would SEEM 10 warrant the statement OF
few fscts affected by experience, and yet as little
,efsopal as is possible under the circumstances.
About year and half since was settled as
Minister of The Congregation al Church OF Butter
and Savannah" Wayne County, n. I. Early last
August lei. on account of i'll health, expecting to
,e,u,n again in two or three weeks After twice that
time had elapsed, by the advice OF physicians and
friends. | wrote requesting dismissal from tue
Church. with the intention of devoting several
months to the recruiting OF overtaxed energies NOT
long .nce returned there TO take public leave OF
the Church and Congregation. The sole and only
reason for NY leaving wac III health There nave
been no practical difficulties in the way of woman
performing the duties OF PASTOR ana Tor months
mast the fact of my being q ciergy-romaH mas At
iraottd much LEES attention and discussion IN SCUM
Butler han the simple question oil doctrines ahi
opinions.
non-evsDgecsl sects have been really to make an
exchange of pulpits. Any woman OF medium taeh's
and ri.ty located a. a minister at the present day
would be constantly obliged to decline such ex-
changes from far and near The strong desire 10 near
a
ties under which she abors in this respect. Whue
some clergvmen would refuse all Christian and minis
,erial coureses, Others lener because OF tner ow1
views OF at the solicitation OF their cODgregatons
voujd be dOubly anxious 10 effect exchange, sim
tly because of the poyeity of her position; wnle she
would find it for the interest of her parish to be a5
sent as seldom o,sbe since more or less strangers
from distance liable to be in her congregation
every Sabbath.
The same is true of the number and Importance of
the calls which she would be likely 10 receive TO be
located as pastor. given amount OF talent w2uli
make her much more prominent before the pu0hc
than if she were gentleman There would DO no
difficulty in obtaining salary amply sufficient to pay
her own bils; and if Providence had gwen her "a
invalid husband, and several small children depead
ing upon her for a support reasoning rom aaalogy
she MD sBy she would be able, M clergy wo nan, u
proyide them with every necessary comfort. But
there would still be one drawback b this phase OF
the .ubi.ct-the more orthodox and consistent mem
hers of the Society of Friends would close the DORIS
of their meeting houses against her, rs hireiIng
minister"
Nearly any orthodox woman. possessing the proper
mental and morsl qualifications could, 1t presumed,
obtain % regular and FORMED an ordination ~ she
chose. judging from the decl araton of number OF
clerpymen within few MOI tbs p ut, there - de-
cded change in this respect in favor of eccesiastlc
equality without the favOritism OF sex.
This is one side OF the picture. There IL another.
An amount Of opposition and mi representation OF
every variety may be pecied-suhclent 10 eau Tor
the fullest exercise OF Christian patience and phdtn'
thropic magnaLimiiy. Ii all msstatsment, are not
e1plaBed aud corrected. people will Insist that there
must be somethil wrong ABOUT it, particularly since
il was publshed in "our papeI; and yet every such
fasehocd patskes of the true Proean ch 'racter Ii
YOU cat 1t utterly To- pieces, every piece viii sprng
up an entire new hydra; EACH sitter this physiology
col multiplication more active aud vigorous than the
original.
South Butler is little village noted for its variety
Of religious views and denominations, and for s IN
dependent canvassiDg of all mooled opioions. As Q
retired spo for inexperienced preacher - do good
and get good TO think carefully and speak freely 1t
has fully met my expectations. II IL was sometimes
Ike casting bread upon troubled Yaers, my heart
never falteIed this account. Judged by the size
Of the congrega cation, my labors were marked and
continued success. Judged by the cordi support Of
those who sympathlzed m my views and position,
there lie every TO be gratefully satisfied Judged
by the amount of criticism from opposers boih at
home and abroad it should be looked upon as al em-
phatic event
+. 9. A village woman runs away from her husband
and children in company with paranOur. cOrre-
spond.nt, writing Of this fact to The Baptist Regiser,
and sborant it would seem, III It there was any man
in the case, gives the entire incident the thorough
baptism, "Womsn's Rights" Inc editor Of TIE
Bdp,ta Register, taking his cue from this, kindly
calls the attention Of bis readers TO the circumstance,
and admonishes them that the delinquent woman has
escaped from the vicinity of ADtOiuette Browns min
isirsons leaving them to draw their own lnersnces.
This wstcbmsn bas from the first, BEEN t,ithful to
the duty of crying aloud and spaSing not In this
he was, OF course, necessarily ignorant OF the
fact that the woman IN question had never heard me
preach lecture but once, and that | had never
spoken TO her personally but once, and then only 10
utter u simple How q ye do, ma am y aud more
over that che was a member of the South Butler
Baptist Chu ch and that the man actually Bap-
tia Dipthiy fEdeRt
The literary character of our retired village has
tax en- decided rise. Though there probably
authors who have attained quite to the dignity of
penny a-lipers, the gratuitous contributions To the
public Journals indicate very general and growing
state OF benevolent and phi4nthropi, sentiment
nps her Ia tapiU lel vrlfpa "A of
letters and pamphlets, in which at one time he
informs the public that, so far from my having
dience large for the size of church.
has been reported III The TRIBUNE, that q per-
son who attended snce told him that | I'd only
twenty five hearers At another time he places
HE " in fx, theological, it is presumed but which
finally resolves itself into the grave question Of which
OF could be most accurate in calling over our En-
glifh and Greek A, B, Cs.
irally, a Methodist Clergyman comes up, all the
way from the great City OF New York, To dedicate
the new Methodist "model" gem Of a church; and
informs the readers Of The Chri,taR Adrocate that
he writes from a place Of no little celebrity in the
"eeclesisstcal world, the pari-h Of the Rev An
"toinete Brown He adds, Arithmetic has re-
"sgned her charge believe, and has retired TO pri-
"vste life with Der friends near Rochester" She
seems not TO have succeeded very well pastor"
Not the slightest auson is made to the sole cause Of
my resignIg; but the inference is almost drawn for
US, that she has failed in preaching and given il up
:" in encouragement" That such statement should
be MADE in newspaper not surprising; but that it
should have appeared the real signature Of a1y
clergyman is one OF the things for which an unable
TO sccouDt Let Say here. in honor and justice to
boih the Methodist ministers who have been resident
al BItler that they have acted always ~ Christian
gentlemen and brothers, both soliciting an exchange
of pupits taking part with me at meetings, funerals
snd Of then, on conn union occasion precisely
they would have done toward any other pasor of
neRhborirg church.
But instances enough have been given to illustrate
The present attitude OF things Candid aad earnes,
opposition il TO be expected while honest and con-