Litchfield enquirer., 1856-03-06
Ministers.

.s.s .,ees-as it has perfect right to doa r Tn -.sss !s excusable If, occasionally, 1t takes sR- i;i.rsv to say a word or two touching the ,,rI.;s n is not long since that We heard the
 rsss stematized, in the pulpit, with various other ssreuciss, as . prominent instrument Of esil.- We s6ouehs ske jndgmen. harsh and unjust and We si;nk eo still We believe that the really ihfuen- s;al newspaper press of America exerts its power n tho right direcliou. Those newspapers which ase on the sde of Christian progress, those which which piead ezrnestly, honestly and consistently for tho ripht. thoss which advocate freedom. and sea,perauce. md ap0pular rights. and manliness, asc ihcse which the people patrorize. and those by whtch ihey are greatly influenced. II not led: Thero src papers whose inhuence--if they had any--would hs bad. bat such papers do not have in6oence, They are not positive powers, but z,vr<in-ss nf a bower outside of them-moutii p;eesv of party, representatives of an interest < ', nonents of policy. tools of a cahal. When ti,ev are read. it is sat arms length. They do not ,s,rs. ;rso she confidence of tine mass they are g,,ot positiye powerm rmouIding and swaying and d- recsino the popular mind. Therefore We say that theY do not contribute any essential portion ot what Z is denominated : tie power of the press :" and js benecent as its general characteristic. tie ss the bower of ihe pulpit is benehcent as its eenesaI characteristic.
 Tie minister of the gospel occupies peculiar positiou--a position very dangerous for small men io hcfd A small mind, schooed to the reception of truth in certain form and aspect. and occupy Ing relation of antagonisn to every other form md nspect of even the same truth. comes, unless II exercses great caution, to the point cf believing sitsef ouIy right, and every other mind differing from it as essentially wreng. The natural tenden- oy, win small minds. of dogmatic theology. is to kirotrv-a bigOtry which tends 10 put other sects beyond its charities and differing opinions beyond its toleraiion A bigot tries everything by the standard of himself and his opinions. He has no iargeness of comprehension, and makes no ai- Icwance for circumstances. Shut up within his own tenets, al outside of his fence seem like bar bayians and infdels to him. Hence, he can never sccord honesty of purpose to such as seek to beneft others by other modes than his own.-- Hence, he comes to look upon reformer as foe to Eeligion. Hence. he stigmatizes newspaper, Or the power of newspapers generally, as an evil ~power Hence, he sets himself above others, on his straight and suited tripod, and delivers his ogacjes. Hence, he removes himself, step by step, from the sympathies of those he honestly wishes 10 kIeas, until the strained cord snaps that bound him to them and them to him, and he wakes up, some cloudy morning, and finds himself shorn of .inluen,e, and Jeff to mourn the snfulness of manEind, and the ingratitnde of his parish. Hence IF is not well for small men to study theology, and become ministers.
 This is not the age. and America is not the country, for priestly domination. We have out grown that kind of thing: and the minister who undertakes to drive his flock, and prescribe their Yatons of fodder, will be very apt to scatter them. Tho superior learning which once clothed the members of the clerical profession W ith dignity that elevaied them so far abovs their people that they were regarded with veneration little short of worship, does not now exist. Often, in the higher walks of learning. the people, or portion of the people, are the equals of the ministers. Nearly always in aknowedge of men, and of the pract- ea sairs of life, the people their suPeriors.- A minister who does not deserve respect, does no, get 1t, as a general rule. Religion is respected now more than at any previous period in the worlds history. Ii is better comprehend-d now than ever before. lts real scope and power and spirit are more thoroughly possessions of the popular apprehension; and it is because of these facts that the people have ceased to regard any body of men as peculiarly the recaptaces of truth, eF n having peculiar authority them in re- ligious sffairs. The layman meets his pastor as brother, Christian brother who holds common opinions and sympathies with him, and whose cfhce t s 10 minister-to instruct, advise, exhort. console-in short, to serre in faithful love, in all aiiars pertaining to the spiritual safety and ad- vaucement of his flock When the pastor assumes the rod and the rule. when he takes the privilege of individual thought, opinion and decision out of
 
 sssumes tho position of dictator, then he becomes, oy seeks to become, in his little Rome, Pope Hs h infallihle. He can make the Virgins con- caption macuate or immaculate at hIs will, and doea inevitably make the destruction of his inau. once sure.
 There are some men, occupying the pulpit, who have never yet begun to comprehend the grea, idea cf human brotherhood; who really have no com pfehensive love of mankind; who do not bring their race within their charities wbo. locking ou, upOn world full of conflicting opinions and an- tagonIstic interests and varied forms of fai,h fail to fecognias the presence of Gods power in all that confnsion. as 1t works out the problem of human destiny. They si, aioof. and cri,icise, and condemn or spend their time in washing their hands of all responsibility for the in9ui,y they stand at all that God and their race can get along without them, and that even some true souls will Ind . safe path to heaven without single refer ence to their guide.post. Thank heaven for ,ha, large and increasing number o ministers who link their hearts in with the sympathes of their people who enter with kind interest into all their af,irs wAo rscognixe brother in every man, of what ever cloth, creed, or color; who seek for what. aver there is of good in every movement in which theft people or ihe public are engaged, and slimu- late h to its highest results; and who show by their acss that they look upon mankind from point highsr than the steepies of their churches that they ses the race from tho point and in the light of that love which flows from the heart of fhs Great Fa,hsrl
 MAn WHO GREw INTO BoSs.-In the Museum of Dublin, Ireland there is the skeleton of man named Clerk, native of the city of Cork, whom they call the Ossifed Man, one of the great