Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-10-21

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write, ssThe salary is Of comparatively
little consequence" To such it might |
be. replied: Neither would be your
preaching. As in every other depart
ment of life, there is every grade Of
talent in the ministry /; nor can o stip- |
end be fixed so low as not to be an OBJ
ject to somebody. Let it be only Fifty
dollars year, and there will be candi-
dates but they will be fifty dollar
men, and will mete out to the people
as the people mete out to them. And
vet there are those who will 60 for
cheap ministers, who would not employ
cheap doctor to cure them, nor cheap
mechanic to make them apair Of shoes
And so ministers are to blame for
not teaching the people the law Of
Christ, that ''they who preach the Cos
pei should live of the Gospel They
have submitted to the most fragrant inn
positions rather than seek their redress
by making them known, and they have
been only rewarded with more Of the
same thing. 1t is time for them to lay
aside their squeamishness, and in mod
est, but manly tones, to assert their
rights, and thus to prevent the narrow
covetousness Of the Church from expell-
ing from it noble, high minded, and
enlightened ministry. Such ministry
to the Church is valuable beyond all
computation, And it should be sus-
tanned up to the full meaning Of the
rule, s!They who preach the Gospel
should hve of the Gospel" The peo-.
pie who are for cheap preaching usu-
ally have their reward. .e-s-ssrsa--v-s-
A competent salary up to the posi-
ton of the pastor and the ability Of
people should be given by every con-
gregation. Fifteen families of ordina-
ry circumstances can better support
minister than do without one. Six
families removed together to the West,
| and took with them minister, with
this stipulation, that he would give all
his time to them, and that each family
would work for him one day in the
week. And they were signally pros
pered, and grew into Q noble commu-
nifty. The people that compel a min
lister to teach school, or to cultivate a
farm, or to engage in any secular bus
mess to exc out a living, when it can
possibly be helped, are inaicting Hast,
ing injury on themselves. They over
work the minister, and thus induce
premature feebleness they compel him
to give to other things the time he
should devote to them, and thus prevent
him from due preparation; they starve
their own minds and souls; and all for
the sake Of saving few dollars a year
Such congregation never prospers.
1t is too mean to grow. Generous peo-
pie keep away from it, as they do from
a merchant that is noted for giving short
weight and measure,-as they do from
those purists in the praise Of God who
regard it as a sin to sing anything in
his worship but the elegant version of
the Psalms by Rouse.
In looking over the Church, we note
men Of the finest character, education,
and talents, serving large and wealthy
congregations, and on salaries misera-
bly, inadequate to their support. AS
Judges, lawyers, physicians, merchants,
they might rise to eminence and wealth,
but as ministers they are subjected to
obscurity and poverty. That they are
willing to do so is no excuse for the
wicked penuriousness Of their people,
out it is to their shame rather. An ad-
dition to minister's salary Of five hum
dred dollars year would place him
above care and want ; would enable
him to purchase books and educate his
family, and pay his bills punctually,
and give all his time to his work !, and
this would be only five dollars each to
a congregation of a hundred families.
And yet with what opposition propo-
sition like this would meet in the great
majority of congregations! The faith
and devotedness Of a minister do not
pay his bills, nor clothe his family, nor
| feed his children, and yet in the pro-
portion Of the righteousness of people
do they wish their minister to live by
faith. If God would send ravens to
feed him they would like it all the bet
ter; for two reasons-they would be
fully satisfied that he was man Of
God, and it would be quite saving to
them. We have known quite sane
timonious member Of a church to say
that he could live on two hundred and
fifty dollars year, and he did not see
why his minister should need thous-
and. And he was quite farmer, and
starved his family, and gave not PEN
ny but for its worth, and to save the
cloth stinted every garment in length
and breadth that he wore. If CONVEX
ted at all, it is one Of the mysteries Of
Providence why the Lord converts such
men, while the generous, the noble
hearted, the men whose impulses are on
the grandest scale, are left in their sins.
But, as an old saint now in heaven used
to say, "God often ingrafts his grace
upon crab-stalk." And as White
field is reported to have said to a young
man who asked his advice as to wheth-
er he should marry young lady, a
professor ofreligion with a bad temper,
or another who had an excellent dispo-
sition, but was not q good Christian,
MARY said he, ''the lady with good
disposition, for God can abide where
you cannot" So God can adopt into
his family many persons Of very na--