The Portland daily press., 1867-10-10
3" l"Onr Minister,

OaE IvAAulstcEs>> HNF 1ffttHtf
Rev. Mr.. Noble of ST. Paul, Minnesota, has
been supplying the pulpit OF State Street
church for a few Sabbaths id very accept
able manner, As he is not the pastor of any
of our city churches, those who have heard
him can judge him without prejudice and
without prediiection.l We have heard several
sermons from this clergyman, and our delib-
crate opinion is that he possesses, in an emf
nent degree, those peculiar powers of mind
and of heart SO essential in the pulpit in this
age of progress and enlightenment. His pro-
ductions in the sacred desk are marked with
much originality, great clearness Of thought,
fine diction and sharp logic. His mode of
delivery is rapid, but he hurries his hearers
along with him and makes them keep step to
the music of his eloauence. We congratu-
late the people of st. Paul on having such a
pastor. But our object in writing this article
is not so much to extol this Western clergy
man as to express some views we entertain
about clereymen generally and their relations
to their respective societies. f'at ssaf.ias ,dt
We all know that public opinion demands
more ol clergyman now than it did in times
past. There is a. more general diffusion of
knowledge and people require more powerful
intellectual effort, ripper scholarship, more
original thinking, happier diction AMI warm
er eloquence in order to move them than past
generations demanded of their ministers
Public sentiment has also undergone other
changes in relation to these matters. Time
was when there was great veneration for the
pastoral office. Clergymen were once looked
up to with a mingling of veneration and fear,
And yet there was no cause for such awe on
the part OF the people, for most of the clergy
men of past generations were full of sharp
wit, pleasant humor and many excellent So
cial qualities, which made them agreeable
companions, not at all to be feared by those
whom they visited in the round of their pa
rochial duties. But the veneration for the
pastoral office was such that the people could
not keep their equilibrium. 1,r,-. 81 t...-..'
The good Christian mother would say to
her husband or her eldest daughter: ''The
minister is coming tomorrow, and we must
make preparations The husband must
surely be at home on the great occasion aud
the daughter would Immediately set about
putting the house in order and thinking which
OF her dresses she ought to wear. Thus fear
and Lxety prevailed in the household until
| the visit was made and domestic affairs had
settled down again into their usual order. A
| pastors visit is not now attended with such
disturbing influences.
| Now wba. has taken the place OF all that z
This yeneration for the office has given place
to other sentiments. While the members of a
church and society feel less awe, they have
more love for their particular pastor. Each
society now esteems its minister and holds as
its first article of faith that he is better ser
monizer, is more eloquent and possesses more
talents than the pastor of any other church
and society. This peculiar and even over
weening attachment is not always seeIaf'an ~
in its nature; for it is manifest IN different
societies, of the same religious denohl'hatioh
We find no fault with such DEMONSTRATORS