Litchfield enquirer., 1869-01-14
r.The Church and the Auction Block.

rsThe Church and the Auction Block
 ,- Tho ndepeadeat of Jan 7th contains an
 article, headed as above, from which we make the following extracts:-
 i"' Rome used to sell indulgences; the Englishman gofFrehch romance used to sell his wife; the Southern planter sold men and women a few years
 the sale of church iyings is, We fancy peculiarly British, and it has survived all the rest. There il
 fn the gift Of the Duke of Nor folk were thus brought to the auction block in
 The auctioneer argued vigorously that, come what might, the Englich Parliament w"..d never
 eo.scaIe individual propertS wSad sna never touch .tion. The spae-AsVors shook their heads and smiled ysa and weary smile. They had seen ,ry government introduce household suffrage: tbev
 had lived to see John Bright cabinet minister.
 woeId xaey no1 apPed ped tao. pockets sgnieant and lmercially failure; politically an omen. The
 whole business, common enough in England. ia wonder and scandal in the eyes Of any foreign
 observer. Jugurtha said, in the bitterness of his
 neart that all things were sold in Rome. But we doubt whether even there religious offices were disposed of at public auction block
 We now refer to the report of the ssSale of Pews at Beecher's Chnrch' in the N. Y. Daily Tribune of Jan. G. The auction on that occasion was conducted in the church. and commenced as follows:
 Gentlemen you can take your choice of any seat | in the house except Mir. Beechers. How much | am am oderedI How much am I offered, gentlemen, TWO hundred dollars! twenty-five, fftv seventy i've, three hundred, three-ffty four hundred dol lars, gentlemenl five, ten, fifteen, $H5 gentlemen | " Mho E the happy man? going at twenty. at twen- ty, at twenty, at $420-420-are YOU all done At 42of Soidl to Henry c. Bowen for s42O
 IT. so hnnuars tbot th;s Mn Dou,o.. ..r publisher and proprietor of the paper whose righteous indignation anent the NChurch and the Auction Block" we copy above. and most highly approve. These wicked Englishmen, it seems, recognize the fact that there is n pretty large beam in their ecclesiastical eye; yet the proprie- tor of the largest and most liberal religi- ous journal in America attends an auction sale of the choicest gospel article in the bids away most appreciatingly, a and apparently without twinge of con- C sciencel Such is the force of evil babit-if not as strong here as in England, still, strong enough. ..r .;,.9 fhe me great privilege of hearing C MT, Beecher brought, this year i, exactly S54, 300; or probably at the aver. age rate of about $40 to each pew-bolaer a Q rather high figure for men of limited S means. Still we are told that rich men oro s not easily saved, and perhaps s.the best t talents is needed to bring them through. t We would suggest however, that it would il
 
 be more democratic, and just as christian, o to have weekly auction sales of certain t seats in Plymouth Church for single servi- ses Poorer men might thus, often, for t say sl per morning or75 cts per evening, hear the greatest pulpit orator of our time Q without feeling that they were trespassing Il on the rights of others. .r 3dl n q SSS- The following parapranh which an u