New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-02-03
TgF RROORLYN CHURCH CdSE.

On next Monday FEB. 81, the Brooklyn
Presbytery will convene to consider what
punishment, if any, is due to the Rev.
Theodore l.. Cuyler for admitting woman
preacher to his pulpit. 1t Is not cOntended
that any special harm accrued to his flock
from their brief contact with this Quaker
shepherdess, but it Is thought expedient
to make it test case, in which
the Presbyterian Church may set itself
right before the world on the subject of wo-
men in the ministry. Presbyterian law has
always been Numerically opposed to their
admission but now, when they are trampling
every other barrier down, there il no cause
for wonder if they try to scale this rampant
of Zion. The question is, after all, why should
they not scale it which every man will prob
ably settle for himself with small reference to
the ambition of women or the rulings of
Presbyteries Woman, it is claimed, has been
always the deyOut sex; from her very mental
constitution she is less troubled with doubt,
wider and more absolute in her faith, tenderer
in her sympathes, and with finer tact in ap-
plying both religion and sympathy to human
need. A mans religion he usually owes first
to his mother, and, no matter how dissolute he
may be, he is better content if he is sure of
his wifes piety, with vague feeling, perhaps,
that it will somehow "bring him through
Now, why should the sex who bring religion
home to us in private life be absolutely forbid
den to teach it to us in publicf Simply because
of the universal belief in that certain feminine
quality call it what you will-modesty, vanity,
or personal consciousness, which would be sure to
hang like mirror between her uplifted eyes
and heaven, and, instead of God, show her
herself. For this reason the old En-
glish prOverb declares that Satan rings the
church-bells when woman prays aloud. For
this st. Paul surlily warned her to
keep her head covered in the churches,
and for this the Covenanting spirit
has brought Mr.. Cuyler before the bar.
Women argue, of course. that she who
hears the divine call to preach truth loses all
consciousness of herself OF worldly pay or
glory. But our Presbyterian friends have
cause to he doubtful in this matter. The fe-
male prophets who go up and down among
US preaching enfranchisement are certainly
possessed with an afiatus, divine or other
we; but they never fail to make
foremost point of their dress, either pic
turesaue or slatternly, and the female
reporters never forget to reproduce it in
detail. Some of the successful female preach
ers publish annual reports of tc-aT CONVEX
sions, the number of their prayers. hours they
have stood up, ETC. Leaders in feminine re-
form urge tho ministry as field Of labor
open, both remunerative and pleasant
There is a mercenary, business-like twang in
all this which we confess we do not relish,
and which our Presbyterian brethren probably
find little in accord with their pure ideal of
wOmanly devotion.
But shah you not speak through a woman
Shall the prophet not be heards To which
we, merely as q suggestion on the other side
of the question, might hint that the true
prophet always is heard, and conquers occa-
sion to find hearing. From the days of
Deborah Judging Israel beneath the palm tree.
or Anna waiting for Christ in the Temple to
Elizabeth Fry and Lucretia Mott preach
ing the salvation of humanity IN our own
time, not one word of divine truth has
ever been lost. These messengers, how
ever, spoke as the spirit gave them ut
terance, without question of money or price.
Whether the true prophets would be helped
or hindered by the opening of church pulpits
to all wellmeaning, religiOusly disposed young
women, who would be glad to do good in their
generation, and earn a comfortable living at
the same time, we decline to decide. Ii any
caviling defender of their cause ask whether
the highest Christianity has been served or