The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-02-04


present century to bring the Christian pulpit
and ministry into disrepute. The advance
ment of the masses in general intelligence
and literary culture, whereby priestcratt has
lost its hold upon the people; the sensational
character of many of our so-called 'Chris-
tan" pulpits, and the practical and actual
atheism and infidelity taught by many others,
tend to bring the sacred Office of the Gospel
ministry into contempt. But it is likely to be
rendered more ignoble by the elevation of
women in very great numbers into the pulpits
of the land. Not, indeed, that we object to
women teaching religion or morals, law or
physics, or anything else that the sex is capa-
BILE of, but rather that we object to the time
and place and manner of such teaching.
Women have pushed themselves into the pro-
fessions of law, medicine, music, art and 80
forth, and 1t Is perhaps only natural for the
sex to aspire to become public teachers of
morals and religion also. Their advocates
insist, as an element of their fitness for this
work, that women are and always have been
more devout and holy than men, and they are
therefore better fitted to teach goodness to
mankind. If the premise il true, 1t shows
that the mental calibre of women is inferior
to men, and the conclusion is, therefore, not
safe one to deduce. Women who have been
always devout are not likely to be the women
to grapple with modern inAdelity, and the
fact that they have been pious above men is
evidence that they have not had the mind to
raise doubts, and they dare not and cannot
meet in6delity in their own hearts nor in the
hearts Of Others And this inferiority of
woman's mind we think, is manifested all
through history, whether sacred or profane.
The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye
and the pride of life which induced Eve to
commit the first act Of disohedience. have
been potent enough with her children ever
since to keep them following where she led.
We take it that the fact that the Lord never
called woman to be public teacher of His
religion is evidence that He considered the
sex inferior to men for such purposes. And
where we have one Deborah or Anna in sacred
history we have scores of men prophets and
apostles, martyrs and confessors, held up
before us as teachers and exemplars of the
very highest forms and manifestations of piety.
Christianity is manly religion, and it re-
quires men of strength and nerve and will to
proclaim it and to contend against the prince
of the powers of the air-against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Aud it Is this
manliness and nobleness in the Christian
religion, above every other known system of
morals, ancient or modern, which has elevated
women 80 as they had never been exalted
before. And in the ratio in which the Chris
tian religion advances women will rise higher
and still higher In the social scale aud in the
scale of morals.
But there is tender and sympathetic
feature Of Christianity which women
are certainly better adapted to preach
and to teach than men, and this they should
do everywhere and at all times. The religion
and morals of the world are committed to wo-
men to teach In the home circle. If they fail
there they should have no claim upon us to
stand up as public teachers thereof to pro-
miscuous multitudes; and that they have
failed there, and because they have failed,
God has appointed men to do this work. And
from the earliest ages of organized societies
we have no record of women acting as
teachers of morals outside of the family circle,
save In few instances, which the attendant
circumstances made exceptional.
But God declared by the Prophet Joel that
in the last days He would pour out His Spirit
upon all flesh, and our sons and our daughters
should prophesy or teach our young men
should see visions and our old men dream
Dreams And under this dispensation of the
Spirit which is now coming in upon the
Church and upon the world we suppose wo-
men will have as good right as mon to
teach and preach Jesus Christ. That some
of the 'fair sex" are already practising In
the pulpits we have seen and heard, and
do testify. Mrs. Lucy Blackwell, Mrs. Celia
Burleigh, Mrs. Mott and Miss Antoinette
Brown and others are thus engaged in the
ministry of the Gospel, and, we believe,
are serving congregations very acceptably.
Instead of throwing straw in their way we
would bid them God speed. If they can make
men better in the Church than at the hearth
stone or the family altar let them do it. We
are more anxious about the end than the
means in this regard.
The latest acquisition to the ministry of
women is pious Quakeress, Miss Sarah F.
Smiley, native Of Philadelphia, who has
almost literally taken Brooklyn by storm. In
her presence and under her minis.rations
prejudices vanish like the dew before the
rising sun. Having spent more than two
years teaching and preaching to immense
audiences in all the chief cities of the British
Islands, and having occupied the pulpits of
Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches
there, she has been cordially welcomed by