The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-01-02
Ohe ar,hntte.
The Modern Clerical Type.

q .
The recent jubilee at Mr.. Beecher 5
church, in Brooklyn, was not only very
beautiful aud touching, but it was a text
for macy meditations With the I'M
mense growth of the press and the de
velopment of the lyceum In this country,
she standard, both of expectation and
performance, In ali kinds of oratorical APP
peal. is raised. Ii you add the fact that
the official dignity Of the clerical profess
sion necessarily when men are measured
not by the function bEt By the manner
in which it is discharged, Hsny OF the
phenomena of clerical life are explained.
The strict and universal ecclesiastical or
2anizatiou of the Roman Church, which
no other has equaled. is rivaled in effect
among the other churches by she social
aesthetic Appliances of another kind.
There is now a tendency to a union
of club life with the church organi-
zation The church parlor with all
its resources, Is the sign that the Tins de-
mands something more than the solemn
SABBATH appeal. The old Puritan New
England meeting house. bare aud cold
and repulsive, In which coufOrs was sin,
and whose hard aud straight pews and
universal severity proclaimed that ascetl-
clsm Is itself vlrsure, was hardly more
different from the mass house than
from the luxurious modern temple, With
all Its secular accessories.
But the modern spirit is the true one,
tor it does not postpone religion to one
day and to gloomy place, but miElgles
it with the week ard with the Common
details of life The clergyman is no
more an austere aud separate being,
part of a system, functionary. He is
Law 4 Will
robes, nor reverend er-offcio, but he is
tried as sill other men are, and is power
full and influential as they are, only by
the force of his own individuality. Of
course this tends to make the profession
a reality Intellect and character are the
only vital personal forces and the elo-
quence which charms IS no longer per-
manent In the pul pit if 1t be not sustained
by character. The answer which was
made for Pope Alexander. that he had
done something not as Pope, but as Rod
rigo Borgia, no longer avalls. The re-
joiner to that answer is now the control
ling faith Of society: "When Rodridgo
Borgia goes to torment for that offence.
what will become of Pope Alexander ?
The man is no longer separated from the
priest. TIE new faith is that which the
goodness of the man is the power of the
priest.
And it is due TO the same tendency that
religion is more and more felt to be a life
and not a ceremony or creed. John
WesIey's fancy that creeds were only the
fashion of spiritual clothes. so to speak,
is not figure only, but profound truth.
The important fact is the substance-that
isr clothes, not the fashion in which they
ars made. which is the creed. And moth
ing is more evident than the relaxation
of rigorous sectarian lines The differ
ence between MIR. Beecher's father in
Park Street Church, in Boston. half a
century ago. and Mr.. Beecher himaelf in
his own Plymouth Church In Brooklyn,
to-day, is the most striking illustration
of the change. The gain to the clergy
man. both in influences and selfrespect,
is immense He is honored not as
piece of hierarchy and ceremonial, but
for himself and actually.-Harpers
MAGAZINE.