St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-04-02
The Dragon of the Pews.

a"imatlom l. only necessary To point ont
to it Il dragon that. every sunday. en-
tiers every church. 1t is handed like
iiriarcu>. beaded like Hydra. and footed
like the centipedc. Ii is beautiful to
look at. with its silken scales of many
color> flashing in the sun. but its Stom-
ach. like that of all respectable dragon.
l. the seat of an Unsuitable greed. Its
huge bulk fills the church. and the mo-
meut ii is at rest it opens its mouth.
1t gorgrs prayers, hymns, celebrations
and sermons. as the pale man i'll the
desk toS>c> them out. and opens its
mouth for more and better. But for
this pale man. who is under "A contract
To feed it. and is ut his wits aud
strengths end To accomplish his work,
it could not live When in the morning.
he has done all he can for it. it crawl>
out again. to come back in the after
noon. with its NAV just as empty, its
t,Ncri>h eyes iu>t aS cNprctaut, its
mouth just as wide open. aS it WAS III
the morning. Ii swallows more players,
more hymns, another sermon. other eX-
hortation>. 1t craWlS ont again. to go
>omcW here III the evening. to glut. or
try to giUt. its horrible greed. Like
those Young women of veterinary par
entagc ii cries. give give" But the
sermon is the special object of its aw-
full appetite. Prayer is but Il prelude
to the solid dish of the feast. Singing
is uuil the \ orkshire- pudding that goes
with the beef and the plum-pudding
that comes after ii. sermons. sermons,
sermons il swallows them whole.
IL
!iratiou or digestion. and vide open
spring the mouths again. in marvellous
multiplication.
+" drop the dragon. for he Is Il clum-
- fellow. aud II somewhat bulky figure
to drag on through Il whole article, let
us have Il plain word about the greed
for sermons. ~ prevalent in these Latter
DAYS. We doubt whether there ever
was Il time in the history of the Chris
tian church when its ministers were
placed in 80 awkward. difficult. and
unjust Il position a. they are To-day.
Great. expensive editiccS of worship
are built. fnr which the builders run
heavily in debt. That dr!,t can only
he handled. the. interest "lI ii paid. and
Tia" principal reduced. 10y filling it with
Il lIIgt. and Interested congregation.
That rou%rc CATION cannot ht collected
aud hcid without brilliant preaching.
brilliant plcarhing i scarce. hccaIi>e
aud only b"cau>r. brilliant men are
scarce. and saucer still the brilliant
men Who have Tia. eff ot ,l"qucIcc.
:" soon. therefore. Is Il man shows that
he cannnt attract 4 crowd. ''duWn goes
his huu,,. He may Ice Il scholar. 4
saint. Il man whose example i the
sweetest sermon thai life ever uttered.
Il lovely friend. Il faithful pastor. Il wise
spiritual adviser, and even Il sermon
Yer at rare entertainments ami skill.
but if he cannot draw Il crowd hi th.
attractive gifts of popular cl"Iurnce,
he must ht sacrificed To the rNi~cucirS
OF finance. The church must hc filled.
the interest uu the debt must Ice paid.
and u"tEiu. can do this but Il man VIII"
will ..drIw." The who'll, thing j. man
aged like II theatre. 1t an actor cannot
draw tull houses the rent cannot Ice
paid. :" the actor Is dismissed. and i
new one l. called t" take his place.
There i AN "ldfi>hi"mcd idle, that
Il church is built tor the PURPOSES of
public worship. 1t is not II bad idea {;
and that exhibition of Christianity
which presents Il Thousand lazy people
sitting bolt upright in their best clothes,
g"rGlng sugar -plum>. Is not Il l'artlcu-
llrlN brilliant one. Ii Wa> once sup
posed that 4 Christian had something
To do. even a. Il lalman. and Il pastor
WAS Il lcadrI and director in Christian
work. There certainly was Il time When
the harden of Il church was not laid
rrIl>Iincly on the shoulders of its MIN
i>tcI. aud when Christian men and wo-
men stood by the man who w;I> true
To his office and tue to them. We
seem to have "utlivrd it. and Il thou
sand American churches. particularly
among the grcat center> of population,
are @ruIuiu" over discontinue in the
sad results. Instead of paliu their
own debts like men. they lay them on
the backs of their tioundrIin" ministers.
and if they cannot lift them. they 20
hunting ior spinal columns that will.
OF tongues that hold Il charm for their
dissipation. 1t Is Il wrong and Il shame
which odght To Ice abolished Just as
soon a. sensible men have read this
article.
Who was primarily in the blame for
this condition of things. we do not
know but We suspect that the minis
tiers Themselves ought to bear Il portion
of il. Beginning III New England Years
ago, the sermon in America has always
been made too much of. The great
preachers. 10y going into their pulpit>
sunday after sunday. with their su
prcmc intellectual efforts. have created
the demand for such efforts. Meta
Al, IIl.l,.fi,.S .lntI,,rnti,s -..l
in robes of rhetoric. have held high
converse with them. The great thco-
logical wrcstlers have made the pulpit
their arena of conflict. lIomilics have
grown into sermons, and sermons into
nratiorS. Preachers have set aside
the teachers simple task for that of the
orator. Even to-day, they cannot see,
or " i'll not admit. that they have been
in the wrong. With knowledge of
the human mind which cannot but
make them aware that no more than Il
single good sermon can he digcsted by
il congregation III ii day. and that every
added word goes to the glut of intellect
and feeling. and the confusion of i'm
pres>iom>. they still go on preaching
twice and thrice. and seem no more
avcrSc than any others to IL change of
policy. 1t is all intellectual gormand
iZing. and no activity, and no rest and
reflection. 1t i all cram and no con-
tlict, and they seem just aS averse to
stop examining as they did before they
unprecedented and bemoaned the power
tN of its results.
But We are consuming too much of
THEN time. The great dragon, with its
multitudinous heads and arms. and feet.
Is I" meet them next Sunday with its
mouths all open. 1t has done nothing
all the week hut sleep. aud i getting
hungry. Woe to him who has not his
TWO biu StrlunnS rpnIN' IuS.tti.,ta man.