Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-05-18
village CIergymen.


.x.raordinary story is told in re-
An e. from England OF clergyman
ccrt ie ennnorts his family upon a small
who su IN wat hecan earn by his violin
salary aI ior strolling dramatic companies
piayins. hsr wandering 6odies-circuses,
and Oh a.. and menageries. This is a
probspg,r of course; and how many
rural cl there are in this country who
Of them ,.dly do the same thing, with the
womb Lii if only they could! More
sane a0ce the Easy Chair has pleaded
than or rec and been almost willing to
iheIl a. return of the days when the
behoiu was king Of his parish The
clergti has been always the educated
cleriSa' The satisfaction in seeing for how
guiiu.. neriod the highest offices in
long I'd we're in ecclesiastical hands is
bpg,ath the fact that they were the educated
QUE A. something of the old social def
bs1a ;s paid to the clergyman, not be-
ersu he Is of spiritual, but of cultiva-
esa, s;erarchy. In the village, ne is es-
ie' :ailv the scholar. He is, er oficso, often
Pean,ber of the. School Committee, the
ssr of the lyceum and the debating
ssS The director of the library. He is at
ea1sall of everybody for the most various
w.0oses. Is it possible to think of the
Wasss pressing and commonplace to
~ he must needs listen, the outpour-
IF bores, the flow of folly in every
"a .,ae when his studies, or his rest, or
Measure, demands him elsewhere,
si,hout the utmost sympathy The one
rsn in the village who should be most
isrgey remunerated for hard and various
anTK is the clergyman. But, while men
y other professions can earn immense
snm, for their professional services, the
;ncome of no clergyman is comparable TO
hat of men Of the same ability in other
nrofessions and pursuits. DR. Hopkins,
,he famous divine, whom Mrs. Stowe
makes the hero of her /" Minister s
Wooing,n when he preached in Newport,
sfter the Revolution, was supported by a
msekly collection which amounted to
sbont 5000 year, and he had the use OF
small parsonage. One of the richest
members of the society, and g communi-
can't subscribed ninepence," or twelve
and half cents, for every Sunday in the
year. which, said the patient doctor, was
much less than subscribing nothing, be.
cause ii diminished the subscriptions OF
noorer men. The English incident of the
rlergyman's eking out his support by
Having a fiddle in the orchestra, and, per.
hans. upon occasion, for the dance, re.
calls the humiliating condition of the
CHAPLAIN in old English country houses
a. il appears in Biacaulay and the Ole
novels It was good fortune if he could
marry the lady's maid or worse. Blu
there was never time in our history
when the clergyman held other than re-
snectable position. Often enough now il
Is a desperate struggle, upon the slender
nittance that he receives, to maintain
himself properly with those who are his
natural associates. Often enough it il
implied, by brutal or merely dull men
that he is kind of pensioner upon the
bounty of others. But no shoemaker
or carpenter, or ditch-dgger, OIL
LAWYER, or doctor, or stock broker, Of
cold gambler, or merchant earns hi:
money more legitimately or by sincerel
toll Of brain and body. AS the Fictitious
part of his position disappears, and he
stands upon his real and not his perfume
tory spiritual service in the world, the es
sential dignity of his calling is enhanced
and the donation party becomes only {
Well-meaning insult There are many
remote villages in this country where tho
story of the fiddling English clergy
man will he heard with amazemcnt anc
a little contempt for country that would
compel any pastor TO such strait
Those quiet and comfortable little villages
will thank God that they are not as Other
villages are, and especially that particular
English village. But it was not that spirit
which the parable honors. 1t was he
who prayed for mercy to him a sinner
who is commended to our love and sym
pathy If it be shabby thing that an
English village should compel clergy
man to fiddle for living, it is cause o.
praise that an American village should
permit its clergyman to scrimp and squeez'
TO rub through the year, or be forced int
debt, or even TO deny himself and his fam
ily education and a score of comforts, TO
the lack of few hundreds Of dollars more
Of salary? AS the American community
regards that English sinner with lofty pity
and contempt, what if the voice of trutt
should be crying at the same moment
Thou art the village!-Easy Chair, On Han
Ders far Man.