Middletown transcript., 1877-01-20

his congregation does for that of hear,
ing, are, if not majority Of the whole
very near it. Yet severe comment i!
made on the fact that clergyman SO Otter
change their residences Some idea o
the motive for change may be gathered
from the remark Of parsons practica
wife to her husband, as the family
moved into new, and rather better
parish: Now, my dear, you will have
some chance of partial pay for preach,
ing the sermons you have written fol
nothing
1t is not, however, to be supposed
that the sincere clergyman looks only
or chiefly to the money returns of bis
vocation, even if he considers his pro-
fession in the light Of lucrative one,
at all. In common with all true
scholars, and with scientists and phi
losophers he finds a reward in his work
In common with philanthropists, il is
delight to him to benefit others And
in his special vocation he feels a call oi
duty and of conscience; the answer tc
which sustains him: the denial oI
which would crush him With all the
admitted unattractivenesS Of the calling
of clergyman in a pecuniary point oI
view, there are always men ready to
enter upon it Besides those who fail
of due support in the care Of their
charges, there are not few who can
find no society ready to call theO' :
There is grim satire in recent fact
here just published A scholarly cler-
gyman, who has long waited in vain
for an opening as pastor, has just ac-
cepted an Office or agency, in Society
for the increase of the Ministry
And now for few of the statistics
from Scribner Calculated for the
meridian Of Boston, they will answer,
with some qualification for other places.
The value of church buildings in Suffolk
county, Massachusetts, Of which Bos-
ton constitutes the largest part, is esti-
mated at eleven and quarter millions
the number of the churches being
one hundred and eighty A large sum;
yet thirty buildings in the city Of Bos-
ton, used for business purposes, foot up
to a larger aggregate. The average
cost Of those city churches is S62, 500
An average mile Of equipped railroad
10 Massachusetts costs $64.584 The
total value Of railway property in that
State is S165, ,624, 1876; of church prop
erty S24, ,488,285, A train Of cars,
FIVE common and one palace, with loco
motive, costs $40, A comfortable
and attractive country church costs
about the same as palace car, S10,-
000 The support Of the business
houses and that of the railroad. like that
of the churches, is drawn from the
public.
In town in Massachusetts, the Ly-
ceum course Of t,celrc lectures cost, in
1874, S22OO; the church in the same
town cost for gear $2700 And when
we come to The getting up" of a
Spectacular" play at the theatre, the
cost Of about $4,000 is sometimes
reached. The average price of a seat
in church is set down by the writer 10
Scribner from FIVE cents to fourteen for
every public Sunday service The
price Of an opera ticket ranges from
fifty cents up to two, three, and even
four dollars.-the last named price being
exceptional, Of course The churches
in the whole country are presumed to
cost, as nearly as may be estimated, !,
twenty millions per anDum, or an aver
age of about half dollar a year to each
inhabitant Of the United States There
is one other comparison which should
not be omitted The support o. heather
worship in the East costs about one
hundred times as much as the support
Of religion in America. The average
cost to each individual in Siam is three
dollars, which, taking iuto account the
difference Of wages and personal income,
would be equal to sixty dollars in the
United States
a main point exhibited ty these ap-
prozimate figures is, that in the United
States, as the writer in Scribner tersely
puts it, "to the poor the Gospel is
preached" !" Large plumbers of hearers,
especially when popular preacher
gathers thTongs, contribute nothing 1t
is not that they cannot, for they cxpend
in unessential things more than ,couId
double or treble the insufficient amount
now given. There are too many pco.
pie who feel poor only when the plea of
poverty will excuse them for withhold
ing a payment which does not minister
to their own qualification. Although
retreuchment is the order Of the day
as in all unnecessary public expendi-
lures it should bet is evident enough
from the figures that there is not much
room for it in the cost of public wor-
ship Phil Ledger