New-York tribune., 1881-11-20

| coucrrgatiou, has not again and again asked
himself WHY it is so largely composed OF
women. Where are the men 1t Is all very
well 70 talk of the "dcvOut SEX" But men
have souls and n future on the other side ot
death as well as their wives, and, ii the truth
were known, think of them quite as much. IL
was the religious faith Of men winch carried
ON the Crdsades shook Europe For centuries
with war. and pcoplcd this continent The
supreme motive in human life Is as dominant
now a then. The modern N2w-io iorkcr Is not
more of trifer II a beast than ms Puritan
or HugIcnot ancestor his faith is secretly as
| real and imminent a matter to h'm. W ny
| then does he not 90 to churcht IT 1t were a
fact that the men who do go embodied all the
virtue and morality Of the community and
the absentecs were all goddess and wicked,
| tbe question would be answered by the tact.
| MANY cergvmcn do answer it in tins WY und
! assure us that the man who stays away from
c'urrh does il either out Of vicious Indifference
| n the truth or the fear Of hearing 1t. But the
| ruth is. "a we al know, that there Is large
| class of men On class unfortunatc,ywpidlyg grow
| iny larger who seldom enter a church, yet who
are neither prohgatc, profane nor doubtcrs
| they both fear God and serve Him, hUmbly,
! sincerely and effectively. Let each of our
readers count how many of these men lac can
find IN his own circle of acqIaiutnccs to cSt-
mate how large it i5 Christianity has
broader base now than any scc'anJn limit.
! Yet the men of this class would bee first to
admit that public profession OF taltn IN Chrlst
| is right aud useful act, both for themselves
| aud the world. Why do they not make 1t !
! They aid all humane, charitable, just causes.
! Why do they not work with some organized
| Christian BODY, anl under the leadership ot
! some ac,uowled-cd Christian priestl There
are many reasons why. We ,hIl suggest only
one or two; it may be worth while for both
| the abscntscs aud the pastors whose ministra-
| ton, they slight to consider whether these
reasons are sufficient and why they exist.
! I'm tine dr,t place. src.oriau churches do not
! now. as they did % century ago, originate and
control all humanitarian and Chrsiim work.
| There are charitable aud educational enter
priscs Of vast proportions, prison reforms, work
! Tor the cause of temperance, ol immigration,
of the elevation OF the poor, al ol which are
conducted wholly outside of any dcnomiua-
nonal limit and which seem IN many mtclll-
gent good people as necessary to thc we'll
| being of humluity aS the conversion OF the
heather or the jew. Their money, time and
activity, which, two generations ago, would
| problbly have been spent within the pllcS OF
a church. in fighting horrtic' or wagnz polem-
! ical discuss o., go now into these things Again,
| tlc clcr ,yman i'm those earlier days WAS usually
| the g,kTowlcGpcd Intellectual and moral SUI
pcrior OF the members of his flock. Not only
! the Romanist priest. but the Prcshy t"rrn
prcachcr of our early settlements, was the
scnsc-carricrn for his parish the ed
ucatcd, live, strong practical man, whose
advice and authority were wclghty be-
cause they were based on higher know'-
cdgc and broader experience than those
Of his people. How is it now7 Here and there
we find II clergyman whose high faith and
sincerity command the respect OF the men OF
his acquaintance, and whose keen Intelligence
and COMPREHENSION, both of books and of
| life. overweight theirs. Depend upon 1t, that
| mans pews are not filled alone by women.
But the great mass of young men who enter
| the ministry IA soon as they announce their
| intention to DO So are shut of from the ordi-
| nary training given 10 other men. Instead 0t
| being taught science, from which the enemies
Of Christianity now draw many of their wea-
mons. tbey are drilled in dead ieraturcs in
order that they may argue with sectarlan op-
| moments on the meaning of word. In the
seminaries to which they pass from college the
main object is to fence them in from all con
tact with the world of temptation and vice which
tbcy are to combat. PocmicS and ecclesiastical
history are the fields in which they are taught
to work. The young pastor, when at last
| he has charge, is rs rule set
apart from all the ordinary experiences
of lre the rcndng passions, the mas
! tering temptations which every day wrench
! the souls of other men. His mild theology.
! his carefully written sermons, drawn mostly
! from the knowledge of human nature given
! him by books, fall on the ear of the middle
aged worn men in the pews very much rs do
| the voices of the boy-choristcrs overhead piping
swcctly of the day of Judgment.
| Besides these reasons there can be no doubt
| that the blg0iry, the intolerance, the sectarlan
disputes of differing denominations keep
many away from church. They did not dis
gust our grlndlathcr5. May not the reason
be that we are beginning to understand bet
| ter the proloundcr truths of Chr 5tianityt II
is now IA matter of brOtherly love, of lite for
| the soul rather than of immersion, or epis-
copal succession, or church government. or
one thing we are certain: that when the
Master chose the men who were to teach His
religion to the world, they were men who
! knew the world and belonged to it; not re-
| cluse scholars, but taXgatherers, fishermen
| and publicans. Neither did these men quarrel
| about dogmas or FORMS They taught only
Christ, and Him crucilied.