New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-01
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ShuTch, DuHalO, N. l., writes vigorous letter
denying the statements of writer in 1he
Christian Union, some of which were quoted in
HE TRIBUNE Sunday OF before last. The
writer, he believes, does grave injustice to the
ministry, which as a profession will compare
tavoraby with any other calling in lifc He
further questions the good taste OF any one who
publicly makes wholesale accusations against
an honorable body of men, Passing on TO the
point at issue whether or not the ministry Is de-
teriorating. Mr.. Hughes says
My college experience in great uni
versity and in theological seminary,
has taught me TO believe that the percen-
tagc of honor men in all American col
ieges is greater among students Tor the ministry
than in any other class. l took some pains
when In the senilnary--qulte large one-tO
look into this matter, and fOnnd that In the
three years OF my personal acquaintance there
was numbered "a remarkable average in college
hCnOrs and college societies of good standing
Our one Yale man was skull and bones =
ominous sound, but all Yale men know whether
he was stick or not. Of our three Harvard
men one was the highest honor man of his
class, the other man OF strong and decided
character and the third has since proved his
worth to he great.
"If my deduction be COZ rect it most effectually
dispOses of the dull and stick class. l
know that divinity students get that reputation
in college sometimes but it is rah her because they
are not fast enough to be called good fellows
They do not go on larks and sprees. not very
harmful ones, 1t Is true, with young college
men, but yet they feel that it would be slightly
inconsistent to be termed q good fellow at
even that cost.
again as to the contrast between the thin
necked theologue and the firm -mOuthed and
powerful chinned student of Blackstone! 1t
only remains to be said that hard work at
books, and earnest preparati'T for life, are
little apt to thin ont the neck of growing
boy But what can be said of this simple fact,
that the life assurances companies report the
greatest average longevity i'll that very THU
necked class of beings
$50 something might be said concerning the
unkempt look etc. The one demand upon
q gentleman, the one essential mean with
reference to his personal habits, is that he shall
be cleanly and neat. Now speak from an ac-
qdantauce in nv experience of Institutions OF
learning that in total numbered four thousand
students aC any Que given Time. ana tnls
must say: that | found in my seminary ex-
perIence q better, a markedly better, average
in respect to cleanliness, both of person and
tongue, than had seen elsewhere. True, the
dressing was not fashionable, nor so expensive;
but it was on the whole neat. found an at
mosphere of quiet self-respect, marvellous
advance in regard To refinement of cOnversa-
ton. But once in those three years, and that
among nearly 25O men. aid | see single stu
dent VITO gave evidence of having been drink
ing; not single oatn, not single lewd story,
came to my ears in all tnat time. saw many
strength aud depth of character vastly above
that which had known ut college and uni
velsity. 1t was evidently II company of young
men bent on doing earnest, upright and godly
work in life"
MIR. Hughes concludes by saying that young
men do not press into the ministry O-Gay, be.
cause they desire to make money or to live lie
of easy amusement, o. because their steps are
clogged by the modern spirit of intellectual I'M
beIief alt is" he says because money,
be found in the ministry that many strong and
eager men no longer seek it,"
THE LACK OF MINIsTERs.-The Springfield
Republican accounts for the scarcity OF minis
tiers in many of the churches ut the pI esent day
by saying that the divisions of Christianity
have MADE it impossible to support Il minister
in many places. "The clergyman" II says, is
a meat-eating human being, generally Verte-
brate the Protestant cleI gyman Is II man "f
family he is not rich no matter how sumptu-
ously his education may have been conducted,
il has not given HIM a bank account or
coupon cutter. Ii NAV have given him eXpen-
sive habits bur it has not taught him To live on
$500 a. teaf and a donation party And to
what are these starvation parishes due! Sim
ply to the success, as its admirers deem II, OF
the hell-lire preaching of two generations ago
in splitting of the Methodist, Universalist aud
Tniiarian churches from the orthodox eatab-
lishment. What one of the preachers OF the
Congregational Club neatly called the pungent
preaching of forty years ago. knlved good
many of the old parishes and reduced them TO
that state in which they cannot support min
lister. Ii WAS not only pnngent but II was SUI
cidal, and the point was driven home"
Another reason which IL gives is that IN many
lnsti nces "a young man full of the enthusiasm
of the Gospel, ready to take hold and turn the
rivers of sin all upstream, Is rather taken
aback to find that his Opportunity TO grapple
with his work may all depend upon his view of
aion, hades, gehenna and few passages III
the Scriptures. No other profession Offers such
a stumbling block, stone instead of bread. The
theological sci OOls want less mystery OF the
future lite and more effort to straighten out
the sufficiently tangled wen of this life"
TIE AFFIRMATION BTLL.-A memorial to
Mr.. Gladstone is beng signed by a number of
Tie clergy of the Church of England protesting
against the Affirmation bill, on The ground that
fine deliberate removal OF the name of the
Snureme Being from the form OF affirmation
prOposed in this bill, for the purpose OF adj
hitting Ms member OF the Legislature, by lis
retrospective action. an open ana avOwcd
atheist. who has admitted that he has no relg-
ions scruples, is disnOnOring TO Almighty God
and contrary to the spirit OF our laws ana COn-
slitution" Among those who have attached
their names to this petition are the bishops OF
Newcastle and Dover and the Bshop-deSlgDate
of Truro the Deans OF Manchester ana Canter-
bury. Archdeacon DenisOD and Canon Flem-
ing. professor Stubbs and DR.. Kennedy, Canon
Gregory aud Prebendary CaIman
"a MISSIONARY SEMINARY.-1he sclosing ex-
cruises of tie academic year of the Rangoon
Karen Theological Seminary occurred Febru-
arv 9. During the last year fifty young Karen
men, from all parts of Burmah, have been in
attendance. The course of study extends
through four years, the rirst year being de-
s;or ed as a prep ration for the purely theol0g-
zeal studies of the next three rears. The grad
Eating class numbered five. The addresses of
fine Young men were thoughtful and forchly
delivered. THIS school of the prophets has
been an invaluable aid to the Karen Mission.
Its Graduates are scattered us pastors ana
administrations among the four hundred and
6ttv Karen churches of Burmah. while several
ARE foreign missionaries il regions under the
rule Of native prices, and far distant from
d. LII. RIIrI oh