The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-02-26
r,.,t in American Professionalism.

| Episcopalian, writes very earnestly ana ell
phatically in the last number of the Norm
An.erican Rerieu of the "Aristocratie D1it
of American Professionalism.
The subject he treats is one which has
attracted serious attention Of late in many
Protestant quarters where the fact that
there is a widening gulf between Protest
antism and the great mass of the poor ana
humble of American society is ackn"wl-
edged and deplored In the early days oil
the republic the Baptists and Methodists
were the Churches of the people, and their
exhorters preaching from stnmps at camp
meetings. filled the Union with the iire oil
religious zeal Their houses OF worship
were plain. almost barn-likc edifices, and
the conduct of their services was marked
by a simplicity which won the hearts OF
the common people, who took part in them
as equal members of a Christian family,
caring less for method and what church
men now call decent order than to give
spontaneous expression to their religious
emotions. But now all that is changed.
except in some outlying settlements. or
here and there in a very humble temple in
| town.
The old meeting houses have been re-
placed by ornate churches, in which, as
Mr.. Adams says, ''the wearers of gay cloth
ing and gold rings seems to be in the
majority whereas once the preachers de-
nouneed all gay attire as unbefitting a
faithful follower of the lowly Jesus. In
stead of the pioas calculations with which
formerly the worshippcrs interspersed
| prayers and sermons, and which enabled
them to give vent tn their overlooking re-
| lisious feeling. all is formality, and the
man who shouted out an amen. except in
the appointed place. would provoke fromns
in any well ordered church, even if he was
not actually requested to retire as an i'm
polite disturbcr of the decorum of the
place. The well-dressed congregation
rustic M the aisles and take seats IN pews
which are their own by right of purchase.
and the poor. if they come at all, creep in
| to the hindmost seats or mount into the
galleries to occupy a section set apart for
them especially
| but, in the words Of Mr.. Adams, the
plain, questionable people would not feel
at home among Ms, say the wearers Of fine
clothing Accordingly, mission churches
are provided for the poor alone, and the
class distinctions in the family Of Christ
are made all the more emphatic. The rich
saints worship in elegant temples on
Fifth avenue and listen 10 the eloquence of
highly paid preachers, while the humble
throng are invited by themselves into
modest conYcntieles ON First avenue or
| Avenue \, Even in small towns and
villages social position Is commonly govern
cd by the church family attends. In a
certain village in western New York.
where Mr.. Adams oI.ce lived. the fashion
able churches were the Episcopal and
Presbyterian and the Methodists and Bap-
fists were socially ignored, with thcexeep-
ton Of one Baptist family. and it was
common say ing that at must be very try
! ing for the BIS to attend the Baptist
church. In the majority of cases,
saws Mr.. Adams. social ostracism awaits
the man or woman who belongs To either
of these respectable bodies the Baptists
and Methodists. Moreover. if there are
two Baptist or two Methodist churches ina
town, one or the other is sure to he the
more exclusive.
The whole fabric Of American Protes-
tantism," Mr.. Adams concludes. us
| inv rought with the notion that class dis
tinctions must exist. must be intensified. in
fact. in the houses it creets to the worship
of a Divine Being who is supposed to care
nothing for such distinctions, and whose
Son, when on earth, consorted with fisher
men and the lower classes generally in
preference TO the company OF nice people :"
OF course there are exceptions, and some
very marked and very honorable ones in
the communion 10 which Mr.. Adams him.
self belongs, but who can deny the general
truth Of what lie says Is it not fact
that the curse of the Protestant churches,
and more especially those attended by the
prosperous, is their downright snobbish-
ness? Are they not driving the poor away
and sending them into miidelity or into
the arms of the Church Of Rome
Undoubtedly there is trnth in this. and
it is true even Of Baptist and Methodist
churches whose members have been sue
cessful in the world The questionable.
those who are not smartly dressed. the
poor and the humble, do not feel at home
in them but look on such temples as
religions clubs intended for the rich cSpee-
tally.
Woe INTO that faith. We cxclaim with
Mr.. Adams, that has no care for the
feeble fnlk for whom Christ died. and
Wee unto American Professionalism because
of its pride, its hardness Of heart its
civilized heatheniSn, that wears the mask
Of Christianity and cmcifies afresh the
Master it assumes To adore,"-N. y SIN.
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