The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-07-16

the Atlanuc. j am NOT tnlnklne OF
Holdenhurst. for Of course there 10
no money here to collect anyway: ]
am thinking Of New York and London.
Why. remember when I was a 10y
In England in some churches the col.
lecting boxes were fixtures at each
side Of the door! Could anything have
been more absurd? Any effect which
the eloquent begging of the preacher
had produced died away like the mem.
CRY Of a dream as one walked along
the aisles. and the posts supporting
the money. boxes were passed rs heed
lessly rs the lamp-posts in the street.
After that. II ] remember rightly. the
plan was to place a platcbolder at
each side of the door. This was better;
but the plan had two glaring defects:
nothing was easier than for the people
in the middle Of the stream Of pass
ers-out to affect not to see the plates.
neither was there any check on the
doings Of the plate holders. The hext
plan to be adopted. which I recollect.
was the passing Of bag in front OF
each person present in church. This
plan. though m Improvement. was not
without q serious defect. A penny.
skiilfully dropped into the bag chinked
as loudly as half-a-crown or SOW
ereign. and produced as good an effect
upon the other occupants Of pew
as would have been produced by one
or other Of the more valuable coins.
After q while, plates were substituted
for bags. only partly removing this
objection; and this. ! think. Is as far
as you have got in England"
How are collections taken in Amer
ican churchesT" inquired Mr.. Fuller.
with evident interest.
by the envelope system. Two dea.
cons pass round the church. the first
carrying a tray full Of envelopes and
a pencil; the second an empty tray.
Each contributor places his contribu-
ton in an envelope. seals It. and writes
his name on the outside. Deacon NUN.
Der two collects the filed envelopes.
and at the next service the name Of
each contributor. and the amount Of
his contribution Is publicly announced.
the giver Of the largest amount first:
and so on. When there are several
persons who give q like amount. their
names are announced in alphabetical
order. 1t is q perfect plan. and have
unqualified admiration for the man
who conceived it-he read human ma.
ture well. 1t meets all requirements,
and nothing in 1t can be objected to.
The man who wants to advertise him.
self Is invited, as II were. to assist the
Church. equally with the simple-mind.
ed giver-for ! assume that the motive
for giving signifies nothing SO long as
the dollars are scooped. Fraud IL
checkmated. and 1t Is impossible to
exaggerate the importance Of that;
for surely no one will so abuse his
intelligence as to deny that in every
congregation 'Ananias and Barabbas
ind more imitators than any other
Biblical characters"
There 10 certainly a great deal Of
vIllainy In the world" confessed Mr..
Fuller sadly.
"You would say SO with greater EN-.
pbasis II you were q member Of the
Stock Exchange" said uncle Sam.
At this stage my father made o com.
mendable but not very successful eff.
fort to change the subject Of conver-
sation. Aunt Gertrude sat silent and
neglected. and every Body In the room
except uncle Sam appeared Ill at ease.
As for myself. ! was desperately un-
comfortable. and, desired nothing so
much as the termination Of this mem.
orable meal. My uncle. knew.
would not prolong it by one minute
that was not one Of his faults-but
the Rev. Mr.. Fuller. who was a mira.
Gle Of slowness. had to be reckoned
with: and that gentleman ate as leis.
urely as be talked, which is saying q
great deal. After some skilfui fenc.
ing my father at last diverted his
brothers remarks from church affairs
to decimal coinage. of which monetary
system uncle Sam was q redoubtable
champion; and from that moment un.
I'll he rose from the table the guns Of
his eloquence played mercllessly upon
what he was pleased to call the ab-
surd English chaos Of fours. twelves.
and twenues.