The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13
haa done its work. and 1t canot be used

has done its work, and 1t canot be used to move men to self-denfal for others.
 "The old New England Sabbath Is gone | This is due in part to the changed beliefs of the times. In part 1t Is due to the ln- troductlon of trolley cars and the oppor- tunlties for Sunday riding which are com ing in everywhere. The trolley does mol
 bring people to church. Instead. the
 building of the lines has resulted in Sun day plcnics and in a large amount of miscellaneous Sunday riding. Instead of
 the former quiet of Sunday, there is the | whiz of the big electric cars. people i changing and rushing about They have | the irresistible American instinct of get | ting on and hurrying of somewhere, il does not much matter where But the
 cars have changed the old Sunday and it | will never come back Observance of the
 Sunday as a rest day is less general than formerly. People do moro work on that l day than they used to do. The lines are | so much broken down that the day has
 secular aspect in many places in rural New England. Congregations are small | where they might easily be doubled, and
 the people show that they do not care | for church.
 Conditions might easily be made bet ter. Frequently there are a few strug- | gling churches in a town, a Congrega- l tionalist, Baptist, Methodist, and per- | haps Free Will Baptist, or some other, each trying to be first. none of them l strong enough to support themselves, and dependent upon the missionary societies.
 It would be much better If these church. es would unite upon essentials and join forces. Their antagonism hurts them and the town. If the churches would only fol- low the tendency of the times in busi- ness and combine it would be a good course all around. They would lose noth- ing essential and would gain much.
 "In these rural districts as a rule tho ministry finds it difficult to keep up the standard 1t maintained formerly Not withstanding individual cases of personal ability and worth, the minister Is no longer, in most towns, the leader in the place. In part this is doubtless due to the fact that modern conditions have had their effect upon young men in regard to choosing the ministry. The financial as- pect has become very serious Other
 lines of effort offer greater rewards. This is true in the large places, as well as In the small towns. Professional life, out side of the ministry, and business life off, fer large rewards. As the man advances in years up to sixty or more his value to himself and to the community increas- es. The experienced lawyer, physician. or business man at the age of 60 is ca- pablo of doing better service than when younger, and the rewards continue ds large up to that date as before. But in the ministry the dead line, as a rule, is at 45. or 50 at most. No matter how able man Is. or how faithful or successful, except in unusual cases. if he is over LO the people say they don't want him. They want a young man who will fill the pews and make the church a success financial ly. Whether that success has any rela- tion to the spiritual power of the churo n is not always regarded as a matter of much importance. It is the truth that Tn the case of most ministers who are geS- ting from 5000 to 5000 salary. when they are thrown out of a situation at the age of 50 or over, they are fortunate If they get a position which pays from $50 to $1. 900. The difference between now and the past Is due to the different estimate as to the relative values of things. Ev- erything now is reckoned upon a material basis. Material standards instead of moral and spiritual are now popular, and the consequence Is that the professions of the ministry and teaching are not nearly as we'll paid as in former days. comparatively. when ther was not this rush to be rich and when the ability to make stocks pay dividends was not large iy the criterion of success"
 When asked how this deterioration could have gone on right in the face of such widespread movement as that of