The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-11-17

Proverbiaily the minister's son is a
scapegrace. shame to his parents
and menace to society Inis
Islander has been so often and so long
repeated that not few people be-
iieya IL to be true that the great
majority of ministers sons are in
bad way. and that the world can ex-
pect but little from the pampereu
son of the manse, "
A little reflection ought to show
the extreme improhab.lity of such
thing The family of the manse fs
usually n large one aud the finances
of the manse are generally speak ink
at low eth. One fails to see, there
fore, where the chances of "pamper-
ing can possibly come in. The
minister's family usually Is one of
more than ordinary refinement. there
may be little In the treasury but
there are usually books of an eie-
waiting character and the environment
Of the manse Is, generally speaking,
calculated to inspire the boy Of the
family with a sense of responsibility
and high endeavor. And If a COM
paratively small percentage of the
boys Of the manse go wrong. let us
not forget that the manse is like n
city set on hill" or like IAN epistle
known and read of all men"
Rev c. f. Mccartney has done n
good work by placing this whole mat
ter prominently before the world in
an article, written for the October
Popular Science Monthly" No one
can read this article without feeling
that the answer here given to the
widely spread Islander of the way
wardness of the minister's son is a
complete refutation-
1t In computed that the descen~
dants Of ministers and their children,
since the DAY OF the reformation Is
approximately thirty millions of souls.
The question arises whether the
world Is any better for this new
blood, whether the removal OF the
great curse of RomanisIn, "celibacy."
by the reformers. has been gain or
loss to society at large.
This query seems to be answered
forever by two books. the Die
tionary of National Biography" in
England and Who's Who In
America" In the first named book we
find 1870 eminent men who were
born in the manse, the lawyers fam
lily furnished 510 names, that of the
doctor $50. We read in the article
quoted: I'm this single compilation OF
great names In English history there
are a10 more sons OF ministers than
sons of doctors and lawyers together"
In a recent Issue of Who's Who"
among 1900 names given; nearly
thousand are those OF sons OF
ciergymen. Says Mccartney: "a num-
Der out of all proportion to the whole
number of ministers in the population
Of the country. According to that
standard, there shanad have been net
more than fifty of these famous men
the sons Of clergymen."
Among our men of letters and our
artists and our scientists and our
teachers the roll-cali reveals an as
sons of the manse." The author
gives us a lengthy list OF names to
prove this statement. which we have
not the space to quote. And could
II be otherwise where the true life OF
the manse Is lived? There are, of
course. some bad sons of the manse,
but on the whole from earliest in
fancy the children of the rnansa are
trained to self-denlal. to modest de-
E1anis on life. to acts Of charity and
absolute altruism. Their hearts are
kept pure. their ideals high, their
faith in God and man strong. 1t liz
perfectly abnormal and unreasonable.
therefore, TO expect anything else
from the children OF the manse than
that which the statistical tables tell
lis.
A Novelty In Bible Distribution.
A picturesque cottage in South
birmingham, Mass, has become
headquarters for an extensive distrt-
button OF the Bible by unique yet
simple plan. Miss Elizabeth Merriam