Cibrarjo of t:he t:heolo;gical ^tminaxy PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Rufus K. LeFevre Ministerial Salary. AN ADDRESS, BY / J. ^VEA-VER, OF BAL T I MO RE, MD. DELIVERED BEFORE THE MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION OF THE Virginia Annual Conference, HELD AT Bohrersville, Md., Feb. 12, 1873. DAYTON, OHIO: UNITED BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1873. \ BISHOP WEAVER : Dear Sir : — Having heard your address deliv- ered before our Association on Ministerial Salary, and believing it is calculated to accomplish much good, we respectfully solicit a copy of the same for publication. Signed in behalf of the Association. J. W. HoTT, ■) A. M. EvERS, > Committee. J. Harp, ) Rohrersville, Md., Feb. 13th, 1873. REV. J. W. HOTT: Dear Sir: — In compliance with the expressed wish of the Association, through you, I herewith send you a copy of my address, trusting that at least a little good may be accomplished by its pub- lication. J. Weaver. MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. Mr. President : — It does not become the re- cipients of numerous gifts to ask the giver why he did not choose some other plan in bestowing his favors. No ; rather let them receive the gifts with thankfulness, and show their appreciation by making such returns as they can. For aught I know, God in the infinitude of his nature might have brought life and immortality to light through some other agency than that chosen. He might have communicated his will and purposes to man through the ministry of angels alone. But the fact that he has not done so is conclusive evidence that that would not have been the better way. 6 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. What God sees proper to do is and must be eter nally right, no matter how mysterious and inexplica- ble it may be to us; "for he doeth whatsoevei pleaseth him," both in heaven and on the earth. He is the Almighty, and we are only as the fine dust in the balance in his sight. Through the boundless love and benevolence of God we have received the gospel, in which is set forth, in the clearest possible light, our duty to God, our fellow-men, and ourselves. It comes to us as the only star that ever rose on time's dark night — the only light by which poor man could navigate the sea of time and make the port ot bliss securely. It comes full of light and truth, richly ladened with exceedingly great and pre- cious promises. It is Love and Mercy speaking from the skies to a lost and ruined world. With- out the gospel, the whole race of man would be wandering in the dark mazes of ignorance and superstition. Let the sun cease to shine, and the moon and stars withdraw their light; let thick dark clouds spread all over the heavens, and you have but a faint picture of the deep moral dark- ness that would have settled down upon the hearts MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. T and minds of the people if the light and power of the gospel had been withheld. We are not left to guess at what the state of things would be if we had not the gospel. Mil- lions of human beings are now living who have not yet received it. They are worshiping they know not what. Birds and beasts, fishes and in- sects, and even devils, are deified and worshiped. It has been tried under the most favorable cir- cumstances, but all would not do. The ancient philosophers often tried to lift the latch and force the way into the regions beyond, but all to no pur- pose, — all was dark and uncertain. Socrates, with •ill his learning, was uncertain as to the future state. When he was near his end he expressed the hope that he should go to good men after death. "But this," he says, "I would not absolutely affirm." Plato, who was a disciple of Socrates, believed as his master did. If there was any happiness for souls after death, it was only for cultivated souls such as philosophers. Cicero hoped to live here- after, but he feared a total extinction. Almost everything he wrote about another life, had for its beginning or ending that cheerless if. **If," said 8 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. he, " the day of our death brings with it not an extinction of our being, but only a change of our abode, nothing can be more desirable ; but if it absolutely destroys and puts an end to our exist- ence, what can be better than, amidst the labors and troubles of this life, to rest in a profound and eternal sleep." Seneca, when speaking of that better life, says it is "a. kind of pleasing dream, — an opinion embraced by great men, — very agree- able, indeed, but which they have promised rather than proved." Again he says: ''Perhaps, if the report of wise men be true, and some place re- ceives us after death, he whom we think to have perished is only sent before." Again he says: ''If it be so, that souls remain after they are set loose from the body, a happier state awaits them than whilst they are in the body." Take away that cold and cheerless "if," and the reading would sound well enough. Compare the language of these philosophers with the language of another philosopher, one Saul of Tarsus, better known by the name of Paul. "We know," says Paul, " that if our earth- ly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 9 a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." When nearing the close of life he wrote a letter to a friend, in which this firm language occurs: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing." No ifs nor buts about it. He knew what he knew, and no mistake. The gospel comes to us, not with cheerless ifs and dreamy doubts, but as an anthem from the harps of heaven. It is ''the music of the river of life washing its shores on high, and pouring in cascades upon the earth" more cheerful by far than the songs of the morning stars, or the first shout of the sons of God over the plains of Eden. The whole race of man has gone into exile. They had wandered far out upon the dark mountains of sin, where fearful precipices and yawning gulfs stood ready to greet them. Not so much as the evening twilight of truth dawned upon them. The future 10 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. was all wrapped in dread uncertainty. Far away was heard the rumbling of mighty thunders. It was the voice of Justice. Nearer and nearer it approached, gathering strength as it rushed on. One moment more and it will break in awful fury upon the trembUng multitude that stand clinging to each other on the very brink of ruin. Oh, alas, alas, it is all over ! Nay ! just then one star mounts up the steep of heaven, and immediately there was heard in sweetest accents the songs of angels: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men." But for this timely interposition, hope would have forever died in the heart of man. Now when Jesus had come into the world and gathered about him a few disciples he said to them, and to us as well, "Go teach all nations;" "go into all the world;" spread it far and near. Tell them "that God so loved the world that he gave his only son" to die for them. Tell them that I was rich, and for their sakes became poor, that they might be rich. Tell them all about my suf- ferings in the garden and on the cross. Tell them that I was buried, and on the third day arose MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 11 again. Tell them that a fountain is opened for sin and uncleanness. Tell them that all things are ready, my oxen and my fattlings are killed. Tell them — tell every one, rich and poor, high and low, noble and ignoble, — that I came all the way from heaven to prepare a way whereby they might es- cape. Tell them that I have gone to prepare a place for them; that there are mansions and crowns for them in my Father's house. Tell them that I will come again, and bring all the holy angels with me ; then all who have loved me and kept my commandments, I will receive up into glory. This, in part, is the mission of the church. And to carry out the great design of the world's Redeemer we must have men and money. Does that man live, whose heart the Spirit of the living God has touched, that dares to say the gospel of the kingdom should not be preached unto all the -world? Can it be possible that a Christian lives who is unwilling to help what he can to carry for- ward this blessed gospel? I envy not the heart nor the hope of that man who is too stingy to give his carnal things to support such a system as our 12 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. gospel. Away with that religion which does not first rid the heart of the love of this world. The very soul of Christ's religion is love, — all-powerful and all-conquering love. It controls the heart, the will, the whole man, with all he is and all he has. If need be, he would give even his life for Christ and his cause. When God calls men to the work of the minis- try, he does not so change their physical nature that they will not need material aid. They are men still, bone of our bone and flesh of our fleshy subject to all the wants of a common humanity. They can not live on air alone, nor on the souls of the people among whom and for whom they labor. They must have bread and meat, and something withal to be clothed. To meet this want the Lord Jesus ordained that they who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel. They who are taught shall support the teachers. The duty of the church to support the faithful- minister, is both directly and impliedly taught in the word of God. In Matt. x. lo, Christ said^ "The workman is worthy of his meat," and in Luke X. 7, he says, '-'The laborer is worthy of MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 13 his hire." In these passages a principle is laid down, which is universally allowed to be just. In every department of business, from the president down to the scavenger, it is allowed among honest men, the laborer is worthy of his hire ; and none but rascals and misers attempt to defraud the faithful laborer of his earnings. In these pas- sages and their connections we can not be mis- taken as to the subject matter of the Savior's discourse. He was about to send out his twelve disciples, and after giving them some instructions respecting the nature of their work, he directed them not to carry anything with them, neither money nor clothing, "for," said he, ^'the laborer is worthy of his hire." They had a right, a divine right, to receive a maintenance, — enough to meet all the necessary wants,— and the people for whom they labored were morally bound to furnish them a living. And what was true then is true now. He could have given them power to create bread and meat out of stones and sticks, and thereby sustain themselves, independent of the people; but he saw that this was not the better way, and hence made it as much the duty of the people to 14 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. support the minister as it was the duty of the min- ister to preach, — both are divinely authorized. This is the only reasonable construction that can be given to the Savior's language. If it is right ta pay any man for his labor, it is right to pay the faithful minister. He gives his v/hole time, talent, and strength to this work, and should receive a living support. No man can withhold his means- from the support of the gospel without violating the ordinance of God, and rendering himself un- worthy of a place among the people of God. Any and every person refusing to give as the Lord has- prospered them, ought to be excommunicated. They are not fit to belong to the church of Christ. '' The laborer is worthy of his hireT So says- every honest man ; so says the civil law ; and so says the divine law. The faithful minister is a la- borer, just as much so as the man that builds your houses, makes your shoes, and plows your fields, and is just as much entitled to his pay as any other laborer. I will next call attention to the ninth chapter of First Corinthians, where Paul dwells at length on this subject. In the seventh verse he asks several MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 16 questions: ''Who," he asks, ''goeth a warfare any time at his own charges 1 who planteth a vine- yard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who- feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock ]" All these questions clearly and forcibly point out to the common sense of every man that the laborer should live by the fruit of his la- bor. Does a soldier go out to battle at his own charges? The Roman soldiers were not only paid in money for their services, but their victuals were furnished them. All nations, so far as I know, pay their soldiers for their services. What- ever else Paul meant to teach in this place, this one thing is made prominent, that ministers of the gospel of Jesus are to be paid for their labor. They are to receive money and victuals. It seems, to be exceedingly difflcult to educate the people up to the notion of paying ministers a reasona')le salary. No questions are asked about paying law- yers, doctors, school-teachers, and mechanics; but the preacher, no matter about him. Some think he ought to manage to preach for nothing ; others think he needs but little ; whilst a few believe ia giving him a good support. 16 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. And lest some one might question the apostle's authority for saying what he did, he asks these questions: "Say I these things as a man 1 or saith not the law the same also?" Is what I have said only human reasoning'? Is not the very same principle taught in the law? Does not the law say that "thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corni" This law you will find in Deuteronomy xxv. 4. There were misers and covetous persons in olden times as well as now, men who desired to have their work done at little or no expense, and hence would muzzle the mouths of oxen so as to prevent them from eating. Moses was authorized to forbid this cruelty, and thereby instruct the people to be kind to their ani- mals as well as to their servants and laborers. Now hear the apostle's reasoning upon this quo- tation from the law: "Doth God take care for oxen? or saith he it altogether for our sakes. For our sakes, no doubt, this is written." Is it likely that God should be solicitous for the comfort of oxen, and wholly indifferent to the comfort of man ? Is an ox better in the sight of God than his embas- sadors? Paul declares that this was written for MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. Vj our sakes — not so much for oxen as for meft, and especially for those who were to minister about holy things. If, then, God requires us to feed and take care of animals that perform labor, is it not most reasonable that those who give their time and energy to the work of the ministry should be fed and clothed ? Now whilst some men are cruel to ani- mals, especially those not their own, others are far more concerned for their comfort than they are for the comfort of their ministers. They are care- ful to feed them well and provide them with good shelter. This is altogether right, provided other tilings are equal. God cares for oxen, but he cares for man also. If it is a violation of the law of God to take the labor of an ox without feeding him, it is certainly no less a violation of the law to take the labor of a man without a just remuneration ; for **the laborer is worthy of his hire." There are many this day treading out corn on God's spiritual threshing-floor, whose mouths the people have muzzled. These are plain words; but I know whereof I affirm. In the eleventh verse of this chapter Paul asks another question : " If we have sown unto voui" 2 18 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" If we as teachers sent from God have been the instruments in his hands of bringing you to Christ ; if we have taught you in the way of salvation ; if we have taught you in things that belong to your eternal interest ; is it too much for us to expect some of your temporal things ? We have given ourselves entirely to this work. We have given up our temporal pursuits — counted it all loss. Now, have we not a divine right to expect enough of your temporal things to meet our temporal wants? We are your servants, sent from God to labor with and for your spiritual good. We do not ask for riches, we ask only enough to meet the necessary wants of ourselves and families. You feed the ox that treadeth out your corn ; you pay the soldier that fights your battles; you pay the physician that administers medicine to your bodies : is it too much, then, to pay those who give all their time and strength to labor for the eternal interest of your souls ? In verse thirteen Paul presents another argu- ment in favor of ministerial support. ^' Do ye not know," he says, ''that they which minister about MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 19 holy things live of the things of the temple ? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?" Now if you will turn to Leviticus you will find that the law regulating the services in the temple provided that the priests and Levites should have their support whilst employed at their regular work. The priests partook of the sacri- fices, and the others had their support from tithes, first-fruits, and offerings. This was the law under the former dispensation, and the apostle carries it forward and makes it a law in the new dispensa- tion. "Even so," he says in verse fourteen, "hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." He does not say that the Lord ordained that those who preach the gospel shall live on the gospel, but of it, that is, those who minister about holy things shall re- ceive from those for whom they labor enough to meet their temporal wants. From what the apostle has said in this chapter, it must be perfectly clear to every one that the law and the gospel, as well as common sense, unite in saying that the faithful minister, who gives his whole time to this work, should be supported. ^0 MINISTERPAL SUPPORT. 3:hat there may not be any misunderstanding, I 'think it is proper to state distinctly that it is the .faithful laborer that is to be supported— -not the drone, nor the hireling, but those who, Avith Paul, give themselves continually to prayer and the min- istry of the word. To withhold from such a decent living is not only a violation of the divine ordinance, but is a sin againt God and a com- mon humanity. An -eminent writer says, " Those who refuse the laborer his hire are condemned by God, and good men. How liberal are many to public interests, or some popular charity, where their names are sure to be published abroad, while the man who watches over their souls is fed with a most parsi- monious hand. Will not God some time abate this pride, and reprove this hard-heartedness." "The laborer is worthy of his hire." But take notice, the altar should not support those who do not minister at it. If the ox will not tread out the corn, ''let him be muzzled, or sent to the common." The church is not bound to support any man that refuses or neglects to do the work of a minister. Let such be sent to the common to MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 21 Jig, or beg, or starve ; no matter which. Of two things I am heartily tired. First : I am tired and disgusted with lazy, inefficient, drony preachers, who go about the altars of the temple of God as if they had neither heart nor soul in the work. Away with them, and let us have men in their places whose hearts and lives are all on fire. Sec- ond : I am tired and disgusted with stingy, cov- etous professors of religion, who will not give to support faithful men, in proportion as the Lord has prospered them. Oh, let us have men of God in the pulpit, and men and women of God in the pews. Take another passage — Gal. vi. 6. "Let him .hat is taught in the word communicate unto him ;hat teacheth in all good things." Here it is plainly and clearly made the duty of all who re- ceive instruction in holy things to contribute to the support of the teacher. Dr. Clarke, in com- menting upon this passage, says, " We do not ex- pect that a common school-master will give up his time to teach our children the alphabet without being paid for it ; and can we suppose that it is just for any person to sit under the preaching of 22 MINISffeRIAL SUPPORT. ' the gospel, in order to grow wise unto salvation by it, and not contribute to the support of the spiritual teacher? It is unjust." Paul not only requires the instructed to pay the teacher, but he is to communicate in all good things. The sup- port is to be free and liberal — not the least possi- ble amount he can live on, but all that will be necessary to make himself and family comfortable. We expect to pay for almost everything we re- ceive, whether it is food, or raiment, or labor. We pay our physician, our lawyer, our school- master, our blacksmith, our tailor, and the com- mon laborer ; and it is right — so says every honest man. Now is not the faithful minister as justly entitled to his pay as the tailor and blacksmith ? If not, why not? Dr. Haven says that ''the sal- aries of the clergy of the United States do not average five hundred dollars a year, and yet, as a class, they are the best educated, the most in- fluential, the most active, refined, and elevated of tlie nation. There are men of less culture, less character, and less mental power all over the land, who earn from, one to five thousand dollars a year." I wish now to call special attention to a few of MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 23 the many evils grovving out of an inadequate sal- ary. I am not going to say that ministers ought to be made rich, and yet for my life I can not see why they have not as good a right to lay up a lit- tle for future use as anybody else. They will grow old, and are just as liable to get sick as other men ; and, so far as I know, there is but little pro- vision made for superanuated and worn-out preach- ers, their widows and orphans. I have known old and worn-out ministers, who had given all the best years of their lives to the work of the ministry, that were within a step of being paupers. The people generally do not manifest any great wil- lingness to give money for their support. About as hard money to raise as I know of, \% preachers aid money. Now that they are old and worn out, no longer able for the active work of the ministry, the people seem to say, '' Well, let them go, and dig for their living." But hold a moment. They gave their lives to the work of the ministry. All their better years were spent in laboring for the elevation of a fallen race, and they were the honored in- struments in the hands of the Lord of winning many souls to Christ. They are no longer able 2A MINISTERIAL SUPPOft^fe. for: the active work; they are not able to- earn a: hving with their hands; they are old and very poor, with scarcely a dollar left from their scanty salary. What are such old worn-out soldiers to do ? Tell me, would it not have been well if they could have laid by a few dollars each year? It would have soothed the sorrows of old age, and made their passage to the grave more cheerful and happy. One evil growing out of an inadequate salary is^ that it necessarily unfits a man for the discharge of his several duties. Ministers are men, very much like other men. They have hearts to fecl^ and minds which can be depressed as well as oth- ers. Financial embarrassment will give them as much uneasiness as any other class of men, and especially those who have a keen sense of the del- icacy and sacredness of the office of a minister. The world has but little mercy on preachers. They must pay their debts promptly, and never say a word to anybody about their salary. They must make their number of bricks whether they have straw or not. When a man is giving his whole time and en- MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. ^ ergy to this one work, and has no income save what the people he serves has a mind to give him,, and when he sees and feels that it is not enough to meet his necessary wants, if he has the soul of a man he must feel depressed in spirit. Does not the scripture say to him, as well as to others, that if he does not provide for his own household he has denied the faith and is worse than an in- fidel ? Now when he knows that his income is in- sufficient to meet the real wants of his family, it is utterly impossible, under such circumstances, to do the work of a pastor as successfully as he could if he had a competency to meet his current de- mands. You will excuse me if I give a few circumstan- ces with which I have been acquainted. I have known ministers who were compelled to keep their children at home from Sunday-school be- cause they had not clothes fit to go. Can a min- ister under such circumstances urge parents to be sure and send their children to the school, when his own are sitting at home within a stone's throw. of the church? The man that can do this with- out ablush has but a. small stock of: parental synir 26 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. pathy. But the law of the church requires him to do it. In entering the Sunday-school room he will see the children of parents for whom he labors comfortably clothed, while his own ^re sitting at home barefooted, and otherwise poorly clad. Tell me, is there a principle of religion that will raise a man to such a hight that he will not be affected by such surroundings? I know that religion will make men strong, and ready to make personal sac- rifices for Christ, but I know nothing about a re- ligion that can look upon others in want and not be moved — especially our own families. I have known ministers whose families had not a mouthful of bread in their houses for two and three days at a time. Only a few weeks since, a minister told me that while serving a congregation in a large town his family had nothing to eat for some time except a little bread and water, and a very common article of molasses. Is it likely that a good man, with a kind and tender heart, could work as successfully with such surroundings, as if his family were comfortable? I was called upon to dine with a minister who had nothing on his table but bread and butter and MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 27 •water. He said it was all they had. That broth- er a few weeks ago fell asleep in death. But you say these are exceptional cases. It may be so; and yet I know that many others fare but little better than those ; they are pressed on every side for the means to meet current expenses. I believe in close economy, — save wherever you can, — but I do not believe that ministers should be required to do all the economizing. I do not believe that when a minister's family is in need of food and ■clothing to the amount of five dollars, that he should ■be compelled to spend several hours in thinking how he can make three dollars reach. Let him have enough to keep himself and family comfortable without the constant anxiety about his living. There are scores of men that could accomplish twice as much good as they do, if they could be relieved from their temporal embarrassments. I call attention to these circumstances not so much to stir up the sympathies of the people, but to induce them to look after the wants of the pas- tor. There are among ministers at least some modest men, who could hardly be induced to ask for money, no matter how hard they are pressed. 28 MINISTEfitAL SUPPORT. They may, whilst in the pulpit, talk boldly of Christ and his cross, but have not courage to ask. for money. I believe that it takes more grace to ask for money than it does to preach. All this trouble and mortification might be spared the minister if some one would only think to ask him how he is getting along. Indeed I would not care if the General Conference would make the esti- mating committee a committee on finance for the whole year — make it their duty to visit the pastor once or twice a quarter, and make special inquiry into their state of things; see if any of the family are barefooted ; examine the beds, and see if they have covering enough ; go from cellar to garret, and see if anything is wanting ; and then ask the minister to see his pocket-book. Some such vigi- lance committee, in my opinion, would be a grand, if not a most glorious, institution. Indeed I would not object to have such a committee visit me at least three times a quarter ; and I should, want them to make thorough work of it. No- doubt pastors and their families have often suffer- ed want, when if their congregations had knowtt. it they would, have relieved them at once. Anoth*- MrNISTERTAL SUPPORT. "Sy «r difficulty in the way af -ministers asking for money is, that the people generally are of the •oj)rnion that they are a little too much inclined that way anyhow. Perhaps some few are; but the -vstst majority only ask for money when they are driven to it by sheer necessity. Men may say what they please, and think as they please, but the man does not live that can work as successfully in the cause of Christ when his family is in want as when they are comforta- bly provided for. His heart, under such circmn- fitances, must feel oppressed. If it is not so, then he must be destitute of all the finer feelings of a Imsband and father, and is consequently unfit to take charge of the flock of Christ. I will not say that during these seven and twenty years that I have been in the itinerant field, that I know by experience that these things are true; still, I know what I know, and am sure I have told the truth. But let us take an inside view of the circum- stances of a pastor and his family. We will sup- pose that his family consists of himself and wife and tthree children. His salary is, say five hundred dollars a year. This is a pretty fair average. 30 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. Some families are larger and some smaller. Some- ministers receive more and a good many less than this amount. Dr. Haven says that the average salary of clergymen in the United States is con- siderably less than five hundred dollars a year. But; we will put it in round numbers at five hundred, dollars. We will suppose that he lives in a village* town, or city. Now let us make a rough calcula- tion of his necessary expenses. Fifty dollars to- clothe himself, seventy-five dollars to clothe his wife and three children, twenty -five dollars for fuel and light, fifty dollars for keeping up wear and. tear, — bedding, carpet, furniture, kitchen, &c., — ten dollars for stationery and stamps, fifteen dol- lars for books and papers (it ought to be fifty dol- lars). That makes $225.00. Then you have $275.00 left out of which you must board the family. There are 365 days in a year. Allowing three meals a day for five persons, you will have 5,475 meals to furnish out of $275.00, which will. give you a fraction over five cents a meal for each . member of the family. Now it occurs to me that . where everything is to buy, it will require prettj^ close economy to furnish meals at that price. MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 31 Then you will observe that I have made no allow- ance for meals given away, — and preachers have company every once in a while; no allowance for horse and horse-feed; nothing for charity; noth- ing for the missionary cause. Then, too, I have supposed that the minister's wife does all her own work — sewing, washing, cooking, &c. No allow- ance is made for any extra expenses, such as may arise from sickness and death. Now at present prices, it is my deliberate opinion that it will take some hard thinking and mighty close living to get through on that amount of money. Most men do not know what it costs to live. But ministers are not unfrequently reminded of their want of faith. They are told that they must trust in God and do good, and the promise is that they shall be fed. Very true. Faith is a power- ful arm of strength ; but Jesus himself could not do much m some places on account of the unbe- lief of the people. The Bible speaks of a faith that will remove mountains and uproot trees, but no- where, so far as I now remember, does it speak of a faith that will reach down into a coveteous man's pocket and get out his money. Some men's fin- ^ IMimSTfiRIAL suproiit. geis Ifreeze whenever they touch their pocket-book to get otit moiiey. The Bible nowhere requires fhat a minister is to be supported by faith. It does say that the laborer is worthy of his hire. It does say that the Lord hath ordained that those who preach the gospel shall live of it, and that no man goes a warfaring at his own charges. Here I am reminded of what Mr. Thoreau once said. ''In r662/' he says, ''the town of Eastham agreed that a part of every whale that was cast on the shore should be appropriated for the support of the min- istry. The ministers," he allows, "must have sat on the cliffs in every storm, and watched the shore with anxiety." "And, for my part," he says, " if I were a minister I would rather trust to the bowels of billows to cast up a whale for me than to the generosity of many a country parish that I know." Prof Park says that "a clergyman in Wales was appointed to address the people who had starved out their former pastor, and were now to receive a new one. He recommended, in his address, that Jacob's ladder be let down from the skies to that Welsh parish, in order that the new minister might go into heaven on the Sabbath evening, after MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 33 preaching, and remain there all the week : then he would come down so spiritually-minded and so full of heaven that he would preach almost like an angel." But the people insisted on having their pastor with them during the week. " Ah 1 but," said the speaker, "if he remain with you during the week he must have something to eat." I should not be at all surprised that if God would so change the order of things as to take mmisters to heaven during the week and let them down on Sunday morning, some men would give a tremen- dous shout of glory to God for a free and heaven- ly gospel. Another evil growing out of an inadequate sal- ary is, that many good men are partially, and some entirely, driven from the field, insomuch that they are completely crippled in their efforts to do good. They will pray a little, visit a little, study a little, and work a good deal. Some of these men, if they were properly sustained, would accomplish a vast amount of good. But as it is,— pressed on every side from want,— they retire in part, or altogether, from the active work of the ministry. I am per- sonally acquainted with a number of such men. 3 34 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. Do you say they should have held on a little lon- ger ? May be they should ; but some of them did hold on until want, like a ghost, stared them in the face. They were out of clothing, out of mon- ey, and I was about to say out of credit, for some of their own brethren were afraid to loan them money. What could they do? I have a letter fresh from the hand of a brother with whom I have been acquainted for twenty-five years. He says, '' I am compelled to resign my circuit : the people will not support me. What shall I do? Dig I can not, and to beg I am ashamed." That brother is in the prime of life. He entered the ministry when a boy, and has been in the field for many years. He has been the honored instru- ment of winning scores of souls to Christ. I know the people among whom this brother labored. Many of them are rich, — worth their thousands of dollars, — and yet would rather force this broth- er to resign, and run the risk of losing souls, rath- er than pay him a reasonable salary. I do not say it is wrong for ministers to work with their hands, but I will say that they have not time. The work in which they are engaged is enough to fill MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 35 their hands and heads and hearts. When Paul saw the magnitude of the work, he exclaimed : "Who is sufficient for these things? " I have had the heart-ache more than once, when I saw good and true men driven from the field. Our recent statistics show a amall decrease in our itinerant ranks, but quite an increase in our local ranks. It ought to be the other way. We need an in- crease of at least a hundred active intinerants ev- ery year. The principal reason why our intiner- ant ranks are depleted, and our local force increased, is the present inadequate salary. Other men are now halting in the work. Their energy is fast dying out, and they v\ ill most certainly quit the field, if there is not, very soon, an improve- ment. I would not be willing to tell you all I know about the circumstances of a good many of our most faithful ministers. If you knew it all you would not blame them for retiring from the field. But is there not an improvement in the salary of ministers ? To be sure there is, but not in proportion to the increased expenses of living. Excuse me if I give a scrap of my own experience. Twenty-seven years ago, when I entered the 36 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. itineracy, the salary was very low. During the first five years my salary averaged one hundred and forty-one dollars a year. I lived well, and saved a little each year. But living was cheap. Flour cost from three to five dollars a bc^rrel ; meat from two to four dollars a hundred ; butter from six to ten cents per pound; potatoes, apples, cab- bage, just a fraction above nothing; coffee from eight to ten cents a pound ; sugar from six to eight cents per pound ; and so all through. But it is not so now ? Things have changed ; everything smells of money. The farmer gets more for his produce; the mechanic gets more for his work ; the lawyer demands a heavier fee ; and the doctor charges more, no matter whether he kills or cures. Preaching ought to advance as well as anything else. If not, why not? That's the question. But you may say that preaching is no better now than it was in former times. Neither is flour and meat any better, but it costs more money. Several years ago I visited a brother that had charge of a mission on the frontier of Con- ference. He was doing all in his power to build up the cause of Christ. I inquired how he was MINISTEBIAL SUPPORT. 37 getting along. He said, "Pretty well; some- times we have a good meal, but often it is very scant." His wife said their worst trouble was, to clothe their children. She had set patch upon patch until she had nothing more to patch with. "Then, said she, " I took down a pair of blankets, the last gift from my mother, and thought I would cut them up for clothing; but my heart failed me. I put them away, and concluded that I would wait awhile and see if something would not turn up. A few days after, my children gathered around the fire, shivering with cold, and the oldest one of the three said, "Ma, I am afraid we will all die with cold. Look at little sister, she is getting so thin and pale ; and I believe it i^ nothing but the cold that makes her look so ! " I took down my blankets and immediately converted them into garments for my children. When these are gone I do not know what we shall do." That brother soon after left the intineracy, and was lost to the church. Ministers ought to be willing and ready to suffer for Christ's sake. But I can not see any virtue in suffering from want in a land of plenty, and among those that are abundantly able to re- 38 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. lieve. I see in it more downright stinginess than virtue, — more of the world than of Christ. Another evil growing out of a meager salary is, that many promising young men are kept out of the ministry, especially out of the itinerant work. If they preach at all, it is not where they would prefer to preach. But when they see how poorly many good and true men are sustained they have little heart to enter the field, especially when other doors ; re opened for them, where they can preach the same gospel and be well sustained. I do not say that men ought to be controlled by such a motive ; but men are men, and preachers have as much JiHinanity about them as other men. They will accept positions not in every way so congenial to their feelings, rather than to be continually harassed by financial embarassment. Preachers are sometimes accused of preaching for money. Perhaps some do, but the majority of them could make more at something else. Bricklayers in Bal- timore get five dollars a day, and preachers get about two dollars and a half per day. Any man that enters the itineracy for money will find, long before he dies with old age, that he made a most shocking mistake. MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 39 "The age we live in " demands a class of minis- ters differing in some respects from those of years ago. The demand comes from the people, and to meet it men have to prepare themselves for the work. It takes time and money to prepare for the ministry nowadays. I hear it said, wherever I go, " Send us such and such a man. We must have a man that can stand side by side with the very best. We don't want a man that will be a laugh- ingstock for our school-boys and girls." They say that the preaching of other years will not do now. This demand is all right. I am glad it is so. But the people are not willing to pay for it. Now, when a young man spends his time and money in preparing to meet this demand, and when he sees that the people are unwilling to give him a living salary, it is not to be wondered at if he will go elsewhere. ''Ah, but," one says, "we must stand for principle, dead or alive." Very true, but there is a great deal of bread and meat to help one stand. If there is no principle in beefsteak, there is bone and muscle in it, and something that will steady the nerves. School- teachers used to receive from six to twelve dollars 40 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. per month; now they receive from twenty to sixty dollars per month. The demand is for better teachers ; and no one expects them to teach at the same price they did in former times. I am willing to unite with the church in the demand for a bet- ter class of ministers, provided the church is will- ing to unite with me in the demand for a better salary. Let us have things equal. Another evil arising from a meager salary is, the dark and gloomy picture of want in old age. This must have a very depressing influence on the mind of a minister. When after ten or fifteen years of hard, earnest work he finds that by the very best use he could make of his money he has nothing left, the future of life cannot look cheer- ful. His health may fail ; he may die ; and what then may become of his family ? Who will pro- vide for them ? Will the people do better fbr them when he is gone than they do now ? Then, again, he sees old men, worn out in the service of the church. They are poor, very poor. They have nothing left ; they are almost paupers. Alto- gether, the future that rises up before an itinerant minister is not such as will tend to breathe cour- MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 41 age into his soul. He sees other men — members of his own congregation — providing for old age, and saving a Httle for their children, while he goes from hand to mouth, and very often scant at that. Tell me, brother, friend, is it in the soul of any good man to do as much for Christ and the church un- der such circumstances as he cojld if he felt sure that the necessary wants of himself and family would be supplied ? As already intimated, ministers ought not expect to be made rich by preaching ; yet if they would receive each year a little over and above their cur- rent expenses, it would certainly be no sin, and if they are good men it would give them greater courage to work on. But it has been said that ministers ought to work some, and earn a little in that way. Well, it is no sin to perform manual labor, — they ought not to be ashamed to work, — but I re-affirm that they have not time to work. Every day they work with their hands is just so much time lost to the cause of Christ. Paul says: "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." Again he says. " Study to show thyself approved unto God, a 42 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Now, by the time a minister reads and studies and attends to his pas- toral work as he ought, and as God commands him to do, he will have no time left 'o eithei- plow, sow, or reap. There is not enough of any man to be divided. We have too many half- hands now in the field. The work is great, and demands the whole head and heart and lips. Just now we need a whole regiment of men — wholly consecrated men — to go into the field. *' The harvest truly is great, and the laborers are few." The fields are already white for the sickle. We need whole men, men of great, warm hearts, who will strike fire at every blow, — none of your drones; no, away with them. We want men who can give their whole time and talent to this work. It seems to me that if the church of Christ had men and money she could take the world. Ah, me, if we had just a few regiments of such men as Barnabus, — of whom it is said that he was ''a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and faith; " and then a church like that at Corinth, that went above their ability in giving, — we could soon ex- MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 43 tend the Redeemer's kingdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. A thousand doors are stand- ing wide open, and the command from heaven is to go forward. We are to be co-workers with God in the evangelization of the world. If the church will furnish the money God will furnish the men. In this connection I wish to put in a word or two in behalf of the pastor's family. The pastor has his heart-aches and troubles. But he is not alone ; his family suffers with him. Most of the time they are left alone in their poverty, with but little to make them comfortable. If the minister's heart is as it ought to be, he must often feel cast down and sad. Do you call this a weakness? Perhaps it is But wait till you try it; you may be weak too. Sometimes it happens that the mem- bers find fault with the pastor's wife, because she does not manage better. Possibly some of them do manage rather poorly; but then so many of them have so little to manage with. It requires vastly more skill to manage with little or nothing than when you have plenty. Let some of those complainers try their skill in furnishing meals at ' five cents apiece for each member of their family, 44 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. and they will find out, i:>erhaps, that it is easier said than done. I am somewhat acquainted with a man who has a large family. This man, after deducting his other necessary expenses, has only about four cents a meal for each member of his family. It seems to me that it will require pretty careful managing to get through all right on that. But it must be done, or he will get in debt, and then the whole nation will be down on him. Please do not be too severe on ministers' families- until you know all about their circumstances. But this is not all. It sometimes happens that during the absence of the pastor some member of the family is sick, and perhaps dies. A minister received an appointment many miles from home^ and it was necessary for him to be absent sev- eral weeks at a time. He had a little daughter to whom he was very much attached. On leav- ing home she would always follow him to the gate and receive her good-bye- kiss. During his long absence she died. On returning home he imme- diately inquired after his daughter. His wife, with hidden emotion, told him the sad story. The strong man bowed and wept tears of deep sor- MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. .^^5 row. His wife, with real Christian courage, did what she could to comfort him. " Do you," said she, "remember when you left home that our little dear followed you to the gate 1 I have been think- ing all the while that when our work is done we will find her at the gate." These are among the trials a minister's family has to endure. Pardon me if I tell you I have gone through such a trial. When many miles from home death took one from my hearth, and she was buried two or three weeks before I could return. Let those who have had some such trial bear witness that there are few sorrows deeper than this. Then if you add to this poverty and want, as is not unfrequendy the case, you will have a picture of a good many min- isters' families. But is the church able to pay a better salary 1 To be sure it is. There is not one field of labor out of twenty but what could increase the amount they pay from fifty to one hundred per cent. Do you say this is extravagant 1 Let us see. How many Christians pcy one tenth of their income to the support of the gospel ? Is this too much ? That is what they used to pay, when under the 46 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. law, and nobody died from it either. We allow that the gospel is better than the law. Now, it they could pay one tenth when the light was neith- er clear nor dark, it would seem that since the day-star has arisen clear and bright men ought to do as well as they. But thousands of men whose in- come ranges from five hundred to five thousand dollars a year, do not pay one thirtieth to the sup- port of the gospel. There is not one out of fifty that pays the one tenth. I asked a man how much he paid his preacher. He said that three dollars a year was all he could spare. I asked how much he paid annually for cigars and tobacco. ''I reckon," said he, ''that it must cost me fifteen, dollars a year." How in the world, said I, can you afford to spend so much ? He hardly knew how he did it, but still it was done. This is the way it goes. Men and women can manage to pay for almost anything else more promptly than they can pay for the gospel. When it comes to the lux- uries of life, or the fashions and frivolities of de- praved society, men and women seem to think there is an absolute must about it, but when it comes to the support of the gospel, they act as if MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 47 there was an absolute ?io difference about it. The brother says I must have my tobacco, and the sis- ter says I must have that duck of a bonnet, no matter what it costs. An eminent divine said, ''I have seen a woman professing to love Christ more than this world, clad in silks, velvet, and jewelry, costing in all twelve hundred and fifty dollars, — all hung upon a frail, dying woman. I have seen her at a meeting in behalf of homeless wanderers in New York, wipe her eyes on an expensive em- broidered handkerchief at the story of their suf- fering, and when the contribution box came round she gave twenty-five cents to relieve the wants of the poor sufferers. Ah ! thought I, dollars for ribbons and pennies for Christ." An old Scotch preacher is reported to have said ^ in one of his sermons at Aberdeen, '* Ye people of Aberdeen get your fashions from Glasgow, and Glasgow from Edingurgh, and Edinburgh from London, and London from Paris, and Paris from the devil." No matter whether they came by this route to America, or some nearer way, certain it is that Fashion is here in all her glory. ''And if you wish to see the latest fashions, go to church. 48- MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. Rustling silks, expensive millinery, jewels and gold abound thera The want of such trifles has kept many an otherwise sensible woman from church. How many souls is fashion shutting out of heav- en," Millions of dollars are paid annually by church members to gratify a proud heart; but when asked to give money to support the gospel, they have little or nothing to give. When will Christians learn to believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive. " A rich merchant in St. Petersburg, at his own expense, supported a number of missionaries in India, and gave like a prince to the cause of God at home. He was asked one day how he could do it. He replied, 'When I served the devil I did it on a grand scale, and at princely expenses ; and when by his grace God called me out of darkness, I resolved that Christ should have more than the devil had had. But how I can give so much you must ask God who enables me to give it. At my conversion, I told the Lord his cause should have a part of all that my business brought in; and every year since I made that promise, it has brought me in about double what it did the year before, so MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 49 that I can double my gifts in his cause." Bunyan said: "A man there was, some called him mad: The more he cast away, the more he had." But the complaint is often made, that it costs so much to support the cause of Christ. Suppose we admit the complaint. Is the gospel worth what it costs ? The cost of an article or an institution is not always to be determined by the number of dollars it requires to buy and sustain it, but by the amount of service it renders. A watch that cost five dollars may be dearer than one that cost twen- ty-five dollars. It may take a half dozen five-dollar watches to do what one twenty-five-dollar watch will do. Now take the cost of the gospel and compare that with the amount of good accom- plished by it, and I affirm that it is the cheapest institution in all the land. Men talk of high taxes; but if the church should go down, and the preach- ing of the gospel cease, your taxes would be doubled and trebled. All other institutions com- bined are not doing one tenth part as much to strengthen the arm of the Government as the church of Christ. If that should fail, salt-peter 50 MINrSTERIAL SUPPORT. would not save our nation from utter ruin: it would go to smash in spite of presidents, senators, and judges. We pay our President twenty-five thousand dollars a year — and he is cheap at that, members of the cabinet eight thousand, senators eight thousand, representatives five thousand, while the average salary of the ministers in the United States is less than five hundred dollars a year. One senator costs the Government more than it costs the church to support sixteen preach- ers. Talk about the expense of keeping up the church aixi supporting her ministry, and then look at the expense of keeping up the Government. The people of the United States pay millions of dollars more each year for liquor than they do to support the gospel. The city of Baltimore sup- ports ten to fifteen saloon-keepers for every preach- er it supports. It costs thirty millions of dollars annually to support the lawyers in America; twelve millions of dollars are paid annually to keep our criminals ; ten millions of dollars to keep the dogs alive among us, while only six millions of dollars are paid out annually to support six thousand preachers. Now when we consider the MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. -51, amount of good that is being accomplished by the-, gospel, am I not right in saying that it is the. cheapest institution in all the land ? We owe al- most everything to the light and influence of the gospel. The more gospel we have, the better it will be for our country. ''It is a rock of dia- monds, and a chain of pearls." Men sometimes say that they would not give their religion for the whole world. I suppose there are just such Christians ; but they are not very plenty. If I owned the whole world, and wanted to keep it, I would be very careful who bantered for a trade. When it goes so hard with men to give a few dollars to support the gospel, the pre- sumptive evidence is that they would sell out cheap for cash. A good deal less than half of this world would buy their religion. A popular American divine, when speaking of the mode of giving to the cause of Christ, says that ''some men give so that you are angry every time you ask them to contribute. They give so that their gold and silver shoot you like a bullet. Other persons give with such beauty that you re- member it as long as you live, and you say, 'It is 52 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. a pleasure to go to such men.' There are some men that give as springs do: whether you go to them or not, they are always full ; and your part is merely to put your dish under the everflowing stream. Others give just as a pump does where the well is dry and the pump leaks." All that is necessary in order to support the cause of Christ properly is willing hearts. The church has money enough, but there is not a cor- responding wiUingness. When God asked the children of Isreal to build a tabernacle, it is said they all, men and women, had willing hearts, and gave until they were commanded to stop, for they had brought in not only enough, but more than enough. Give me a field of labor with one hun- dred members, in moderate circumstances and willing hearts, and if I do my duty as a preacher and pastor I will be well provided for. I will get not only enough to support myself and family, but something over. "Hohannes, the blind missionary of Harpoot, tells of a place where the Board had spent much money with little result, where he was sent. It was a poor place. The people were to raise six MINISTEKIAL SUPPORT. 53 hundred piasters, and the Board was to pay the balance of his salary. The people said they could not raise that sum. After much anxiety, the mis- sionary laid the case before God in prayer, when it was impressed upon him that each should give his tenth. He proposed it to the people, and they agreed to it. The money was easily raised, and amounted to more than the entire salary. That people never prospered so much before. They not only supported the preacher, but gave two thousand piasters to other purposes." A missionary was asking for help in spreading the gospel, when a negro with a wooden leg came forward, and laying down three parcels, said, "That's for me, massa, and that's for my wife, and that's for my child," — in all thirteen dollars. Some one asked him whether he was not giving too much, '•' Xo, indeed, God's work must be done, massa, and I may be dead," When men feel that God's work must be done, then it will be done. Oh ! if it were not for this avaricious love of the world, how the cause of the blessed Jesus would go forward. Soon, very soon, the wilder- 54 . MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. .ness would blossom as the rose, and streams of liv- ing water would break out in desert places. There would be heard in every land, and every dialect and language, songs of praise to the prince of the house of David. The wandering Arab, with the teeming millions of Africa, would pay their devo- tions at the altars of God. We should soon see the twilight of the millenial glory. If the Son of Mary, and the only-begotten Son of God, poured out the last drop of blood that coursed through his veins to save a ruined world, where is the man, whose heart has been touched with the love of that Jesus, that is unwilling to bring his gift of a few dollars to help on the blessed work of reformation. Cicero said that " men resemble the gods in noth- ing so much as doing good to their fellow-crea- tures." And there is no way under the heavens by which men can do as much good to their fel- low-creatures as by helping to support the gospel. A few dollars given with a cheerful heart may be the means of saving a soul, and helping to en- lighten many others. Sometime ago a man sat down and calculated the increase of a dollar at compound interest, and found that in less than MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 55 two hundred and forty years it would amount to more than two millions and a half of dollars. He asked himself the question whether God would not make a dollar laid up for him grow as rapidly as it does by the laws of trade. But many are like a certain rich man from whom charity was solicited as a loan from the Lord. He said he supposed the security was good, and the interest liberal, but he could not give such long credit. In two weeks the dreadful summons came, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be re- quired of thee." The God whom he would not trust would no longer trust him. There are many who give more heed to the priests of Janus than to the apostles of Jesus. They would drive away the ass of the fatherless and take the widow's ox as a pledge : "The miser comes, his heart to mammon sold — His life, his hope, his God, his all is gold. ' To-morrow, and to-morrow,' he will say : ' Soul, take thine ease, for thou hast many a day, Whose smiling dawns will make thee to rejoice.' Hush ! hark, the echoes of that awful voice ! Thou fool! This night yield up thy earthly trust ! Gaze once again, his treasures are but dust ! " An American missionary states that during the almost seven vears that he resided in Malta he was 56 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. witness, every Monday morning, to an affecting and admonitory scene. A man passed through the streets ringing a bell in one hand and rattling a box in the other, crying at every corner, "What will you give for souls? What will you give for souls ? " The women and children came out of the habitations of poverty, and cast their mites in- to the box. Wlien it is full, it is carried to a neighboring convent to pay the priests for praying the souls out of purgatory." Now if the poor deluded people of Malta will give their money so freely to have souls released from purgatory, what ought we Protestants be will- ing to give to save souls from an endless hell of torments ? Men and women of God, what will you give for souls? I wish that I could put this question to every Protestant in the land, just when they kneel down to pray, or when they are gather- ed around the Lord's table. "What will you give for souls 1 " Jesus says : " I gave my life for souls." Brothers, what will you give ? If Christians valued souls as God values them, the faithful minister would be better supported, and our missionary contributions would not only MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 57 be doubled and trebled, but quadrupled. Ah me, how hard it is to get men and women to see and feel the worth of a soul. Rev. John Smith, the mighty Wesleyan preacher, used to say, ''I am a broken-hearted man ; not for myself, but on ac- count of others. God has given me such a sight of the value of precious souls, that I can not live if souls are not saved. Oh, give me souls, or I die." When Dr. Lyman Beecher was on his dying- bed, a brother minister said to him, ''Dr. Beech- er, you know a great deal : tell us what is the greatest of all things?" He replied, "It is not theology; it is not controversy; it is to save souls." But notwithstanding the incalculable value of an immortal soul, men and women, by scores and hundreds, who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ, will go on indulging in all manner of ex- travagance. A lady gave five cents in a mission- ary collection, and complained that the calls were so frequent. The next day she paid twenty dollars to buy her daughter a fashionable bonnet, and thought it was cheap at that. In the midst of just such people the minister and his family may go 58 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. half-fed and half-clothed, no matter how. Do you say these are plain words 1 I know it ; but they are plain truths. We are going to the judgment — we will soon be there. Are you ready for set- tlement? What have you done with the Lord's money ? Have you been a faithful steward ? Suffer me once more to remind you that I am not here to plead for a slothful, indolent preacher. Send him home. The sooner the better. We have too many of that class hanging to the work, but who are not in the work. Their hearts do not burn for the extension of the kingdom of God. A specimen may be seen wrapped in a new man- tle, seated on a softly-cushioned car-seat, on his way to conference, engaged in conversation with a care-worn, full-hearted minister. I hear him say, *'We had a good time the past year; that is a very pleasant circuit ; the appointments are close together ; and I am happy to be able to report to conference that we have held our own." I can see the spirit of the great and good Otterbein look- ing out from its starry home to inquire if such a man is a true son of the church ? He certainly is not. The mass of our ministers possess the true MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 69 spirit of Christian aggression. Their lives lie day and night on the altar of the Master. They give their whole time and power to the winning of souls to Jesus. And as this vast army is marshaling to take the world for Christ, the cry issues from above for men in the laity who are ready with their hearts and lives to exclaim, " I can spare one quarter of a year's earnings to extend his kingdom on earth." Brethren in the ministry, a few words and I shall l)e done. The field is before you. The harvest is fully ripe. Souls are perishing every day. We must not tarry. There are steep and rugged mountains to climb, and many broad rivers to cross. This is a cold and cheerless world. The work in which you are engaged is not such as will <:ommend itself to the men of this world. You must expect many repulses — many hard battles must be fought. If you are true to your trust you will have hard work and plenty of it. You may die poor, very poor. I can not guaranty that you will have a dollar to leave to your family. Judg- ing the future from the past, this is about what you may expect. You may die away from home, as a good many others have done. But there is a brighter 60 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. side of the question. Jesus said, I will go with you and help you. I will never leave nor forsake you. I am more than all that can be against. I will open the way before you, and give you suc- cess in winning souls from destruction. Brethren, there is a hereafter — there is a blessed by and by, We will all be rich some time — may be to-morrow or the day following. Aha, there are no circuits, missions, nor districts to travel at home. 'Twill all be over soon. The morning cometh : I can almost see the glimmering light on the distant mountain peaks. Heard you that sound ? 'Twas the voice of the bride-groom. Behold, he com- eth. All hail. The last words of Rev. Joseph Everett were, ''glory, glory, glory." Dr. Judson said : "I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world ; yet when Christ calls me home I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school." J. Parsons said : " When I get to glory I will make heaven ring with my voice, and wave my palm over the heads of the saints crying, '' victory, victory, in the blood of the Lamb." MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 61 JohnPayson: ''I know I am dying. Heaven is already begun. Everlasting life is won. I die a safe, easy death. Precious Jesus. Glory be to God." Robert Newton said : "Christ Jesus, the savior of sinners and life of the dead. I am going to glory ! Farewell, sin ! Farewell, death ! Praise the Lord." John Fletcher said: "Oh! how this soul of mine longs to be gone, like a bird out of his cage, to the realms of bliss. Oh ! that some guardian angel might be commissioned, for I long to be ab- sent from the body." Brethren beloved, some such hour of victory awaits you, if you are faithful. Stick to the ship if you can. Hard work and slim pay now; but look up, it will all be right in the morning. "Not in this weary world of ours Can perfect rest be foumd ; Thorns mingle with its fairest flowers Even on cultured ground ; Earth's pilgrim still his loins must gird To seek a lot more blest ; And this must be his onward word — *In heaven alone is rest! ' " m