men, and very pious: but in most churches they are
men of little intellectual culture; and the less they have, the more
confident and unbending are they in their opinions. If a minister
travels an inch beyond the circle of their vision in theology, or
startles them with a new idea in his interpretation of Scripture, it is
not unlikely that their suspicions of his orthodoxy will be awakened.
If he does any thing out of the common course, he is an innovator. If,
from the multiplicity of his cares and engagements, he is now and then
obliged to preach an old sermon, or does not visit so much as might be
expected, he is lazy. For these and for other delinquencies, as
adjudged by these associates, it becomes their conscientious duty to
admonish him. He who is appointed to supervise the flock, is himself
supervised. `I have a charge to give you,' said a deacon to me once,
the first time and the moment I was introduced to him, after I had
preached one or two Sabbaths in the place, and, as it happened, it was
the first word he said after we shook hands, adding, `I often give
charges to ministers.' I knew him to be an important man, and the first
in the church; but as I had nothing at stake there that depended on his
favour, I could not resist the temptation of replying to him in view of
his consequential airs, `You may use your discretion, sir, in this
particular instance; but I can tell you that ministers are sometimes
overcharged.' However, I did not escape.

"The American clergy are the most backward and timid class in the
society in which they live; self-exiled from the great moral question of
the time; the least informed with true knowledge--the least efficient in
virtuous action--the least conscious of that Christian and republican
freedom which, as the native atmosphere of piety and holiness, it is
their prime duty to cherish and diffuse,"--_Miss Martineau._ I quote
this paragraph to _contradict it_. The American clergy are, in the
mass, equal, if not superior, to any in the world: they have to struggle
with difficulties almost insurmountable, (as I shall substantiate) and
worthily do they perform their tasks.

"It seems to be a principle in Presbyterian and Congregational churches,
that the minister must be overlooked by the elders and deacons; and if
he does not quietly submit to their rule, his condition will be
uncomfortable. He may also expect visitations from _women_ to instruct
him in his duty; at least,