there are many collateral exertions. "In short," says Dr. Lang, "the labours of the American clergy are 'in season and out of season;' and I am quite sure, from what I uniformly observed myself in eleven of the states, that they are stimulated to these labours rather by their own zeal, and their high sense of duty, than by any idea of the supervision of the people. Everywhere, from Salem to Charleston, along an extent of a thousand miles of country, I found no religious denomination of any pretensions to evangelical character, resting satisfied with the performance of divine service on the Sabbath. In every congregation there was a concert for prayer, at which the minister presided, and communicated interesting religious intelligence to his people, once a month. There was a weekly Bibleclass meeting for the more advanced of the younger members of the congregation. There was a public lecture every Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening. The lectureroom was a never-failing appendage of the church, and the Sabbath-school machinery was uniformly plied by a most efficient corps of volunteers."

If the industry here described springs from the zeal of the clergy, it appears, on the other hand, to be highly acceptable to their flocks; so much so, as to establish in public opinion a high standard of ministerial character and duty. Some, indeed, have complained of the amount of labour that is demanded of the clergy in some denominations as excessive, as "undermining their health, and sending scores to their graves every year, long before they ought to go there."† Without troubling ourselves to inquire into the truth of this charge, it may be enough to observe, that such an accusation was never brought against religious establishments. It belongs exclusively to the voluntary system.

We shall conclude this topic by citing two testimonies to the general worth of the American clergy; the one by a friend of the voluntary principle, the other by an enemy * Lang, p. 198.

+ Rev. Calvin Colton.

of it.

"Never since the days of the apostles," says the Rev. Calvin Colton, "was a country blessed with so enlightened, pious, orthodox, faithful, willing clergy, as the United States at this moment." "The American clergy," says Captain Marryatt, "are, in the mass, equal, if not superior, to any in the world."

Not altogether without interest is the question, Whether, on the voluntary principle in the United States, a sufficient provision is made for the temporal support of so large a body of ministers? Some churches have large endowments; but these, Dr. Baird assures us, are found rather injurious than beneficial. There are, of course, no very large pastoral incomes, and in some communions the ministry is wholly, and on principle, unpaid. The following general view of this matter is given by Dr. Baird :—

"It is not easy to give any very satisfactory answer to the question, Whether the ministers of the gospel are well supported in the United States? Using that phrase in the sense which many attach to it, I should say, in giving a general reply to the question, that they are not that is to say, few, if any of them, receive salaries that would enable them to live in the style in which the wealthiest of their parishioners live. Their incomes are not equal to those of the greater number of lawyers and physicians, though these are men of no better education or higher talents than great numbers of the clergy possess. None of the ministers of the gospel in the United States derive such revenues from their official stations as many of the parochial clergy of England have, to say nothing of the higher dignitaries of the church in that country. There are few, if any of them, who, with economy, can do more than live upon their salaries; to grow rich upon them is out of the question.

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'Yet, on the other hand, the greater number of the salaried ministers in the United States are able, with economy, to live comfortably and respectably. This holds true

especially as respects the pastors of the Atlantic, and even of the older parts of the western states. In New England, if we except Boston, the salaries of the congregational, episcopalian, and baptist pastors are, in the largest towns, such as Providence, Portland, Salem, Hartford, Newhaven, &c., from £160 to £240; in the villages and country churches, they vary from £60 or £80 to £140 or £160; besides which, the minister sometimes has a 'parsonage and 'glebe'—that is, a house and a few acres of land; and, in addition to all, he receives a good many presents. His marriage fees are of some amount. In other parts of the country, and especially in the west, the clergy are not so well provided for. The New England practice of giving them presents, whether casually or regularly, and at some set time, does not prevail elsewhere to the same degree.

"The salaries of the clergy in the largest and wealthiest churches of the principal cities are handsome, though generally no more than adequate : £300, £360, £400, £500, are the sums commonly given; and in a few cases, £600, £700, and even £800. The presbyterian church in New Orleans gives its pastor £1000, and the highest of all is that of one of the bishops in the episcopal church, which I have been told is £1200."*

In addition to this general statement, Dr. Baird gives the following table, containing an approximate calculation of the total amount of money raised annually for the support of the ministry in the principal evangelical denominations in the year 1842:

I. Episcopalian ministers, say 985, at an average of 400 dollars each (£80)..

II. Presbyterian ministers, say 5099, including Congregationalists, Lutherans, &c., at 400 dollars each (£80)

394,000

2,039,600

* Baird, p. 303. I have expressed the amounts in sterling money, reckoning five dollars to a pound sterling, which is rather less than the value of the dollar.

III. Baptist ministers, say 4242, on an average of 200 dollars (£40) only

IV. 3994 ministers of the Methodist group, exclusive of local preachers, at an average of 300 dollars (£60)

General total..

848,400

1,198,200

4,480,200

In his recent statistical paper, exhibiting the state of things in 1850, Dr. Baird largely augments his general estimate on this head. "After the most careful inquiry which I have been able to make," he says, "I have come to the conclusion that our congregations paid last year to their ministers, in the shape of salaries, parsonages, glebes, and other perquisites, at least 7,670,650 dollars."†

* Nearly £900,000. Baird, p. 728.

+ Reckoning again five dollars to a pound sterling, this is more than a million and a half-£1,534,130. If, in such an amount, the dollar were reckoned at four shillings and two-pence, the augmentation would be very perceptible-£63,922.

CHAPTER IV.

ITS DIRECT RESULTS, CONTINUED.

In addition to the number of churches, and the number and qualifications of ministers, we may appeal to a third test as indicative of the religious condition of the United States; namely, the number of communicants, or of those who partake of the Lord's Supper. This may be regarded as the nearest approximation which can be made (although still an approximation only) to an estimate of the spiritual power with which the ministry of the gospel has been attended, and of its success, in the highest sense of that term.

Under this head, we may refer once more to the statistics furnished by Reed and Matheson in 1835, in which it will be recollected Roman Catholics are included::