Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 June 1885 — WANTED—A MINISTER. [ARTICLE]

WANTED—A MINISTER.

the Demands of the People of Thrlftyvlllo for a Minister. j TJiriftyville wants a minister. They are looking far and near to find one; but they want the “right man. ” Thriityville is not one of your old, effete, worn-out places. It is a place grown up quickly on Rapid river, in the beautiful valley of Eureka. It is a very important place—standing directly over the center - of the earth, so that if a hole were dug and a stone dropped into it, it wouldpass through the very center of this great world. It has a growing population, and boasts of “a circle of very intelligent people,” Moreover, it seems to be “the center of a great moral influence,” and it now wants a minister second to none. They wanfMo get the society out of debt, to repair the old wastes which time has already made in their half-built sanctuary, to gather in the young, to “draw” a full house, and to make the concern every way prosperous and respectable, and '"easy to support. Now for the qualifications desired. They are so few and simple that “the right man” probably stands at your elbow. He must be a man mature in intellect and ripe in experience—and yet so young that all the people will rush after him. He musbbe quick, ardent, flashing, nervous in temperament, so that he can kindle quickly, and burn brightly; prompt, ready, and wide-awake—and yet a man of the most consumate prudence, whose nerves will never be unstrung, or out of tune. He. must be a man of great burning zeal, so that ho can startle, and arouse, and kindle, and move the congregation and yet so cautious, so cool, that he is always safe, calm, self-possessed, unperturbed. He must have the power to awaken and arouse the church—and yet let them be quiet and look on, while he does all that is done for Christ.

He must urge and move men, and lead the whole people to salvation, and get them all into the church—and yet be so judicious that he can discern the difference between the wheat and the chaff, and let none but the real converts into the fold. He must be strong and original in the pulpit, and bring only beaten oil there—and yet visit daily from house to house, listening to gossip, twaddle, and scandal; and also be at leisure to receive any call, any interruption, and prepared for every occasion; and like the town pump, never lacking for water, or running dry. He must be a workman who shall go down deep into the mines of truth, and quarry out its pillars and set them up, and make men come and wrestle around them—and also be a gifted man in light conversation, on all that floats in the every-day world around him. He must have health, so that his body never wearies; his nerves must never quiver; a real specimen of muscular Christianity—and yet -be a profound thinker, a close reasoner. and a most diligent student, getting his books from any quarter where he can find them.

He must be poor in this world’s goods, to show that money is not his object, and so that he can sympathize wixh the poor, and cannot help feeling humble and dependent—and must also entertain more company than any other man in the town; his children must he second to none in education and training; they must be respectably dressed; and he must give away more, and give more cheerfully than any other man in the place, not even excepting Squire Rich himself; and his family must be models, in all respects, for the community. He must be a man who can remain in one place year after year; and his congregation must hear the same voice, on the same subject, several times each week —and yet he must come every time as original, as fresh, as glowing as if it were done but once a year. Ho must be able to live in a glass house, always acting in public, coming in contact with all sorts' of men and of prejudices, so original that all will respect and fear him—yet never odd or eccentric, morose, repulsive or awe-in-spiring in manners. He should have the powers and attributes of an angel, with the sympathies, the gentleness, and softness of a child. A He must, be always ready, ’lofty, keyed to the best public pitch, and yet so calm in spirit, afid word, and look, that nothing can disturb his repose. He must be able to serve three masters, at least—the the church, and the society or parish of worldlings who hire him; and be must so balance things that he will please all and offend none.

He must never preach so that the people are not proud of him when they have a stranger in the pew, or so that the echoes of his sermon shall not come back when he goes abroad—and yet every sermon must be so beautiful that all the young people’ will admire it, and wonder over itj and so simple that the little child can carry it all home and repeat it to his grandmother. His wife must be the model of all models. She must be young and handsome, but not indiscrete or vain. .She must be worthy of the admiration of all the people, and yet think she is the humblest of them alt She must watch, and discipline, and prune, and lead, and make her husband the embodiment of all excellence; but she must never be aware of her power, lest she become overbearing. She must be the model of a lady, have a fair face and white hands, though compelled to do all the work of her family, She must be ready to meet everybody with a smile, take her hands from the flour at any moment, wear a checkered apron, and still be dressed like a lady. Her face must never be otherwise than cheerful, and her head must do its achings in secret; and she must give none occasion to call her extravagant, or to call her mean. She must be .able to alter the same dress four times, turning it thrice, and fitting it to a smaller child each time. She will also be expected to be the very life of the Dorcas Society, the mist zealous member of the All-labor Society, the very backbone of the Maternal Association, the warm leader in the female prayer meeting, and the head andjmover in the reading circle, and the visitor-general of the poor.

The minister must, of course, be of sound doctrine, able to lay his hands on the naked foundations of thith, to fortify and defend the hill of Zion—and yet must never preach the oljl fashioned doctrines. They aro not spicy. They are not taking. They -will never “draw” a full house. It is rather desirable that he should be a pious man, and one who loves his Master—and yet, as this article,' piety, has not acquired great value in Thriftyville, it would be well for him not to make that too obtrusive! Such, in a few words, is the man they want for Thriftyville. Jf they can light on him they will pay him from £BO to £IOO annually, and not run behind unreasonably. This is not, to be sure, half what their clerks receive, but they think that the minister, if he be “the right man;” can manage to live oh it. Who is ready ? N. B.—All applicants must put an extra stamp in the letter, or it will receive no attention.