THE TROUBLES OF A PARSON.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3130, 6 August 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE TROUBLES OF A PARSON.

1 Dr. Pabkeb, of the City Temple, London, wrote under the above heading the follow- ' ins? humorous letttr to The Times of April 25th lastSir,—Can you do anything for L U3 in this matter ? When I look at the i hardships of my own comparatively L obscure lot, I cannot but wonder what must be the distraction and the Huftering' of men who are in exceptionally high - pnblio life. In limiting my remarks to ' my own oaee, lam merely guarding other L men from the suspicion of having sought ! in jne an advocate or a representative. ' My own postal burdens are more than i enough for my spare streagth. I could k cope with the number of the letters better > than with the variety of their contents. I I say nothing of begging letters, often too full of anguish to be within the reach of sympathy, or of anonymous letters, notone word of which do I ever read, nor did I at 1 this moment make any account of those ' literary cuttings sent by delicate-minded 1 friends who are afraid lest, by the omission 3 of one chastisement, a minister Bhould be f exalted above measure. k Permit me to give examples of real 1 grievances. A stranger writes that he is > engaged to read a paper before a literary 1 society upon the Arianism of the fourth f century, and asks if I would mind " jott tin" down" a few particulars and refert ring* him to one or two high authorities. The same post bring an anxious inquiry respecting the right and the wrong of the ' practice of danoing in Christrian families, with a request for a reply by return of 7 post. The next letter, running to ten Y sheets of closely written notepaper, dis- " cusses the question of land, landlords, and 1 groand rent and demands whether the time 1 has not fully come when ministers should - rouse themselves from their criminal , lethargy and " sound the tocsin "of iome- :. thing or other which is the range v of my daily studies. The excited writer a says he addresses me on " the ground of t our common patroitism, " awaits my response wii/h "the courage of despair. ? Whilst I keep him waiting I open the

next letter, which piteously entreats me to give my views upon the subject of the eternal torment of the impenitent, and encloses a post card for an immediate reply. Another correspondent assure me that his family might be compared to a bear-garden in oonsequence of divided feeling npon the subject of theatre-going', and, utterly regardless of his metaphor, he politely invites me to '' step forward and pour oil on the troubled waters. I ask, you sir, whether there is any redress for publio men under such circumstances? Those correspondents, and they are the majority, who do not enclose stamped ami addressed envelopes, are alwavs most sensitive to neglect. Some of those thoughtful gentlemen read me severe lectures upon " the common courtesies of life," in utter forgetfulness of the fact that the lack of courtesy is on their side and not on mine. I am not sure that you will thank me for the suggestion I am about to make, yet it strikes 1 me as the best possible course under the circumstances, that such correspondents should write to the papers. I would not spare the minister by taxing the editor, if it were not for the fact that some editors are themselves the greatest culprits that ministers have to guard auuinst. Certain minor ediiorsbave invented anew outrage. ] Their idea 5b to write to publio men for opinions upon the questions of day. As, for example—YVhat do you think of the proposal to make Mr Gladstone the Pope of Rome? And what do yoa think of the attempt to make the Archbishop of Canterbury into a dissenting minister? And what would become of St. Paul's Cathedral in the event of disestablishment ? ; I obierve, however, with satisfaction, ill at ■ in very few «»ses do the moat rfepresenta-

tive ministers allow themselves to be thus victimised. There are, undoubtedly, some subjects upon which a useful correspondence of this kind might be developed; my attention is turned in another and very different direction, and I believe many are guarding themselves against this species of complimentary felony. If you cannot immediately help us, may I say how I relieve my own burdens a little' First of all, as I have just said, anonymous letters are at once thr.own into the fire. Secondly, letters beginning in the style of " Dear brother and fellowsiuner are deposited in the waste-paper basket. Thirdly, all letters from strangers that do not state their business in the first sentence are laid aside until " a more convenient season." Thus I treat the first sort as contemptible, the second as rr isdirected, and the third as insincere. Under a. less drastic policy I should not have lived t# tell the tale.