is so immense, the flock so widely
scattered, that very few clergymen can visit all their people. The
result is that pastoral visiting is but little practised here. The
clergyman is generally "at home" to all who choose to call, on a certain
evening in each week. A few civil, common-place words pass between the
shepherd and the sheep, but that is all. The mass of the people of this
city are neglected by the clergy. Possibly the fault is with the people.
Indeed, it is highly probable, considering the carelessness which New
Yorkers manifest on the subject of church going. During the summer
months a large part of New York is left to do without the Gospel. Very
many of the churches are closed. The ministers are, many of them,
delicate men, and they cannot bear the strain of an unbroken year of
preaching. So they shut up their churches during the warm season, go off
to Long Branch, Saratoga, or the mountains, or cross the ocean. With the
fall of the leaves, they come back to town by the score, and their
churches are again opened "for preaching." Don't be deceived by their
robust appearance. It is only temporary. By the approach of the next
summer they will grow thin and weak-voiced again, and nothing will
restore them but a season at some fashionable resort, or a run over the
ocean.

A man of real talent will always, if he has a church conveniently and
fashionably located, draw a large congregation to hear him; but the
location and prestige of the church often do more than the minister, for
some of our poorer churches have men of genius in their pulpits, while
some of the wealthiest and most fashionable congregations are called on
every Sunday to listen to the merest platitudes.

Let us not be misunderstood. There are able men in the New York
pulpit--such men as Vinton, Hall, Chapin, Spring, Osgood, John Cotton
Smith, Adams, and others--but we have some weak-headed brethren also.

A few clergymen grow rich in this city, the wealthy members of their
flock no doubt aiding them. Some marry fortunes. As a general rule,
however, they have no chance of saving any money. Salaries are large
here, but expenses are in proportion; and it requires a large income for
a minister to live respectably. One in charge of a prosperous
congregation cannot maintain his social position, or uphold the dignity
of his parish, on less than from eight to ten thousand dollars per annum,
if he has even a moderate family. Very little,