Maurice shook his head thoughtfully, but said nothing more about it then, and the matter dropped.

The last week in December we have our annual meeting.  It is generally rather a stupid affair.  The nine or ten gentlemen who constitute the board of trustees meet in the capacity of an ecclesiastical society.  In the capacity of a board of trustees they report to themselves in the capacity of a society.  In the capacity of a society they accept the report which they have presented in the capacity of a board of trustees, and pass unanimously a resolution of thanks to the board, i. e. themselves, for the efficient and energetic manner in which they have discharged their duties.  They then ballot in a solemn manner for themselves for the ensuing year and elect the ticket without opposition.  And the annual meeting is over.

But this year our annual meeting was a very different affair.  The Sabbath preceding, the parson preached a sermon on the text:  “The poor have the Gospel preached to them.”  In this sermon he advocated a free-pew system.  His arguments were not very fresh or new (there is not much that is new to be said on the subject) till he came to the close.  Then he startled us all by making the following proposition: 

“The chief objection,” said he, “to the free-pew system is the question, ‘Where shall the money come from?’ From God, I answer.  I believe if we feed his poor, he will feed us.  I, for one, am willing to trust Him, at least for one year.”

It slipped out very naturally, and there was a little laugh in the congregation at the preacher’s expense.  But he was very much in earnest.

“I propose to the society to throw open the doors of this church, and declare all the pews free.  Provide envelopes and papers, and scatter them through the pews.  Let each man write thereon what he is willing to pay for the support of the Gospel, and whether he will pay it weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-quarterly or annually.  Give these sealed envelopes to me.  No one shall know what they contain but myself and the treasurer.  I will pay out of the proceeds all the current expenses of the church, except the interest.  Whatever remains, I will take as my salary.  The interest, the trustees will provide out of the plate collections and with the aid of the ladies.  This is my proposition.  Consider it seriously, earnestly, prayerfully, and come together next Wednesday night to act intelligently upon it.”

I hardly think the minister’s eloquence would have sufficed to carry this plan, but the treasurer’s balance-sheet helped his case amazingly.

I supposed there would be a small deficit, but thought I knew it could not be very great.  But I had not reckoned on the genius for incapacity which characterises church boards.  To have the unusual deficit, which was involved by the increase of the parson’s salary, provided for by a special subscription was more than they could bear.  They had regarded it as their duty, made plain by the example of their predecessors in office for many years, to bring the church in debt, and nobly had they fulfilled their duty.  On the strength of that extraordinary subscription they had rushed into extraordinary expenditures with a looseness that was marvellous to behold.