i8 57 .] 



THE MONEY TEST. 



153 



should attend the annual meetings for business ; but at Warring- 

 ton it was the custom for him to be present, and to preside at all 

 congregational meetings, and to summon them if he saw occa- 

 sion ; and in petitions to Parliament from the " congregation " 

 his signature stood first, followed by that of the treasurer. 



In Philip's opinion, and in that of many of his friends, the 

 attempt to impose a money-subscription as a test of membership 

 was extremely unchristian. In America, a church-edifice com- 

 monly belongs to a body of proprietors ; but in England it is 

 usually raised by free gifts, and invested in trustees for the benefit 

 of the congregation (sometimes an endowment is specially for 

 the minister). Its annual value is often much larger than the 

 amount of subscriptions or pew-rents. Many of those who 

 attended the Cairo Street Chapel, without subscribing, gave 

 an amount of time and effort, as teachers in the Sunday school, 

 etc., which was of far more value than a money-contribution. 

 Among the English Presbyterians, admission to the Lord's 

 Table is entirely free (as, in the lapse of discipline, it has 

 become in the Church of England), and there is not the dis- 

 tinction which is known in most Denominations between 

 church-members and members of the congregation. A very 

 lax and informal mode of transacting business has its incon- 

 veniences in any emergency ; and, whatever rule may be 

 adopted, it seems desirable that there should always be an 

 authorized register of voters. After the decision of the con- 

 gregational meeting, many came forward to subscribe, and it 

 was suggested by their opponents that the money was not paid 

 by themselves. Philip, however, wrote home : " All the new 

 subscribers are those who would have subscribed long ago if I 

 had given them the least encouragement, and whom I would not 

 let subscribe till they had maintained their rights as non-payers. 

 Surely, when rich people threaten to withdraw their support, the 

 poor are not to be blamed for helping with their shillings when 

 it is a pleasure to them. I don't like having their shillings,* 



* It is usual for a fixed salary to be guaranteed to a minister, in which 

 case a few subscriptions, more or less, do not immediately affect him. At 

 Cairo Street, however, it was the custom to give the minister the receipts, 

 after deducting expenses : there was a separate chapel-warden's fund. 



