Page 2 Advertisements Column 4

Mataura Ensign, 9 November 1908, Page 2

According to revelations published here a syndicate has been published in the united States to provide the pastors with sermons at bargain rates, and many of these have been unloaded upon confiding congregations as strictly original (writes the Now York correspondent of the 'Daily Telegraph'). This application of commercial methods of syndicates and trusts to "religious wares" has thrilled American congregations with virtuous indignation, and it seems certain from the steps already taken that any attempt hereafter or a pastor in the States to palm off a two-thousand-word sermon, costing him just Is a week, or £1! yearly, as his own, will entail the severest punishment, amounting in some cases to permanent suspension. New York is described as tho worst offender in regard to the purchase of religious wares, and the temptation is admittedly great, because in the metropolis sermons are now being hawked at tho rate I have quoted, sermons containing from 2000 to 2500 wools in length, which are described by the sellers as being "strictly up to date, and containing allusions to current affairs aind matters of national interest." I have seen a circular today addressed, "Dear brother in the Lord," in which a well-known publishing firm offers clergymen sermons suitable for any occasion at knock-down prices. "We shall not furnish our service to more than one minister in any given city," concludes the circular. No patron, says the document, need fear an accusation of plagiarism. Chamberlain's VnVum Tablets uirpoYi TUI imxim