Popular Technology Volume I Part 18

2. In Pennsylvania, the present law provides for three cla.s.ses of auctioneers, each of which is required to pay to the state a specified sum for a license. The first cla.s.s pays two thousand dollars per annum; the second, one thousand; and the third, two hundred; and, besides this, one and a half per cent. on the amount of all their sales is required to be paid into the treasury of the state. To each cla.s.s are granted privileges corresponding to the cost of the license.

3. In the state of New-York, the number of auctioneers for the cities, villages, and counties, is limited by law; and all persons who would follow the business are compelled to give security for the faithful execution of its duties. The state requires a duty of one per cent. on all merchandise imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope, one and a half per cent. on such as may be imported from other foreign countries, and two per cent. on wines and ardent spirits, whether foreign or domestic. The laws and usages regarding sales at auction, in most of the United States, are similar, in their general principles, to those of Pennsylvania or New-York.

4. A great amount of merchandise, both foreign and domestic, in our princ.i.p.al cities, is sold by auction; and the price which staple commodities there command is generally considered a tolerable criterion of their value at the time. It very frequently happens, however, that articles which are not in steady demand, are sold at a great sacrifice. Auctioneers seldom import goods, nor is it usual for them to own the property which they sell.

5. In all cases, before an auction is held, due notice is given to the public. This is usually done by the circulation of a printed hand-bill, by a crier, or by an advertis.e.m.e.nt in a newspaper; or all three of these modes may be employed to give publicity to one and the same sale.

6. Persons desirous of becoming purchasers at the proposed auction, a.s.semble at the time appointed; and, after the auctioneer has stated the terms of sale, as regards the payment of whatever may be purchased, he offers the property to the persons present, who make their respective bids, he, in the mean time, _crying_ the sum proposed. When no further advance is expected, he _knocks down_ the article to the last bidder.

7. A mode of sale was formerly, and, in some cases is still, practised, in various parts of Europe, called _sale by inch of candle_. The things for sale are offered in the ordinary manner, as has been described in the preceding paragraph, and, at the same time, a wax-candle, an inch in length, is lighted. The purchasers bid upon each other, until the candle has been all consumed; and the last bidder, when the light goes out, is ent.i.tled to the articles or goods in question.

8. Auctioneers, in large cities, hold their sales at regular periods; sometimes, every day or evening. On extensive sales of merchandise, credits of two, three, four, six, or nine months, are commonly given.

In such cases, the auctioneer often gives his own obligations for the goods, and receives in return those of the purchasers.

9. This mode of sale is employed in the disposition of property taken by process of law for the payment of debts, in every part of the world, where the influence of European law has extended. It is used in preference to any other; because it is the most ready way of sale, and is moreover the most likely method to secure to the debtor something like the value of his property.

10. Executors and administrators often employ this convenient method of sale, in settling the estates of deceased persons; and they, as well as sheriffs and constables, _ex-officio_, or by virtue of their office, have a lawful right to act in the capacity of auctioneer, in performing their respective duties; and no tax is required by the state, in such cases.

11. The sale by auction was in use among the Romans, even in the early days of their city. It was first employed in the disposition of spoils taken in war; hence a spear was adopted as a signal of a public sale; and this continued to be the auctioneer's emblem, even after this mode of sale was extended to property in general. The red flag and spear, or rather the handle of that instrument, both emblematical of blood and war, are still employed for the same purpose.

12. Several attempts have been made in the United States, to suppress sales of merchandise by auction; but these endeavors were unsuccessful, since experience had proved this mode of effecting exchanges to be prompt and convenient; and since some of the states had derived considerable revenue from the duties. So long as conflicting interests remain as they are, this mode of sale will be likely to continue.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The CLERGYMAN.]

THE CLERGYMAN.

1. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, during his visit of mercy to the world, chose from among his disciples twelve men, to be his especial agents in establishing his church. These men, in our translation of the New Testament, are denominated apostles. The grand commission which they received was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel to every creature."

2. The apostles commenced their n.o.ble enterprise on that memorable day of Pentecost, which next occurred after the ascension of their Master; and, in the city of his inveterate enemies, soon succeeded in establishing a church of several thousand members. The doctrines of Christianity soon spread to other cities and countries; and, before the close of that century, they were known and embraced, more or less, in every province of the Roman empire.

3. The apostles, however, were not the only agents engaged in spreading and maintaining the doctrines of Christianity; for, in every church, persons were found capable of taking the supervision of the rest, and of exercising the office of the ministry. These were ordained either by the apostles themselves, or by persons authorized by them to perform the ceremony.

4. After the Church had pa.s.sed through a great variety of persecutions, during a period of nearly three centuries, the Christians became superior in numbers to the pagans in the Roman empire. In the early part of the fourth century, a free toleration in religious matters was declared by Constantine the Great, who took the Church under his especial protection.

5. The Christians of the first and second centuries usually worshipped G.o.d in private houses, or in the open air in retired places, chiefly on account of the persecutions to which they were often subjected. It was not until the third century, that they ventured to give greater publicity to their service, by building churches for general accommodation. When the Cross had obtained the ascendency, in the subsequent age, many of the heathen temples were appropriated to Christian purposes; and many splendid churches were erected, especially by Constantine and his successors.

6. In the middle ages, a great number of edifices were erected for the performance of divine worship, which, in loftiness and grandeur, had never been surpa.s.sed; and the greater part of these remain to the present day. Some of the most famous churches are, St. Peter's, at Rome; Notre Dame, at Paris; St. Stephen's, at Vienna; the church of Isaac, at St. Petersburg; the minsters at Strasburg and Cologne and St. Paul's, in London.

7. Up to the time of the great change in favor of Christianity, just mentioned, the whole Church had often acted together in matters of common interest, through the medium of general councils; and this practice continued for several centuries afterwards. But the variance and dissensions between the Pope of Rome, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, combined with some other causes, produced, about the close of the ninth century, a total separation of the two great divisions of the Church.

8. At the time of this schism, the whole Christian world had become subject to these two prelates. The part of the Church ruled by the Patriarch, was called the _Eastern_, or _Greek Church_; and that part which yielded obedience to the Pope, was denominated the _Western_, or _Latin Church_. Many attempts have been since made to reunite these two branches of the Church; but these endeavors have hitherto proved unsuccessful.

9. The conquest of the Roman empire, so often mentioned in the preceding pages, was particularly injurious to the Church, especially that part of it subject to the Roman pontiff; since it nearly extinguished the arts and sciences, and since the barbarous conquerors were received into the Church, before they had attained the proper moral qualifications. From these causes, chiefly, arose the conduct of the Church, in the middle ages, which has been so much censured by all enlightened men, and which has been often unjustly attributed to Christianity herself, rather than to the ignorance and barbarism of the times.

10. In the year 1517, while Leo X. occupied the papal chair, Martin Luther, of Saxony, commenced his well-known opposition to many practices and doctrines in the Church, which he conceived to be departures from the spirit of primitive Christianity. He was soon joined in his opposition by Philip Melancthon, Ulric Zuingle, and finally by John Calvin, as well as by many other distinguished divines of that century, in various parts of Europe.

11. These men, with their followers and abettors, for reasons too obvious to need explanation, received or a.s.sumed the appellation of _Reformers_; and, on account of a solemn protest which they entered against a certain decree which had been issued against them, they also became distinguished by the name of _Protestants_. The latter term is now applied to all sects, of whatever denomination, in the western division of the Church, that do not acknowledge the authority of the Roman See.

12. The Protestant division of the Church is called by the Roman Catholics, the _Western schism_, to distinguish it from that of the Greek Church, which is termed the _Eastern schism_. The Protestants are divided into a great number of sects, or parties; and, although they differ from each other in many of their religious sentiments, they agree in their steady opposition to the Roman Catholics.

13. The ostensible object of the founders of all the churches differing from the Romish communion, has been, to bring back Christianity to the state in which it existed on its first establishment; and to prove their positions in doctrine and church government, they appeal to the Scriptures, and sometimes to the Christian writers of the first four or five centuries. The advocates of the "mother church," on the contrary, contend that, being infallible, she can never have departed from primitive principles, on any point essential to salvation.

14. As to the government of the several churches it is, in most cases, either Episcopal or Presbyterian. In the former case, three orders of clergymen are recognized; viz., _bishops_, _presbyters_, and _deacons_; and these three orders are supposed, by the advocates of episcopacy, to have been ordained by the apostles. This opinion is supported by the circ.u.mstance, that these orders are mentioned in the Scriptures; and also by the fact, supposed to be sustained by the primitive fathers, that they were uniformly established early in the second century.

15. It is believed by Episcopalians, that these three orders of ministers were inst.i.tuted in the Christian Church, in imitation of the Jewish priesthood; the bishop representing the high-priest; the presbyters, the priests; and the deacons, the Levites.

16. On the other hand, the advocates of the Presbyterian form of government, a.s.sert, that in the first century of the Church, bishop and presbyter were the same order of ministers, and that the former was nothing more than a presbyter, who presided in Christian a.s.semblies, when met to consult on church affairs.

17. The deacons in the churches that have renounced episcopacy, are not cla.s.sed among the clergy, but are chosen from among the private members, to manage the temporalities of the congregation, or church, to which they belong, to a.s.sist the minister, on some occasions, in religious a.s.semblies, or to take the lead in religious worship in his absence. Under this form of government, therefore, there is recognized but one order of ministers, and every clergyman is denominated _presbyter_, _priest_, or _elder_.

18. The literary and religious qualifications required of candidates for orders have varied in different ages of the Church, according to the existing state of literature and religion; and the requirements in these two particulars are now different, in the several denominations.

Nearly all, however, require the profession in the candidate, that he believes he is moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him the office of the ministry. Some churches require a collegiate education, with two or three years of the study of divinity; but others, only such as is usually obtained in common schools, combined with a tolerable capacity for public speaking.

19. The clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, is of two kinds; the one _regular_, comprehending all the religious who have taken upon themselves monastic vows; the other _secular_, comprehending all the ecclesiastics who do not a.s.sume these obligations. The latter, however, in common with the former, take a vow of perpetual celibacy.

20. It is the especial duty of clergymen, to preach the gospel, to administer the ordinances, and to enforce the discipline of that branch of the Church to which they belong. They are also expected to administer consolation to persons in distress of mind, arising from the complicated evils of this life, to unite persons by the bonds of matrimony, and, finally, in attending on the burial of the dead, to perform the last ceremony due from man to man.

21. Ministers of the gospel occupy an elevated stand in all Christian communities, both on account of the high tone of moral feeling which they generally possess, and on account of the interest which the people at large feel in the subject of religion. The work of the ministry is emphatically a work of benevolence; and no man can perform it with satisfaction to himself, or with acceptance to the people of his charge, if dest.i.tute of love to G.o.d and man.

22. In most of the kingdoms of Europe, some one of the several denominations is supported by legal enactments; but, in the United States, every branch of the Church enjoys equal favor, so far as legislation is concerned. In most cases, the inst.i.tutions of religion are supported by voluntary contributions or subscriptions.

23. The salary received by ministers of the gospel, in the United States, is exceedingly various in the different denominations, and in the same denomination from different congregations. In some instances, they receive nothing for their services, in others, a liberal compensation.

24. It is but justice to this profession to remark, that, taking the ability of its members into account, there is no employment less productive of wealth; and this is so evidently the case, that some denominations distribute, annually, a considerable amount among the widows and orphans of those who have devoted their lives to the ministry.

25. The meagre support which the ministry usually receives, arises, in part, from the opinion too commonly entertained, that this profession ought to be one of benevolence exclusively, and that ministers should, therefore, be contented with a bare subsistence, and look for their reward in the consciousness of doing their duty, and in the prospect of future felicity. This is a very convenient way of paying for the services of faithful servants, and of relieving the consciences of those whose duty it is to give them a liberal support.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The LAWYER.]

ATTORNEY AT LAW.

1. A lawyer is one who, by profession, transacts legal business for others, who, in this relation, are called _clients_. A lawyer is either an attorney or councillor, or both. The part of legal business, belonging peculiarly to the attorney, consists in preparing the details of the _pleadings_ and the _briefs_ for the use of the councillor, whose especial province it is to make the argument before the court. When the lawyer prepares his own case and makes the argument, as he generally does, he acts in the capacity of both attorney and councillor. In the court of chancery the lawyer is denominated _solicitor_, and in the admiralty court, _proctor_. Before a person is permitted to practise law in our courts, he is required to pa.s.s through a regular course of study, and afterwards undergo an examination before persons learned in the law.

2. This profession has its foundation in the numerous and complicated laws which have been adopted by men, to govern their intercourse with each other. These laws, as they exist in our country, may be divided into _const.i.tutional_ and _munic.i.p.al_. Const.i.tutional law is that by which the government of the United States, and those of the different states, have been established, and by which they are governed in their action. The Const.i.tution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.

3. Munic.i.p.al law embraces those rules of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power of the state, or of the United States; and is composed of _statute_ and _common_ law. Statute law is the express will of the legislative part of the government, rendered authentic by certain forms and ceremonies prescribed by the Const.i.tution.

4. Common law is a system of rules and usages, which have been applied in particular cases of litigation. It originated in the dictates of natural justice, and cultivated reason, and is found more particularly in the reports of the decisions of the courts of justice. The common law is employed in cases which positive enactments do not reach, and in construing and applying positive enactments. The common law of England has been adopted by every state in the Union, except Louisiana.

5. The Const.i.tution of the United States, and those of the several states, provides for three departments in their respective governments, viz., the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.

It is the chief province of the first to enact laws, and of the second and third to see that they are duly executed.