WE copy the following item from a recent issue of The Boston Transcript:—
"Never before, so it is reported in many Protestant bodies, has there been, such a lack of good men for ministerial positions. Bishops in the Protestant Episcopal Church are especially loud in declarations to the effect that parishes have to remain vacant because they are unable to find men to fill them. In the Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational bodies, as well as Presbyterian and others, a scarcity of men of good grade is reported. Salaries that are, all things considered, fair in amount and in honors which they carry, await takers.
"During the past ten years the number of students in colleges to announce their intention to go after graduation to theological seminaries has been dwindling, and seminary classes have been barely able to hold their own in size. The number of pastorates has steadily increased and the shortage in supply has therefore become acute, and is being felt more generally this fall than ever.
